Mamma Mia!

November 12

Monday

Opening Night

 I purchased a 2-dozen bunch of roses from Costco, with the plan to break them up into 6 per night... because I like to stretch a dollar {wink}. I couldn't pass up this amazing color - a deep coral/red. Mar even noticed that they coordinated with her party dress perfectly. And, even more amazingly, 9 of those roses are still in a vase on the kitchen counter 2 WEEKS LATER. It was a phenomenal purchase.

I attended the performance by myself, since Bill was out of town through Thursday on a work trip.

Mar got another bunch of roses from her {boy}friend (who is NOT pictured below), which were also long-lasting and beautiful. It's been so lovely having fresh flowers around the house the past couple of weeks.

November 13th

Tuesday

Again, I attended by myself. I still enjoyed the show, but it's much more fun to go with someone. I apparently did not snap many pics ;-)

November 15th

Thursday

The Stewart girls came to see the show. I love them! I've been friends with Marci FOR YEARS. Our husbands served as bishops at the same time, and we survived by going to the temple together once a month for 5 years. She is an amazing person. She brought her cute daughter, Alison. Lindsey Stewart is Marci's sister, who moved into our ward about 6 months ago. Both of them married unrelated Stewart guys -- fun, huh? I had an instant connection with Lindsey, and I have loved getting to know her better. She is amazing, like her sister. I am blessed to know them. These girls were totally up to getting up and dancing during the finale and bows - 3 solid songs (btw, I did NOT dance when I attended by myself haha). Audience participation is key to the party vibe of the show.
Thank you, ladies!

And Bill made it home just in the nick of time to catch the show, too. We didn't get to sit together, since we nabbed his ticket from a friend just moments before it started, but he was glad to finally get to see it.

We had a good laugh over the fact that this was posted outside the theater. When Mar took her school picture, she wanted to do something funny, since it wouldn't go in the yearbook and would only be on her activity card. Little did she realize that it would be posted for all to see and enjoy. Gotta love the {mis}spelling of our last name... nothing new to us, though ;-)

November 16th

Friday

Robyn and Kat joined us for the performance. I told them we needed to get up and dance during the final 3 songs, and they were totally up for it! It was so fun to get to know Kat a little better -- and these ladies rocked the dancing.

November 17th

Saturday

Closing Night

Shilo and Kody had planned for months to come to CO to see Mar in the play, and Lex and Jase ended up moving out of their UT home that same weekend, so Shi and Kody helped drive with them. The plan was for Lex to stay here with Emmett, and Jason's brother, who lives in Alabama, would fly in on Sunday and they would head out to Alabama with the moving truck. Things worked out perfectly, but it was a bit of a crazy weekend. We went to one of our fave family hangouts for dinner before hitting the show.

I had arranged to have a couple of girls from our ward babysit Evie and Emmett. Emmett was a bit fussy that evening, and the mom of one of the girls ended up coming over to help with him. Luckily, Lex was blissfully unaware, so she could thoroughly enjoy being at the show.

Here's a quick clip of the final song:

We were just missing Britt and Austin... bummer. I love these people!

The whole family had helped me put together the candy leis for Mar and her friends, one of our seminary students, and a couple of kids from our ward that participated.

I have always loved ABBA, so I loved the music. I LOVED the dancing. These peeps did a bang-up job at singing and acting. I saw it 5 times and enjoyed it every night. I am, however, glad that it's over. We survived this crazy week!

And Mauri? She was definitely my FAVORITE PART.
I loved watching her love performing.

Tech week, mint brownies, and potatoes, oh my!

It's here! Performances of Mamma Mia! start tonight and run all week long.

Mauri woke up this morning excited.

I didn't get much sleep last night {due to old people problems}, but I woke up kinda excited, too. I have get to teach seminary all week {by myself because Bill is MIA out of town for work}, but I have a bonus day on Wednesday (yay for carpet cleaning at the church building). It was a snowy morning, so Seminary was a little sparse today, but I am constantly reminded how amazing the youth of the church are, and what a blessing it is that I have the privilege of teaching learning with them.

Last week {tech week} was a killer, but we survived.

That is worthy of celebration in and of itself.

I made three double batches of my {CVHS famous} mint brownies.

You're lookin' at 1.75 pounds of butter in that pan, my friends.

I brought food for all 4 tech week meals (for approx. 120 cast and crew), and helped serve at 3 of them. Not counting the 3 double batches of brownies, I also brought water bottles (lasagna night), oyster crackers (soup night), corn tortillas, crock pot of black beans, 2 large pans of rice, cocoa rice krispies (burrito/taco night), and 20 baked potatoes (potato bar night).

(This picture is pre-dinner, which most nights we would hurry up and wait haha)

I know this isn't an appealing picture, but I literally served every black bean in that pot. 

 I made 2 recipes (1 lb dried beans each) using my electric pressure cooker (I love this recipe), and they were gone, baby, gone by the end of dinner. My cilantro rice was a big hit, too. I thought more kids would NOT like the cilantro in it, so I made one pan of plain rice, but the "fancy" rice was the big winner. Literally ALL the food was pretty much devoured, even the not-quite-baked potatoes someone had brought in on Saturday night haha.

Speaking of which...

I have a story to tell about that night.

I knew our Saturday was PACKED with a very busy schedule, so I had made my brownies and prepped my extra-large Costco-size potatoes the night before. Bill and I had a Temple Shift luncheon (not sure what to call it other than that... a luncheon for the all the people that work the Thursday night shift at the temple with Bill), then we had a ministering appointment with a sister in our ward, followed by an Eagle Court of Honor for a young man in our ward AND seminary class, then the dinner I was helping with at the school. After the luncheon we stopped at home to put the potatoes in the oven. I knew they needed at least 2 hours to cook, so had carefully determined how to manage our schedule and get them in the oven on time. After our nearly 2-hour visit with the sister in our ward, we ran home to grab the potatoes (and brownies) to take to the school. To my utter horror, when I opened my oven IT WAS COLD. The potatoes were RAW, and I had less than an hour to have them to the school. I totally panicked. I told Bill to call Texas Roadhouse (in Parker - 25 minutes away) to see if they could sell us 20 potatoes. They could, but for a PRICE {of course}. He called a couple of closer restaurant chains to see if they had baked potatoes, and they didn't. During this short duration {of me barking orders to Bill to call around and find potatoes}, I was frantically trying to call a few neighbors to see if they had Instant Pots, to no avail because nobody answered. I quickly pulled the foil off of the potatoes, fit 7 in my pressure cooker (following the directions I had found via the google gods), and got it started. Instead of going to the Court of Honor, Bill hopped in the car and headed to Texas Roadhouse to pick up the potatoes. In my hopes that we could buy fewer $2.50/ea potatoes, I decided to try microwaving a few while I was waiting for the pressure cooker to do it's work. Three at a time, I was able to cook 9 more potatoes. As soon as they were done, I wrapped them in foil and put them in my little cooler to stay hot.

Long story a little less long, my potatoes turned out perfectly. All 16 that I baked in my limited time frame. Bill ended up getting 14 at Texas Roadhouse (they had told us they could have them ready in 35 minutes from the time he called, but he waited another 30 minutes once he got there), and delivered them to the school after about 80% of the kids/staff at the dinner had been served. We would have been okay without them, but I didn't know that in the moment of decision.

**Notes to self: don't EVER turn on the wrong oven; pressure cooker potatoes are awesome, and cooking 3 super large potatoes at a time in the microwave for 10 minutes is a verifiable option. Had I known that information immediately, I could have had them all baked in my less-than-an-hour time frame and saved myself some dinero.

Phew. That was stressful.

The one night I hadn't signed up to help serve (Thursday), after dropping off my food, I snuck a peek through the doors of the auditorium. The set STILL wasn't finished, but it was super fun to get a brief glimpse of the performance. Can you spot Mauri?

This is going to be such a fun show.

I am attending EVERY night this whole week, so I'll be interested to see if I get tired of it.

Probably not, especially when I get to see my beloved last child performing each time.

(Btw, my precious children, you are ALL beloved!)

Another exciting thing for Mauri... on top of the endless hours of play practice she's had the past couple weeks, she was preparing for her All-State Jazz Choir callback held Saturday morning. She received the news yesterday evening that she was one of 13 females selected from the entire state of CO. Her friend Megan (who plays the role of Donna in Mamma Mia!) made it in, too. 

Congratulations, baby!

Wistful.

I'm feeling a bit sentimental today. And wistful. And melancholy.

I only follow a couple of blogs. Possibly due to the fact that personal blogs are obviously out, and keeping record via social media (Instagram or FB), then chat-booking what you post, is in. Regardless, I appreciate the few who have maintained posting on a blog for my reading (and pondering) pleasure.

A few days ago I read this post, and then this post today, both of which in part express some of the feelings I have a difficult time putting into words.

My tree out front has pretty much let go of all of it's leaves.

I find it fascinating that my driveway is currently covered with these leaf prints...

...which will eventually fade and disappear also.

It's time for another season... my least favorite, to be honest. Winter can at times be beautiful, but for the most part it feels cold, dark, icy, slippery, and isolating. I'm already missing the fall (my favorite season) and it's beautiful colors, and the spring (my second favorite) is a far distant memory. Summer is okay. It's hot and tiring, busy and crazy, unscheduled and full of projects, plans, and work, with an occasional reprieve of travel thrown in. 

I'm feeling wistful because I'm at the end of fall and my winter is approaching. Ugh!

I am experiencing all of my leaves letting go... having "lasts" dropping left and right. Mar's HS musical is right around the corner. This week is tech week, next week is performance week. As I'm thinking about how busy it will be, and looking forward to the crazy schedule being over, I realize that it will be the LAST HS musical my child will perform in... ever. I don't want to lose these moments by wishing they were over, so I need to stop, recognize them for what they are (the last!), and appreciate them, because soon they will only be that leaf print on the driveway. And following that, they will only be the picture (or memory) of the leaf print on the driveway. 

My phone camera better be on it's best behavior from now on.

I thought I would share a few cute photos of my other kids from Halloween. 

I love that they all get together!  

I'm sure Lex and Jase are trying to get in all the family time they can before their big move to Alabama. 

I love these people. And yes, life goes on. 

***Lex and Britt are my favorite bloggers... with Lex currently being the most active. (I'll cut Britt some slack since she's a busy momma of two with a husband who travels a ton.) You can read more about their Halloween festivities here.***

Enjoy the spring and summer, my pretties!

Halloween 2018.

First up was the trunk-or-treat on Saturday, Oct. 27th.
(I think my phone camera lens must have been dirty... or something... these pics are NOT the high quality, bright pictures I had hoped for)

Bill and I scrambled a little last minute to come up with costumes because our friends had invited us to another party later that evening.

Ta-da!

Black-eyed P's.

Thank you, Pinterest.

Mar was a {buxom} pirate haha.

That's what a corset will do for ya.

Tay, Nae and Evie joined us, too.

I made smoked Gouda mac and cheese, and won 3rd place. Nice.

I didn't even get to try it, since it was gone by the time we made it through the line. That's good, because there's nothing worse than bringing food to a ward function, and taking most of it back home afterwards. What do you even DO with it after lots of people have stood over it... breathed over it... possibly dropped a hair over it... EWWW! Better for it to be gone.

(Can I express again my disappointment in these foggy pics?)

That's what you call a Bro. Martin photo bomb.

(Yes, now I'm sure it was something on that back phone camera lens, since this selfie is much brighter)

After the trunk-or-treat and a tiny nap, Mauri went to a party at a friend's house, and Bill and I went with the Goubert's to another party. Janene wasn't totally sure of the details, just that a friend of hers had invited them to attend. What we DID know: it was held at a church building, it was for adults only.

When we arrived, we discovered it was a Stake activity (not our Stake activity, just to clarify).

There was a live band that played 80's tunes all night, and since I am definitely a child of the 80's, it was totally my jam. My date, however, did NOT want to dance much.

WHAT? Billy "The Bay" Syddall lost his groove sometime in the last 30 years?

Throughout the night I noticed a couple... the guy was dressed as a taco, the girl was dressed like a princess. I thought it was a unique pairing, but didn't think too hard on it. When Bill and I were dancing {a slow dance}, I was going to mention it to him, since the couple was dancing nearby. As I formulated the sentence in my head, IT CLICKED. I was about to say, "That couple is a strange pair... he's a taco, and she's.... 'Belle.'" HAHAHAHA... Taco Bell. So punny!

That's okay, some people at our ward trunk-or-treat didn't figure out what we were until they saw my Insta/FB post. 

Janene was the big winner of the night - winning 1st place for her chili at our trunk-or-treat, and the big jar of Smarties for guessing closest to the correct amount at the Arapahoe Stake Halloween Party.

Phew! That was a whole lot o' social for me for one day. But I survived.

The day of Halloween {a Wednesday}, I invited Tay, Nae and Evie over for an early dinner. Their ward was having a trunk-or-treat that night (it was actually more like trick-or-treating at doors inside the church, which was awesome for kids Evie's age, not to mention it was super cold that night, so inside was the best place to be). I've yet to hear from them how things went down... I'll update when I do.

Evie has had a slight fascination with my styro head (I started out with 3 of them years ago, now I'm down to a white one and a super creepy silver one that Mar created a couple years back). 

As you can see, Evie made her mark (styrofoam is so irresistable to sink your teeth into). It really isn't a big deal because 1) the styro head just looks creepier, and 2) it has already more than filled the measure of it's creation.

Bill had dressed up a bit for work, since his CoSprings office was participating in a local business trick-or-treat event that day. He was supposed to be a warlock, as all the ladies in the office were dressing up as witches. Evie thought he was... interesting haha.

Evie thoroughly enjoyed her first piece of candy for the evening.

(So what can I say except "You're welcome!')

And they were off to the ward activity... such a cute family!!

Mauri had a party that evening at a friend's house.

She and Annie went as Wendy and Captain Hook. Their friend Jaden was supposed to be Mr. Smee, but he apparently got mixed up, and showed up as a beenie baby (that's what the three of them had been at school that day). 

It was quiet the rest of the evening. A clean-faced Bill handed out candy while I... did nothing, if I remember correctly (except the dishes haha). The trick-or-treaters seemed sparse this year, perhaps because it was such a chilly night. I heard a story on the news that the powers-that-be might designate the last Saturday of October as the official day to observe Halloween. WHAT A FABULOUS IDEA. I'm not quite sure why it's taken so long to figure that out. Fingers crossed that it will happen!

That's it. It was enough.
Let the holidays commence.


Post post: That WASN'T it. It WASN'T enough....

Mauri had one more party today... Nov. 3rd.
With her thespian troupe.

She was tired after a long day at play practice, but she chose to go because "hardly anyone else is going, and I feel bad for those hosting the party if nobody shows up."
I love her.
I love her kindness and inclusion. I love that she's less concerned about whether it's the cool thing to do, and more concerned about doing what she feels is the right thing.

(Still not the greatest quality of pictures... what's up with my phone?)

Just to give the whole dressing up thing a little variety, she dug through the costume box for something different. She found the devil dress (you can see her original devil get-up here... along with a Shilo bonus), and decided to put the Thespian/musical spin on things, so she's "Devil Take the Hindmost" -- an Andrew Lloyd Webber song from Love Never Dies.

Since I have no clue what that phrase even means, I looked it up and found this:
"You can say the devil take the hindmost to describe or comment on a situation you disapprove of because people do only what is best for themselves without thinking about other people.
Mmmmmm.... I wonder if Mar is making a thespian troupe political statement haha.

That is all.
I hope.

Holding on and letting go.

"Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to

LET THINGS GO."

(Can you see the leaf in the mid-fall? It took me a dozen shots to try and get a "fall" in action, even though the leaves were dropping all around me.)

I started this post last week... this tree is now nearly bare.
And it took Bill a good two hours to clean up those leaves, only to have the rest of them fall within days.
I think it's beautiful.

My emotions have been on the surface lately - I think due to the realization that Mauri is a senior... which means she's gearing up to leave me. She's soooooooooo busy, so I don't see her much right now, but she's getting college applications ready, ordering her cap and gown for graduation, and talking about what's coming up next. I know I've mentioned before how I'm not sure what's next for me... my priority has been mothering {children in my home} for nearly 30 years.
I have loved it. 
Maybe not EVERY moment, but overall it's been everything I had hoped for.

I have to say that I have loved mothering adults, too.
And I can't say enough about grandmothering... which I have many many years left to do (I hope!). I'm not as seasoned in those areas, so I know there will be lots of growth opportunities ahead of me, but I'm going to hold on tightly for a few more months to my cherished role of mothering a child in my home.
I know... mushy... and sentimental. I can't help it.

I found out today that Lex and Jase are moving to Alabama. That's VERY far away. Lex may stay with us for a few months while they build a house, so I'm excited to have her and M here. You can read more about what takes them there here.

Up next: Halloween 2018