Playing in the Park!

The kids are playing in the park on the 4th. They take the stage at 12:40, after our friend Adam is done. We love company!

Lil' Betty Crocker

I slept in super late this morning (which was quite nice, especially since I normally can't stay asleep) and Erin decided it would be nice to cook some "breakfast in bed". When I finally woke up, she was hard at work in the kitchen.

I think I said something in passing to her like, "Don't wipe your hands on your pants." She said, "I'm not!" Busted!


I made her pose for photos.... and as I drew near for a close up of her face, she said, "I don't have flour on my FACE, do I?" Yes ma'am!

Her scones turned out wonderful, especially since it was her first time baking from scratch. She's going to be a powerhouse in the kitchen one day. Our next task: teaching her to wear an apron!

The Jazz Band Trip: Episode One - Santa Monica Pier

Trav, Erin and I joined the junior high Jazz Band for their annual trip to California. It was really fun to get to know the band teacher more, and to hang out with the kids while we played for three days. I'll be posting a ton of photos (although not as many as I'd like to, but that's another story for another day's episode). These posts won't be in chronological order... they will be in the order of the photos I like the best. That being said, let's start our journey on Day 2 with our visit to Santa Monica Pier.

The Jazz Band is made up of a group of truly talented kids, with an incredible instructor. They played at the end of the pier to a very appreciative audience. There was even a visit from some special guests... which we are claiming came to hear the music!

Miah's best friend joined us on this trip - he loves the roller coasters! (I'm sure him wanting to go with us had NOTHING to do with the fact that his FRIEND GIRL is in the Jazz Band as well.) We loved spending his birthday with him, and it was nice for Erin to have someone to hang out with while Miah and his best friend's friend girl did their band stuff.

My children have merfolk in their ancestry somewhere, I'm sure. They love the water and it is impossible to keep them out of it. The instant they could, they were out up to their ears in the sand and waves. They would have been happy staying there for the remainder of the trip.

Did I mention that the weather was wonderful?!? Not too hot, not too cold, not too wet. We heard it rained at home the entire week we were gone. I'm glad we found a little bit of warm and sunshine!

Graduating, Growing Up, and.... Signalling the Home Planet?!?

My word... how time flies. It doesn't seem like THAT long ago that I was growing out my asymmetrical haircut, forgiving my best friend for kissing the boy I liked, and packing up my circulation-constricting-impossible-to-actually-walk in boots. (As a funny side note here, a few days ago my best friend asked me if I had ever let the BOY know that I liked him. It seems quite silly now, but I never did! My best friend and I didn't speak to each other for SIXTEEN YEARS and the boy never knew why we had a fight!) Now, here I am being the mother of teenagers. Miah graduated from the ninth grade this week. When he goes back to school in the fall, he will not only be a high school sophomore, but he'll also be a student at Weber State University. (He's attending the Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science, which is an early college charter high school.) How did I get old enough to be the mother of a college student?!? As if that wasn't bad enough, Erin starts school in the fall as a high school freshman.

Nothing fills a mother with as much pride as realizing

it's her child and his friends gathering up the balloons

to suck the helium out of after the graduation ceremony.

So, we are embarking on the dramatic, tumultuous times that are being a teen. And my children - just like all of us that went before them, and all of those who will follow after them - are up to their elbows in angst-filled theatrics. It is really difficult as an adult to remember just how overwhelmingly important and significant every little word spoken or gesture made can be. It's even harder as a parent to let them struggle through and find their way, instead of just solving their problems for them. Luckily, our "problems" right now revolve around the big group of friends and their entertainment choices, (Erin doesn't like to just sit and watch movies, and Erin has never been known to be tactful and quiet about what she thinks, so she complained, which hurt one friend's feelings, who said something that hurt Erin's feelings, which brought out the big brother in Miah, who said something else that re-hurt already tender feelings, and then something else got said, someone else didn't want to do something else.....) but to the children, this is a huge life-altering problem. All I can think as the texts are whizzing back and forth are two things: 1 - This too shall pass, and you can all stay friends and it's really not as big a deal as it has turned into. Keep your chins up and put your smiles back on! There is a reason you are all friends, and if you keep that reason in sight, the rest becomes trivial. 2 - I am SO glad I'm not a teenager anymore!

As you can see, Miah just adores having his photo taken. Luckily his (not yet, as neither of them are sixteen yet, but they are soon-to-be)girlfriend finally smiled so we could get an almost decent shot of them together at the ice cream party at the friend's house after graduation!

With the approach of the summer, Erin is going through a restless time herself. One thing that has always filled that need for change in her is to change her hair. We have a great friend named Nicole that does hair, who is willing to come over to our house and indulge Erin's whim. I have to confess that this month she indulged mine as well. I was shopping at the local Shopko not very long ago, when the cashier - who was an older dame - asked me if I had my AARP card with me. When I informed her that I am "ONLY 35!" she replied with, "When my daughter finally got her card, she was so excited to get the discount, she didn't even lie about her age or anything." So, not only did she think I looked like a senior citizen... she also thought I was a liar to boot! Hrmph! Needless to say, I decided it was time to say goodbye to my grey hair, despite claiming through the entirety of my twenties that I was never going to be "one of THOSE people who can't accept their aging with grace." Oh, to remain so idealistic!

Erin has so much hair! By the time Nicole got done weaving and foiling, it looked like Erin had twelve pounds of aluminum on her dome! I, of course, informed her that it would help with the reception to her home world. Either that, or it would keep her head insulated if there were a supernova or nuclear attack eminent. Yeah, she thinks I'm funny.