Superpaige's Pad

The Trials of a Busy Mom

Category: blessings (Page 6 of 14)

The year of the chimes

January 1, 2013 / / 2 Comments

As I look over the past year, I realize that 2012 could be called the year of handbells for me. I know, every year is the year that I play handbells, but this year I REALLY played handbells. It began early in the year when I started thinking about attending the Area 11 handbell festival that was going to be held in Salt Lake City. How fun would that be? Stay at the Little America and go to classes and practice sessions for 3 days? I had to decide and register early, and if I went to that convention, it would mean I couldn’t be in a play in the summer like I usually do. I decided to go for it, and I joined the Handbell Musicians of America Guild in March, and signed up for the convention.

Then, in May, I attended the PTA convention, and while at a class on the arts, I had a very strong impression that I should be doing something with Handbells. Because of one amazing teacher and one year of playing bells in high school, that led to an opportunity to audition for a bell choir as an adult. I have had 8 amazing years with the Bells on Temple Square, but I can actually be more than just a bell ringer. I can be a teacher, and share my love of music in other ways.

The convention ended up being SO MUCH FUN, (http://paige.ericksonfamily.com/?p=6467)and really got me excited about how I could share my love of handbells with others.

The four hour class I attended on starting and directing a handbell choir wasn’t all that much help, but it did get me thinking about what I would do if I could actually start a choir. My enthusiasm was great, and while things didn’t exactly fall into place, I did secure a one year chime loan grant and was able to start a chime choir at the elementary school in September.

With no money, no budget, no music, and no experience, I set out to get kids to sign up and come play in my new chime choir! Since our school already has an established band and orchestra program, I thought we could just add to that and everyone would be excited. I quickly discovered that I would have to do some convincing, and enthusiasm alone are not enough to get a program going. The band teacher was downright rude and discouraging when I approached her about a new chime choir. “We already use the stage every single morning, so I don’t see how that would work.” But I persevered, send home a note asking for kids to sign up, and figured out with the principal an alternate location for our rehearsals.

I read the beginning books, and decided upon a lesson plan for our first couple rehearsals, and dragged the two heavy boxes of chimes to school for our first 7 am rehearsal. I had brought Jenna and John, and they were it. Not one other student. The three of us set up a table and put out the chimes and I showed them how to ring, and what the notes meant while we waited for the others to come. There were no others. At 8:00, my kids went to class, and one other student came. One. I had known that he has signed up, but he was the only one. One real student. I could do even less with him than with Jenna and John, but again, I showed him how the notes go in order, how to ring, how to dampen, and we played a few chords.

The next day, it was the same story. Jenna and John and I made some little posters advertising our choir, and stuck them up around the school. And in my 8:00 class, I had two students come. I was SO excited that I had two actual students! Still not much I can do when I’ve got two kids in each group, but at least I had four, if you counted my own kids. I went and talked to the principal and asked what he thought I should do. Since the school schedules are staggered, I had to offer the class to both groups. He suggested I try an after school time for the early kids. While at first I wasn’t thrilled about coming in to the school before school AND after school, I decided to give it a try.

Our numbers SLOWLY grew as more kids signed up. By the end of November, I finally had 12 kids signed up, which is enough to play all the notes. Of course, half of the kids came in the morning before school and half came after school, so they never really could hear how the song was supposed to be played until the last week when we all had to come early in the morning for rehearsal.

Our Christmas concert really was great. I wrote all about it here

I applied for a big grant from Clorox, just imagining what I could buy with $25,000. Sadly, I couldn’t rally up enough support, and we ended in 130th place. I have applied for many grants. Some for $500, and some for $5000. Many of them have turned me down. It’s discouraging, especially when two of my handbell friends received grants to buy thier handchime sets from a certain company, and that company turned me down. But I have many more applications out there, and several more to apply for this year.

Now I am picking out music and hoping more kids sign up for our second semester. Who would have thought at the beginning of 2012 how much would change for me. I had NO intentions of starting a chime choir, and now look at us–we’ve already performed (and done well) in our first concert! I brought the chimes home for Christmas and used them at two family Christmas parties

So, I will look back on 2012 as the year of the chime choir.

Who knows what 2013 will bring. I may not get funding for next year, and this might be it. I might get burned out from my volunteer job and decide it’s not really worth my time. But I just might get one of these grants, buy our own set of chimes, buy music and table covers, and maybe even buy a baton! We’ll have to see!

Thankful weekend

November 24, 2012 / / 2 Comments

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What a wonderful Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a big family gathering for the Colemans. Because there were about 70 people coming, we had to hold the dinner at my sister’s church, and there was no shortage of yumminess going on. Larissa got to experience her first Thanksgiving, and hopefully she will remember the day fondly.

My family doesn’t go in for all the formal dinner stuff, (we used paper plates) and while half of the cultural hall was set up with tables, the other half was used for basketball. People played before and after the meal. There were oreo turkeys and silly hats.
Perfect! We also got to chat and catch up with cousins I only see once or twice a year, and everyone had a great time.

After most people had sufficiently stuffed themselves, I took my large pot that had held green beans and started to scrape plates into the pot. What? Some of the food was HARDLY touched, (picky kids!) and it’s good enough for my chickens, right? Those girls aren’t picky–they eat bugs, for heaven’s sake. I filled the WHOLE pot with the leavings, even though I got some strange looks and had to explain that I wasn’t taking this home to feed my family, but to feed my CHICKENS. Otherwise it would just be going in the trash, right? I had to transfer that big pot of squished food to 3 gallon sized ziplock bags. I wouldn’t want to feed it to them all at once. They are happy with the leftovers and don’t complain at all when I bring it out to them.

The chickens are happy with their new fabulous house, by the way.

Here’s an inside view.

They don’t have a microwave and furniture in there, but I worried it might come to that.

Anyway, after that big family feast, we went over to Ryan’s sister Julene’s house, where most of Ryan’s family was gathered. They were just finishing up dinner, so I’m glad we didn’t get there any earlier. We tasted some of our favorites and Ryan got some of his mom’s dressing, which is his favorite part of Thanksgiving. I’m not a big stuffing/dressing fan, so I don’t bother with that, but he is convinced that it’s the best dressing in the world, and it’s not Thanksgiving until he has some. That right there is one reason that I won’t even attempt to make dressing. It would never live up to his mom’s, and I don’t really like it, anyway. After the meal, we helped clear the table and divide up the leftovers. Even though we didn’t eat at this party, we ended up taking a little bit of everything home. Ryan’s mom divied up the leftover dressing (don’t ever call it stuffing, by the way. “Stuffing is cooked inside the bird, dressing is NOT.”), in baggies. Ryan’s niece Camille just started eating the dressing. “This won’t even make it home,” she said. Like I said, this family really like’s Mom’s recipe. Julene and Italo’s son, Elias, even called Grandma from California and asked how to make this dressing. He was hosting his first Thanksgiving and said hers was the best dressing he’d ever tasted. She gave him all the specifics and instructions. Not sure how it turned out, but good for him for trying it. We went home with the generous fixins for the perfect leftover sandwiches–turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and sweet potatoes. I had made rolls and pumpkin pie for us, so we were set for at least one lunch.

We are so blessed to live so close to family! It was a wonderful day with people we love and we are so blessed.

For Black Friday, I did a little online shopping. Ryan was the one who went out, but that was just to the hardware store. He’s been working on the basement this week since he had a couple of days off. Hooray! No, we are not ready for our 4-way inspection and I don’t know when that will be, but every day there is some progress, and it’s been nice to have Cole here for the weekend to help out. He doesn’t really let me help much, but I did help move a tub into place and he let me paint a door frame yesterday. I really just try to stay out of the way.

In the afternoon on Friday, Ryan and I got cleaned up and went to Salt Lake to meet the family in the Salt Lake Temple. Ryan’s niece Rachel is going on a mission. She’s the first sister missionary in the family, and we are SO proud of her. She’s going to The Dominican Republic. Because of the new mission age for girls, her younger sister Marissa is ALSO going on a mission, and just got her call this week to serve in Puerto Rico! How blessed this family will be to have two missionaries out at the same time! We enjoyed an endowment session there in the temple, then met for dinner at the Garden Restaurant. Because the lights on Temple Square turned on at 5:00, it was pretty crowded, but that just added to the spirit of Temple Square. We looked out over the temple and it was so beautiful!


(Photo from RKSmith

Saturday was spent working about the house. I ran some errands and bought a few things. But while at Kohler’s (our local grocery store), I realized that the 6 pk bottles of sprite were still on sale for $2 each. Thinking that these might make fun and easy neighbor gifts, I bought all I could find. When I showed up at the checkout, my cart was FULL of sprite, and a few other things for a salad. I got some weird looks (again), but I don’t mind. A bargain is a bargain.

I was kind of bugging my husband to get the lights up while it was warm, but he decided to do that when he decides to do that. I had bought new LED lights after Christmas last year, and therefore we needed new clips. I bought some when I was at Lowe’s this week, but not knowing if they were right, I only bought 3 boxes of 100 each. Well, they were right, but we needed more. I went back to Lowes while he got started. Of course Lowe’s did not have any. I checked WalMart to see if they had such a clip….nada. Then I went to Home Depot. I found a similar clip, just not the same exact one. It will have to do! I bought five boxes of 75 each. Hopefully they will work, cause that was all I could find. I could always order more–if I had to.

The weekend was a nice break from school and work. It was really wonderful to be here with family and to have time to celebrate, count our blessings, and enjoy!

I’m thankful we made it through that week

November 18, 2012 / / 3 Comments

Well, we survived another busy concert week!

With rehearsal on Tuesday, Wed, Thursday and a concert on Friday night and then a Music and the Spoken Word braodcast on Sunday morning, I was gone about 22 hours for bells. *Whew!*

Saturday night I woke up and the room was spinning. Really. I was really thirsty, but didn’t want to risk getting up out of bed to get a drink, so I just tried to sleep and make the spinning stop. What a horrible feeling. By morning, there was no spinning, but I still felt awful. Not sure if it was a bug of some kind, or if it was just exhaustion. I spent most of the day lazing around. So thankful I didn’t have a whole long list of things I was supposed to get done that day!

The concert went very well. We even lightened things up with “Blue Christmas” and “Jingle Bells”. I haven’t found any reviews online yet, but you know if I do, I will post it (if it’s a good review, that is).

Now we get a week off for Thanksgiving and then we will work on our songs for the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concerts and our next Music and the Spoken word appearance.

In other news, my little chime choir is up to 12 kids, now. I’m a little worried about our concert in two weeks. I still haven’t gotten the morning group and the afternoon group together, so we haven’t played a whole song all together. But people probably don’t expect too much of us, so if we crash and burn I can blame it on the fact that I’m working with 3rd-6th graders here.

I’m still trying to drum up votes in our grant competition. If you haven’t taken the time to register your email and vote, please do so. You can find out about it here. You can just search for ‘handbells’ (it’s the only grant request to mention handbells), and then if you could force everyone in your family with a cell phone to text in once a day, I wouldn’t complain. We are currently ranked 128th, so that’s only 127 other grants we need to surpass to assure our money!

And in other news, we are getting excited for Thanksgiving! I bought all the stuff to make these little critters.

We also found these great hats at Target so all my turkeys could be ready for Thanksgiving!

I don’t have to cook a turkey, but probably will, just so we can have all the yummy turkey leftovers. For our big family party, I am assigned green beans, so I will make up a huge amount of my favorite bacon, apple green beans.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Travel? Guests? Lots of cooking? Whatever your plans may be, remember to be thankful for your family and those you love!

The first of many BYU related posts

August 27, 2012 / / 5 Comments

BYU fall semester starts today.

We helped Cole move into his new dorm home on Wednesday so he could be there for freshman orientation. After me asking and nagging to get his room organized and packed.

He packed his bike and belongings into his sweet ride. And by “sweet”, I mean the ’88 Camry that used to be Ryan’s parents. We wonder if the drivers side door or the clutch will go out first. But it’s a perfect car for a kid who we don’t want driving too far or too fast, right?

While the parking situation there at May Hall was not good (too many parents all bringing their kids at the same time), we managed to finally find a place to park and haul Cole’s belongings into the dorm. First he had to check in.

I’m sure they will get this place personalized in no time at all.

After we went to the Wilkinson center to get his student ID card and took him to lunch at the Cougareat, we hugged him and said goodbye.

It’s a bittersweet time for a mother. I have so many hopes and dreams for that kid.
-I hope he meets friends. Good friends. The kind of friends that he will laugh with, cry with, share with, and still be friends with in 10-20 years.
-I hope this job actually happens. He got this ‘great’ job that was supposed to start in June, then has gotten pushed back and pushed back. I hope it really happens, and that it is a job he really enjoys.
-I hope he does well in his classes, and is not overwhelmed. Because of his AP classes, he’s leap-frogging over a couple of things, and starting out with Linear Algebra (math 313 or something like that) and some 200 level programming class. He’s also got American Heritage, Book of Mormon and Psychology.
-I hope he gains confidence in himself. He is a wonderful kid, and he’s going to be a strong and secure man someday.
-I hope he dates and has fun. I’m all about the fun, and those years at BYU I had the most fun of my life. Yes, it was hard, and often times stressful, but there’s really no other time in a young adult’s life when they can explore, learn, meet people and have new experiences than in college.
-I hope he remembers all we have taught him. Remember who you are and what you stand for!

And so many other things. In my heart, I know he will be fine and be safe, but my head still worries about him. Does he have enough money? Did we teach him well enough? Will he be lonely? Will he be organized enough to not get behind in his classes?

Thankfully we all have cell phones and I can text or call him, and he’s really only a half hour drive away.

He came home last night for dinner and to pick up a few things that he had forgotten. He told us a bit about his freshman orientation, the meetings and socials, and church in his new BYU ward. He wanted applesauce and pears so he could eat in his room and not always in the Cannon Center for every meal. He also brought home a couple of shirts that had ended up in his stuff but weren’t his. He seemed excited about today and all that would happen.

I will continue to worry and pray and call and do whatever I need to do to help him succeed, just as I do for my other kids, I’ll just worry a bit more since I don’t have him living here in our home.

Good luck, Cole, and enjoy your FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Not quite the “Holiday” we were planning

July 25, 2012 / / 1 Comment

We still have Marie, our exchange student from France, with us, so we are really trying to do fun things every day. Some days I don’t want to do fun things, I will admit, and it wore me down when Ryan was gone for a week and everything was all on me. We’ve gone to plays, concerts, swimming, laser tag, shopping, out to eat, and many other things. Saturday night I took all six of them up to Salt Lake to go to the pioneer day concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and that experience just might have pushed me over the edge. Kids (not Marie, of course…she never complains) were grumpy and complaining, and even though I was working my hardest to make things exciting and fun for them, and they were not appreciating my hard work.

When we got seated in the conference center, approximately an hour before the concert was to start, the complaints and declarations of boredom from a certain young man were driving me crazy. Then a family came and sat behind us. I overheard as the teenage boy said to his mom, “What? The show does start for an HOUR? Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME? What am I supposed to do for an HOUR, just sit here and die of boredom?!” His mother gave him some motherly answer (I must admit I didn’t hear what she said, but she said it in a nice voice). But this young man was not easily appeased. “Hey, Mom? How about NEXT time there’s one of these things, you just don’t bring me? Can we make that deal? You just come by yourself and don’t make me come to one of these again, ok? Mom?” Mom was not answering. It took every bit of willpower I had left in me not to whip around and slap that young man, or at the very least inform him that his mother was only TRYING to give him a little cultural experience, and if he didn’t shut his trap immediately, he’d have to answer to ALL the mothers sitting near him. Seriously, folks, I should be given a commendation for my patience. Instead, I gave my own bored 8 year old my Kindle so that he could play a game or something to keep him busy, and I read the program.

The concert, once it started, was really, really great, and I was glad that I had dragged them up to Salt Lake SO early to have dinner, goof around at City Creek, and see the concert.

On Tuesday, the actual 24th of July, I was excited for the day. Even though it was expensive, we had decided to take everyone up to Snowbird and get day passes so we could slide and bungie and zipline and all that. It would be a splurge, but hopefully something that the kids will remember! First we had our ward Pioneer Day breakfast, and the kids were actually up before me! They were ready to go by 7:30. We left before 9, to avoid the fire truck and everyone getting wet, came home and packed up some food and got everybody in the car.

The car would NOT start. Seriously? What is going on here? It started just fine yesterday, and today, it won’t even turn over? We all sat in the car as Ryan tried over and over to start it. I guess we’re not going anywhere right now, so let’s get out of the car. After we found a mechanic’s shop not too far and open on the holiday, we had to call AAA to see if they would tow our car from our house to the repair shop. Yes, they will. When the tow truck came, I called the kids outside (they need SOME excitement, right?) and we all watched the poor tow truck guy hook up our Suburban and take it away.

Left with no car that would take all 8 of us, our plans were cancelled. We watched the parade on tv, then the kids played some video games and Cole started mowing the lawn.

In the afternoon, we got a call from the repair shop. I had no idea that a new fuel pump could POSSIBLY cost that much! And it wasn’t just the fuel pump and filter, but the water pump as well. Oh, and some belt. Let’s just say it’s not quite as much as college tuition for a semester for our son, but it’s more than I paid for my red couch.

Shall we talk about the couch? Yeah. Ryan wasn’t going to mention that to me until after we had our fun day in the mountains, but some things you can’t hide. My red leather couch is totally sagging in the back. Probably from too many kids FLOPPING on it. They continued to use it, even though it was getting lower and lower. (Can you see how Marie is being swallowed into the couch?) I pulled the bottom off to look at what we’ve got going on here, and I’m not sure if I know how it’s supposed to look, or if it’s even something we can repair ourselves. Oh, and here’s what I found when I tipped the couch over. Can you say, “NO food in the family room?” Hmmm. I don’t think my kids quite remembered that rule.

While Cole was mowing the lawn, he came in to tell Ryan that the back of the lawnmower was broken, and things were falling off. Oh, seriously? Luckily, Ryan discovered that it was just a problem with some bolts that had been sheered off, and he was able to go to the hardware store and easily fix that one. (Thank goodness!)

We decided that after dinner we would go to a baseball game at UVU. Something to do to get us all out of the house, and if we were lucky, there would be fireworks afterward. We did have to take two cars, and did you know they charge you per car for parking there? But we all made it and found a place on the hill to settle in and watch the game. I think we’d been there about 15 minutes when it began to rain. But the sun was shining, so it couldn’t be MUCH rain, right? Ahem. In keeping with the tradition of the rest of our day, we all got quite wet. We used the blankets we had been sitting on to try to hide us from the rain, but then the blankets all got wet. Whatever! Thankfully, the rain didn’t last too long, and we were able to stick it out and ‘watch’ the rest of the game. Finally the game was over and there were, as promised, fireworks. They were SO close and loud and fast. It was a GREAT fireworks show.

Here’s John doing my hair, waiting for the game to end.

So, even though it was a pretty crappy day, we tried to end it on a positive note.

We went home and had ice cream sundaes. Yes, it was nearly midnight, but I had told the kids they could have ice cream, so ice cream it was.

Today, we still have no suburban. I am waiting to find out the damage and trying to mentally prepare myself for the WAY TOO MUCH money it will cost and how can we possibly afford this freak out that I will have.

Happy Pioneer day to you all!

Fire. Works.

July 8, 2012 / / 3 Comments

Tuesday afternoon and it’s HOT.
So hot, in fact, that when we got home from our summer movie, I had the kids get out the kiddie pool and fill it up with cold water.

It was their idea to put the chickens in the pool, not mine.

They didn’t all enjoy the water, but I think it did cool them down a bit. And it got the kids outside to play in the water, as well.

But when I looked to the East, I saw something that alarmed me.

Smoke.
And by the look of it, that fire was not too far away.

I got onto facebook to see if anyone near me knew where that fire was, and a friend in Alpine told me the fire had just started in the Alpine Cove area, which is about 4 miles Northeast of our house. And I heard the sirens. Lots and lots of sirens going by.

Within minutes, the fire was huge, with the smoke going higher and higher in the sky. Within an hour, it looked like a volcano was erupting.

Most of the kids had seen the smoke earlier, but were inside watching tv in the cool of the air-conditioned house, and didn’t know that the fire was raging out of control mere miles from our house. I brought them outside to look at the smoke, and that freaked them out a bit. By then I was tuned into a live webcast for the news and was keeping on eye on facebook and the KSL news website. They were evacuating people.


(not my picture)

Because the fire had spread QUICKLY up the mountain, and it’s rugged and rocky terrain, they were using helicopters and planes to fight this fire. The constant sound of the helicopters was both comforting and frightening at the same time.


(also not my picture, but one I saw on the news. Amazing!)

Our neighborhood emergency captain saw me outside and said that we were to be on alert. “Get your bags ready,” he said. So, without starting a panic, I got the bags ready. I pulled out the emergency 72 hour bags and told the kids to find their bag and go through it. They each checked the clothes in their bags and realized that those clothes would probably not do them any good. Cole had a pair of size 10/12 pants in there. Really? It can’t have been 5 years since we put those together! I KNOW we checked them about a year ago. Megan couldn’t even find her bag, so I told her to not panic and just go find a duffel bag upstairs (they were still out from girl’s camp the week before) and put some clothes into it. I remained calm, although about then, I sent a text to Ryan and asked him if he was perhaps coming home.

People I know were being evacuated, even people who used to be in our ward. While the winds were moving the fire up the mountain, they were afraid that the winds would shift during the night and bring the fire back down the hill, or help it spread south.


(not my picture)

As night came, we felt mostly safe, but still worried what the change of the winds would bring. When it was dark it was shocking how much of the flames and the fire you could see.

(not my picture)

In the morning, we woke to the smell of smoke, but not overpoweringly strong. It was the fourth of July! We felt safe leaving our home and going off to our planned activities, which included the tiniest neighborhood parade and a big pancake breakfast with my parents. After that, we came home quickly and then went to a family gathering with Ryan’s family. When we drove past the high school, I was shocked to see ALL the firefighters and the camp set up there at the headquarters. Trailers, tents, and many many cars. It was like a huge family reunion of firefighters and National Guard had set up at Lone Peak.

When we came home, the helicopters were still going, fighting that fire.

That night, instead of watching fireworks, we watched the fire. It was eerie. Fireworks have been banned in Highland and Alpine for now, and we didn’t really want to go too far away, so we watched fireworks in other cities from the back yard and watched the fire.

The next day–it rained. What a blessing and an answer to prayers. It rained for most of the day, giving the firefighters a real break in containing that fire. It also cooled everything down and gave our poor lawns a drink. I wish it would rain like that every week, but we will be happy with that one day of rain, at least.

So for our 4th of July celebration, we were celebrating our freedom and counting our many many blessings. We are so thankful for the firefighters who sacrifice so much to keep us safe. We are thankful for neighbors who pull together in times of crisis, and we are thankful for the rain.

Chime in

May 18, 2012 / / 5 Comments

Last week I attended the Utah PTA convention held at BYU. It’s been years since I have attended, and I actually had a nice time and got a lot of valuable information for the one day that I was there. One of my classes was “Arts in the Schools”. It wasn’t really my area, since I am in charge of fundraising again this year, but I was interested, and found the class amazing. There were 2 presenters who spoke of how arts programs can change lives, giving their own stories as illustration.

While I was in that class, I experienced a very strong prompting that I needed to help in this area. I have been given many opportunities and blessings and it is time for me to share that with others. I was moved almost to tears as the Spirit spoke to my soul and I realized that, like the lyrics of one of my favorite hymns, “Because I have been given much, I too must give.” I left that class SO excited to start some kind of a handbell program.

The next day, I wrote a quick email to the principal of the elementary school where I am heavily involved. I told him my idea and asked if he thought it was a possibility, if I could somehow raise the money to buy the instruments. He responded positively, and I met with him on Monday with a Grant proposal for him to sign. He was very supportive, and while he can’t offer me money to get started, said that we could find space and time in our before or after school music programs. I took the form down to the district office to get it signed. I am applying for a set of loaner handchimes, which the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers will loan to a school just beginning the chime program. I also asked three of my friends from Bells on Temple square how they began their choirs at school, and got some ideas. I need Grants.

So, this week I am searching for Grants. I have applied for one so far, and am looking for another that I qualify for. I never knew this, but there are TONS of grants out there, but very few of them apply specifically to what I’m trying to do. If I get that loaner set of handchimes, then I can start right away. If not, I will have to scrounge up the money. I figure I need about $4,000 just to get started. Anyone have an extra $4,000 that they would like to give me? I didn’t think so.

So, I don’t know if things will fall into place for me to start this in the fall, but I do know that I can make it work eventually. I am so excited about this idea, even though I have no experience teaching chimes or even leading a choir. But if I am meant to make this happen, then I will be lead to the people who can help me, and I will muddle through just like everyone else does when they start a new endeavor.

Wish me luck.

Weekend Roundup

April 30, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Robin- a little more than a week ago, my good friend Robin called and told me her plan to come to Utah for a few months to complete spring and summer terms at BYU. She asked, if needed, if she could stay here with us. I told her that I was sure we could work something out. But I kind of didn’t think she could actually make all the arrangements and come to an agreement with her ex about the kids, but she DID it. She arrived on Tuesday night, and stayed here until she found a place that would accommodate both her and her bunnies. My kids LOVE her bunnies, but we just can’t have such attractive allergens around here.

Women’s Conference- Thursday and Friday I traipsed off to Provo myself to be uplifted and spiritually filled with many great talks. I wish I could remember every great word I heard. I wrote so much down, and have many things in my life to examine and hopefully make better. It was really great. By Friday afternoon, though, I couldn’t sit through one more talk, so I was happy to leave campus with Robing to go look at an apartment. That one didn’t work out, but she found a great one on Saturday.

Cole’s trip- Wednesday evening, I took Cole, two of his friends and one of his advisers to the airport, so they could all fly down to New Mexico for the Academic Decathlon Nationals. They have been studying SO hard and SO long, and were ALL glad that the weekend of the competition was finally here. I got a few texts about how things were going, and Ryan watched a bit of the superquiz that was streaming live on Friday afternoon. For their first time ever at Nationals, they didn’t do too badly. Cole earned a Silver medal in speech, and we’re so proud of him. I have no idea how much money he owes from his trip, as they haven’t finished their fundraising, but if any of you would still like to contribute, Cole takes checks. He came home Saturday night, and we were thrilled to hear all about it. You can read his take on it at his blog here.
Here’s my niece wearing some of Cole’s medals.

Chicken enclosure- For a while, now, I’ve been trying to figure out the best configuration of dog runs and coops for our chickens. Well, Saturday we took two separate 10′ x 4′ dog runs (both acquired for FREE, I am proud to tell you) and made one 14′ x 14′ enclosure.
It took almost all of us to get everything moved. One chicken coop in enclosed within the fence, and another is attached to the side. So I can let the chickens out, and they will hopefully have enough space to not pick on each other. I am not quite to the point of just letting them all roam with no chaperone, there is no cover over the run, and we have lost chickens when they were scared and flew up and over the fence, so we really need to get that covered. We’ll work on that this week.

Mom’s birthday-Saturday was my mom’s birthday, so I invited the whole family over for dinner on Sunday. I think we had 32 people over here, and they created quite a cacophony of noise! It wasn’t quite warm enough for everyone to go and eat outside, even though we had worked to get plenty of outdoor seating ready. I did eat my dinner outside and it was so much more peaceful than the chaos inside. But I think my mom appreciated having everyone together, yet not having to have the party at her house. My sister’s little boy started having an allergic reaction to the birds (who live in the corner of the kitchen), so that wasn’t fun. I was just so impressed that they had come, and brought all 13 kids. Yes, I mentioned that it was crazy, right? Between me and my sisters, we have 22 kids. I was outside trying to make sure none of them wandered off. I will admit that I didn’t totally clean up after everyone left. Our family just settled in to watch the Amazing Race (so sad that Mark and Bopper were eliminated) and I put it off until the morning. Messes will ALWAYS wait for you, I have found.

It was quite a week, and a wild weekend. I am personally very thankful for a boring Monday when I can get a little caught up. Well, until the kids get home from school, that is. Then I need to find a tux for Cole, take the kids to piano lessons, help with homework, make dinner, have family home evening….

The Nauvoo Temple

April 16, 2012 / / 1 Comment

We had the opportunity to attend the temple while in Nauvoo. The temple, so long a symbol of pioneer sacrifice and heartache, is now rebuilt and beautiful. I don’t know how the placement of the rooms compares with the original temple, but it is breathtaking.

Because three of my kids were over twelve, they were able to go inside. The adults went upstairs to do a session. We rented our temple clothing there. It was a busy day, with a stake from Peoria there that day. But they did manage to get everyone in to the scheduled session (you have to call ahead and make an appointment. No walk ins here.) There was a little bit of a mix-up with my temple packet I had to ask for help..twice! But that’s enough about that. It really is best to bring your own temple clothes, I guess.

I’m glad that we were able to work temple service into our vacation. It was a really special experience to be there with my parents and my kids, all going to the temple together. The kids finished first, so they walked the four blocks back to our motel.

Special memories that I hope they will treasure.

It’s all academic!

March 17, 2012 / / 2 Comments

WARNING….BRAG ALERT. I am about to do some serious bragging about one of my kids here, so if that turns your stomach or gets you all irritated, just click away. You have been warned….

My son Cole is on the Academic Decathlon team at his school. I really don’t know much about it except that since it’s called a decathlon, maybe there are 10 events, and I know it’s for smart people. Seriously. Call me an uninformed parent, but I didn’t really know what was going on. Sure, he stayed after school a couple of times a week and then he went to a few competitions on Saturdays, and that was that. Right? Well, shortly before our friends were coming to visit, I told the kids that Robin and her kids would be coming on a certain day, and Cole said, “That’s when the State Acadec competition is.” Oh, I asked it if was on the calendar, or if he had told me about this before. “Umm..” I guess not. Where is this competition, I asked. “In St. George.” What? So, we quickly found out the info, how much it would cost, when he would be gone, etc.

While he was gone, we kept in touch through short text messaging. He told me he rocked his speech, or had felt really good about a test. On Friday, he told me that they were first in the standings after 5 events. Saturday I got a message that they had won 1st place! Wow! I found out later that they had won first in large school, and also first overall, knocking our Park City, who I hear has won this competition for many years. Our little team of 9 kids were the best in the state! They now get to compete at the Nationals, which will be held in New Mexico at the end of April.


These are Cole’s medals. You may not be able to tell that they are different, but he won 6 gold and one bronze medal in his events.

I am so amazed and so proud of my son! I mean, I’ve always known how smart he is, and he’s always been a good test taker, but this really is amazing! It was so fun to hear him tell about the weekend and his excitement at having done so well.
I said, “Cole, they will put this up on the marquee in front of the school that you are state champions!” He cynically replied that they only put up stuff about basketball, and probably wouldn’t even mention them. But, much to my surprise, they had a school assembly that week honoring excellence from their school this quarter, and they honored both the basketball team (1st in State, by the way) AND this little Academic Decathlon team. While probably most of the kids in the school have no idea who those math geeks on stage were, THEY knew, and THEY know how awesome they are.

I went to a parent meeting this week to find out a bit more info. These kids are going to be so deep in studying for the next four weeks, they don’t even have time to do fundraisers. The coach suggested a “Decathalon-athon” where people can pledge 5 or 10 cents for every page Cole studies during the next month, or look for corporate sponsors. Hmmm. I don’t really have great connections with any big companies who I could ask to donate all or part of the $6,000 needed to take the team, but I do have friends. Maybe if we can get 50-60 people who would donate $10 each, that would about cover Cole’s costs. Or if I had 25-30 people who would donate $20 each. You see where I’m going with this?

If you feel inclined to help Cole and his team out, we would HAPPILY accept your donations. Yes, Ryan and I will probably be paying for most of it, but it would be nice to not have to foot the whole bill, and we hope the community will also kick in with some corporate donations. This is ACADEMIC, after all.

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