stilts

M stuck cardboard tubes on her legs and walked around.  She got pretty nimble.  Then lP and B fought over them...

pets!

M has been helping with the pets weekly at the C house for 10 months.  his involves cleaning cages of birds, a fish tank,  15sq/ft of bunny cages and sometimes buying mice for the snake.  This week she also has a gig taking care of 5 pets for the E family every day.  She walks a big well behaved dog, with me holding the end of the leash as an anchor.

Lucky girl

M got to go to Disney with the choir recently.  She sang a duet with a friend in the choir.  What a fun time she's having with all her activities.  She goes to choir, activity day girls for 2 wards, homeschool group, basketball team, and cleaning pets each week.   She also does piano.  That is the price to play. 

M is go good at the piano.  I am so pleased with her progress and it's so fun being able to watch her grow and improve.

bunnies!

 

 M serves a friend of mine by mucking out the cages and feeding this assortment of 20+ rabbits + another 5+ animals, snake, goats, frog, bird...

The other day lP said something was only a little bit of fun. And M said: "A little bit of fun?! That's like shoveling poop, which I do all the time and I love it!"

She loves it.

good girl

M made these treats for us last week for FHE.  I was pleased with her ability to ask me to buy peeps 2 weeks before it was her turn to do the treat.  Then she didn't ask to eat them for 2 weeks!

Tonight M went put-put golfing with the activity day girls.  They were short on time so they had to skip a hole.  All the girls complained, but M said Thank you to the leader.  Way to go little girl.  I'm so pleased that you're learning to be grateful.  You're even learning how easy it is to get a reputation for being sweet, be sweet!

I love you.

I'm making cookies all by myself

I had a video of M from 4 years ago mixing up some cookies.  As she mixes them she starts to sing "I'm making cookies, all by myself.  I'm not needing help! No...."  It's an awesome video.

Today M made a batch of cookies, using a recipe!  I never use recipes and the kids understand that that isn't actually a good thing.  Or so dad gently prods...  The recipe was gigantic so we had to divide it by 4.  M did all the calculations.  I had to help her with dividing 5 cups by 4.  She got impatient and said "We just need to make them!"  I informed her that if she wasn't going to learn, she wasn't going to make cookies.

They were really good.

This is M having a good time cleaning out a pumpkin.  This girl is awesome.  She also loves to pick a chicken.  I enjoy that too, we're strange like that.

We have a cooking station set up now for the kids.  It's pretty awesome. 

You can change your mind

We had a nice valentines celebration with the co-op we attend.  I tried to help the kids have a positive experience.  On Monday we built mail boxes that P got for the girls at the hardware store.  We painted them.  M got in trouble for playing around with a paint brush and her deaf brother who couldn't hear her joking.  We made valentines for all the kids we hoped would be there.

Last night M decorated a nice paper bag at church.  It was a nice bag.

This morning we wrote their names on the boxes with glue and put glitter on it.  It was awesome.  10 minutes before we get in the car M says she wants to use the bag instead.  Unlike the Halloween costume drama, I just said "No".  I put the mail box in the car, and we went to group.

I spend a lot of time talking to M and lP about choosing a husband worthy of them.  We discuss things they don't like in friends, that are mean, and how they don't have to hang out with people who are mean to them.  I really, really, want them to understand that if they are not being treated well, they do not have to marry someone. 

I don't like it when the kids change their minds at the last minute over things that are not life and death.  Halloween costumes, Valentines boxes, change your mind, fine we aren't going to the party.  But in love and eternity, be very careful where you heart rest.  I hope they have the courage to try and try again to find someone who loves them enough to have an eternal marriage.  Saying you love someone is not enough.  The Savior said; "If you love me, keep my commandments."  Similarly, I hope my children will learn that they must not marry someone who will not keep God's commandments.  That is such a basic foundation for trust.