Do your kids ever get ahold of your camera?

WARNING: Multiple photos to follow!!!

I downloaded the photos off of my camera for another post and discovered a few I hadn't seen.

{I remember my friend Carrie once posted a series of photos that her son had taken with her camera and I thought it was so fun to see the progress, so I put them on here.}

Nice foot.

Who knew? At least there weren't any telling photos of me on there!!! {Come one. I would have hit delete faster than you could say....well, whatever.}

You Scream, I Scream

We all scream for ICE CREAM!

Today, Wednesday April 29th, from 5:00-10:00pm, get a scoop of ice cream for just 31 cents at your local Baskin-Robbins and help honor America's firefighters. Baskin-Robbins wll make a $100,000 donation to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) National Junior Firefighter Program

An afternoon of pampering

Max did the toes. Isabella did the fingers.
Need I say more?

I am an artist wannabe

Since I am NOT an artist, I have to rely on those who are.
I found a great site. It is called
Feed your Soul:the free art project

(Check out this beautiful photo!)

The concept is simple. Artists donate an image (or a few) to the site for anyone to download and use however they wish. The artist that started this site wanted people to still be able to have access to art during tough times.
She said "Well, I love art and I know you do too. I also know that when people start to tighten up the purse strings they tend not spend money on things that aren’t necessary for survival, things like books, magazines and art. But, art is important for your soul. It helps rejuvenate, it’s thought-provoking, offers inspiration and can generally brighten an otherwise dreary day among other things. In addition to helping brighten your day and put a little spring in your step, I want to help promote some of my favorite artists."

How cool is that?

So,if you are needing an inexpensive way to brighten a spot in your home...here it is!

I think this one is fun and a bit quirky,...but I like it.

I'm a sucker for silhouettes. Great color.

This would be sweet in a kid's room.

Pretty. Different.

Fun and quirky.

Check out Feed your Soul:the free art project here
If you happen to be an actual artist and not just a wannabe, they will be happy to accept some of your work to add to the freebies.

Such a cool idea!

Calling all Jane Austen fans...

Have you seen Lost in Austen? Have you heard of it?

If so,...why didn't you ever tell me about it????!!!

If not, ...you're in luck!

There is a four part series on PBS called Lost in Austen.
I caught the majority of the first episode last night and it will be on for the next few Sundays (on KUED.)
It is about a present-day Jane Austen fan named Amanda Price. She finds the P&P character Elizabeth Bennett in her bathroom. Elizabeth then shows her a secret door in the wall and Amanda goes through, finding herself in the Bennett home and stuck in the world of Pride & Prejudice. She tries to ensure that life there follows the life she knows from the novel.

I loved it. If you like Pride & Prejudice, you will probably like it. I haven't seen the other episodes, but I'm anxious to.
You can get more info about it here.
OR....
You can buy the DVD set here!!!
(However, let me warn you,...if you buy the DVD's you'd better be prepared to share!)

Something about it reminds me of...
Austenland by Shannon Hale, ...but just a bit.

I'm already excited for next week!

**If you could trade places with a character from a book, who would it be? Would it be a Jane Austen book?**

Happy Birthday Robyn and Brenda!!

Today is the birthday of my two good friends Robyn and Brenda!!!

(Here they are in some beautiful aprons my crafty friend Heidi made for them!)

They are great women with so many good qualities and characterisitcs. They are both fantastic moms and giving and loving friends.

I hope for the two of you a fantastic year! I hope that all of life's greatest rewards and blessings will be yours. I hope you have happiness, love, and peace. I hope you know how grateful I am for both of you! I hope someone makes you something really delicious to eat for your birthday!!! :)

Happy Birthday Ladies!!!!

Happiness

As I was cleaning out a few things, (it never ends around here), I found a few notes that I took at Stake Conference a year ago. There was one talk in general that struck me at the time and still resonates with me. I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

The speaker talked about happiness. Here are a few of my notes and things that stuck out at the time.

We should watch for and treasure the good moments. We should expect adversity and expect that negative things will happen in our life, but not dwell on them. We should instead look for happiness in all of the other little pieces of our lives.

One example she used was: Will we be content because we are wealthy or will we be wealthy because we are content? There is power that comes from focusing on positive things and it can drive the positive forces in our life.

This is the part that I have thought about the most lately and have really tried to incorporate:
We should FIND happiness in our current situation and enjoy what we have. We should not WAIT for the next thing to MAKE us happy.

I think I am generally a happy person, but sometimes I fall victim to this -- I put conditions on my happiness and tell myself that I would be happy if only....

I love that she pointed out that we should FIND the happiness. FIND the positives. Realize that there will be negatives and try not to feel so bad about them -- that is the point of this life.

This blog has been (as it states in the title) a way for me to focus on all of the simple pleasures in my life and FIND the happiness that is all around me. I love this concept and have tried on particularly rough days to FIND happiness and not wait for things to change to be happy. I hope to get better and better at it.

So here's to all of you that read this...
May you join me on my journey to FIND happiness today and watch for and treasure the good moments in your life!!!

P.S. Someone please remind me of this the next time my husband is out of town and I break down. Just don't be offended if at the time I tell you to shut up. :) hee hee just kidding -- we don't say shut up.

Temple Square

We decided to get out on Friday, so we took the kids to Temple Square.

Isabella loved seeing the temple where we were married and where "Mommy dressed like a princess and Daddy was the prince in prince clothes." (Don't anybody tell her otherwise -- if she wants to think her mom is a princess, well by all means I 'm going to let her!)
{I don't know why she's making that face....it makes me laugh.}

It was nice weather to get out and about and the kids loved wandering around Temple Square and the Visitor's Center. We looked at all of the great pictures of Christ and went to the bottom floor and watched "The Restoration" film. We were the only ones in the theatre, so the kids thought it was pretty fun to watch a movie all by ourselves.

It always amazes me that a "place" can be so full of the spirit. I love how it feels to be there.
We forget about all of the great things that are up in Salt Lake and want to get up there more often. The kids are already asking to go back.
We then ended the evening with a trip to Ikea to shop for a few things and have Swedish Meatballs for dinner. YUM! It was a simple outing, but the time together as a family was so fantastic!!!

Pure joy

Babies have such great emotions.

They are simple, and yet exact.

They are not complicated.

And they are simply delicious.

Just a little catching up

I thoughit I'd do a bit of catching up....

So, do your children like to be wherever you are?

Mine seem to migrate around the house based on which room I'm in. They seem to frequently be underfoot.
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so they too spend a lot of time in the kitchen and are constantly trying to find something to do. They have toys, and bedrooms, and a playroom, but that just isn't good enough.

Their newest game started out simply enough....

searching through the kitchen drawer for something fun to play with.
I was actually in the middle of cleaning out my kitchen drawers and re-organizing this one when they discovered some of the fun that was waiting for them.

They decided to PACK their pockets full of tools to carry around with them. It was a cross between playing doctor and administering medicine to everything and everyone in the house, and construction worker.

They used utensils,

Spill-top plugs

and medicine dispensers.

This game continued for a few days and for several hours at a time.

Sometimes it really is the little simple things that bring so much joy.

(And yes that includes the chocolate cake that you can see in the background of the first picture. YUM.)