Christmas Eve 2008

Sierra-16, Necia-12, Mufasa-6, Erika-8, Jada-14, Lizzy-4 months, Kaila-17

Holiday Eating Tips

I wish I could give authorial credit to the person who developed these helpful tips... but I don't know who that would be. My fab-friend Cecily shared this list with me via e-mail and I loved it so much I decided to post it on my blog! Thanks PPP. This is my kind of advice:

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact,if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving chocolate balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can - And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it! Have one for me … Have two! It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards!

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips: Start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

You Go Ahead and Love That Glitter!

I won't judge! Just save some for me... my crafty friend!

Welcome Queen Elizabeth!

Necia & Lizzy

Apparently... dad has won this round. We are now the very excited owners of a playful and adoreable PUPPY! She came from the latest batch born to my Mom and Dad's dog Rudy. She was one of six, and after many protestations about not being able to have a dog here in our twin home in the city... she is firmy entrenched.

The kids (okay, okay and the parents) love her! But who could resist! We named her "Lizzy" which is short for Queen Elizabeth. She has an Elizabethan ruff of white fur around her neck, and since they wouldn't let me name her Shakespeare... this was the next best thing.

Necia spent a whole day working with her on what to do after eating... go to the back door, and go out to do your business. The first night we had a couple of accidents, but since our resident vet worked her training magic... she goes right to the door and hasn't left a deposit inside since!!! YAY! We are still working, however, on her tendency to CHEW everthing in sight. This pic shows her sleeping, but that's misleading... she actually rarely sleeps and wants to play all night long. Good thing she has lots of playmates that are willing to let her jump around and chew their hair while they try to sleep. We may have to start shutting her in the bathroom... yeah, that should be fun!

Salem Hills Swim Team

Kaila is having a BLAST swimming for our brand new high school! She swam for the city team for a few years when she was younger, and of course she spends AMPLE time in the pool all summer being a swim instructor and a lifeguard... so how could she resist swimming in school??

This new team is really enjoying their first season. And the nature of swim meets is that you are out of the pool waiting for your race more than you are IN the pool... so that leaves plenty of time for hanging with your friends, taking pictures and just generally goofing off! Oh, I mean... you spend all that time in intense focus planning your strategy for your next race. You can just see the focus and concentration being employed by these tough-as-nails athletes!

Yeah, she looks really miserable in these pics, huh? Its a rough job, but someone has to do it!

Just giving you a hard time Roo... It's very fun to watch how close they are as a team. They really do work hard, and the entire team is improving every day. Kaila's times have been getting shorter and shorter. She's turning in to a breast stroke phenomenon! At her past two meets the coaches had her swim a 200 IM, which means she had to swim 50 yards of each stroke: back, breast, butterfly and freestyle. I could do back and free... maybe breast if I had to... but butterfly... NO WAY! (oh, you do realize that I mean I could do that 20 years ago... yeah.) And she did it!! All 4 strokes, high speed, and not dead at the end of it! Now THAT is cool.

Kinda cool to be watching our kids in events where it's perfectly acceptable to jump and scream at the top of your lungs! GO SKYHAWKS!!! Whoot-whoot!!

Where DOES the time go???

So I'm sitting here by the front door, laptop in hand (well, lap) waiting for all the little spooks, goblins and power rangers to take my candy... and it occurs to me... HEY! Why not update your blog? It's been a couple of days... Ahem... yeah... weeks more like. Truly... how does time pass so quickly?

Let's do a quick month-in-review: (Imagine this being said super fast...)
Shakespeare competition, general conference, Jr. Drill workshop for the girls, took the kids to a totally impromptu breakfast at Golden Corral, (moo...) Trip to California with drill team: Disney, Universal and WICKED... all GREAT! Baby sat my nephew Scott for a weekend, over-drafted my checking account, (again)! held auditions for the fall comedy, started rehearsals, celebrated 2 neices' birthdays, watched Jada dance at the Scarecrow festival, heard Kaila do a fabulous solo song at the school choir concert, supervised the drama club Halloween party, made clam-chowder for the family Halloween party, enjoyed a bonfire at said party, attended 4 faculty meetings, did 3 weeks of Primary music, taught numerous classes, did inumerable loads of laundry and played a rousing game of Bunco with my best buds! WHEW!

Busy month... October. And now it's gone. Do y'all have those moments where you suddenly realize that a month, or a year, or a childhood has passed... and you can't believe how quickly it went? I'm in one of those moments tonight, realizing that I only have one little chickie who still really wants to trick-or-treat. The older four are all gone to various parties and events with their friends. Poor Erika. I think she was as surprised as we were that suddenly for the first time in her life... no sisters to go door to door with. We had to quickly arrange for a neighborhood friend!

And at the end of the evening, one of her "best ever friends", daughter of our good friends the Carrascos, came to the door. Within minutes they had arranged a sleep-over and an all-day playtime for tomorrow! So her lonely Halloween turned out okay. :)

Sierra did THRILLER with the drill team at a school assembly this morning. It was incredible! They had some of their own choreography, but they did a bunch of the original thriller zombie moves and it was cool! Sierra had this totally intense scary face and she was staring down the audience. Awesome! I had to get a sub to take my class so I could run over and watch. Thanks to the teacher next door for giving up his prep time to watch my 2nd period!

And do I have ANY pics of my cute kids in all their costumes today? NO I do not! Someone has jacked the battery from my camera so I am picture-less... for many events... Halloween, Cali trip, dance stuff, family birthdays... and who the HECK needed a CV3R anyway? No one will fess up, so I guess I need to add that to tomorrow's grocery list. New month... new to-do list!

And more milestones to count: My baby turns 8 this month. That's the last baptism for us! My next-up baby turns 12 and leaves Primary to go into Young Women. And come January... my first baby turns 18. I know SHE'S ready for that, but the parents aren't!

It's definitely a time for deep-thoughts about the passage of time...

10 (ahem... two week's worth) on Tuesday, er Weds.. maybe THURSDAY!

It's been busy-busy-busy lately, so that results in poor blogging behavior!

I need to recruit Kaila or Sierra to update for me. Also, I've been meaning to create a great post with all of our fabulous Beauty & the Beast pics. Ah well... all in good time. Best not to run faster than you have strength I suppose. One of these days I'll get it done. Probably. Well... maybe.


#1- Shakespeare Competition is over and done! All children present and accounted for. (Seriously that is my biggest stress... getting them all home safe and sound. Taking 35 9th graders on an overnighter is not exactly relaxing!) Aren't they cute, though?

#2- Our kids had a great time at SUU. They did a good job in their performances, but even more importantly, they behaved themselves well! I love to see kids work hard and have good experiences. We didn't feel that we had to place high (95 schools there!) in order to feel it was success. I asked all the kids to tell me something new they had learned, and we had a really powerful team discussion about their new insights.

#3- The dance competition turned out to be the big hit this year. Our school did a Japanese style Kabuki dance to tell the story of "Midsummer Night's Dream". We placed 2nd in our division. I wish I could take credit for the great idea, but it was my assistant coach who came up with the concept and the choreographer who brought it to life. The dance judges were impressed with the melding of two different art forms from two different cultures. We're just glad they got it!
Our other dance was a Hip-Hop number featuring the 3 witches from MacBeth. Jada was one of the witches, so that was also a really fun one to watch.

#4- BROOKE'S DANCE WAS INCREDIBLE!! They were in a separate division than ours, but we were performing in the same room. I came in just after their dance started, but I could immediately tell that it was the story of "King Lear". It was really powerful, and I was not surprised at all to hear that her dance had been chosen for the showcase!! It was very well done. I had to tell everyone at least a hundred times... "That's my cousin! She choreographed that dance!"

#5- Favorite parts of the event: (besides watching all the kiddos perform of course) When Aunt Margo ran up and hugged me just as I was giving marching orders to my kids. They were all looking at us like... "Who is that?" When I told them it was my aunt, they all thought that was cool that she came to watch "us" as Shakespeare! (tee hee)
AND... the gigantic ZION sundae (48 scoops of ice cream!) that our team got to tackle after all our events on Saturday. It was a perfect relaxing way to end the work.

#6- SLEPT like a zombie on Sunday morning, but did get up in time for conference. Could you all feel the difference in President Monson? It was his familiar face and voice, but there was a definite feeling of "This is the prophet". I thought that was cool. (Although I bawled through most of his talk and had to wipe my nose with a towel!)

#7- Got to take the kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa's new zoo! They have 12 new baby animals! 6 kittens and 6 puppies. All of which are soft, furry and adoreable of course. And NO DAD, we do NOT want one to come live at our house!!!!


#8- Erika, Necia, Jada & Samantha are doing the Jr. Drill workshop with Sierra's drill team this week. They are learning the dance and will perform at the FB game on Friday. We'll have to get pics and make a cool post about it next week.


#9- Steven got our 72 hour kits all updated this week. He made a run to Emergency Essentials and came back with lots of "goodies" for the packs. Now, let's just hope they are NEVER needed!


#10- And of course I must mention... ahem... less than a week until Sierra's drill tour to Cali. (Disney & WICKED!) But who's counting???

Other honorable mentions from the week before last:

Attended a Missionary Farewell for one of the kids in our old ward. His dad was the bishop when Steve was a counselor. It was such a fun day because we got to sit and reminisce with many of our old neighbors and friends. Why is it that you don't realize how special people are to you until you don't get to spend time with them anymore??


Kaila's friend Brenden moved to Oregon this week and she's feeling the ouch of that. They're good friends and it's been kind of a tough week. She's starting to get those seperation experiences that happen as you get to the end of high school. Exciting, but kinda scary and sad at the same time! (Janae can tell us all about it, huh?)

Ten on Tuesday

Hey... the weeks are a flyin' by!

1- Primary Program is done!!! YAY! The kids were cute and all went well.
We had a little 3 year old boy who told the Samuel the Lamanite story from memory and then sang the Book of Mormon Stories verse about it. He was the highlight of the program. His mom is my fabulous choreographer at school.

2- Wasn't very smart... I played an outside game with my D-1 kids on Friday. There was an odd number, so I partnered up with a kid... all good until I stepped back into a grate and twisted my bad foot! AAAAHHHH..... not again!! My physical therapist is going to KILL me. I think I just undid all the therapy we worked so hard on last spring. I will now start whining... the thoughts of doing another round of A-stem definitely deserves whining.

3- Steve came and worked some scene development with my Shakespeare kids. He is so good at pulling out all these character details that really bring a scene to life. Plus... they seem to take him more seriously than they do me! Why is that? I guess he's just SCARIER! (Yeah, I know... I'm pretty scary.)

4- We had Kaila's friend Brendan and Sierra's friend Phillip over for Sunday dinner. It was quite interesting to have BOYS at our table. I think we scared them away with the girls' tales of crazy childhood escapades... and a good dose of home videos! Mwaaa...haaa...haaaa!

5- Speaking of those home videos... aw... where did those adoreable little kids go?? We were watching Kaila at 3, Sierra at 2 and Jada as a baby. I remember those kids. And to think I thought they were stressful THEN! Silly me.

6- Found out that I get to go with Sierra on Drill Team tour to Cali in a few weeks... Fun! Her team are FABULOUS Dancers and they get to dance at Disney and Universal studios. Disneyland and Universal will be cool...

7- but the real news of the night was... WE ARE GOING TO "WICKED" in L.A. !!!! Oh. My. Gosh. For those of you who don't know this... I have been DYING to see the musical "Wicked" for years now. I know every word to every song and it is my favorite musical even though I've never seen the show. My sibs and some friends pooled some dough for my 40th b-day to go... I've been hanging on to that and NOW... we're going!! Okay, I admit it... I am SUCH a Drama Geek!


Ooops... sorry Sierra... I'm sure your dancing will be just as AWESOME! She may feel like dis-owning me after having to deal with my limpy walk for that many days. I think I really need to get a Jazzy! (Did I mention... WICKED??)


8- Got to hang out at Scrapbook night with a bunch of my teacher friends. I never seem to get much done, but the company is GREAT! We talk our heads off, consume way too many baked goods and float away on a river of Diet Coke! This time we all enjoyed watching the SNL skit about Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton. HAHAHAHA!!!


9- Get to inform my new insurance (1 week old.... grrrrr) that my teenage driver got a stinkin' speeding ticket! Can't we just lock 'em up until they're 21?


10- Thought longingly all week about the rest of my family being in Disneyland THIS week.
I think the girls have asked close to a hundred times... "When are Grandma and Grandpa coming back?" "When will Natalie be home?" "How many more days until Jaden gets back?" I think they musta missed ya!

Ten on Tues(Thurs)day

1- Watched Sierra dance with the Drill Team at the SalemHills Homecoming game.(Now I can die happy, since I would have given an arm to have made drill myself!)

2- Went shopping with Kaila for her Homecoming dress.Hmmm... 1, 2, 3...6, 7, stores later...And she finally went back to Allyse's by herself and founda cute one. Sierra got her dress there also, but she'sresourceful enough that I didn't have to assist! :) My favorite part of the dress shopping: They both paid for their OWN dresses! Whoo-Hoo!! (Of course now they won't have gas money for a month.)

3- Finalized the hotel/bus/registration and all that jazzfor Shakespeare Competition. We leave in just about 2weeks. The kids finally started to pull it together thisweek... Whew!

4- Took Jada to a party with a bunch of 9th graders upCovered Bridge. WHY do people want to live up there??It's pretty and all, but if I had to drive that canyonevery day... I'd be a nervous wreck! I kind of feel theway about SF Canyon the way Carolyn does about snakes! Iwas still shaky when I got back.

5- Did TWO primary program practices... one on Sat/one onSun. I've decided that I'm too much of a classroom-control freak, because it was SUPER crazy and I wanted to pull a big teacher yell out, but figured that'd not go over too well in the chapel.

6- Took Erika, Necia and her friend to the dollar moviefor a Saturday afternoon break. I spent a blissful 90minutes waiting in the car, parked in the shade, andworking on digital scrapbook stuff on my laptop. It was anice break... although trying to get through Orem in theBYU post game traffic was NOT the smartest thing.

7- Because of the movie break... I missed being home whenthe girls' dates picked them up for Homecoming! :(Steven was a good dad though, and took lots of pics. I'lltry to attach one of each girl. I was home when the gothome, however... both after curfew! GRRRRRRR!!!! Hey, Moms don't need sleep, right??

This is Sierra & Phillip. Kaila's pics got deleted from the camera!!!! AAAAGHH!!!

8- Made To-Die-For chicken alfredo and zucchini muffinsfor Sunday dinner. How do I know it was to-die-for? They actually ate it!! All of it! Now, that's worth reporting!

9- Erika got a BIG box of fabulous previously-owned clothes from Samantha! It's better than school shopping!She's had a "new" outfit to wear everyday this week!

10- We spent a quiet half hour at the cemetery Sunday afternoon. Most of the funeral flowers are still onArlene's grave, and the cool weather has kept them amazingly well. They're still pretty. The girls collected some to dry for keepsakes. And who should we run into while we were there? Uncle Paul and Aunt Carolyn out for a walk! They came over and visted for a bit. That was a really nice part of the week.

Ten on Tuesday

My cousin's super-cute college age daughter is trying to rally the troupes for a little family togetherness! She is trying to get us all sharing in a Ten-on-Tuesday as she describes in her invitation below:

"I talked to several of you at the family party we had on Sunday about doing a ten on Tuesday thing. If you don't remember or you were just really confused… here is my story to help explain. My mom's family is scattered everywhere. We have people in California, some in Idaho, several in Utah, and one is in Iraq. Anyways… every Tuesday (or any other day of the week) We send out an e-mail or update our blog with 10 things we did that week. Sometimes we don't have ten sometimes we have more. It is the best thing I have ever had happen to me and my mom's family. There were people that I didn't know and now I feel as if I have known them my whole life. It is a great way of keeping track of what your family is doing. Since it is such a success in my mom's family I want to see if I can get it going for the Nielson family. I have tried to do this with other people and no one will do it because "their life is boring" and even if you feel like your life is boring I want to hear about it. I want to know and understand my family. So please play with us. It is truly something that has blessed my family tremendously and I think it would do the same thing for us. So let's try it!!!"

Okay JaNae... boring or not... here we go!

#1- The Biggie: Steven's Mom's Funeral.It was nice, the flowers were gorgeous and the weather was great.We're all still adjusting to the shock, although there has been a great deal of peace come to us this week.
#2- The family party at Margene's. Always good to see everyone... only why do we just clump up??We need to MIX better! (Speaking mainly to MYSELF of course.) SO GREAT to see Kim!
#3- Went to ANOTHER family dinner - for Steve's family - right after the picnic.While everyone was still in town for the funeral, we decided to have a de-stress night:Sandwiches, ice-cream, games and the usual fashion show put on by all the little girls with Darren's costume trunk.
#4- Out to Dinner at Los Hermanos with Melanie and Tony before they left town again.(He LOVES Los Hermanos so when they're here we always go.)
#5- Had Shakespeare Team rehearsals after school every day. We are about 3 weeks away from going to the Shakespeare competition at SUU. Now if only we could get ALL 20 of the ensemble kids here at once we'd be doing GREAT!
#6- Downloaded a cool acting/improv/character focus video for my Drama 1 kids. It's the group that does surprising things in public places. I love Frozen Grand Central and Food Court Musical.
http://improveverywhere.com/2008/01/31/frozen-grand-central/
http://improveverywhere.com/2008/03/09/food-court-musical/
Check them out... pretty amazing. I just love the reactions of the "real people"
#7- I FINALLY put my big "Oscar" cut-out on my big blank wall at school. (Been waiting for the BIG ladder.) Evan gave me this big cut out of the Academy Award Oscar statue a while back. I've been hoarding it in my office... finally got up the courage to climb the ladder. (Not really... most of my Drama 3 class was on an History field trip, so the remaining 6 kids got the ladder and climbed it for me.) :)
#8- Took Jada to get her sewing supplies for her Sewing 2 class.
#9- Switched my insurance to Geico. (For real!) I'm saving $143.00 a month - YAY!
#10- Did about 8 loads of laundry AND... did my TEN on TUESDAY!

We Love You Grandma

Our hearts are full this week as we have just lost Steven's mother, Arlene. It's been a time of memories and laughter as well as more than just a few tears. Grandma spent most of the last 25 years as primary caregiver. She cared for her own mother until her death, then for her father until his death. She spent 7 long years caring for her husband as he experienced a dibilitating brain disorder. He passed away 3 years ago, and within a year she was diagnosed with Alzheimers.

She has slowly been losing some of her faculties, and especially her short term memory. We felt very lucky, however, that she always remembered who we were. In June of this year, we moved her into a care center so that she could have the 24 hour care she needed. This past Monday evening she had what seems to be a massive stroke and was gone in just minutes. The caregivers that were with her said it was very quick and appeared to be painless. Thank goodness she didn't suffer. She came to see our production last Friday evening, and we had a nice visit with her on Sunday evening. Although it was not expected, we feel that the timing was right.

Our girls are feeling very tender this week at the loss of a grandparent. Steve is processing the passing of his remaining parent. I think Erika probably put it best when she said "I feel sorta sad, but kinda happy too, because now Grandma is with Grandpa." How wise children are!


In our "sorta sad, but kinda happy" way, it's become a time to celebrate a life well lived, and to give much gratitude for the blessing she was in our lives. Arlene was the epitome of the doting grandmother. She was absolutely enraptured by all 8 of her grandkids. When Kaila and Sierra were little, and the only grandkids around... she spoiled them rotten! And did it with a huge smile on her face! We lived just through the block, and as soon as the door was open, they would take off around the block to "Grandma & Grandpa's".

Grandma made a baby blanket for Kaila before she was even born. It had once fleece side, one polka-dot side, and was edged in satin. It was bigger than a baby blanket too, about crib size. Talk about your perfect blanky! Kaila called it Polka-Dot, and we had many years where NO ONE was allowed to sleep if Polka-Dot was not in her bed. We saw that blanket go to girls' camp hidden the sleeping bag, and mysteriously enough, I saw it come through the laundry just a few weeks ago. It's pretty faded and somewhat tattered, but it was made by a loving Grandma to be used for years... and nearly 18 years later... it still is.

Sierra's full name is Sierra Arlene, and she has always had a special connection with her namesake. She could sit and talk and joke with Grandma even when her Alzheimers was taking control. We once threatened Sierra that she was going to have to live with Grandma if she couldn't get along with her sisters.... but... that wasn't a threat! Both Grandma and Sierra were thinking that was a GREAT plan!

When Jada was just a baby, she started doing this belly laugh thing everytime she was at Grandma's house. Grandma & Grandpa loved it so much that they would practically twist themselves inside out just to get the baby to laugh. I don't know which was funnier... the baby or the grandparents.

Necia has been having a growing contest with Grandma. The past few years they would ALWAYS measure how tall Necia was getting to Grandma. They had just about reached the point where they were the same size... and even with her memory going, Grandma would always remember to check Necia's height.

Erika was born just when Grandpa got sick, but Grandma always made sure that Glen could see the baby and would sit by him as she held her. The past 3 years, Necia and Erika have gone to Grandma's house after school every day... and took advantage of the fact that Grandma ALWAYS had their favorite snack-goodies handy. And... mini-ziplock bags to take some home!
She was a grandkid's dream! Plenty of treats at Grandma's!

As the girls got older, Grandma would take them each shopping for Christmas and their birthdays. Yes, SHE took them... even when her feet were killing her, she walked the mall for hours with her teenage granddaughters. And the kids LOVED it.

As for me, I am so grateful that Arlene is my mother-in-law. She has defied every stereo-type of the "mother-in-law" persona. She as been very good to my kids, and to me personally. Because she kind of had a prickly public personality, I have had people ask me if she was a difficult mother-in-law. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I always felt loved and important to her. She has always been a part of our lives but never interfered or tried to take things over. In short... a true friend. She never forgot a birthday or an anniversary, and without her unfailing generosity I don't know how we ever would have made a Christmas happen. It was always very low key, but she made sure we had what we needed. In particular, I remember a few years ago when we were having a major money crunch. She came to my house one day when she knew Steven would be gone and brought me a large amount of very needed cash. I immediately started to cry, and she just said..."What good is money if you can't help your kids when they need it." And how did she know? She just said she could tell that we were stressed out, and that I didn't have a very good poker face! That's just the kind of person she was.

We will miss her so much, but what a gift to have been blessed with such a person. I hope that when it's my turn to be a mother-in-law I can do it as well as she did. We will miss you Mom!
Enjoy your well deserved peace and rest, but beware... the day will come when the grandkids will get to smother you in hugs one again.

Read the obituary here.

The Show is On!!

Show week is here! We have had 3 performances, and are happy to report that so far all is going well! Our audiences have been HUGE. (That's a surprise for the first week.)

After my "wardrobe malfunction" on Wednesday night's dress rehearsal, the director decide to change my blocking. YAY! I had been running off stage, taking off my big costume (difficult), climbing the back stairs, putting the box BACK on, (3 person job, including me), changing hats, and then trying to charge down the castle stairs to chase Lefou with my spear. It was like 45 seconds, and I just couldn't make it. Going down the stairs in the costume was almost impossible. I tripped and missed a stair on Weds, which caused my viking helmet to roll off and across the stage. So, there I am... with only my wig cap (aka... pantyhose) on my head. We had an audience of about 100 senior citizens. I'm kinda hoping they couldn't see well enough... ha ha.

NOW... they just have me coming back in from the side with my spear. All I have to do is change hats!! I do a big sneaking walk, and so far it's gotten a big laugh every night. (Pretty sure that's just because the viking helmet is so stinking funny.) As soon as I get some pics, I'll post them!

It's been a wild ride. Lots of work, but fun too. I've decided that as stressful as directing can be... I think I do a much better job being backstage! Next year they've asked me and Steve to be the directors... I feel pretty good about that.

Wordless Wednesday

Play practice and practice and practice...

The other half of our summer... rehearsals!!! Every night... 7 to 10, plus Saturday mornings... we are at the auditorium... practice, practice, practice!! Opening night is about 2 weeks away and this is CRUNCH time! After 20 years of being a Drama teacher, I am used to being on the director side of things... me being ON stage is a very different feeling! Usually my stress gets less as the show gets closer because the performers take over... this time, the closer August 21st looms, the bigger the knot in my gut gets! (That's Kaila hanging on Gaston's leg...)

We've got 4 kids plus Mom and Dad in the show. (Sierra isn't playing with us because she is too swamped with high school drill team.) Here we are getting notes from the director.

Steve is cracking up the cast constantly with his portrayal of Gaston. (Kaila at the very top of the chair.)


Kaila is one of the "Silly Girls" who idolizes Gaston. (This is funny to watch because she can't quite hide the fact that it's really just her DAD... ick) I was SO glad to snap this pic! All the SGs take their turn squeezing the biceps, for just a breif second and I was able to get Kaila's squeeze! Nice Guns DAD!

Mom, Jada, Necia & Erika are all playing enchanted objects in the Beast's castle. Jada is the dancing rug... and when she put on her old magic carpet costume and did her dance AS a rug, all the members of the cast and crew actually cheered. She's VERY good at making the rug look like it's alive.

Necia gets to be a plate, (notice Lumiere next to her...)

And doing the plate dance...

Erika is a sugar spoon! (pink shirt, standing) She knows every word to every song! (Wish I did... I have a 4 line solo and I'm still screwing up the words!!) Look at her just singing away!

As of today, we are STILL waiting for our costumes...scary because we have no idea how it's going to be to move in these things. At least I get to wear this ADORABLE viking helmet! (What a flattering photo, eh?)

I'm supposed to be wearing a big box, to make me look like a Wardrobe, and I'm pretty nervous about getting up and down the castle stairs in it. Hopefully someone will get good video footage of the inevitable tumble! (Just kidding, just kidding... knock on wood!) I'm going to have to bribe Natalie to come get some GOOD pics of everyone in costume at our final dress rehearsal in a couple of weeks... then I can post the final results! In the meantime... some of my personal favorites from rehearsals...

Gee Kaila, how do you REALLY feel about Gaston?


Dig the reactions of the guys around the bar... hee hee!


Now those are a couple of cute kids! Must have great genetics! (Hey Necia... Look at the camera!)

Wordless Wednesday

Swimmin' Summer

We've spent half our summer at play rehearsal, and the other half at the pool.

Mom, Kaila & Sierra have been teaching swim lessons, Kaila & Sierra are lifeguards almost EVERY day, and three of the girls, Kaila, Jada and Necia are on the Spanish Fork swim team. This video shows highlights of one of the meets. This was held at our local pool, so those of you in distant parts can see where we have spent the past 2 months. (Be patient through the narration part at the beginning... it eventually gets to the swimming.)



Play I-Spy-A-Poulsen at the following points:

:52 - Jada is the left face/Necia is the right face

:54 - Necia is the girl on the far left walking to the lanes

1:48 - Jada ending her race and checking her time

2:03 - Far swimmer is Necia, adjusting her pink goggles

2:25 - Jada cruising to the turn on her freestyle

2:35 - Jada in her cool striped cap on the block about to dive

3:20 - (Our favorite... ) Necia's super strong butterfly race...she got 3rd! Have you ever tried to swim butterfly? It's the toughest stroke!

Looks fun, huh? So why do we all collapse into muscle-quivering heaps at the end of a meet?

IT'S EXHAUSTING!

Tagged Twice!

So.... I've been tagged twice... once by Nat, and once by Missy! Does that mean I have to do 12 things??? (Nah... who'd even want to know that many things about me??) Here's the deal:

Here are the rules: You link back to the person who tagged you and post these rules on your blog. Share six unimportant things about yourself and tag six random people at the end of your entry. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs. Enjoy the results!

Six unimportant things about me:

6. I really, really, really don't like Chocolate!
(Yes, I know you are gasping... my mother says that means I can't be her natural child!)

5. My favorite thing to do in bed... is READ.
(Hey, when you're 41, have 5 kids and work full time... you just want to RELAX!)
New fave author: Jodi Picoult!

4. My first adventure of this summer is teaching swimming lessons.
The kids are pretty fun, (when they aren't clenched around my neck!) but the sun is a killer!
I'm as tough and brown as an old saddle!

3. Um.... This past school year was my 20th year of teaching Jr. High... and I'm still alive!

2. I would secretly love to be an archeologist. I think it would be so cool to unearth a lost civilization. (One of my life goals is to visit Pompeii.)

1. I like to listen to loud rock music when I'm cleaning! It can be old stuff or new stuff... I just like songs that make me want to get up and move! (Cleaning doesn't do that by itself!)

Hmmmm... I don't know enough people in blog world to tag... Crystal, Janet, Cynthia, Laura, Laurie & Cecily.

Tattle Tale Tuesday! The Great Frog Caper

I was just teasing Natalie when I said I would make up a "Tattle Tale Tuesday", but then I thought... Hey, why not? So today I get to "tattle" on my sister by telling a funny story about her:

When I was about 20, I moved back home from college to save money. That would have made my sister about 11 years old. Being the only two girls with 5 brothers, we always shared a bedroom. One night in the middle of the night, like 2am or so, I woke up to this weird thumping noise. At first I thought I was imagining it... Thu-bump, thu-bump. I kept trying to figure it out... a loose shutter? A stick banging in the wind? But then no, I thought it sounds SO CLOSE. So, I did what any self-respecting, scared adult would do... woke up the pre-teen for protection!! I said, "Natalie... can you hear that? What is that noise?" She woke up, and was infected by my fear. Pretty soon she was freaking out too. Then after about 5 minutes of trying to figure it out, she said... "I wonder if it's the frog."

"FROG? What Frog?!" So then she fesses up... "Well, I caught this frog, and I put him in a bucket, but I didn't want him to be lonely so he's in here." My reply, appropriately... "Get him out of here!" At this point the nervous energy in the room was quite palpable. When she went to lift the lid of the bucket, she threw the lid and tipped over bucket and SCREAMED!!! Why? "He wasn't that big when I put him in there!!!"

At this point we had a HUGE (we thought) frog loose and croaking in our bedroom. Of course he was hopping all over the place... so we did too. We were jumping from bed to bed, and screaming, and grabbing heavy objects to throw at the poor creature, until we had awakened the whole household.

All the brothers were in there, and the littler ones were just adding to the cacophony by jumping around and screaming with us, while the older ones were making it worse by sticking the frog in our faces. Eventually we heard the stomping of DAD on the stairs... and then we knew we were dead. (Did I mention I was 20?)

Truthfully, I don't remember how Mr. Froggy got out of the room... I do know we all settled back down, but of course all I could hear were the sniffles in the other bed. I don't know if she was still scared, or upset about Dad getting mad. But in reality... I think she was bummed that we got rid of her pet! Some pet... a frog that quadruples in size when you put him in a bucket!

But...that's her story and she's sticking to it! And hey... feel free to comment to Natalie about this event... HERE.

Memory Tag! (What was I supposed to call it?)

Okay, Missy and Nat started this one...

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! You do not have to have met me in person as I have barely met any of you.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. Bring it on!!

SUMMER SOLSTICE... aka LDOY!

That's "Longest Day Of the Year" for those who do not speak "Helen"! This has gotta be one of my favorite traditions... an outdoor celebration of the day that the sun spends the most time in the sky! (Yes, the Pagan roots would date back to Midsummer's Eve... but we'll just Helen it up and call it LDOY!) We had a somewhat incomplete LDOY, as the big girls were all working/busy... and Steve stayed home to take care of Erika, who was sick. (Please not crypto, please not crypto, please not crypto!) So it was just me and Necia!

And since my camera is currently battery-less... I have no pics to share! But Nat's blog has lots!

Jada was torn between friends and the LDOY party. In order to be "pc" with the friends and not leave anyone out, she decided to miss Grandma's party. The next day the girls all felt bummed as we reminisced some of the LDOYs from their younger years.

Back in the day of the drive-in movie (all our local theaters are gone now) we would spend LDOY piled into the backs of our cars with the kids watching a movie. The girls and I were talking about the most memorable one... "Lion King". Good times!


The most memorable thing about this one was... the mosquitos, ICK!

We got ATTACKED! No seriously... if my camera was working, I would post the PROOF -- Erika helped me count today, and I have (Scout's honor!) 47 bites on my legs! Ah well... it's all good on the LDOY! The sad part... now the days get shorter... waaah! :(

Father's Day Fun in Fairview

We spent Father's Day weekend with the WHOLE Fam-Dam at a great little cabin resort in Fairview. This will probably be our one-and-only full family trip of the summer and it was a fun one. It was very laid-back and low key. The kids had fun and the grown-ups just got to chill and relax... and for once EVERYONE was there. COUSIN-PALOOZA!

Highlights of the event:

Watching "Ella Enchanted" and the group sing-along of "Can Anybody Find Me...Somebody to Love?" Jada wanted everyone to remember that this was a QUEEN song first!

Relaxing on the porch with Grandma and Grandpa.

The FOOD of course! Let's not forget who we're talking about here!

Swimming!!! (I am mighty swimmer-boy!)

Memo to Me: Little brothers will ALWAYS provide mocking opportunities!

Happy Birthday to Scott!!! 2 years old!!

(Adorable son of Swimmer Boy!)

And everyone's favorite... Uncle Jesse's trick computer mouse that shocked the crap out of anyone who touched it!

It was a weekend of full tummies, sunburns & just tons of fun for everyone!

Yee-Owch!!!!!

Yes, that is a picture of MY feet, bound in compression straps, resting on ice packs and elevated on a pillow. That has been my view ALL DAY! The latest in the saga of the plantar fascitis which plagues me constantly!

I had steroid injections yesterday which were supposed to be a pain RELIEVING attempt. Did great all day yesterday. Even went to lunch and did a little anticipatory baby shopping with Crystal. Then this morning I woke up with hugely swollen feet and so much pain that I was asking for a hacksaw to just remove both feet at the ankle!!! I finally got ahold of the receptionist at the orthopedist, and she very blithely announced, "Oh, yes, there can be some pain for 3 or 4 days." THREE or FOUR DAYS!!!! I want you all to know that I asked the PA who did the injections (never even SAW my doctor) specifically what I should expect and he just sent me on my way saying... "That's it. Come back in two weeks and we'll see if you have any more hot spots." GRRRRRR..... No word from the doc or the assistant.... no return call.

So, I called my physical therapist, who I really like, and he was awesome. He actually called me right back, between patients, told me all about possible side-effects to the kenalog, prescribed the elevation and icing, and then (MY HERO) called the orthopedist himself to let him know that there was a real problem here. The PT arranged for Steve to run to the orthopedic office (ALSO MY HERO) and get these compression straps which support the arch, control the swelling and keep the medicine at the back of the foot where it was supposed to be. (He told me, btw, that per his request, I was supposed to have gotten those straps when I went in yesterday. Neither of us is too thrilled with Mr. Hot-Shot Orthopedist right now.)

With that, and a little Lortab, I was able to survive the day. Now that, ladies, will tell you a lot. I HATE pain meds. They make me groggy and weird, but today, it was a necessary evil! After a trip to the bathroom that resulted in tears (big baby!) my husband showed up with one pill and a glass of water and said "No arguing. Take it!"

And now, here I am, lying in bed, missing rehearsal and wondering how in the heck I'm gonna have my family ready to head to the cabin tonight for our Father's Day adventure. I was supposed to get my groceries today... hmmm... hard to do when you can't even stand!!!!Thanks for letting me whine to you. And p.s. Crystal.... there, I do too have a picture of me on my blog! :)

Sierra's New Do!

After a few years of being a dark brown brunette, Sierra has decided to go back to being blonde! YAY! She was the most adorable little blonde kid, and then her hair darkened as she got older.

She had to dye it very dark for her role in CATS a couple of years ago, and it has stayed dark ever since. When she came out of the stylist, and I saw the gorgeous highlights, I felt like I was seeing my little blondie again!

When Aunt Natalie saw her she said "Oh, that's my Sierra!" Cousins Will and Garyn didn't recognize her though. Of course they weren't the only ones... even Sierra's "main squeeze" Phillip, didn't know it was her. Someone else had to point her out to him. Ha!

Here's how she looked last Christmas (with cousin Samantha).

And here's the new look!

Love it, Seece!

I guess I'm BLOGGING now!

Okay, friends!
After much pressure from the powers that be... (Nat, Crystal, Missy, Janet....) I have finally created MY OWN BLOG! Of course on this lazy June day, it seems simple enough. Check back in September once school starts and you will see.... blank space.... and hear only.... the quiet chirp of crickets!
It appears that I can only survive this life if I am involved in at least 5 different events at once. In fact, it has been proven that during downtimes, when I have **nothing** (ah, the bliss) to do, I will inevitably wind up sick. My stress appears to be what holds me together. That being said... I do really love all the crazy stuff in my life:

First and foremost: My beautiful daughters! There are 5 of them and they are the core of my life. The oldest three, Kaila, Sierra & Jada, are teenagers. Wait, let's amend that: TEENAGERS! And they have truly earned that name. They are just as busy and involved as their mom and when we're not butting heads, we're involved in the world's longest slumber party where we talk and giggle and share secrets. Okay... the head butting happens most frequently, but the other stuff is still fun! Then there is my 11 year old, Necia. She's the tomboy of the group, but with the most tender heart. She'd have every stray animal in the world if we'd let her. Her tough exterior is a thin veil for the sweetness underneath. My "baby" is Erika. She's 7, and frequently reminds me that she's "getting so big". And don't I know it! It's that bittersweet thing where you love to watch them learn and grow, but you mourn the loss of the little person they are leaving behind at the same time. In a later post I will have to share some of her hilarious literary offerings from this year. She's sweet and smart, and I'd love to keep her little forever!

They are all Daddy's girls, so the poor guy in that role is what keeps us all together and grounded. (Sometimes the teens are more "grounded" than they want to be... haha!) My husband Steve, is an incredible guy... just for being able to live with 6 women! Every once in awhile he will mutter... "I'm adift in a sea of estrogen, with no land in sight!" At which point, I have to remind him about the whole X/Y chromosome thing... and place the blame right where it belongs! :) He deals with it smartly however. He has recently completed the Hunter's Education course with Jada & Necia. They both have their own compound bows, and will be accompanying Dad on the archery hunt this year. He's a dead-shot with a bow, but you should see how those girls give him a run for his money! Even he was surprised at their skill! But then he said, "It has to be genetic!" Go DAD!


The next biggest time-taker-upper in my life is my job as a Jr. High Drama Teacher.
YUP... Jr. High. Yes, that's right, DRAMA. And as friends frequently remind me... it shouldn't be too hard a job, considering that Jr. High and Drama are pretty much synonyms! I love my other "kids" (all 200+ of them). I teach 5 different drama classes: beginning, intermediate, advanced, tech theater and Shakespeare. And when the school day is over: Drama club, Shakespeare team, the school musical, talent assemblies and department chair meetings prevail. (I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not.) And that would be why the blogging may dwindle as summer dies.

I have the FABULOUS calling of being the Primary music leader in my ward. Although I was terrified when I got the calling last summer, it has turned out to be one of my FAVORITE church jobs ever. My church kids are so much fun... and the fact that they are ages 3-11 lets me enjoy a different age group than what I do at school. The Sunbeams (3-4 year olds) crack me up as they take turns hugging my legs while I'm trying to lead the music. One funny coincidence: my Mom has the same calling in her ward, so we can share our ideas. (And most of you know my Mom, so you KNOW what those ideas might entail!)

Summer Fun:
Just because I'm sooooo bored when school is not in session... yeah right... the summer has to be filled with EVENTS of it's own. Let's see... this year... I will be teaching swim lessons in July. And our whole family (except Sierra - who is busy with Drill Team) is doing a production of "Beauty & The Beast" for a local community theater. Steve is playing "Gaston", I get to be the "Wardrobe" (yes, I know that's a singing dresser!), Kaila is a "silly girl", and Jada, Necia and Erika are all enchanted objects in the castle. Our performances are set for the two weeks preceding Labor Day, and in truth I'm kinda terrified. I've directed at least 100 shows in the past 20 years, but I haven't been IN one since high school. YIKES!


So beyond all that, we will be spending time with our extended family whenever we can. I've got the world's best parents. I feel secure in saying that my Dad is the smartest person I know, and my Mom is the funnest/funniest grandma EVER. My 5 brothers and 1 sister (Natalie!) are a huge part of the beautiful chaos of my life.

And THAT friends is me in a very large nutshell! I could keep going, telling you about the GIRLFRIENDS that help keep me centered, but we'll save that for another post. (Brevity in writing is NOT one of my skills! Sorry about that!) It's either a novel or nothing.

So...Welcome to the DRAMA!