Trip to California

About a week ago we got back from a trip to California. We went because my little brother got sealed in the Oakland temple (woo hoo!) and ended up staying for three weeks. We had a lot of fun and were sad, and slightly surprised that it went by so fast, when it was time to go home.

Here's a rundown of what we did:

The sealing. Here they are leaving the temple. Talk about a couple of fun people. To read more about it, check out my sister's blog.

Froze to death in the rain. Story: as we were driving up to Oakland, it was raining really hard and the car we were borrowing needed new windshield wipers. We stopped to buy new ones but did not know how to take the old ones off, it didn't have a little release lever like ours does. By the time we figured out that you just push it off, our fingers were so numb we could only get it off with the help of a screwdriver.

Played at the park and visited the beach. Posts to come because we actually remembered our camera for these ones.

Jason and Dave put recessed lighting into Hilary and Dave's kitchen. Hilary and I chatted. It looks awesome but we didn't seem to take any pictures. I'll put a link to Hilary's blog when she posts about it.

We helped Jason's sister pack up for her move to Texas. It was a late night but we were able to get her off and she got there safely. We were bummed that we couldn't spend more time with her but on the plus side, she gave me her Kohl's cash and I bought a bunch of new jewelry.

I got my hair cut. I was able to get it from Kristen's neighbor (who is awesome) through a silent auction to raise money for girls' camp. That day I had Kristen and Hilary take my picture since it will never look that cute again.

Anna getting ready to race in Grandma's apron as a dress.

Anna had a ball playing with her cousins and other grandparents. It took a couple of days for Anna to really warm up to my parents and grandpa but by the time we left, they were her good friends. She even got to be good friends with Grandpa's nurse Crystal.

Dancing....WithTheStars!

I love this show and lately I've boon feeling a need to discuss so I have decided to discuss it on my blog. I don't know if I will do it every week but at least some.

This season has been fun. When they first announced the people, I didn't really know them (other than Kirstie Alley and Ralph Macchio, but only after I saw that he was the Karate Kid). Now I not only know them but now I even have opinions on their dances.

Last night, they had Classical Night. They had a 42 piece orchestra, an opera singer, and a famous violinist. I loved the music. Each song was a favorite. Putting the dances together was really different for the professional dancers because they often choreograph to the word. Since they couldn't do that this time, they had to focus the stars on the music. Also, the beat isn't as obvious in classical music. It turned out well and I liked them all, for the most part.

Now onto the dances. Chelsea and Mark were interesting and it really worked with the music but I have to agree with Len that all of the magic stuff kind of detracted from the dance. Of course I love the Viennese Waltz and like it to be more traditional. All of the Paso Dobles were interesting to the different music and it seemed to work. Sugar Ray and Anna were funny in their kind of tongue in cheek routine. I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of Sugar Ray in the bright blue ballet tights. Kirstie and Maks have been an interesting couple to watch. I don't know if it's a difference in Maks or if Kirstie just doesn't let him get to her but he seems a lot nicer this season. Amazingly, they look like they have fun working together. Their dance was pretty good too, even if her shoe did come off. At least she had that time on the floor to put it back on.

I don't know that I have an opinion about who should go home today. The past two eliminations, I had people that I wanted to leave but then they did so this time we'll just have to wait and see.

Tootsie Roll Sunflowers

The day we went to California, we had our ward Relief Society birthday dinner. I was sad I had to miss it but was excited to be seeing family. In an effort to contribute to the evening (the presidency wouldn't let me make food in advance) I volunteered to make the centerpieces.

For Christmas, I got these books from my mom for making candy or fruit or cookie bouquets. We decided to go with a candy sunflower.

I found it didn't take as long to make as I would have thought, I made 7 while watching 4 movies. Here's how to make it.

Take a 2 1/2 inch styrofoam ball and with an exacto knife, cut a slit, about 1/2 inch deep, in it going all the way around the ball. Then attach tootsie rolls with straight pins. I found it worked best to go in concentric circles starting from the outside and working in.

I did just one side of the ball but you can do both sides if you want. With this size ball, it took about 12 oz of tootsie rolls per flower.

Next comes the cellophane. I cut 10 inch squares of yellow cellophane, 7 per flower. Pinching it in the middle, form a loop with your other hand and slide the looped fingers along the cellophane to gather it. With a butter knife, poke the pointed end of the cellophane into the cut. I used a touch of tacky glue to make sure it stayed.

For the stem I used a 3/16 inch wooden dowel and painted it green. I also painted the back of the styrofoam ball green.

To assemble, I put a block of styrofoam into a 4 inch pot. Since the pot tapers at the bottom, Jason cut the bottom of the foam so it was triangular and wedged it into the pot putting the cut off parts on the side to keep the foam block from wiggling. In putting the dowel into the styrofoam I found that it worked better if it wasn't straight up and down but angled one way. Handy since that's the way it wanted to go anyway. Then I put the flower on the top, angled up a little so it didn't topple over. I sent some Easter grass to cover the green foam for a more finished look. Tie a ribbon around the pot for decoration and it's done.

Jason cracks me up

Clean Mud

At Keiki Steps this week our sensory activity is called clean mud. Anna has loved it. Perhaps a bit too much. The first day, it was all over her dress. Fortunately, it washes out just fine. The second day, I had her wear a smock. Here's how you make it (the pictures are a half a batch):

Grate a bar of soap. The teacher says Dove or Ivory work best but if you want a different color, use something like Irish Spring or Dial or something like that.

Mix it with two cups hot water, tap hot is fine. The hot water helps to melt the soap.

While the water cools off, rip half a roll of toilet paper into little pieces. The quilted kind works best. I don't know if I used quite that much but I added more as we played with it.

Mix the soap mixture into the toilet paper and play.

It takes a bit of mixing to get it to the right consistency. If you want it thicker, add more toilet paper. As you mix, it gets more fluffy until it's about like shaving cream.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

For some reason, Anna is really into Rapunzel these days. She likes to pretend she is Rapunzel and I am Mother Gothel. I tell the story a lot and have even made up a story of Rapunzel's Easter that gets requested more often then the original (I think she likes that Mother Gothel hides an egg in Rapunzel's hair during their Easter Egg hunt around the tower). Because of this and the fact that Anna sits very still while watching a movie (you might say trance-like), I decided she could handle going to the movie theater to see Tangled.

This was Anna's first movie theater experience and she did really well. We went to the dollar theater in case it didn't work out (and Tangled just got there). Although we were a few minutes late so we didn't have a lot of time in the theater before it started, the movie didn't start for a few minutes after we arrived. In retrospect, I think it was good because then she got to look around a bit before it got dark.

Anna had to sit on my lap to see over the seats but she didn't wiggle and only thought about getting down during a slow scene where they are talking about back story. I had told Anna that we don't talk during movies and when I whispered a comment in her hear, she told me to be quiet. Then after we got home, when Jason asked how it was, she said I talked during the movie. I guess she got that message.

It's funny but while we were watching it, I had this strong feeling of love and appreciation. It makes me so happy that I can share the things that I love with Anna and she loves them too. Who knew a Disney movie could be such a bonding experience?

Imaginary Friends

Anna has come up with some imaginary friends: her baby sisters. Sometimes brothers do things too but it's mostly sisters. They do all the things that she isn't supposed to do. If there is a mess, it was her baby sisters who did it. They don't go to sleep when they are supposed to. I have to tell them to stop playing and go to bed. She even complains about them not playing with her or hitting her. I try to have Anna tell them to stop but they don't seem to listen to her. Turns out I have to be the one to tell them what to do.

One thing that cracks Jason's mom up the most is that Anna will come in and tell me if they have done something wrong. The other day, we were making dinner and Anna came in and said I needed to see what her sisters did. "They" had made a bit of a mess in the bathroom. I have had to tell Anna that even if her sisters do something, she has to be the one to sit in time out for it.