Moran Family Fun

This Mother's Day just might have been my best yet. The girls made me breakfast in bed and bought me a magazine to read while I spent the greater part of the morning lounging around. Abigail filled up a small box with little cards listing all the things that are good about me - did you know I am the best cook in the universe? Emily made me cookie mix in a jar so I can easily have some cookies anytime I want. Madison gave me a wonderful coupon book full of helpful and beautifully illustrated coupons. I can't wait to use the "do the laundry for a week" coupon; I don't think she has any idea how many loads of laundry we do in a week! Samantha and Natalie each gave me a jar of bath salts they made at school and some beautiful handmade cards. Jared bought me a new computer chair and the strange thing is that I didn't even know I wanted one, but as soon as he wheeled it into our room I was so excited! I have been complaining about our old chair and have said many ti...

...this mess of a child. Last night she was so tired that she couldn't even put on pajamas, but somehow was able to find the energy to get out of bed, find a blue marker, and color all over herself before falling asleep. If you look at the picture really closely you can see where a tear rolled down her cheek and washed some of the marker away. I'm sure she was having fun last night, but she was not happy about it this morning and neither was this mommy!

I love to sew, but usually I do not make things for myself. Baby gifts, clothes for the girls, pillows and other things for around the house, but not stuff for me and certainly not clothing for myself. Twice in the past I have attempted to make actual clothing that I could wear. The first time was when I was in Young Women for a YW in Excellence project. That dress did not turn out well and should never be talked about or even thought of by anyone who might have happened to see it. The second time was when I was pregnant with Madison - I bought a pattern and some fabric and tried to make a maternity shirt and pants. The shirt was alright, but very, very tent like. I like to tell myself it was just the way things were way back in 1998; all maternity clothing had to resemble a large tent. The pants were such a mess that it wasn't even possible to wear them. Here it is, almost 14 years later, and I have finally worked up the courage to try again. My friend Annee (who, by the way, can ...

We had a wonderful Easter this year and I thought I would share some pictures of the day. It was atypically warm and sunny here in Germany this Easter so after church we hid the eggs outside and the girls had a barefoot egg hunt. I loved seeing their cute feet all lined up and I thought it might be easier to take a picture of their feet than it would be to get a picture with them all looking and smiling at the same time. Natalie and Samantha got a little head start on the hunt and Natalie was the first to find all of her eggs. She carefully counted, making sure she had the exact number we had told each girl they could find. Samantha wasn't far behind and found all of her eggs quickly as well. Abigail's stuffed animal helped her to find her eggs and I think it slowed her down somewhat. She wore that same dress for Easter two years ago - we're still waiting for her to grow but have faith that someday she'll be as tall as the other kids her age! Emily was less excited than...

This past Saturday we had a work day at our house and spent our morning completing some projects that we'd put off too long. I love it when we are all working together and I feel as if a Saturday has been put to good use if I can see that something has been accomplished at the end of the day. Apparently, not everyone feels the same way. Today I was cleaning up in Abigail's room and I found a list she had made in her notebook sitting on her desk. I guess she wasn't as happy about the work day as I was. What's strange is that Jared and I were talking that night about what a good worker Abigail was. All the other girls were complaining and trying to get out of working, but Abigail was such a happy helper. As soon as she was finished with one task she would be asking us what she could do next. Maybe it was so she would have lots of items to add to her list? In case it's hard to read her lovely third grade handwriting, here's what she had to say about our day of work...

For the last year, I've been serving in our ward as Primary Chorister. It's my very favorite calling and one that I like to think I do pretty well. Our Primary is the biggest I've ever been a part of - there are over 100 kids there each week and more on the rolls that we only see from time to time. It's so fun to get up in front of those kids and sing, play, and just have fun. I love teaching them about music, explaining the gospel messages in the Primary songs, and hearing their testimonies as they sing the beautiful music. Unlike some of the other callings I've had (ahem, Relief Society) I feel comfortable in Primary. I know what I'm doing in Primary and I'm good at what I do. Two weeks ago the Bishop asked if he could speak with me after church. The feeling I got in my stomach when he said that was almost the same feeling I get when I see flashing lights in my rear view and think I might be pulled over. Oh man, that was probably a really bad thing to admi...

I found this cute idea for a little Easter treat here at Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I think they are so sweet and such a good idea. Instead of using them as place cards I decided to make little treats for all the sweet Primary kids I get to sing with each week. It was easy enough to print out the files on colored paper but took a bit more time to cut out 120 carrot pieces. Once they were all cut out I sat down and started folding on the dotted lines and assembling the carrots. I used double-sided tape instead of glue because it's so much faster and also because I love double-side tape and use it whenever I can. Abigail, Samantha, Emily and Natalie helped me attach the green carrot tops and fill them with treats. An easy, cute, and fun project for our Saturday.