The night before.

I hope I get an "A" on my book report that is due in the morning.  I always get nervous the night before a big assignment is due. 

P.S.  And I feel sad, because I'm not sure that this picture even does justice to the work that went into this "book box".  

P.P.S Who comes up with this stuff for elementary school children??  Don't they know they can't make miniature furniture and books on their own?! 

P.P.P.S.  Please tell me you think the printed out head was a brilliant solution to the complaint, "But I don't know how to draw the main character, MOM!"  (and I hope you read that quote in your whiniest voice ever!)

Good night. 

The Party

The Outfits:

The lanterns!







The castle:



The cake:




The favors:



The stations:



Crown making.

Cookie decorating.  (Not pictured, princess coloring.)

Ending with ribbon dancing and music.

Blowing out the candles.

Now they are 5.

Sigh.

Too late to help.

We are in various stages of party prep all over the house, it seems. Somewhere along the line when we were discussing options regarding a "princess party", a vision of a box castle was mentioned. Sometimes I wonder why I mention my visions. My girls now think that a princess party won't even be fun without a giant box castle, even if it is just for decoration, as I've explained.

And because I can't seem to fall asleep amidst so much to do, I decided last night that one solid night of sleep would be important, so I took a sleeping pill. I think it took affect around 7am this morning. Which reminded me of the awesome time I tried to get an epidural, only it was too late, and didn't take affect until AFTER George was born.

Back to castle building, and giant cupcake cake making, and rose barrette finishing, etc., all with the courteous assistance of a sleeping pill.

This, that and the other.

Look who came to Osan this week?! That's Elder Dallin Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve and his sweet wife. They were also accompanied by Elder Hallstrom and Elder Choi of the Quorum of the Seventy, and their wives. After speaking at a conference in Seoul on Sunday, the group traveled to Osan on Monday for a tour of the base. Darin gave them a briefing about North Korea, and we were invited to attend lunch afterward. It was wonderful to be in the company of such great people.




And I was proud that when I mentioned my dad to Elder Oaks, he instantly knew him, and connected him to the work being done on the Rome temple. Pretty impressive.

Lately, Jane has been practicing doing her own hair. Here was her effort from the other day....


George's basketball season came to an end. He did a super job fully participating. It was at times hard to decide if that was because of his love of the game, or if it had to do with the $1-per-rebound offer made by his father. I'll let you be the judge. But I think George is pretty rich right now.

And finally, a little before and after of my latest organization project. I wish I were better at this sort of thing. Sadly, things usually have to get as bad as the "before" picture in order for me to realize that it needs to be turned into an "after" picture. I've got more to say about that, and I'm talking about my latest throw pillow over at Made on Maple. So if that's your sort of thing, you'll want to check it out.


Before:

After!

Winter lasts forever...

...but if you try hard enough, there are still a few moments of domestic bliss.


When I saw this scene through the lens of my camera today, that's when I thought I was having a pure moment of domestic bliss. My girls needed lunch. There was some arguing and crying involved. So many options were not acceptable. I was loosing patience, and simultaneously praying for just the right answer that was going to make everything okay, when "Crepes" popped into my mind. When I announced it out loud, all the tears stopped and hot chocolate was added to the menu. Perfect, I thought. I handled that perfectly. I sat them down to a plate full of hot crepes, a bottle of chantilly to do with as they pleased, and admired my piles of beautifully folded laundry. 12:23pm was looking good, chez Les Earnests!

Winter is entirely too long. It just is. I am a girl who loves all four season indiscriminately. I need them all to have complete happiness. But as it turns out, I need only a small dose of winter. Not a very large dose. In February, I need a few days that feel like spring. Even if it disappears and winter comes back, I just need a little something.

Korea can't deliver. The 10-day forecast has nothing above 32 degrees. But there was sunshine today. And the snow has melted, and it hasn't rained for a few days, so the puddles were even dry. That meant at about 3:45pm I could declare it time to go to the play ground.



Henry took his coat off, because it was getting in the way of his game. He's crazy and cool like that, and apparently takes his game really seriously. He asked me to donate my hat because his ears were cold. I told him no, mostly as a joke, but then I wasn't joking, because then my ears would get cold. And then I sat in silence for a bit thinking about how if I were a real mom, I would totally give my cold son the hat right off of my head. Why didn't I give it to him?!




It's weird, we were the only ones there. 23 degrees isn't too cold to be outside. Seriously, just try it. The kids lasted an entire hour. As long as I stood in the direct rays of the sun, I could keep smiling (my face was kind of frozen that way anyway).



Then, when all else fails, go to the flower market. I took the girls on Thursday. There was no other option. Before leaving, again I found myself praying, "let there be tulips, please, please, please".








So now I'm trying that trick again..."let it be spring, please,please, please, please".

TO BE CONTINUED...