Tunes to blog by

Last week I decided to investigate playlist.com and put some music on my blog. I was surprised how easy it was and how fun it was to pick music! Much of the music is linked memories of days gone by, so I thought I'd share some of the dedications:

Backyardigans "Castaways"- for my little hooligans (I admit, I love the Backyardigans, too)
"We Built this City"- For the Conner House girls- you know who you are!
"Total Eclipse of the Heart"- that's all you, Lacie
"Ironic" for Sorebutt Ü Dixie College 1995-96

All of the classics (aka Oldies) are a result of my parents' excellent taste in music! Beach Boys and Beatles remind me of my mom, Gordon Lightfoot and John Denver remind me of my dad.

"You Wore Flowers" for my sisters...here we are sweet Hillary, nut much like we used to be...
"Sounds of Silence" reminds me of the BrainTrust for some reason. I should find "Shoulda Beena..."

The Barenaked Ladies ABC song is quite entertaining and marginally educational. You should scroll to it and expand your vocabulary!

"Utah Man" is for all you Utes out there, but especially for our former band members, Mike & Lisa!

All of the mushy ones are for my sweet hubby. I never realized what a sap I am and how much music is tied to my sappy feelings until I compiled this collection!

There are other songs that my kids have assigned to extended family members. I haven't found all of them yet. "Aubrey" by Bread is self-explanatory. "Leaving on a Jet Plane" is Steve's.

I guess for a lack of ipod, this is my way to listen to my favorite music. I admit that with our lovely Comcast internet, I come in and turn on the computer and open my blog just so the music will play in the background. I do the dishes to the music coming from the computer. What a nerd I am!

Dress project update

I am so proud of our Relief Society! We did a project to make tshirt dresses to donate to Mothers Without Borders. They distribute the dresses to orphans in Africa.

Kim & Emily volunteered to coordinate the project and collected fabric and shirts in preparation for the sewing night. We met for Enrichment Night and started sweing. I think we made about 30 dresses that night and people took the others home to finish. Now that we are finished, we have exceeded our goal of 100 dresses- we are at about 130! We also collected boys clothing to send with the dresses.

These are pictures from the MWB website of children in the dresses that have been donated.

After seeing these, my heart is full at the thought of these girls getting fresh dresses! If you are wanting to practice your sewing skills, this is a very simple project with huge rewards! Let me know if you need help!

Observations of the day

After driving through tons of orange cones and eventually having to turn around and backtrack because of a road closure, Jenna observed:

"Mom there is too much destruction here!"

Amen!

Aubrey: Mom, my eyes are blue like the ocean, huh.

Mom: Yes they are.

Aubrey (after a moment of deep thought): Mom my eyes are blue like the ocean and yours are brown like the housetops.

She knows how to make you feel special!

Demolition Derby

In my eternal quest to bring culture and refinement to my young ladies, we are always looking for interesting opportunities and events. Thus, we went to the demolition derby in Riverton on Saturday night!

We got there right as heat two started. Have you ever been that close to seven cars revving their engines and peeling out in mud? It was very loud and messy! Messy my girls like, but loud, not so much. The oldest two were covering their ears and the baby was trying to climb over Tim to escape. It didn't help that one of the cars right in front of us caught on fire. The girls were a little freaked out, so we went and found seats a bit further down the arena.

It was crazy to watch cars smashing into each other on purpose and watch the cars become more compact and parts dragging! It was really fun! Jenna got a little braver and watched from the front row. Aubrey stood BEHIND Tim the whole time, peaking out when things quieted down.

One of the toughest cars was a big pink Monte Carlo. This was the girls' favorite- and the crowd favorite, too!Jenna would venture down to the fence between heats. As soon as the cars lined up again, she was back with us. She did like it when a camera crew from High School Musical 3 was filming the crowd cheering! She dared to watch the in-between activities like the hamburger eating contest and the Guns 'n' Hoses tug-o-war between the police and fire departments.

Tim's friend that he carpools with to work won the raffle to drive the Riverton City entry in the derby. If you look closely, you can see 'Riverton' spray painted on the car. Notice the fire extinguisher in the foreground. Those were strategically place along the arena. Luckily no one needed major rescuing. We had a great time! The people watching alone was worth the price of admission! At work every day Tim has to deal with people trying to keep a certain type of people in Riverton, but there were a few front the counter culture there at the derby!

Thanks, Tim for a fun evening that we won't soon forget! It was really fun & thankfully the girls were exhausted and slept in the next morning!

Another cry for help!

On Monday at 10 am we will be making quilts for the flood victims. We are meeting at my church. If you are interested, let me know and I will get you more details. Thanks!

What do you wish this baby with a BONK on the head?

It was so beautiful outside this morning that after we took Jenna to school, I decided to stay outside with the girls and weed the front garden. They were playing so well together and having such a great time!

After I had weeded and watered the garden next to the drive way, Lydia was climbing down the one little step and lost her balance. She fell right on her head on the cement and rolled onto her back in the muddy garden. I was sick! If you have ever heard a child's head hit cement, it is a horrifying thud!

When I picked her up she was covered with mud and debris and had a rock and more dirt in her mouth. I was frantically wiping things off of her to make sure there was no blood, but there was an INSTANT goose egg. She has recovered nicely, but I thought I'd record the goose egg here for posterity. (And to build a case for DCFS Ü)

These were after she was up running around again and sharing a Capri Sun that Aubrey generously shared with her injured sister. I think she feels pity for the kids, as she knows what it can be like here!

Sorry, my dolly!

Sweet Moment of Prayer

A few nights ago we were having Hamburger Helper lasagna for dinner, which doesn't exactly resemble lasagna in form.

Aubrey was saying the prayer and you could tell she was looking around the table as she prayed.

"Heavenly Father, please bless the milk, and the peas, and the bread, and the stuff to the left of the bread."

She is very good at left and right, and also extremely literal!

What a sweetheart!

Juxtaposition

What a contrast we saw yesterday! We went to the Church History Museum in a group arranged by Kat. We took our kids to the I am a Child of God exhibit. It walks you through the Plan of Salvation, our place as God's children, the covenants we make at baptism and then the ways we follow Christ. It is a peaceful, happy place and you feel great when you are there surrounded by sweet children and the Holy Ghost.

For lunch we went to the Gateway and then walked around for a while, and yes, we played in the fountains. I will put some of the pictures on later.

At the Gateway we were surrounded by all sorts of people. Some seemed to me lost souls, looking for their place in the world. I have never seen so many different hair colors, body piercings, and interesting clothing choices in one place. (ok, maybe at A Taste of Kearns) I won't even speculate at the behaviors that accompany their lifestyle.

I wondered how many of these people felt secure in their knowledge of their loving Heavenly Father. Would you search for acceptance and dye your hair pink and purple if you knew Heavenly Father loves you the way you are? Maybe, I don't know.

I am thankful that I know I am a daughter of Heavenly Father, who loves me- and I love Him! I hope I am instilling that in my daughters, too. I would still love them with pink hair, but I hope they don't test those waters!

One small step for man, one giant leap for Prestwich-kind

For those of you who try to call me when I am checking my email, you will be happy to know that the end is near! On Tuesday we are getting higher speed Internet. No more dial up!!! Not only will I have that, but I will also be getting caller ID, call waiting, and a bunch of other features all for the price I now pay for just a regular phone (with the necessary unlimited long distance). The thought of being able to use the phone while connecting to the Internet is almost mind-boggling!

Thanks Tim, for understanding my need for connection to the outside world and the value of checking my email in less than 45 minutes!

I have a few blog posts I have been saving for that day so I can download some cute pictures, so check back in a few days for some new pics.

Yard sale Update

So, if you're wondering how it went, we ended up making $1029.90 all together from the yard sale. It was much larger than I anticiapated but went smoothly! Thanks to all who helped, shopped, or contributed. It was a fun day!

The Friends of MS are coming to pick up the left overs tomorrow, so this is your last chance if you want to rumage through what's left. Come on over!