My new front door!

At least, the paint is new! It is VERY bright, isn't it? Sorry the photo is a bit blurred. I had a hard time getting a sharp focus tonight, for some reason. I'll take more shots later and post a better one, soon. I also had to tear apart my front door wreath, since it had been designed to match the old purple paint, and redecorate it to match the new paint color. It looks fabulous! Helena had the idea to hang a bird ornament from the center of the wreath. I'll post more of that soon, too!

 

Decorating the tree

Today was the day to decorate the tree! Helena and Bill put the lights on. I remember what a pain it was to wait while Dad futzed around with the lights for our Christmas tree when I was a child. We kids were all wound up and ready to GO! But, we had to sit around and wait for Dad while he fussed over the perfect placement of every single bulb! That doesn't happen around here. The lights are placed quickly, without a lot of fuss. There are not as many as Dad put on our childhood trees, but the tree decorating is much more pleasant!

Will disappeared for a little while, then re-emerged with this strand wrapped around himself. I guess he decided he needed to be decorated, too! I love his smile. It lights up just as much as the lights on the strand wrapped around him.

Here is the near finished tree. I still can't believe it is already the Holiday season and that 2009 is nearly over!

A shot from outside. We placed the tree in the window, Norman Rockwell style. Note the happy faces smiling out at you?

We Also Sing Concert at Temple Square

My friend, Lisa McDowell, is in a 360 member women's choir that performed at Temple Square in the Tabernacle tonight. We parked the car in Sandy and rode Trax (light rail) up to Temple Square to attend her concert. Before the concert, we went into the North Visitor Center and met a sister missionary from Pakistan! After visiting with her for a bit, we went to the Tabernacle to find our seats. It was great to sit in the Tabernacle again and feel the age of the building sink in. It is amazing to think what the pioneers accomplished!

The concert was really fabulous! I asked Lisa how she got into this choir because I would be interested in joining. She said there is no audition, it is simply a matter of registering before the slots are filled. It is a popular choir, so slots fill quickly. It is a Christmas choir that rehearses from August until performance time. It is based in Taylorsville (Salt Lake valley), but members come from Spanish Fork (southern Utah County) all the way up to Ogden! She says I should definitely do it with her next year because they can always use more altos. The photo above is of her choir and the Tabernacle organ. The photo below is, obviously, Lisa and me.

Of course, after the concert, we wandered around Temple Square enjoying the lights. Just outside of the square there was a man playing Christmas carols on a bagpipe. A street musician. Both of the kids love donating to a street musician's pot. I have no problem with that. I feel like they are doing something to earn the donation, unlike the people who just sit there with a piece of cardboard waiting for a handout. I guess that is pretty harsh. Maybe they don't have the talent or instrument to be able to perform. But I simply will not hand money over to someone who will probably drink it away before the night is through.

While there aren't photos of it here, we went to the Gallivan Center on Trax and watched the ice skating there, then had dinner at Carl's Jr. We got to see some really trashy kids and watch a policeman wake and escort a homeless (and probably stoned) man out of the restaurant. Yeah. Fun times in the big city! Afterwards, we hopped back on Trax and headed back to our car. For most of the ride the train was so full that we had to stand and hold the straps. It was only as we neared our destination that we were able to sit. The photo below has Helena, Will, and Bill in it. Will picked up that nail biting habit from his dad.

All in all, it was a fun time with the family!

Thanksgiving Day

We went to Kirsten and Paul's house for Thanksgiving this year. It was really a good time! She cooked a bunch of wonderful food! That was my overloaded plate in the photo above. The real hit in the food department, though, is pictured below... the pumpkin souffle! Oh, wow! Kirsten got applause from everyone when it came out of the oven successfully. It was SO YUMMY!!! I definitely am going to get the recipe from her for next year! She really out did herself and I really appreciated all the effort that went into the meal.

We also watched Mamma Mia! that night. I had never seen it before. It is so cheesy! But, at the same time, I couldn't stop smiling. There was so much personality bursting out of each character that it was infectious!

Helena's Birthday!

On Sunday, we invited Kirsten, Paul, Erik, Deanna and their families over to help celebrate Helena's 16th birthday. We had brownies and ice cream instead of cake, since no one in our family likes cake. There were even gluten free brownies for Bill.

The pictures above are of Helena opening her birthday present. It was an iPod touch. This present comes with a story that, unfortunately, doesn't reflect very well on me. About a month ago, I lost my temper with Helena. She had been behaving, well, like a badly behaved teenager and was purposefully using her mp3 player to ignore me. I wish I could say that I was the mature one in the situation. Unfortunately, I acted immaturely and, in a temper, smashed her mp3 player on the table and destroyed it. It is not a moment I am proud of.

After tempers cooled, I apologized for not being the adult in the situation, and she apologized for behaving badly as well. I promised her that I would replace the mp3 player. Bill thought she should have to buy her own (after all, her behaviour wasn't up to snuff either), but I insisted that I replace it in order to set the example of what to do when you have wronged someone. It really all worked out to Helena's advantage, because the iPod touch is so much more AMAZING than her old mp3 player! She was VERY pleased!

But the best part of the evening was yet to come.

There was a commotion outside. We realized that someone else had come over. Helena and I both thought it was her grandma Doril stopping by to wish her a happy birthday.

IT WAS PEDER, JODY, AND THE GIRLS!!!

We had no idea they were coming to town for Thanksgiving! They decided to keep it a secret so they could surprise us on Helena's birthday. It was so wonderful to see them! The girls sure have grown. We had the adults in the living room swapping stories, the girls in the kitchen playing with Helena's old doll house (now part of my "Grandma's Toys" collection), and the boys in the family room playing with Will's old G.I. Joes (also part of the "G T" collection). I think the stress of so much company stripped several years off of Tigger's life. If you click on the photo-collage above, you can see a larger version of it.

Saturday!

It was such a party weekend! On Saturday, Bill and I spent most of the day with Erik, Deanna, and the boys. We went up to the University of Utah in the morning to tailgate before the Utes football game (the last home game of the season) at 2:00. Erik is a pro at the whole tailgating thing! He set up a grill and a deep fryer and got to cooking right away! There were shish-ka-bobs, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, beans, grilled pineapple, and homemade fries! And that is only the stuff Erik brought! His U of U friends all gathered and brought food as well!

During the tailgating, I called home to check on the kids. I found out that Will had gotten home and was disgruntled that we weren't there to hear all about his camp out. Poor guy! No one to see him off and no one to welcome him home! They had gone out to shoot shotguns, but ended up shooting 22's instead because they weren't old enough for shotgun (you have to be 14? Who knew?). He managed to shoot a hole in a clay pigeon without shattering it as a whole, so he brought it home to show us. I told him I loved him, would love to see it when I got home, and reminded him to get his homework done, then went back to the party.

The first half of the game was fun. We even had sun shining on us during the first quarter! The second half of the game was a let down because there were no exciting plays, really, and the Utes didn't score again... although they won the game. My favorite memory is actually of standing in the monstrously long line with Bill for hot chocolate during half time. Such a small thing. But it was just wonderful to spend an entire day with Bill that was not focused on home, work, or kids!

After the game, and after Erik drove us home, Helena and I went to Orem to attend Timpanogos High School's performance of 'Aida'. Her childhood friend, Lucas, was in it, so we went to support him. Afterwards we took him out for ice cream. This is the boy who was 'in love' with her when they were in 3rd grade. He used to write poetry and make paper rings for her. Now they are just distant friends.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Bill took Will out to dinner and a movie. They saw 2012. They said it lived up to their expectations completely. Over the top, but fun to watch on a big screen anyways.

I know it sounds like Will was terribly neglected this weekend, but that is only because I didn't get to spend much time with him.  If this blog belonged to someone else (like Bill, for instance), it would sound much different.  Will had a fabulous time at the camp out.  I am proud of him for being able to be self sufficient about Scouting!  He had a great time with his Dad, too.

Friday night Girls' Night!

On Friday, I took Helena out on a Girls' Night as an early birthday present. Our first stop was the spa for a facial. It was Helena's first. She LOVED it! An entire hour of pampering has her hooked and she can't wait for her next opportunity to have one.

Right after the facials, we drove to the movie theater to stand in the crazy long lines for New Moon. Helena loved the movie, I tolerated it. I am not sure they could have found worse actors to portray those parts! Ugh! However, I had a great time despite the lackluster performances just because I got to spend the time with my beautiful girl, and that is worth quite a lot to me.

Once the movie was over, we then traveled to Provo to have dinner together at Tucanos, a Brazilian restaurant. It is the sort of place where you have all you can eat salad bar and a never ending stream of servers bringing skewers of every kind of grilled meat imaginable. Helena's favorites were the chicken hearts and the fillet Mignon. The funny part of that is that Helena passionately dislikes 'steak'. She didn't know what fillet Mignon was, and I insisted she would love it and should have some. She didn't think I was very funny afterwards when I told her it was steak! However, the servers were all impressed with her willingness to try anything, and her healthy appetite.

After dinner, the servers all came over, made Helena stand up, handed her a tambourine, and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her in Portuguese.
I only had one chance to take a picture, and of course, she took that moment to turn her face away. Rats!

After dinner, we wandered over to Borders before heading hope late that night. It was really such a fun evening!


And what were the boys doing? Will had packed himself up while we were gone and went on a Scout overnight camp out in some abandoned rail tunnel. Bill worked late and went to bed early.

"Poor Daddy" and Will in Tight Spaces

This weekend Bill piped the irrigation ditch that runs in front of our house. The weather, of course, was frightful. As Helena and I watched from the comfort of the house, she commented about 'poor daddy' having to work in the freezing, blustery snow. I remarked that he always has to work in the nasty winter weather. We just tend to forget that fact when we are comfortably situated in our warm classrooms at work and school.

Will, meanwhile, was out in the freezing weather helping his dad! He put in a hard day's work and earned some $ for his efforts! The most important job he performed was to climb into the existing pipe under the neighbor's drive and clear out the debris before Bill could connect the new section of pipe to the old.

Will's feet in the pipe...and me discovering that he had his good, school jeans on!

From the other side of the pipe.

Will climbing back out of the pipe. He really is a long, string bean of a kid!

Belated Lacrosse post

Back in September, Will played lacrosse for several weekends. His team was very lackluster. Only he and one other boy were consistently there. Because of that, most games were played scrimmage style and with the goal turned over to create a smaller target. They also played most of these games without goalies. Some of these videos show Will as the goalie, others show him as a defense player with a long pole.

Will is wearing a red shirt and is holding a long defense pole in this video.

This one has Will being goalie. I wasn't a very good videographer and missed the actual moment of blocking the shot, but you can hear a nearby mom cheering for him and commenting about a probable bruise from the block. I try not to comment or cheer too much when I am videoing because I know how loud my voice would sound!

In this one, Will is in the faceoff. To start play, a player from each team face off with each other. The ball is placed between them. They battle it out. No one can come help until one of them has clear possession of the ball. Notice that he is facing off with a long pole. This would never happen in a regulation game. Attack players face off in a regular game, not defensemen.

Will is facing off again in this one.

Will, with the long pole, gets his elbow smashed by a helmet in this clip.

In this last one, Will the goalie blocks a shot with his foot!

Sunday morning

Helena was the only one to make it to church, today. I stayed home with my cold. Bill and Will stayed home out of laziness. Only Helena got ready and went. I am very proud of her for her dedication! I took this picture because I thought she looked especially beautiful this morning. She looks so grown up and ready for the world! I love the red jacket and the matching gloves, tights, and scarf. The scarf is especially beautiful and fashionable, don't you think? I sure do... after all, it's mine. I guess I am glad my clothes are fashionable enough that my daughter tends to steal them.

I don't feel good...

No, it is not Swine Flu. I know that is the first thing everyone thinks of these days.

I can feel a sinus infection/head cold coming on. I actually noticed it yesterday and thought, 'I should get some sub plans ready just in case.'

I didn't.

So, last night I slept very poorly because I was congested. I got up at 3 a.m. to take a second dose of decongestant. This morning I did not want to get up! I ended up dragging out of bed 1/2 an hour later than usual. I really didn't want to come to work today.

Yet, here I am. I thought about finding a 1/2 day sub and going home early, but couldn't find one. So I get to put on a smiley face and try not to let the kids drive me bonkers.

I guess it is just as well, since I have a city art council meeting to attend tonight.

I think I'll try to find a sub for tomorrow.

The Teen Years

How well I remember my 16 year old self! So confident that I understood everyone in my world. So certain I knew better than my mom. She was so OLD! She couldn't possibly understand how tough high school is these (was those) days. Always nagging me to do better in school. Always wanting to talk about this future I ought to be planning for.

I didn't want to talk about the future. I just wanted to be popular. I wanted to be able to go places and hang out with my friends. I wanted to say something spectacular in class that would get me noticed and admired by that cute guy sitting over there. Who wants to look all nerdy and serious in school? That was for geeks like Kristen H (who got a full ride scholarship to Harvard, by the way)! I wanted to have people come over to my house to hang out without feeling embarrassed about all my brothers and sisters or the worn out look of the house. I wanted to have fun RIGHT NOW; not nose to the grind stone all the time so I could get into a college somewhere so I could take even harder classes and have my nose to the grind stone for another 4+ years!

Helena thinks about me the same way I thought about my Mom.

It turns out, life has a way of moving on whether you are ready for it or not. I graduated from high school completely unprepared and wondered 'now what?' I didn't want to be more responsible and more mature. If I could have gone to high school for another year I probably would have, just to put off growing up a little longer.

Because of my lack of preparation, I did not go to college right away. I procrastinated until my Mom finally put me in the car and made me apply for a job at Dairy Queen. My parents had to push me to apply to the local community college (Bellevue Community College), then my dad marched me right back there when I didn't sign up for enough classes to make it worth my money.

Community college was not a very fun place. There was no sense of community like there was in high school. Kind of ironic since community is part of the name. Some of the teachers were pretty far out there, too. No one in my classes had the same schedule, so there was a room full of people in the cafeteria, and no one to eat lunch with. There were lots of working adults at the community college. Not my idea of fun filled friendship opportunities.

When I finally got my act together and applied to BYU, I was pushing 21. Past the 'Teen Years' in age, but not in maturity. I worked my butt off and saved every dime. I was thrilled to be accepted, and finally hoped to have the fun filled college dorm life.

My first year at BYU was a mixed bag of moments of fun punctuating the near constant homesickness and worries about classes and finances. I had room-mates that were on scholarship and only needed to focus on classwork to keep their scholarship. I had room-mates who were fully funded by mommy and daddy, so they would go out partying nearly every night. And all of my room-mates were younger than me.

What is the point of this long winded blast from the past?

Only that now I am seeing it from the other side. I am the Mom, now. I am now realizing that my Mom was right all of those years ago and I was an immature teenager who was wrong.

Sorry Mom.

Why are these teen years so critical right at the moment when the person needing to make rational, mature decisions is at their most irrational?!