TaVaci at the zoo...how appropriate

Yesterday was the Saturday after Earth Day. That made it the day to officially celebrate Earth Day in the neighboring city. The weather was nice and I'm sure the entire county turned out. I hate crowds.

Leah and Daniel's TaVaci group performs at the zoo every Earth Day. I guess a lot of the kids look forward to going because they get in free. We have a membership and go whenever the kids can talk me into it. (I think we go a lot, they feel zoo-deprived.) So I wasn't looking forward to fighting 30 people to catch a glimpse of the tiger.

Chad and his dad were working on the fence yesterday and would not be taking time out to enjoy such marvelous entertainment. I couldn't imagine the zoo with 5 kids, two of which would be wearing costumes equalling $100.

So I struck up a deal with the kids. Nathan stayed home to be in the house while Joseph napped, Rebekah went with me (because I couldn't talk her out of it) to watch Leah and Daniel perform. Everyone was of the understanding that we would go there, listen, clap, etc., and then double-time it right back out. Rebekah actually lacked a bit of understanding on that but didn't break down when it was time to go. The reward for their sacrifice would be a trip to the zoo one day after school when the crowds would be gone. We're waiting to see what Thursday is like.

So we got to the BIG city park where the zoo is and all the other Earth Day events were being held - ABSOLUTELY NO PARKING. I circled twice, letting Leah and Daniel off after the first trip. (I was hoping they'd be able to make it in on their own. I'm just the right parent for teaching survival skills to my 8 and 5-year-old!)

I eventually made my way out of the park and found parking in an adjoining parking lot belonging to the 4-H people. That parking was actually a little closer than some of the spaces I couldn't get in the park. And the really bad part? We passed that parking lot on our approach to the zoo. "Something" told me to park there. But, NO, I am smarter than the the "something" and thought I could find something closer. When will I ever learn?

So here are some pictures of the incredibly cute singers. The other kids are nice-looking, too. They did a really good job, considering the llama thing next door tried to share a dust storm with them and the bird on the other side tried to drown them out. Their Spring performance is May 16th. That's a Saturday. It's at 4 pm and it's free. It lasts about an hour. Any who would like to come are welcome.

For those of you following the kitten saga, here is a picture from last Monday when there were still two kittens. (I'm in my pajamas, so please focus on the kittens, not me.) The one partly off the towel is the one surviving baby. It's eyes opened yesterday. It seems to have survived the huge DUMPing of snow we got this morning. Each day I find it still breathing, I have a little more hope for it. I may let Leah be the one to name it, should we get that far, because she's been praying for it the most.

Good-bye 2008

I know I've been MIA for a while. Honestly, I was getting ready for Christmas and then I was recovering from Christmas. And then I realized this afternoon that I hadn't finished blogging about the events of the month. Not only is the month nearly over, but the year too! Are you the type to be spurred on by deadlines? I inflict my own deadlines and the ending of the year seems pretty significant...so I'm sneaking this last post in for the year. We've begun our big New Year's Eve celebration and the kids are watching "Shrek 2" while I type. (Incidentally, they watched this exact same show last New Year's Eve. Doesn't the station have a budget for a new movie?)

Anyway...I've got a bunch of pictures to share with you. Some of you are groaning, but I hope at least 3 of you are excited!

Here are our 'decorating the Christmas tree' shots. I've only posted 3, so be grateful!

All of the kids (barely) by the tree. It's it beautiful? It's our $20 special from the Stop'n'Shop. We weren't into driving into the mountains this year. (Bah Humbug) It looked the best if you were standing by the front door - perfect for all those people delivering treats and getting a peek inside!

We had to get Chad involved for the star. (I did the lights while he was at work.) Daniel is still helping and Rebekah is...well...Rebekah is being herself.

Joseph was very excited to get his little fingers around so many shiny objects. He's also learned what the camera does and politely stops for his picture to be taken. Too bad we didn't wash his face after dinner. I learned this year to appreciate plastic ornaments. Joseph couldn't resist a small, blue glass ornament and bit right into it. Chad gave him a little sip of water which caused him to throw up some sparkly blue bits. I threw the glass ornaments in the trash when we cleaned up the Christmas stuff this week.

Rebekah REALLY wanted to vacuum one day. Here is her first experience as a homemaker. The vacuum is bigger than she is!

If you will recall my pathetic invitation to the TaVaci Christmas concert, you'll know the event has already passed. I'm glad no one actually came because a huge snowstorm blew in that evening. The roads were horrible and the van disappeared under 8" of snow in two hours.

But I did have my camera so you can see a tiny bit of what you missed. Here are both Leah and Daniel. How convenient that they were standing close enough to be in the same shot! (I have no idea who that other girl is.)

Here's Leah in some sunglasses for one of her songs. Funny!

Daniel had a speaking part this year. This was his joke. :)

Traditionally, Santa comes at the end of the concert every Christmas. Here are each of the kids sitting on his lap.

Joseph wasn't too sure he liked the man, but he didn't cry. He DID accept a candy cane. He's still too young to have the talk about taking candy from strangers.

While I was standing there getting pictures of the kids, Chad came up to me and asked me if I recognized the santa. I knew it was someone that knew our family because he always seemed to know when to look at me when one of my kids climbed on his knee. I thought he would be someone from our last ward, since the TaVaci director is in that ward. Turns out, it's Chad's 1st counselor in THIS ward. In small towns, you just never know how you're going to find yourself connected to other people!

We decorated gingerbread people one evening. How exciting that was! The kids REALLY liked shaking the sugar on.

Why is this boy licking the KNIFE?

I finally got the Christmas pajamas finished. Aren't they cute? Joseph's devilish smile is because every time we sat him down to get a picture, he started coming after me. He thought it was a great game. It's so hard to get 5 kids to pose for a picture!

He's trying to get away here, too. Nathan is holding him down for a half a second. Joseph was having the most fun of everyone.

After I got done yelling at the kids during the pictures and completely losing my patience, we decorated a gingerbread house. My poor kids, they're only going to have memories of their crazy mother yelling at them during times that were supposed to be fun. (I'm aware of the problem and working on it.)

'Twas the night before Christmas and the grinchy mother barely got the stockings out of the storage bin. They were never hung anywhere...just kept in a heap on the top of the bin. But you can see that we did HAVE stockings. I even put Joseph's name on his stocking...mere hours before this photo. (It was his 2nd Christmas after all. I should get the name on there so he doesn't see the pictures in 6 years and feel bad.) That's Nathan...right above his own stocking.

While I did get lots of video on Christmas morning, got zero pictures. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Chad took this picture of the kids. He'd refinished an old chalkboard that's been hanging on the wall of the garage. It's now mounted on the wall of the toy room downstairs.

And Chad's gift had to come the day after Christmas as there was a huge storm we were waiting to see the end of. One of our friends was making a workbench for me (for Chad) and they'd left it for us in their garage when they left town for Christmas. They wouldn't let me pay for anything except the materials. It is a huge, sturdy beast. It was quite the challenge to get it loaded into the back of Chad's truck. I think he likes it! ;)

And that's the end of the our celebration update! The kids' movie is almost over and our fun and games will begin. It's none too soon as Rebekah is getting cranky and obviously tired of sitting on the bed for so long.

If I didn't actually say it, we had a really good Christmas. The kids were pleased with their gifts. They were up before 2 AM and finally got their sleepy parents out of bed at 5:15. We were opening the last gifts as the sky was barely beginning to lighten. We stayed warm and content inside while it snowed and blew outside. It was really nice to not have to think of packing up and driving anywhere.

We had 3 visitors last night (Chad's sisters - Monica and Pamela, and Pamela's fiance, John) and my mom and step-dad on Saturday. I guess if you're stubborn enough, people will come to you! he he

2008 was a really good year for our family. We had some trials, but nothing that left any scars. I look forward to the new year with anticipation. I expect struggles and sadness, but I hope that I will have enough trust and faith in God to maintain perspective and endure to the end. :) I have an awesome husband, 5 fabulous kids, good health, a warm home and good friends and family. I am so blessed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Christmas letter correction

This is like bonus material at the end of a DVD.

I was just rereading the letter I printed nearly 30 times and sent out to 26 different people when I finally realized why it bothered me to say that it's Leah's first year of TaVaci. DUH! It's her SECOND. Sorry... I know that some of you are wondering why I even bother to mention it, but others of you will know that it's not her first year and I just wanted that group of people to know that I finally caught that. I'm just not about to actually contact you all individually to point it out.

Also, this is SUPER SHORT notice, but the kids' TaVaci Christmas concert is this Saturday at 4pm. If you wanted to come :) It's free. Just so you know you're invited. Sorry.

Christmas already?

Christmas seems to have come early this year. In fact, most of the past year seems to have sped by.

Last week we took the kids Christmas shopping for each other. It wasn't that I wanted to get it done, but rather was the prize of a bribe. I needed the boys to clean their room and bathroom, but was getting zero participation. So, I devised a plan on the spot. It was 10 AM and my deal was: Get the work done by 11 = we'll go Christmas shopping. Get the work done by 11:30 (lunchtime)= no promise for shopping, but no one is in trouble. For every 15 minutes past 11:30 it took to be finished, the boys would be grounded after school one day. Nathan was "on board" from the start, but Daniel challenged me. So I told Nathan that if he worked hard, he would be rewarded and Daniel would receive the punishments. Leah voluntarily joined in the effort and they were done in time for shopping. :)

We went a different route for presents this year. Last year we let the kids each pick something for each brother or sister. This year we told them they would work together to buy a group gift = each person only gets one present, but we won't be throwing it away in January. We got some nice gifts for them this time. I'm just glad it's not junk!

So I was wrapping those up earlier this week and felt sure that I'd never wrapped Christmas presents so early!

And then last night was the Festival of Trees performance for TaVaci. Daniel and Leah participated again. I was so surprised that it was time for this so soon, but remembered that it was even earlier last year. I am so confused lately! I need to get Thanksgiving behind me and then everything will seem more "real".

Here are the pictures from last night. I had to lighten the stage pictures since my camera flash couldn't quite reach far enough to do anything more than turn their eyes red!

Leah is center, front.

Daniel is obvious. ;)

Joseph is ready to go home!

It rained on our parade

Today was Spud Day. Idaho would cease to be Idaho if we didn't celebrate potatoes! I think this was the 80th annual Spud Day (or something like that). There is always a parade, complete with 10 (at least) fire trucks of various ages and models, but all with loud sirens. There are even floats and anyone cool (or not in a marching band) throws candy.

It has been a rather dry summer here in Eastern Idaho. Until today. Two days left of summer and it dumped on us. It was a cold rain. It was a thorough rain. I was thoroughly wet. But at least I wasn't riding on an open float, singing songs and trying to look excited. That was Daniel and Leah's lot. I just sat trying to get some pictures and video while keeping the cameras dry. We had one umbrella. Since I had the jacket, Chad got the baby (and accompanying blanket) and the umbrella. Eventually, I got Rebekah to sit on my lap and help shield me from the rain. (She was wrapped in a big blanket with Nathan. I'm not completely heartless!)

We made it through the end of the parade, but skipped the free potatoes, expensive rides, commercial booths and food vendors with $4 hot dogs. I'm assuming the mashed potato tug-of-war still happened. At least the losers would have been able to shower immediately after getting out of the gooey potatoes!

Here are some soggy pictures. Gotta love the expressions! See if you can find Daniel and Leah on the TaVaci trailer. (Pretend we're playing hide and seek or Where's Waldo.)

We came home and had hot chocolate with our lunch. And since it didn't rain continuously, Chad and I went out to set more fence posts. This is a never ending job! At least it was cooler weather to work in and it even came with mandatory rest periods. When the rain would come down too hard, we'd take a rest. Period. We (he) got 8 posts set today.

I counted the holes left outside. It looks like we have 18 fence posts to go. Then Chad has to brace certain posts and then stretch the wire. After that he gets to hang 4 gates. He wanted to be done before the next weekend is over. I think he'll be lucky to be done before the snow starts stickin'. And I can't help but wonder where the $$ for the wire and gates is coming from. Maybe we'll rent out the kids.

TaVaci Concert

Here are the promised TaVaci pictures and videos. This one is from after the concert. The flash really got their faces! These next four pictures are from the performance and back stage. I had to do a little photoshop magic to lighten the pictures enough to see, so the picture is a little off-color. I guess my photography skills were lacking a bit. It's hard to be really skilled with a digital camera. For your convenience, I've pointed out Daniel and Leah in the first shot.



These videos are of Daniel's special number, "Time Out" and Leah's group's jungle medley. Daniel is 2nd from the left and Leah is the first row, 3rd from left. The little theater had good spotlights, seemingly trained right on their faces! Oh well, you just need to hear, not actually see, right?

May-ry Christmas!

Yes, folks, it's May. I think that's supposed to be a spring month full of beautiful flowers and blossoming trees. But here is a picture shot yesterday, late afternoon. Yesterday was May 9th. Summer starts next month. No flowers, but lots of snow flakes. Luckily, it was gone today and the weather was PERFECT. I even rode the riding lawn mower and mowed 3/4 of the lawn. Crazy Idaho.

The big TaVaci concert was this afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa Black and cousins Ethan and Andrew came to watch and support Daniel and Leah and play with everyone. (Do you realize that I just used 6 'and's in that sentence?) I have some pictures and videos, but I also have laundry. So maybe I'll get it posted tomorrow.

The kids had fun playing with their cousins and grandparents. Thank you for coming!!

You're invited

This Saturday is the Spring TaVaci concert. You are ALL invited to the performance! It starts at 4pm and usually lasts about an hour. It's free. If you're actually interested in coming, let me know, and I'll give you directions.


Also,

Up to no good

I've been trying to keep out of trouble lately. Here's a little of the past week or so.

A small quilt top


We made strawberry syrup and strawberry jam from a flat of strawberries. Chad is using the Squeezo. I love that thing! It gets out the juice and separates it from the pulp and seeds. Not so fun to wash it though.
A whole flat of strawberries and this is all we get??




I made a batch of bread yesterday. This time, it did not cave in and make itself into a bread bowl loaf. However, I am having a problem with the tops of my loaves sinking a bit and leaving me with a wrinkled crust. Anyone have any suggestions? Share them in the comments!

I mopped the floor tonight. I realize that some of you will not think this is anything worth mentioning. If that is the case for you, let me introduce myself. Hi. I'm Arlyn. I don't often mop my floor. When you come for a visit, please don't take your shoes off.

I also cleaned up the laundry room which had been terrorized by muddy boots all winter. It was an all day effort, but it looks so much nicer!

I bought 12 yards of fabric this afternoon to make dining room curtains. It cost me just under $50. That is my motivation to actually make the curtains! When you come for a visit, please mention how cute they are! (But give me a couple of weeks to make them.)

Nathan and Joseph got shots yesterday. Nathan got his last chicken pox shot and Joseph just about got everything. Poor kid. He woke up with a little fever this morning, but slept for a good chunk of the night! Rebekah and Joseph are on the down side of ear infections.

Daniel signed up for pee wee baseball tonight. It's more like a clinic, I think. It's only about a month long. Perfect!!! He still gets a T-shirt out of it, so he'll have something to brag about until he outgrows it (in two years at the rate he's growing). Anyway, he's quite excited about it. I said I'd only sign him up if he would quit complaining about going to TaVaci for the rest of the season. He starts to get TaVaci burn out near the end of each semester. I'm not a pushy mom, though! I don't make him sign up...I just make him finish. He gets a trophy when they graduate the kids in 6th grade. Part of him wants the trophy...part of him doesn't (the vocal part).

And for those who would like to and are able to, the Spring TaVaci concert is May 10th. That's a Saturday. It would be over about 7 pm, I'm guessing. It's free and you can watch Daniel and Leah on stage. You can also watch Nathan in the seats. He gets restless about 3/4 the way through and starts asking when it's over.

I have been doing a lot of laundry lately as Rebekah is timing her bathroom trips poorly. The boys just chose to wet their pants. Leah never did. But it seems like Rebekah is creating more laundry than any of the others ever did. It's been interesting. The little spot of linoleum by the toilet gets cleaned almost daily. And you should know that goes against my cleaning nature!

Other than that, I haven't been doing much. And my house shows it. On a happier note, I have been more patient and slower to anger with the kids. We're having nicer days all around. (I still want them to leave me alone while I eat my breakfast!)

Wells, Wails and Wills

Last Monday was an interesting day for us. There was a pretty heavy snowfall that day and we were enjoying finally getting something worthwhile. I was working on laundry and found my washer humming but doing nothing. I had to advance the knob until things started going again and was thinking that the washer was really on it's last cycle. (It came with our first house. I think it's about 15 years old now.) When I tried to start the next load, it wouldn't even turn on! So much for giving me warning. Then I got a tickle in the back of my brain (ever get one of those?) and decided to see if we had water in the house. Two faucets later confirmed that the washer was probably ok, but we were in trouble!

We have a private well and don't have any experience with that type of thing. Worse than not having water was that I couldn't call up the city for help. So I called Chad. Chad called a pump guy that his partner knows from church. A very friendly Grandpa came out to help us. I'm guessing he's in his late 70's. His truck tires are bald and he slid past our house when he first arrived. He eventually determined that the pump was fine (thank goodness) which would save us about $1000. The problem seemed to be the electrical cable from the house to the pump had gone bad somewhere under ground. Grandpa didn't have any cable on his truck so he was gone for about an hour to get more. While he's on his errand (and I was hoping that he didn't slide off the road somewhere out there with his bald tires in our big day of snow), Chad is digging holes in the frozen ground. Parts of the cable are waiting until spring to be buried. I had mud all over my house! Over $300 and 5 hours later, we had water again.

I was just dying during all of this thinking of the three 55-gallon water drums that Chad had to empty at the old house to move them over. What a waste! And now I'm mildly panicked that the power will go out and the well pump won't work. There's got to be a way to break into the line to hook up a generator if needed. (The folks in the mid-west are now past a week with no power since their ice storms.)

So the washer didn't need to be replaced, but for that price, we could have started shopping for a new one.

In another topic (do you like my segue?), Joseph has been rather cranky. And he's always hungry. ALWAYS. He settles down best for me, but sometimes that hasn't been enough. He's usually willing to eat, but I don't always have enough to satisfy his hunger. Then I started thinking about it last night. I don't think I've been producing as much milk this time. I seldom feel the "let down" and never get uncomfortable from too much milk. I know that I'm supposed to let him nurse even if it doesn't seem there's anything there because the supply will increase with demand. I'm not sure that will be enough. And he's too frustrated to suck at an empty fountain.

So last night I made him his first bottle of formula. He was having a hard time getting used the nipple and was sucking like he was nursing instead of using a bottle. But he took over 2 ounces and was fast asleep. Was this the first time in days or weeks that he's been full? How sad to think he's been so cranky because he's been hungry. He surely wasn't starving, because we're not saving any money on diapers. He did sleep for 4 1/2 hours after that. YAHOO!!! I didn't sleep that whole time (thanks, Rebekah), but it was still really nice. I nursed him this morning (I was halfway full) and then had to give him the remaining bottle this morning before he stopped wailing. Now he's asleep in the swing (hence the reason you're even reading a blog post from me!).

Since we're in baby mode around here, I was talking to a friend about babies and we were mentioning how good of a baby Rebekah was. And she really was a great baby! (Especially compared to my friend's youngest!) And now that great baby has grown into a very willful child. It doesn't bother her to get in trouble and she wants NO help from anyone. I nearly lost my mind watching her get dressed this morning. If I was struggling that much, I would beg for help! But every time I offered to help her, she firmly turned me down. I'm sure this determination will serve her well if she keeps it. It may be the undoing of her mother. As for her sister, she's not so much willful as she is full of attitude. I really don't stand a chance!

The kids had their TaVaci Christmas Concert on Saturday. Daniel and Leah did VERY well! I'm sure Leah was the youngest one on stage, but she seemed to know (mostly) the words and actions. Daniel was full of energy and I even picked out his voice a few times. We were so proud of them! I have some videos/pictures of that as well as visiting Santa at the grocery store (wait until you see his Pepsi throne) that I will put up soon. We're all so excited that Christmas is only a week away! Chad is more panicked than excited since he still has a bit of shopping to do. That is his traditional way of handling the holiday! :)

Microphones and Kittens

Those two words don't seem to really go together, but pretend with me. It keeps me from having to post two separate times. (We really are lucky to be getting this one.)

I've had a request to blog about my stunning performance on stage Thursday night. And since one person said they were interested, I figured there had to be at least one other curious person out there. So for those two people, I will give you all the fascinating details.

First, I have to say that Daniel's TaVaci performance was very cute. Daniel did ham it up a bit, but not as obvious as the Christmas concert. All of the numbers performed were cute and well done with exception for a number did by some older boys. They didn't have enough volume to project the words they were singing. (That's probably the only time those boys are too quiet!) I've ordered a DVD of the evening, so we can relive the show over and over.

One of the funnier parts of the evening was when Daniel stepped up to the microphone for a speaking part and ended up about two inches below it. He kind of stood there in a helpless/goofy sort of way until the teacher came up and lowered it for him.



After Daniel's show was over, we all (my mom & step-dad, my dad, and my little family) piled into two cars and drove about 5 blocks to another building where our stake and the community Methodist church were combing for a night of musical talents. I had been asked to perform a song with some other ladies from church. Notice I said "perform" and not "sing." It would have been much easier to simply sing as I am not a performer. I let these women know that I was going WAY out of my sizable comfort zone to do any actions. I have to admit that only singing would have been boring (but safe).

We sang "Sisters" in 3 parts. I was first soprano. The 2nd soprano and alto are much taller than I (who isn't, right?) so we started out the song only to stop after singing about 3 measures so I could go and get a stool to stand on. We got some good laughs off of that. We did different motions throughout the song and had a part in the middle that was about 25 measures of patting out a rhythm on our legs then clapping and snapping. We never could get it perfected, but it was good enough. After a refrain and a few more measures of patting/clapping/snapping, I jumped off my stool on the last note from the piano.

I was glad when it was all over! I had been thinking and worrying about that dumb song for 2 weeks. It didn't help that I had been feeling pretty sick the whole day.

Speaking of sick, take a look at this video of the kittens. This was the last time I let them eat at the same time. It was by special invitation only after this disgusting brawl.



I was having a hard time trying to figure out how they could go from this










to this (don't miss clicking on this picture!)










in such a short time. I cleaned the bathtub AND bathed all 5 kittens twice on Friday. Normally, I don't like smells in my house. Lately, I can't stand them. So while I was getting ready to clean the tub Saturday morning, I decided that if I could take care of the kittens, so could someone else! (I had been waiting until they were a little older before trying to find them homes.)

I bathed the 3 male kittens and boxed them up with a FREE KITTENS sign. The girls and I (Chad and the boys weren't back from the Father/Sons Campout) drove to the parking lot of the town's grocery store where they were having a community garage sale. A sunburn and two hours later, I returned home without the kittens. So now we only have to two females left and things don't get quite as messy. As soon as the two kittens get older and show their personalities, we'll keep one and find a home for the other. (The females are the gray and white kittens in the litter box.)

So now, there won't be any more of this! Sheesh! You can barely see the plate!



I have cleaned this tub more in the past week than in the whole 3 years we have lived here!

I will survive!

I have been feeling better. Still not all the way there, but I have been getting more done and sleeping less. Three more weeks of this?

We temporarily gained 5 kittens this week. They are in the bathtub. I have to clean the kittens and the bathtub on a daily basis. (That goes so nicely with how I feel.) When they stop using their litterbox as a playground, things should be much nicer. I'm guessing they are 5-6 weeks old. I'll have to post pictures later. Anyone want to adopt a kitten or two?

Leah has entered a new phase in her language skills. She likes to abbreviate words. She wants a banan for a snack, a drink of wad when she's thirsty, and wants to be covered up with her blank at bedtime. If it's this hard to understand her when she's 3, what ever will we do when she's 13?

Tonight is Daniel's big TaVaci Spring concert. He's got 3 grandparents driving up to see him. Then, I have to run over to a different building and sing a song with some ladies in a community music thing. I haven't been looking forward to this night for a couple of weeks now. I'll be glad to wake up tomorrow morning and have it all behind me. It will be fun and stressful at the same time.

In honor of Daniel's TaVaci day, here are some pictures and a movie from the end of April when he sang at the zoo for Arbor Day. The movie is kind of long, but I didn't feel like editing. The group he's in is pre-K to 1st grade. Notice how he's about the shortest? (He's the boy at the far end.) Please excuse the unsteady camera. I was trying to control Leah and Rebekah.