For the Biggest Littlest, from Grandma

Diana is getting new P* I *N *K glasses and is feeling a little trepidation. So I thought I would let her know she is in good company. Here's grandpa in first grade wearing glasses.

Wow!!!! President Hinckley wore glasses. You don't get much cooler than him.

Harry Potter wears glasses.

Even the Queen of Englan wears them with her crown.

Hey is that Zoe?

These people look pretty happy.

Meow!!!!

Love you Diana. Glasses will make you a happier girl because you will able to see so much better and that will make all the difference in the world. And besides that you look FABULOUS in pink.

Tile

A red door is where it's at.

Dad and I laid this tile today. We think it's really F U N.

Dad does all the hard work I just put the tiles on the wall.

Nativities

I just went to a wonderful site worldnativity.com. The nativities are fabulous but even more so is the thought behind the whole project. Check it out.http://worldnativity.com

Book Group

These are the ladies of our book group. We are in our fourth season together. Two of us are missing because of illness and I'm taking the picture. We always feel not quite whole when someone isn't able to come. We range in age from the late fifties to early twenties. All of us have children. Three of us are empty nesters. The rest have children ranging from 14 year olds down to infants. We have professional educators, home schoolers, an artist, fabulous cooks, marathon runners, gardners, chocolate lovers (the list would be long). We started out some of us already friends and some of us acquaintances. In the time we have spent together we have learned to really love one another. It's a great support group. Besides books, we talk about our children, politics, religion and life in general. Together we could solve quite a few of the problems of the world. These are intelligent and articulate women with strong personalities, who have a deep respect for each other and each others life experience. This is our first dinner together. January is the month we review our best read of the previous year. Having tasty food is a little distracting. We did fondue. For most of us it was a first but a little research produced yummy results.

Kitchen Cupboards

Dad and Ernie put the top cupboards in yesterday. There was a little bit of a problem in that both ends of the upper cupboards were rough. Ernie did a fabulous job finishing them. It looks like they were done that way on purpose. Because we bought the cupboards used there were extras that we don't have room for. Taking some of the extra finished wood Ernie finished both ends. Lot's of problems have been solved by lots of differnt heads during this project, but Dad and Ernie have solved a ton of them.

Too Much Homework

After my trip to Arizona I have come to the conclusion that first graders get too much homework. I'm not sure that I even see a need for homework that young but no more than 10 minutes if you feel like it is critical to a six year old's need to build character.

After a day of school these little children need some time to decompress, play unsupervised and just be kids. They also need time to interact with their families. Home work like sports or some other activities that we involve our chilren in take away critical family time. Someone pointed out to me that a lot of the decisons people make are well intended but based on incorrect principles. The greater part of the education community are dedicated, overworked and underpaid and who have a deep concern for their students. I think most of the problem lies with legislators who don't do their homework. They should spend at least a month in the classroom before they legistlate anything.

Arizona and Back

I'm back from Arizona, and it looks like while grandma played Dad and Ernie worked more miracles. Marian is also a miracle worker. She is an amazing mother, patient, loving and organized. I love going to the homes of my children. I always learn something new that blesses my home. The kids were a joy. Of course I forgot my camera, but Chocolate Covere Chases keeps a great update on how cute they are. Tile's down. The building is crooked but it still looks great. Dad says in some ways the LOFT is nicer than our house but that's because we started from scratch as far as materials in the Loft. I think Dad was really clever with his use of the space. There is a lot of function in 800 sq. feet.

Heres the bathroom. Dad had fun with the leftover tile. The kitchen cupboards are also in place. I am in awe. Marian suggested the solution to the modesty issue in the bathroom and Dad says it's fabulous. She also came up with the solution for hanging towels. We are an amazing family when it comes to solving problems.

Here Ernie. a young man with tremendous patience. We really feel blessed to have him with us. Mission call still pending. I'll keep him for as long as the Lord lets me.