Guess who just won Outstanding Instructor of the Year at Sundance Snowsports School?!? 
The best part of this whole Froot Loop fiasco (and trust me, this is only a close-up of the havoc) (and, technically, these aren't Froot Loops - they're Tootie Frooties, we're way too cheap to feed our kids name brand cereal, for precisely this reason)?
It's been kind of a tough week. Nothing to complain about, no catastrophes, little drama, just busy and tough. You know that kind of week? The kind of week when any little amusement is like a breath of fresh air to your stress-consumed head?
I couldn't help but be amused by Ikea's short description of my three "dog butt" hooks. 
The best part about a grandparent visit for the boys? Hard to say - it could be the extra wrestling victims, always having somebody to play board games with (I'm pretty sure that more games of Sorry and Mouse Trap have been played in our home in the last week than in the previous year), a new set of folks to cuddle with in the morning, or the requisite spoilage that comes with any grandparent visit. But I think that having a new audience for their skiing feats ranks right up there!
Blue skies, no school, plenty of snow, and a happy family.
Apparently Daddy was serious when he said that the grill was hot. But an independent girl sometimes just needs to find out for herself.
Tuesday night held possibly my favorite meal of the year - dinner at the Solitude Yurt! It was all simply perfect... the kids were in good hands with the grandparents, Steve and I got some much needed quiet couple time, and the food was heaven on earth.
Dinner at the Solitude yurt is a unique experience. You and 15 or 20 of your new friends ski or snowshoe in through the Solitude Nordic Center to the yurt where a chef and server prepare a five course dinner right before your eyes by the light of oil lamps. It's the kind of rustic elegance we really dig :)
And this year's menu?
Look what appeared Sunday on our little tadpole friend - mini feet! They're slightly creepy but also very cool... it's strange how something as simple as little flipper-stubs can be mesmerizingly weird like that. He/she has grown a lot since arriving in the mail a week ago, hopefully our trend of not killing him/her will continue!
See the little toes? Crazy!
The Miyazaki movie Ponyo is taking the Morningstar home by storm, resulting in the following mealtime changes:
Sasha has started describing any food that is remotely warm as, "really really hot" (just like Ponyo does in the movie) which is adorable although a little frustrating because then she won't eat it until she blows on it for like 15 minutes. This also generally includes blowing with such gusto that she splatters her food all over her booster seat tray. It's hilarious to watch, though, as she puts her little finger into the air and instructs us in her magnanimous way that the food is "wewwy wewwy ot"
I have issues. We'll just call it like it is right now. Serious issues. Apparently my hands simply cannot be idle - I think they'd fall off and run to find a new owner out of sheer digital confusion if I ever found myself just sitting and watching a movie instead of watching + creating/gluing/scrapbooking/cardmaking/sewing/whatever. Serious issues.
search for handmade notecards featuring photos of Kazakhstan, memories of Japan, warm greetings from Thailand, images from Beijing, Utah vistas, wildflowers of Yellowstone, or supercute fortune cookie greetings - da da da da - Jamie to the rescue!
options or if you're in the market for a distinctive gift for a birthday, shower, hostess, house warming, or just-because occasion, check out my store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jamieamstar!
Sam has become quite the origami master of late, and today he took those talents to a whole new level. Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you what I believe to be the world's smallest cootie catcher! Extraordinary, I know.
Sam has pledged to use his gifts only for good and has also applied his paper-folding prowess to produce various and more traditional origami animals and boxes. But he finds himself returning again and again to cootie catcher creation - when you find your groove, you just gotta go with it.
Happy International Women's Day! We celebrated our first Women's Day last year in Kazakhstan and were stunned by what a big deal it is over there - it's a national holiday! So we decided to bring a little celebration back here to the U.S. of A. and Sash and I went out for cocoa and a cupcake at Starbucks. Perfect.
In honor of International Women's Day, our first early bulb of the season burst into bloom yesterday - how very thoughtful! This was supposed to be a sweet mini photo shoot of Sasha and the first flower of the season...
...but she decided that it was more entertaining to throw bark into the street. Oh well, I guess that Sporty Sasha (that sounds nicer than "Destructo Sasha") replaces Sweet Sasha in the Women's Day photo shoot!
While Sam busied himself preparing the tadpole habitat and shopping for the proper kind of spring water (more complicated than one might think), Sasha and Ben perfected their frog faces.
The tadpole has survived almost a full week now and is doing swimmingly. I inspect him/her every day for signs of feet or other froggy-looking appendages, but so far he still looks like a little fishy. Sasha named him/her Ponyo, for the star of her current movie obsession (Finding Nemo is another favorite, we're on an aquatic theme this week). I'm sure we'll post regular tadpole updates to the blog, so stay tuned!
And by morning it's winter again! March in Utah is much like life with the Morningstars - never a dull moment.
I'm not sure if this counts like "in like a lion" or not - maybe a really fluffy lamb?
What do you get when you combine snow tubing, a lift that tows you up the hill, our whole church family, a 50-degree day, and all five Morningstars? One fabulous fun day at Soldier Hollow! The pictures say it better than one of my infamously wordy posts ever could...
