Give Meaningful Gifts This Year

67% of the world's population has never made or received a single phone call.


This is an awesome idea for Christmas gifts this year. CLICK HERE!

I wish I hadn't already bought for my brothers b/c instead I could have got Mark a goat for $75 except I spent $20 on something frivolous instead. Notice how he loves goats... ok whatever its a camel but its close. Notice how handsome Mark is :0)

 I could have bought Jared a Pig for $40 or 3 Hens and a Rooster for $80 and for Eli, Literacy Training for $100 or a Library in a box for $60 (my personal favorite).

You get the idea. They send a cute little card with a picture and explanation of the gift to the recipient too. So from now on, less Etsy and more Gifts of Hope.

An Exaltation of Larks

Dying for this.

So i am dying for these layered petticoats. they are linen, which makes me happy, and so comfy. too bad there is like a 4 month waiting list to have some made. maybe mom wants to do it for me...

felt forever

i know these are tin pics. i really like these felt wands and guess who else must also... Feather! She had them in her cute little shop on main street that she just opened. Props for Heather for being brave and ambitious and for supplying us with felt wands locally. below is a mobile of felt balls and i need it :0)

Love CS Lewis

 “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Sleep Stuff

Apparently gifted children need less sleep. Interesting. Also, a new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year. And, one of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children. This means I am doomed. In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.
 For more sleep facts click here. 

We read this one tonight and it was so fun to read. Lots of neato words to learn and suspenseful and darling.

My recent bookshelf

Lately I've been into reading parenting and teaching books and these are 3 recommendations. I found them to be very applicable to this stage of life and all three were full of quality, worthwhile ideas that I want to continue to study and master. I am so picky about my reading b/c time is so precious- especially right now but these 3 passed the test.

Jared's Halloween Costume

Jared (obviously my coolest brother) was Mario for Halloween and for some reason this costume makes me so so happy. If you love this guy put up your hand.

FOR BRENDY

DISTRACTION

I have been purging my house today. I got rid of 5 huge garbage bags of stuff so if any one is interested, it can be found at the bargain barn down the street. It felt so good to have less stuff to organize and tidy. Some of it I had been holding on to forever and finally I learned to just let go. To go with this theme I have added a thoughtful quote:

Settle This In Your Hearts By Neal A Maxwell

"For now, consecration may not require giving up worldly possessions so much as being less possessed by them.

Whatever we embrace instead of Jesus and His work will keep us from qualifying to enter His kingdom and therefore from being embraced by Him.

Elder Maxwell has also said this:

“A distraction does not need to be evil to be effective.”

way too much fun

after a day at the zoo.
neighbors and leaves

Pumpkins and Pirates

I am all about a healthy Halloween. I can't stand the idea of buckets of candy for all the little bodies but everyone wigs out on me about it and I just cave in and let them enjoy a day of all the candy they can stand. But the next day I send it all away to work with Timmy. So thats the compromise. I told Jane how my mom would eat all my tootsie rolls while I was at school and she consoled me like it was the worst tragedy she'd ever heard. I have to say I really enjoyed the reeses pieces this year so i ate all of those out of their bags but the kids didn't seem to notice.

Andrew Pudewa, one of the foremost authorities on reading and writing instruction teaches:

“what you hear read out loud has the most impact on your ability to write well later in life. Beyond the educational benefits, reading out loud may be the most bonding of all possible family activities. Families which learn together also think together and feel together, thus creating powerful lasting bonds and improving life-long relationships.”

We are reading The Secret Garden right now. The kids love the movie so they are into the book. We have the soundtrack which is actually quite beautiful. Its totally instrumental, yet they can identify exactly which part of the movie every single song is. We have also been learning the collective nouns for things such as:

A Crash of Rhinoceroses

A Descension of Woodpeckers

An Unkindness of Ravens

A Splendour of Peacocks

A Misbelief of Painters

This one is my favorite:

A Lamentation of Swans

there will be more to come...

“In the hour of adversity be not without hope for crystal rain falls from black clouds”

- Persian Proverb

Julie do you agree with this?

i am fascinated by a true introvert.

My Faraway Family

I love the colors in this picture. This is my family in Iran. Don't these girls look beautiful in their scarves. I want to go there and spend time with them so so much.
Souror my dads sister made this on the beach of the Caspian sea. She's an artist and I love her little birdie.

Thats what it says

If you can read the sign above this is "The Little Brown Church" not sure which religion that would be but cute name.

the etsy fun never ends

love this fall colors tutu, especially the leaf in the hair part
i would so wear this dress around town if i was tough enough to withstand the public scorn.
if i had and extra $250...
i might have a cuff addiction.
terrariums are my newest fixation. i bought teeny tiny ones for the kids that they wear around their necks. they think its so cool (so do i) to have real baby moss pets in a glass vile that they have to water and provide sunshine for. pictures are coming.

Wedding Bells

this is the coolest thing to tie your wedding rings to instead of the boring old pillow thing. so natural and so refreshing.
Robyn! you are so lucky. i want to plan my wedding again so i can have floating umbrellas. i always loved that part of mary poppins. i did have floating white and red paper lanterns though so who am i to complain.

Totally

Not to get all political on my extremely light hearted and materialistic blog (i did just post on my favorite toe nail polish) however, I found this article quite compelling and so wanted to share some quotes and the link. Mel, I think you'll enjoy this.

" Truly, this nation’s most important export is its constitution, whose great principles stand as a model “for the rights and protection of all flesh.” On the vital human right of religious freedom, however, many constitutions fall short of the protections that are needed, so we are grateful that the United States government seeks to encourage religious freedom all over the world.[ii]

The greatest infringements of religious freedom occur when the exercise of religion collides with other powerful forces in society. Among the most threatening collisions in the United States today are (1) the rising strength of those who seek to silence religious voices in public debates, and (2) perceived conflicts between religious freedom and the popular appeal of newly alleged civil rights."

Read the captivating article here.

Rock Show

I love how Jared is totally stealing something in the background :0) suspicious...
I love our old school theatre.

First Day of School

Isn't she dreamy. She is in afternoon Kindergarten and her teacher is Mrs. Bennett. Her best buddy is Cole and yes, he happens to be a boy and we don't know how we feel about that :0) apparently he likes to touch her boots... She has already won an award too, for not wiggling the longest so needless to say we are convinced she's well on her way to becoming a heart surgeon or something else prestigious that only people who could sit still in Kindergarten are capable of.

Polish is Important

This is my new favorite pedicure style. I use a clear coat, then stick a mish-mash of jewels to it, then let it dry before a second clear coat over top.

Family Pics

These were some shots taken in Mom's library where there is a time of day that the light coming in through the windows is so pretty.

Albert and Christa had us over so we could bond with new baby Parley. He was a delicious treat, so snuggly and handsome. I always feel extra special at the Voravong's because their dogs LOVE me for some reason and no other animals ever do. They cooked us up a masterpiece too which was exciting but the next best thing after getting to meet the new biscuit baby was finding out Lindsay was coming. Love all these guys too much. By the way, Christa looked FANTASTIC.
A sacred ritual in the Dehghani home and part of my fond childhood memories is the opening of a fresh coconut. Dad makes a big deal out of it and we are all required to gather and watch the miracle of life. We take turns tasting the coconut milk and then we choke down a few pieces to make dad happy. No, I'm just kidding we like eating it. This summer my kids got to experience the wonder.
No this is not my sister holding my baby Scarlet, its my mom! As if she's a Grammy, not a wrinkle in sight.
I looked back and discovered, to my relief, that Teddy was buckled up, in case of an accident...
Scarlet in Froggy sleep position.

She's lost 2 teeth since Kindergarden started. Seeing an adult tooth growing in now made me want to cry. It was silly but it was one step closer to her being grown up and I wanted all her baby teeth back.