Fancy Footwork

It is recital time again for Malia. She is still enjoying dance lessons and while I still think that tap comes easier to her, she enjoys tap and ballet and is doing well in both. However, she always looks so serious during recital time. All the concentration comes out on her face and she forgets to smile! But that’s ok. She is having a good time. And one of the highlights for dance this year? Her ballet costume has flip sequins, which are all the rage with the younger set right now.

Seasonal Eats-Part II (Plus a Bonus)

I love fun food. Halloween always has some themed food fun, and I also really enjoy tossing some festive eats into our Christmas activity advent. Todays’ activity was making Grinch kabobs. Malia was the only one who was interested in assembling the kabobs, but everyone enjoyed eating them.

My other activity for today was crafting a Christmas present for Daniel. He is currently a senior in high school which means that this Christmas is the last one where we can know with any certainty exactly where he will be. I wanted to give him a little something that he can take wherever he goes, something that will remind him of home. Being the total spaz that I am, I decided on something a bit less conventional, something that is a reflection of our family traditions. I made him a Christmas tree ornament…shaped like an eyeball. A giant eyeball is one of those random family funnies that has been around since Nathan was tiny. I made multiple eyeballs so that each of my children can have a somewhat gruesome reminder of who they are and where they came from when they leave our humble home. Hopefully whomever they choose to marry will have a slightly twisted sense of humor so they don’t freak out about having an eyeball on the Christmas tree!

I can’t wait for the big reveal!

Christmas Chemistry

Today’s activity was making slime. It was made festive by using red glitter glue and a drop of peppermint extract for aroma. Malia had a lovely time playing with it. She’s definitely all girl though, molding a boy and a girl who are in love. That is a first for me. The boys never really made pictures with their slime. They just squished it, tossed it, made it ooze, etc. So girly, glittery slime. Fun times for my little lady.

Big News!

There was some big news from the church today. It was announced that all 11-year-olds turning twelve in the next year will advance to their new quorums and classes on January 1. In conjunction with that, this same group of kids will be able to receive and do baptisms at the temple also starting January 1. This is big for the church as a whole, but it is enormous at our house. Matthew is eleven and is already counting down to his twelfth birthday. He decided months ago that he doesn’t want a birthday party with friends this year. Instead, he wants to invite all his siblings and cousins who are old enough to go to the temple together. After reading the media release myself, I made Matthew sit down with the iPad and read it as well. Guess how he responded? With enormous excitement and enthusiasm, of course!

Nathan is also super excited. He is mentally older than most the boys his age, has been since he was about nine. Today’s announcement means he will advance to the Priests quorum six months sooner and he is thrilled about the chance to move up to join the older young men sooner. Malia will start attending activity days in January and while she has absolutely no idea what that means (I really don’t either, having only boys ahead of her), she is excited for the new year.

There have been a lot of changes in the church over the past few months. To me, it feels like we are all being stepped up in preparation to live a higher law. The church is always growing, changing, and the rapidity of the recent changes makes me feel like we’re being prepared for whatever is to come. I know we are living in the last days and feel like all this is meant to strengthen and buoy up my family (and myself, or course) for the future. This is an exciting time to be alive, occasionally nerve wracking as well, but very exciting.

Legal Adult

As of last Monday, I am the parent of a legal adult. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I mean, inside my brain I still feel the same way I did at twenty-five (although I would hope I’m wiser now that I was then). So how can I have a child that old? Nevertheless, it’s a fact. Daniel has hit eighteen. Last week Monday, I got the first of what will probably be quite a few notifications that I can no longer manage his healthcare information without his consent. He gave his consent, of course, but from here on out, there will be a lot to learn for him as well as for Kevin and I. Our goal as parents has always been to raise capable, self-sufficient human beings and in the next couple of years, we’ll see if we have successfully attained that goal. If nothing else, I’m pretty sure Daniel wouldn’t starve to death or die of the plague, so here’s hoping. 😉

With age comes ease in planning a birthday party and for Daniel’s shindig this year, all I had to do was provide food. I bought pizza and ice cream, talked Daniel through making brownies, then made new brownies when we realized this is one of the few recipes I’ve encountered that totally bombs when made with egg replacer and that some serious cooking chemistry needed to happen (my subsequent experiment in egg-free brownies turned out pretty well). He took care of everything else, even most of the clean-up.

We sang to him at my parents’ house last Sunday and even that was nearly prep free. He felt no need to have a fancy decorated cake and chose one based on flavor-the Swedish swirl cake has been one of his favorites for years.

I’m very grateful that our experimental child (Isn’t the first one always the guinea pig?) is turning out so well. He has learned, and is still learning, many skills that he will need as he steps out into the world on his own. He is beginning to make plans for the future and has, in fact, already been accepted to and received an academic scholarship for his first-choice university. He has worked hard in school and that is paying off for him now. I’m equal parts excited and anxious about what the next few years will bring for Daniel. He is also equal parts excited and anxious, as well he should be. This marks the beginning of a season of change for all of us and hopefully he will still want to counsel with and include us in his future life plans. Ready or not, here comes adulthood.

Second Party of the Year

Apparently, it has become a known fact that Daniel and Nathan are very musically inclined. Not only are they both participating in the Christmas sacrament meeting in multiple capacities, but they were asked to perform for the ward Christmas party as well. This year the party was a breakfast with a short program at the end during which Daniel and Nathan played a couple of numbers. They were happy to give their time, Daniel just had to rush out afterward to make it to a band event.

Malia was thrilled to be able to have a tete-a-tete with Santa during the party. She is fully aware that there is no possible way that he is giving her a horse for Christmas, but she had to toss in the request anyway. She had several other things on her wish list, things that are probably more likely to show up in her stocking. We’ll have to wait and see what Santa decides to bring!

After moving from Murray, the infrequency of ward parties out here has been a change. The Christmas party and the July block party are the only two parties the ward has each year. I kind of miss the camaraderie and sense of belonging the more frequent parties fostered, but I think my kids enjoy the parties and hopefully they will have fond memories of these ward events like I do of the frequent gatherings I attended growing up.

Luck of the Draw

Today was the yearly geography bee at the elementary school. After winning last year, Matthew studied hard and was intent on doing well again. However, sometimes the outcome of these things completely depends on which questions you get asked. As I watched Matthew, I could tell me knew the answers to most of the questions the other kids were asked. Unfortunately, when his turn rolled around, the questions presented had him completely stumped. He was eliminated after about three rounds.

He was enormously disappointed. I don’t blame him. It’s never easy to perform poorly when you feel you have prepared well, and it’s even harder when it all comes down to simple luck…or lack thereof. We stopped at Smith’s on our way home so he could do some emotional eating. While I don’t condone eating your feelings all the time, sometimes a big dish of (dairy free) ice cream is just what the doctor ordered.

Seasonal Eats-Part I

This is the time of year when I pull out our Christmas activity advent to keep the younger kids entertained while they are off track. Matthew is not all that excited about it this year, saying he might participate in some of the activities if he feels like it, but I’m pretty sure he will right in the thick of things when food is involved. And today was our inaugural food activity for the month: Christmas tree pancake stacks. Yum!