Leaving on a jet plane. . .

We got up bright and early like 3:30 am to get Kielle off to the airport. Aaron took her up. She is spending Spring Break at her Grandma May's house in South Carolina. I send Aaron to take the kids and he has said that it is hard to let them go. With Kielle he thought it would be OK until at the last minute she got a little teary. I told him the reason I have him take them is because they probably wouldn't end up on the plane if I took them. I'd be like" Oh you're scared? you don't want to go? That's OK come home with me." She of course has been very excited about this trip especially since Nathan came home from his trip this past summer with glowing reports and a command to go to the Georgia Aquarium. But it still is hard to be away from home, Especially at bedtime (and when Nathan went we TOTALLY forgot to pack his bear which he's had since he was only a couple months old and sleeps with every night!--not good) So we made Kielle a pillowcase with this on it to hopefully help her sleep at night:

Fablehaven

Last night at the Springville Library, Brandon Mull author of Fable Haven came to speak and sign books. We already have a signed copy that Aaron got from a conference he did with Mr. Mull about a month ago. So we have been reading Fablehaven as a family in preparation for his visit. Nathan and I have finished reading it and I am reading it to the rest of the kids at bedtime. It was a really good and magical book. The 10-year-old boy Seth drove me nuts! He kept making the stupidest decisions it was painful and frustrating knowing he was going to do what he did just knowing his personality. But I suppose that's part of what makes a good read is the ability to get emotional abut what the charaters are doing. All the kids are really enjoying hearing the story and always beg me to read one more chapter. (Of course they do this with every book) My sneaky thing I do to get Nathan interested in new books is to start reading the first 1 or 2 chapters of a book and then he has to know what happens next and takes the book to finish it that night or within the next couple of days. (Otherwise he'd still only be reading Harry Potter and Star Wars.) Aaron has yet to have the opportunity to read it. We already have the 2nd book waiting for us at Funfinity. Jimmy told Aaron he would get it signed for him since the line for autographs was SUPERHUGE! That was so nice of him to do for us. We really appreciated it. The kids (Nathan and me :) especially) are looking forward to getting Book 2 and of course we'll have to rush out and get book three when it is released on April 21, I think. The presentation was good. There were a lot of people there, we talked to his publicist (who is also his sister) afterward and she said she was expecting like 10 people to show up and there were definitely over 100 and I think I am estimating low. Mr. Mull talked about his books a little and his creative process. I think my older kids especially liked it. I spent a lot of my time trying to help Tessa & Ryan settle down they were tired and antsy.

Broken Teeth and Ginsu

"Mom, I don't know how to tell you this," Nathan begins with a look of sheer panic in his eyes. I'm trying to think of what he could have possibly broken while laying in bed, but thinking it's probably bad because he only gets this mixed look of fear and remorse when he knows he's done something really wrong. He continues,"I think I broke my tooth."
"What?"
"Don't touch it!"
"I need to look at it"
"No, it hurts so bad and I'm so scared"
"Let's have dad take a look at it." Dad is the resident doctor. Any time there is physical pain injury or illness he is responsible for the first aid--especially if there is blood involved.
So Nathan tells Aaron that he thinks he broke his tooth and is so scared. After we finally pry his jaws open, Aaron declares that his molar is loose and not only loose but hanging by a thread.
Next Nathan puts his hands togther in a prayerful position and says"Oh I am so grateful. I am so grateful. I thought the top of my tooth had cracked off!"

My kids can never be accused of not being dramatic on either end of the spectrum. I won't deny that they most likely come by it very honestly through me. 

I remember once as a teenager I was mimicking the Ginsu knife commercials on a carrot and went farther than the carrot and Ginsu'd my finger I started screaming and writhing in agony and pain because I had just sliced the tip of my thumb. I was holding my hand over it so I wouldn't have to see the gruesome reality. My dad came to see what all the commotion was about and he looked like he was getting pretty nervous himself. I wouldn't take my other hand off my thumb. After prying my hand off my thumb it was revealed that only my finger nail had been nicked. I instantly dried my tears and resumed normal behavior as though nothing had happened. My dad, on the other hand was not so calm. I had just given him a near heart attack over a broken finger nail! Ah! La Drame! Life would be so boring if we didn't have a little bit of exaggerated drama in our lives right?

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. He is serving a mission in the Geneva Switzerland mission with my mom right now. A lot of people think my dad is kind of strict (which he can be), some people are afraid of him--perhaps because he is a little bit too businesslike sometimes. So, I have to post this to show that my dad knows how to have fun and be a little silly too:To me, he's my dad and he is wonderful. He has mellowed with age and it is fun for me to watch him be the "grandpa with the candy in his pockets" so to speak. Although they are far now, it has been a treat to have my parents close by. My dad has taught me how to balance a check book and manage my money. I have learned how to take care of myself in business situations and to make sure that I get the quality I deserve from a merchant. He has taught me about integrity. And he had taught me the gospel. He has taught me to follow the prophet and to be obedient. Growing up, I always knew that my dad was aware of what interested us because he would always clip articles from magazines he was reading that dealt with topics he felt we would like and then clip them to our bedroom doors. He has always been there for me. I love you Dad! Happy birthday!

Get Munk'd

At Christmas-time, Grandma May took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks--which I'm really glad about because although I love Alvin and the Chipmunks, I'm afraid the updated 2007 version would annoy me.  I loved the cartoons. The kids LOVED this movie.   Today I pulled them out of school a half hour early to see the chipmunks "LIVE"--it was a free half hour concert at the mall to promote the new DVD.  I totally surprised them.  They had no idea what we were doing.  The Chipmunks sang about 5 or 6 songs and then the kids could either stand in a REALLY long line to get a photo with one of the chipmunks or stand in a non-existent line and take a photo in front of a green screen and be put in a photo with the chipmunks.  Guess which ones my kids chose.  I am SOO glad that they don't like long lines either!  It was a lot of fun.  They have thanked me over and over.  Yeah I totally Rock!  Today, I'm a good mom!  Of course I'd be a better mom if I let them buy the DVD but I couldn't handle that OVER and OVER--maybe we'll rent it--once.

Ada was wearing a green shirt that was the same color as the green screen so it disppears. They offered to fill it in for her, but she liked the way it looks. It actually does look pretty cool.

Mother Mary

More music!  I have been trying to get this song for a while but haven't been able to find it for purchase.  It is called "Mother Mary" by Foxboro Hot Tubs (which is really Green Day)  Any way it is a really fun peppy song and you too can download it for free for a limited time. (honestly--I'm not sure how long it will be free.)  Good luck and good listening.

Better Than Wine

For some reason, I've got music on my mind lately. Before Aaron and I were formally engaged, I made him a couple of mixes on tapes. Which are in peril of becoming relics because cassette tapes are, like, soooo 20th century! So I have been in the process of compiling the songs so I can have a full playlist on iTunes and burn them to a CD. This is my cover art to one of the tapes entitled "Better Than Wine."

The problem I am having now is finding some of my more obscure songs:
"Just give me tonight" & "Insight Out" by:Ali Ali Oxen Free--I have fond memories of listening to this song in intimate settings in Provo. I still have the tape but don't have the equipment to transform it to MP3 format. I think that Ryan Shupe (of ". . .and theRubberband") fame was a member of Ali Ali Oxen Free. Maybe I can track HIM down and he can get me a copy!  Someone I work with says he thinks he can hook me up. Cross my fingers!

"Dreamin" by:Pow Wow--I was introduced to this music on my mission. My companion and I would listen to this hours on end. We were stuck in the apartment due to illness and this music was so soothing to listen to. It is available from iTunes France but they won't let me download it. I'll have to resort to other devices!

"Hodja" by:Vocal Point--OK, It's embarrassing to admit what an ENORMOUS Vocal Point groupie I was. My room mate Ximen and I were groupies of the original Vocal Point with Bob Ahlander and Dave Boyce! We had such crushes on them and went to every concert that had and would shout "Don't Stop" in the middle of this song. We would dream about our lives with Dave and Bob--pathetic! Flash Forward to being married and in the Provo 8th ward. Bob and I ended up being not only in the same ward, but on the COOLEST activities committee EVER! Of course by then the whole crush thing was over, and I never even brought up Vocal Point for fear that he would recognize me as the groupie who would hang out near him and even talk to other members of the group (Lowell Stewart from my home ward in Chicago was a member of VP.) So we would talk to Lowell and be too shy to talk to Bob. Hmm. . .maybe since I actually have talked to and even worked with Bob, I could get a copy of Hodja from him. That might work.

"La Belle Notte" from Lady and the Tramp. I know you're probably thinking what is so obscure about THAT song? Well, I am looking for the French version. So It has been a little trickier.

"When I first met Jesus" by the Housemartins. I can find lots of songs by the Housemartins, just not this one! I love the Housemartins.

"I'll Give My All to You" by Vinx.  This song is on the album "Rooms in my Fatha's house" I think it is out of print (If that is the right wording for an album?) I initially was exposed to this song by Ximen.

"The journey of Alan Bean" by Stina Nordenstam--album "Memories of a Colour."  I am amazed that I finally figured out the name of the artist who sings this song. It took me YEARS!  Another one that my comp Clarisse and I would listen to.

"That's All" I don't know who sings the version I have. I got this particular version off a tape my brother Paul had--probably out of his locked trunk that mysteriously was opened about a month before he came home from his mission. . .sorry about that.

"It's all in the Game" again I don't know who sings this version. It's another one I got from ma chere Clarisse Maillard.

Out of 48 total songs, I suppose that needing 10 isn't too bad, but they still make a big difference to the whole. Maybe one day I will be able to find these in digital format and complete my compilations.  Or maybe you know how I can find these treasures. . .