My great kids

So, first of all, I wanted to talk about Austin. He is such a fun, funny kid. Lately he has totally been reminding me of that little guy on Star Wars that laughs at everything that Jabba the Hut says. The other night Austin was totally crying at dinner. Then all of us at the table started to copy him. In the middle of his crying he burst out laughing. He would start to cry again, but when we copied him, again he would just laugh. I love how full of love an happiness this kid is. He is a joy to our life!
When Robert was about 2, Rob bought Robert a shirt that said "Don't bother me, I'm crabby." It always made me feel better when he wore it. These shirts, that my boys are wearing are perfect too. They say, "Don't bug me." Robert was so excited when he saw his shirt. He said, "When___ and ___ bug me in class, I will just show them my shirt!"

Ok, but Robert is very sweet as well. He told me about his missionary experience this week.
"Mom, I told Conner that we all have spirits inside of us and that is how we are alive. I also told him that we have to decide to be on Jesus' side or Satan's side. I asked Conner what side he wanted to be on and he said 'Jesus' side'." When he was telling the story to Rob's parents, he said, "I used to be afraid to be a missionary. But, I am not anymore. When I am a missionary it makes me feel happy inside my whole body, and makes me feel clean."
-Whoa! I am lucky to have such a good kid.

On Saturday Isabelle had a dance concert at Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver.
Wasn't it so beautiful there?! I also love to watch my Bella. She is so feminine and sweet! She loved dancing in the concert. Here are my handsome boys watching.
Also, later we heard a guy playing an accordion and she started dancing in front of a store window, Austin joined in as well. I love these kids! I am a lucky mom!

We had never been to the park, or the farmer's market that they have there. But, we had so much fun! We bought a cherry tree, got free ice cream, and I bought Bella these flowers. She was begging and I wanted some too, so why not!We also finally finished another project this week. I have had plans to do this for my boy's room since before we moved in, so I am so happy that it is finished, and I love it:)

Warning!! Politics!! and family too.

Ok, so many of you know that I have been really getting into politics lately. Which is completely out of the ordinary for me. I think that the only political thing I have done up until now is vote.

But, I have been so concerned about the state of our country and where it is heading, that I have started to do something about it! There was a visiting teaching message in March that said

Elder Robert S. Wood of the Seventy: “For too many, responsibility seems to end with hand-wringing and exclamations of dismay. Yet talk without action accomplishes little. We need to be vigorously engaged in the world. If our schools are inadequate or destructive of moral values, we must work with fellow members of the community to bring about change. If our neighborhoods are unsafe or unhealthy, we must join with the civic-minded to devise solutions. If our cities and towns are polluted, not only with noxious gases but soul-destroying addictions and smut, we must labor to find legitimate ways to eliminate such filth. … We have the responsibility to be a blessing to others, to our nation, to the world” (“On the Responsible Self,” Ensign, Mar. 2002, 30–31).

I have been wringing my hands until now. Glenn Beck inspired me to start a group where we study the constitution, the founding fathers, and start to bring about real change in our country with real principles and values!! See http://theglennbeck912project.com/
I had my first mtg on Tuesday. I was worried that no one would come, or if they did, that they would feel like it wasn't worth anything, and stop coming. But, I was happy with the turnout and the discussion that ensued. We discussed Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and everyone was up for reading the 5000 year leap- basically a breakdown of the founding father's formula for success. I have started reading it already and it is amazing!

I also made these yummy, patriotic treats.
The next day, Rob and I attended a Tax Day Tea Party. This was a move for those like me to say - no more taxes, no more socialism, and try to protect the constitution! From me talking to lots of people, it sounds like many people haven't heard about these, but they were held in EVERY MAJOR CITY IN AMERICA on April 15. Thousands of people attended across the country. The media just really didn't do it justice. For more pics of tea parties across the country, go to http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/24109/?ck=1

I heard a guy on the radio call up and say "Hey, I am on my way to a tea party, I've got my sign in the back, and I feel kind of like a wacko because I have never been to something like this before." I felt the same way! But, when I got there and started reading everyone's signs and what we were all fighting for, I really didn't feel that way anymore. The people there weren't wacko's. There were 80 year old veterans.There were families with young children.
I saw people who wanted to defend God, morality, work ethic, the constitution, careful spending, freedoms. This is the kind of crowd that I want to be around. The people there asked how many people had never gone to a protest before and it was almost the whole crowd!!
Strange thing, but right before the tea parties, the Dept of Homeland Security came out with a statement warning about "rightwing extremists". According to this report put out by DHS secretary, and open-borders stalwart Janet Napolitano, anyone who opposes big
government control or who opposes "single issues" such as
illegal immigration, abortion, gun control, homosexual marriage,
the current financial bailouts, and literally a host of other
issues could be considered a domestic rightwing extremist! Don't believe me? See http://api.ning.com/files/UNNlkOVukw8cXztJc4bDEq2ztrm9owekwvHofmLwYgxLlpwX8*h1av8amHehbYkmt3Qvxny16Gh1ob8gFYeRrw2HVq-joU7Y/hsarightwingextremism0904071.pdf

Wow! If that is the case, I am proud to call myself a Rightwing Extremist!!

It seems that if you oppose the current administration's agenda, that you are a threat to them, instead of just having a different opinion.

If that scared you off about me, I am sorry. If that encourages you to help with the fight, let me know and I will arm you with information and we can carry on with the fight to protect our constitution, and our freedoms.


On to family.

Isabelle had her first dance recital this week. She was so cute to watch.


At the end one of the other girls gave her some flowers and she just loved them! She has been jealous of me ever since Easter.
She wanted to carry them around everywhere. She even carried them around, trying to help daddy mow the lawn.
Also, Rob and I participated in a youth fundraiser in our ward and Rob was the MC. He did a great job!

Easter etc

So, first of all, Rob got a new baby this week. If you can call a rusty old saw a baby. He is very excited. He got it free on Craig's list and his Dad was super nice and came up helped sand the rust off and help Rob get it in good working order (it didn't work when we first got it).We had an Elder's Quorum campout on Friday. I was hesitant to want to go at first, worried about the weather, but the kids had so much fun with all the other kids there.It was too bad that after telling everyone what good campers my kids were, each one of them woke up screaming uncontrollably (in turn of course) and all five of us ended up in the same two person sleeping bag! Then I heard a car alarm go off. Rob asked if it was ours and I realized that I was sleeping on my keys. So, I tried really hard to turn it off, then, as ours turned on, I realized that it was someone else's alarm that I had heard in the first place! So, I tried desperately to turn it off! What a night. We woke up all the campers at least 4 times! So, warning to all who might camp with the Frenches!!


On Saturday Rob completed this lego ship he had gotten from his Grandma Webster. He was so proud! I love it when he does projects like this. It teaches him to follow directions and create things, and he is so proud of himself afterwards.
That night we colored some eggs. Austin decided that the colored water tasted really good, as he would put some in his mouth and say "yummy!" Silly kid.
We read the story of the last few days of Christ's life and the resurrection before the kids went to bed. The next morning was all smiles.One of the presents Robert got was a mini golf set. I was surprized, but he loved it! He played with it a ton this morning. Unfortunately Austin got a bat and ball for his and was frustrated because he wanted to get his ball into Robert's golf hole.Isabelle loved the dresses and had to put her make up on right away!The Easter Bunny even knew where to find Mima and Papa.Rob told me, "All I need is this paddle ball game."
With the candy, every Easter I have to put on my malt ball lipstick.We tried to take a family photo. It was hard. I tried to match all the boys this year with their lime green.The kids sure love their grandparents, and we were so lucky to have them here this year:)Isabelle got some butterfly stickers in her basket. She ended up putting the stickers all over the place. Then she would move them and stick them someplace else!We had a yummy dinner.Then sent the kids on an egg hunt.A few weeks ago when I pulled out our Easter decorations, Robert found my bag of plastic eggs. Then, he and Isabelle hid them all over the house. We found them in the bathroom drawers, under beds and in closets. If we ever found one, Robert would take it and hide it somewhere else. It was so cute!
So today, after the kids did the hunt we set up for them downstairs, we told them to get the eggs that they had hid upstairs. But Robert said, "No Mom, the eggs upstairs are for the adults to do an egg hunt!" So, Rob, Bob, Nan, and I got our baskets and started searching.
At the end Robert said, "Mom, I am sorry to tell you, but there is no candy in your eggs." What a thoughtful little guy he is to put an egg hunt on for us.

We topped off the night with individual trifles. We had a fun Easter!

Ok, just one more note. Last week I had the kids bring their scriptures to church so they can get a sticker in Primary. The kids were so excited to be able to have their own scriptures there. Later that night Robert told me that for his reading time he wanted to read from the scriptures. He told me that in his primary class he was never called on to read from the scriptures, although the other kids were, and he never felt like he could. But, when we brought our scriptures on Sunday, he opened them up and read some on his own for the first time. I guess it really does make a difference just to have the kids bring them to church.
We read a whole page from the Pearl of Great Price. It almost made me cry that he was so excited to read the scriptures, and that his confidence took a huge leap.

Also, today we watched General Conference. I have been so upset about what has been going on in our country lately (if you are too, check out my new link to the 9-12 club). I feel like the Authorities of the church were talking to me when they spoke on not having fear, just faith. I love conference and having a Prophet and apostles.

Belly's 4th b-day, Robert's broken arm

This is my sweet, now four year old Bella. I am so grateful for her. She is always so willing to share and give of what she has. She has a sweet temperament and loves to be with other people. She is so fun to be around. She loves to sing and dance. She is always the little princess in all that she does. I love having such a girly girl!


So, last Saturday I threw Isabelle her 4th birthday party. We did a princess tea party.We did cupcakes with princesses on them instead of a cake.Isabelle said that her favorite part of the party was taking the princess off the top and dipping her into the frosting!Rob found the cutest font that made a little Cinderella at the beginning of each girl's name and we had a name tag for each girl. I also gave them a sparkly ring in their napkin holder.It was very important to Isabelle that we had dancing at the party.
I got all the girls spring hats for the party. I had them choose what ribbon they wanted on their hat, what flowers, and where they wanted to put them. Then I glued them to their hats for them.For lunch, I made sandwiches in the shapes of flowers, butterflys, and bunnies. I made fruit kabobs with a bunny shaped marshmallow at the end for each girl. We also had pink lemonade in fancy plastic glasses!Robert and Austy came. Robert wanted to be "The Hulk" for Bella's party. We played some musical chairs, opened presents and all the girls had a lot of fun!Bella got this Horton game from one of her friends and we had fun playing that.Monday was Bella's actual birthday, so that is when we gave her our presents. She gave us a great response! This was her favorite gift, the dress! (If she could wear a dress every day she would! So, we got her an every day, dress).Here is a taste of springtime at our house. Rob even mowed the lawn for the first time this year. I love the spring!For spring break we went 4 wheeling and yurt camping with some friends. Within our first hour of arrival, Rob took a tumble down a switchback with Robert on his quad and Robert got a broken arm! (just a buckle fracture that didn't break all the way through) So understandably, Robert wanted no more of that for the rest of the trip! So, the next day I went with the Hornbergers to a discovery museum with all the kids, and they all loved it!:)We also did tame activities like collecting sea shells. Austin just liked to play in the sand.Isabelle had tons of fun with her new friend Ethan.She also didn't like it when people went tame on the sand rail. When she got off the second time she had a glum look on her face. When asked about it she said, "That was boring!" She likes the wild and crazy ride!!After camping we went straight to Mima and Papa's to watch Conference with them. They had Isabelle present opening time there too:)