Decompressing

At this moment I feel relief as I take a moment to decompress.  Valentine's Day has been a bit stressful.  Added to a lengthy field trip from yesterday, packing up Britt and Austin and throwing together a Singing Time on Sunday, full-day preparation for the Open House on Friday and Saturday, drape sewing Monday through Thursday, a long drive home from Utah LAST Sunday, and a wedding and reception LAST Saturday, I am lucky to still be standing.  Or sitting, as the case may be.

But before I head down to the comforts of the basement to start catching up on weeks of past episodes of Top Chef Texas, American Idol, and whatever else has been taped for such a time as this, I thought I would quickly share the Valentine's Day solutions Mar and I came up with yesterday.

First, the box.

This cute mailbox was sent to us a few years back by my dear MIL.  She frequently sends fun holiday packages to the kids, and I believe she sent us this for Valentine's Day.  My kids (and the Primary kids, since I used it for Singing Time on Sunday, too, minus Mar's name) think that perhaps it's a Christmas mailbox... either way, it suited our needs perfectly.

Mar added a few lights to personalize it a bit.

We were able to shorten the post to make it desk-friendly, since it was actually two pieces screwed together.  How perfect is that?  {Perfect.}  (If you are wondering what that pink thing is on the floor, initially I thought it might be a dirty sock, since they are prevalent on the floors of my home.  I couldn't be sure, so I went to check.  Just as I had suspected, the item is still in that exact location, 8 hours later.  It is a pair of mittens, inside-out, one inside of the other.  FYI.)

I even had enough ambition and energy this morning to try something fancy with Mauri's hair, from a tutorial on Pinterest.  It turned out pretty decent, considering I pulled it off in about 5 minutes.

Not quite as neat and tidy as the original, but pretty darn fancy nonetheless.  I figured this would probably be the last year she would let me do something like this before she becomes too mature for a mommy hair-do.

And her Valentines?  Recycled, reused, repurposed.  They started out like this:

and turned into this:

After sending her out the door, I started working on the class party.  Oh yes.  I was in charge.  I hadn't planned anything prior to today, and figured I would fly by the seat of my pants.  Which I did.

I made crepes for the treat.  I had made some Sunday morning in an effort to use some of the extra milk we had sitting in more than one refrigerator from the Open House (more on that another day), but I still have lots and lots left over... and crepes can be made well in advance... and served at room temp... they worked out perfectly.  (Except that they take a while to crank out, especially when you are cooking for 36.  You read correctly.  34 students in Mar's class, a teacher, and a student teacher.)  I also put together a craft project for the class, another find on Pinterest:  Felt fortune cookies.

In the frenzy of the party there was no time for pictures, so I snapped a couple of Mar's when she got home.  She plans to add a little tissue paper to her take-out box and give them to her Daddy-o with a note that says "I am so fortunate to have a great dad like you!"  I can't take credit for the idea, but they DID turn out cute.  Trying to help 34 kids make them at the same time was a little challenging, though.  I truly appreciated the help from the two moms that came to assist.

The good news:  I made it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Her Honor

I went on a field trip with Mauri today to Ameritowne.  Lex and Shi both attended as 5th graders, but this was the first time I chose to volunteer.  Probably out of guilt, since I have postponed events and activities (including a birthday celebration, for goodness sake) with promises of recompense incessantly over the past few months.

I had to drive separately, thank heavens - that bus ride might have killed me off - because I needed to arrive 30 before the kids for "training," which turned out to be a 5-minute spiel of much ado about nothing.  I think most of the parent volunteers were there merely for crowd control should the mannerly 5th graders turn into a disorderly rabble.  Except for the unlucky parents in the Bank and Snack Shack -- they were pretty darn busy.  I, on the other hand, had the good fortune of choosing to work at the college.  Free education, without the lure of fun items and toys to buy.  The only offering would be a student ID card, which could be laminated for $1.  I am the queen of lamination, and my expertise was actually required on an occasion or two.  Other than that, I spent some passing moments on my phone, repinning away on Pinterest (because the kids working in the college were on it).

The week prior, Mar had been elected to be the Judge of Ameritowne, following in the footsteps of her big sister Shilo.  I chose to work in the college because it was next door to Towne Hall, and I had been advised that I could should not work in the same business as my child, so next door was the next best thing.

(swearing in the Ameritowne mayor)

(setting up her office)

  I snuck over a time or two to check out how all that judging was going... it was almost always packed to the brim with criminals of the worst sort:  those who refused to Tebow in front of the Snack Shack, or say "cha-ching" in front of the bank, runners, and rule breakers.  Mar had to make quick judgements, and require the payment of tickets all day long. 

Another volunteer mom was taking pictures, most likely for the yearbook, since she has been in charge of the FVE yearbook for the past few years.  She had her big professional camera, snapping away all day long.  At the end of day, she pulled me over to show me a shot she had staged that she thought was soooooo funny.  I found it disturbing.  She had told Mar to pose like she was taking a bribe from another business owner.  Neither of those 5th graders had the slightest idea why she was having them pose that way, and I fumed about it on the way home, wondering how I could best handle the situation.  What was she thinking?  That was NOT the values the kids were there to learn, and certainly NOT the values Mar would feel comfortable representing.  Mauri had been sworn in and had promised to be honorable and fair.  

Should I email the teacher?  Should I email the mom directly?  She is also one of my neighbors... I don't want to offend her, but I feel like I should say something.  I would be horrified if that picture ended up in the yearbook or an end-of-year video.  I've decided to talk it over with Bill before doing something unkind or rash.  It still gets my heart-rate up, though.

Other than that little incident, the day went smooth as butter.  I think it was a fun and educational way to learn about business, finance, and government.  The kids all had a blast.

Once we were home, Mar and I stressed a bit about Valentine's Day.

It's tomorrow, you know.

We need to make a box.

Mar needs to fill out Valentines for her classmates.

After the past few weeks I've had, another trip to the store just felt too overwhelming, so we brainstormed, and...

Valentine's box:  done.

Valentines:  done.

Almost instantaneously.  Stay tuned tomorrow for our fabulous solutions.

A Shi Shout Out

I have neglected to mention that Shilo DID make an individual State-qualifying time... at the B League meet in the 100 Back, with special allowance (she should have been swimming in the A League meet, but was going to be in UT for Britt's wedding, so her coach cleared it with the other coaches, giving her the opportunity to try for the qualifying times in her two oh-so-close events.  She wasn't "competing" in the meet, just swimming for a time).

I am so happy for her!

Today, while I am home making a mess of the kitchen I spent all day yesterday to clean, she's at the State meet.  Lucky for me (and a great tip from a fellow swim mom), I found a link online to watch the meet live.  I love technology.  Love, love, love it.

So what if Shi's seeded last in her event?  She's competing against the top, for goodness sake.  The pre-purchasable tickets sold out because Missy is competing.  Remember Missy?  She's seeded #1.  Probably because she holds the world record (the WORLD RECORD) in the 200 Back.  Seriously, she's a future Olympic Gold Medalist.  And she's swimming the State high school meet.  She set a national record in the 200 Free, 20 minutes ago.  I saw it happen.  Live.  {Love.}  And that's just the Prelims.

So what if Shi doesn't have the fancy span-dangled knee-length FASTSKIN competition suit that apparently every other swimmer has (I wouldn't have known, had I not been able to watch it.  Have I mentioned that I love technology?).  Live and learn, that's what I say.  Next year, Shi, I will make sure you have one of those.  I will be the best swim team mom EVER.  I will make locker tags.  I will host team dinners.  I will be involved.  Thank you for forgiving me of my flailing this year.

I am so proud of you for setting a goal, giving it your best effort, and achieving it.

You are awesome!

Love and Marriage

Just a quick peek from the weekend, since it's highly unlikely that I will get a chance to post again for another week or so.

I couldn't wait to share.

Details are coming soon, I promise.

Two Birthdays and a Swim Meet

A {quick} update.

Things are still crazy.  Non-stop.  Whirlwind-ish.

In the middle of all the commotion, I have to take a moment (or two) to commemorate a few events.

Bill
My main man.  My hero.  The ketchup to my fries.  The ade to my lemon.  The float to my root beer.  

He's another year older (and wiser, too).

We celebrated with a trip to Five Guys, per Lexee's suggestion.

(Yes, the cake was ugly.  I am definitely NOT at the top of my cake-decorating game.)

Lynnea had a birthday the same day.  She's exactly half the age of Bill this year.  How cool is that?

We had to send our Birthday wishes over the phone and via the postman.  (AND via blogspot.)

Happy Birthday, Lynnea!

If you were here, I would have made you a cake.  Maybe it's good that you weren't, given my attack of uglycake-itis.

AND on the same day, Shilo had her final dual swim meet of the high school season against a cross-town rival.  Here's her first event, the medley relay:

I think they lost the race to the rival, and they were a mere .02 of a second away from a state qual time, but they handily won the meet AND the Pride of Parker trophy, awarded when one school defeats BOTH in-town rival schools in a single sports season.  Shilo also achieved her best times yet in her 100Fly and 100Back.  She has one more chance this upcoming weekend to make a personal state qualifying time.  She is sooooooooo close in both events.

Here's her 400 free relay team, already headed for state:

Nice job, girls!

That's all I got {time} for today.

Birds of a Feather

Mauri brought this home from school yesterday:

This is one of her latest art pieces... a tribute to her dear birds (yes, they are STILL around), Buddy and Tweety.  I need to ask her about the pink and purple parakeet in the back... my guess would be that it's a rendition of Buddy and Tweety's imagined offspring.

I remember her concern about finishing the piece a few months back -- she had worked so long on the details, she wasn't sure she would have time to paint it.  I also remember her relief that she had managed to complete her project in time.

She only brought it home for a day because her art teacher wants it back to enter it in an art show.  Mar is concerned that she may never see it again, but I have reassured her that she will, barring breakage.  Bill left a nice roll of bubble wrap for Mar to transport it in.  What a good dad.

Two Showers and a Wedding

If I don't start posting about some of the happenings from the past few weeks, they may get lost in the mix of current events.  Again, this post will probably be a bit of a mishmash, but that's representative of how life is going around here lately, anyway.

After the New Year, after our guests had dispersed, and after Taylor and Lynnea had left for Las Vegas, I had one day to pack my bags and prepare to fly to SLC to help my sister, Jill, with her son Josh's wedding the following weekend.  I had planned to fly there mid week, then Bill and the girls would drive out on Friday for the wedding festivities.

I arrived at the airport about an hour before my flight.  I waited in a very long express line to check my bag as I watched the people in the non-express line fly through the check-in process.  When it was finally my turn, I was told that my bag was late (most likely due to the 20 minutes I stood in the express line, ya think?), and that it would most likely not make my flight.  Lucky for me, it could make the next flight to SLC.  I felt the tears coming on as Bill rushed with me to security.  Oh my.  An eternal line again.  Making a long story short(er), sweaty and panting at the gate,  I was told that my seat had been given to a stand-by passenger, and I would need to wait for the following flight, an hour-and-a-half later.  If that flight was full, I could continue to stand by all day, if necessary.  I'll admit it, I shed a tear or two.  As it turns out, my bag made the first flight, and I was lucky enough to nab a seat on the second flight.  Seriously, things could only go up from there.

Finally in SLC, Britt and I went to the final fitting of her dress, then ran by the reception site to discuss set-up.  

That evening these fine women (Aunt Angela, Aunt Robyn, and Grandma)

threw Britt a bridal shower.

(Austin's mom and sister)

It was fun to celebrate with family and friends in Utah.  Living in CO for so long (going on 10 years next month), I hadn't seen some of our extended family for ages.

The next evening I attended a shower for my nephew's fiance Kayla, given by my SIL, Lia.

(Note:  I was not a master picture taker at ANY of the events throughout the week -- I really should learn how to use my point-and-shoot better -- but at least I took pictures, regardless of their poor quality and lack of some important content.)

On Friday afternoon we headed to the reception site at the Kimball Home at This is the Place Heritage Park to help pre-set for the reception the following day.

(I'd bet you would never guess what was in this Thule if you saw it driving down the street)

Many hands make work light.  And fun.  Even if it's tedious work.

My family arrived later that day (except for Taylor and Lynnea, who were driving from Las Vegas that evening), and we met up at the JSMB for a dinner held in Josh and Kayla's honor.

(Bill giving my brother a kiss... Marty is such a good sport to put up with a BIL like Bill)

The morning of the wedding looked like this:

Taylor and Lynnea made it!  Hooray!
(I forgot to bring a coat to UT, and Bill had kindly grabbed one for me at home before he left.  Nice and big and green.  But I was grateful.)

Austin and Britt.  Just waiting for their big day.

Josh's two grandmas... cutest picture ever.

(Don't you love trying to shoot alongside the professional photographer and twenty other people??)

Jill, Josh, and Stan.  Awwww.....

The groomsmen.

Those sassy bridesmaids.

Grandparents.

Bill's attempt to dip me.  And he wonders why I think he might drop me on my head when he dips.  

After carefully scrutiny of the following picture of my BIL's technique,

I believe leg placement makes all the difference.  See Stan's broad stance?  Bill and I will need to practice for Britt's wedding, since we plan to be as embarrassing as parents can possibly be.  Anyone have a good choreographed dance we could learn in the next two weeks??  (And are dips appropriate on temple grounds?)

Sweet.

The Help.

(Yes, I DID crop myself out of this picture... the only picture of me in the kitchen, and who knows what the heck I was doing, but it wasn't pretty.  Or even pleasant.)

Towards the end of the evening we took a kitchen break and visited with Bill's parents for a while.  And ate chocolate kisses.  Lots and lots of chocolate kisses.

Bill and I practiced our dance moves for Britt and Austin's wedding.

Tay and Nate performed their groomsmen duties well.

It was so fun to have Taylor and Josh get married close together.  Two full weeks of wedding madness (I couldn't have done it without my sister), but two weeks of happiness, love, family togetherness, excitement, and joy.  We'll be back at it again in just a couple of weeks.