Cancun

We escaped Utah's winter to spend a few days in Cancun with Jeremy, Karenin and family. We stayed at the Azul Beach Resort.

What fun!

Our favorite spot?

Definitely the beach beds







We relaxed on our beach beds all day long - why leave?

Naps



Lunch - JJ's favorite, "hangurber!"



Sand is so fun



Water is funner















A little cooling Evian spray



The resort was nice

Definitely oriented toward kiddies





A yoga hut for grandmas





Kid-friendly bar with swinging beds





So-so food - in the restaurant



or on the beach



Pools - but we swam in the sea



The rooms were nice, but smallish









With a beach like this - who cares about rooms?




the end

Rachel's 100%

Reid and I spent time with Joelle and her family this month.

Rachel, who turned 12 during our visit, has been struggling with social studies. Her grade had dropped and she was getting 70% on her tests - no matter how hard she studied.

Rachel was frustrated!

So, Monday night I spent some time helping her with the week's chapter. The topic - the entire history of Mexico. (I hated history as a child, so this was a daunting task).

I wondered if perhaps Rachel learns better visually. So I decided to have her draw the stories in the chapter. We read the sections and drew Juarez, Hidalgo, Morelos, Iturbide and all their adventures. We ended up filling six pages both sides.





Rachel showed her pages to her teacher (I think he was impressed) and reviewed them during the week.

By the time Friday's test came along, I was back home.

I was surprised and amazed to receive this text at 11:30 am:

Rachel: I got 100% on my test!

Yes!!! (Grandma power)

The Power of Why

Here's a fun and informative story about 2 year old Jack.

Family gathered last week for his big sister Rachel's 12th birthday. One of her gifts included a big bag of M&Ms -  Jack's favorite treat. He managed to get ahold of the candy and carried the bag from person to person saying "Open MMs?" over and over and louder and louder as each person said "no."  He finally got to me, quite frustrated and whiney. He repeated "OPEN MMs?!!!" I said, "Jack, those are Rachel's special birthday M&Ms." He said "OK," set them down and walked away.

Are 2 year olds reasonable all the time? No. But I'm convinced it's essential to teach why. This will lay a foundation for self discipline.

Joseph Smith once said, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.” (Messages of the First Presidency, comp. James R. Clark, 6 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965–75, 3:54.)

In parenting terms - teach them why and they will learn to control themselves. "Why" includes how their actions affect those around them and also Gospel principles  and doctrines (eternal truths) such as the Plan of Salvation).

I still remember, years ago, getting a call from my daughter. She said "***  lied! What should I do?"   *** was about 3 years old at the time and my daughter couldn't believe she knew how to lie and had no idea what to do.  My first thought - teach her the Plan of Salvation.

To a 3 year old?

Yes!

Help her understand that we all need to learn how to keep the commandments of God in this life so we will be prepared to return and live with our Heavenly Father someday. Help her know that it's worth it!

And remember - 2 year olds turn into teenagers. If they understand the "Why" when they are young, they may grow up to be reasonable and enjoyable teens.

Pillow Evolution

I spent most of last week in Boise visiting Joelle and family. I love my visits!

I'm not very good at relaxing so we usually tackle a project or two. Recently we've painted two bedrooms, sewed a bedskirt, and made a cute modest dress for Julia.

This time, Joelle mentioned she'd like help figuring out pillows for her new family room sofa. I came across these interesting pillows and sent pictures to her - I suggested we could make simple little figures for the whole family.





Joelle liked the idea, but then showed me the work of a friend of a friend who does crazy fun family paintings - funkitup, on Etsy.



Hmmm - maybe we could make the pillows a little fancier. I made a sketch and a mock up out of paper and Joelle liked it.





So off we went to the fabric store for the fun part - finding just the right colors and fabrics.

Here's our step by step process:

Sketch the figures and then outline with black sharpie.



Identify fabrics for each piece of the figures, then trace the pieces, grouped together by fabric, onto the paper side of an iron on adhesive like heat 'n bond.





Cut around each group of pieces (not the individual pieces - the fabric group) and iron them onto the back of their fabrics. (Follow instructions that come with the adhesive.) Next cut out each piece and peal off the paper backing. Lay the pieces out on the pillow top and iron them until they fuse.

I used my original pattern to figure out placement.







Finish the edges of each piece with a machine zig zag or by hand embroidery. We chose hand - so quite a few hours were spent sitting, chatting, and sewing.

Joelle learned the lost art of needle work. It was fun!



Finish with embellishments. We added ribbons, trims, and buttons to personalize the clothing and to represent the family pets - dog, hamster, bird, and frogs.





Sew the pillow top to the pillow back. We used a simple overlapping envelope type back and used cording to edge the pillows. Here's a pillow making 101 tutorial giving the basics.

Here's our finished product:

Mom and Dad


and the kiddies



Look who loves the new pillows

Olivia's Quilt

Karenin and I picked out fabrics and a design for Olivia's quilt.

Here they are:

the quilt:


the fabrics:


Yay,  I get to make a girly quilt!