Music Theatre and Ice Cream Junkies.

The girls have developed a love for two things, Music Theatre and Ice Cream.  This makes me smile.  We have two creameries that have opened near our house (dangerous).  They are both locally owned and equally delicious.  Reed's Dairy has a variety of homemade ice cream's and cheeses.  The flavors change daily, but they are all amazing.  C4 Creamery is the other creamery and is owned by Kendall's friend and her family.  They make rolled ice cream.  It is unique and delicious.  I am certain my waistline will not be happy, but my taste buds are ecstatic.

I purchased tickets to several performances by the Music Theatre of Idaho this year.  It was a bit of a gamble, since the girls' had never been, and I was not certain if they would like it.  However, in order to get good seats, I had to purchase them early.  We went to our first production last Saturday.  The girls were in awe!  They enjoyed every last minute of it and cannot wait for the next one.  Sidney just kept muttering under her breath, "This is awesome."  Kendall kept tapping her leg, clapping and laughing the whole time.  I am glad they enjoyed it!  We sat next to a very nice older couple that seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

 

My Sweet Pianist.

I love that Kendall loves music.  She gets such great pleasure out of music; whether it is listening, singing or playing.  She has been taking piano lessons for a number of years now. 

Her current piano teacher has encouraged her to participate in a music festival the past two years.  For festival, she must memorize two songs.  One of the songs is a required piece.  The other song is one that she chooses, but it must meet certain requirements.  She is assigned the pieces just before Christmas. In Spring, she goes before a judge to play her pieces and get evaluated.  The experience is great.  She also gets valuable feedback from a music professional.

This year she was assigned her required piece.  After practicing it for a couple of weeks, her instructor found that the piece was a level above what she is currently playing.  Kendall had to make a choice.  She could learn a new song at her level and pick a 'choice' song at that level.  Alternatively, she could stick with the assigned song, but her 'choice' song would have to be at the same level and from a foreign born composer.  She loved the piece she had been working on, so she decided to go with it. 

I had volunteered to work at the event and had been assigned to be a judge's assistant. 
It was awesome, as I had the privilege of sitting in the room with the judge and listening to all of the students play their pieces.  The judge had all ranges of students, from the four year old little girl who was just beginning to the adult that was playing symphony level pieces.  What impressed me the most is that the judge evaluated each of them with the same level of care.  He helped each of the students feel at ease, but wrote a book's worth of comments for each and every student. 

As it turned out, I was assigned to the very room Kendall was playing in.  The day of the festival, she was a bit nervous.  When it was her turn to play, I switched places with the door monitor.  I was able to hear from outside the room.  She did amazing.  I was so proud of her.  On her second 'choice' song, she seemed rushed, but did a marvelous job.  We were both anxious to get her evaluation back.  The following week, she received her evaluation from her instructor at practice.  She had achieved a Superior rating!  The most interesting thing was to read the judge's comments.  He spent a mere 5-10 minutes listening to her play and was able to nail EXACTLY what she needed to focus on.  I am so proud of this girl and her hard work!

A Piece of Me.

Tattoos are an incredibly personal thing.  To that end, I am going to share a little piece of me.  I like tattoos.  Before this year, I had two.  One of them I got when I first joined the military (we will get to that later).  The other one is an ankle bracelet with each of the girls names.

At the beginning of the year, I added a new one on my forearm in honor of Kevin.  It is beautiful, and I love looking down and seeing it each day. 

While I was in getting the tattoo on my arm, I showed the artist my ankle tattoo from the military.  If we are being honest here, it has been almost 30 years since I got it.  The tattoo was in bad shape.  Sean mentioned that if I found something I loved, he may be able to cover it up.  Well, I did find something I loved.  He did cover it up.  I love it! 

BEFORE

 AFTER

I now have three very special pieces of me that go wherever I go.

The Conversion of the 'Playhouse'.

The girls won a 'playhouse' in a raffle a few years ago.  Really, it is a cute little TuffShed that will never end up leaving our back yard.  Last year, they discussed converting it to a 'clubhouse', but never made the leap.  This year, they were ready.  They each spent time drawing up a plan and compromising on what things should look like and where they should be located.  After that, they pulled every single thing out and gave it a top to bottom scrub.  Next, they got rid of the things they had outgrown and brought in different items to create a more grown up space. 

They talked the neighbor boys into helping out.  At the end of the day, they lounged and enjoyed their work.  The weather was so beautiful that the kids played in the backyard until 9:30 at night (flashlights in hand).  I loved this picture, as Bailey totally photobombed it.

Spring has been in the air.  Sidney and her friend Sage decided to dress as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Dr. Seuss week.  They looked so cute and refused to wear their coats.  Sage looks a bit cold.

I decided to get a new picnic table this year, after 15 years.  It is beautiful and big and lovely.  I am excited to take my laptop outside and work at it this spring (strange, I know).

I decide to buy some marbles and cement mix to make stepping stones.  The girls and I each made one representing our family.  It was such a fun project.  They turned out pretty special.

 

Community Quilts.

 As I have mentioned, the girls joined a 4H group.  I love it.  They love it.  The group has been both educational and fun.  One of the requirements is to do a community project.  The girls decided to make quilts for the local hospital.  They got together for a full day on Saturday to get a good start on them.  Celia started them out with a quick lesson, then they got to work.

I love that Celia is so good about making sewing enjoyable.  She made sure the girls stopped for breaks each hour, mostly to play with the new bunnies.  She also had the girls bring pizza toppings, so they stopped for lunch and had a 'make your own' pita pizza.  I became the designated ironer and pizza cooker.  It was a fun day!

Kendall is learning crochet, rather than sew.  Pam came to help her learn a few techniques.  Kendall is picking it up very quickly and finds it quite relaxing.

Each month, one of the girls gets up and does a demonstration for the other girls.  Josie taught the girls how to make a pillow with a heart shaped pocket.  The girls really enjoyed this project.  They had to both machine sew and hand stitch.


Here is their progress at the end of the day.  The girls and I are going over during spring break to spend a few hours working on them.  They are coming along nicely!

Our First Overnighter.

I had my first overnight work trip recently.  It was not a planned trip, but rather one of my team members ended up in the hospital on a Tuesday, and I flew down to California to cover a panel discussion on Thursday.  Blessing or a curse, it did not give us much time to swell.  It was quite a bit harder than I thought.  The truth be told, I silently cried the whole plane trip down there. 

 

I cannot put into words exactly why it was so hard, but it was.  I read this book while flying down there and it gave me some comfort knowing that I was not certifiably crazy.  It also helped me understand that I have a choice to pretend I am not grieving or to embrace the grieving and allow it to run its course.  After three months of choosing the former, I am now choosing the latter.

 

My sister in law, Lisa, sent me this beautiful necklace.  It has Kevin's signature and a daisy engraved on the front of it.  It also has his thumbprint engraved on the back.  I kept it close to my heart the entire trip.

 

This is my friend Kristin.  She has been one of my rocks through this journey.  She and I went to lunch the day before my trip.  She is a good listener and a good problem solver.  I love her for that.  I love that she has planted herself into my life!  I hope that I never have to help her go through something like this, but I will be here if she does.

 

 

The girls and I have a tradition of giving each other notes or cards before each trip.  These give me great comfort throughout my trips.  I pull them out frequently for a smile.

 

 

Due to the timing of the panel, I was unable to fly in and out the same day.  So, I got ahold of my cousin Ronnie and stayed the night with he and Rebecca.  They bought a lovely new home last summer, and I was excited to see it.  It was fantastic to eat a bite with them and relax. 

 

 

All in all, the trip went well.  It was a very productive work trip, albeit an emotional personal trip.  Small steps forward.

This Dog, That Finger.

UGH!  See the cute little dog below?  GRR.  Sometimes he is, sometimes he is not.  Bailey is almost two, but all boy!  He is rambunctious.  He 'can' be well behaved.  Then again, he 'cannot'.  Bailey likes to play this game in which he grabs one of our socks (or similar item) and runs.  He does this hoping we will chase him.  I constantly tell the girls not to chase him...just let it be.  He will drop it. 

It would have been pretty awesome if I would have remembered my own advice.  A few weeks ago, late at night, he was upstairs with us.  He grabbed one of the girls socks and proceeded to barrel toward the stairs.  The smart person in me would have said 'See you later'.  The instinctual person reached out and grabbed his collar as he raced by.  Yikes.  My finger got stock.  I ran toward the stairs along side him, until finally, I jerked my finger out.  The pain!  Oh, the pain!  I had not experienced anything like that in quite some time. 

For the first few days, I thought I had probably just sprained it.  However, every tiny bump sent shock waves.  It was not dislocated.  It was only the top that had gotten stuck.  After much web surfing, I diagnosed that I had broken my finger.  I bought a finger splint and have been monitoring it regularly.  We are on week 3 right now.  I can bend at the knuckles and the pain is starting to go away.

I say to myself..."You should have listened.  I told you so!"

Do not let this sleeping dog fool you.  He is wild and crazy. 

Memories Yet to Come.

The girls and I were trying to decide what to do with Kevin's boat.  Kendall initially wanted to keep it, so that she could sit in it inside the garage occasionally.  I am not a fisher woman.  I loved to go fishing, but really it was just to have Kevin cruise me around the lake while I read a book and he fished.  I explained that boats are not made to sit.  Almost unanimously we thought of Valerie's son, Josh, and his family.  They recently moved back to Idaho.  Kevin had taken Josh and his son Eli out fishing and gave his daughter Grace the girls old fishing pole. 

We strategized with Valerie and planned a work day at the Strong's in which the girls would surprise him with the boat.  I purchased a big red car bow for the boat and the girls sat inside the boat while I opened the garage.  Josh was beyond surprised.  We hope the boat gives their family as many beautiful memories as it did ours!

I talked Sidney into going to Ross with me the other day.  While there, I had to take a restroom break.  I tell you this only because if you know Sid, you know she was not happy with me.  What?  Wait outside the restroom for mom, in a store, by herself?!?!?  When I came out, she asked if I would bring her back down later to buy this photo album she found.  It holds 500 pictures, and she wanted an album of her Daddy.  I would do one better...I would buy it for her and help her get pictures printed out.  It turned out so beautifully that Kendall and I decide to make similar ones for ourselves.

Every now and again, someone will send me a gem of a picture that they stumble across.  Kevin's sister, Lisa, sent me this one.  Apparently, the girls were trying to teach Kevin and I to pose properly!

Obsessions and 'The Unveiling'.

The girls seem to have a few crazy obsessions.  Though when I kindly point out that they may have a problem, they remind me of my very large rubber stamp collection.  Touché!  One such obsession is all things squishy and slimy.  Stress balls, slime, oobleck, splat balls.  They have spent countless dollars on such ridiculousness.  Here is one of the crazy squeeze toys Kendall just bought.  "But it is so cool, mom."  Can you just see my eyes rolling?

Another obsession that they cannot seem to have enough of...water bottles.  I promise you these things multiply.  Sidney's latest bottle is a Gatorade one that 'squirts when you squeeze it'.  Terrell's neighbor gifted Kendall a giant Thermoflask.  She was beyond excited.

 

I mentioned that we did ceramics while my sister and Hallie were visiting.  They turned out amazing, if I do say so myself.  Here is my sister's coffee cup.  I will go ahead and address the elephant in the room...she forgot the comma.  She thought about this the whole night after we left the shop.  Did she or didn't she?  Sure enough, she didn't.  If it was me, this cup would be as good as done.  Fortunately, my sister is much more laid back than I am.

 

Bailey's new water bowl.  We keep it in his indoor kennel.  He LOVES it!  How do I know?  He frequently goes in the bedroom for a cool drink out of this sweet thing.

 

I am super impressed at how well the girls projects turned out.  Kendall did the dragon bank on the left.  Sidney did the owl jewelry holder on the right.  This activity is definitely a do-over.  Our friends just opened a shop in meridian, so we have an excuse.  A Way with Clay Studio

 

The girls talked me into Friday night bowling a few weeks ago.  It was a good time.  Now we are warmed up for summer bowling!