Claudia's New Favorite

Every watch a Disney movie and think "Wow that character looks just my kid and acts like them too!" Well we have and it is Disney's new Tangled. It is her FAVORITE movie now because its her and she says she has Rapunzel hair. Oh Yeah that what she says.. "Mom look at my Punzel Hair, it's borgous!" "Mom we need to brush my Punzel hair" she even now sings the Healing song when we brush her hair now. Well as well as a 3 year old can sign the song which means we get the line "let your power shine" repeated over and over again. I would find it annoying if it wasn't soo darn cute! So for those few people who haven't seen the movie yet, but more for those of us who have and Love it.. here is a clip of Rapunzel singing the Healing Incantation from Disney's Tangled. Enjoy!



Looking for Suggestions

So I am working on getting my family back on track with chores, schedule, and house rules after things went awry back when I got sick and never seemed to pick back up. I have designated a corner of my living room that we see every morning and night when the family does scriptures and prayers as our posting corner. In it I have a cork board for posting notes too and lists too, a white board for the daily chores and other cool messages, a daily schedule written up for both school days and non school days, and the last thing I am working on is a list of house rules. Now this is where you, my amazing friends and family come in. I have a few that I have had over the years that have stuck around, but I want to know what you all have for house rules that help maintain peace, order, and general happiness around your house. This has been part of my struggles with getting the house organized into the home I have always wanted so I need to know what you do that works. Would LOVE to hear them all. Also a BIG THANKS to that special friend who is helping my learn to organize my home in a way that will make it easier for everyone to help keep it clean instead of me doing all the work and doing 100x more than I need to be doing.

And for a touch of fun to this post... Here is one of the Food Sculptures Tommy made at Easter Dinner on Sunday. He would change it everytime he ate something. Glad he enjoyed his dinner :)

I Heart Faces: Pets

So the I Heart Faces challenge this week is Pets and My first thought was of the shot I had to fight to get of butterscotch playing peek-a-boo with Claudia when we were packing up the Christmas decorations at the beginning of the year. That is the photo I am going to be posting for my share this week. It is so rare that Butterscotch wants to play with Claudia and it just brings back happy feelings. Enjoy!

Also check out the other amazing Pets faces at

New Photos!

So it has been December 2008 since we have had a family photo taken. We didn't do that on purpose but things just got away from us. So yesterday as our family aster present to our selves we went to the Park and using my timer on this camera for the first time I set it up and even though I needed to crop it a bit I think it turned out great. I have some great ideas for when we do it next time :) I also took some shots of each of the kids, and Mike as well. I wish I had thought to hand the camera over and get mine taken too... maybe next time. But for now enjoy my first attempt at taking our own Family Photos.

Happy Easter

So today we get up, enjoy the fun of finding some Easter games and goodies hidden around the yard. We make a yummy meal of ham and potatoes and other yummy stuff. We eat and celebrate our family being together. But all of that comes because one person sacrifice for us. With out Jesus' Love and Compassion for all of us, we would have nothing to live for. He gave us eternal life. I am grateful everyday for all the my family and I have been given. Here is a  little tradition we include in our egg hunt every year to help remind us why we celebrate this day. We got the idea from a primary activity when we lived back in Squamish and have done it ever since:
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The Story of Easter: Easter Egg Hunt


Put the following items into Easter eggs along with the corresponding scriptures. This would be great for Family Home Evening -- Have an Easter egg hunt and then open the eggs and read the scriptures for the lesson. Make sure you number the eggs with a sharpie so you know which order to open them. Enjoy!

1. Sacrament Cup

2. 3 dimes

3. Knotted twine

4. Chunk of soap

5. Square of red velvet

6. Toothpick or pipe cleaner cross & tiny nail

7. Small pair of dice, small square of white cloth

8. Tiny bag of crushed rock, soil

9. A stone

10. A small stone

11. Whole cloves (or similar spice)

12. Empty


1. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 36:39


2. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:14,15 (This fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 11:12-14 that Jesus would be sold for thirty pieces of silver.)


3. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people too counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him,they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Matthew 27:1-2


4. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Matthew 27:24-26


5. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews ! And they spit upon him on the head. Matthew 27:28-30


6. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him the compelled to bear his cross. Matthew 27:31-32 And He was crucified…..nailed to the cross. Press this nail into your hand, feel how it must have hurt.


7. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet…..And sitting down they watched him there. Matthew 27:35-36


8. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;…..Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. Matthew 27:50-51, 54


9. (Then Joseph, a rich man) went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. Matthew 27:57-60


10. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. Pilate said unto them (the chief priests and Pharisees), Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. Matthew 27:60,65-66


11. And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and come and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. And the angel said unto the women, Fear not ye: For I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. Mark 16:1 & Matthew 28:6


12. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Matthew 28:6
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 Also here is a repost of the Mormon Message I posted at the beginning of the month. Enjoy and remember that while you have fun with your family today, why we are able to do that.

More than I ever expected..

So the count down is on to when have my "freetime" back. I know my house will love the extra attention it is craving. What I am blogging about today though is my admiration for my Aunt MaryLyn who does taxes and works another job and takes care of her family. I have seen her over the years spending many late nights up sorting through papers and mg sure her clients were well taken care of. I didn't truly realise how much she put in until they started having me do the long haul truckers files. The first one I ever did took me 2 days to get through and that was just going through the log book. One of the seniors finished the rest up for me as this was my learning one. The lasest one took me 4 LONG hours to get the log book done and this morning I finish him off! I am excited and nervous all at the same time. It has given me that much more epect for what my Aunt does and I want her to know how much I love her. Hope your last 16 days of this crazy season go smooth and without too much last minute hussle ;)! For all of you who haven't done your taxes yet... you have until April 30th to get them done.... only 16 more days!! And what is a post without a picture... here is a glimps at the paperwork involved in doing a long haul truckers tax return.

P.S. this is my first Blog post straight from my phone and how fun is this!!

A Much Needed Rest

So this week I have only 2 days where I am working. I was getting so exhausted that it was getting hard to think straight. I knew it was going to be tough working for these few months, but I kept the light at the end of the tunnel in mind... Debts paid faster and it was only until the end of April. There was days even still that it seemed like it would never end. 9hour days working plus still having to come home and make dinner and get kids into, not to mention cleaning. There were a few days I passed out the second I sat down while waiting for the oven timer to go off. It turns out that I wasn't the only one.

Ben has been struggling through these past months but didn't want to let me know. He took on a lot of responsibility being the oldest and wanting to help out. I found out yesterday that he was struggling most with getting his homework done these past few months. Now this young man amazes me everyday with all he does. He gets up at 5:30am every morning to deliver 2 paper routes that he has had since he was 9, he is President of the Deacon's Quorum, he helps out around the house, he babysits when needed, plus he goes gets himself into things like exchange programs to Toronto, and writes poetry and stories that people want to publish. He is normally an A student as well. Now he has had a few struggles this year with getting use to having homework as his last school didn't challenge his brilliant mind enough. We had a great system going on and I thought things were going well until yesterday. It turns out the added babysitting from me working has cause him to get exhausted as well and his homework is what he thought he could go without doing. I got his pre-report card yesterday and it says that he has a lot of missing assignments. When I asked him about it he broke down telling me how tired he is and he didn't want me to worry since I am not working that much longer. It broke my heart. So this week has been a nice needed rest. I only work the 2 days Mike has off work so Ben can focus on his studies so he can get caught back up before the Toronto kids come here and he needs to take another week off of school so they can show them around our little city and area. The next couple of weeks after this one will be a tough run as we do the mad rush of all those people who wait until the last minute to file their taxes.

All this is just another test and rough patch while we get back on our feet. In the meantime here is a little pic of fun as Claudia tries to be a little like her Daddy. Hope your first of the year has been well for you.

Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration

I LOVE this movie and it really brings to life all those things I believe. I was sooo happy to find out this morning that we can view the whole movie on line now so I am sharing it with everyone and anyone. It will be our Family Home evening Movie this week. Please enjoy!!

What helps keep you moving?

Ok it is no secret I am not a fan of cleaning, but it is a necessary evil that I much do everyday. It is also no secret I LOVE music. I love almost all kinds for various reasons and situations. However when I clean I need something that is fun and keeps me moving. Now I can't go buy a ton of Cd's and as much as I like our local radio stations the songs repeat too much and I don't enjoy all of it.. and to be honest how much of it really motivates you to clean?? It is also no secret that I LOVE Disney movies and have most of them memorized as do my kids. So a about a year ago I discovered a magical Internet radio station that is magical to me... almost literally ;) it is called DTunes Radio. It is everything Disney, including soundtracks from the theme parks (which makes me want to go more). Best part is you can request songs and make a play list that has those songs on it that keep you moving and in a good mood. My favorite is to start out with "Happy Working Song" from the movie Enchanted. It is just a great way to start out a job... and so fun. and then I go from there. I know this is not for everyone but that's why I ask, what gets you going? What helps you make a not so fun job more enjoyable? The kids like turning chores into games.
For those who may want to check out the station that keeps me moving go check them out here:

His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration

Something to reflect upon as we enter into April, and start worrying about what to buy for Easter with all the candy and other things the stores and movies push upon us. This is where it all began.. no Candy or Chocolate.. but Blood and pure Love.