tuesday...and a funny story

here's a self-portrait before i ran out for some errands yesterday. ali edwards inspires me to take more of these, but somehow i never achieve the same effect she does. oh well, i'll keep working on that.
this is what is now posted on our refrigerator. i think we can all work at manifesting the fruitage of the spirit a little more in our lives--so i thought it would be good to print out the whole scripture and then take one part of it and really focus on that for the week. i cut up all the words and mckinlee randomly chose goodness. each week on family worship night, one of us will have researched the trait we're working on for the week and tell the others what we've learned about it. truthfully, i really didn't know how to work on goodness, you know what i mean? we all try to be good, but that's kind of vague. my research gave me these good points:

~goodness is moral excellence or virtue
~it is expressed in good and beneficial acts toward others
~if we are led by god's spirit, we will become known for goodness and he will remember us for the goodness we show
~goodness is manifested in being good neighbors, good citizens and good examples. also by being considerate of others and helping people in various ways.

so now that we have a better understanding of what goodness is, we will work on displaying that quality for the coming week. next monday, mckinlee will draw another aspect of the fruitage and we will work on that. we're kind of excited about it!

the scripture under it is so we can start memorizing scriptures more diligently. i would say it's really for mckinlee, but who am i kidding? when i try to remember a certain scripture, my mind goes blank and i just can't do it. so this will help all of us to get various scriptures in our mind. you never know when you'll need it!
i am so excited over this! i got this little vase at crate and barrel the other day and for some reason it is making me insanely happy. i usually put some fresh rosemary in it, because frankly, what does rosemary not look good in? but yesterday my chives were blooming. so out came the rosemary and in go the chive blooms. did you ever know chives could be so pretty? of course, in a few days, i'll probably forget and wonder what that onion smell is coming from my mantle! :)
yesterday i was in a baking kind of mood. so i made these pumpkin cookies. mckinlee renamed them white autumn chip cookies. cute, no?
if you like pumpkin, you will love these. there's not much sugar, but the smell and taste are great! and what don't white chocolate chips taste good in?
it was also chili night. i love making dinner at noon and not having to worry about it again! chris loved this. it was ok to me. the picture is better than it tasted, but then again, i don't like beans and this had two cans in it. i think it will be better tomorrow night on top of my hot dog!

i never posted this funny story about mckinlee's picture day last week. of course, picture day is a big deal around here. much consideration in put into what mck will be wearing, what jewelry she'll pick and what we'll do with her hair. (which she totally changed the night before!) we also get up in enough time to put a little makeup on so she won't be all washed out. i also make sure and tell her to go to the bathroom at school and brush her hair right before the picture. she also, of her own accord, takes a little lip gloss that she can put on right before as well.
well when i picked her up that day and asked how pictures went, she said "lip gloss is not allowed!"
i replied, (in the words of my mother) "what do you mean?"
she said she had gone to the bathroom, brushed her hair and put on her lip gloss. she and a friend were walking down the hall to the cafeteria/photography "studio" when a counselor told them "lip stick is not allowed girls." now when lip stick became a real concern in an elementary school i'm sure i don't know. so what did she do, i asked.
mck said she wiped it off, walked down to the cafeteria and put it right back on before her turn for the picture! when she told me that i laughed and laughed--that's my girl! now, usually i do not condone disobeying an authority figure at school, but let's get real here. having a picture taken and not putting some gloss on? i don't think so!
i can't wait to see these pictures... mckinlee also informed me just this morning that she took the sweater off that she had worn for the picture. great~her "fall" picture will be her in a sundress.
with lip gloss, of course.