Christmas Around the World

Liv has been clogging for a few years now and loves it!  A little while back we received an e-mail from her director that our studio had the opportunity to participate in B.Y.U's Christmas Around the world.  She was so excited!   Making it even more exciting was the fact that two of her best friends would be participating as well.  It was such a blessing to have two other sets of parents to ease the burden of carpooling to and from B.Y.U.  There were rehearsals, a matinee performance and two evening performances.  They even got to miss half a day of school to perform for some local elementary schools.  I agreed to chaperon one of the evening performances.  It was so fun to be in the room with a bunch of giddy girls before the performance and as we waited for them to go on.  There were up-dos and lipstick galore and enough glitter spray and hairspray to wipe out a layer of the ozone.  Seriously, I haven't seen (or inhaled) so much hairspray in one place ever.

Lily, Liv and Brooklyn

They had so much fun together!  The girls behind them are playing Ninja Destruction.  There were also hand slapping games, card games and giggles galore!

I followed them downstairs when it was time to perform.  Here they are waiting for their cue to go on (the other performers were so nice to them.  When they would come backstage, they would give all the girls high 5's):

And here are another few shots from backstage:

 

 

 

 The show I chaperoned for was the final show.  We decided to go to Wendy's to celebrate/mourn.  Here they are outside the Marriott Center.

 The giggles and chortles continued at Wendy's and brought back fond memories of being  a blissful tween.  I'm so grateful that my kids have such good friends and are able to have these fun experiences.  All of the girls said they wished Christmas Around the World was every day.  I assured them that it would get old after a while (they didn't believe me), and that because they can't do it every day they will appreciate the times they get to do cool (and grown up) stuff.

Thanks for the memories, Christmas Around the World!

A Benefit Concert and Memory Lane

My niece Michelle attends the same high school where I spent my high school years.  Each year the choir director (who was my favorite teacher ever) puts on a benefit concert to raise money for local foster children.  This year they did a variety type of show with musical numbers from individual members of the choir and a few numbers by the whole choir. Michelle signed up to do a musical number with a few of us in the family.  We didn't have sheet music for the song we wanted to sing.  We just had a copy of the song on CD so my mom listened to it a million times and wrote all of the parts for us.  It makes my brain hurt to even think about doing that.  I really really wish that perfect pitch and the ability to play the piano by ear were traits that were passed to me.  They were not. 

Michelle, Kelsey, Deanne , Rylee, Renae, Jodi (All THS alumni or current student....except Ry.  And WOW am I a shorty pants!)

Renae, Michelle, Mr. Larson, Kelsey, Deanne, Jodi



Below is a video of the performance.   Kelsey and Michelle sang 1st Soprano, Renae was 2nd Soprano, Rylee and Jodi were 1st Alto and I was 2nd Alto, or the man's part.  Rylee laughed at me every time we practiced.

Walking through the doors of my high school made the memories flood in!  Walking through the doors of my high school at Christmastime in the choir room made the memories flood in even more!  I walked in and could see my 16 year old self (in my mind's eye) singing "Sleigh Ride" across the room to the boy I was crushing on.  I could see myself wrapping gifts for the foster kids.  I also saw my 17 year old self running to the bathroom in tears a year later after the relationship with the same boy ended and I knew my heart was broken for sure and would never be the same. The tears happened while we were rehearsing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and the line that set me off was "Through the years we all will be together if the fates allow."  (Is it really sad that I remember all of this?) (Happily I can report that my heart is not, indeed, broken and it is more full and happy than I ever could have imagined). 

As I walked into the auditorium (not in my mind's eye, but in real time now), I started to laugh.  I saw the spot where the Dress Swap of '95 took place.  It was an accidental incident, but one that still makes me laugh.  Here is the background information:

1) Most of my friends were in choir with me
2) We had had a sleepover after our previous performance, which was probably a month or so before the spring performance took place.  (Which means that we all had our choir dresses at the sleepover and we all went home with a choir dress after the sleepover had ended).

I got ready for the spring performance (which was on March 3, 1995--I only know this because I know it was the same day that President Howard W. Hunter died and I was able to look it up) and noticed that my dress was a little snug.  I remember thinking that I should probably lay off on the sweets.  (Incidentally, it is now my goal to be that "fat".)  Tiffany showed up and her dress was tight.  We were so confused.  If BOTH of our dresses were tight, then what in the world happened? (I was wondering if maybe Tiff and I just switched dresses, but her dress would have been too big for her, not too small if that were the case.)  We were discussing the possibilities when Natalie walked in.  Mystery solved.  I still remember vividly what her face looked like.  We all started CRACKING up.  Doubling over with laughter.  Her dress was ginormous on her!  It was falling off her and we were all pointing at each other because none of us could speak because of the fit of laughter we were in.  Here's what happened:  I took Tiff's dress, Tiff took Natalie's and Natt took mine.  I really need to find a photo of us in our choir dresses (although we never did take a photo of us in our wrong dresses).  Good times!

Time Out for Women

A few years ago a group of us tried to attend Time Out for Women in Las Vegas.  It was canceled because it was the same weekend of President Hinckley's funeral.  When we checked the schedule for this year, we decided to give it another try...this time in Salt Lake.  We had such a great time and it was the perfect amount of time to be away (one night).  Just enough time to recharge my battery and provide me with some much needed perspective without giving me time to miss my family too much. 

Christa, Deanne, Celeste, Jodi, April

29 is the new 26

A few months ago it was my neighbor's birthday.  Darin yelled over to her, "Happy Birthday, Amber!  29, right? (wink, wink)" (Every woman's dream is to stay 29 forever, right?)

Her reply?

"Actually I'm 26."

Thankfully she is gracious, kind and has a good sense of humor.  

If You Give a Mom a Project

I feel like I'm living the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" book.  We started a project Saturday that pushed a domino down.  Ten hours, several projects, one small episode of crying (It's never going to end)  and one disheveled house later I called it quits for the day.  I hit the wall.  I wanted to retreat to a (comfy) cave with a good book.  Three days later, I think we're making progress.  I can almost see the end of the domino chain. We're trying our darnedest to create space in this house of ours.  It's amazing how trying to move one dresser into one room can create so many projects.  I'm really hoping that we can put the Christmas decorations up this weekend.  My heart is oozing with holiday cheer and my house does not match. 

Like Sands Through the Hourglass

I can't tell you the number of times I have heard from more seasoned mothers,

"Enjoy them while they're little. It goes so fast."

or

"I blinked and my kids were grown."

I think I believed them, but you can never know for yourself until you experience it. I don't think I realized how true it is until just recently. I have spent so many years changing diapers, breaking up fights, doing puzzles, watching cartoons, cleaning up messes, reading stories, etc. that it's hard to imagine a different stage of life. I had a huge dose of this reality about a month ago at our Primary Sacrament Meeting program. Olivia will be 12 in January. This was her last time participating and she looked a little out of place. She is quite tall in comparison to all the other kids. She's the only girl her age in our ward and is even taller than most of the boys. As Liv went to the pulpit to say her part, the woman behind me leaned forward and whispered, "What is she? Like 25?" And I thought, "Ya. Just about". When did it happen? I'm not sure. What I do know is that those women are right. It seems like once they hit elementary school age someone hits the fast forward button. I have been really sentimental lately. I have been trying to slow down and enjoy the little moments. I want to hang on to each little thing and remember this stage of my life because before I know it this chapter will be closed and as much as there are days in this stage of life that I wouldn't do over if you paid me, there are many more moments that I want to bottle up and savor when my house isn't full of little voices and the pitter patter of little feet. I know there are many moments that I haven't recorded. I hope that if I try hard enough I can remember the especially sweet ones and record them in the future. Here are the ones that are fresh in my mind today...

The other day we got home from a long way of errand running. We were all tired and Brig was ready for a nap. As I pulled his shoes and socks off to get him cozy he wiggled his feet and stretched his toes out wide and then he picked the lint from between his toes. I'm not sure why I loved it, but I did. It was adorable.

A week or so ago I was sitting on the floor (I think I had just finished changing Brig's diaper). David walked behind me, squeezed me around the neck and gave me the biggest kiss on the cheek (complete with the "MMMMAA" sound). Just because. It was so sweet. I have a feeling such displays of affection will not be so abundant in the coming years. But I hope with all my heart that they will be.

Just today we were watching an episode of Meerkat Manor on Netflix (have you seen this? It's a reality show about meerkats and I am absolutely fascinated by it. Does this make me crazy?) I was busy talking to David for a minute. Warren turned to me with the most concerned look on his face and he said, "Mom. They were looking everywhere for Carlos and he was nowhere to be found."

The other night after family prayers we were all on our bed. Warren pretended to fall off the bed and Briggy chortled so hard that he fell backward on the bed. He could hardly contain himself. Warren would get back up on the bed and Briggy would kick him lightly so Warren would fall off the bed again. Warren was making a huge production of the falling and before long all of the kids had a huge case of the giggles and bedtime was extended for several minutes. Laughter is contagious. (My oldest three boys have huge veins in their necks that pop out when they laugh really hard. It is hilarious. It is yet to be seen if Briggy is part of their club).

A long time ago (over a year ago) Liv was telling me about a friend's cousin. This little baby had three older half sisters. The baby was born with no sweat glands and no eyebrows or eyelashes. Liv was telling me about this baby and said, "They think that because the three older girls don't have it that it has something to do with the dad's pants". I said, "Do you mean genes?" She immediately started to laugh at her misinterpretation of the meaning of the word. (I'm sure she was so confused about why the dad's jeans mattered.)

Sean is very into origami lately. He watched a YouTube video about how to make a ninja star and it has awakened a beast in him! He is so good at it. He has made flapping birds, paper wallets, ultimate ninja stars, butterflies, paper knives, claws, cranes, boomerangs, etc. It is amazing to me that he can learn by watching and then remember how to do it. I see his creations all over the house.

The sweet moments make all the not quite as sweet moments well worth it.

Wipeout

As part of our "Make it Monday" series with cousins, Kirsten created our very own Wipeout obstacle course. These photos were taken after the official race (I was on jump rope twirling duty), but believe me, it was intense :)

Sean just chillin' after a hard race:
Kam and Lexi's shower:
Water balloon toss:
Rub a Dub Dub, Lots of kids in the tub:

I'm realizing that at most family functions I end up with a photo of these two:



and these two:

My sweet little bubble boy:
Thanks, Kirsten and Camille for a fun day!