Jackson Pollock Day

Okay, if you don't already know who Jackson Pollock is, check out this Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock

My friend Melissa learned about him this past semester in her Humanities class, and she got the genius idea to create a painting the same way Jackson Pollock did. Here's what we started with:

A large white sheet held down with bricks made a perfect canvass!

We found as many diverse things to splatter paint with as we could, including flowers, sticks, scrapers, and even paintbrushes. ;)

The work in progress . . .

We signed our names, but then painted mostly over them. You can still find them if you know where to look.

We had to scrounge for paint because, well, paint is expensive. Some of the old stuff we had in the garage wasn't exactly in working order . . .

Me, looking like a caveman.

My hand (left) and Melissa's after dipping them in the weird pink paint (above). It eventually became, in form and color, much like cottage cheese and Jello salad. Weird!

Our paint-splattered legs and feet.

The artists (don't look at me too long; it's not my favorite picture of myself) and the finished project! We decided we need to do some more. We thought one made entirely of warm colors or cool colors would be awesome, as well as white paint on a black sheet.

So, anyone have any paint we can have? ;)

Bree's Birthday!

A couple weeks ago, we got to go over the Taylor and Faith's to celebrate Bree's 4th birthday! She was way excited, and so cute. It's so fun to see her grow (even if it's only half an inch since her last birthday ;) ) and see her little mind develop (at a somewhat alarming rate!).

She was so excited about her stingray cake!

Bree and her cousins, McKayla and Kyler, checking out the loot!

Opening presents!

Her cousins were good helpers with the present opening. :)

And just because he's cute, here's a picture of Carson.

Memorial Day Weekend

We all went down to Tyann and Dave's NEW house in Enoch for Memorial Day. It was quite the party!

I think this picture illustrates how different these two little guys are nicely. They totally crack me up!

Jarrett and Bree hopping around in pillowcases. Don't ask, 'cause I don't know.

We went to a nearby park for a traditional Memorial Day picnic of KFC. Me and the kids played a very interesting combo of Avatar and pirates. It was FUN.

A rare moment in which Carson was not running away screaming from his cousin.

Jarrett enjoying another traditional Memorial Day treat!

Who knew Bree's mouth was that big? ;)

Another rare moment in which Ronny and Carson appear to be getting along.


We also celebrated Rachel and Ronny's birthdays when we were there.

The birthday kids and cake.

I LOVE their dark eyes! Rachel looks far too grown up, though.

Ronny using chopsticks! As you can imagine, more ended up on the floor than in his mouth, but he had fun.


We also went to visit the St. George temple. It was so pretty and the kids loved it!

They were WAY more interested in the bugs that were gathering on the light than me taking their picture.

ALMOST everyone looking at the camera. Silly Jarrett!

The temple. I was surprised at how well my camera did in the poor lighting.

The kids on the temple steps. Ronny is trying to escape and Jarrett is making a funny face, but at least they're all looking! :)

And here's a big, happy Livvy-smile for you!

Another Adventure of Bree and Carson

At the beginning of this month (I think. This is [once again] so late that I don't remember exactly when it was), a fire hydrant up the street was spewing water. So, what else is one to do but go play in it? I remember when I was about eight or nine and they did the same thing with the hydrant at the end of our cul-de-sac. It was the best thing ever so I was glad Bree and Carson got to experience it.

And let me just point out that I managed to use brackets in a sentence. Yes.

Carson pointing at something and keeping mostly dry. :)

Bree was much more adventurous than her brother.

Notice: Carson is still in the exact same spot. That other little boy is a neighbor that Bree (sort of) made friends with. She kept following him around and asking him questions and he politely ignored her. It was cute. :)

Four Kids and A Dog

I do not even remember what weekend this was, but Melissa brought her dog to play with the kids. I'm not sure who had a better time: the kids or Sammy! It made for some pretty cute pictures.

Jarrett and Rachel getting Sammy to do tricks.

A delightfully cheesy grin from Jarrett. He loved giving Sammy treats!

Ali absolutely adored the dog. I thought she would be a little freaked out, especially since Sammy is pretty big and very energetic, but she jumped right in and made a new friend!

The kids insisted on "walking" Sammy. The only problem is that Sammy is a big, strong dog! She dragged them all over the yard. It was way funny!


And because he's adorable, here's some pictures of Ronny. He didn't really like the dog unless he was far away from her. He does like blowing bubbles and eating popsicles, though. :)

A Thing That Happened A Long Time Ago but May Prove to be Interesting

Okay, so I've been at the Legos again.

Wait!

Before you roll your eyes and turn away, know that there is more to this story than there first appears to be . . .

This, of course, is the zombie army. Basically, we have a bunch of Lego people missing body parts. Obviously that makes them zombies. For the record, by best buddies Nicole and Melissa were involved in the creative process.

This is Chuck the Copper. I don't think we ever decided if he was a good guy or a bad guy, but he has a pretty sweet 'stache.

The zombie stronghold! You should see it in person. It is COOL. And very well-defended. Especially since the headless guy is standing guard.


Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture of all the other people, but I will tell you their names and you can imagine, because I think it's funny.

Gansta Bill (has a very gangsta metal detector)
Stevo the Dweebo (only good for doing laundry)
Willis the butler (probably has some kind of ulterior motive)
Larry and LaVerne (they constitute the biker gang)
and . . .


The WASP!!!

Okay, so the wasp is totally not a Lego. It did infiltrate the construction zone, though. We were happily adding more guns to the zombie stronghold when Melissa jumped up and started screaming. Four bites later and lots of slapping and jumping around, we discovered this little bugger had crawled up Melissa's pant leg and decided to munch on her! Random, no? TOLD you this post got more interesting. :)

Conference + Easter + Birthday Party = Fantastic Weekend!

Laziness + Becca = Late Blog Post . . .

No surprises there, though.


Anyway, I have lots of picture from the first weekend in April, but let's start out with some of baby Livvy. Being the youngest, she has some catching up to do in the picture department. Also, she's stinkin' cute! :)

She sort of looks like she has no legs . . .

I was trying to get a picture of her curly eyelashes.

Relaxing in her Easter outfit. Notice the bunny slippers. :)

Okay, so this is not a picture of Livvy (which I hope you gathered), but it cracks me up. I have no idea what he was doing with that pillow case, but I just love his little smile.



In an attempt to get the kids to sit still for General Conference, we helped them make spaceships out of boxes. And, of course, with spaceships you need . . .

. . . Space helmets!

Or Easter baskets. Whatever happens to be handy.

Rachel, Ronny, and Ali examining the spoils on Easter morning.

Ali showing off her basket.

Boxing! The Easter Bunny (ahem -Dave-coughcough) got the boys boxing gloves. They had SO much fun with them!

Rachel getting in on the action. I promise, this looks worse than it was. :)

At the end of the weekend, we got to celebrate Tyann's birthday! Apparently, she turned four. Speaking of candles, Rachel TOTALLY blew them out before Tyann could get to them. Little goof. Anyway, it was a really fun weekend!