Five Minute Fixes

I know you have them. Those little projects you are meaning to do around the house. The ones that will only take five minutes, but you just can't seem to make yourself do them. I did a couple today and am feeling very virtuous.

This IKEA console is a bit of an eyesore. I bought this paper months ago to put in the glass to hide all the unsightly mess. I put it in today with some double stick tape.

And I bought this lamp last year at Downeast Home (a discount store in Utah) without a shade. A trip to Home Depot for a $15 shade and a lightbulb earned me a beautiful reading light.

General Conference

I love Conference Weekend.

There is a lot of food and family togetherness.

There is a 24-year Dalebout tradition of flipping and eating Swedish Pancakes.

I add "flipping" because the flipping is at least as important as the eating.

Grandpa D, the man who started it all.

The best part is listening to the messages from our leaders. My favorite messages, as far as I can remember them, are Elder Scott's sweet description of his wife and their marriage, and Elder Holland's tribute to our prophets and their inspiration in leading us.

No, I didn't just listen to the Sunday afternoon session! And I'm sure I'll have more favorites after I've had a chance to re-watch or read them.

Moab

We went to Moab, UT last week for Spring Break. Much of our time was spent in Arches National Park. We were hoping for warm weather. We didn't get it. But it was great weather for hiking . . . . and jumping.

Bird Whisperers

Yesterday a bird flew into our window and fell into the window well. He seemed unhurt, but couldn't fly away.

Dalton put the bird in a house Sicily had made (the curtains add a cozy touch, don't they?) and made a nest out of paper.

This wasn't quite warm enough, so Dalton added some fabric and yarn and Sicily crushed some nuts for sustenance.

After about 15 minutes, the bird flew away. We feel sure a life was saved.

Smart Girl

About a dozen times a day, Piper would hold her arms up to me and say "Up." Now that she is nearing two, I will sometimes say, "I'm fixing dinner now," or "You can walk up the stairs your big self."

This is the smile Piper gives us any time a camera shows up.

So Piper has adjusted her request a little. Now she holds her arms up and says, "Hug."

Smart girl.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (below), published in 1943. It's a coming-of-age story about Francie Nolan, who grew up dirt poor in an immigrant tenement neighborhood in Brooklyn around 1910-1920. Her mother, Katie, is tough as nails and determined that her kids will get an education. Katie supports the family as a maid because Francie's father, Johnny, is charming and fun, but a drunk.

Apparently it was made into a movie in 1945 starring Dorothy McGuire as Katie. Haven't seen it, but don't know how it could possibly do the book justice.

The book was fantastic! Great to read with your daughter who's twelve or older. It isn't a heavy book to slog through; it is a fast read and beautifully written. You can see just how it would be to live at that time.

One of my favorite parts is how Francie's aunt, Sissy, gets a baby. She can't have a baby herself; she has had 10 stillborns. But she tells everyone, including her husband, she is pregnant. Nobody knows quite what to think, but months later, with her stomach completely flat, she announces that she is in labor and will be having the baby that day. . . .

Read it. You'll love it.