Yikes!

I knew it was coming but it is still strange to have to admit that I have a teenager in my house. Monday was Michaela's 13th birthday. The kids were off of school so Jeremiah took the day off as well. We celebrated all day long and started off by driving out to the Boston Temple to work on the temple grounds. We played in the dirt, pulled weeds, dug for worms, swept the walkways, and planted tulip bulbs.

Abigail was fascinated with the worms

I know it looks like Emersynne has been eating dirt but it's just a oreo cookie face!

Towards the end Trevor was getting tired of working so started taking photos instead

Of course we finished up the day with pizza for dinner and a birthday party. We crammed a lot into our day and it was fun to have everybody home all day long!

The kids all had fun shopping for Michaela's present and even more fun watching her open them!

Happy Birthday Michaela!

Time away for two

Last weekend Jeremiah and I were able to get away for two days without children. It was our first Cape Cod experience and we had a great time. We took our bikes and found a great trail. Our 7 mile bike ride turned into an 18 mile bike ride when I suggested we continue on and ride out to see the cranberry bogs. It was a flat easy ride but my legs were not happy with me at all by the time we were done!

It was really fun to be riding beside the ocean but it was really windy

Nobska Light House

Saturday morning we woke up early even though we didn't have kids getting us up and walked a mile or so to the beach.

Our last adventure before driving back was heading out to Provincetown and visiting Pilgrim Monument. It was such a windy day that we almost felt like we were going to be blown off the top of the tower but the view was amazing up there!


We had a great time, missed our kids, were missed by our kids, and are so thankful for our brave friends for taking on six more children for two days.

Blast from the Russian Past

Here are some photos from my mission in Russia.




My first area right was located right on the Volga River in Saratov.




My first experience cooking a turkey.




This is Oleg and Elder Simon in Togliatti.




This handful is Mifa. (Really, Misha, but he couldn't say "sh.") I think he's actually on or just back from a mission now.

Fill your home with music

Tamara is currently accepting motivated student and parent teams for piano instruction. She has seventeen years of piano teaching experience and a college degree in music that she uses to propel her students into the world of music. If you want to help your child progress in their piano experience, please read Tamara's policy below and sign your student up today!

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Making music requires a lot of work, but there is a great thrill when a student performs, inspires, and uplifts others.

Success for your child will depend largely upon your involvement as a parent. Help your child daily with their practice at home by doing the following:

1. Remind students to practice
2. Work out a daily practice schedule that blends with the routine at home.
3. Help students work out an alternate schedule for practice when conflicts arise.
4. Create a quiet atmosphere conductive to practicing.
5. Cheer the students’ effort and praise their accomplishments.

In order to complete assignments and continue improving, students need to practice daily and record their practice time on their practice chart.

Lessons:
Lessons are 45 minutes each week. Please attend on time and bring all of your books. It is important to let me know ahead of time if you will be missing a lesson so arrangements can be made for a make-up lesson. You will be charged for all “no shows.”

Master Class:
Master Class is a group lesson with all my students and allows an opportunity for students to perform for each other in an informal setting as well as developing music skills through games. Please encourage your student(s) to attend. Master Class will be once a month during the summer and once every other month during the school year. If you are unable to attend the upcoming class or future classes, please let me know ahead of time!

Tuition:
$25 each week for 45 minute lessons. Tuition is due the first lesson of the month.

Materials Needed:
Spiral notebook: to keep track of assignments
Flashcards
Books: In addition to lesson books, I encourage students to pick out songs they would like to play to be worked on at lessons and on their own.

If you have any questions or concerns, please comment on this post.

Tamara W. Jones

Our first plant

Not that kind of plant. Aaand not that kind either.

We're planning on planting our first letterbox, and we needed to come up with some kind of stamp. Most of the stamps we've found on our letterboxing adventures thus far have been hand-carved, which seems to be a matter that serious letterboxers take some pride in.

I decided to try my hand at it.




Now we just need to come up with the spot in which to plant the box...

Not Again!?!

So last week Trevor got a honorary post because of his incident of swallowing his CTR ring. I'm still trying to figure out if he is trying to get mentioned most in our family journal or if he just has some uncontrollable urges to discover cause and effect.

Yesterday Trevor and Abigail were fighting (screaming at the top of their lungs) over a game. The game got taken away and they were each sent to their beds for a time out. I was quite proud of myself and how calmly I handled the situation. Trevor kept screaming at me when I took the game away but I quietly walked out of his room and shut the door. I went back downstairs to start making dinner and a few minutes later Trevor opened his door and asked if he could blow his nose. I told him yes and went back to cutting my peppers for fajitas. Pretty soon Trevor was sobbing and coming downstairs. He was trying to tell me something but I had no idea what he was saying. He wrapped his arms around me and I noticed that it wasn't the angry cry from earlier but it was a scared cry. And then I finally understood what he was saying. Mixed in with his sobs I was able to pick out the words "LEGO" and "NOSE". That was all I needed to piece it all together and then I was furious, extremely furious. This was the same child that a week ago put his CTR ring in his mouth and "accidentally" swallowed it and now he stuck a lego up his nose? I quickly sent Trevor back up to sit on his bed because I didn't trust myself to be around him (that's how angry I was) and called Jeremiah to have him come home. I could see the lego up inside Trevor's nose but I was afraid of pushing it further in while trying to get it out. Jeremiah came home with some forceps and the lego was easily removed.

But now I'm left to wonder why my 6 year old is doing this. Should I tape something over his ears to keep him from trying to put something in there next week?

Time Out!

I spent this past weekend in time out and had a great time!

Friday afternoon I drove out to Connecticut with some friends and attended Time Out For Women put on by Deseret Book. I heard some inspiring talks, amazing music, ate delicious food (my first time at Cheesecake Factory!), and slept very little. I think those things are a great combination for a fabulous time! It was a great get away and even though I was gone a little over 24 hours I was greatly missed and had kids climbing all over me as soon as I walked in the door Saturday evening. Emersynne was quick to run into my arms yelling, "Hi! Hi! Hi! Ewie!" as she pointed to her diaper. What a great way to be welcomed back!

Video chat sewing lessons

When I was a little girl my grandmother taught me to sew. I remember very clearly doing sewing projects with my cousin and my grandmother very patiently coaching us along. Those are fond memories but any other sewing projects are not looked upon with fond memories. I've come to realize that I don't like sewing and I don't have the patience for sewing. Lately I've felt some regret at my lack of patience and skill when I've seen the cute things my cousin Jennifer and my sister Julia have made. Then I quickly talk myself out of trying because I couldn't possibly fit anything into my very full schedule. So why torture myself right?

Well, a few months ago my sister made Abigail a really cute skirt and then went on to tell me how easy it was to make and that I could do it no problem. She even went out and bought me some material and mailed it to me so I couldn't come up with any excuses. The material has sat on my desk the last month while I've finished up some projects but monday night I tackled the skirt. Since my sister and I live VERY far away from each other we relied on video chat for the project. She made one along with me and coached me through each step giving me the confidence I needed to attempt sewing after so many years of staying as far away from the sewing machine as possible. In a few hours I had made a skirt for Natalie and I didn't have to rip out any stitches or my hair for that matter. I'm sure it would have been more fun if I could have physically been at my sisters house but I do have to admit that I had fun learning from my sister and stepping out of my comfort zone.

Before I went to bed I laid the skirt at the end of Natalie's bed feeling like a kid at Christmas with the excitement of my accomplishment. I do have to say that I was very proud of myself for giving sewing another try. I still don't really like sewing but I do have plans to make a few more skirts for my other girls and who knows what else that will lead to.

Natalie was very excited with her new skirt and wore it to school the next day.

Look who's two!

My how time flies. Emersynne turned two on Saturday and even though she really had no idea what the day was her older brothers and sisters sure were excited.

We took advantage of the nice weather and everybody being home and went apple picking. Emersynne wasn't too sure of the hay ride out to the orchard but she really loved walking among the rows and rows of apple trees and munching on apples.





This was an exciting day for Michaela because she was able to bite into an apple now that she has her braces off. We all had a great time tasting the different apples as we filled up our bags. We now have a really large supply of apples and have already enjoyed apple crisp, apple bread, and just plain apples.


We completed our day with a little b-day party and Emersynne loved the attention. She has started talking a lot and sometimes catches us by surprise with her little phrases. She was quick to say "again" after she blew out the candles and we humored her with one more turn. After serving her some cake and ice cream she gave us a big smile and one word that said it all. "Yum!"

He did what?

Those were my exact words to Michaela when she called me Friday night and told me to "brace for impact". Not exactly what you want to hear from your daughter that you left babysitting.

Jeremiah and I left Friday night to go run a few errands and then I would drop him off at school and I would get the grocery shopping done. With only one car we've learned how to divide and conquer so we can still get everything done. School is on the other side of town but there is a nice grocery store just down the street so we often take advantage of our at home babysitter to get things done. Before we left the house we had gotten the little kids into bed and Michaela was working on homework and Anthony was reading. Knowing this would help prevent conflicts between the kids I was surprised when my phone rang just a few minutes after we had left the house.

Before I had gotten off the phone with Michaela we had turned around and were heading back home. Trevor had swallowed his CTR ring. I'm still trying to figure out what my six year old son was doing with his CTR ring in his mouth!

So now the process begins of waiting for the CTR ring reappear.