sorry, the link doesn't take you to the talk. It's by Arthur Brooks, under "forums" and the title is "Why Giving Matters"



http://www.byub.org/talks/Talk.aspx?id=2998

psychology of charitable giving

I happened to watch a talk on KBYU yesterday that I wanted to share. I never watch talks and I can't remember what caught my attention. But it was a really good talk and I always find them more interesting when they are given at BYU by some one of a different faith. This guy happens to be Catholic. I like what he says at the end about what would happen to our country if the government took over and did the work all charity's are doing. Let me know what you think.

photo booth

this little application has provided the kids and I with much entertainment. But there was just something about distorting a sweet little babies face that made photo booth incredibly hilarious! We could not get enough. This isn't even half of the photos we took.

treasure hunt

Today I took the kids on a fun treasure hunt. The local business by us, about 9 of them, participated. We started at the gas station where they got a bag with coupons for free stuff and a card that they used to mark off each place we went. And our first clue. It was really fun and so clever, we got a new clue at each business and also a coupon for most of the places we stopped. At the end, they had to turn in their card for a drawing. Cloe won $5 to Quiznos sandwiches, Brody won $10 to Dairy Queen and Abbey won $10 to the local coffee shop that also has descent gelato. All 3 kids won something, it was so cool! And we also brought their little neighbor friend and he won $40 to the home decor store! I think I was more excited than his mom was, and she's the one that will benefit. One of the coupons was a free kids meal at Del Taco, and guess what my kids had for dinner tonight. Del Taco. I hope they do it again because it was a fun activity for a Saturday and not to mention all the free stuff we got.

birthday parties on a dime

We had a little friend birthday party for Cloe. And for Abbey, I just didn't think it was neccesary for a 4 year old. Cloe had 3 friends over and we went up the canyon and went sledding. As you can see by the way they are dressed, it was great spring weather!
Earlier that week we had family parties. Sunday with my family and Monday with Ryan's. On Monday we had cake and then went swimming at our clubhouse. The kids had so much fun and LOVE being with their cousins. Because both birthdays usually end up being in the same week, it is a week of celebrating which makes it more fun.



Cloe with her pals

little cousin Persayes playing with the tubes and loving the snow.


Cloe with 2 of her cousins, Tianna and Gavin






the cake. 88 cents, I made the frosting and the girls decorated it with their Littlest Pet Shops and left over Valentine candy. Doesn't get anymore ghetto and cheap than that.

I left the banner up all week. I made it from stuff I had around the house. not as ghetto but cheap and it made the girls feel special to have it up.


So all the parties together cost me $4.88 but we'll round it up to $5 for tax. To rent the tubes for sledding cost $4. Yes, I'm proud of my cheapness.

Abbey is now 4

I don't like my little girls having Birthdays. I love giving them a special day and seeing their face light up whenever they get sung "Happy Birthday", but the whole growing up thing doesn't jive with me. Regardless, Abbey had a fun day and felt special. No school this morning because her teacher was sick so she played outside most of the day with friends, siblings and little cousin Persayes. She had her choice of dinner: rice with soy sauce. I was thrilled, easiest dinner I've made in a long time! Then we went to Cold Stone so the girls could use their Birthday club coupon for free ice cream.
I love this little girl, she has a funny personality and does the silliest things. She loves to snuggle, suck her thumb and hold my ear. On our drive to Paris, we stopped to go potty and she came in with me. I was squatting (try not to touch anything in public restrooms) and doing my thing and she came and stood right by my since I was at her level and started sucking her thumb and holding my ear while I peed. It was classic. One thing she does that is also cute, is when she gets excited about something like going to the store with Dad, she always says "awesome!!" and her voice gets a little deeper. And she'll also add a little booty shake dance. It's fun to see her personality develop as she becomes her own person.

Kuh-rah-tay

Brody is also signed up for the Community Education, he is taking a 6 week karate class. He kept bugging me about signing him up at a studio so I was glad when this class was offered. It isn't quite what he was hoping for. Not enough fighting. I'm glad I took my camera on this particular day because they did fun things. I don't know what they are called, but they were jumping over swords, avoiding their teacher stabbing them and doing some sort of jumps to the ground. And not to mention the spider man suit he decided to wear.

no way, it has not been 7 years!

Today is Cloe June's birthday. As I was searching for this particular picture of her Birth day, I couldn't help but post a few more from when she was barely 1. It makes me sad that I can't remember these days very well. It seems like she was never a little tyke or a baby like Charlotte. It seems that she has always been my *gulp* seven year old. She is such an amazing little girl. She has so much faith and a strong testimony at such a young age. I admire her for her beauty, talents, sweet spirit and friendliness. I really hope I don't mess her up. I hope she always stays faithful and forgiving. Seven is still young but when I look back on her life and try to remember it, they sure do grow up fast. She has been promising me all these years that she won't grow up. I love her so much and am thankful we have been blessed to have her in our family.




she went from a little toddler to a BIG sister. And an awesome Big sister.

mom notes

* I need to write these more often because these are the types of things I know I'll forget.

It is so cool to watch my kids develop a new skill. Brody can now read basic reading books. He was frustrated when he first started learning and I thought it was going to be a long road ahead. But he picked it up quick and I get so excited at his progress and when I listen to him read a whole book.

Cloe is getting good at the piano. She can read the notes well and likes to memorize the songs. We have our moments when I'm ready to quit practicing with her but all in all she enjoys it and is very talented. And I get excited every time she plays a song well by the end of the week.

Charlotte is SUCH a good, sweet little baby. We are so lucky to have her. She is happy and easy all day. I can't stop kissing her. Whenever I talk to her, she gets the biggest grin on her face and I just love it!!!!

I also love how supportive they are of each other. Don't get me wrong, they fight about 90% pf the time because she/he won't stop looking at me. But when it come to one of them "performing", they love to watch and cheer. Today at Abbey's ballet, Brody was watching and said "oh, there's Abbey. She looks so cute." And then when he made eye contact with her, he gave her a thumbs up. I actually got a little tear in my eye because it was so sweet.

Such great kids, I just need to remind myself sometimes. Somedays I have a hard time finding joy in mothering.