A Break in the Performance Schedule

In the midst of a busy Madrigal Christmas season, Nathan went to Winter Waltz last night. His group was a bunch of madrigals and they had a performance yesterday morning, so the day date portion was an afternoon spent making gingerbread houses. In terms of total time dedicated to the day date, Nathan felt like it was much more reasonable. He’s not a huge fan of the dance requiring an entire day. It didn’t occur to the girls that winter days are short and darkness falls super early, so it ended up being too dark for them to do their pictures at the planned location. Instead, they zipped over to Hobby Lobby and took advantage of a season display for their pics. Despite being crazy tired due to their performance schedule, Nathan had an enjoyable time.

"We are in a position, as musicians, to touch the souls of those who listen."--President Spencer W. Kimball

December is a busy time for everyone, and Nathan’s madrigal group is no exception. In addition to the normal Christmas concert that all school performing arts classes hold, they did performances for elementary schools, hospitals, care centers, sacrament meetings, and even a women and children’s shelter. While it has been somewhat tiring for Nathan (perform several times a day and then try to get homework done without falling asleep) he has really enjoyed it thus far. He likes the elementary school performances the best because the kids are generally so enthusiastic and so glad for the music that is shared.

Nathan also got to sing in the church office building and later this week he will sing in the assembly hall on Temple Square, so he’s been pretty excited for some of the performances.

Today the madrigals sang for our ward’s sacrament meeting. They sang multiple songs and gave a few short talks. The Spirit they brought into the meeting was amazing. I may or may not have been just a little weepy for most of the meeting. I was definitely not gushing tears or anything, but crying is what I do when I feel the Spirit. I’ve had a number of ward members comment about what an amazing job the kids did, but my most cherished comment is from a young mother of three boys (the oldest of whom is eleven). She missed the meeting because of a family event, but the meeting was all her 11-year-old could talk about all day. He told her the Spirit in the meeting was so strong and was just gushing about how wonderful it had been. She was so grateful that he had been given an opportunity to feel the Spirit like that. In my opinion, those are the best kind of compliments, the ones that come because someone’s life was touched and changed just a little bit. Music can invite the Spirit in a way nothing else can. Those madrigal kids are making more of an impact than they may realize.

All told, they will have about thirty performances this month. When I was in madrigals, we had seventy and while it was a lot of fun, by the end of the month we were all mostly dead. Hopefully thirty will leave Nathan with a little energy left over to enjoy Christmas. 😉

A Thoughtful Elf

We have an elf at our house. He came to us when Daniel and Nathan were small and has been a welcome visitor every Christmas since then. Unlike the elves that visit other families, Jingle Jangle is never naughty, just clever and entertaining. This morning he left a little treat for Malia. He even left her the wrapper so we could make sure it was safe for her to eat. She thought it was a fantastic surprise!

A Second and a First

Malia happens to be the one of our children who had to wait the longest for her experience gift from last Christmas. The experience we gave her was a trip to see The Nutcracker ballet which meant that she had to wait nearly an entire year. After a long, long wait, today was the day. We chose to ride the train rather than drive down to avoid crazy holiday traffic and the need to find a parking space. Although it took a bit longer than driving, the time was a completely acceptable trade-off for the lack of stress I felt in getting downtown. Malia can only remember riding the train once before, so the ride was a novelty for her and an exciting experience on its own.

In my opinion, live performances of any kind are a whole different beast from those watched on t.v. Being there in person is an experience that cannot be replicated, hence my love of live performances. This was Malia’s first time experiencing live ballet, so it was fun to watch her excitement. Malia’s favorite part of the ballet was The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy. I asked her a number of times to see if it would change, but it didn’t. She enjoyed the whole thing, but the Sugarplum Fairy’s token dance was the one that stood out. We had a lovely time and came home with a tiny nutcracker of our very own to add to our Christmas tree. I’ve said it before and I know I’ll say it again, but I love all these experience gifts!

Christmas Cuisine-Part I

I love themed food. And at Christmas time, there are a million options. Many of them are sugary treats, but over the years I’ve found a variety of healthy themed foods as well. Today’s activity was making cucumber Christmas trees. Matthew made a few, but Malia was really the only one heavily invested in the activity. That happens a lot around here as the boys get older. Nevertheless, it was a fun addition to dinner!

Further Musings of a Mother

Let’s talk a little bit about being the mother of a missionary at Christmas time. Thanksgiving was much easier than I thought it would be. Daniel isn’t usually in the kitchen during the mass pie baking and he was able to call on Thanksgiving, so although he wasn’t with us to eat turkey, we talked, and I felt like we got to share the holiday with him. The Christmas season thus far has been alright. Just occasionally I’ll feel a pang knowing he won’t be home with us. Matthew’s concert this week was one of those moments. But overall, I’m ok. Being able to chat with him each week via Skype really softens the fact that he isn’t here.

Last night was the ward Christmas party and although I’m in the relief society presidency and was neck deep in getting everything ready to go, our bishop and our relief society president (who just happens to be married to our bishop) kept a little tidbit from me. We currently have seven young men and women from our ward serving full time missions. One more came home just last week, and there are two more leaving in the next six weeks. That’s a lot of missionaries from one ward. They are amazing youth. The theme for our ward party was “He is the Gift,” in reference to the Savior. What I didn’t know was that the bishop emailed each of the missionaries from our ward and asked them to send a video of their thoughts concerning Christ and how he is the gift of Christmas. I didn’t know about it until suddenly, Daniel was up on the screen bearing his testimony about the Savior and all he means not just to all of us, but to Daniel personally. And so of course, I cried right there in the middle of the ward party. Why, you might ask? First of all, I’m just a huge crybaby, which we all know. Second, Daniel’s Christmas packages had gone in the mail yesterday morning and that was a bit of a reality check for me. And third, I had an enormous, crazy mix of emotions going on. I’m so incredibly proud of him, of the choice he made to serve, how hard he works and the tremendous spiritual growth I’ve already seen in him. On the flip side, his birthday was last week, and we weren’t able to celebrate with him (although there was a package sent for the occasion). And this is the first year that I won’t have all my little crew here with me to celebrate Christmas. As a mother, there are many firsts-first words, first steps, first days of school, first dates…so many joyful milestones in the lives of my children and our family. This is another first for us, but I find it much more bittersweet than many of our other firsts. This is the first year that my first child will be away for Christmas. I know there will be other many more Christmases in the future that will find us without a child or two or more, and I have no way of knowing how I’ll react to those, but this first one is hurting my heart a little. I know Daniel is where he is supposed to be and I wouldn’t want him to be anywhere else, but my mama heart aches just a bit.

So overall, I feel like I’m handling things well. I find modern technology to be a great blessing. Technology, combined with the new rule that allows missionaries to call home weekly, keeps us connected across the miles. And Daniel will be able to call on Christmas, so we’ll be able to share the day with him that way. But every once in a while, I feel a pang. I guess it goes along with the job title of “mom.”

The Right Fit

Matthew is in the beginning band at school. Although he has only had his trumpet since his birthday in February, his skill level far surpasses the majority of the kids in beginning band. Although he could easily play with one of the higher-level bands, he has opted to stay where he is because band is the only class he has with one of his best friends from elementary school. At the end of the first term of school, Matthew as invited to play in the jazz band. Jazz band meets before school every day, so it does not affect his schedule at all. Matthew jumped at the opportunity and jazz band has very quickly become his happy place.

This evening was the Christmas concert and Matthew’s first concert with both beginning band and jazz band. He didn’t have much caring for the beginning band portion of the program, but he was fully invested in the jazz band portion. His face lit up and I could tell he was having a great time. And to be honest, the jazz band was good. Not just good for a first-year middle school jazz band, but good for any school jazz band. I was really impressed! It made me a little emotional (although no tears were shed, which is like a Christmas miracle!) because Daniel would have loved it and my heart hurt just a little bit because he was not there. But other than that, I really enjoyed the concert.

I’m so glad that Matthew is finding where he fits in. It can be a hard task, especially with two older brothers forging ahead. But Matthew is doing well. He’s developing a relationship with the high school band director (who leads the before school jazz band) and that is paving the way for future school years. It’s a good thing. I’m excited to see where to music takes him!

Sweet Success #2

My RS taster’s table yielded more than one delightful recipe. A neighbor and all-around family favorite (a wonderful lady and Nathan’s very first piano teacher) brought a recipe for bon bon cookies. Matthew is a fan of maraschino cherries, so I had a feeling he would like these particular confectionary delights since there is a cherry hidden in the middle of each one. Today we tested them out and all my kiddos loved them. Ours may not look quite as perfect as the ones I sampled at relief society, but Matthew and Malia had a wonderful time decorating them. And (of course) the giant eyeball made its appearance. I guess the shape of these cookies lends itself easily to eyeballs and since I happen to have an assortment of candy eyes on hand because I think they are fun, it was bound to happen. 😉 I suspect these cookies will be making many more appearances in the future!