The Best Of PA

Some cute lines Elly has said: "Eeny Meeny Miney Moe.  Catch a tiger by the toe.  That's a funny part Mommy, tigers don't have toes." "Mom I'm allergic to the paint cuz I keep on achooing!" "Mommy I have two wishes: to go to grandma's house and to have a heart in my feelings." Some cute things Brinley has done: She is singing all the time.  Opening up books pretending to read them, while singing to her hearts delight.  She actually says thank you, mommy and daddy perfectly now.   Elly began picking up the chickens and now so does Brinley.  Yay for Mommy: I've had such a productive day. We had circle time, some science, math and history lessons and read books with the girls. I canned some peaches, made a homemade crust that came out perfectly, made a peach pie.  I finished three loads of laundry, did up my hair in forties fashion and straightened up the house oh and washed the kitchen floor, ran two miles and made dinner.  That is a pret

There are more pictures to come. I really don't know why this picture didnt go through in the first place.

Well today was the first day of Pioneer Summer Camp. Yay! The kids stayed busy learning about how the pioneers lived, ate and dressed. They tried some beef jerky, made homemade butter and listened to some fiddling-or violin playing. They created log cabins ( with boxes in the shapes of houses covering them with icing and pretzel rods) and played pin the tail on the pig. They ended with a good ole water balloon fight. It was fun time in these neck of the woods. Sent from my iPhone

(the girls and I at chick fil a for free food-gotta dress like a cow) For some reason I have recently become obsessed with the forties.  Obessed to the point of: pinning my hair in forties fashion, wearing aprons daily, smearing on red lipstick, adorning myself with pearls (well fake pearls), setting the table in company fashion every night (with table cloths, and garden flowers) Canning, Baking pies like you would not beleive..and from scratch Scaling back on the budget Repurposing things It's been soo fun!  I'm glad I'm living in this day in age, but there are certain things I so admire about the 40's and 50's. Things like, hard work, appreciating the little things, frugality, the fashion, values, neighborliness (thank goodness for our wonderful neighbors) modest living, gratitude and making things from scratch. Sent from my iPhone

Aagh!! My computer is broken and Elly is sick. Fun times. But I want to send you a message via iPhone. I am canning peaches!! All by myself! It's exhilarating knowing I can do it without help!! I am also trying to live a more forties life. This means sticking to a tight budget, more creative meals, more canning and less going out. It also means dressing more the part. I found this adorable forties doo that I am obsessed with. Will add more pictures when possible. I even wear the fancy red lipstick these days and I feel gorgeous!! I've learned the value of a good apron and am sort of obsessed. You know how I get. I feel a forties date coming on!! Anyways I'll keep ya posted. Ta ta for now!!

Tuesday: A short hike and Girls Night A short hike Katie dropped Mary and I off somewhere on Wasatch Boulevard-home of multi-millionaries.  We were about to take a short hike up the mountains.  But first we had to find the trail.  There was a steep wooden staircase we trekked up.  It led into a wealthy neighborhood.  Several styles of McMansions surronded us, brick, stone, castle, roman palace.  And we walked the whole neighborhood, searching for the hidden path to the mountains.  I suppose we were a bit distracted by the sheer size of the mountains and luxury homes.  Eventually we asked one of the residents arriving home where the path began.   "Just down the hill there, next to to the craftsmen style home."  She pointed in the direction we had recently passed.  How did we miss it?  We thanked her and headed towards that craftsman style house. With more careful inspection we found a narrow trail leading up more stairs.  Stairs, its no wonder people are s

MONDAY: DEDICATED TO SHOPPING/SPENDING MONEY It is quite the ordeal to go shopping in Utah.  I mean before you get out the door there is the primping and curling, make up and accessorizing.  In Pennsylvania I can run a comb through my hair, throw some earrings on and out the door I go.....without makeup at least half the time.  But in the land of the beautiful I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't want to scare anyone on my venture.    Seriously there are so many gorgeous gals AND guys out west.  I'm always surprised, (especially about the guys part). Never have I seen so many people so put together.  Hair perfectly in place, makeup evenly puffed on covering any sort of blemishes, adorable outfits, trendy jewlery.  It's like they stepped out of a fashion magazine.  Okay so not everyone is like this-I mean I was visiting-but the bulk of them...beautiful. So I made sure I primped and prepared right along with them and we went SHOPPING!!  Of course by the time we

I am tradition person.  In fact I probably over do the tradition thing.  I get excited and make exravagant plans..sometimes it turns out GREAT, while others not so much.    Don't worry, it's actually kinda good, because when some don't pan out, well we try out something new the following year.  But this tradition....this one is a keeper. 1) Monday is when it began, with reading.  I got some cute books from Barnes N Noble.  They are awesome and simple.  Of course I had to simplify it even more because I have a four year old with an attention span of about 30 seconds.  So we learned in short incriments about the Revolutionary War and how people in the Colonial days lived.  I think I soaked it up just a bit more than the kids.  Seriously sometimes I wish I could start school all over again, I'd be much more interested this time around.  Tuesday we planned and prepared for a Colonial Dinner by candle light.   2) The first preparation, make cornstick

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY FAMILY DATES BUTTON ABOVE TO CHECK OUT OUR FOURTH OF JULY!!

I LOVE that Elly played by herself for over an hour in the playroom yesterday, as I straightened up the house.  She was singing, and giggling as she concocted tales of adventure and romance.  I love that her characters were not her ever popular Barbie dolls, but her lincoln log play set.  I walked in and witnessed a line of short and chunky logs standing next to one another in a perfect single file row. "Are you building something?"  I asked She shook her head "No Mommy, these are people." I nodded and smiled.  What a wonderful gift, Imagination.  I am glad she has the power to narrarate  her own made up stories.  I hope she never loses that.   "I'm a good waiter Mommy."  Elly was patiently sitting at the kitchen table as I wiped down the counters, then swept the kitchen floor.  I let her help wash the dishes, dry and wipe the counter tops and table, but only once a day-after all she is four.  And she had helped me at lunch time.  Now i