Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Mommy luncheon at Preschool

Wendy is a gifted teacher! Peyton has learned so much from her this year and she loves preschool! Wendy is extremely organized and does everything beautifully.

For Mother's Day, Wendy and the girls hosted a Mommy's luncheon that we got to dress up for. We received Mother's Day balloons, placemats with questions about us answered by our daughters, and a beautiful purple tulip in a vase decorated just for us. We had delicious menu, complete with chocolate mousse! The girls also sang us a great song about mother's. We totally felt spoiled!



Check out Peyton's answers about me!

Blossoms of spring...




Every spring there is a short window where the blossoms on our cherry tree are stunningly beautiful and deliciously fragrant. The sound of buzzing bees seems to float along with the scent. One beautiful spring morning I tried to capture their beauty, but I can't capture the scent, the sun making the blossom petals almost translucent, the breeze, and the sound of buzzing bees. It is moments like these that I feel Heavenly Father's great love for us to give us an earth so beautiful.

"School's Out for Summer!"





We are all excited for school to be out for the summer. Both Morgan and Trevor had a great year and have the report cards to reflect it. I am so proud of them! Now let's go have some FUN!

Girl Power


I can't tell you how happy it makes me to sing with these ladies! This spring has been a whirlwind. We recorded a Christmas CD in February so we got a late start on our spring program which we titled "Girl Power." The program takes us on a journey of the phases of a woman's life; from growing up and having some fun, to falling in love, to serving each other and our communities, and especially being mothers. We had a lot of fun (and a few extra rehearsals) trying to put all these songs together. I'm sure they could still use a bit of polish, but I am fairly pleased with where we got with the amount of music we had and the short time we had.

After performances all May I am ready for a little break, but it won't be long before I miss singing (and socializing) with these incredible women. By August I will be ready to go.

The video was taken at our gig on Monday. Sadly it was at a location that had a painfully out of tune piano, but we just roll with the punches. We were also missing Dianne who was very sick. :( Joy and Emily were awesome, filling in for her solo and accompaniment. Hope you enjoy a few of our songs. If you want to see all the songs from our program, you can go here.

Dancing Queen


If Ever I Would Leave You


Operator


I Hope You Dance


The Mom Song


I'm a Woman

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Springtime in New York

How lucky am I that I have a dear friend who lives in Manhattan that likes when I come to visit? The answer: SUPER lucky! Having a newborn at home last year, I didn't get to take what I would like to think is my yearly trip to the musical theater mecca.

This year I was thrilled when I booked my ticket and was beyond excited to visit with Celia. I couldn't wait for the fun adventures we had planned! I got in late Wednesday night and we couldn't help staying up far too late chatting. I felt really badly because Celia had to work the next morning.

On Thursday I got to sleep in and tried to get over the giddiness of being just in charge of me. I headed up to midtown to go to MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. I really enjoyed walking around and exploring the exhibits. It was exciting to see some of my favorites, such as Van Gogh's Starry Night. There were also some amazing works of Picasso that I loved seeing in person. Perhaps this is just me showing how uneducated I am, but I started to lose interest in the works that were a little too "modern." I'm sorry, but a plain black canvas? Or a bicycle wheel and a snow shovel? After a bit it seems like the are pushing boundaries for the sake of pushing boundaries rather than really trying to express something. If any readers out there are better versed in modern art feel free to set me straight...

After exploring the museum for awhile, I took the subway back down to to Chelsea to meet a new friend. After reconnecting with my friend, Adam, on facebook I somehow stumbled onto his wife's blog. Nell is an amateur photographer that loves food, especially cheese, travel, and figuring out what she wants to do with her life. She was doing a 365 project and posting a picture a day. Over the last year I have loved looking at her work and getting to know her in the process. When I knew I was heading to NYC, I asked if we could meet. I had such a wonderful time meeting Nell, talking with her, eating the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich of my life (apple rhubarb chutney!), and walking along High Line Park taking photographs. She was even more fun in real life! It was also a treat to walk to Adam's office and see him again.


That evening I met up with Celia and her friend Brigitte to go to "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" with Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette. Loved it! Wan't really expecting to see Harry Potter sing and dance, but he did a great job! Even though I wasn't really familiar with the show, I really enjoyed it. I especially loved the set and the closing number made me (and the rest of the theater) want to stand up and cheer! Great show!



Friday was another fantastic day on my own. I headed up to the Museum of Natural History and explore around there for several hours. Not having to keep track of little people I was able to wander freely and listen to my book. I then walked through Central Park on the way back to Ceila's.



One of the bonuses about moving my trip from April was the fact that I got to meet Celia's boyfriend, Quincy. I was so excited to meet him! He came over for dinner on Friday night before we headed out to Jazz Standard to listen to New York Voices. Their set was amazing! I have been a fan since high school and it was such a treat to hear them live. The club was smaller so we had great seats. I was so impressed with their musicianship and how they voiced all their songs. Total pros! I want to be like that someday!

This part is kinda fun. Quincy is an amazing jazz musician and it turned out that he has actually played with New York Voices and several of the band members. After the set they came up to talk to him and we got to meet and talk with a couple of the members. So cool!

Quincy with Kim Nazarian of New York Voices

I also loved getting to see my beautiful friend Brittany Mayer. She happened to be in town for the week from California. We have known each other since high school and I simply adore her. It was fun to catch up with her. Celia and I were looking forward to seeing her perform on Saturday. We were having fun singing and goofing around so she asked us to sing with her the next night. Celia had the brilliant idea of singing "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" by the Andrew Sisters. We spent a few minutes working out some of the harmonies outside the club so we could be ready for the following night.


Saturday we walked down to Chelsea Market for some brunch before going to see a matinee of Wonderland. I enjoyed most of the musical numbers, but the story seemed a bit disjointed. Not the best show I have ever seen. We then walked over to Don't Tell Mama for a quick run-through with Brittany before her performance began. Brittany was a star and I absolutely love her gorgeous voice and ease of performance. It was such a treat being there to watch her perform and then an added bonus to sing with her and Celia.






After the show we hung out with Brittany and some of her friends before taking off and getting some cheesecake at Junior's. Of course, I had to bring Ken some real New York cheesecake. Yummy! On the way home we walked through Times Square and snapped a few pictures.



Sunday, after sleeping in, we headed down to Soho for a little shopping and lunch before I had to catch my plane. I can't tell you how I enjoyed my trip -- reconnecting with friends and making new ones. It feels deliciously selfish to only have to worry about me and what I want to do for a couple of days out of the year. It is the perfect way to rejuvenate! It makes me excited to be back with my fantastic family again. I think it also helps Ken appreciate how I hold down the fort. So grateful that I have the support for Ken and good friends who watch my kiddos so I can get away. Thanks Celia for having me. NYC in the spring is perfect for recharging my batteries!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Morgan's Choir Concert -- The Soaring Singers!

Morgan's choir concert was last week and she was excited to perform all the songs she has been working on this semester. They performed "I've Been to Harlem", "Al Sholsha D'Varim", "Heal the World", and "Rockin' Robin." Mrs. Keller asked Ken to accompany on a couple of the numbers, but he didn't get the music until that day. Lucky for the choir, Ken is amazing and the songs went off without a hitch despite it being the first, and only, time with the choir.

Sadly, I was flying to NYC (I was unaware of the concert date when I booked my ticket) and I missed the concert. I was glad to see the numbers on video and thought the choir students did a great job. My favorite was "Rockin' Robin" because the kids had such a good time with it! I also liked "Al Sholsha D'Varim." I included the video because Trevor on the camera job cracked me up -- it is pretty wobbly (more evidence to the fact that he cannot sit still)!

Enjoy!

Rockin' Robin


I've Been to Harlem

Happy Mother's Day! (But not your average Mother's Day. Thank Goodness!)

***WARNING: Gross picture at the end of the post!***

So there I was, just waking up from a delightful nap on Mother's Day and deciding to hide out in my room while Ken made dinner. Then I heard a crash, a cry, and the kids running up to tell me that Cooper was hurt. I ran downstairs to see pools of blood on the floor. NOT GOOD! I ran into the kitchen to see Ken holding some tissues to Cooper's head and Cooper's polo soaked with a lot of blood. I grabbed a bunch paper towels, put them to where it seemed the blood was coming from, and starting trying to calm a hysterical baby. Ken started cleaning up the blood. Once the flow of blood slowed down, I finally peeked at Cooper's forehead to see what had happened to him. Ken filled in the details.

Ken was making dinner and I think Cooper wanted to see what was going on so he got up on the dining chair facing the back. The chair fell over with him on it and the back of the chair went right into his forehead. It left quite the gash!

Ken and I both thought that a trip to the ER was imminent, but we called out friend Blaine for his professional opinion -- he is a PA at a children's emergency room down in Denver. He was at our door within a few minutes and confirmed our need to go the the ER. He then helped Ken give Cooper a blessing and offered to take the rest of our kids with him back to his house. Talk about full service! We were/are so grateful for dear friends that are willing to help on a moments notice, even on Mother's Day!

We headed to Longmont Hospital and lucked out that there was not much of a wait. Within a few hours Cooper was stitched up and we were on our way back home. We were glad that they did not have to sedate him while they did his stitches -- the nurses wrapped him up in a sheet with his arms to his side, one nurse held his head, another nurse held is body, and I got to be where he could see me, rub his chest, and sing to him while the PA stitched him up with a long whip stitch.

Cooper was a trooper and was calm for most of the time at the hospital. Before the PA came in to stitch him up we had to grab a quick picture. I'm sure that someday he will want to see the cause of his first trip to the ER. Hopefully it will be his last for some time!


Crush!

Morgan has chosen to try out softball this spring. So far she is having a BLAST and learning tons of new skills. Her favorite position, as of now, is pitching. Her first game she did really well and was one of only a couple of girls who had a hit off of a pitch. (Since this is a beginning league, after a pitcher pitches 4 balls, the hitter gets a chance to hit it off a tee.) We are enjoying going to her games! Go Crush!

Swing batter, batter!


Trying her hand at catching.


And of course I has to get a couple of pictures of the beautiful mountains that were part of our view as we watched the game...


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Peyton's Dance Recital

Last weekend Peyton had her dance recital. Actually there were two! Mrs. Wittler's studio's has grown so much that they had to add a late performance. Peyton was trilled to be on the stage! She had a great class and the girls loved being together. They got to dance to "On the Good Ship Lollipop" by Shirley Temple. It was fun to be there cheering her on and supporting her. I was really proud of her efforts and I hope she continues to dance. It fits her dramatic personality perfectly. :)










On the Good Ship Lollipop