Day 116--Me and My Hunny

We enjoyed a beautiful, albeit hot, afternoon at Pierce Mill in Washington DC. It's not often that Glen and I get to be in pictures together. :)

Day 115--Why Not?

Heck, it's my birthday. Why not?

Another Perfect Day

Remember this video from exactly a year ago?



Well, it's that time of year again and it's looking to be another perfect day.

Actually, weather-wise it might be slightly hot to be considered perfect, but since when do you let a little sunshine get in the way of celebrating your birthday????
After soccer practices, scrubbing bathrooms, cleaning the basement, mowing the lawn, forcing helping the kids to clean their rooms, and finishing shopping for our family picture outfits, it's going to be a super fun/relaxing day.

I can just feel it.

Day 114--Glen's Misery=Ellie's Delight

Glen was seriously under the weather today and hardly left the bed and Ellie loved every second of hanging out all day with Daddy. She rarely left his side and even took her nap there next to him. As miserable as Glen was, he wasn't minding all the extra attention one bit! :)

Day 113--Take Your Child to Work

I thought it sounded like so much fun to take my kids to work with me that I kept all but one home from school to hang out with me, yet somehow I was still unchallenged. I needed something a little more.

Five extra kids and a big messy project. Sounds perfect.

World's Greatest Poems

My mom is kind of tired tonight since she had to teach preschool today, so I'm doing my mom's blog post for the night. Here's a couple of poems I had to write for school for my poetry book. We had to pick 2 celebrities to make fun of (ya, my teacher's kind of weird like that).

Everybody loves Simon Cowell
With his honest and truthful critiques
But have you ever seen his mean old scowl?
That only adds to his mystique.

*****************************************************************

A real life diva you will find
In this girl with the dumbest mind.
Paris Hilton is her name
and she really thinks she belongs in the hall of fame.

******************************************************************

Here's an acrostic poem I made about myself.

Caring and loving towards everyone
Always happy and laughing
Making treats too much for her mom's liking
Intelligent

Run! Run! Run
Optimistic in everything she does
Sandy blond hair
Elected SCA President

If you want a copy of the worlds greatest poetry written by yours truly that will be $25 a copy, checks payable to me.

Happy Earth Day!

I hope you got to hug a friendly tree today. ;)

Day 112--Preschool Reunion

My friend, Kristi hosted a preschool reunion for Emma's and Adam's groups. It was fun for me hanging out with my Mom friends I don't see as much anymore and it was great fun for the kids who picked up right where they left off running, biking, and playing in the dirt together!

Just wondering...

why it is that this is what my shoes look like this after running, walking, hiking, and occasionally wading in them almost every day for six whole years?

(a little gray and worn, but otherwise perfectly intact)

And my kids' shoes look like this in less than six months?

Seriously, I'd like an excuse to buy new shoes every six months. What's the deal?

Day 111--Mr. Tree

Preschool was at our house today. While learning about leaves and trees we took a walk around the neighborhood to "meet" some trees up close and personal. They were seriously waving and talking to our neighbor's friendly maple tree they dubbed, "Mr. Tree".

Self Portraits

My kids are always complaining that I'm never in any pictures since I'm always the one holding the camera. Unfortunately they're right. The only time I'm in a picture is if I ask someone to take one of me (usually one of the kids). This week's theme at I ♥ Faces gave me the opportunity to change that for once.

Here is my adult entry...just me and my neighbor's car (with gray roots and giant zit conveniently cropped out). 

 (photo updated November 2025) 

And here is my kids' entry with me and four of my five kids. I call this my serendipity shot. I was taking self portraits on my deck when one of the kids walked out the patio door and ended up in the background. I loved the way it turned out, so I got the rest of them (who would cooperate) and had them pose for a minute. They thought I was hilarious.

(photo updated November 2025)

Be sure to go check out I ♥ Faces for lots of other fun self portraits this week.

Day 110--Little Architect

This kid is always building something...usually with Legos, but today with Lincoln Logs.

Day 109--We ♥ the Missionaries!

We always enjoy the missionaries coming to our home and sharing their happiness and zeal for the gospel with us.
Today Ellie fell instantly in love with the new missionary--Elder Lebbie from Sierra Leone who kept her entertained with paper flowers and magic tricks.

Of course, after six months in our ward Ellie also adores Elder Packer and kept running over to give him quick hugs.

Tall, Smart, and Handsome

In honor of my brother Tim's 21st birthday this past week (on tax day), I've put together this list of 21 random facts about the youngest of my siblings.

1--Tim is the youngest child in our family
2--Tim was born 10 days before my fifteenth birthday
3--He had red hair and the cutest expressions when he was little
4--He could identify most major rocks by name and category by the time he was 4-years-old
5--When he was preschool aged he would carry around a blue duffel bag, which he referred to as his "Duck Tales woo woo bag"
6--I moved away from home when he was only three years old
7--He was scared to death of me when I came back home for Christmas after my first semester at BYU
8--Spencer's birth made him an uncle when he was barely 7 years old9--He is the only boy in our family who never had a mullet
10--Need a job done? You won't find anyone more focused or loyal than Tim.
11--He loves to read even more than I do.
12--He wears a size 15 shoe.
13--Although the youngest, he is the tallest of the Crain kids by a few good inches (a fact that makes my other three brothers green with envy)
14--He is 11 inches taller than me
15--He has a keen sense of humor
16--He has traveled the world17--Tim is a gifted writer and will probably write a book someday.
18--He loves old movies and owns hundreds of them19--He is the smartest of the Crain kids (I've been informed that I'm only 3rd smartest, just in case you're wondering)
20--As of this week, he will be the last of the eight Crain kids to still be a BYU student (at one point there were five of us there at once)

21--My kids adore him and use him as a human jungle gym whenever he's around

Hope you had a happy birthday Tim! We love you!