Power to the people

I did something today I have never done before, at least, not that I can remember. I used power tools entirely on my own.

Yesterday, I found a large magnetic whiteboard (18 x 26) at Costco for $20. It came with 6 colored magnets, 2 clippy magnets, a magnetic eraser that holds 2 markers, 2 more markers with one color on each end, a moveable tray, and mounting supplies. Having been an office-supply lover since my childhood, I was thrilled to find it.

Before I could open my purchase today, I had to do some minor furniture rearranging in the living room, involving the couch, the green chair, and the shoe shelf. "Ah! I can breathe again. There is SPACE in my living room." Teehee, Michael will have a surprise when he comes home in 2 more hours.

I had to use a screwdriver to get the plastic off the white board (have you ever heard of such a thing?!). With the mounting instructions, there was a little paper template with two bullseyes to indicate where I needed to drill. Drill? I've never drilled before. To make a long story short, I read the instructions. Putting up my whiteboard was easy and painless AND I got to wear safety glasses.

Now I must away to clean the dishes, cook dinner, scrub the bathroom, throw in the laundry, and present a complete surprise when Michael walks in the door. I even look good today because I dressed up (that means I put on mascara) to teach my violin lesson at 3 pm. Onward and upward! Triumph is mine!

Random sampler

Here's a shot of all my boys enjoying a good book together, taken at home.
Here is Scott and his mom (yes, it's me) on the bus from the parking lot to the Newport Beach temple open house. The tours were fantastically well organized and the temple is striking, especially the arched doorways made of dark, dark wood.
Here is Scott at the Hall family reunion in Enterprise, UT. That's Aunt Sandy holding him. Just try to imagine the joyous shriek coming out of his mouth and you'll have a better idea of why we affectionately call him "grackle boy".
Here is Ethan on the bus from the parking lot over to the Newport Beach temple. When I see this face in real life (as opposed to a still shot), I see a lot of Grandma Rowena in him. He was about as good as a 2 year old can be in the temple (which is not very), but as we entered the celestial room, he folded his arms and looked around. "Mom, "he whispered to me, "where's Heavenly Father?"

One funny story from Sacrament meeting today: after the prayer on the bread, I was feeling pretty optimistic because Ethan was quiet. He lasted about 10 seconds before bursting into an enthusiastic round of "I've been working on the WAILWOAD, all the livelong day!" It was the kind of moment where if it had been anyone else's child, I'd have laughed, but since I was the mom, I couldn't laugh for fear that he'd keep going. I managed to quiet him down by reading him something from the illustrated Book of Mormon stories. I heard from Michael after church that our bishop's first counselor had said to Michael, "Well, at least he's singing songs that will teach him a good work ethic."