on-hand modern

valentine's day by dad

Whoa. Way too much time between posts. Must try to remedy that situation starting...now.
 
Hey! I wanted to talk to you about holidays and who's in charge of planning. In my experience, the role of holiday cruise director usually falls under the job description of Mom, but at some point over the years the Engineer took over Valentine's Day, and it's pretty great. There are usually flowers involved, for me and the girls. (Attention dads: if you give your daughter flowers on Valentine's Day, she will feel loved and special and remember your thoughtfulness forever. Learned this tip from my own dad who probably doesn't remember he once sent me flowers at BYU on Valentine's Day, but I do. Hi Dad!)
 
There is also chocolate for everyone--this year giant Hershey kisses for the kids, something a little more grown up for me--and maybe a surprise or two. Like paper hearts everywhere! It doesn't have to cost a lot or be elaborate to make a big impact. As a mom (and blogger) I always try to remember that. Simple is just fine, and over-the-top is generally overrated. (Do you agree? Is this easier for guys, do you think?)
 
Anyway, that's our family Valentine's Day. What do you think? Is dad in charge of any holidays at your house? As a mom, would you be cool with a holiday dad's way? Love to hear your thoughts.

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kid portraits january 2012

Hiya. This post is for people who like to see regular photos of the children. I took these last month for my mother-in-law’s birthday.

There are two specific events from the last two weeks that I want to remember.

Event One:

It finally snowed one day, and the middle child volunteered to shovel a friend’s driveway. He worked for most of the afternoon, and when the job was done, the friend offered him a $5 bill, which the child graciously accepted.

Later that evening over dinner, the Engineer asked to see the money the child had earned. Middle child reluctantly replied he didn’t have it.

“Why not?” we asked.

“I didn’t need it,” he said. And then he went on to tell us how when no one was looking he had quietly and discretely left the money on the friend’s desk.

“I didn’t need it,” he repeated.

Event Two:

The oldest child has a mostly quiet and reserved nature, but the effect of her goodness on people is startling. I recall a year ago when she spoke in front of a large gathering at Grandpa’s funeral. Her 8-year-old’s tribute to Grandpa was more than I think anyone expected. She made us all laugh; she made us all cry. Most of all, she gave us hope. To look at her and listen to her—eloquent, funny, beautiful, brave, and good—was to know that life goes on. And that it’s going to be awesome.

It was the same last Sunday. She sang “If The Savior Stood Beside Me” in church in front of probably 200 people. Whoa. Grown men cried like babies. (And not just the Engineer.)

I don’t know if this space is the right place to record experiences like these, but I feel compelled to write them down somewhere, and I hope they uplift and inspire you like they do me.

Have a great weekend.

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diy: flannel doll blankets

i wanted to show you one of olivia's recent sewing projects--matching receiving blankets for her doll twins. sorry, no tutorial, but the finished measurements are 21" x 21" with rounded corners, and this seems to be a good fit for a 15" doll.

other kid-friendly beginning sewing projects from the archives:

- fabric bookmark

- mini felt crayon roll

- pocket belt

p.s. she wants to make doll clothes next. help!

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a trip to st louis

the LDS temple here in kansas city is *this* close to being finished. there will be an open house april 7th through the 21st, and if you are local, i do hope you will come. in fact, let's go together! the doors of the temple will be open to the general public during those dates. we'll tour the building, talk about cool stuff like, i dunno, Jesus Christ and families, AND we'll even get to wear some of those awesome disposable booties. interested? (and let's be honest, how could you not be? BOOTIES.) email me.

meantime, we drove to st louis over the weekend to attend the temple there for the last time. we ate some local food and spent an entire saturday at city museum, which is not so much a museum i decided as it is a giant psychedelic jungle gym. (ten-story slides, massive ball pits, and such. fun for all ages.) that said, my favorite part of the trip would have to be scout's unscripted sighting of the famous st louis arch as we looped around downtown on the freeway:

"A RAINBOW!"

life with a two-year-old is grand. which, unfortunately, is more than i can say for imo's st louis-style pizza. (i know, i know. spoken like a true tourist. my apologies to all st louis-ians. especially holly. what can i say? i like my pizza with carbs.) fitz's root beer + cream soda get a biiiiiiig thumbs-up from me, though.

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weird science: naked egg experiment

did you like science as a kid? i thought this was so interesting.

how to do it: submerge an egg in vinegar for at least 24 hours.

what happens: the vinegar dissolves the egg shell.

what's weird about it: the membrane inside the shell remains intact. you can hold the egg, sans shell, in your hands. it feels sort of squishy but solid, like J-ello. and it's transluscent.

biggest surprise: once the membrane is pierced, it's just a regular old egg again with a runny white and raw yolk. (but you probably shouldn't make cookies with it.)

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2012 so far

while the rest of the world was busily goal-setting and new year's resolution-ing, i spent most of the first month of 2012 getting my bearings after the holidays, reading a lot, thinking, re-thinking, planning, and i guess maybe even dreaming a little. i did some writing too, which i did not share here. mostly in the form of notes and half-thoughts, jotted on scrap paper and taped to the fridge or tucked between pages of library books.

it might be a slow start, but it's a start? i'd love to hear how 2012 is going so far for you. at the start of a new year are you off and running like a rabbit/hare, or are you more of a slow-moving tortoise like me?

p.s. nerd alert! why yes, that *is* an official regulation-size hopscotch in the photos. and yes, there is such a thing. and, duh, of course we used a tape measure. 

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alert: where to buy a kids' mailbox

hullo, dahlings. it's been almost a year since i posted about installing a mailbox in the kids' bedroom. since then people have asked me where to find one, and unfortunately i had to tell them it was a seasonal item that target no longer carried. well, good news. i heard a rumor that mini mailboxes are back at target in the $1 section for valentine's day. can anyone confirm? did you get one?

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a scout outfit

shoes are minnetonka trampers from santa.

be awesome today. xoxo.

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photos of cute baby friend camilla

at 16 days old.

we turned the living room into a little make-shift studio. i shot most of these while standing on a chair. late morning light. north-facing window. i had the sheers open at first but the light was better filtered, so i ending up closing them for all but the last shot.

sigh. i do love the newborns. especially the hairy ones. :)

thanks for letting me share.

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what to do with kids: classic movies + backyard pop-up movie theater

peeps, you may or may not have noticed, i'm having some trouble getting back on the blogging horse in 2012. for lack of any better explanation, i think i'll just go ahead and place the blame squarely on the weather which has been nothing short of RIDONCULOUS (in a good way) since christmas. sunshine + sixty-degree temps in january in kansas? for weeks in a row? unheard of.

last weekend, we hauled out the projector + huddled up in blankets in the backyard to watch E.T. what could be better? i confess, life seemed pretty good.

hint: the engineer picked up our projector for $50 at a university surplus sale years ago. it's worth doing some research into sales in your area--if there are deals to be had, they might as well be had by you.

and now as i'm typing this the kids are waking up and jumping up and down because it SNOWED last night. ha. of course it did.

p.s. thank you for the birthday wishes. i'm all warm and fuzzy inside even though my feet are freezing.

[top photo by k]

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