Miss You Already!!

Can't wait to see these beloved people again in August!!!!! Thanks for coming to visit!ps- we also made these awesome dipped Peeps - FUN!

Uninvited Houseguests

I bet you didn't think I was going to start this post talking about my compost pile! Turns out there's an art to having one in Texas that I have yet to perfect. I'll come back to why this is relevant, but first I need to back up a bit.

This week Sophie passed her kindergarten intake exam with flying colors. As part of the test she had to count sunflower seeds, bu then she got to bring the bag of seeds home with her to plant. Rather than buy potting soil, I've had a compost pile going for about a year now so I thought this was the perfect time to see whether or not it was actually composting.

I had to dig through about a foot of very dry material before I struck black gold - a dry, but definitely rich soil. I took a big scoop with my shovel and filled four potting containers for the seeds. We had a fun activity Monday planting and watering the seeds.

Yesterday I watered them again and noticed that the kids must have been playing with one of them because the surface looked disturbed. I patted down the soil, watered it and didn't give it any additional thought - until this morning! There was a BIG hole in the corner of the pot.


I started searching the house and finally found the culprit in our entryway.


Yes folks, that is a GRUB - and it's almost as big as my cell phone! So I guess this confirms that our compost has the ability to help things grow big! Unfortunately it also confirms that it's not composting hot enough - I hear that means I need to add manure and strawberry soda??

On the Similiarities of Infants and Early Morning Seminary

Back in February, I had a conversation that has drastically changed the general flow of things around here. I am dedicating this post to the outcome of that conversation -- and that would be incorporating early morning seminary into our schedule much sooner than I had anticipated. I figured we had a good 10 years (until Sophie started high school) before having to make the seminary run. Just kidding on that!

Anyway, so here we go. On the Similarities & Differences of Infants and Early Morning Seminary! Having recently had a new baby, I feel very qualified to make this little comparison. Ahem. Let's begin.

How Teaching Early Morning Seminary is LIKE Having a New Baby...

1. It's a major adjustment to your routine. Specifically, your sleeping routine. And your daytime routine. Ok, all of your routine.
2. You wake up when the sun is still down and are compelled to get out of bed b/c of a younger face (or several of them).
3. My dishes are never done. Always something more pressing to attend to. When the dishes are washed, it's usually thanks to my stud-muffin, Bryce.
4. My kids watch inordinate amounts of PBS - generally while I nap (you'll notice sleep is a major theme here...), but occasionally while I prepare a lesson.
5. I have [re]mastered the art of falling asleep at any given second in any given location -- a serious talent.
6. Seminary students (at least about half of them) smile about as often as a newborn. That is to say, not much. It's tough love, I tell you.
7. And much like infants, all seminary students want to do at 6am is either eat (donuts, in this case) or sleep.
8. It feels all-consuming. If I'm not teaching, then I'm thinking about the lesson or reading for the lesson or wondering what on earth to do for the next lesson. (side note - I've been told it gets easier over time. phew!)
9. Seminary students like to snuggle with blankets (though I've yet to see one swaddled...).
   

How Teaching Seminary is NOT like Having a New Baby...

1. I am wearing make-up. At 5:45am.
   
2. And sometimes, my hair is even done, too!
3. No one brings you meals in for teaching seminary. Bummer.
   
4. Seminary students are not as cuddly as an infant.
5. And they're also much heavier!

So there you go - Deep Thoughts by Lisa. And just like having a baby, after a number of weeks I'm sure this will all become part of the normal routine around here... But we're definitely still in the 6-week recovery phase, so just give me a few weeks, ok?


and b/c I can't post a post without a picture... here's the other reason I don't sleep very much. Yes, I've been having a hard time keeping my eyes open of late. hah!

an open-eyed, though slightly blurry pic of my littlest sweets and me. love her!

Sad to See Them Go

My mom and sister came to visit this last week and, as expected, it was wonderful to have them!! I'm still in the mourning-their-departure phase since we dropped them off at the airport last night... so you may get more pics than you bargained for. :)

While they were here, we...
...had a ridculous amount of fun, of course!...watched General Conference
(really bummed that this pic didn't quite work out in the focusing department)...practiced Angry Birds on Bryce's new toy (that he won from work!)...did a lot of sewing. rephrase. My MOM did a lot of sewing. I did a lot of cheering, encouraging and thanking. :) She finished this BYU quilt I started a couple years ago when we were in P-town. Travis is currently 100% obsessed with the color blue, so we told him it was his blanket. Never mind that some of the prints are a bit girly... it's the COLOR that counts this time, people. Do you think he likes it??
...and more sewing! My mom finished this ADORABLE quilt Bridget received from her Aunt Betsy. It is sooooooo pretty - I love love love it. And so does Bridget - esp since she got to help sew it!...celebrated Bridget's 1/2 birthday!! time is flying. Aunt Linds made her cupcakes to celebrate!....checked out Zilker Park
(Travis really loved the fire engine at Zilker...)
...took Sophie in for her surgery part II. The nurses were all dying over her. When she performed her Tiger Dance (there were tigers on her hospital gown), that pretty much sealed the deal.
(being wheeled into the OR. They told her her bed was like a parade float and she waved at everyone as off they went!)(recovering with baby sister and the Disney Channel)
... and decorated the house for Easter!And I'll spare you the rest of the pics, but we were soooo happy to have them come. I love having company - it makes me feel like we don't live quite so far from the rest of the world... :) Can't wait for our NEXT company -- you know who you are!! See you soon!

ps - got a new post coming soon! Amazing, right? I've been pondering this one for about a month now, so you can be extra excited about it - hah!

pss - these are for you, Betsy. Thank you again!!!