Horses are Not Hypoallergenic

At the beginning of June, we will be going to Island Park, ID/Yellowstone Park area for a family vacation. One of the experience gifts we gave the kids for Christmas was a horseback riding excursion during our vacation. Malia is super, duper excited about this one. You might remember that she asked Santa for a horse for Christmas. He didn’t bring one (thankfully!) but going horseback riding seems to be a reasonable substitution.

Malia had her annual appointment with the allergist yesterday (Another new one-I already feel far better about her than the one we met with last year. We’ll probably continue to see her.) and since Malia is allergic to dogs and cats, I had the thought that maybe we’d better see where she stands horse allergy wise. Unfortunately, she is allergic to horses. The doc, however, did not advise that she skip horseback riding. She simply gave us some tips on how to keep reactions to a minimum and keep Malia comfortable and happy while we are riding. One of those suggestions was to wear some simple, lightweight gloves to keep horse to skin contact at a minimum. Malia latched onto that idea, more so than to the antihistamines and eye drops.

This morning Malia asked me if they would give her a helmet to ride a horse. I told her that a helmet wasn’t necessary and that they would not provide one…and then I had to laugh for a bit. This evening I happened to come across a picture Malia had drawn and left on the table.

As you can see, Malia has made a rendition of herself ready to ride, helmet and gloves included. She’s definitely not letting the whole allergy thing interfere with her plans!

Varied Motivations

Having Matthew gave Kevin someone who goes to ball games because he thinks sports are cool. Having Malia gave him someone who goes to ball games because she thinks cheerleaders are cool. 😊

It Was “Wicked!”

Last night was the long-awaited night. It was time to see “Wicked.” Nathan has seen several Broadway shows before, but this was a first for Daniel and Matthew. The boys were jovial at dinner, excited pre-show, and well satisfied afterward. I most definitely enjoyed the show as well, but honestly, a big part of my enjoyment was seeing the reactions of the boys. Each of them was intrigued by different elements of the performance and noticed different things. Daniel was very attentive to the pit and paid attention to how many instrumentalists there were, what instruments were included, When the clarinet had a fantastic musical line, etc. Nathan was geeking out about the technology including lighting, props, sets and special effects. Matthew was completely lost in the story and on several occasions, I nearly laughed out loud at his reactions when the story took an unexpected twist. All came away feeling it was time well spent.

These experience gifts have been such a great thing for our family. I look forward to them nearly as much as the kids do. Being able to spend time together taking advantage of the many varied performances, exhibits and activities that life has to offer has been wonderful. I look forward to many more years experiencing life in all its variety!

(And yes, I know this particular title proves I’m a child of the ‘80’s. 😉)

Anticipation

Tomorrow is a big night for us. It is our evening to see “Wicked.” As such, we are planning to go out to a fancy dinner before the show. Because dinner and a show is how it goes, right? Anyway, Matthew doesn’t get to really participate in that due to all his allergies and will have to bring his own dinner. But it’s still a big night so we took some time today to make some super fancy, allergy friendly tarts for dessert. And they are all his.

Don’t they look delicious?

A Music Themed Birthday

Matthew’s birthday was last week Saturday. He has been looking forward to twelve, but most of the stuff he was really looking forward to occurred last month due to the church’s change in advancement policies. Nevertheless, twelve is still a pretty big birthday. For this birthday, Kevin’s parents jumped on the experience gift bandwagon. They took him to an archery range and let him shoot a bunch of arrows. Matthew had a great time and was so proud of his bullseye!

Present giving happened post archery. The big-ticket item was a brand-new trumpet. He decided he wanted to play trumpet about five years ago and his interest in playing has not waned in that time. Due to his numerous allergies, playing a used instrument is a source of stress for him so for that reason (and a few others), we opted for a new one. We had always planned to get him one in time for seventh grade band but pushed up our timeline a little bit. He was thrilled…and so grateful. That is one of the many wonderful things about Matthew. He is always so thankful for everything that it is easy to do things for him. I think people are more willing to go out of their way for someone who they know will appreciate it and Matthew always does. He never takes those things for granted.

Daniel and Nathan both opted to go with the big gift theme and got him presents to go with his trumpet. Nathan gave him the beginning band book our middle school uses and Daniel asked around and gave him the contact info for a fellow high school student who teaches trumpet lessons. By the end of the day, Matthew had used the fingering chart in the back of the book and could play a scale. Daniel told us that it took some kids all of the first semester of beginning band to get that far. Not bad at all for a beginner! (Malia broke the trend and gave Matthew a wireless mouse to use with the laptop. Matthew hates the track pad.)

Yesterday was Matthew’s birthday celebration at my parents’ house. We sang and ate cake. Nothing too crazy there. It seems the older the kids get, the calmer the birthdays become. Matthew didn’t even have a party with friends this year. All he wants to do is have a big cousins’ day at the temple followed by lunch. Due to all the crazy schedules, we don’t have that on the calendar yet, but we’ll get there. I think it’s amazing that a temple trip is really, honestly what he wants. This kid definitely has his priorities in the right place.

I’m so glad Matthew is in our family. By the time he came along, Kevin and I had gotten very serious. The pressures of life and parenting can do that to you. When Matthew joined our family, he taught us to laugh again. Whenever I need a good chuckle, all I need to do is read the blog book from his toddler days. There were many times when I would play the stern mama, doling out the punishments and life lessons, and then go into another room and laugh. Even now, remembering all his antics can cheer me up like nothing else can. I get a bit nostalgic remembering his Ironman phase, when he wore his costume every day for two years and rode his bike around the neighborhood pretending to be the “man in a can.” Ironman is my favorite Avenger and I’m pretty sure it isn’t just because of his cool suit. The Lightning McQueen phase was fun too. Occasionally I will still find one of the tiny cars hidden somewhere in the house. It’s great having a blue-blooded BYU fan in the house. Kevin loves having someone who will watch football with him. Our home would definitely not be the same without Matthew in it.

 

The Hills Are Sort of Alive

Closing night for the musical at the high school was last night. Nathan was Uncle Max and the show was…okay? There has been a definite lack of focus and an enormous amount of time wasted at rehearsals and it showed. Nathan was pretty frustrated throughout the whole adventure. I had to keep reminding him that next year will be totally different, new high school opening at all. Overall, Nathan is glad it’s over. He loves the whole performance high, but this has not been a great experience for him.

On the other hand, Daniel quite enjoyed his time in the pit orchestra (other than his complaints that the pit smelled like popcorn and butt…) and the orchestra was probably the strongest part of the show. Although the strings were slow to come up to the rehearsal and performance standards of the band director (who was in charge of the pit this year), it all came together in the end.

So as with all things, there pros and cons of this year’s musical. In spite of that, Nathan did get to know some new people and did a great job in his part. He was one of the only people who could be heard when the microphones cut out…

All That Jazz

For the past two years, the Jazz Band at our high school has done a “speakeasy” near the end of the school year. It is one of their fundraisers. They prepare a big set of music, have a space set aside for dancing, and refreshments available to purchase. It was fairly small the first year, but attendance was up last year. This year the band boosters decided to turn the speakeasy into a full-blown dinner/dance fundraiser held on Valentine’s Day. To be completely honest, I was very skeptical about how the whole thing was going to turn out. Last year a ticket to the speakeasy was $7. This year a ticket to the Jazz Gala was $70 a couple. The enormous increase in price made me certain that attendance would be way down as the price put it out of the budget of most of the high school kids. However, it was marketed mainly to adults and I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout. Kevin and I decided we should go (despite our sticker shock) since this is Daniel’s senior year and would be the last time he participated. They had dinner, dancing, a mock-tail bar, and a silent auction. There were quite a few sizeable donations for the auction and more people in attendance than I though there would be. Although they had a rough practice in school that morning (Daniel was certain things were not going to go well based on that practice), the music was great. The kids gave their all and it showed. You could see in their faces, and on the face of the band teacher, that they were all really pleased with their performance.

I’m so proud of how hard Daniel has worked over the past years. He is one of those kids that loves to practice. He will practice until 1) we tell him to stop or 2) his face hurts, whichever comes first. He can play seven different instruments and had most of those on hand this evening. Not only has he increased a lot in skill, his musicality has grown by jumps and bounds. And the joy he finds in the music is obvious to all. I’m glad we decided to go and I feel it was time well spent. I’m grateful that attendance was good and hope that translates into some sizeable funds raised for the kids. And I hope that no matter where he ends up, Daniel will never forget the joy that music brings to his life and will continue to make time for it.

A Little Shower Music

Our house is awash in music. With so many musicians who have so many musical preferences, we have a little bit of everything. Every single one of us has a mental soundtrack that accompanies our life. At least once a day, I’m compelled to tell one of my offspring that their soundtrack is leaking out and interfering with my soundtrack. As such, it is not unexpected that there are often impromptu concerts that occur in the shower. This evening, Malia was the featured bathroom soloist. As the water ran, I heard her belting out “The Queen of the Night Aria.” Then she moved on to “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” She rounded out her set with “Rock Around the Clock.”

It was a well programmed performance. She started with the serious stuff and ended with the fun number. And it made me laugh!