Sunkissed

I ADORE Sunkist navel oranges! However, eating them used to be a bit of a challenge for me. For my kids, I would cut them in wedges and have them eat them off of the rind. This kind of creeped me out though (does that make me a bad mother?) Anyway, for myself I would peel the thick rind off and all the extra big white chunks left behind. Next I would divide the orange into segments. I would proceed to de-skin each segment. Finally, I would eat the juicy jewels inside. This was a very time-consuming process and you may have guessed I didn't eat oranges very often. My husband just came up with a neat trick and afterwards I was thinking, 'duh, why haven't I done this all my life?' He cut the orange into quarters and then peeled the rind off of each little piece. I love this new technique and thought I would share! It's time efficient and it doesn't creep me out!

Fairy Tales

Robin McKinley can spin a good fairy tale! Back in my BYU days I read "Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast" for my Children's Literature class and I loved it. Recently, my friends Robin & Camille lent me "Spindle's End" and "The Hero and the Crown." They are both great books. Spindle's End is a retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty, but with unexpected twists. The Hero and the Crown is a great coming of age story of a Princess who becomes a Dragon-Killer. It also won the Newbery Medal in 1985. Even though I'm a "grown-up" now I still love reading a good fairy tale that has a great happily ever after!

Shoes AKA Glass Slippers

I'm a big girl (5'11") and I have big feet (size 10) so I have generally worn conservative, comfy shoes. However, when I turned 30 I decided I wanted to wear cute, flashy shoes regardless of my size or my husband's (he's 6' even). For most of the spring & summer I wear my comfy black leather flip-flops, and for most of the fall & winter I wear my comfy brown leather loafers. However, I wanted to share a few of my favorite pairs I wear on Sundays or on special occasions. I also wanted to share these Persian-style shoes I bought in WuLai last year to use as a decoration in our home.


I think these lavender faux-reptile skin sling back heels are so fun. The long toes remind me of Poulaines.


I feel like a Cheetah girl in these fun mules.

These sexy gold strappy stiletto's with tie ankle straps were my bride's maids shoes from my sister Amanda's wedding. I have to admit I haven't worn these since the wedding but I still think they're gorgeous.

These are flirty black heeled sandals.

These are casual clogs, but I love that they're turquoise.

Noe is in love with shoes, but she refers to them as glass slippers. She even has the book "Shoes- A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More" by Linda O'Keeffe that she loves to study. We both even have a pair of our own ruby slippers!

Heartbreak

So, what's the glory in living
Doesn't anybody ever stay together anymore
And if love never lasts forever
Tell me what's forever for

These lyrics from "What's Forever For" by Michael Murphy keep running through my head today. I'm so very sad!

The Theater, The Theater

Our family loves the theater! This weekend we had our parent-child dates. Len took Noe out on Friday night, and I took Kaleb out on Saturday night to see the Middle School's production of "Oz." It was absolutely amazing! The acting, singing, and dancing talent in these 11-13 year olds was phenomenal. The pit orchestra was wonderful too, along with the gorgeous costumes and sets. When I was growing up we didn't even have plays until High School. Back then I loved watching the shows, but was too shy to ever audition. However, Len was in several plays while growing up. I want to encourage our children to try anything that they want to, and not let their shyness get in the way of it. I asked Noe which character she would like to be: Dorothy, Glinda the Good Witch, or the Wicked Witch of the West? She said she would like to be Dorothy because she wears ruby slippers. I asked Kaleb if he would like to be: Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, Cowardly Lion, Toto, or Oz? He said he wants to be Toto because he got to karate chop all of the fighting trees. Good thing Kaleb is going to take Kung Fu next year. Seeing this musical made me want to see "Wicked" even more now!


Last year the Middle School did "No Strings Attached- The Story of Pinocchio." Cricket and Blues Fairy (who was the Wicked Witch this year) were outstanding. I still have the chorus "Hey boy, hey boy get your feet off the floor don't act so coy. Hey boy, hey boy get your feet off the floor let's go!" stuck in my head!

Another Spring Fair?

It seems like we just went to the Spring Fair. Oh wait, that was last year already. Where does the time go? Saturday morning we joined 7,500 people and attended the 28th annual Spring Fair at the kids' school.



The bouncy castle is always a must-do!




Eating strawberry flavored Tutti-Frutti ice cream is too!

We actually didn't spend long at the fair this year. Kaleb & Len had a basketball game and we had several errands to run afterwards, but we did have fun during our brief time there.

Snuggle Bugs

The other night I thought I would try and put Gavin to bed at the same time I put Kaleb to bed. Gavin didn't agree. I thought maybe if Kaleb snuggled him that would help him agree. Kaleb was willing to give it a try, although Gavin only cooperated long enough for me to take this cute picture of them. Kaleb climbed back in his own bed and Gavin hung out in the living room for another couple of hours. Why don't my babies like to go to bed? Kaleb and Noe grew into it though, so hopefully Gavin will too!


I went to check on Noe and she was already fast asleep. I love that she snuggles 2 teddy bears to sleep each night!

gods on parade

The Chinese gods get bored sitting in their temples all day, so every now and then their worshippers will take them out on parade.


Sometimes they'll sit in their shrines on the back of trucks and drive all over the island.


Other times, they get out for a walk to stretch their legs.

We were downtown shopping at the bead market, when we ran into a traffic jam. We didn't know the gods would be taking a stroll that day, but it was great to see them up-close and personal! I love how they have white, black, red, and green faces.

Inspiration

So I've been blogging for 6 months now and I've decided to start a second blog. I'm hoping it will give me the inspiration (or at least incentive) to finish all of the creative projects I've started. I'd love for you to come and visit (http://mycreativepursuits.blogspot.com)!

Behold the Servant of the Lord

We just finished watching General Conference and I just wanted to say how grateful I am that Thomas S. Monson is the new President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how blessed we are to have a Prophet of God on the earth today. I will try my best to follow his example to serve and love my fellow man so that we might all return home to our Father in Heaven someday.

My 3 Kooky Kids!

Lil' Dribbler! Gavin's latest trick is to take a big sip of water and then let it pour down his chin, neck, and shirt. As you can tell from these pictures, he amused himself by getting completely soaked!


Potty Mouth! Noe's favorite words these days are poop, pee, bum- you get the idea. She made up a joke that she constantly tells now. "Give me five, up high, on the side, everywhere, underwear!" Ha ha ha ha ha!


Chairs Beware! Since Kaleb left the high chair, he has never sat properly on a chair. His favorite position is to rest his left bum cheek precariously on the top right corner of his barstool. He has fallen several times, and I always remind him to sit completely on his seat, but for some reason he'd rather perch. The other night I was on the new computer and he was on the old one. I turned around to peek at him, and this is how I found him. Of course!

Drumroll Please

First of all, a HUGE thank you for all who left comments (and e-mails). It was great hearing from everyone! And now, the winner is...


Lincoln! (After I picked your name, Len told me that he knew you were going to win, how funny!) I will get the little package of Chinese kitsch out to you tomorrow. The little rat figurine could be a momento from the year you and Dorothee were married!

I plan on doing more giveaways periodically, so stay tuned!

Dragon Yacht Mini-Cruise

You can't go for a swim in Sun Moon Lake, but you can go for a nice boat ride, so we did! It took us to 3 different stops around the lake.


The first stop was to a teeny-tiny man-made island. You can see it behind me & the boys. You can't walk on it, but they had docks all around it and lots of gardens.


The second stop took us to a temple on a medium-sized island. We had fun hiking around and the kids enjoyed sitting on the zodiac animals. Kaleb was born in the year of the Horse! Noe was too (obviously), but she sat on the Rabbit as that was the year that Len & I were born in. Gavin was born in the year of the Dog!


The third stop took us to a larger island filled with tourist souvenir shops. I love that they even had their own 7-11. They are everywhere in Taiwan!


At this shop I bought a tambourine, drum, set of hand-painted large maracas, and another set of mini maracas.

There was a huge wall of "lucky pick" boxes and the kids begged to play. Kaleb and Noe each had a turn with the mallet, and Len punched for Gavin.

Noe won a whistle, Gavin some bubbles, and Kaleb a truck. Do you remember the chicken that used to lay the plastic eggs with a toy inside for a quarter? I remember walking to Safeway many times with my Granny when I was Kaleb & Noe's age and she often let me buy a chicken egg afterwards. I miss you Granny!

A view of our hotel from the lake. It had been really hazy and bright this weekend, but on Sunday the sky was perfect for picture taking. I wish I could have spent a bit more time on the pier just soaking it all in!

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village

We spent a fabulous day at the Aboriginal Village Culture Center! It's part amusement park, part living museum, part beautiful garden, and a whole lot of fun!


We met up with the Robinson family and really enjoyed spending the day with them!


Len got a kick out of the Buddhist monks riding the double-decker carousal.


The lovely Robinson's- Kay, Lizzy, and Adam. Len got another fun shot of 4 chickens up a tree. Have you ever heard of such a thing before?


We watched a dance performance by one of the nine tribes represented here. First the girls came out doing the daily chores, next the men ran out and swung on a rope across the moat, then they all paired up and lived happily ever after. At least that was my understanding from the dance since the narration wasn't in English. They gave a great performance though!


At the end of this park was a beautiful palace with a huge, gorgeous, manicured garden. Len's always wanted to live in a castle. I think maybe I could live here, but only if the grounds were included!

My 3 sweeties- Kaleb in the garden, Noe on the train, and Gavin my sleepy tribal baby!