Makeover

So I was so siked to post my makover pictures, then I realized I am old. I know people who are older than me will say, stop it Lesley. But I can't help that I am 33 and feel like I should look like I am 22. What i am trying to say is, I feel better inside than I look, does that make sense? I will try on and outfit and think, oh I love this, then I will see a picture of myself later and say, wow you didn't look as good as you felt. I wish it was the other way around, i think I look bad then I see a picture and say wow girl you look better than you think! I know I am not a super model (obviously) it just funny how age just creeps up on you, unless you are a meth user.

My good girlfriend Emily has a sister named Brooke, who was was graduating from an internship at Gadabout, a prestigious salon and spa. Brooke needed a model to do a color and cut, a big change. I was in, I had been wanting a change. Brooke did a fantastic job, giving me what I wanted, a natural-looking red tone to my hair. I also didn't want a butch cut, something shorter and sleeker, I think she caught my vision just perfectly.























I think it is funny that Parkin posed with me on my before photos without a shirt and when I came back several hours later, he still didn't have a shirt.




















It was a lot of fun, Brooke was easy to talk to. Parkin for the last three days has thanked heavenly Father for Moms new hair, gotta love the vote of confidence :)

In the name of KKP

I have to say that I just love teaching preschool, I really do. I love the kids. This age is so fun and the things they say are unpredicatable. I love the curriculum. I love teaching basic concepts with songs, dance, stories, plays, and educational toys, it is right up my alley for fun. I love using positive comments to motivate educational growth. I love seeing them learn.It is the perfect part-time job for me, I love doing it. It involves my children and it is conviently located at my house (sometimes not so convenient keeping it clean , but teaching preschool in my home has really helped motivate the family to keep all public rooms clean).

Another major perk for teaching preschool is the need to stock the house properly. I "needed" a drinking fountain, so my husband installed one. I "needed" a laminator so we got one. I "needed" a new printer so we bought one. I "needed" cute holiday decorations, because the kids notice things like that (and they really do). I "needed" a picnic table so my husband made one. I am so blessed to have a husband who is talented and who is so supportive of the school. He made that picnic table in a weekend. The kids love to have snack time outside. It is also great when we have a particular messy craft, like exploding volcanoes. He even got the wood for free.

I keep trying to convince Benjamin that I need a green lawn for the "kids." If we could workout a way to get a sprinkler system in the front yard it would be golden


* also in the name of preschool: I use to be so frustrated when I would ask my kids to clean a particular room and they would do a not so thorough job. I printed out a step by step direction sheet on how to clean a particular room. My living room directions say: 1) remove toys and other objects from the couches and put those things away. 2) If there are things on the carpet put them away. 3) Look under the couches if there is trash throw it away, put all other objects away. 4) Put the pillows on the couch. 5) Vacuum the rug and the carpet. I lamanated :) the directions . The kids are in charge of the room for a week, then they rotate every Monday night. I always have the kitchen and Parkin always has the foyer room. We work on our rooms after dinner. This has helped my sanity so much, even Bella commented on how much she likes the new cleaning method. The kids now know my expectations so they are not frustrated when I tell them it is not finished, they read the sheet and follow it. Now that we have been doing it for a while everyone is quick. Funny how they think the hardest room is the one they have.

Civility

Benjamin and I went out to dinner a couple of weeks ago with his siblings and parents. Benjamin and I arrived first at the restaurant, since we threw this party together last minute, we had a long wait out side the restaurant. Twice I was approached by people who needed money, not Benjamin or anyone else around us, just me. Did I have a hallo glow about me or was I the homeliest one in the bunch(that is probably more likely)? Luckily I had several one dollar bills and was able to share. Last week I was at Home Depot buying a large living room rug, I managed to load that giant sucker on a cart and was making my way out the store, when I was approached by another person needing money. He said he was a contractor out of work and was wanting some money for gas, he said he was willing to do odd jobs around the house. I told him I didn't have any money and wished him well. He said thank you and offered to load my carpet out of good will. It was very kind of him because it was large and heavy. Later when I watched him go back to his car where his wife was sitting I looked in my purse where I was surprised to find a rather large bill. I sighed. Said a prayer asking Heavenly father if he wanted the man to have the money, sadly I was probably hoping he would say keep it. Funny thing, I think I have said that same prayer many times when people have asked me for money and Heavenly Father has never said to keep it. I got in my car circled the parking lot where I found him approaching another person, he was busy so I gave the money to his wife.

In the Book of Mormon in the book of Mosiah it says:
22And if ye ^ajudge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your ^bcondemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life ^cbelongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.

I saw this great short video called civility, where it talks about not judging others, what a remarkable eloquent man, I was surprised.

http://lds.org/pages/the-civility-experiment?lang=eng

I think civility is a dying art in America. It is easy not to be civil to people especially if we don't see them face to face. Several years ago Benjamin and I bought a very expensive AC unit from Sears for our house (at least it was expensive to us) and it kept having problems. I had had it. I called up Sears and really gave it to the person on the other end of the phone, it was ugly. I couldn't get it out of my head how bad I was to this person. So the next day I called to apologize. Sears is a huge company, I had to speak to like five different people to finally be connected to the person I had blown up at. When I finally got her on the phone I was emotional with my apology. She didn't know what to say. She said no one had ever called her back after loosing it. Civility is treating people the same way as if you were standing face to face in your living room.

I like the videos where they show people changing for the better it gives me hope.

Double Digits

I can't believe I have a daughter who is now in double did-gets. Bella turned ten in March. I only have her for 8 more years before she is 18. She is a fantastic daughter so kind, likeable, inclusive and smart. I love that she is at an age where she can observe things about life and add her humor about what she sees. I couldn't ask for a better oldest. She is thoughtful and protective. She is just below my chin, which is the same distance that is between Benjamin and I.






Bella had an Asian party, we made invitations that had a pair of chopsticks and a fortune cookie inviting them to an "Asian dinner." I made homemade egg rolls for 12 girls (that was a lot of frying). We lowered our tables to get that authentic fee, each girl went home with a fan, some actually made it home without breaking it :)



Bella prefers brownies so I marbled it with caramel. This is a picture of Bella posing with one of her best friends Emerald. Bella's cousin Morgan even let her borrow her Asian Halloween costume, which Bella was excited about.

It was a great night, and when China takes over our country in 2015 our family will be ready to embrace the culture.

I love you Bella! You are a delight, I love the young woman that you are becoming. I consider myself extremely lucky to have you as a daughter. I love traveling this journey with you.

Blah Blah Blog

I can't believe I haven't posted since January. I have had some posts floating around in my head but haven't had the gumption to get to it. With laundry, cooking, doing the dishes, laundry, dishes, preschool and my calling at church, I just haven't gotten around to it. Plus I don't have a lot of friends and relatives who blog regularly, I think if I did I would be more likely to spin stuff out. In an effort to weed out unproductive things in my life I no longer belong to facebook, not that I spent a whole lot of time on the thing, the bad just outweighed the good to me. So I have kind of dropped off from the computer. A great invention and horrible one all at once. For preschool it is fantastic, for wasting time its bad.

My last post about Anna came right before she got her molars, she is back to her wonderful self. My little blondie, her vocab has increased with; doggy, dog, puppy, Wilbur and Luke. She is a gem. It is great how much she talks despite all her ear infections (we are treating one right now).

Benefits of a blog is the ability to go back and remember things.

I was in the drive though window at the bank and the woman teller sent back with my receipt lolly pops for the kids. Holman said, " Dogs are mans best friend and kids are women's best friend." I thought that was great. Love all the women who show my children their mother hearts.

Parkin was yelling for me to "come wipe my bum Mom." Which doesn't annoy me at least he enjoys good hygiene (which I cant say for all of my children). I arrive to help him and he says, "your such a nice lady. " I tell Parkin that he has special powers. He can always brighten the day and defuse a heated situation with his comments and his sweet smile he often tells me, "mom you are my best friend." Love that boy.

Olivia and Bella may not be twins but they sure are close. I am glad I have those two. I know if I were their age i would have wanted to be friends with them (and cheat off their papers) joking, sorta :)

First words

Our little Adrianna is very independent. When the kids try to pick her up she will squeal if she thinks it is a bad idea. Her first words have been "don't", "no"and "stop." She has managed Ma and Da and I think Luke. Truth be told she has been extra cranky lately. She has had three ear infections and the doctor said if she gets another one he will put tubes in. I took her to see the pediatrician and I said she either has an ear infection or a personality disorder. No ear infection. Her squealing/ screaming got so bad that Olivia has taken to praying that "we all will love her like we should." Bella was saying that she was at the bottom of her list because of all the whining, Holman responded that Adrianna was the only person on his list. That girl has a huge fan-advocate and she doesn't even know it :)

1/1/11

What a great baptism date! Olivia was so excited to get baptized. She was baptised in a dress that Barbara made over 30 years ago, Olivia thought that was awesome. Benjamin and I talked to Olivia about how everyone can know for themselves if the church is true, how our Heavenly Father wants us to come to him with questions and concerns in life and how he will answer every prayer. She said I already know that I want to be baptised, I feel good about it. Olivia is always one of the first to suggest prayer when something is lost or needed, she provides our family with a lot of faith, laughter and vocabulary. We had so much fun shopping for her after baptism dress.That girl knows how to shop and is amusing during the process.

We had family and friends come to our house after the baptism for meatball subs and waffle bowl ice cream, good times. Thanks to all family and friends who made the event (the Smiths drove down from Bountiful, what a drive! Amy from Minnesota was there, dotcha know. Sarah from Virginia and Aaron and Jen's family from AJ, its in Arizona but its still a drive). Olivia I love you so very much and feel extremely blessed to be your mother. You are so kind, forgiving and helpful and so much dang fun! You are beautiful inside and out! Thank you for being an excellent daughter!