Second Talk (featuring Ginger Art)

A few months ago Ginger gave her second Primary talk, which means she was assigned a topic, and prepared a 2-minute talk to give in front of all the children at church, ages 3-11.  I helped her brainstorm and organize, but she wrote and memorized the words, and drew her own prompt cards.  She has such a cute little voice, it was precious.

"I Feel My Savior's Love When I Try to be Like Jesus"

by Ginger Hickman

April 22, 2012

When Jesus visited the Nephites in 3 Nephi 27, he said, "Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am."

One day recently my family went to the park.  A girl about my age came over and asked me if I would be her friend.  I liked her and we played together.

 Jesus loves everybody, so I was like Him when I made a new friend.

Every morning our family reads the scriptures.  I liked the story about the stripling warriors so much that I asked to read it two days in a row. 

Jesus loves the scriptures, so when I read them I become more like him.

Jesus taught us to pray.  Every night when I pray at dinner, I pray for Dad at work that he will come home safely and it happens. 

When I pray with faith, I'm trying to be like Jesus and I feel His love. 

Every day I try to be like Jesus, and when I try my best, I feel the Savior's love.

Some Favorite Things

Just a few goodies to share, mild obsessions of mine this month.

I spend (=waste) a lot of money on hair accessories.  I see them in the aisle at Target and CVS, and I think, "Ooh, pretty!  That might work on my hair."  But it usually doesn't, and I throw it, and my $6, away.  But I recently tried again, and you guessed it, it works.  Works, like killah awesome works.  Can you say, chignon?

I just twist my hair up, stick in the Goody Modern Updo pin, rotate as shown in the instructions, stick it back in until it gouges my scalp (but the ends are rounded, so not irreparably), and Bob's your uncle.  Awesome tight bun of sorts.  The best part is, no scrunchie.  No bobby pins.  Nothing showing.  And because I'm more interested in being quick than being perfect, it's different every time! 

Works best when hair is partly damp.  Here are a few of my creations:

Super quick updo done in the car during a red light.  Stayed in all day.

This one took about 10 seconds longer than the first; I think I just got lucky that it turned out cool looking.  And I finally figured out to utilize my bathroom mirror in taking pictures of the back of my head.  I am so smart.

And speaking of updo's, I liked this that I twisted up with some chopstick claws from my bag while I had Poppy sequestered in a quiet room during church.  Just having some fun with my long hair.

Moving on.  Ginger and Hazel are big girls now, and it wasn't working to share just one laundry basket.  Filled up so fast!  And the socks, we used to put them in a mesh bag hanging from the laundry basket, but it filled up quick, too.  So I hunted around for a decent double hamper (= not dumb looking, and <$100), and came up with this one from Land of Nod, plus a separate basket just for socks.  It's been working great - I can do one kid's laundry at a time, and socks separately, which has resulted in fewer disappearing - always a bonus. 

Finally, a year after we made them, I got around to framing our bubble prints (one of my favorite Art Tuesdays), and hanging them in our naked stairway.  It doesn't hide how filthy the wall is, but it still draws the eye up and makes the house look more occupied. 

Summer Fun Club 12

I just have so many pictures for each SFC, I can't group them in posts!  But this one will be quick, mostly pictures.

So.  You know Queen Anne's Lace?  It's a weedy flower, related to a wild carrot, grows on the side of the road.  One morning last week we pulled over and cut some for that day's Summer Fun Club meeting.

After Poppy was down for her nap, we broke out the food coloring, and made jars of different colored water.  Then we put one flower in each jar.  

Did you ever do this as a child?  So simple and cool.  We discussed very briefly the science here, why we put flowers in water, how they use it, where it goes, etc.  Then we put them on the coffee table and left them for a few days.  (Note for next time: place on a tray on the coffee table - little spills ended up staining.)

Next, we took some thick paper, thick paint, and more Queen Anne's Lace, and did some flower printing.

I'd never done this before and wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it was pretty cool!

Then the colored water reminded me of this Art Tuesday project we did last year, so I got out the coffee filters and mini scone pan, and we did some color dipping.

Two days later, our flowers had started turning the colors of their water.  The turquoise and purple worked the best, followed by orange, green and yellow.  Another day later, the colors were even more vibrant, but they were also falling apart, so we tossed them.  But it was such a fun and fascinating project for the girls, I think we will definitely do that one every summer.

Summer Fun Club 11

Anyone remember this post, when I had just gotten a full set of authentic Fashion Plates off eBay, and was more than a little excited about it?  We played with them a little, then I packed them away until the girls were a bit older.  Last week, for Summer Fun Club, I pulled them out again.

I can't remember how old I was when I did these with my sisters.  So I was curious how it would go.  First I had to remember myself how to do them.  Our first round was done with pencil rubbing, and they worked, but were very...gray.

I was trying to think how we got just the outline, so you could color the clothes in using the pattern plates on the flip side.  Unwrapped crayons, pressed and swiped.  In our case, we used Cray-Pas, my very favorite children's art supply.  Vibrant.  Perfect.

So many combinations to choose from...

I thought we might hang our creations on the wall, or if I really got ambitious, frame some to hang in the hall.  But the girls had other plans.  They cut them out and named them...

...and turned them into paper dolls!

Which they played with the rest of that afternoon, and for several days after.  And if they ever get lost, or torn, well, we can just make more.

Santa Done Good

Well.  Guess what Santa brought Disco Mom this year?

Mhm.

 Despite hinting, I was still extremely surprised to get a new DSLR camera.  Ed did all his own research and got the Nikon D5100.  And I do NOT know how to use it.  I watched the DVD it came with and followed along for awhile, then just got lost in menus, meters, and options.  So for now I'm just playing around, getting to know it.  I think it will be a long, steep learning curve.  But it is so amazing.  Already SO much better than my old one.  Here are just a few shots I took this week.

Playing Wii

Poppy ran up close at the last second.  And it still focused!

Wide angle of Ed down the stairs.  My old one never would have gotten this much in!

Our tree, plus proof Ed changes diapers sometimes.

This one and the next blow me away the most.  INDOOR photo taken AT NIGHT in our living room with bad lighting.  The photo looks even better than the real thing!

Again, living room at night.  Hazel's guitar lesson.

Toaster in a dark kitchen.  The old one never could have handled it. 

At the mall play area.

Poppy and her friend Jayda.  Good candids are surprisingly hard to capture!

The girls playing with the new dollhouse.  Which, by the way, they totally love.  It's been a huge hit, and not at all trumped by the Wii.

I am loving the wide angle and great auto settings for now.  Next up, food for the VGP.  Can you believe it actually has a FOOD photography setting?  Amazing.  Now if the photos suck, I have no one, and nothing, to blame but myself.