Welcome...

I have had so much fun with this welcome sign. I bought and painted this back in October. An idea came to my mind to place a cute something during each holiday and season on my sign. So, I have been able to find cute ribbons for each holiday and place them with velcro on on my sign. It has added something fun to my life being able to do this.

I LOVE IT!!

The Six Be's and Other Stuff to Know...

My sister, Sandra, has inspired me to think and be more creative. In her blog she posted that she hangs up thoughts and cute sayings around her house to remind her children of good values. She does this just in case they aren't listening to her, they will read it around the house. I knew this is something I would want to do in my house. I wondered am I teaching my children the values I want them to know by the things I have hanging on our walls? I started looking around and saw that I have already been doing this and I didn't even know I was. Here are a few pictures of what I found hanging around my house. I will take you on a tour. First, I have the Six Be's that were taught by Gordon B. Hinckley to the youth of the world in 2000. I have always loved this and made this years ago. I found the tray at a thrift store and painted on the Six Be's by hand and Mike painted the cute bee. This is hanging in our front room by the front door, as we are leaving we can be reminded how to always "BE".

Next on our tour we go to my girls room. Here I found a cute shelf that I have cute knick knacks that I have had myself or gotten for the girls. In this room I want to remind them to pray, be a friend, and always be yourself no matter what.

I made this when I was probably 12 years old. I had this hanging in my bedroom growing up and I have always tried to live this way. I took this very serious and tried to be friends with everyone. I am trying to instill this into my children that they can be friends with everyone too.

This is a poster that says, "Be your own kind of BEAUTIFUL". I want my girls to always be who they are even if they have to stand out and be the only daisy among the roses.

We then end our tour in my little boys room. In this room I want my son to know that he is a child of God, to Love one Another, and to know the scripture stories.

My little boy also loves race cars, so I had to put race cars on the shelf (he is a boy) . There are so many things we are asked to teach our children. Look around your house and see if your walls are covered with stuff that helps you teach your family. I bet you will see that you have more than you think you do.

"And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another...

But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another." Mosiah 4:14-15

I feel creative...

Right now I am feeling so creative. I know that this idea has probably already been done, but for me it is a first. This idea came about when I found this cute candle holder at the local thrift store for .50 cents. Next I wanted to find a valentine candle, so off to Walmart I went. All I could see at Walmart was a red candle, but I wanted hearts or anything like valentine on it. I thought about putting stickers on the candle but then I had the best idea to make my candle cute. I bought valentine party bags, cut it to fit the length of the candle, then I taped it around the back of the candle to make it fit tight. I LOVE IT!!

Anyway, thanks for humoring me with my idea to make a valentine candle. I'm passing it on to anyone that has never thought of this idea.

Have a great week!!

Let Virtue Garnish thy Thoughts...

Thanks to my sister, Sandra, and my husband, Mike, I have been able to create this area in my house. I love this spot because it is so relaxing to me. Right underneath on the next shelf I have this cute candle holder that says, "love" given to me from my mother-in-law. When I stop to look I see a women that is wanting to learn all that she can to gain knowledge of history, people, and the scriptures. I see a women that wants to be filled with wisdom and love. Have you ever thought what does it mean to let virtue garnish thy thoughts? I had studied about virtue and here is what I found. To be full of virtue is to have chastity, cleanliness, Goodness, Holiness, Modesty, Purity and being Sacred. Are all these qualities possible to live? I would say yes. In this world today it seems impossible but if we truly want to be a daughter of God then we will work toward having Virtue in our life. We learn in, Proverbs 31, what it means to be a virtuous woman, and the influence that one can have in our families life. I love the scripture Psalm 24:3-5 "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteosness from the God of his salvation." Have a great day and let the qualities of virtue be in our minds to help us be a better person and to be an influence of good to our families and those around us. Life is good and can be exciting if we choose to have goodness in our life. Thanks for spending time with me.

Christmas break

Back to school and back to real life. I am writing this early in the morning because of our dog. He barked all night. I now have him locked in our bathroom. I hate barking dogs. He never barks so I think he was spooked by something out there, but I must say I enjoyed my Christmas break with my family. We stayed up late and slept in late, my favorite thing. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas break. We enjoyed our time visiting family and friends. Thanks to the Jackson family letting us stay at their home while visiting with our dear friends the Andersen family. We had a blast staying up until 5:00 a.m. I love to play games and that is what we did. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration. This year my plan is to have a flat stomach (we'll see how that goes). Have a great new year and I hope that success will follow all of you.

That's my boy...

This story is about John. John is my three year old boy, he is a very literal and precise person. The facts have to be just right (It's a Dopp thing). I heard about this from my friend Laurie. I was at the school for my girls Christmas sing a long and class parties when my friend stopped me to tell me this story. This winter Clarissa played on a basketball team at the rec-center. Well, my friend was out with her little boy playing on the indoor slide while John was sliding also. While John walked by this little boy he said, "Look at the baby" John turned around and yelled, "I AM NOT A BABY, I AM A BOY". My friend Laurie said she hurried and said to John, "you're a big boy not a baby". I laughed and said, "that's John he takes things very literal".

Christmas stockings

I finished it!! This idea came when I was at Annette & David's house. I didn't have a place to hang our stockings this year. When I saw her sign I decided that I would make me one. I think they are so cute. I painted it with the help from ladies in my ward. They helped me figure out how to do the stripes. Mike helped me put the hooks on. I thought I would be able to do it but it was hard placing the screws in. I had help from some good people. Anyway, as you can see I chose to put 'Twas the night before Christmas... Our stockings are truly hung with care and in hopes that St. Nick will truly be here. Have a Merry Christmas and I love all of you that looks at my blog.

Thrift shopping treasures

It started out a snowy day last week in December. My three children needed winter snow boots, so I headed out to town. The thought came to me to stop at the DI, a local thrift store, (I have learned to listen to those thoughts). I went straight to the boots and what do you think I found? Yep, two pair of beautiful snow boots for my girls. They were perfect and together would cost me $7.50. I wanted to cry right on the spot. I had only $60 to spend for boots. Once I was there I had to look around for other good deals (now I had extra cash). I had fun and to me I found three fun items that have added a cuteness to my little house (trailer). You can see my treasures and how cute they are. That day I was truly blessed by the Lord. I was able to get boots for my children, gloves and a hat for John. I also had enough money left over to fill up my van with a tank of gas. The Lord truly does bless us and gives us what we need if we follow Him each day!!

Come and Eat...

Last week we had a fun night having a fancy restaurant night. I wanted to have a nice meal with candle light to learn about table manners. So, I had the girls help me set the table with a formal setting. We all dressed up and went out to eat. I pretended to be the owner of the restaurant welcoming everyone and having them wait in the lobby. I called everyone in and sat them down at their spot. I told the girls that their parents would be joining them shortly. I placed a card on each plate with different table manners. We took turns reading them and did our best to follow the manners. On our menu that night was italian creamy chicken with noodles, rolls, corn, and a sparking juice. Everyone enjoyed the night having a fun memory to remember. Here are some pictures of the night and as you can see it couldn't go completely smooth because of a fun 3 year old boy. We will have to do it again later when John is older.

Let's Sing!!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful (if I had a fire), but since there's no place to go, Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!! Music is a big part of my life. It is interesting how a song can change how we feel about life or a situation we are in. I am so happy that my Mom found it important to have music become apart of my life. Five out of six children took piano and I would say are very talented in singing and piano. I don't remember ever singing together as a family but I grew up listening to my sister, Sandra, singing at the piano. I remember sitting on the stairs and would listen. I never went in but I always listened. I always loved it when all my sisters would sing together. My mom was always playing the piano. She later told me that she would play when she would feel anxious or stressed. I guess she was always stressed and anxious. I hope to keep the legacy of music in my little family. We like to dance and sing together to music on the radio. "Life's a dance you learn as you go Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow Don't worry about what you don't know Life's a dance you learn as you go"