Wicked: A Complicated Christmas Gift

The gift:  Tickets for our family to see Wicked at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis the day after Christmas.

The problem: A winter storm warning from 9:00pm Christmas night through 6:00pm the next day between here and St. Louis. The Forecast included white out conditions, blowing snow, and 6-9" of the white stuff. Poor traveling conditions. We live over two hours from St. Louis and worried we might not be able to get there if the storm was as bad as predicted.

The solution: Jeff called some friends he and the older kids met last summer who live 30 minutes from the Fox Theatre. They were happy to let us come and stay with them, on Christmas no less, so that we could avoid traveling in the storm and easily make it to the show the next day.

Our friends who saved the day. These guys sure know how to make you feel at home!

The end of the story: We had the best time! We loved spending time with our new friends - they really spoiled us with great company, good food and plenty of fun. We enjoyed Wicked and were inspired by the music and the message of the show. And... the storm missed us! It didn't snow, it didn't blow, and traveling conditions were perfect on our way home.

Can you tell that Savannah is excited?

The only snow we saw was on the ground when we arrived home. We only got an inch and Spencer used up a good portion of it on his cute little snowman that stands about 18" tall.

I'm so glad things turned out the way they did. It was a great two days we'll not soon forget.

He's Taken

We had some good music playing last night so Jeff and I started slow dancing in the living room. Sadie, a daddy's girl through and through, ran right over to us and announced,

"I'm sorry to say, but he's taken."

Then she promptly pushed me out of the way and took my place.

It's a good thing she's cute!

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to share this little clip of a favorite scene from A Muppet Christmas Carol.



We are so blessed!

Merry Christmas.

My Boys

I love this picture. It was taken by someone at the university during orchestra rehearsal one night and it totally makes me smile! I love how Sterling has his trusty pencil tucked behind his ear, as usual. And Sam is looking so handsome there in the background. I love my violin playing boys!

12-21-12: The Day the World Didn't End

Today is the day the world was supposed to end. Remember this? 

The Mayans definitely freaked plenty of people out! But the day is almost over and we're still here. Yay!

Ending the Season With Style

As usual, BYU had a great fourth quarter and convincingly beat SDSU in the Poinsettia Bowl tonight. Most of the points were scored by the defense - there were a LOT of turnovers - but we'll take them however they come!

Oh, and today is twelve-twenty twenty-twelve (12-20-2012). Say that five times fast. :)

Some friends invited us over for dinner. I didn't have to cook!

And Christmas Break starts now.

Yes, it's been a great day!

Showcasing Sterling

Sterling performed Allegro Brilliant Op. 19 by Ten Have in the semi-annual violin recital last night. After a small hiccup in his opening, he got into the groove and never looked back. He played his little heart out, playing his piece the best he's ever done. Savannah was his accompanist. These two make a great team!

Easy Ornaments

I had a box of small colored ornaments that I bought 3-4 years ago for a project I never finished.

Determined to make use of them this year, I stole an idea from my friend, Marcia, and made the red ones into Santa's coat. So easy!! All it took was a small strip of black vinyl and a little gold buckle, also cut from vinyl, around the middle. The blue ones were just begging to be BYU ornaments so a simple Y was all that was needed.

Hooray for simplicity and using up what I had on hand. I love how they turned out. :)

My Calendar: Due Dates

My to-do list usually looks like a big jumble of stream-of-consciousness tasks. On any given day it might say do laundry, make teacher gifts, return library books, make pie for ward party, and find a violin piece for Sam to play in church. A couple of those tasks might need to be done today, but most of them aren't pressing. The problem is, I look through my list and think, "I'll get started on teacher gifts," but I still have a week to finish those and the next thing I know, I owe a fine at the library and the boys have no clean socks!

I'm trying something new.

(I am the first to admit, this isn't rocket science. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever think of this.)

I took a blank calendar page and filled in dates beginning with today. Instead of writing everything I have to do on one jumbled list, I wrote each on the day that it needs to be completed (the due date, if you will). Now I can look at the calendar and work on things in a sensible order. This morning I'll make pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for Jeff's Pscychology Department Holiday Party. The recipe makes a ton so I'll save enough for the violin recital tomorrow - they're better the next day anyway and I will have killed two birds with one stone. :) I'll still tackle teacher gifts well before next Thursday, but at least I won't neglect the things that need to be done in the meantime.

I hope it works!

Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to go make some Visiting Teaching gifts. I need them in an hour!

{If you have a great method of keeping things straight, please share in the comments.}

12-12-12

Screen shot of my iPod at 12:12 on 12/12/12.

So I guess this is the last time in my life when the calendar will have three two-digit numbers repeating three times.

I wish I could say today was amazing and that we celebrated 12 different ways.

It wasn't and we didn't.

It was a pretty typical day with plenty going on after school and people to shuttle here and there. But we all acknowledged it and a few of us made sure to notice when the clock turned 12:12 just to say we did.

I did.

It made me happy.

I'm kind of a nerd that way. :)

Taking Matters Into Her Own Hands

Sadie called upstairs, "Mom?"

I ran down to see what she wanted.

Looking a little nervous and stroking the side of her head she confessed, "I really wanted bangs and I know you said I couldn't have them, but I really wanted them and," lifting her hand to reveal her newly cut bangs, "can you please forgive me?"

I laughed and then gave her a big hug. It could have been so much worse!

See? You can hardly tell from the front.

There they are.  I'll have a little cleaning up to do, but not bad.

Sadly (for me), we just finished growing out her bangs a few months ago. Oh well, it's only hair. It'll grow. :)

A Christmas Greeting

So for the last 6+ years - since I got my vinyl cutter - I've kicked around the idea of coming up with a set of door vinyl that I could change out with each season or holiday. I finally got my act together when I put up my Halloween and Thanksgiving decor.

Here is what I came up with as a first greeting to visitors of our home through Christmas. Hopefully that star will remind people of the Savior, God's greatest blessing and the reason for the season.

Sidekick

Having a feverish Sadie home these past 2 days has allowed me to cancel my plans and hang out with my little bug. Other than a mild stuffy nose, her fever has been the only symptom. A little ibuprofen does wonders and we've had a fun couple of days. She's definitely a daddy's girl, but I've loved having her around as my little sidekick. :)

Mom, You've Gotta See This!

I'm glad my kids appreciate beauty when they see it.

Soren insisted I stop what I was doing to see the sunset this evening. It was like one big rainbow.

Thanks, Soren. I'm glad I didn't miss it.

Is It Really December?

...because it feels like May.

2:30 pm on Dec. 3 in my little corner of the world.

It's all good. I really like May!

(FYI: Average daytime temperatures for this time of year are 40º to 45º.)