Under Construction

Ever feel like you are undertaking a personal remodeling project you were completely unaware of or prepared for....

C.S. Lewis - in the book Mere Christianity.

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At
first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains
right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs
needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the
house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense.
What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a
different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here,
putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You
thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is
building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

I do.

Nine

Well it happened. As much as I would like to keep him my little guy, he is growing and growing up. Here he is my new NINE year old.

If You Give a Boy Some Cake...

Here is my secret for getting an 8 year old boy to stop and talk about his day after school. First be ready IMMEDIATELY AFTER SCHOOL when he is susceptible to your enticings. Second set your bait...THE TREAT. Here is where I suggest you use your many years of living with said boy to know his weaknesses. Mine likes anything with chocolate and whipped cream. Here is my trap...uh treat:



At first there will not be much talking...there will be this:



Then it will be followed by the sort of dazed effect of the cake:



But the purpose of the treat is to not get them talking but to get them to SLOW DOWN and be open to answering a few questions...now that he is pretty much putty in your hands...ask him a few questions about his day.

Eventually he will catch onto this technique so you have to be ready with the BIG GUNS for the really good talks. See what happens when: You Take a Boy Fishing...

Badminton

One of the advantages of living in a neighborhood under constructions...uh besides a port-a-potty in your front yard, is space. Though the space is getting smaller we still have an empty lot right next to our house that is fairly flat. What does that mean? Badminton. My brother and I had a badminton set in the backyard of my grandparents home that they set up for us...we spent many a summer evening playing together and with the neighbor kids. So of course when Connor wanted to chase "birdies" we as had to oblige.




As with any sport it comes down to competition. This game was boys vs. girls and I won't say who won but I do know they all had fun.

April

April is my favorite month. My one and only child was born this month my gift from a loving Father in Heaven. April is one of the months I receive counsel and wisdom from my Prophet and church leaders as they speak to the members of my church everywhere during a bi-annual conference that lasts two days. We celebrate the Savior Jesus Christ this month during Easter. We celebrate his mission here on Earth. We celebrate the very most important event in human history, the Atonement. April is a good month.

Cooking it up Star Wars Style

Today Connor wanted to make some of the recipes from a Star Wars Cookbook he got for Christmas last year, so we did. We started out with breakfast:


There was a small skirmish over breakfast on Tatooine:



Before:


After:




Dinner:


For dessert Bossk Brownies:




Oh no...apparently he doesn't want Darth Vader to have one of his brownies.

Sun flare and Sunsets

I am totally loving my new camera. Even the ordinary things I see take on a new quality as I see them as photographs. I took the camera out as we walked the dog last night and snapped these shots.

Spring

Pinewood Derby

sunsurfos.

Connor participated in his first Pinewood Derby this year. Lots of sanding, gluing, and painting the last month and it all came down to one night on the tracks. Waiting for the call from the lane monitor in this photo, see the tension. Connor finished the night with first place in his Den.

This is actually before the race when I made him pose with one of his cars...yes he decided to make two cars.



Oh ya the car made it.....




across the finish line. But I missed the shot...oh well, maybe I will have a DSLR next year.

Cell Phone Photos

Lately taking pictures with my cell phone has taken on a whole new dimension, there are some great applications that add fun and depth to cell phone shots.

This is edited in Instagram. It makes a fairly ordinary shot look great. I love this app.

This is my entry for the I Heart Faces cell phone photo challenge.