My side project

So my friend Rachel gave me this funny gift for my birthday. See this link. http://www.amazon.com/Stupid-Sock-Creatures-Book-Kit/dp/1579909116. It is a book and kit on how to make Stupid Sock Creatures. I thought it was such a great gift and so did my kids. They were begging for me to make them one from the minute I opened it. I was busy for a while, but finally I attempted. The first one I made was rather ugly, ok they are all ugly, but more ugly. Then I made a few more. So here are the pictures of what I have made. They follow the patterns in the book, but due to different sock materials and of course my being a novice, they all look different that what is in the book. But the kids love them. And of course, Rachel will be receiving one soon....

This is Syd. He is Eli's. Here is Claude, who now belongs to Ayden. I like his design.





Wronky belongs to Simon. I like his shape. I may do more of him. Next is Mr. Chompy, as named by his owner Rylan.



This is Mr. Cheesy, whom I made for Cayde during a trip to Denver. He was desperate to have his own Stupid sock creature, so here it is. This pink and blue creation I have named Cordelia. I like her colors. They were a good sock choice.

This nameless creature will be going to my good friend Rachel. Hope she likes it!


And now I am off to make one for Joe. I guess he was feeling left out. Somehow I must not have enough to do if I can find time to make all these. But I kind of like doing it. It is fun and I love that it is just socks!

More summer

We have had an eventful and busy July so far. We had lots of family come for Eli's baptism, which took place on July 2nd (cool little side note, I was also baptized on July 2nd!). My mom and dad were here, also Jeanne the Great (my aunt), and my uncle Chris. Joe's parents were here as well as his brother Aaron. It was a very nice day and so nice of our extended family to come. There were lots of cameras taking pictures of the fun things we did with family, but somehow my camera was not one of them. Hopefully other family members will share.....

So here is our family before the baptism

Here is Eli and Taylor, who was also getting baptized that day. Aren't they so cute?!

We went to a parade on the 4th of July because Eli's cub scout pack was having a float in it. Here he is being a cub scout. I can't believe I have a kid old enough to be baptized and in cub scouts!

And here is Grandma Myrna holding Taryn during the parade.

Summer is going on

Well I sure have been lazy. 6 weeks have passed, we are well into summer vacation, so here are a few things that have been happening.

We had a blizzard - actually it was hail, little hail that came down for close to an hour. We could have shoveled.

I had a birthday, nothing too exciting, but my sister did make me some really yummy red velvet whoopie pies and chocolate cupcakes filled with peanut butter mousse and topped with chocolate ganache!

Eli and Simon have been playing baseball and T-ball. And doing great at it. I am impressed with how well Eli has been doing, learning to throw and catch. They use a machine to pitch (not automatic) to the 7-8 year olds, and Eli has gotten at least one hit at almost every game. He also got hit by the ball at his last game, but survived.

Simon is second from left standing up.

Isn't he just adorable?

Eli's coach showing him how to be ready.

Eli celebrated his 8th birthday yesterday! I can't believe he is 8! How is that possible? We had a fun party complete with a pinata.

Here is Eli taking a whack at it. I made the pinata, it is a Robloxian, some computer game thing he likes to play (basically a lego man). You can't see it's face but it had one. Joe helped paint it.

Here he is blowing out his candle on his brownie sundae. Joe thought he would make it a challenge by putting halfway across the table.

That has been our summer so far. We are looking forward to having lots of family here for Eli's baptism at the beginning of July!

And just want to say Happy Father's Day to my wonderful father, my fantastic husband, and my superb father-in-law. And also to all those great men, for all the great things they do for their families. Hope it has been a beautiful day!

Happy Spring

Last week was Easter, what a great time of year. It is spring, and going fast. Trees are blossoming, robins abound, spring flowers are blooming, a few april showers are falling. And somehow now it is May. I feel like I missed April. How can we be in the 5th month of this year already? I am sure I am taking an active role in my life and all, yet I also feel like time is passing by while I just stand still or something.

Well here are some pictures of my kids in their "Easter Outfits." I wanted to get Alice a cute Easter dress, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay the $15 or $20 it would cost, even though there were some very lovely ones out there. Mostly because she already has dresses she can wear. Instead I made her one. Not fancy, but not bad for having no real pattern and only a few hours on Friday afternoon, and it coordinated with her brothers' vests. (Which were ones I made 3 years ago for Easter. Eli wore the one Ayden wore back then, Simon wore Rylan's, I don't know what I did with the ones that I made Eli and Simon. I am sure they are lurking somewhere.) Anyway, I think they are cute kids!

Kids are great, and I really have a testimony of Primary. Today our fast and testimony meeting included lots of primary kids getting up and bearing their testimonies. Primary must work, and of course their parents are teaching them well. And this afternoon, my boys were singing "Love is Spoken Here" continually. I love that. I love to hear them sing the words of primary songs and I just know that somehow those teachings are making it into their minds are hearts and helping them grow their own testimonies!

In other children related matters, Alice has developed a love for taking off her clothes and diaper. So maybe I am supposed to potty train her now. I don't even know how to do that with one so young. I got out the little potty for her, which she loves to sit on, but has yet to actually pee in it. And today she decided to take off her clothes and diaper while she was supposed to be sleeping. She did not wet the bed this moring, but she did during her nap. Just great. Onsies to the rescue, she hasn't figured out how to undo those snaps yet. Every day a new adventure!

A new girl cousin!

I have been slow about getting this up. But I have to share pictures of the newest Marler. Here is Taryn DeeAnn Marler, born March 30th to Carissa and Daniel Marler.

She is a sweet, beautiful baby. Alice has already taken to "mothering" her, trying to put blankets on her, and give her pacifiers. We hope the girls will be good friends.

Alice Update

I thought I would just share a few pictures of Alice, since she is now 18 months old, almost 19 actually. She has enough hair to put in pigtails, at least enough up on top. She walks well now and has started to try to talk. She says a few things, like downstairs, which is helpful to me in knowing when she wants to go down to play. And she loves shoes, so she tries to say that. Mostly it is just the "sh" sound. Which is also what she says when she wants lotion, so context is rather important for deciphering her "talking."

She loves to put on hats too. Mostly she just loves to accesorize. And she loves having her picture taken!

Sometimes ignorace is bliss

Joe and I watched "Waiting for Superman" the other day. It's a documentary about public education in our nation. It put me in a bad mood for a couple of days! Joe and I have had lots of discussions about education, seeing how he is an educator. It is interesting kind of being on both sides, the parent with kids in school, and the teacher. But the film certainly points out how broken the system is. The problem is no one seems to know how to fix it. And those that try meet so much resistance. I certainly don't have the answer, but it is really frustrating to know it needs to change. And right now things are going to get better, with the economy and all the budget shortfalls. Joe came home yesterday and said their district will have to cut 20 full time positions for the coming year. They are a small district, I don't know how many positions total, but that has to be a large percent. And that is on top of what they already cut last year. Joe should be safe because he is the only art teacher at the high school, but at the same time, it's an elective and if this trend continues, pretty soon all they will have are reading and math and maybe science teachers. Only the ones that have to teach what are on the dumb tests the kids have to take.

Ugh CSAP. My kid doesn't even have to take it yet, but I can't stand it. How can you measure progress comparing different kids each year? And if there is no student accountability, what makes them even try? I understand the need for assessment, in order to get federal funding, but why is my kid's elementary school on probation or whatever they call it, because they didn't meet AYP (annual yearly progress) because they missed my 1 percentage point in the category of second-language learner's English? So I get a letter at the beginning of the year that says I can choose to send my kid to a different school in the district, but why would I do that when those schools are sending out the same letter to the parents of kids at that school? If no one can seem to be proficient in these things, what does that say? Is it because the kids are too dumb? I think not. Bad teachers? At every school? Not likely. So what does that leave--the tests! Somehow the curriculum with more reading and less recess doesn't seem to be making a difference.

So that is my ranting on that. Just thinking about it makes me agitated. So I should stop. Sometimes I think I would just rather live in ignorance of it all. I feel so helpless. I know I can't fix the system and all the problems. I need to just do what I can. We all do. I suppose that is what "Waiting for Superman" was all about. Trying to prod people into being upset and trying to do something. I haven't figured out what it is I am going to do exactly. Have any ideas? I am sure this is something a lot of you out there have thought about.