Check out the new post in wisdom and humor!

We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.  How about you, you, you?  You can come too, too, too.  We’re going to the zoo!

My daughter and I went with her school class on a field trip to the zoo.

Can you tell which animal was her favorite?

Hmmmmmm, let’s think about it for a moment…

Still not sure?

O.K., just one more hint…

It was the …

ape!!!!!!!!!!!

My girls participated in the harp fesitval held at BYU.  They both received superior ratings!

Untitled from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

Untitled from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

This is my oldest!!!! 

Congratulations!!!!

Check out the “Home & Garden” tab at the top for a great spring idea!

My girls were in the car talking about Memorial Day.  My older daughter mistakenly called it Labor Day.  My younger daughter said that it wasn’t Labor Day, it was Memorial Day.  My older daughter asked what Labor Day represented.  My younger daughter’s response was, “it’s the holiday to let you know the swimming pools are closed and that you can’t wear white anymore.”

If you happen to see us and we are hot, bright red sunburned skin, hair drenched with sweat, tiny pencil in hand, wildly trying to count strokes and driving erratically around in a golf cart…then it must be golf season here in Utah.

This is my favorite picture of my little golfer. 

We had our first tournament of the season in St. George at Southgate Golf Course (and might I add that my son took second).

My son was +8 after 18 holes and took second.  The boy that won was two years older and won by one stroke.  So there should be some good competition coming up this year.

We are getting our sunscreen ready and looking forward to a great season!

Yes, it is piano recital time.  We have been busy preparing our songs for six (count’em six) weeks to bring them up to performance quality. 

I always sit through the recital so nervous for the kids.  I want to be comfortable so they will do their best, but I know that the nerves they feel will give their performance that little bit of excitement that it could not get any other way! 

Yippy, the recital went well and the kids did very well!!!

Minuet 2, Minuet from the “Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach” - Anonymous from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

Sonatina Op.36, No. 1, Vivace - M. Clementi from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

If it’s Tuesday it must be “ME DAY!”

To quote Kara DioGuardi, “so, here’s the thing….”  Doesn’t she always say that?  Anywho, I digress…

“So, here’s the thing,” we need some furniture and I need your help!  Please help me.  Please, please, please. 

We need furniture for our family room.  The key word in that sentence is “family”.  It is a place where our family will gather (to watch American Idol and watch Kara DioGuardi say, “so, here’s the thing.”) for family things such as:  putting puzzles together, movies, television, family home evening, fighting, quarreling, laughing, playing.  You get the picture.  Anyway, should we get leather furniture or cloth?

Leather would be so nice, but it is so expensive (read with a soooooooo expensive in there).  Cloth is nice, but would it get dirty too easily? 

Anyway, I found this sofa for a very good price (it is a second).  I found it at this wonderful place “Gardner Village.”  Olive is such a great color and goes with almost everything.  Isn’t it lovely?  

Our family room has natural hickory wood floors with walls painted a ”goldish” color called Tobacco Road.  We just installed some cabinets and are going to put rock around the cabinets.  In this photo, they aren’t completely installed but you get the picture.  Now, you just have to picture the rock. 

I wanted to put the sofa with these chairs from costco. 

What do you think?  Do the styles go together?  Am I headed in the right direction?  Let me know!  I trust your judgement.  Weigh in on your opinion.  I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say!  Thanks!

Yes, it’s true I sew. 

 Today’s post is “all about me” just in case you were wondering. 

I began sewing when I was about 10.  Two moms in the neighborhood taught us through the 4-h program. 

First we sewed little slippers and it progressed from there. 

Now that I have children of my own I can appreciate the efforts of these two wonderful women.  Thank you Connie Haws and Lynn Harrison.   These two very patient, lovely women gave me a wonderful gift because I do love to sew.  I don’t sew very often but when I get the chance I love it. 

Through sewing I met one of my dearest friends.  When I was in high school we met in a “tailoring” class.  Shawn is an amazing seamstress, much, much better than I.  Over the years she has made many of the things for her home:  window treatments, pillows, etc.  and believe me - it all looks professional.  Shawn is a very talented seamstress.

Recently we had family pictures for my husbands side of the family.  The girls were suppose to wear all black.  Well, try finding an 8 year old a black outfit in April.  Fat chance.  We searched high and low but to no avail.  There was not a black outfit to be had…but never fear, I sew.  So I made my favorite 8 year old a little black bubble dress out of the most precious black eyelet.  The cutouts were great big daisies…so lucky we found the fabric (and it was on sale, I love Joann’s).

Above is a photo of the Easter dress that I made for my youngest daughter.  I wanted to make her a special dress as a way of showing my love for her.  We went to the fabric store together to pick out the fabric.  We looked the selections over and she loved this shade of green.  As I was home making the dress, she would kind of play by me and then check for updates on the dress.  She was so sweet and appreciative. 

I do love to sew and would like to thank Connie and Lynn.  By sharing their talent with me, they helped me develop a talent that has taken me so many places.  Thank you!

**Attention**Attention**Hey all you harpists out there, have I got some info. for you!!!

Yes, that’s right.  If you are a harpist, harpist mom or just interested in changing harp strings for the sheer fun of it, well then, I’ve got a post for you!!!

As many of you know, my daughters play the harp.  It is a beautiful instrument and I love to watch and hear them play, so I was so excited when I found out that there was going to be a certified technician here to teach a class on harp care.

This morning my daughter and I went to the harp care class presented by Steve Moss.  He is a Lyon & Healy/Salvi Certified Harp Technician.  You can catch up with him at his place mossharpservice.com.

Well, Steve did a wonderful thing for harpists everywhere…he let me video him teaching how to change a harp string.  He was so wonderful teaching us the knots that ewing and awing could be heard from miles around. 

Actually he was so good with the knots that I thought about recruiting him to teach my Webelos their knots.  However, scouts don’t learn the harp knots so I’ll have to learn the square knot myself. 

Anyway, are the directions for changing harp strings…Enjoy!

Tieing a harp sting with an anchor, 0-3rd octaves by Steve Moss from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

Tieing a harp string without an anchor, 4th and 5th octaves by Steve Moss from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

Stringing a harp by Steve Moss from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

Locking a string on the tuning pin, 0-4th octaves by Steve Moss from Pearls and Chocolate on Vimeo.

Would you like to buy a harp?  Hmmmm…I think I’ll take four or five!

Love the look of harps scattered and such.  Can you tell that my girls play the harp rather they want to or not?  I still think I’ll take four or five!

Over the weekend we went to Southern Utah.  Southern Utah has such beautiful red rock.  It is a very striking place. 

We love to hike, swim, golf, etc.  Anything that is fun in the sun - and yes, we do wear sunscreen.

Later on this week, I’ll post pictures from a hike we did in a place called “the crack”.  Yep, it is a teeny, tiny slot canyon. 

Stay tuned…

P.S. I photoshopped this picture with a sponge technique - cool, huh!