Gpa Lee's Oregon farm

Meet my dad! :)  

This is him on his 75 acre land on his Creek side carving up of fallen trees so he can mow a trail.

And he says that every backyard should have these things in the background.... a dog, clothesline  tree swings, an airplane...

Doesn't it look like he needs another family of, oh... say... 7, live in the corner of his property and help him with his crazy projects and starting some of their own? I dont think he would miss even 3 acres. Let's ignore the zoning laws and do it. :) I mean, if it was me, I'd raise food for my family (aka instill hard work and teach them about life while doing so to the kids) on that very land so I would never have to shop and still have time (ha!) to do my other love of  sewing all of my designs a few hours a day. YAY! Dreaming is so fun. :) Everyone has got to have at least one. :)

Thanks for the pictures dad! :)

Idaho Shoshone Indian Diorama

by Adeline :)

3rd Grade Project

Our family all took a piece of the project and made this with Adeline. That was the assignment from the teacher. I was so happy to see it was a family effort because knowing our family... it would be anyway. :) 

Addy told everyone what she needed and we all went to work. I am sure if you know Addy, you know she LOVED being in charge. :) We looked around our yard to see what we could gather to make look like real things. It was really fun. Then, we needed to build it in my sewing room, so we gathered some paper and fabrics to complete the project. I will walk us through what we made so it can be completely documented before I throw it away. :) hahah. 

You have to look really close, but we drew on the slate rocks just like the Indians did with the petroglyphs.

A fire with gold fabric and some sticks glued together. :)

 A reed boat made of old flower vines next to the blue fabric waterfall and river. All with a silver fish and spear. :) 

 Gabe drew a few Indians in authentic clothing and we propped them up. 

 This would not be complete with out a TP and fabric cover that shows they drew on their homes and with clay pots the Shoshone specialized in. 

Adeline's beautiful handwriting in 3rd grade. :) All the descriptions are here explaining her project.

I think it was really funny when she came home after turning her project in. She was so animated as she said that her project was the best because everyone else used store bought things in their dioramas. She was kinda mad so many other kids did not use their imagination as she did. Not really humble, but we are working on that. But, at least she knew she did a good job. Oh my sweet Adeline. :)

planting flowers leads to playing in the gutter

I think enjoying the simple things in life is THE BEST!!

I planted some flowers because it is FINALLY not freezing outside and the girls came out to clean up with me... only prob is that they got so muddy themselves that we needed to clean them up too. Playing in the gutter reminds me of when I was a kid. I loved it. :) We build damns and float leaves that act as ships on a voyage. Humm.. I need to move to the country, but for now, I will have my little neighborhood act as my homestead in town. :) 

forgive my pics, they are with my phone because Char broke my camera. :( 

 Those little Char toes... perfect!

 My Forget Me Nots! :) 

Everyone needs these in their yard thanks to Pres Uchtdorf! 

 I finally have Hydrangeas !! 

now to keep them alive... humm?? Thanks Honey! :) 

 I saw this and needed this saying instantly! :) 

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one Wild and Precious life?"

It might be a little crooked, but I love it anyway because getting it up there was hilarious with Gabe and Izzy's help. Its worth the memory. :) 

And that was the simple things that happened with my weekend. :) yay!

Heaven is Here

I read the most amazing book that has changed my life. 

I have loved Stephanie Nielson and her blog for years and have watched her video about her on Mormon Messages. But, I didnt really know how amazing she really was. :) I wish I could see her to just hug her and tell her I loved her. She is such a precious amazing woman.

 Thank you for sharing your life with us Stephaine! 

I already know I do have an amazing life. I know I am blessed in millions of ways and I love my family so much. I find joy in simple things and know that Heavenly Father has a hand in my life. So, why did this book change my life? I just have no doubts that my life has a purpose and I may not know what my mission is here on earth, but I seriously know that this life is a true gift. I could go on for hours and I probably will edit what I think on this post several times. :)

I want to really start blogging again. I am going to figure out how to fit it into my schedule!! :) 

A great way to start out the new year!

I've mentioned before that I teach Sunday School in my church to the 14 and 15 year old youth. It seriously teaches me more than I think I teach them. Honestly, I prayed for a way to strengthen my testimony and my knowledge of God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost. When I was called to this duty to teach, I thought maybe this was my answer, but I was not sure. It totally has been. It's awesome. The new teaching method to the youth is really for all of us. And the new theme for this year to Stand in Holy Places.... it is inspiring! As a mother of all these little people, I have to be better. I have to teach them to be strong and immovable in the gospel. Heavenly Father has given me a way to do it. YAY! That sounds pretty hard with out Him. :) 

Festivus

I made up another Holiday! :)

Right now? At this time of year with 5 birthdays and the 3 other holidays going on?? Why on earth would I do such a thing??

Ok, I should move it to July, but I do it on New Years Eve. Except, we did it tonight. :)

Here is what Festivus is to us and why we do it....

I did not take any pictures because it was one of those nights that I just soaked up the feelings and enjoyed my children and family. 

  I invented this holiday because I wanted to teach my children that it's so amazing to look at the new year with new goals and a fresh start. When people look at the new goals, so many look at their last year thinking of so many things they did wrong or so many things they should have, would have, yada yada. I know we need to do that to an extent to find out our new goals, but I wanted to show them that they can focus on the things they did awesome and only they could do better at in their year. I just want to take every opportunity to tell them how much they are loved and how with hard work, they can become people to be proud of. 

  Each child gets a gift that expresses something about them. We start with the youngest and before they open their gift, we go around the room youngest to oldest and then mom and dad, to tell that child what we love about them and what we think they did great at this past year and what they have improved on this past year. We only say positive things and stay away from facts ie. Isabel is the oldest and she has a red shirt on. hhaaha. We did need to skip a kid a few times and come back because they are normal kids that only thought of the fight they had with the other earlier today (haha) but, that is to be expected and they find something to say that is great and good feelings are exchanged. Isabel always has to wait to the last one to have the kids tell her their love and support and then to open the gift. Tonight the spirit is so loving and wonderful so I of course cried and laughed a lot while watching their faces tell each other they loved each other. We all just love each other more and feel this unity that I wish we had all the time in the house, but that got us through the night with no fights or whining. :)  

So, when you see my vinyl "This is my idea of Heaven" in my playroom (which is usually a Barbie explosion) it's because I feel that my home has to be the closest thing to heaven I have on earth. :) It's because of those moments I had tonight. 

For God so Loved the World, He sent His only Begotten Son

I am teaching my lesson in Sunday School and this is a video I am showing the youth. I have watched it 10 times and I still cry and I still find more amazing things in it. We are so lucky to know of Christ and to celebrate his birth. I have a testimony of Jesus Christ. I love Him and feel His love for me. I know He loves all of us. That makes me very happy.

A fun Jumbo Dot Lime Dress for the Holidays on my shop! :)

out of space??

So, I've exceeded my upload pictures quota for my blog. Does anyone know a quick and easy way of figuring out how I can carry on uploading pictures? I just do not have the time to read everything I have to do to post more.
I can not even change my header! Crazy!

Update:
Ok, so today ( days later) I tried to update my header and it totally deleted my old header. Sad stuff. :(
I am determined to figure this out! :)

Another Update:
I had to delete a slide show and just give the link code for it instead and that gave me some more room and some more time to figure out what to do next. 

Funny Boys

      Disclaimer: This may not be funny to you, but I think it's still funny, so that's why I write it here.

         Chris and I were coming home from a date (Sushi! YAY for Sushi! I love the stuff now. I tried the right combos and started loving it! :) Chris is ecstatic!) and we were getting out of the car. Chris stopped me and said he needed to talk first. I stopped and looked at him sincerely.  He looked into my eyes and said with the calmest, most sincere voice, "Leslie, I wanted to tell you something important that you need to hear. You don't have unlimited time and you can't do everything." 

         I BURST out laughing. One of those Julia Roberts laughs that brings tears to your eyes, an ache in your side and no sign of ending. After laughing for a good few mins and finally looked up back to him to see he was relived I did not take the news badly. He kinda helped me into the house because I was laughing so hard I could barely walk. The girls and Gabe heard my nutzo laughter and came running to see what was so funny. Through my laughter I told them what daddy said. Gabe looked at me really weird and said with a straight face, "I don't get it." Isabel said, "What do you mean? She can do everything!" All the girls chimed in and agreed with Iz. Now I was really laughing worrying I would pee my pants. 

        Chris said, "Look around Gabe! See all this. Take a good look and learn from this right now! This is how girls, especially these girls (being raised by your mom) feel about "everything". Guys just dont think the same way as girls!" We were all laughing now. It was fun to have that "teaching" moment.  I think my kids think I am a weird mom, but now I have more things they can tell their therapist when they are older. :) HA!

 YAY for trying to do everything and always wishing there was more time in one day to do it all in! :)
Which reminds me... I need to start preserving apples for the year asap. 

Ahhh Shoot!! I found this and obviously a girl made this sign, but I am positive a guy said it. :) It might be true. 

Might!

Good and Plenty

A little tip....

If you sneak a treat into a quiet meeting with just 200ish grown ups, in your husband's suit pocket, 

make sure you can not hear it when you drop half the box on the hardwood floor. 

Just say'n. 

Forgiveness

I was strengthened with the October Message in the Ensign this morning. It's about forgiveness and how that is key to happy families and may I add any relationship. :) I know our family is better when we don't hang on to past offenses. I see it happen every day with our little ones. I know I can be better at forgiveness  but sometimes it is really hard. I love the Youth section about the girl that prayed after the argument with her mom. She started her prayer with thanking Heavenly Father first, then addressed the problem she really had. I guess I am at a youth level spiritually sometimes because I learned a lot from that too. That will be changing the way I pray. :) I am so happy we are not alone here.We are all in the same boat trying to get to the same place.   God really does love me personally, and you personally. :)
YAY! Have a wonderful day!