fruits of our labors

Guess which one is John's?

this and that

Since blogging seems to be the thing that most often gets pushed to the bottom of my to-do list these days, I need to mention a few random things that happened this month so I at least have some record of it.

• Sarah had a solo in our ward's Primary program this month. She sang the first verse of I Feel My Savior's Love and--in my completely unbiased opinion--it was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard! I have never heard her sing alone and I was really impressed by the clear, sweet, and sincere quality of her voice.

• Speaking of singing, John had his first choral concert this month. He made it into the top mixed choir this year (coincidentally the same one I was in when I attended his high school). I wish this photo showed the great pinstripes in the guys' pants and the rows of dots in their ties. John has really found his niche in high school and I love how much he loves singing in choir (much of which I attribute to his fabulous and darling teacher, Mrs. Burns).

• Speaking of high school, my long-time friend Ann came for a two-day visit with her beautiful daughters earlier this month. It was a fun surprise and a treat to have them stay with us; the actual reason for their visit was to see the show Wicked, but we enjoyed watching movies, eating carmel corn, shopping with our girls, and playing Bananagrams. Moosey made friends with them all.

• Speaking of Wicked, my mom and I were invited by a friend in our ward to go to the show, complete with a back-stage tour prior to the show! Yes--I said BACK-STAGE TOUR. It was fascinating to see the costumes, props, and sets first-hand. To top it off, we had box seats. I felt like royalty and only wish I had been allowed to take photos of the experience.
• Speaking of photos, I just had to take this one of a flyer I found lying around the house. At first I thought it was something from Sarah's school. When I asked her about it, she confessed she had made up a stack while playing School the other day. It made me smile.

• Speaking of things that make me smile, Sarah convinced us to carve our Halloween pumpkins tonight for FHE. Though I confess I had sort of been dreading the time-honored and messy tradition, I had fun hacking away at the pumpkins with the rest of the family.

• And speaking of hacking away, Mark got a little carried away with the hair trimmer last Saturday and ended up giving himself a new 'do. He has been more than a good sport about the whole thing and we have been laughing about the reactions of his friends and coworkers. People at church yesterday were asking if he had lost some sort of bet relating to the oh-so-sad outcome of the BYU football game of the previous day. Someone at work today asked him if he had joined a Mexican gang. I suggested that we could send for the Cougar Spirit wig we found at the BYU Bookstore last August when we took the girls to school. He was not amused.

• And speaking of not being amused, I have taken on a sewing project I'm afraid I'm going to live to regret: 22 (yes count them, twenty-two) dance costume tops for Sarah's clogging team--that's eleven each of two different styles. Yes, it's a paying gig, but I'm afraid by the time I finish I'll be lucky to make about $1.25/hour.
  

bananagrams

What do bananas, problem solving, and Family Home Evening have in common? Thanks to a fun new game my friend Ann gave me, we had a great time together last night combining all three.

I have known Ann since kindergarten and have remained friends--best buds, even--all through high school. I credit her for keeping in touch through the years and look forward to seeing her when she comes through Denver to visit family. She happened to be here this weekend and was able to come for Sunday dinner. She's one of those friends who I can pick up with right where I left off, with no awkwardness or aggravation of reacquainting.

She told us about this fun word game called Bananagrams which is sort of like Scrabble, but played individually, making crossword-type configurations. (She said that the game itself has very little to do with bananas except for the bag it comes in). Before she left town she brought by a gift for my birthday--my very own Bananagrams game!

We played it that night (Sunday) and again last night for FHE. I even managed to work in a pre-game discussion about problem solving in our lives--the need for looking at a given problem or trial from multiple points of view in order to solve or even to just get through it. We talked about coping strategies and had quite a productive conversation.

Here is one of Mark's winning rounds:

And here's the rest of the gang:

I can't wait until Michelle gets here; I think this game is right up her alley! I love Scrabble, but don't play much anymore since my Scrabble partner mother can no longer see to play. Playing this game reminds me of how much I like word games. I give it five stars!

rockin' end to a snowy day

I woke up to about four inches of snow, which continued to come down heavily all morning long. Mercifully, Mark traded me cars, as mine is not so good in bad weather and I have a longer commute to work than he does. This photo doesn't really do the day's weather justice. I took my camera with me to work, thinking I would be an awesome blogger and snap a photo along the way. My drive ended up being of the white-knuckled variety so thoughts of blog posts were put aside.
It had stopped snowing by the time I got home around 1:30 p.m. and I decided to shovel a bit, "a bit" being the operative phrase here. The snow was much heavier than I bargained for and I still had my high-heeled boots and skirt on. I decided it was a good project for John to finish when he came home from school.

I decided to try one of Michelle's recipes from her blog for dinner, a creamy potato soup, which--when paired with a loaf of my mom's homemade bread--made for a tasty meal at the end of a snowy day. For FHE we talked about Remembering (sound familiar?) and wrote thank-you notes. Before the kids went to bed, John cajoled Mark and I into joining the family rock band for a round of Guitar Hero. I sang the vocals on "Heart Breaker" and must admit that I've never really listened to the lyrics of that song before. It was a little weird to sing about "releasing my inner fantasy" with my kids.

The evening had a few rocky spots, but I'm choosing to remember the good parts. Remind me next time to let someone else take the group SP so my head doesn't look so large.

final hurrah

Sarah had been pestering us all vacation long to go ice skating at a nearby outdoor rink. We thought we would go before Charlotte and Emily left, but for various reasons didn't, and wound up going Monday night for Family Home Evening, the night before school started again. Not being an outdoorsy or even remotely athletic girl, I was not looking forward to spending the evening in the freezing cold. I volunteered to stand on the sidelines and take pictures, even though I sort of felt like the "Boring Mom."

Though I did freeze and was sorely tempted to slip nonchalantly into the nearby Gap store, I was glad we went because the kids had so much fun. John is quite the speed skater, and Sarah--who I thought would be clinging to the side railing--didn't fall once. I guess she takes more after her Canadian-born father than her non-coordinated mother.

Lucky for me, John and Sarah worked up a sweat while skating and shed their outer-layer coats, which I gratefully accepted. I sat on one and covered up with the other. I wrapped Sarah's fleece scarf around my head and ears, and I'm quite sure I looked ridiculous huddled on a chair.

Sarah took a break and came to comfort me in my teeth-chattering condition.

When the kids were finally tired and ready to leave, I convinced everyone to pause under the light for a quick SP. It took a little persuading on my part, but they humored me. It's a little blurry, but I'll take what I can get under the circumstances.

I was ready for the hot cocoa we had upon returning home. Call me boring, but I'll take chocolate any day over any activity requiring dangerous footwear.