As you may know, I'm on the Stake Cultural Arts Committee for our stake. We do projects twice a year, and it's usually been a performance-based project like a play. For instance, last fall I directed My Turn on Earth. This time around, though, we wanted to try something totally different that would get a whole new group of people involved, so we decided to do an art show. It ended up being a huge success! We had a whole cultural hall full of wonderful things from stake members of every age, and lots and lots of people came to see it. There was such a beautiful spirit, too. I am hoping we can make it a regular thing, because it was just awesome.
I wanted to share the projects that Sam and Josh and I did for the art show (you can click on them to see them bigger):
Here is Sam's colored pencil drawing of Jesus, based on the "Christ in the Red Robe" painting:
This is Joshy's watercolor painting of Jesus. He was not happy with the final product because he didn't think it was as good as Sam's, but I think it's wonderful. Josh really loves to paint.
This is my mixed media canvas:
I am taking an online class called "The SheArt Workshop" where I learned these techniques, and I think I'm hooked. I really loved creating this and adding so many layers of color and meaning. Here's what I wrote on my card:
"I love this quote from our prophet. The future’s uncertainty can seem scary sometimes, but our faith in Jesus Christ and His love makes it possible for us to move forward with our families in joy and gratitude and hope!"
One amazing thing that happened -- a man who works as a consultant for an art publishing company came to the art show with his daughter (who lives in our stake) and loved it so much that he wants to show it to a buyer at Deseret Book to possibly sell prints of it! Holy cow. I can't imagine it would actually happen, but it was awfully flattering!
Sam made this book for Halloween, and it's so awesome I couldn't resist scanning it in and sharing it with the world at large. Click on each page to see it bigger.
The biggest news in the Hill household is that school is OUT FOR SUMMER! Sam and Josh have had all sorts of plans brewing for what they were going to do during summer vacation (thank you, Phineus and Ferb...), so they were counting down the days to the end of school.
Josh finished up first and got to have a super fun luau with his little preschool class. He really loved his teacher, Miss Emily, and we were amazed at how much he learned this year! He is a great counter and is even doing some simple addition and such, and he now knows the sounds of nearly all the letters and is starting to sound things out. He learned lots of fun songs (his favorite is "A Tisket, a Tasket, a Green and Yellow Basket") and got to do lots of art projects. I know he had lots of stubborn days -- this is Josh we're talking about, after all -- but he really loved it and we're so thankful to Emily for making it so fun for him!
The next day was Sam's kindergarten graduation -- I can't believe he's no longer a kindergartner! Nana joined us at the school for their cute little graduation program. The kids sang a bunch of songs and everyone got to say what their favorite thing about kindergarten was (Sam's was the Polar Express party). Then each kid got to walk in from the hallway and get their diploma and a fun little treat from Miss Palmer. Here's a 2-minute version of the highlights!
Sammy did a great job singing all the songs and we could tell he really enjoyed his kindergarten experience and all his friends there. He brought home a report card with straight 4's for the whole year, which I understand is the top mark but no one ever really explained it, so who knows? :) He also brought home his writing journal, which totally cracks us up. He has a very creative and slightly devious little mind -- tomorrow I'll scan in some of those journal entries so you can see what I mean!.
Well, yesterday was a very big day in our family -- it was Sammy's first day of kindergarten AND Eliza's first birthday!
Sammy has been excited for months and months to start kindergarten, and when the big day arrived he could hardly contain his excitement! We met up with all his little friends who are in his class (there are 5 of them who all got put together - yay!) and the other moms to walk up to the school together, but the boys were in no mood to wait for us stroller pushers and ran the whole way to the school, and they couldn't wait for us to say goodbye and let them get started! I am so excited for him -- it's the start of a whole new stage of life, you know? He now has a whole portion of his life in which I have little involvement and he's responsible for himself. It may just be 2 3/4 hour per day, but it's a big deal! He loved his first day, though he did admit he quit paying attention because he already knew what they were talking about. But he assured us that he sat still and watched the teacher the whole time. Sigh. His teacher, Mrs. Palmer, seems really nice and has some good ideas for how to get him engaged, so hopefully that will go well. I know it's only kindergarten, but I just feel like it will set the stage for how he feels about school for the future. If he goes through yet another year of not learning anything new, is he going to lose his love for learning? I'm trying not to stress about it, and just give it a chance and see how he does. Today he told me that he tried really hard to pay attention. And he loved the "gingerbread man" activity today, where they chased the gingerbread man all over the school -- a pretty clever way to teach the kindergartners all about the school and the staff, I think!
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Yesterday was also Miss Eliza's first birthday! We had the family over for dinner in the evening, and I was running late getting the food and decorations ready, so Eliza was really hungry and cranky by the time we were ready to eat. A little watermelon and quesadilla made a big difference, however, and by the time cake time rolled around she was really getting into it!
She demolished that cupcake in the end and got as chocolatey and pink frosting-y as any one-year-old could wish. The highlight of Eliza's night, however, was definitely the presents! She loved the book with furry puppies and kitties from Taya and Noah, and she had a few kisses for the baby doll from Mommy and Daddy. But none of those could hold a candle to the purple puppy from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Tarbet. If you press its paws it plays music and talks, and she was instantly in love. This video says it all!
If you'd like to see more pictures of these fun events and more, check out this Facebook album.
I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped with the party! Amy came over a few days ago and helped me make gum paste flowers for these fab cupcakes, and then Ange really saved my bacon by coming a few hours early and helping with the cupcakes, the decorations, the cleanup, everything! I was so bummed I didn't get a pic of her with the cupcakes, too, because she was a major contributor to them! Mom brought the ice cream, Em brought Taya and Noah, Dad helped entertain Eliza so I could finish up, and Grandma Tarbet helped me get dinner ready even though her back was killing her. Dan made a side-pilgrimage for tortillas after I completely forgot to make them even though that was pretty much the whole point of the food and then kept everything running smoothly duringthe party. I just have the best family in the whole world, and I really love and appreciate you guys!
Life is fun, you know? These three kids keep us so entertained as their little personalities and talents develop. We've been having fun times over the past few weeks. We've taken a couple of trips to the childrens' museum, which is SO fun. The boys love all the different outlets for creativity there. They've done some really cool classes, like exercise, learning about eyes, and "action painting." (Thanks again for the membership, Grandma and Grandpa! Best present ever!) Eliza loves to watch all the big running around and occasionally gets to get out and play, too. Last time we went with Aunt Carrie and Taya and Noah, which was a blast.
I snapped this one a few Sundays ago -- my daddy is such a great Bapa! The kids love piling on for story time.
The weather around here has not been very spring-like -- the other day we woke up to 2" of snow, and even when it's been sunny it's been chilly and windy. We made the most of it the other day, though, and got out the kites Grandma Hill sent for the boys. They were SO excited. It took some doing, but we got both kites up! We couldn't get Joshy's to stay up for very long, but he had a great time watch it swoop around and crash and go up again close to the ground. We were trying to do it in the front yard, and I think the air currents were too swirly in the cul-de-sac.
Oh, I have to share a funny, sweet story. Last Monday, when we were getting ready for "You're My Favorite" Day, Sammy wanted to make cards for my mom and dad. This is the card he made for my mom:
I thought it was very sweet. On our way to my parents' house that morning, Sam was holding the card in his lap and Josh said, "Jesus's hair looks funny!" Sam fixed him with a stern eye and said, "Josh, how do you think Jesus would feel if He heard you say that about him?" Glad to know the lessons are getting in there somewhere...
Josh is feeling very conflicted about whether he wants to be a baby or a big boy. He sees Eliza and Sam and kind of wants the best of both worlds. He is hilarious, too – always looking for ways to make people laugh. He’s gotten very friendly, too. He’ll walk right up to people and start a conversation, almost always starting with “Do you know my name?!” I’m trying to teach him that it’s only okay to talk to strangers if Mommy is with you. He’s pretty independent and likes to do things his own way.
Eliza is getting SO big! She’s almost 8 months old. Her big thing right now is pulling herself up to standing, which she’ll do using anything she can get her hands on. She hasn’t figured out how to move her feet yet, though, so we’re in no immediate danger of walking. She’s also trying very, very hard to crawl. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks and rocks and then pushes up on to her toes and fingertips, but (just like with walking) she can’t figure out how to move her feet, so she mostly pushes herself backwards if she goes anywhere at all. It’s very frustrating for her to be trying to get a toy but only getting further and further away! Between rolling and just generally squirming around, she can cover a lot of ground, and I think she’s pretty proud of herself. Here's a cute video of her trying to make her move:
Eliza has her boys wrapped around her little finger -- this is just a small sample of the lengths to which they'll go to entertain her. It may not always be successful on her, but I sure found it entertaining...
Happy Easter from all of us Hills. I am so thankful for this day and for the opportunity to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. We would have nothing without him, but through His grace we are blessed beyond measure. My heart is really full today as I think about all that we have because of Him, especially since tomorrow is the one year anniversary of Carissa's death. We're so blessed that, through His atonement and resurrection, we KNOW that we can be with Carissa, and with all our loved ones, forever. I'll have lots of cute pictures to post (hopefully tomorrow, but you know how THAT goes), but for now Sammy really wanted to share a song with you:
(If it doesn't work, check back in a little while -- it may still be processing.)
Hey, family and friends -- sorry I've been remiss in updating our blog! We haven't had any major events lately, just lots of everyday fun stuff. Here's a very cute pic of the kids we took to send out as Valentines for the grandparents. Sammy helped me make the sign, and he was very proud of it. I was very proud of the fact that I took it myself -- the kids are sitting on the bed in our guest room!
Here are some other fun recent pics:
"My, what big eyes you have!"
Sammy and Dan building the cool ferris wheel and swing rides Grandma sent for Christmas:
The rest of these are from the last couple of days when Leanne and Amelia were here -- we got to spend some fun time hanging out at our house, and then the last day we went shopping with Nana and the boys had SO much fun on the merry-go-round with Nana.
Another very exciting happening in the family was the arrival of baby Cody! We went over to Chad and Esther's house to meet him, and he is just the cutest little guy. Here are a few pictures from our visit:
I made this with only pencil!!!!
