Science Project Time Again!

It's that time of the year again when our house becomes over run by homework...SCIENCE PROJECTS! Though Jessi doesn't do science projects in 3rd grade, she had a detailed report due on Cheetahs complete with pictures.

Sammi is a girl, and I know they say that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I will have to disagree for Sammi's sake. PHONES are what she cares about. So her project was on how a phone works. Good thing for her that telephones run in the family! Her grandpa Wilson provided her with some antique phones that she could open up and learn the parts and how they worked. She really enjoyed looking at the guts of a telepone. I even got to test my photoshop knowledge and doctored a picture for her to make it easier to label the parts.

Now on to Noah's project...he is such a boy! And so is his dad! I mentioned last year about my friend Jenni James' son doing a trebuchet for his science project. (That's where I went wrong!) From that point on it was all the boy could think about. I mean, what boy can resist the idea of a giant sling catapulting objects into the air by means of a counter weight. So I did the motherly thing and told him to look it up on the internet. I was quite happy when I saw a table top version, and I thought, hey this could be good. I of course forgot the husband factor. His thoughts were "table top, schmable top! We can make one ten feet tall!" They did!! It was too big to take to school for the faire so they made a table top one too. But not before they saw how many things they could launch from the big one. (That's a can of coke at the top of the sling's arch right before it begins it's zenith into our cul-de-sac making it's demise as it explodes with a bang to Noah's satisfaction.) It was a father-son project that only those of their sex could truly appreciate. Don't worry guys, I'm sure they will find some way to work the trebuchet into their next paintballing trip! I will be no where near that one!

Now, it's time for me to get back to my mountain of homework that has been at a complete standstill for the last two weeks!!

"Abinidi"

I have gotten to know some writers via the internet. It's been a really fun experience. One day I was at my Mother-in-Law's house when I saw this book, "Abinidi" by H.B. Moore. I was real excited to say that I had been to that author's blog and had really wanted to read that book. My MIL had read it and really enjoyed it, so she let me borrow it. I loved the book, so of course I had to tell the author!! She is so nice and even agreed to let me interview her for the Mormon mommy writer blog I belong to. So be sure to go to www.mormonmommywriters.blogspot.com to see the interview. Here's a summary of the book.

Raquel has a secret. As the daughter of one of King Noah’s priests, she enjoys a luxurious life and the admiration of powerful men. But her heart belongs to a commoner, a man with no earthly wealth but rich heavenly gifts. When King Noah demands that Raquel join his harem, she flees the only life she has known and marries her secret love. His name is Abinadi.
The couple finds abundant joy in their community of believers and in their firstborn son. But when the Lord calls Abinadi as His prophet, their faith is tested to the outermost limits. Abinadi’s commitment to the Lord requires them both to give their all—even unto death. Yet if Alma, the newest priest in King Noah’s court, chooses to overcome his troubled past and cleave unto the truth, their sacrifice may yield rich fruit.
With vivid detail and poignant emotion, this historical novel pulls readers into a fiery tale of love, courage, and faith that is difficult to put down and impossible to forget.

So go right on out and get this book! You won't regret it!

Silly Names & My Photo Web Gallery

1.YOUR REAL NAME:
Nikki Rae Wilson
2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother and fathers middle names)
Elizabeth Wayne
3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Wayne Phillip
4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Wilne (is it just me or does that sound bad?)
5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)
Blue Unicorn
6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born)
Rae Goleta
7.SUPERHERO NAME:(2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Red Apple juice (LOL)
8.FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Niwi (huh???)
9.STREET NAME:(fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip
10.SKANK NAME:(1st pet's name, street you grew up on)
Brandy Calle Hohokam, Callas, Cheryl, 69th Dr. (seriously, pick a street, cuz I've lived on alot of them growing up)
11.GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of first name plus 'izzle')
Nikizzle
12.YOUR GOTH NAME:(black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Spike (lol)
13. STRIPPER NAME:(name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Lucky You Snickers

So do any of these sound like my pen name yet??? LOL! Maybe Black Spike?!

Ok, well this semester at school I'm taking a photography class. Here is a link to my photo web gallery. It was for a color assignment, analogous means colors close together on the the color wheel, complimentary means colors on the oppisite side from each other on the color wheel, and muted just means soft non descript colors.
http:/web.gccaz.edu/~nrwilson
Check it out and tell me what you think! Thanks!

Payback for Tiffany

This is the picture that Tiffany would have you see, the one of a happy family with very happy child!

These are the pictures that came BEFORE the forced happy picture above!

See the plastered smiles on the parent's faces?

This one you must blow up! Click on it twice...look at Bella's face, then look at Tiff's face! Like mother like daughter. Can you just picture the fights those two have???

Yes, Annabella is spitting in this picture! Nice picture Tiff!!! Click on this one too, you will see Tiff sticking out her tongue!!


That's right Tiff! When all else fails, stick your chest out and show off the boobies!!

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

This is my first blog award! WAHOO!! Thanks, Jenn! So here's the rules:

Premio-Dardas: "This award 'acknowledges the values that every Blogger displays in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values with each message they write. Awards like this have been created with the intention of promoting community among Bloggers. It's a way to show appreciation and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted it to you, along with his/her blog link.
2. Pass the award to (5) other blogs that you feel are worthy of this recognition. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen as recipients.

1. Tiffany - for giving us a photo journal of her adventures as a mommy of a stubborn (sorry she doesn't use that word anymore, it's zealous!) child.
2. Nancy - For that wonderful recipe of Spring Rolls, I've been hungry for a week now!! (hey it's cultural!)
3. Sheena - For being so consistent in her postings and being so talented in all that she does.
4. Kim D. - Because I love her "Thankful Thursdays"!
5. Tara - For all her beautiful photographs, and very cute kids! I still love Jillian's video christmas list!!

Mormon Mommy Writers

I'm so excited about the blog that me and some friends put together. It's www.mormonmommywriters.blogspot.com Check us out! It's not just for mormons, or mommies, you don't even have to be a writer to read our blog. It's kind of an interactive blog where we expect lots of comments. We have writing exercises, round robin stories, interviews with authors, and any other zany things we think up. So check us out, pass the link around, and be sure to leave plenty of comments! Thanks!!!

Long Time, No Blog

Have you been waiting on pins and needles for me to finally post? Have you been refreshing your page every five minutes hoping something would change? Has the tension been driving you crazy? If you can answer yes to any of these questions then you know how I've been feeling for the past 6 weeks waiting for the agent to get back to me. And after 6 whole weeks of being completely stressed I can finally say..........I still know NOTHING!! I've been putting off posting because I really wanted to be able to tell you something about it, but I can't put off posting anymore! So here is our past month and a half in cliff notes version:

I finished the fall semester of school getting A's in both of my classes. Sammi and Noah got on the honor roll at their school. The week before Christmas, Mike's grandpa Swain passed away. So throwing everything to the wind, we took an extremely quick trip to Colorado so he could be buried next to Grandma Swain.

The kids had a good time playing in the snow.

It was really great to see Mike's Uncle Spike and his cousin, Kyle.

Meanwhile, my mom and Glen, Sean, and Ryan, Wyatt, and Jason, Tiffany, Keyth and Annabella were all at my house partying without us! What compassion! LOL! We got back on Christmas Eve and were still able to visit with everyone. It was really great having everyone together. We got a Wii and Rock Band for Christmas. The whole family got their groove on!!

My sister Stephanie came for Christmas too with her two boys. My dad had all his children together so we took a huge family picture complete with Grandpa in it too!

Dad had all his grandchildren all together for the first time....EVER! So we took lots of pictures, Grandma would be so proud.

Look how many kids my dad has!! This isn't all my bros though, on my mom's side I have 4 more half brothers! So after the excitement of the holidays, things are finally getting back to normal...kind of!! School started again for the kids and I. We built a new room onto the back of our house. A friend of mine, Jennie Mercer, moved in with us for awhile. Sammi got a homework award at school. Mike has lost about 10 pounds since Christmas. After sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, and pink eye (that was just Mike and I!) we are all finally healthy and feeling good. I'll try to be better about updating now! (I say that everytime, don't I?) Thanks for bearing with me!