May Day-Multiple Meanings

May Day-Multiple Meanings

If you grew up in Moapa Valley (as I did) you know that May Day means the spring dance festival put on by the elementary school students.  How long this tradition has gone on no one seems to know for sure, but I participated in May Day each spring of my elementary school  career.  (I was an adult before I knew that the actual DATE of May Day was May 1^st-I always just thought it was whatever day the “May Day” dance festival was scheduled for.  The dance festival WAS “May Day.”)  Now I’m going to sound old, but I must reminisce about the “good old days” of “May Day.”  Of course, I think the way WE did “May Day” when I was growing up was the best.  (But don’t “old” people always think that?)  First of all, we always dressed up-like in our Sunday best.  (Of course, when I started elementary school the dress code required girls to wear dresses to school every day – except Friday -anyway.)  It was always fun to see everyone’s new “May Day” dresses and the planning for, sewing of, or shopping for said dresses began months before the event.  (It seemed a new “May Day” dress was more important than a new Easter dress.)  I remember my Grandma sewing me a full skirted dress for the Virginia Reel  in 4^th grade.  This was a dance I anticipated from kindergarten on.  I remember watching the 4^th graders perform this dance when I was in 2^nd grade and thinking, “When I am old enough to do the Virginia Reel, I will really be mature.”   And I can still hear the music and calls in my mind. (“Forward again with a do-si-do and all the way back to place you go.”) But then “back in the day” EVERY dance performed at May Day was a “partner dance” with formations and actual steps.  (No line dances-in fact I don’t think line dances had even been invented.) It was always a big deal to see who you would be assigned to dance with.   And IF you were a REALLY good dancer, you just might get to be an “extra” for another grade should there not be an even number of girls and boys.  This was a coveted position because “extras”  got to get out of class to practice TWICE –once with their own class and once with the class needing an “extra.”   The dances were performed in the “new gym”  (now the middle school gym) and the school (and valley) was small enough that everyone could fit and the students even got to watch each other perform.   Now the dances are performed at the fairgrounds, and I must admit I do enjoy the outside venue (not as hot), but I miss the partner dances, the fancy dresses, and I really mourned the retirement of the 4^th grade “Virginia Reel”  replaced by a new “favorite,” a “period dance”  (“Stayin’ Alive” disco) from the 70’s-the era during  which I was performing the "May Day" 4^th grade “Virginia Reel.”  (In fact, I was in 4^th grade during the 1976-77 school year, and the Bee Gee’s released “Stayin’ Alive” December 13, 1977-so ya we didn’t need to “dress up” in 70’s attire for a dance-it was standard every-day fare- though I don’t remember as many afros, chains, and shades as I see now in the 4^th grade dance performance.)  But whatever the case, I still love to go to “May Day.”  I now only have one child left in elementary school, and while I’m sad that he didn’t get to learn the “Virginia Reel” this year, I have to admit, he looked pretty cool in his “disco attire.”  “May Day” rocks!

The only pic I got of Luke in his 70's "May Day" attire ( he's in the black suit with the blond wig).  I took my good camera, but Kaylee had taken the battery out and it wouldn't work!  So Kent took this with his phone.  Also, although Luke danced right in front of us, the entire group (all 4 lines) faced north for the entire dance! We were sitting on the south side, so this was taken during one of the rare moments that the dancers turned around.   

These are horrible pics, but this is me (with the white knee socks) in 6th grade braiding the Maypole.  (6th grade was part of elementary school back then.)  This is 1979, but I don't see many afros or beads.  However, the guy approaching me is rocking the silk printed dress shirt and white dress pants-total 70's.) P.S. That's Corinne behind me.



Another 6th grade May Day shot-ready to dance with our partners.  Notice how I am the ONLY one wearing knee socks.  I wasn't allowed to wear panty hose yet, but everyone else was.  (Note the girls behind and in front of me.)  And on top of that my partner, Tony May, thought it would be cool to wear a HAT!  How embarrassing!



And now for the “multiple meanings” part of this post:  (Sorry Kaylee, I just can’t seem to make a short post-I have too much to yak about.)  Technically, I’m only going to address one other meaning so the post should be titled “May Day-Dual Meanings” but I liked the alliteration effect of the “m” words. 



So...Besides being the first day of May and the spring dance festival at the school, “May Day” is a call for help sent out by sinking boats, and lately, I have felt like a sinking boat.  Now I know that moms are supposed to be “unsinkable,” but so was the “Titanic.”  Some things that I’ve been doing this last week:  (Many of these are fun, good things- but each task adds weight to my "mom boat," and I feel myself riding lower and lower in the water.)

·         Orthodontist drama-will Kaylee ever get her braces off and will her teeth be straight and can this be done before she leaves for college in 6 weeks? (3 trips to the orthodontist last week.)



·         May Day with Luke

·         Two daughters answering prom dates, getting ready for, and attending the prom.

·         Campaign posters for Trent running for middle school student council

·         Physicals for Lynae and Trent for cheer tryouts and scout camp.



·         Midnight movie opening night The Avengers (I didn’t attend, but Kaylee did, meaning I was up until she got home about 3 a.m.-combine that with waiting up for prom returns, and ya, I’m pretty tired.  And I thought my sleep deprivation problems would be over when I no longer had babies who did not sleep through the night-ha!)

·         Cleaning my carpets



·         Ward temple night

·         Trip to St. George to pick up boat (Kent took Lynae’s prom group out to the lake-this necessitated getting the boat serviced which had been a to-do since last summer.  It also made my 2^nd trip to St. George during the week.  I had also been to Mesquite and Vegas during the week.)

·         Working every day in the high school library-we are doing inventory.

·         Trimming all my rosemary in the front rock bed.



·         Phone call from Analise who is here.  (Check out her blog here.)



·         Phone calls from Dallin who is here trying to work out class issues.

·         The usual-exercise, laundry, meals, etc. etc. etc.

·         Wedding reception

And I missed Lynae’s track meet (I was picking up the boat.) So I hope this week is a bit calmer, cause any more weight on my “unsinkable mom boat”  and it might be going under (even without an ice-berg collision.)

Some pics from the above:

 Kaylee and prom date Daniel

 Lynae and prom date Justin (Aren't my girls beautiful?!)

 Kaylee's day-time prom activity: Paintballing

 Lynae's day-time prom activity: the lake

 Kaylee and friends preparing for the midnight release of The Avengers

One of Trent's campaign posters-He designed and made it; I just punched out the letters.  It looks just like something a 13-year-old boy would come up with :)

Prom Preparation

Prom Preparation

I have two daughters going to prom this year. And things have changed a lot since I went to prom. Of course the dress (shopping for which is worthy of its own post) and corsage/boutonnière are still standard fare, but the ASKING for the date and the ANSWERING are a bit (no actually A LOT) more elaborate. In case you are as old as me, and remember the asking being a shy, awkward,  “I was wondering if you’d like to go to the prom with me,” and the answering being, “sure” (while either rejoicing that the “perfect” date had taken notice and asked, or trying to push down that “sinking feeling” that you would be enduring a formal evening with a less-than-perfect date all the time watching the “perfect date” enjoying the evening with someone else.) here’s a quick update of the new status quo in prom asking/answering etiquette: (And FYI, it puts A LOT of pressure on the parent(s) of the girl-aka me!). The preparation begins months before with the “reserving.” This is the gallant, medieval-type practice of the would be “asker” approaching the parent of the “askee” to obtain permission to “reserve” (and eventually ask) his hoped-for date. And this is also the point where the approached parent begins to feel as though she (or I guess it could be the dad-in my case it’s always been me) is being slowly submerged in a giant pressure cooker. Of course this conversation usually only lasts a few moments, but it feels like an eternity, as the parent (me) tries to remember who this young man is-in my experience this process has always been done on the phone so I sometimes don’t even know what he looks like-and if he is someone who 1-I should ALLOW to take my daughter to the prom and 2-she would LIKE to go to the prom with. After answering in the affirmative, the parent (me) begins a massive research project perusing old yearbooks, phoning friends, and hoping that the answer given was the “right” one. The parent may tell the girl that she has been reserved but should not reveal the identity of the “reserver.” (This requires a lot of parental tact, stamina, and continued reassuring that the "reserver" is "prom-date worthy,"  all while said parent keeps her fingers crossed that she will not be given three years of the silent treatment, if she inadvertantly gave permission to the wrong "reserver.") Then the girl, patiently waits for the “reserver” to reveal his identity through a formal (and the key word here is “formal”) asking ritual. This can be anything from a scavenger hunt, to flowers delivered during a school assembly, to a giant sign on the highway to any number of other creative, unusual, and/or embarrassing venues.  This year, Kaylee was asked via a scavenger hunt in which poems guided her to various locations which spelled out “prom.” The hunt ended at Mcdonald’s (The “M” in prom) where she found the “asker” who made the official request and then bought her a milkshake. Lynae came home to a balloon and streamer filled room with a rose-petal heart on her bed topped with an envelope containing the prom ticket and an “official ask” from the now-revealed date. BUT….it doesn’t end there. No, the ANSWER, must be as formal as the question, so now that prom is less than a week away, and both my girls have been officially asked (Kaylee’s was just made official Monday night), both are scrambling as they prepare their answers (in addition to figuring out the perfect hairdo, nails, and jewelry.....-dresses and all that associated drama have already been decided on.)

Aw, the pressures of youth. Forget about the AP calculus test coming up in less than a week, all free time MUST be devoted to preparing the perfect “answer.”

Burning "R"  (2nd stop on Kaylee's "P-R-O-M" scavenger hunt.)

 Lynae's offical "request"


P.S. Both girls plan to answer in the affirmative.  I must have "chosen wisely" in my parental responses to the "reservation requests."  Oh the parental pressure...And this is only the prom-good thing I don't live in an arranged marriage culture.

And the winner is....

And the winner is....

My lovely, talented daughter Kaylee has been taking photography classes at the high school for the last three years.  In addition she has taken graphic design classes for the last two.  In the high school photo show Monday night, she was awarded first place in the graphic design category for this picture. 

           In addition, she won the overall "best of show" award in 2011 AND 2010 for these 2 pics.

Check out and "like" her photography facebook page- KB Photography "Capturing the Moment" here.

She's pretty awesome!

A rose by any other name...

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet….

I love roses.  I love the way they look, and I especially love the way they smell.  My Grandma Monson grew beautiful roses.  And my Grandma and Grandpa Monson’s front porch was encased in a lattice work of climbing roses.  Each summer, when I visited them, the sweet fragrance of roses met me as I approached their front door.   The  smell of roses reminds me of all the happy times I had at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  (One time when I was out running, I suddenly thought of my Grandma.  I wondered what had caused this sudden memory.  Then I noticed that I was running by-and smelling- a hedge of roses.)  When I had a house of my own, I knew I wanted roses planted near the front door.  My roses may not last all summer like Grandma’s (Logandale summers are a bit warmer than Salt Lake ones) but right now they look (and smell) beautiful!  Happy Spring!  



Kay and Corinne Freshman year at college visiting GM and GP Monson in SLC. The little girl is my cousin Becky.  Note the climbing roses in full bloom



My roses this year

More of the same

A close up view

These next two are from a few years ago, but I have a hard time getting a person to pose in front of my roses these days. This one is Lynae -age 8 ready for her creative dance recital

Analise age 11-just posing

This one's a bit blurry, but it shows my Grandma Monson's back yard and more beautiful roses.  She truly had a green thumb.  Oh, and that's my cool mom graduating from the "U"

I'm Weird - Post #2

I’m Weird- Post #2

As stated in “I’m Weird-Post #1,” the things that I find “enjoyable” are actually a little weird. It has taken me a long time to admit that I don’t necessarily enjoy the things that most people (or at least most “homemakers”) enjoy, and I still feel a little uncomfortable posting this (especially after blog-stalking a few great blogs whose authors are posting their “made-my-own-pattern slip-cover success stories” and “I made these great rolls-they only have to rise twice-allow 4 hours to make” recipes. (4 hours?! Are you kidding me?! I don’t make anything that takes longer than 30 minutes-cooking time included-ok except for the potato salad recipe included in my last post- and I only do that once a year, and the only joy I get out of this cooking project is eating it and maybe, just maybe cleaning up the mess-see “I’m Weird-Post #1). So I’m about to reveal the next weird thing about me. (Yes, I’m just putting it out there for all to see.) I LIKE to do “school work.” I loved and continue to love being a student. I like getting good grades. I liked going to college. (FYI: I had to quit taking “fun” classes at BYU cause somehow I didn’t “wiggle my bootie” enough to get an A in social dance-I got an A minus, and my legs didn’t like to operate independently from my hips- earning me a B plus in ballet. Once I started keeping my classes within the boundaries of “academia” I earned all A’s and graduated with a 3.9 something or other.) I LIKED getting a graduate degree with two small children under age 2, and I did maintain a perfect 4.0 GPA while earning my master’s degree, and even had my graduate level statistics professor try to talk me into changing my major to statistics because apparently I “have a gift.” I found great satisfaction in getting up at 4 a.m. and studying for three hours until 7 when the kids got up (totally weird-I know- even as I type this, I’m thinking, “You are so weird Kay!”) I still like to take on-line and/or summer courses for re-certification. (I have to take 6 credits every 6 years to keep my teaching license current.) And I fantasize about going back to school and completing my math minor (I was 2 classes short, but did graduate with a music minor.) The last couple of years I have taught ACT prep classes at the high school, and I have LOVED it. I love preparing for them, working out the math problems, finding the grammatical errors in the English sections, and reading the graphs and charts in the science section. (If you are interested, this is one of the best math prep books I have seen for ACT prep, and this is my favorite overall ACT prep book. And as far as practice tests, act.org can’t be beat-it’s best to practice with actual retired tests written by the ACT people.) My poor children have had to suffer with a teacher sans students for a mother, and thus, they get to be my “class” all summer. So should you drop in and find me perusing the new Algebra II book I ordered “just in case” one of my kids should need some extra help, or find that I am late for an event because I am working out “just one more” ACT math problem, or even should you have to keep reading my written work via this blog, please excuse the “weirdness” as I try to get my fill of “school work” now that I am no longer a student.

P.S. I tried to scan Dallin's 3rd grade paper entitled "My Family" to include as a picture illustration to go with this post, but the scanned pencil was just too light, and it couldn't be read (even though it was such "cute 3rd-grade cursive," ) so you'll just have to let me tell you in part what it said: "...My dad's name is "Kent." He likes to look at cool cars and eat pizza. My mom's name is "Kay." She likes to eat salad and do homework." -Dallin Barlow age 9. (Draw your own conclusions as to who is the cool, fun parent.)

P.P.S. Did you notice that I successfully included "links" in this blog?! And I did it all by myself! I'm becoming a true blogger inspite of myself. Now if I could just figure out how to not have HUGE spaces between everything that I want small spaces between-note the WAY spaced out recipe in the last post-it's annoying.

A traditional post-HAPPY EASTER!

A traditional post-HAPPY EASTER!

Ok so I’m realizing that most of my posts (all 4 of them :) are just my “ramblings,” so I decided that I would compose a more “traditional” post about our Easter and spring break. I’ll let the pictures do most the “talking” with some explanatory comments by yours truly. Happy Easter!

Dying Easter Eggs with cousins at Grannie Annie's

2-year old Chad "helped" Kaylee dye her eggs. Here's the result. He was just so excited to see each egg come out of the dye that sometimes he would just squeeze them in delight!

Sandy 4-wheeler trip to Red Rock after dying eggs. We "staked our claim" on the big "Easter Egg" sand dune, and rolled our eggs. We had fun riding 4-wheelers, but the wind was a little much, and we decided to return to Grannie's for our "picnic" so we could eat without sand in our food. However, we had sand in our eyes, ears, teeth, and hair. (This is Trent on the 400EX)

Ok and to make this a real "traditional" blog post, I'll include the recipe (Can you believe how good I am getting at this blog stuff?!) for my Grandma Monson's potato salad that I made for the picnic. It is delish-wayyyy better than store-bought! (Probably due to the canned milk and extra sugar). However, as I was boiling and peeling eggs and potatoes for a 30+ people salad, I wondered if it was worth it. It was. YUM!

Potato Salad: (This is the standard recipe-NOT for 30)

8 large potatoes boiled.

10 hard boiled eggs.

1 Onion. (Optional-I usually make some with onions and some without for those who like and/or don't like onions. Also the recipe does not call for pickles, but my kids like pickles chopped up in the salad-my hubby doesn't, so again, I do some with and some without-we end up with several bowls, each a different variety of basically the same salad.)

Dressing:

1 cup Miracle Whip. (I always use fat free, since we are cholesterol-conscious in our fam-it still tastes great-in fact my kids don't like it if I use regular Miracle Whip.)

2 teaspoons sugar.

2 teaspoons salt.

1 cup canned milk. (Again, I use fat-free canned milk-still tastes great.)

1 teaspoon vinegar.

1/2 teaspoon celery salt. (Don't forget this-this can make or break the overall taste.)

1/2 teaspoon mustard.

Cut potatoes while hot into small cubes; peel and cut eggs. Shred onion. Dressing: Blend all ingredients and mix with eggs, potatoes, and optional onions and pickles. Note: Dressing is easier to blend if you stir sugar with Miracle Whip first. Make enough dressing to make salad quite moist.

Luke running up the big "Easter Egg" sand dune. It's impressive how easily the kids could run up and down this hill.

Our "egg trail." I offered a dollar to any egg roller whose egg made it all the way to the bottom without getting stuck. I'm realizing that I never paid up-woops! I still owe Luke, Bronc, and Camille-maybe others.

Hardy-side spring family birthday party. Celebrating Hardy-side birthdays from January through April.

Some of the birthday honorees: Darren turning 13, Becky turning 36, Ashlynn turning 1, Kay turning 45, Ann turning 74, Chad turning 2, and Todd turning 4. (The rest of the Barlows left after the presents before the cupcakes-but Luke turning 10, Kaylee turning 18, and Lynae turning 16 were also among the spring birthday honorees.) Don't we look lovely? This was after being sand-blasted all afternoon at Red Rock.

Luke, Lynae, and Trent gather candy left scattered through the house by the Easter bunny. Not sure why the bunny scatters candy on the floor, but on Easter no one seems to mind picking up and eating candy off the floor. And, if you look closely, Mr. Bunny also left candy on the windowsill (probably between a few spiderwebs and dead flies) and on the piano, tables, picture frames etc. (Kaylee did tell me she had a few "dusty" pastel peanut m&m's gathered from the top of picture frames.) (If you read the last post, this just proves that although I like to clean, my house is nevertheless, less than immaculate. Cleaning is often interrupted by cooking, laundry, and other less-favorite but necessary activities.)

Kaylee found her Easter basket in the chip/snack cupboard.

Lynae found hers in this hall closet.

Trent was the last to find his basket. It was between the shower curtain and the shower curtain liner on the side of the tub. He had checked the bathtub several times, but finally found it.

Luke found his basket in the coat closet.

Finding eggs in our front yard.

Another "spring break activity" was the Hardy side "cousins day" at the Moapa Zoo- "Roos and More." The only "taker" of the Barlow kids was Luke, but he and I went and had a fabulous time with the animals and our cousins. It was fun for Luke to be the "big kid" and help all the little cousins. The zoo was great. It was very interactive. Luke got to hold a Toucan, a baby wallaby, and this Koatamundi (spelling???). He also got to feed a sloth, an emu, goats, pigs, a camel, and horses. We also saw otters, monkeys, lemurs, and even a "bear cat." It was a fun day.

Picnic at Moapa Park after our zoo visit.

Sunday before our "regular" dinner, we had a passover celebration. (Years ago, our ward Relief Society had a passover dinner, and we were given a program for a shortened LDS version of the passover dinner. We try to do this with our family each year, but Friday (the actual passover day) did not work with our schedule this year. Of note: Analise went to an actual passover dinner with a date last year while at BYU. She said her date was most impressed when she knew what each of the items on the seder plate represented. She said he asked, "How do you know this?" She didn't reveal our family tradition, but just told him that she "knew lots of things." ) This is our seder plate. We used our dyed Easter eggs for the eggs (thus the yellow egg.) And I didn't use horseradish-just a regular radish, and I just used a picture of the lamb bone instead of a real lamb bone. (The wet-wipe is for the traditional "handwashing"-it's easier than taking a "basin" and cloth around to each family member.) My favorite part of the seder plate is the haroseth. It's supposed to be chopped apple, nuts, and cinnamon, so I just melt redhots in applesauce and add chopped walnuts. It is delicious chilled. However, my two youngest think it "looks gross" and won't eat it. The funny part is that they will eat the paper bone! (I think it's a boy thing.) All the kids love the sparkling cider "wine." They fight over who gets to drink Elijah's glass. (This year Trent told me he wants his own bottle for his birthday. Should I be worried?)

Some other things that filled our spring break but didn't make the photo cut included the annual Hardy-side ladies birthday shopping trip (Every year we choose a day to do birthday shopping and go ALL day. We shop and shop and shop while the hubbies babysit. We eat lunch and have a marvelous day); moving Kent's mom and dad out of their house in preparation for their mission (They leave next Friday.) and moving his sister Carolyn in (She and her family will live in their house while they are gone); going to Hunger Games and Mirror, Mirror; a food storage shopping trip; and opening a new bank account for savings (during which time we realized that Luke is not named in our family trust-we did it before he was born-it seems like we just barely did it. I guess we need to get that taken care of. He is ten.) Whew! Happy spring break???

Of course before ending this post, I must comment on the real reason for the vacation and celebration: the atonement, death, and resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. None of these "comings and goings" really matter if you take Him and his great gift out of the picture. I often fail to comment on things which I think are "obvious," (things like the sky is blue or chocolate is delicious) and my testimony of the Savior is somewhat like that. It is so much a part of me and what I know to be true and believe that sometimes I fail to verbalize it. On the front of our sacrament meeting program today were these words from President Monson: "I declare my personal witness that death has been conquered, victory over the tomb has been won. May the words made sacred by Him who fulfilled them become actual knowledge to all. Remember them. Cherish them. Honor them. He is risen." I too know these things to be true. The tomb was empty. Jesus Christ lives. He is my Savior. He is my brother. He is my friend. Happy Easter!

I'm Weird-Post #1

I’m Weird-Post #1

Lately I’ve been contemplating my “weirdness.” And, as the post title implies, it’s going to take more than one post to explain. (Besides, Kaylee informed me that my posts are “much too long.”) So what’s weird about me? Well, I don’t “like” to do the things that “mormon moms” are supposed to like to do. (See the “about me” part of this blog.) Now I don’t totally “hate” these things either, and I can sew and cook (and I bought a book on canning-I figure I’m smart enough to figure it out if I ever have to), but given a choice, these are not things that I choose to do for fun. Sewing projects seem to me something to “get done” so I can relax and do “something fun.” And when I cook, I can hardly wait to get the cooking done, so that I can clean up the mess. Which brings me to the first weird thing about me. I LOVE to clean. I like cleaning bathrooms. I find great satisfaction in scrubbing the crevices of small appliances with toothbrushes, and when I figured out that a “vinegar soak” would remove the grime from the little indentations in the bottom of the my textured fiberglass tub, you would have thought I won the lottery. (Ok, so maybe I wasn’t THAT excited, but it was a pretty great day.) I have to control my urge to clean, and for the sake of my marriage have had to learn to live with the “stacks of things” which my husband leaves around and then accuses me of moving. (FYI: Technically, I don’t “move” them; I put them “away” in very “logical” locations.) (I confess that sometimes when he goes to work, I move one of his “dining room table stacks” and stash it in a closet, so that I can enjoy a clean dining room table, and then I put it back on the table right before he gets home.) Also having 4 kids in 5 ½ years, helped me to keep things in perspective. (With 4 pre-schoolers, no matter how much one LIKES a clean house, things are not always super tidy.) And also let me state the follow disclaimer: should you happen to stop by, you may just find a pile of shoes inside the front door, dirty socks on the floor, and dishes in the sink. (I can’t always keep up with 3 teenagers either.) But a really good day, is one where I can start cleaning the kitchen and spend 3 hours doing it, if I want to. (I love to start in one corner and work my way around, scrubbing out and straightening cupboards and drawers, cleaning out the fridge, and doing the stove and microwave.) Luckily I usually have obligations (like I have to be somewhere) that keep me from becoming too obsessive/compulsive-, so I have to settle for dishes done and floor mopped before I leave. (Yes, I mop EVERY day. But lest you think I’m really weird-I only remove the kitchen chairs once a week. The other days, I just mop around them.) And a really, REALLY good day is when after 3 hours of cleaning, resulting in a sparkling kitchen, no one enters the minute after the freshly mopped floor dries to make a snack or bake cookies. So now that I’m 40+ I’m finally learning to embrace my “weirdness,” and not try to hide the fact that “sewing and cooking” are not really my “thing,” and guess what? that’s all right; my children are still clothed, and they are fed a good home-cooked meal each...correction, most nights.

And since there is still some part of me that needs to "prove" that I can sew. Here's a picture of the last matching outfits I sewed for my family. (As you can see, it was some years ago, and yes those pleats on the girls' bodices were "bears.") But don't we look cute?