Nerding It Up

[Not me. In case you couldn't tell. Image source here.] So, I've mentioned before (like, a year ago) that I'm finishing my degree through BYU's Bachelor of General Studies program. At the time, I was taking a Student Development class so I could be officially accepted to the program. Well, I passed that class. And then I was accepted. And then...I didn't do anything. I couldn't afford to pay for tuition by myself, and I was really confused about financial aid, and we were trying to move, and blah blah blah... Anyway, I got some financial aid, and I signed up to take a class on the last half of the New Testament. (Which, as it turns out, is harder than I thought it would be.) So...I'm officially on my way! I'm excited. I'm not looking forward to the not-so-fun parts, like, I dunno...finals...but let's just stick with excited, 'kay? Which remind me: I need to go study.

Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide

Abide with me; 'tis eventide. Thy walk today with me Has made my heart within me burn, As I communed with thee. Thy earnest words have filled my soul And kept me near thy side. O Savior, stay this night with me; Behold, 'tis eventide. O Savior, stay this night with me; Behold, 'tis eventide. -Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide, Words: Lowrie Hofford, Music: Harrison Millard

Birthday Queen

Little Boy helped me make a birthday crown for my mom's birthday last month. I did the cutting, he did the sticker-choosing and -placing.

Nearer, My God, to Thee

{image source} "There let the way appear, steps unto heaven; All that thou sendest me, in mercy given; Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God, to Thee Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!" -Nearer, My God, to Thee, text by Sarah F. Adams

Snail Babies

Sounds gross, right? My parents have a bunch of blueberry bushes in their yard that have been there forever--so they produce TONS of blueberries. Okay, not literally TONS, but you know what I mean. Anyway, toward the end of the blueberry season this year, we started finding tiny snails on the blueberries--after we'd already washed the berries and were about to eat them. It turns out that baby snails are adorable. This was the third (and last) snail that we found. And no, we didn't eat any snails--at least not that we know of.

We Are Gonna Play Blue's Clues, Cuz It's a Really Great Game

Little Boy's Little Cousin spent an afternoon with us a couple weeks ago. [Her baby brother was here, too, but he's not in the shot.]

 Isaac took Little Boy and Little Cousin to the playground for a couple hours. It was HOT that day. Super-hot. So after lunch, I let the two of them them cool down a little bit in our bedroom.

 

Or maybe I should say the three of them--Little Boy, Little Cousin, and Joe.

Keepin' It Simple, Birthday Style

Little Boy's birthday is, um...soon...[I'm too paranoid to post exactly when, sorry]. And when I asked him what he wants for cake and ice cream, he told me: any flavor cupcakes, as long as they have chocolate frosting on them... sprinkles on the chocolate frosting... and vanilla ice cream. So that's what we'll be having. {frosting photo source, sprinkles photo source, vanilla ice cream photo source}

Tip: Remove Old Dry-Erase Marks

{photo source} Sometimes I put Little Boy's worksheets in page protectors (the smooth kind), so he can do them over and over again with dry erase markers. Works great.

Except when you forget to erase it. And discover it several days later.

Then it's stuck.

So I turned to good ol' Google and started working my way through suggestions for removing dry erase marker.

Vinegar: didn't work much better than water.

90% rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer: I'm pretty sure that would've worked, but we were fresh out of both.

White toothpaste: worked like a charm.

You do have to wipe the toothpaste off with a little water, of course. I don't know whether toothpaste will work on other surfaces, but it does work on Little Boy skin--he managed to get a little bit of dry erase marker on his chin while I was working on toothpaste-ing his page protectors.

{cross-posted at Pie For Breakfast}

The Rainbow Carrots!

The rainbow carrots [that we planted earlier this year] are finally big enough to eat. I haven't paid very much attention to my little garden this summer, so the carrots are kinda scrawny. I put the fork next to the carrots in the picture so you can tell how little they are. And...they don't taste all that great. But they're colorful! We've had some white ones, too. Those are fun. They look really good all mixed together in a stir-fry. [Also...the purple ones are orange inside. But I'm still in denial about that, so let's not talk about it anymore, mmkay?]