My little Picasso

I love kid drawings. They make me so happy. Luckily, my kids love to make drawings for me (well the girls still love it, the boys are too cool for that kind of baby stuff any more) so there are pictures all over my house all of the time. I especially love seeing the progression in skills and tendencies as the kids grow.

I scanned in a couple of pictures that Mya has made for me over the past 6 months. They are in chronological order. I love that we start with just the basic stick figure with eyes and not much else, then we add a little hair and some shoes, and finally we progress into clothing and more defined features. I just think it is adorable.

Also, I wanted to note that in the last picture, you will notice that Logan and Mya have nice big smiles, and mom has a sort of grimace. I wonder if that was an accident.....

Family Night at Temple Square

I believe I have the most stubborn 3 year old in the whole world. The other day we were all leaving the house to go somewhere, and I attempted to get Mya dressed in something other than a fairy princess dress (my first mistake) and apparently the pants I chose for her were somehow offensive and she refused to put them on. Now I dont want to reveal too many details of my pathetic homemaking skills, so lets just say that these pants were our only laundry option. I started out trying to convince her to put them on by pointing out the cute ruffles and the heart embroidered on the butt.....nothing. I then moved to threatening ( idle threats of course) to leave her home while the rest of us went out. She seemed to prefer that option to the pants. Finally, we just had to physically force the pants on her. And let me tell you, it was not as easy as it may sound. That little girl has some amazing strength when she wants to. It took Rollin and me several minutes and several attempts to put those pants on her. Anyone looking in the window might have felt impressed to call child services. She screamed bloody murder the whole time, in fact, she sounded like a alley cat in the middle of a fight. We just could not help but laugh because it was so ridiculous and she was fighting so hard. She cried all the way to our activity and refused to get out of the car for about 10 minutes until she had calmed down. The best part was, later that night after I put on her pull-up for bed, she wanted me to put her pants back on, because now she loves them.

Last night, Logan's 2nd grade class had a program. As you can tell, they love America! It was such a cute little program, it reminded me of programs I used to do when I was in school: Patriotic quotes and facts, essays on "Why I love America," and all the great songs we all remember from elementary school....You're a grand old flag, Yankee Doodle, The 50 states song, etc. The kids wore flag neckerchiefs and hats (they all looked like they were working at the soda fountain) and there were props and bells and the whole shebang. It was short and sweet and very cute.

Way to go Logan!

Photo Tag

Thanks Brit for an excuse to do a blog entry.

Anyone who wants to join in the fun is tagged! (I am not sure that 6 people even read my blog.)

PHOTO TAG


1. Go to your picture folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.


2. Go to your 6th folder and then choose the 6th picture.


3. Post it on your blog and then tell the story that goes with the picture.


4. Tag 6 other lucky people to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog telling them about it.




Logan and Mya enjoying the Salt Lake Bees baseball game Summer 2007.

Draper Temple

Yesterday, the older kids and I had the opportunity to attend the temple dedication for the Draper Temple. It was so nice. We were in our seats for about an hour before the dedication began, and it was just like sitting in the chapel at the temple. Everyone was so quiet and there was lovely music playing and the spirit was just so amazing. There was a slide show playing with pictures of the various rooms in the temple and they look so lovely. There was a flower that was a continuing theme in the decor which I did not recognize, does anyone know what it is? I wondered if it was the Sego Lily, the Utah state flower. I am sure they explained it at the open house, but we were slackers and did not go.

The dedication meeting itself was amazing. The speakers did such a great job of talking about the importance of temples. President Monson was his usual cute and funny self and his dedicatory prayer was just wonderful and brought some tears to my eyes. I think the kids were a bit bored, but I had a good time so that is all that matters, right?

Beautiful Nature

One of my truck driver applicants sent me a couple of lovely pictures that he took around his home in Nevada. I just thought they were so nice, I would share them with all my bloggy friends.

Arent those nice? I am determined to learn how to take pictures that well. Anyone know of any classes?

Who doesnt love blog fun and games?

Look at these fun crafts. Dont they look cool? And not too hard for the craftily challenged? That's exactly what I thought! I am going to make some, maybe one, maybe all, but definitely some. Want to win one of my attempts at one of these (or maybe different) crafts? Well, you can!!!

I have recently stumbled upon a great new bloggy bit o' fun in which bloggers, like me and you, give away a gift of some sort to a bloggy friend, with the understanding that the bloggy friend then has to do the same thing. Is that exciting or what? I thought so too!

So here is the deal, the first 3 people to leave a comment telling me just how cool you think I am, will win!! But remember, you then have to promise to "blog it forward" and do the same on your blog. Don't worry though, you don't have to make something or try your hand at crafts, you can just buy something.

Ok then.....GO!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

It is my favorite time of year. Not because it is winter...blech. Not because it is Valentine's Day....sappy. Not because Spring is right around the corner....not soon enough. No, it is my favorite time of year because the library is having its Reader's Choice contest!!!! I know I am a dork, but I seriously get giddy with joy when I walk into the library and see that the new reader's choice books are out. I love reading, but I dont like taking a chance on reading a book I know nothing about which has not been recommended to me, which means that often I have no idea what to read and that makes me so sad. :( So this is the perfect solution....25 books that have been recommeded! (Even if the recommendation comes from some unnamed body of librarians or patrons, I am not picky.) :)

It has been my goal to try and read all 25 choices this year, and I have been making some pretty good progress (and ignoring my house and my family in the process.) This blog seemed like a good forum to tell you about a couple of the books that I have read and what I thought of them. And there will even be pictures!!!!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This was a really good book. Written in the form of letters, epistolary is the technical term. So cute and also a little sad, but then happy!!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I also liked this book. It is told from a dog's perspective, and very well written.

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

It is like Pride and Prejudice squished together with a little Harry Potter...the best of both worlds. I liked it a lot.

So I have read several more, but these are my 3 favorite so far. I will keep you all updated as to my progress and my critiques. I am sure you will all be waiting with bated breath!

The month of 100%

This month my work is sponsoring a contest called "The Pedometer Challenge." Anyone who wanted to participate could sign up in teams of 5 to walk to San Diego in the next month. We were given a free pedometer, and the goal is to walk 9000 steps a day in order to make it, figuratively of course, to San Diego be the end of the month. Those participating are in the running for some cool prizes and of course the added benefit of a little weight loss.

So in the spirit of really doing this thing right, Rollin has agreed to be a motivator for me and get active himself. We are committing to walking on the treadmill every day for the next 30 days, 100% of the days. But why, we thought, stop at just that one commitment? Why not commit to giving 100% on all the things we should be doing better.

Therefore, in the interest of forcing us to follow through on our resolutions by making them public, I am announcing to all our bloggy friends out there that the month of February is officially 100% month in the Skinner home. We will be giving 100% to our walks, 100% to FHE, 100% to daily scripture study, 100% to eating better. And 100% to whatever else we can think of.

On a side note, if there is anyone out there who would like to come to my house and potty train my amazingly stubborn 3 year old, I would be willing to pay some good money! Apply in person.

Welcoming the era of Obama

"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." President Barack Obama

What an inspiring speech. It brought tears to my eyes. I am looking forward with hope to the next 4 years. Congratulations, President Obama!

I know that over the months of being my devoted bloggy friends, most of you have come to expect perfection from me. And I certainly can't blame you, just like Mary Poppins, I like to consider myself practically perfect in every way.

So it is with sadness that I must at this time publish a retraction and a correction. It turns out I am not perfect and sometimes I do make mistakes. (Please don't anyone tell Rollin because with him I am staunchly maintaining that I am always right.)

I called D'vorac yesterday and called him Derrick and he took great pains to finally correct me. All this time I thought he was calling himself Derrick pronounced with an unusual accent on the ick. It turns out he was all this time saying Dev-reck. So now the v makes a little more sense and it ends up not being as strange as I heretofore imagined....but admittedly an unusual name.

Happy New Year to all.

We have had quite an eventful couple of weeks. And I have no photographic evidence to support this assertion. You will just have to believe the words and add picture in your head as I describe our adventures.


As many of you know, we recently got the news that we would need to move. The person who owns our house has stopped making her mortgage payments, and is about to be foreclosed upon. So we got the awesome news that we would need to spend some time right around Christmas making a move. Luckily, someone in our ward had a rental property available at the right time and for a great price. We moved most of our stuff in on the 22nd, and have spent the last couple of weeks running over to get another load of crap whenever we have a few minutes or the motivation. It is amazing to me how much crap we have accumulated over the 5 years we have been in the house. I have a gigantic pile of stuff for the DI and we had a good size load that went to the garbage as well.


Ok next on our adventure tour is Christmas. We had a couple days to get the tree set up after moving in, and a couple days to finish up our shopping. (Note: try to avoid the Build a bear workshop on the 23rd of December.) Christmas morning we woke to 6 inches of fresh fallen snow and no electricity, but the kids didnt mind opening their presents in the cold, semi-dark house. It was a nice lazy day of cooking and eating and playing with toys and sitting around....our 4 favorite things.


Two days after Christmas, Logan was baptized. I can hardly believe that she is so big. It was such a special day. There were about 8 kids being baptized that day and there were more people in the chapel than we usually have in Sacrament meeting. I took Logan to the wrong door to get into the font and Rollin had to redo the prayer a couple of times, so Logan has some memorable parental mess-ups with which to harrass us in the future. Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Cameron were able to come up and we went out to lunch afterwards, and it was all just a lovely day.


So that just about sums up our last couple of weeks. Pretty crazy, but not nearly as traumatic looking back on it as it seemed looking forward at it. That is not to say, however, that I would like to do it again any time soon.

Oh one more thing, no one got even close on the pronounce that name contest. He says it Derrick. Yeah I know, it doesnt make sense to me either.

Work Observations

I am on the phone at work pretty much all day. I call people who have applied to be truck drivers. Here are some things about calling on these applications that I have noticed over the last 6 months

1. I dont like calling people who have first names for their surname. Is this Mr. Frederick Michael, or Mr. Michael Frederick? I worry each time I call someone that I have the name backwards and they think I am an idiot.

2. People have some interesting names and interesting spelling. Take for example the following name: D'vorac. Now I would say that da vor zjack, like the composer of my favorite symphony. But who wants to take a stab at how it is really pronounced? Well I will let you all mull on that for a while and submit your guesses. And if anyone actually gets it right, I will give you a special surprise treat.

3. Before starting to work here, I had never spent much time talking to anyone from the South, but I talk to a lot of Southerners now days and there is one phrase that I hear at least 10 times a day that I had never heard before...."Have a blessed day." I love that. I do feel extra blessed after being told so many times each day.

Well, that is all for now. I know it wasnt especially funny or clever, but at least it was something to read.

A Bloggy Change

So, since starting my blog, I have always felt that I had to have something extra interesting and exciting going on in our lives in order to blog about it, and I needed to have accompanying pictures. Well, there is plenty exciting going on in our lives, but since I am at work for some of it, and my poor memory neglects to remember to bring my camera for the rest, I have not been a very consistent blogger.

Today I am instituting a change. I think I have some of the funniest, cleverest friends in the world, and I enjoy reading their blogs so much, even if they dont have pictures, or revolve around an event which is "mother of the year" quality. So, I am going to try to reciprocate by dusting off some of the old funny and clever that I know resides somewhere deep inside me, and blogging with more frequency. You might not always get a breathtaking photo, or interesting travelog, and to be quite honest, you might not even always get funny or clever, but at least the qauntity may increase. I thought I can just sit at my desk and jot down some random thoughts on truck drivers, or phone etiquette, or my coworkers, or whatever.

I thank you in advance for your well-wishes and support, and hope that you will be rewarded with some entertainment.

But not today....maybe I'll start tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Logan

Logan had a birthday on Nov. 30. The big 8....how exciting. She and I had a fun girls' day at the mall together. I surprised her by letting her get her ears pierced. She was ultra brave. We had lunch at Panda Express and she got to pick out an outfit.

Logan has been such a wonderful spirit in our home. She is just so pleasant and happy 95% of the time. She is super loving and kind and is a terrific big sister. We are so grateful that she is a part of our family.

We love you Logan!!

Is this thing even on?

So it's been a while, but hey nothing exciting happened any way, so nobody missed anything.

Well one fun thing happened. This past weekend, I went to California and hung out with my sisters (all but one), my mom, my aunts, and my cousin. We sure had a good time. We did Disneyland without the kids and got to ride on all the scary rides (which I decided I dont really like) and skip all the slow-moving line rides, like Dumbo. We got to walk all day and not take any naps, and not a single one of us threw a tantrum when we didnt get to buy the $80 hat we saw in the window. If any of you have not visited Disney as an adult without kids, you should give it a try. It is a whole different experience. I must say that I felt just a bit guilty about having all that kid-type fun without my cute kids. But I quickly got over it.

We also did some shopping, and of course dining, and my two sisters and I went to see a play. I got to sleep in and not clean up after anyone and I only had to worry about what I was going to wear. On the airplane, I read the entire time and not once did I need to clean up a spilled soda or try to keep a child from kicking the seat in front of him. Ah what a beautiful break it was. I came home and the kids and Rollin had cleaned the house and everyone was bathed and they were all so happy to see me....it was good to be home.

There really is nothing like a long, relaxing weekend with the girls to help you feel rejuvenated and remind you just how much you love your little family of trouble makers.

Miss Mya Grace

In keeping with my recent bloggy slacker-ness, I would today like to post about my beautiful youngest girl, who turned 3 last Monday. Little Mya has brought such joy to our family and our home. She has the entire clan wrapped around her little finger, exactly where she wants us. But, dangit, she is so cute at least 60% of the time, we just can't help but be bamboozled into doing just what she wants. Boy, we all love that girl.

My darling baby girl, I am so glad that Heavenly Father chose me to be your mom. Your smile and your laugh are such special parts of my day. I enjoy watching you learn and grow each day and you are already turning into such a kind, loving, smart girl. You make me so proud every day. Happy Birthday Princess Mya. I love you!

The first final pirate blog

Well, after much dilly-dallying and a day of furiously feverish painting, I can finally, proudly annouce the competion of one Wall Story Pirate Treasure Mural. Last Saturday, I really decided it was time to fulfill my promise to the lovely people at Magic Mural Factory, and complete our friend Roger the jolly pirate. I went to Roberts for one more bag of DecoArt Americana paint and a couple of new brushes (which, to my everlasting joy because I love a bargain, were 75% off) and came home to get down to some business.

First I added a second coat to the lighter colors and painted in some of the darker colors. I think that really made the mural come to life.

And here it is....the finished result.

Isn't he looking good? Turns out I am pretty awesome at this painting stuff.

Yeah it was hard work, but it was fun and nice to challenge myself to try something new.

And I am so impressed that it ..... what? I did what? Nuh uh, it is perfect. No? Not perfect?

Apparently this will NOT be my last post about the mural. Shortly after I left the boys' room in sweaty triumph at my successful completion of the task at hand, Sam called me back in to show me the mistakes I had made. Count on your kids to give you a nice poke in the head when it gets a little too puffed up. It looks like I have a little work to do. Excuse me while I slump, humbly, back to my task and try again.

Sugar Rush

An Ode to Candy Corn

by Jennifer J Skinner

Yellow, orange, and white

You are a sugar lover's delight.

When fall comes in, you come out

You are something to shout about.

My joy is full, my tummy too

and even though summer's through,

I enter the fall with a smile on my face.

No other candy can take your place.

Thanks to the man who found a way

to put you together in that adorable way

And make my life a dream come true.

Candy corn, I love you!!

I love fall and I love fall candy. I went to WalMart today and made a special trip to the waaayyyy back of the store just to get a nice big bag of candy corn. Yummm. I might have to take tomorrow off because I will be in a sugar coma, but I am enjoying it now. That is because it is so delicious.

Here are some delicious candy corn facts to enlighten your mind and start your mouth watering:

• The average person consumes 5.73 pounds of candy corn per year


• October 30th is national candy corn day


• Halloween accounts for 75% of annual candy corn production


• Candy corn was first produced in 1880


• More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces -- enough to circle the moon nearly four times if laid end-to-end.


• According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, candy corn is no different than a slice of bread, bowl of cereal or a cracker when it comes to causing tooth decay

So there you go. Candy corn basically makes the world a better place. Go out and get some today! And if you arent going to eat your 5+ pounds this year, please feel free to bring it over here.

Grandparents Day

Last Friday was Grandparent's Day in Logan's 2nd grade class. She got to call and invite Grandma and Grandpa Amussen to join her for some fun and some yummy school lunch. To prepare for the day, Logan got to interview gma and gpa and ask them some questions about their lives when they were her age. Boy how times have changed! I am glad Logan had a chance to get to know them better and spend some special time with them.

Logan sure has some young looking grandparents. I think they look like the youngest ones there. I just hope some of those genes got passed on to their lovely daughter, and me too.

It seems like it was a pretty exciting day for everyone. Thanks Mom and Dad for moving close enough that Logan could have you there.