Five Little Rubber Duckies Birthday Party

We started off making ducky visors.


This game combined a couple of ideas, waddling (or shuffling) with the duck feet while trying to step on the "lily pads" (I know they are philodendron leaves, but they have come in handy since making them for a safari party) to bring back an egg without using your hands. Everyone found gummi worms in the eggs at the finish line.


Lauren once again acted as birthday artist and saved the day by creating a duck bean bag toss game.

We played a funny version of Duck, Duck, Goose, not everyone completely understood the rules. They loved fishing ducks out of the pond (rubbermaid box) with a net to choose a prize. The water and duckies kept them occupied even when prizes were no longer involved. I tried to start Pass the Duck (like Hot Potato) but when they realized people got "out", they lost interest.


Our snacks included duck beaks (Pringles), duck legs (Cheetos), and duck food (snack mix with gold fish crackers mixed in).


Of course we had to float duckies in the punch!


These ice cream ducks would have been much easier with different sized scoops! I ended up shaping these by hand and rinsing my hands after each section. Brrr...


This whole idea started from these adorable little birthday ducks that a friend gave to us. The bathtub cake is not my best work, but thankfully the birthday girl thought it was great!

This momma duck was sure glad we planned the party on one of the few dry days amid weeks of rain.

Welcome Spring!

We put out a wreath we had in Encinitas, but it's dark purple color scheme got lost on our black door. We decided it was time to replace it, but couldn't find anything decent that wasn't outrageously expensive. So we bought some silk flowers and created our own. Yeah, I'd say the color pops on the black background


Jeffery's been bitten by a gardening bug. Take a look at his square foot gardening adventure! We looked high and low to find the same variety of orange cherry tomatoes that our neighbor in San Diego introduced to us. (He doesn't like other cherry tomatoes, only this "Sugar Sweet" variety.) Tomatoes and peppers were the only seedlings we bought, the rest are from seed: peas, cucumbers, butternut squash, beans, red potatoes, sweet peas, green onions, cilantro, beets, carrots, spinach, and lettuce. The red potatoes in the middle box have really taken off. Soon we will hang netting on the galvanized frame for the sweet peas, beans and peas to climb on.

The Glad Game

We really like the old Disney movie Pollyanna. This little orphan girl looks for the good in people and difficult situations. Like everyone, we have challenges, but try to look for the positive. Here are some of the good things that have happened to us this year. . .

Good News 1 - Preschool. In September of last year, I submitted an application for Della to go to preschool. In December I got a call saying there was an opening. It has been a great transition as she gets ready for kindergarten.

Good News 2 - Wow, another semester over. It was intense and worth it. I spent half my time in the David O. McKay Building and the other half in the Joseph F. Smith Building (above.) Completed in 2005, the Joseph F. Smith Building replaced the Smith Family Living Center. Thanks to the support of my husband, I earned my best grades ever. All I have now is student teaching in the fall. I applied for December 2011 graduation, but was disappointed to learn December graduates are "invited" to participate in the ceremonies in April 2012. I've already waited this long, I guess I can hold out an extra four months.

Women donate hair for good cause | Universe.byu.edu

Good News 3 - Roofio's wavy tresses have made her famous. She was quoted and photographed in the Daily Universe for donating hair to Locks of Love.


Good News 4 - Scholarships! Generosity is amazing. We were all jumping up and down when we were notified of our awards.


Good News 5- Mission call/Temple. Melinda submitted her papers to become a missionary and received a call to serve in the Farmington, New Mexico mission. She went to the temple this week. We appreciated the love expressed by our relatives who joined us. She reports to the MTC in July.

Good News 6 - Kindergarten. I was driving to the university one day and saw a marquis at an elementary school. It stated kindergarten registration was that day and the next. I determined to find a computer and look up the school Della would attend. They too were holding registration the same two days. Daddy and Della hot-footed it over there and got her all signed up.