Boys' night out

A couple of weeks ago our ward held their annual Fathers & Sons camp out. 

John was going to be in town and the boys were very excited.  They even wanted me to pull them out of school early so they could get up to the campsite early.

No such luck.  John got roped into a last minute Very Important Meeting.  He wouldn't be home until at least 5 pm.

Nick dutifully stuffed all the sleeping bags into their little sacks, and located much of the camping equipment.  I ran to the grocery store for the must have items like marshmallows and chocolate bars.

Then I got a call from John.  He was on his way home but totally exhausted.  He'd had a terrible night's sleep, actually fell asleep in his Very Important Meeting, and would I mind so much staying on the phone with him to keep him awake on his drive home?

Suddenly sending them off on a trip where John would have to drive 2-3 hours only to pitch a tent in the dark and sleep on the ground didn't sound like such a good idea.

So we up with a plan B.

John knew it would not as fun as camping.  But under the circumstances it was the best he could do.  There wouldn't be any fires or tents or friends, but there would be a pool and whatever they wanted to eat for dinner.

John took the boys to a hotel. (Marriott of course)

They swam their little hearts out,

Christopher got McDonald's, Zach got In 'n Out, and John introduced Nick to Chino Bandito (a hybrid Mexican-Chinese place).  

And for breakfast they had waffles and eggs and bacon and all sorts of good stuff.

He even let them jump on the beds.

He was still worried about having disappointed the boys, until he found this little note (from Zach) left on his suitcase the next morning.  (after a good night's sleep in a real bed)

The only downside to the whole thing is that now Christopher has realized we don't have to go out of town to stay at a hotel.  We have talked about it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. SINCE.  "Mommy and Daddy and Nick and Maddie and Zach and Christopher go hotel. Number 207." (the room number they stayed in.)  I'm praying John gets a job in southern California for a few days so we can all tag along and then maybe (but probably not- it will most likely fuel the fire) Christopher will stop asking to go to a hotel.

music

With three kids involved in music in one way or another, May is very busy with concerts and recitals.  Everybody has their End Of Year performances, and there were times this month where it got a little hairy.  One weekend I made John rent a car, just so we could divide and conquer.

Zach had a school music performance.  He doesn't play in the orchestra or band yet (he wants to play the trumpet next year) but they had a little 4th grade musical production.  The theme was about art and artists , so that's what the crazy shirts are all about. He said they "Pollocked" them.  (Referring to the artist Jackson Pollock)

He and Madison also took the ASP test at ASU earlier this month.  While they both rocked the theory test (98%) their overall scores weren't much to brag about.  And they both had a piano recital at their beloved piano teacher's house.  Somehow I neglected to take any pictures of either event.

Besides piano, Madison participated in the orchestra version of the ASP testing - ASTA-CAPS. (don't ask me what that stands for - Arizona String something something something. )  She did fine on that as well.  Again, not super, but I think next year they will rock all the tests. :)

Madison also had her school orchestra concert and an EVYS concert and a viola recital at her viola teacher's house.

Nick only had his school concert as he had been spending so much time the past couple of months working on the music for Cinderella.  There wasn't much time for anything else.

However, the school concert was a bit of a highlight for me.

In years past, Nick didn't have a lot of friends in his orchestra classes.  He didn't seem to mesh well with the other kids.  I think that generally, stereotypically speaking, the kinds of kids who are attracted to orchestra are a little more uptight and snobbish than say kids who might be attracted to band.   And in years past, Nick seemed to have to deal with these kinds of kids a lot.  (the uptight, snobbish kind)

But something changed this year.  I don't know what.  Maybe Nick matured a little bit, maybe the other kids mellowed out a little bit, or some combination thereof, but this year has been different.  He has lots of friends in there who accept him for who he is (and isn't that we all want?)

Anyway, at the concert they gave out three awards to each group- concert, chamber, and symphony. One of the awards was "Most Improved" and there was another award, and both of those were chosen by the teacher.  But then there was the third award that was voted on by the students.  It's the "Coyote Spirit" award.  It goes to the kid with the most enthusiasm in all things orchestra.  Guess which mother nearly cried when she heard her son's name called out and she watched him walk across the stage to receive his plaque?

And then come to find out, he had been campaigning all along for one of his best friends to win.  Loren is moving to Colorado this summer, and Nick wanted Loren to win the award because he figured he had three more years to win something, he didn't need it this year.   He actually felt bad he won. Of course on the other hand, Loren was equally vocal in encouraging other kids to vote for Nick.

 It's fun to watch my kids learn and grow and progress and perform, but man am I glad it's over.  (for a little while at least)

My beautiful beanerina

May is tough.

Not quite as busy and stressful as December, but a close second.

Recitals, concerts, graduations, programs, etc. etc.

We'll start with dance. 

Maddie decided she wanted to take a few dance classes, and so I asked around, and got some good referrals to a school just down the street. 

We really like it there, it's close, the people are super nice, I thought it was reasonably priced.  Maddie took a couple of classes, and really loved them.

It was fairly painless and stress free.

Enter May.

Suddenly there are costumes to pay for, including three pairs of tights because you need to flesh colored tights under the fish net stockings, and apparently at the beginning of the year I bought the wrong shoes and she needed the right ones for the recital, so I informed her she would be taking jazz next year as well, and bought shoes slightly bigger than what she currently wears.

Besides the actual recital itself, there was a dress rehearsal and a picture day.

Picture day was it's own mess, mostly because of everything else I had going on, and she was supposed to have her hair french braided and I can't french braid.  (I blame it on being the only girl with three brothers. I had no one to practice on. )  It all worked out, but I was a little stressed.  For starters it was a half day and there was a big end of school year block party we would be attending right after school.  One of my friends organized a big shin dig complete with a bouncy water slide and snow cone machine.  I wasn't able to stick around for much of it, because Nick and Maddie also had viola lessons, and Nick had a birthday party.  I let Maddie play at the neighborhood water party for exactly 45 minutes before rushing her home to change and then to a friend's house because she offered to do Maddie's hair. The hair turned out great,

but the pictures took forever, (there were several groups of little girls in front of us who must not have been so cooperative) and then it started to rain. Torrential Rain. And my house was locked cause I left Zach and Christopher at the park, relying on the mercy of my neighbors, and ended up running home just to open the house for them. 

The recital itself went well, but it was super long.

Maddie was in two different dances, the first was ballet and the second was jazz.  Unfortunately we don't have any pics of her in her jazz costume.  We didn't love the jazz costume so much, but we do love the ballet one.  The jazz one is a hot pink super short number (she wore the fish nets with this one).  Later that night she came home, looking disheveled with her hair a mess, (we had just taken out the bobby pins and french braid) and her make-up was smudged and smeared.  I thought she looked like she had been out partying a little too hard all night at some dance club or something.  We mentioned that if that were the case, she'd be grounded for the next 10 years.  (I doubt that I will ever have to worry at all with this girl, but I thought I'd put it out there just in case)

I got a "job".

Okay, so maybe not a real job, I guess technically it's more of a volunteer thing, and only for a few days, but I do get paid. 

Just not actual money.

I get paid in books, which is sorta like money in my pocket cause I like to buy books.  (that little amazon app on my phone sees it's fair share of use.)

A bunch of ladies I know and I are "working" at the scholastic warehouse clear across town.  This is Rosie- 

She's one of my friends I got to work with. I made her pose for me because I knew I wanted to blog about this, and I do agree (although I don't always follow this advice) that blog posts with pictures are better.  And without her pretty face to brighten up the picture all I'd have is a picture of orange warehouse shelves and brown boxes and stacks of books. 

It's not bad.  I actually really enjoy it.  It's a nice change of pace from the usual around here, plus, I like hanging out in bookstores, the work is fairly easy, and I'm usually working with a couple of friends so it is a pretty sweet deal I got going on. 

I do stuff like putting books on shelves or scanning books. Easy. The other day though I was the greeter except it was a super slow day, and they don't mind if you read on the job (especially when you are the greeter), so I figured I probably made $50 just to sit and read.  Seriously.

And on a side note, I have the dubious honor of being the very first person ever to injure themselves at this warehouse.  I somehow gave myself a nasty box cut or something and was bleeding pretty good. 

I got to break in the first aid kit.  I know I was the first cause the manager told me so.  One of his comments to me was "Now I'm not saying you are 'short-bus special', but..."  (of course this surprises no one who knows me well at all)

Cinderella

Nick woke up Sunday morning at nine am, which seriously might be a record for him.  He is definitely a morning person.  After getting a solid 8+ hours of sleep (he didn't get home until midnight because of a cast party), he couldn't understand why he was just "so tired".   After all, it was the best night's sleep he's had in weeks.

I told him it was my theory that he'd been so dang busy these past couple weeks, at the school rehearsing until after 8 every night, then home to do homework after whatever other obligations he had, that his brain knew that rest wasn't possible until after Cinderella was over.  And when Sunday came, his body knew it was Sunday and it was finally allowed to be exhausted.

I've seen that before.  When John and I were first married, John worked like a horse six days a week.  He went to school full time, (graduated magna cum laude), and put in 60+ hours of work in every single week.  Sunday was his only day off.  Somehow his body knew this, and so he was sick in bed every single Sunday.  It was as if his body was saying, "You are going to lay down and rest if I have to make you."

Despite all the hard work, the hours and hours of rehearsal, the late nights with homework (he even managed to bring up his science grade during this time), Nick had fun.  His biggest regret is they won't be doing another musical for two years. 

They did a great job.  It was really cute.  I took Maddie and Zach one night, and John and I went another.  We got the VIP tickets, they are twice as much, but it supports the programs that my kid benefits from, plus during intermission you get to go on stage, interact with the actors, and they serve you "tea" (kool-aid) and cake (Little Debbie snack cakes).

And you can pose with the props and the actors.  My kids loved it.

And just a little side story- Someone brought their cub scout troop to see the play, and the story goes that at one point (intermission I think) they were all peering down on the musicians,

 making the musicians feel like they were the animals in a cage at the zoo, and saying things like "die pit monsters, die!" and chucking cheese balls at them.  Nick started a campaign to hang up this sign,

and was finally able to do so on the last day.  He was very proud of it. The musical director for the play was the choir teacher, and he was against it, but the orchestra teacher was all for it and let him use her computer to print it out.  I'm told at least one of the older violinists were against it, but everyone who knew and loved Nick were happy for his victory.

quick trip

Last weekend we made a crazy whirlwind trip to California.  The plan was to leave Thursday, go to Disneyland on Friday, spend Saturday and most of Sunday with family, then come home Sunday evening.  Unfortunately there was just too much going on on Friday.  Nick had Cinderella rehearsals (more on that later), and our church was having a fundraiser to help pay for the various camps and activities for the year, and since we have a couple youth benefiting from said fundraiser, we felt like we should participate in that as well.  (also more on that later)

So we left ridiculously early the next morning. I believe we were on the road by 4 am.  Which amazingly enough was the time we planned on leaving, and I do believe that is a first that we that weren't at least an hour late getting on the road.

But we had a mission.  John's cousin Courtney was returning from an LDS mission to Argentina and her plane would be landing at a little after 11 am that morning.  We wanted to be there. 

Fortunately the fates were on our side, the traffic was relatively light, no major construction or accident holdups, and so we made it with time to spare.

It was a fun little family reunion.  John's sister Corrine flew in from Texas. Courtney's brother Jeff and his wife Melanie flew all the way across the country from Virginia.

Christopher was excited to see his favorite aunt Corrine.  He adores her. In fact he was pretty mad when we wouldn't leave on Friday.  We had the kids pack on Friday so we could throw the stuff in the car on Saturday, and was more than a little annoyed that he couldn't leave immediately to "Go see Corrine."

And it was so great to see Courtney.  Nothing changes you like leaving your family and everything you've ever known and traveling to a far off country for 18-24 months to teach the gospel and serve the people in the area.   In many ways she's still the same, but somehow taller, more confident, more mature, and more lovely than before.  Not that she wasn't before, just somehow more now.

We weren't able to fit in much else while we were there.  No amusement parks, no beach... But the kids did get to swim in the hotel pool while John and I napped.  (yes, Nick was promoted to "adult" status to fulfill the "adult supervision required" requirement. So sue me.)

It was a short but oh-so-sweet trip.  Hopefully John will be able to get some work in Southern California this summer and we can visit again when time isn't so much against us.

Soccer champs

Fist off, I just have to say I am annoyed blogger changed things up again.  When I logged in it sent me to a weird page and it took me a full 2 minutes just to figure out how to even view my own blog. But there was a snazzy graph showing me how many people actually see my blog, and although the numbers are few, it's enough to make me feel guilty about not blogging much these days.  "Ten whole people look at my blog every day?!?!?" Ten whole people look at my blog every day, only to see that once again, I was either too busy, too lazy, or didn't feel I had anything interesting/funny/cute/frustrating or even obnoxious to talk about. 

Sigh.  (Admittedly I have a few things in the "to blog about" file, and this is one of those from a couple weeks ago.)

So Zach just finished a soccer season here.  And by "just" I mean a couple weeks ago.  He had fun.  A friend of ours was the coach, and invited Zach to play, and he had a great time.  Life was a little busy for awhile there with a couple practices during the week and games on the weekend.  Zach might have been a little timid on the field, (but who isn't when you are not used to balls flying at your person?) but he got out there and tried.  Zach said he was sorry to see it end, and he can't wait for the fall when he can play again.   

In fact he wishes there was a summer season, but I assured him that he did not in fact wish for that, because I can't think of anything more miserable than playing soccer in the summer in Arizona.  In fact, I was so happy that this season seemed to end so early.  In years past, when Nick played soccer, (with a different organization) those last couple of games were always brutal.  I swear the powers that be purposely always gave us the 1:00 time slot on the hottest day of the season.

(two points if you can spot Christopher in this picture)

Anyway, the season is over.

The kids had fun, improved in their skills a little, won or tied a few games, but it wasn't exactly what you'd call a "winning" season.

Well, not until 15 minutes after the very last game was played that is.

Unbeknownst to us, the refs all get together after every game and exchange notes on the teams, whether the kids play dirty or not, which coaches feel the need to throw temper tantrums and scream obscenities at the referees every time a call doesn't go their way, etc.  Then at the very end they hand out special sportsmanship medals to the team (teams? probably one in every division) that they think deserves it.

Anyway, you might have guessed that our team won that this time.

Our coach got a little choked up as he was presenting the kids with these medals. 

On one end of the spectrum, you have participation trophies which, honestly I think are nice, a little warm fuzzy at the end of the season.  Win or lose, everybody gets one.  But let's be honest, whether an official score is kept, the kids know whether they won or lost.  Whether their team stank or flattened every team they came up against.  And I think winning is great as long as it doesn't come with some huge price tag (integrity, etc)  I think that's life. I think sugar coating everything is a bad idea, and recognizing that kids won or lost is a good thing. Sure, they might be sad if they lost, but hopefully that will just motivate them to try harder next time, and when they do win, it will be all the more sweeter.  But I was more than thrilled to see the sportsmanship medals.  I was happy to see kids and coaches being recognized for playing fair and behaving themselves.  Too often I have sat and wondered if instead of spending time working on actual skills, if some kids were actually being taught by adults how to play dirty, possibly hurt other kids, and get away with it.  Just a couple weeks ago, I swear one kid tried to take out another kid's knee.  Seriously.

Winning season or not, Zach and his team are champions in my book.