Semana Santa

Nicole's school asked the first graders to prepare a presentation on a tradition or celebration.  Nicole chose Semana Santa in the Dominican Republic.

Originally, Nicole drew the map, but it was two circles with
houses on them.  Sometimes, it's okay to get a grown-up's help.

A week-and-a-half gone by

Allie with cousin

Only a toddler can dress like this

"I daw semicircle."

The next shape was apparently a "circle."

The girls patiently waited with me for 3 1/2 hours at the State Capitol so I could give a public comment about the tax reform.  (Okay, there were moments...while more like ten minutes...when Allie was screaming and her blood was boiling from Nicole's audacity to touch the stroller, or my audacity to move a jacket.  I mostly had them out in the hall so they wouldn't disturb the conference room and two overflow rooms.  Toward the end, when there were just a few people left in the second overflow, we went in there, and Allie had a tantrum, and when I looked up a minute later, there was only one person left.  It's okay, I tell myself, there was plenty of room in the conference room by then.)

I felt my attendance today was the only way I could get them to hear my voice, because they were threatening to rush to a vote in a special session, possibly this week, rather than waiting until the general session that begins in January.  The income tax cut of 0.37% will be great for those with an annual income of $500,000, but will do less for my friends who earn more like $40,000-$60,000.  The increased grocery tax will also negate much of the tax break for lower and middle-income earners.  Supposedly, they help balance that out for people who file taxes because they're going to hand out a tax credit for some individuals.  As Jon Huntsman, Jr. rightly asks, "If the honest intent is to truly maintain the benefit of this already reduced tax, why provide a credit when an exemption is more effective and already in place?"

Senator Fillmore's response to any such concern:  "If people want to pay less tax, they can also buy less."  Tell that to the 135,940 Utah children who struggle with hunger.  Just eat less.  (Or steal more??)

https://www.deseret.com/2019/12/9/21003508/jon-huntsman-jr-raising-the-utah-sales-tax-on-food-is-the-wrong-move

The other concern is the $532 million that will be diverted away from public education.  At the elementary school where my nephew attends, twenty-three different languages are spoken (because of the many refugees in the neighborhood), and they don't have the resources to meet the needs of all the students, much less communicate with these parents.  With public schools constantly trying to pressure more money out of their students' families, with some schools charging students extra fees to participate in extracurricular activities, with a severe teacher shortage and a seveeeeere substitute teacher shortage, I wish public schools just had enough money.  This year, we made homemade cookies to raise $152, which we divided between Nicole's school and my nephew's school.  We were very pleased with the amount we raised, but now the negative $532 million seems to be laughing at our pathetic $152, which will make barely a difference in those refugees' lives.  However, at least the lesson to Nicole was valuable.  (Update:  Plus, there's a Citizens Referendum going around to reverse the legislature's tax bill by getting it on the ballot, which they did end up passing that Thursday.)

Chocolate cookie monster

What two-year-olds understand that the rest of us don't is that shirts are napkins.

Our field

Our new front door has a hook for hanging wreaths, so I've wanted to make a holiday wreath to hang on our door.  Yesterday, when we were walking past our huge field to get to church, we saw extremely tall grass, five or six feet tall.  I decided to try to make a homemade wreath using the straw from the field - a very rustic one.  I didn't have a round wire frame, so I googled, "how to make a straw wreath."  Joann's website was the least helpful:

How To Make A Fall Straw Wreath

...DIRECTIONS:
Trim flowers and secure to wreath using hot glue. Style as desired.
Adhere wood discs for unique detailing.

It appeared there were no online instructions for making a wreath without the wire frame, so I winged it.  I decided to use sticks, tied together with twisty ties, for the frame.  I ran into some obstacles.  The sticks I found to make a frame were too brittle and broke when I bent them too far.  Also, getting the frame to be round was virtually impossible.  I eventually found some living twigs and sawed those free with my scissors, and they were flexible enough to bend together into a circular fashion.  I wrapped the straw around my completed triangle frame, and then used a green ribbon I had on hand to secure the straw.  It proved to be too short, so I tied it to a red ribbon, which also proved to be too short, so I tied that to a golden ribbon.  I guess this is why I save all those pretty ribbons that come on gifts!  There were some dead wildflowers, which I used to ornament the wreath.  My fingers were so cold by the end!

Not the prettiest wreath, but I'd rather a free homemade wreath than one that costs $15 by Joann's.

My first attempt

Cleaned up a little

The super long straw we used for the wreath.

Just some pictures

From Sunday

From today

Reading buddies

Nicole reading to Allison the other night

Cutie

Nicole's adorable:

When she was four or five, she was interested in what day of the week it was.  She likes to know the season, the month, and what to expect.  Now, she keeps this little calendar.