Hospital Art Open House

This week was the open house for all the children who's artwork was accepted by the new hospital. Jared and Ruth were excited to see their artwork blown up, framed, with a plaque with their names on the frame. We are excited for the hospital tour in a couple week where we will get to see where their artwork will be hung in the hospital.

New Retainer

Ruth has been so excited to get her new retainer that will fix her cross bite. She said that it was like "a late birthday present" and even though she didn't have to, she wore it to school so that she could show all her friends.

As we were waiting in the Orthodontist's office Jared whispered to me, "It's no fair! Kaitlin and Chaz got braces and Ruth got a retainer. I want a retainer!"

I'm not sure when Orthodontia got so cool, but if it helps my kids adjust to their dental treatment plans, then I'm all for it.

Happy Birthday Ruth

Ten years ago during the Saturday morning session of General Conference, Chuck and I were at the hospital with my midwife (who looked like Marie Osmond). Conference was on the TV but I was in labor and totally did not pay attention to any of it. Between conference sessions we walked up seven flights of stairs to the helicopter deck and back down and then in the afternoon session I gave birth to bright eyed Ruth. It was if she was saying "Hello Word! Here I am!"

On Friday that same spirited girl had a birthday party which she planned and partly paid for. The theme was "Random Birthday" meaning there was no theme and Ruth did whatever she wanted. Everyone seemed to have fun.



Free Day at Aviary

On Thursday we braved the cold and went to enjoy the free day at the city aviary. Our noses were pink and many of the birds were hiding in their warm nests, and were therefore hidden from our view. I'm not all that impressed with the aviary itself; I'd never pay to go there. Luckily, next door to the aviary there is a cool park and playground which we all enjoyed very much.

Ruth & Jared: Artists

Ruth and Jared both submitted artwork to be displayed in the children's wing of the new hospital that will be opening this fall not far from our home. We received notice this week that their work was accepted and will be part of their permanent display. We've been invited to an openhouse next week to view their work.




Writer's Conference

I attended a writer's conference on Thursday. I was able to hear from authors and publishers and I learned a lot about the art and business of writing. It was fun and educational. This last month I've submitted two different articles to the Children's Friend and I'm trying to work myself up to starting that novel I've been thinking about for the last year. The frightening thing about it is what a huge time commitment it would be with such a slim chance of success. But if I never try I'll never know.

Primary Program

Every year the children at our church put on a program for all the parents and members. Today was our program and as as the president of the primary this was a big deal for me. We have 150 children and we filled the first 6 rows of benches in the chapel as well as filling the stand. The children (ages 3-11) sang songs and had speaking parts; our theme was families. It turned out really good and I was so proud of all the kids. We ended on time (second year in a row) and I got a lot of complements afterward.

Links

Nothing much happened this week. Chuck was sick a couple of days. Chaz and Kaitlin went to the new Oquirrh Mountain temple. Kaitlin went to the temple again on Thursday with some friends because another of her friends had seen David Archuleta there the week before and the temple matron said that David A. had come in every week. No luck this week, but Kaitlin is hoping to go again soon.

Here are some links to some sites we like:

Kid's Games

Toontown: A MMORPGs (online multi-player real-time game) by the Disney folks, make your own toon and fight the cogs to save toontown. You can play the first level of tasks for free. Great game for younger kids on up. Totally safe chat environment. www.toontown.com

Wizards101: Another MMORPGs. An advanced sort of toontown for older kids. Make a wizard and learn spells to fight of evil bad creatures. Also free for the first level of tasks. A little more open with chat but still somewhat restricted. www.wizards101.com

Club Penguin: MMORPGs. This one is mostly free, but if you buy the subscription than you get extra clothes and stuff. Become a little penguin that runs around a world and does stuff. No real goal here that I've discovered, but the kids seem to like it. Also from the Disney folks. Safe chat. www.clubpenguin.com

Poptropica: I've not played this one but Ruth loves it. You don't interact with other live people like the other games here, but you make some sort of character and run around doing stuff and playing games. www.poptropica.com

Handipoints: MMORPGs. This game is almost exactly like Club Penguin, but with cats. What makes this cool is that parents make the account for their kids, and you set up chore charts in the game. When your kid does his chores then he marks it in the game, and once you approve it, then your kid gets coins to spend in the game to buy clothes and furniture for their cat. The game is free. They make their money by having your kid choose things from their store that you will buy them once they reach certain goals. Overall a very cool site for the younger kids. www.handipoints.com

Spelling City: Enter your kids spelling list and they have a bunch of games to choose from that use those words, like hangman and word searches. They also will give your child a spelling test. The program actually says the words while your child types them. It also reads your spelling words into sentences. It's very cool. This is free for individuals to use. They make their money by encouraging schools to buy accounts. www.spellingcity.com

Grown up Stuff:

Pandora Radio: With this free site you can type in any type of music imaginable and it will play that music for you. www.pandora.com

Pinching Your Pennies: A great site that sort local grocery store adds for the best deals. They also link to online coupons. Sign up for a weekly email for the grocery deals or a daily email of internet deals. www.pinchingyourpennies.com

The Fly Lady: The Fly Lady sends you a daily email that helps you get organized and keep your house clean without feeling overwhelmed. She talks a lot about 'baby steps' and doing one thing at a time. Lots of helpful tips and encouragement. Totally free and surprisingly empowering. www.flylady.net

Kaitlin's Sister on TV

Kaitlin's sister Megan was the subject of a new story on ABC4 this week. You can see Kaitlin in the background of a couple of shots.

Power of a Wish brings a horse to a girl with genetic disease - ABC 4.com

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Labor Day Boat Race

On Labor Day we took a trip to my folk's farm where we took part in a boat race on the canal that runs through their property.

Kaitlin's boat won the first race and my boat won the second race.











Ruth and Jared sat on the bridge while Ruth fished the boats out of the water. My boat (the red one pictured) had a little stowaway for most of the race; perhaps that little grasshopper had always wanted to be a sailor.







Peaches

Our little peach tree had lots of fruit this year, and so I spent several hours each day this week canning peaches. I also made three batches of peach butter, and a peach pie.

Happy Birthday Chuck

Yes, we are one year closer to AARP membership, thanks to Chuck's birthday.

One Lone Zucchini

This year I waged a winter/summer squash war of attrition against the squash bugs. I planted 20 squash plants. "I would win by sheer numbers!" I declared in my arrogance. I offered a bounty of 10 cents for every squash bug's head, and like Pickett's Charge I led my seedling into battle, confident that I would win by sheer numbers despite my disadvantage. Surely some would live! Surely.

And as the dust settled after summers long battle this plant was the sole survivor and this zucchini, the only fruit strong enough to live. Brave, brave zucchini. You were very tasty.

Kaitlin's Project

Kaitlin and I fixed and painted this dresser. We used our free paint from Glidden. I love free projects!