Oooo, a new quilting project! Yeah!!

 While at Walmart with the boys, I stopped at the fabric counter and found some pretty blues and greens that would be suitable (not girly) for Liam quilt.  He told me last week, now that I was finished with Delaney's quilt, his was next and he wanted it blue, green and red.
I showed him the blues and greens (because I really don't want to make one with red), but he saw the oranges next to the blue and said that that is what he wanted!  So....blue and orange  I found some inspiration on my favorite quilting blog. Amanda (blog author) made a quilt for her son with blues and oranges and grey.  Joanne's had a great sale, so now I have all I need to get going on Liam's quilt.  I hope it turns out!....and that it's done before he turns 10!

Happy Birthday Delaney

Happy 9th  Birthday Delaney dear!!!!!  A few weeks ago I visited with a friend whom I had deployed with in Afghanistan. He ask me about "groundhog",  at first I did not know who he was referring too. Then thinking back I realized that when my unit was down at Fort Bragg training, Delaney had been born. I was given a three day pass to go and see her. When the guys saw her for the first time, she had fat cheeks and very brilliant blue eyes, somehow the name "ground hog" was applied and stuck, well, for a brief time. It is hard to believe that was nine years ago.

Brianne has really taken up with our family piano teacher Sue Zander. Here she was conducting a little nose to nose interview.

Because her birthday was smack dab in the middle of the week, on Wednesday (church activity night) we had to celebrate her special day using creativity.
On Monday, March 25, we had family over to join her in a bit of birthday cake.  She dearly loves her piano teacher and invited her and her husband to join us too.
March 27, Wednesday...her actual birthday, she got to choose her favorite breakfast.  She adores rice pudding, some of her siblings do not.  She was quite consciousnesses of their needs and asked for sausage, egg and cheese biscuits for them and donuts.  She figured everyone tastes would be accounted for in this fashion.  I said no to the biscuits and found a baked donuts recipe on Allrecipes.  They turned out good....but nothing like a real donut.  She was happy anyway.  it was all good.

On Friday the real "date" celebration took place.  Delaney got to choose where she wanted to eat dinner and one activity afterward. This activity could be going to a movie. Based upon the fact that I had just worked off of a midnight shift and would most likely fall asleep in a dark theater, she wisely chose bowling.

Delaney had to arm wrestle me for this small dish of ice cream. She won!!! Actually, this was her chosen desert. It was called something like Madison Mud Slide or something like that. It was made of some chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup, and in the center a big ball of unbaked cookie dough and lots of brownies. Delaney and Vicki loved it.

While bowling, she was winning for most the of game, yet in end Vicki pulled ahead by a whopping four points.  Clearly none of us will be pro material, but we had lots of fun.

in the beginning of Ryan's eagle project

....and he's off....on the quest of obtaining his Eagle Scout award.  Ryan turned in his paperwork...got his approval, and now he's working on gathering funds to make the grow boxes that will be his project.

So many people came. Ryan asked Sis. Averett--Ma Averett (from the pioneer trek a few years ago) and Sis Cornelson to send the word to Christiansburg and Blacksburg Wards.  It was fun to see our friend from those wards too.  Facebook, ward emails and announcements over the pulpit was how Ryan got the word out! 

The staff at Cici's were astounded...and couldn't keep up in making enough pizza for everyone.  In their books, our turn out had been far greater than any other groups' except for the Special Olympics event.

I know I feel blessed by the out pouring of support and love shown to Ryan.  Thanks to all our friends and family.

Those who attended were:  The Brame Family with Marry and Amy Turner

Brother Burningham and Ryan

Britanny and Steve Cornelson

Bryce Turner and Connor

Davis Family in back....Long Family in forefront

Averett Family...with Jessica Cornelson

Cailin dear friend Mikayla

The Watson Family with the Sister Missionaries  (the Elders had left before a photo could be taken of them)

Our home teachers, the Whittens and Bishop and Sister Becker

With Danny, the manager on duty the night of the event!  Well done Ryan, you're on your way!!

History Group--March

March 4th.....

This week we studied about....

 math is all about #4 in The Beginner's guide to constructing the Universe.  The littles are still working with Life of Fred-- Cats.

March 11th.....Spring Break starts for us.  We're off for Great Wolf Lodge....see you where it's warm and wet!!

March 18th....  The Industrial Revolution, part 1.  We began our day by having them make a bean bag by Hand!  They timed how long it took them to sew the four edges of the bean bag.  Then we had them use the sewing machine to show how much time was saved by the machine.  This was likened to all the convinces the industrial revolution brought about for people.  When goods could be produced more quickly then more money was made and items were easier for people to acquire.

For the youngers, I read Story of the World "Steam and Coal in Britain " about Watt's steam engine and how it produced a greater need for coal and how coal affects peoples health.  Delaney knew much of this from our row with The Rag Coat a few months ago.  Also, so many paralleles came into focus for her as we are also reading The Little House books; many of the things that were talked about ( chokedamp--the coal puts out a gas, methane, which will suffocate the miners before they could get out.)  Delaney remembered how a settler on the Indian Territory thought Pa was silly for putting a candle down the well to check for methane.  He didn't and almost lost his life if Pa hadn't saved him.

Cailin, Beryl and Connor watched the video of this same subject from the Great History Course videos.  Next week they will give reports on transportation industrial revolution advancements.

 Cailin --" You blow into the square bubble and it creates a shape.  We were talking about the #4 again."

The gospel bridge?--  In addition, this Spirit has affected those outside the faith. President Joseph Fielding Smith, after quoting the prophecy of Joel, provided the following insight: “There have been a great many discoveries. In fact, since the establishment of the gospel, these discoveries and inventions have been increasing more rapidly and we have seen more, perhaps, … than was seen during all the years from the days of the revival of learning and the reformation down to the visitation of Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56, 1:179).

In short, the Spirit of God—meaning the Light of Christ—has been behind the rapid intellectual, scientific, and technological developments from the time of the Industrial Revolution to our own Information Age. Joseph Smith presides over our age of enlightenment and expansion.

March 25th.....

More time on the Industrial Revolution.....

 OOOOh, I came up with such a clever idea.  I took flax seeds and layered them inside some slightly damp cotton balls that had been pulled apart.  Once the seeds were inside I stuck them inside the old dried blossoms from the rose of sharon bush in the front yard....and viola, I made a cotton boll.

We used these to demonstrate how the cotton gin made it so much easier to separate the cotton seeds from the raw cotton fibers.We talked about Eli Whitney.  He's known for the cotton gin, but his biggest contribution to the industrial revolution was the concept of standardization, meaning  that parts are interchangeable.   This was a new idea in 1797.   He came up with this system while developing a gun that didn't have to be sent to a gunsmith when a part became broken.  Now a person could just get a new standard made part and fix the gun.  This became common for all sorts of things: clocks, farm machinery, and cotton gins!   Whitney's inventions changed the way of everyday life....sadly it spurred  slavery to a new level.  Plantation owners who lived near a stream could hook the cotton gin to a water wheel and clean a thousand pounds of cotton per day (as opposed to 1 pound a day when doing it by hand).  More clean cotton--more money--more cotton planted--more slaves need to work.  

 It didn't take the kids long to come to the conclusion that the job of cleaning cotton bolls by hand was a dull, boring, and somewhat annoying thing to do.  

 For a futher demonstration on power helping speed up a process we got the grinder out and let them grind the wheat to make bread bowls for lunch.

 Sunday night we had lots of snow....so math was ditched for the day....and play was definitely a big part of our day!

Gospel Bridge--  I found this talk from Elder Quinten L. Cook....it went along beautifully about the importance of the industrial revolution and what we can do in our lives to complete our mission and bring forth the Kingdom of God.

“My purpose today is to challenge you to work with people of other faiths to improve the moral fabric of this nation and the world and to protect religious freedom,” Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said to students graduating from Brigham Young University-Idaho.

“In order to do this, you need to understand and comprehend ‘things which have been’ with particular emphasis on certain knowledge and events which were precursors to the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and still need to be protected,” Elder Cook continued.

He explained that understanding events leading up to the Restoration would help students protect, defend, and, with their own unique abilities, share those elements of knowledge, mostly within their families and communities, in a way that will bless mankind and prepare the world for the kingdom of God. Elder Cook issued his challenge during a commencement address at BYU-Idaho on December 16, 2011. 

Precursors to the Restoration

Elder Cook reviewed four major “things which have been” that paved the way for the restoration of the gospel and suggested an additional three courses of action, relevant today, that will  “build on the great heritage that has been bestowed on each of us.”

The four major precursory events he spoke of were:

1. The King James Version of the Bible.
2. English Common Law and the United States Constitution.
3. The Industrial Revolution, Communication Revolution, and advancements in medicine.
4. Most essential, the return to Judeo-Christian moral principles.

Concerning the Bible, Elder Cook said, “This great book of scripture, the King James Bible, is as important to us today as it was 400 years ago. Significantly, we share with the vast majority of citizens a love and appreciation for the Judeo-Christian values set forth in the King James Bible.”

With regard to the Constitution, Elder Cook quoted Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was a prominent attorney and judge prior to his calling as an Apostle, and President J. Reuben Clark (1871-1961), who served as First Counselor and Second Counselor in the First Presidency and who also had an extensive legal career prior to his calling. Elder Cook said Elder Oaks and President Clark identify five elements of the Constitution as being particularly inspired:

1. The separation of powers into three independent branches of government.
2. The Bill of Rights guarantee of freedom of speech, press, and religion.
3. The equality of all men and women before the law.
4. The Federal System with division of powers between the nation as a whole and various states.
5. The principle of popular sovereignty.                                                                                   “It does not require detailed analysis of the Constitution to see that these five basic fundamentals have been a great blessing to the United States and were necessary to the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Elder Cook said.
   Elder Cook briefly described advancements in communication and medicine by quoting Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy, saying that heaven’s hand could be seen in the affairs of men.
   Finally, Elder Cook spoke of the return to Judeo-Christian moral principles that was especially necessary for the restoration of the gospel.
   Then Elder Cook asked the graduates, “How can you help bring about this restoration of morality in our day and help preserve religious freedom?” He answered his own question by offering several suggestions.

   Restoration of Morality

   • First, be a righteous example. You must not be in camouflage as to who you are and what you believe.
   • We need to be civil in our discourse and respectful in our interactions with our fellow citizens. Our faith requires that we treat our neighbors with respect. It is appropriate to disagree, but it is not appropriate to be disagreeable.
   • Be an advocate for religious freedom and morality. “This is a time when those who feel accountable to God for their conduct feel under siege by a secular world. You understand the moral principles that are under attack and need to defend morality. … It is important for your generation to become well educated [in religious freedom] and assume responsibility for ensuring that the religious freedom you have inherited is passed on to future generations.”
   • We must work together to both protect religious freedom and restore morality. “Please understand this is not an effort to coerce religious belief. As John Locke asserted, religious worship does not have value unless it is voluntary.”
   Presidents of the Church have made it clear that all religions should work together for the common good.

   Our Challenge

   “Our challenge is to help people without religious faith understand that the protection of moral principles grounded in religion is a great benefit to society and that religious devotion is critical to public virtue,” Elder Cook said.  
   “One of the reasons the attack on the moral and religious principles has been so successful is the reluctance of people of faith to express their views.”
   Elder Cook closed by challenging again that “you join with people of all faiths who feel accountable to God in defending religious freedom so it can be a beacon for morality. … We ask you to do this on the Internet and in your personal interactions in the neighborhoods and communities where you live. Be an active participant, not a silent observer.” 

This made me laugh!!

Snow, Really?!

 Really?  I thought Punxsutawney Phil said we would have an early spring!   He's wrong this year, that's for sure.  Actually after a short Google search on him I've found that his accuracy rate is rather dismal, only 39%.  This year didn't help.  We made it through two hours of church before Bishop Becker sent everyone home.  To bad for the youth, there was a big meeting for the adults planned for 3rd hour and the youth all had assignments to take over Primary.  They were well planned and ready to go....I guess it will just have to wait a week or so.


My daffodils and tulips are trying to come.....someday spring will come.  But we have another week of cold, rainy, windy weather.....YUCK!

 Yesterday was fairly nice....high 40's --low 50's.  I was out planting more rhubarb, broccoli and asparagus  plus I started up the little tiller, tilled along the fence and planted a bunch of pea seeds....hopefully they'll come up all right!

I couldn't resist getting some pansies....can't wait till they are big and full!

 The next day, Delaney, Janet and Liam had a great time building a snowman, playing with the dogs and having a grand time in our (hopefully) last snow of the season.