Photos from the Director

So glad someone else snapped these.  So glad the director sent them to me!

14

2/2/2018 - Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and Miriam turned 14.

She woke up to nutella waffles and balloons. I had her friends decorate her locker during intermission the night before, and someone announced her birthday over the intercom. Other than that it was a regular Friday.... school and then the dress rehearsal for cast B where Miriam plays an ensemble crab.

She and I hurried home that evening to have tuxedo cake with our boys + her friend Viv. 

She loved all her gifts and cards but she was so delighted to get this lego set from her friend Ivy.

The only thing the set was missing was a crab.  The boys solved that problem by gifting her a crab that came with a Ninjago figure the next day. This was a very heartfelt gift because it came from a limited edition mini fig.

Saturday we took the morning easy and hit Gourmandise for brunch. Everything was so good, and everything everyone else had at the bakery looked good so we will need to go back soon. Try the scones...and the almond horns oh my...

That afternoon some of Miriam's new Legacy friends threw her a surprise party.

These girls have been friends since elementary school, they have been so kind to invite the "new girl".

I am truly bummed about not getting photos of this last part of her birthday. 

Her 2 best friends from elementary school came over that evening to watch a movie. One of them has moved to Arizona and just happened to be in town this week. I am so sad I didn't think to snap a photo.  Miriam has never had friends she feels more comfortable with than Clara and Hailey.  Miriam misses them to her core, and as her mom I miss the confidence and security they brought to Miriam. 

Boom...she's 14. 

Odds and Ends

Miriam had her first Ballroom team competition.  

No photos...boo, but Miriam makes it really hard to take photos because she is so embarrassed by my taking them, so there will be no photo documentation until she gets over that. 

They took a few first places and a few 6th places...so enough recognition to feel proud but not enough to be prideful.

At my funeral, my kids better mention how hard I tried to get everyone to eat vegetables. Because I do try so hard...against all the yucks, and protests I never give up. I am like the Joan of Arc of vegetables. These Nourish Bowls got mixed reviews but I liked them so they will be served again.

We have had very few snow fun days! That makes me sad, but we have adapted our activities.

I only get a pedicure about once a year.  I love them, but feel like it's a splurge I don't need too often. Also the polish stays on my toes a freakishly long time.  So, I love to do this science experiment with the polish.  I like to see how long it takes for my toe nails to grow based on the polish line.  This pink polish was from August so there you go. about 1/2 an inch in 6 months. 

Student Educator Parent meetings for the boys this week.  It's SO thrilling for me to hear them speaking Chinese with their teacher.  I am proud of them for not giving up on that hard experience I signed them up for.  Both boys are doing well, but Soren had a HUGE triumph this semester.  He was in the "red" zone for his reading at the beginning of the year, that means "massive support needed to get this kid reading better".  I can't say that massive support was put in, but his teacher has worked hard with him, we have tried to be very consistent with his reading at home, and I implemented some word decoding techniques I learned from the RISE institute. 

At last testing Soren was in the blue!!! That means "above what we expect for this age".
Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!
I will say though...that I suspect some anxiety coming into play into his initial scores, and the fact that he is now comfortable with his class/teacher/testing could be part of it. 

See what I mean about unique artwork Soren creates...it's so fun.

We are headed into 3 busy weeks of Miriam's school play.  It really is fun to be apart of the make-up team, and she doesn't seem to mind my being there tooooo much. So far we've made it through one dress rehearsal, one more and then the show is on!

Some of Miriam's cute friends came to her dress rehearsal.

We celebrated with Baskin Robbins afterwards.  A "birthday eve" party, since she will be at the second dress rehearsal again tonight on her birthday, but will be in her roll as a crab rather than Ariel.

Doings & Going ons

We are ramping up to some busy months....ballroom competition season, Miriam's play runs for 2 weeks in February, we have a little family trip planned, and then the play the boys and I are involved in finishes up in March. And hopefully if we slaughter a lamb and paint our front door with the blood we will somehow escape the flu that is running rampant (Bible joke). 

Okay...deep breath...no use worrying about things that haven't happened. 

In the meantime....

Byron finally settled on the drone he wanted to buy with his hard earned money.  Lots of deliberation, pro and con lists, and so far so good! He can fly it on his own, the weather has been fantastic, and there haven't been any fatal crashes. 

Byron also played in his school's Chess Tournament. We talked about going into this tournament with  growth mindset...ie you don't lose, you either win or you learn (and I guess you can learn when you win, but I would argue not as much).  He was so brave and I love the way he handled the pressure! 

Miriam has been busy with her ballroom and play practice, so the boys and I entertained ourselves at the Children's Museum for a day.

We had a blast and by we I mean the boys..but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to take them there these days.  They just do their own thing while I stay in the same vicinity talking on the phone, or checking instagram.  I did try my hand at some activities. 

The lady at the geo board station said Soren won for most intricate designs of the day....so I had to take a picture.  He does amaze me with his outside of the box thinking.  His artwork is always unique.

We came home to this on our porch.  Byron has a kindred spirit as a Primary teacher.

It's pretty lucky to have a kindred spirit, but when your kindred spirit friend makes trips to China for fireworks and White Rabbit candy....well that is extreme luck. 

But then again Byron is a good friend and he is easy to love so it's no so much luck after all.

New Years

Saturday Darin and I attended a funeral of one of our friends from high school.  So sad for someone to leave this world so soon, but it was one of the sweetest and hilarious funerals I have ever attended. I hadn't seen Susan since college but her funeral was exactly the spunky lively Susan I remember....which was at her request, and she had made the arrangements for it to be so. She had suffered from an inoperable brain tumor since she was a child and was physically affected by it her whole life.  I was left inspired by Susan's determination to find and spread joy admits her challenges. 

It was the perfect message for me as 2017 comes to a close. I was happy to see this year die. New Years Eve morning I spent lying in the sun crying as I reflected on how this year has unfolded.  It's been a tough one.  Some of my lofty goals set last January died as I needed to divert attention elsewhere, and I feel further away from who I wanted to be than ever. 2017 left me feeling stuck...unable to move forward and in fact I feel like I took 3 steps backwards. I abandoned those goals for a good reason, and I would do it all over again in a heart beat, but there is that fear that nags at the back of my heart...what if it wasn't enough? Am I depleting my well for nothing?  Ah...the lament of mothers...we just do our best.

and yet....I have learned. so. much.  I have been so humbled.  I have such a new desire to simplify and so much of life's petty worries have melted away.  It's like I achieved some character goals this year that I didn't ask for, but am none-the-less grateful for. Lots of growth in areas I didn't know I needed some growth in. So I guess "Thank you life...for your crappy-ness as well as your good-ness".

Also...Darin was blessed with a great job in 2017.  Having a husband who is inspired by his job is amazing, we have lived both ways and enjoying your work is a much easier way to live.  I think thats why 2017 struck such a hard blow, I though we had it all in the bag last February. 

Another blessing was the insurance that came along with Darin's new job. And along with that all the people who stepped in right when we needed them. People are good.

Anyway......after a good long cry in Darin's arms, I put on my proverbial "big girl panties" and we loaded up for Price to celebrate New Years.

No cabin this year because there wasn't any snow...boo, but my parents are very "show must go on" people and also "always room at our table" people so we relocated to their house.

This meant we got to ride 4-wheelers for a bit, before the sun started to go down.

Julia taught Soren how to seal wontons.

Grandma taught Miriam the ins & outs of fondue.

While I cut fruit, Julia got some games going.  I didn't get a chance to try these puppies out but I have a feeling I would be good at it.

We played more games, Skyped with Mark Madison and text with Marcus who weren't with us this year and then the Mighty New Years Fondue and Wonton feast began! 

Then Games, karaoke, and chaos until midnight. The karaoke footage better not end up on facebook or heads are gonna roll! You don't think about all those camera phones when you are rockin out to Dolly Parton songs!

Hazel specially loves Moana...."Your Welcome" brought out the most delight and the best dance moves. 

I didn't know if I would make it, we ran out of game and singing tolerance by 11:30, I had to take a few swigs of a stolen Pepsi by 11:45. We decided to start the fireworks and sparklers at 11:50 so we could toast in the New Years right at the strike of midnight with Martinellis (and also be done by 12:05).

Boy howdy things cleared out fast after that.  I think everyone was gone by 12:20 and my kids were put to bed soon afterwards.

My dad and Miriam made abeskivers for breakfast the next morning. 

Then we came home because school and work started THE NEXT DAY!! 

I think our school district underestimates our ability to party.