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.