Anwyn's Fancy Nancy Party

With Anwyn's birthday falling on Christmas Day, we opted for the one-month-after-your-actual-birthday plan this year. We went with a Fancy Nancy party theme and had a lot of fun: fancy glittery crafts, storytime, shopping for glamorous items at the Boutique, parfaits for dessert, and a whole lot of pink. Jared drew an awesome tiara so we could play Pin the Jewel on the Tiara. Anwyn invited her best friend Leah plus 3 friends from school, and with 5 moms and two little sisters we had a full house! It was fun to plan and Anwyn was thrilled and I think it turned out well.

Showing off their fancy accessories.

Craft time.

The tiara Jared painstakingly created (for a Pin the Jewel on the Tiara game).When it was all done, Anwyn had a lot of fun and fancy accessories to show off. What a fancy girl! She asked me what the fancy word for "cute" is and I told her "adorable". Anwyn is definitely adorable!

For all the details and more photos, check out this post over at Nurture Mama.

Shark Teeth

Many moons ago, before our forefathers first stepped foot upon this land, the waters had not yet retreated from what is now called Florida. Great fishes swam and lived over the part of land where we humans now live. Over many years some of their teeth turned into stone. These teeth waited for the day when they would be collected by eager men digging and sifting in the rain.

As the rain poured down and the river waters rose the intrepid explorers fearlessly searched for fossils. They delicately slammed their shovel into the ground, pouring its contents onto a fine metal screen. Sifting through the rocks, mud, glass, bottle caps, and twigs, they searched for their treasure. After an hour of backbreaking labor they found only one small tooth; it was an impressive specimen but barely worth the cost of the flight, Russian guide, pack mules, and dynamite needed for the expedition.

Their dynamite was soaked by the rain so it was worthless. They had no access to the deepest and most plentiful specimens; they sufficed with the finesse of shovel and screen. After another hour of labor they had uncovered only part of a canine's jaw (with teeth intact) and a vertebrate of some unfortunate animal, probably the now extinct Spitting Ungil, a relative of the Five-toed Siamese Horse. Their time was up, if they did not leave they would be washed away in the rising flood.

Grabbing their single specimen they raced the raging waters with pack mules in tow and Olev, their Russian guide, nowhere to be seen. As the swollen river collapsed the bank around them, the explorers leaped to safety, watching in dismay as their mules were swept downstream, lost in the flood. Having no time to mourn the loss of their mules and with no time to search for Olev, the explorers raced to their chartered plane - a small Cessna - only to discover they lost the shark tooth. Their expedition was a failure! With nothing to show for their endeavors, the explorers returned home dejected and despondent until they discovered a pouch someone had placed in their plane. It contained numerous shark teeth and other fossils, including a beautiful echinoid. Their mysterious benefactor would remain anonymous. It was a great find. The fossils offset, somewhat, the loss of Olev and the mules.

Today my friend Daniel and I went hunting for fossilzed shark teeth. It really was raining. We ended up soaked and a bit cold (although the high today was 70). We did watch as the river water level rose. We did dig and sift but we found lots of shark teeth (and other fossils) - they are relatively easy to find. Pictured below are the largest and/or prettiest specimens. We were very happy to find the fossilized echinoid (sand dollar).

This second photo is essentially a repeat of the first but I included it because I like the contrast of the black and white.

Below are the rest of what we found.

Yes, we did find part of a dog's jaw (with three teeth on it) and an animal vertebrae, maybe the dog's? We had a great time. Anyone want to come with us next time?

Another Photo Session

Another birthday means a photo session at a real photo studio. Here is Anwyn's adorable 5 year old photo!

First Haircut

We recently decided that it was time for Lily's mullet days to come to an end.
2 years old and her first haircut!

Before

After

Check out that glamour girl! The sunglasses and pink phone are a must!

Thanks for your help, Janene!

December Highlights

We enjoyed a very nice month of December. In no particular order, here are some of the highlights:

1. Making cookies. Every year we like to make sugar cookies and gingerbread people. You can find our recipe for the best sugar cookies ever in this post.

2. Watching movies. Holiday favorites we watched this year included How The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Polar Express, and White Christmas. We also enjoyed Up! and introduced the girls to The Sound of Music.

3. Holiday parties. We had a ward party, Jared's school lab party, Anwyn's school party, a piano recital and a Relief Society party. It's always nice to have the opportunity to socialize and eat good food!

4. Celebrating a birthday. Happy Birthday, Ant Bug!

5. Christmas lights. We always enjoy walking around the lights at the duck pond at the hospital. They put on quite a display. This year we met up with our friends, the Kays.

I think the favorite part of the evening for the kids is feeding the ducks and then rolling like a log down the grass hills.

6. Reading about our Savior. We use this activity from The Friend magazine to read a story about Jesus everyday.

7. Telling the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. We have a few child-friendly nativity sets (including this one and the Little People set) that the girls love to arrange. I once overheard Anwyn telling the story and it ended with "...they lived happily ever after in Bethlehem."
8. Playing. With trains, with dolls, soccer outside, and more.
9. Spending time together as a family!