went out like a lion

March came in like a lion, and left us 6 inches last night. There goes March. Well, I put away my winter clothes. Whether or not winter is done with us, I'm done with it.

auditions

Boo did a little audition video for the "Signing Time" show. There were probably a million other little hopefuls auditioning so we don't expect much but are so happy to see how far she has come in communicating. Little Bay was watching it all and picked up on some signs that she didn't know before, so we made her own video.

better than a love note

Everyone expresses love differently...or speaks a different love language. (Good book too.) So, I love little surprise notes of appreciation. I especially love little surprise acts of appreciation, but I'm talking about notes today. I love them. So I leave them, for my husband. He likes them. He doesn't love them. He likes service a lot though. So today, I went to write a note for him. Then I saw the top of the fridge that he has wanted organized forever. And I did that instead. And he loved it. And he knew I loved him. Better than a love note...

(that, by the way, is our sadie hawkins dance in high school)

express yourself

Ninja kids. My niece and nephew. This is what happens when you get into trouble and mom and dad take all your super hero clothes away...you have to invent new ones.

Yikes

This scares momma.

express yourself

Poor thing doesn't really have a choice yet, does she. hehe

one of my favorite things

The apple peeler corer slicer. You can't beat it for kids...skin on, skin off, perfect little .25 in slices. I love it.

I love it

This is what I pictured it would be like as a mom. Making cookies. Kids at my feet. Banging pots and pans.
Notice the Bosch Mixer. One of my favorite things. If you have one, you know what I mean.

express yourself

People do it daily, and don't get enough credit for it. Whether they are trying or not, and they usually are not. I've taken it into my hands to give some credit to these worthy expressions of self. If I can. (please please please ignore my ill-suited attempts at sketching these...I hope to give you a mental picture!) They will all be under the title "express yourself"

Here is my first:

I saw this today on campus.

He must have been over 70 yrs old

50 degrees outside

head down

tweed walking hat

green/yellow letterman jacket

bright orange shirt

blue shorts

orange knee socks

just picture it...

Embrace Truth from Whatever the Source

I’ve just finished reading “If you want to write” by Brenda Ueland and want to make special mention of it because my blog seems to be patterned after her thoughts on creativity and imagination. I didn’t mean for this. I had this blog finished before I even started the book. The quotes by William Blake I did post after starting this read; it all fit together so well.
Joseph Smith taught us to embrace truth from whatever the source. This was in my mind as I read this. Maybe because she seemed to write about the truth of creativity and imagination. Maybe because she said, "...for what is true to you today may not be true at all tomorrow, because you see a better truth." She encourages us to learn and grow from mistakes without fear or worry of the criticism we get from others for so doing. I wrote down other things from her book…’mind candy’ for me. :)

I love it

Little Bay belly-down, licking off the drink mix dusting the floor, which hasn't been mopped in who-knows-how-long.
I like being a mom.

Excuse This House
Author: Unknown
Some houses try to hide the fact

That children shelter there,

Ours boasts it quite openly,

The signs are everywhere.

For smears are on the windows,

Little smudges are on the doors

I should apologize, I guess

For toys strew on the floor.

But I sat down with my children

And we played and laughed and read

And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,

Their eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I'm forced to choose

The one job or the other,

I’d like to cook and clean and scrub,

But first I’ll be a mother.

Fear...Inadequacy

Boo wouldn't sleep from about midnight until 4:30am. So, I'm reading some amazing, beautiful blogs by people who inspire me, make me laugh, bring tears. There are millions out there. Talent. I believe. Then, it brings to front personal inadequacies. Why does that happen at all? To see someone else's life and think it's extra-ordinary, and then feel that my own is ordinary. Boring. I feel it. But I'm going to continue anyway... I believe this:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Marianne Williamson

In a book I'm reading, the auther Brenda Ueland says: "remember these two things: you are talented and you are original. Be sure of that. I say this because self-trust is one of the very most important things...."