Time on My Hands?

So, one would think that since I am not in school right now, nor any musicals, I would have had enough time on my hands to write a blog post at some point in 2013. At least it is only February.



Last Fall, Tristin, Brandon, William, Dallin and I were in It's a Wonderful Life. Aaron played in the pit. It was fun, but a bit draining. The leads were incredible. Tristin and I had some speaking parts, and I got to sing in a trio. William kept his grades up and got his assignments in, and I rarely have to talk to him about schoolwork anymore. I was right about letting him audition.

Over the summer, Reo made a cedar canoe for Aaron, with the help of the boys. It was his birthday present, but it didn't quite get done on time. We took it out late this fall on an unseasonably warm day.

We celebrated Katie's 5th birthday on November 1st. We went all out and got her a Caroline Abbott doll. Grammie got her a doll outfit to go with it. She really loves playing with her doll. For Christmas, she also got a stroller, crib and high chair set and a dolly and me dress for Caroline.

Aaron and the boys got a new toy from Grandma & Grandpa for Christmas.




And I got a really cool piece of paper in the mail on December 26th.

I was registered to start classes at the U of MN Crookston last month, but I decided that it wasn't right for me right now. I would have had to have taken 14 credits to get my scholarship, and that just didn't seem like a good plan while I still have Katie at home. I deferred to Fall term, but I am not sure that I will continue then, either. So far, it isn't feeling right.  The last week of December, we also got the impression that it wasn't right to be in "Music Man." We had gotten in, and Aaron was to be the rehearsal accompanist, but we started feeling promptings that it wasn't right for us right now. We felt really bad about backing out of it the week rehearsals were to start, but once we made the decision, it was like a load came off our shoulders. So, what have we been doing with all our spare time?

I slipped on some ice between Christmas and New Year's. I didn't fall, but caught myself, putting some extreme weight on my lower back. It felt jarred, but then I went to Jazzercise a few days later, and that did me in. Before we got to the weights section, I knew I was done. I had to lay down the rest of the day. It took weeks before I could be up for more than 2-3 hours a day without it pinching. I went to the chiropractor for a few weeks, and it helped (although twice during adjustments he gave me headaches when he did my neck, so after the second time that happened, I quit going). My lower back is still sore, but now I am getting things done again. I can go after the housework until about 2pm, and then I need to rest my back again. I had to quit Jazzercise. I don't think I will be able to handle high impact exercise for a while.

Aaron and I have been taking tap lessons on Saturday mornings at Zenon. It has been really fun. It is coming back to me pretty naturally. Aaron is learning!

Tristin and Brandon both auditioned into Marching Band. It costs over $1000 each, and they know they need to earn the majority of it themselves. Tristin starts working at Pizza Ranch on Thursday, and Brandon is hoping for a scholarship. He also has to bring his English and Math grades up a little if he is going to be allowed to do it (by us - he meets the GPA standards of the school's). Tristin has also been in Jazz Band this year, and they both have to do Pep Band four times per trimester or more.

Benjamin joined the Math club at school this year. They had a meet a couple of weekends ago. He enjoyed it. He is at the top of his class in math, and I have some high hopes for him.

Dallin is causing me a little grief lately. He doesn't get along with teachers well, I am learning. I thought last year was an anomaly, but this year it is happening again. He consistently does well on tests, but when it comes to doing his homework, being prepared for class, and especially being prepared for his lit circle group each week, and being respectful to his teacher, he doesn't do well at all. He is bored by it all, I am afraid. Tristin had this issue at his age, so I am hoping it clears up next year in middle school (5th grade), as it did for him. Although, I don't think Tristin's teachers thought he was disrespectful toward them. He just got into class clown types of problems.

Aaron is away in Anaheim this week. It stinks that he has a tradeshow over Valentine's day. He knew that, so he got me something a little more than would normally be appropriate for a gift. He hired our friend, Tracie Hintz, to help me with housecleaning for 8 hours. She did 5 hours yesterday, and will come back next week for 3 more. She is good at it! We got the living room, hall, piano room and master suite all cleaned up. We also rearranged the living room while we were at it. I think it will help us keep things neater as it is now arranged.

Tonight, Katie has Kindergarten Registration at the elementary school. When I got the notice in the mail last month, my heart almost stopped. I don't want to let her go yet!!

I'm looking forward to Friday. Aaron comes home in the afternoon, and we have an activity at the church for the adults. It is a dinner and dance. How fun!

Be Still, My Soul

I guess I haven't had anything to say in a while. A review of my blog says my last post was in April. Can that really be true?

Well, since April, I took a summer semester of Accounting I and Business Management. My 4.0 is still holding. We went to Many Point Family Camp the day after I finished up my classes for one week. That was really fun, although I had an ear infection and wasn't really very energetic while there. But it was restful, and the kids had a wonderful time. Katie got off her training wheels while there - that was exciting! She is a beautiful girl, and lights up my life.

When we got home from camp, Aaron and Tristin left for a week in the badlands with the Priests quorum for a 50 mile hike. The next couple of weeks flew by as I prepared for school for everyone, and then school started again for me. I am now in Accounting II, General Psychology and Legal Environment of Business. I thought it would be harder to keep up, but they are all proving to be pretty easy classes. I am currently getting A's in all of them. I will graduate after this term with my AA with an emphasis in Accounting. I have to decide, in the meantime, whether to start at Crookston this spring or wait a term. Lots to decide financially and time-wise.

Tristin, Brandon and William are in Cross Country together this school year. It keeps them very busy. Tristin is keeping up with his schoolwork really well. He is in A.P. World History, A.P. Calculus and keeping his grades up in all his classes. Brandon is struggling a little bit. He gets his homework in on time, but didn't show his work enough in math and isn't very good at reading comprehension, which is a big focus in English this term, so that is a struggle. William is completely overwhelmed. Cross country has been way too much for him. There hasn't been enough time for all of his homework. Accelerated Math class has been difficult for him. He has always done well in and liked math, but something isn't clicking for him (possibly partly to do with not clicking with the teacher's style, from what I have observed). He is having a hard time focusing on homework, if he even gets to it. Yes, there have been lots of missing assignments lately, and not just in math. Once he got behind there, he got a mental block against homework in other classes, as well. He is catching up on them, but we have come to the decision that he needs to drop back to regular math. I thought the logical answer was to drop cross country, but it didn't feel right. He needs the physical activity. I am also thinking that he is having a hard time understanding his teacher. It isn't the end of the world to go back to a regular math class. He can still move ahead next year if he gets back on track.

It would seem that auditioning for the musical tomorrow wouldn't be the right choice for William, as well, but something is telling me that he needs to be in it. It completely doesn't make sense. William isn't like the other kids. They are very motivated by groundings when they fall behind on homework. Not Will. He isn't into electronics. He doesn't hang out with friends often. He just likes sitting and reading books or playing with Legos. If those aren't available, he will bake something or even just stare into space before doing homework. My thoughts are twofold. First, the cross country season is winding down. There is only one meet per week, and it ends before the month is up. The meets are close to home, comparatively to the prior ones, so I can pick him up and get him home to do homework and get him to rehearsals those four nights. Second, he has friends at CVFT. If he has homework to do, he will know he has to have it done before he can hang out during down-time at rehearsals. Motivation! Plus, if I go to rehearsals without him, he will sit at home doing nothing with nobody to hound him to get his homework done. If he is with me, it will get done.

Enough with the homework issues. Aaron has been away a lot lately. I miss him. In September, he was gone half the month. He has been gone since Friday morning (I drove him to the airport at 4:45am) and he doesn't get back until Thursday in the wee hours of the a.m. I have my colonoscopy at 9 a.m. on Thursday, which is why he is red-eyeing it home instead of taking a mid-morning flight. It is just preventive care for me. I don't have any symptoms. My mom just had colon cancer pretty young, so I have to go in every 5 years. I am not looking forward to Wednesday's prep. Yuck. At least my parents are coming to get Katie for me. Otherwise, she would miss dance class, and I wouldn't have anything to do with her on Thursday morning. Tristin and Brandon have to go to the Plymouth building for Young Men's on Wednesday night, which screws up my plan of having Tristin drive Ben and Dallin to Scouts, so now I have to find a friend to pick them up and bring them home. It shouldn't be a problem, but it sure did get complicated in a real hurry with Aaron out of town. He has a few more trips this fall. I am looking forward to them being over.

Two of my friends and their families from church are moving soon. I will miss them, but as usual when this happens (and it happens way too often), I am jealous. I feel stagnant here. I don't have good neighbors. I want neighbors who are friends. I want to feel comfortable in my back yard. I know that I could probably find that without leaving this city, but I want change. I want an adventure. I want something that will shake up my family's habits. I want my children to see the world and know that life isn't about finishing their chores and homework so that they can play video games and watch cartoons. I want them to see how people live in other parts of the world. I want to live that way for a while. But I'd settle for Aaron getting a job in another state and for them (and me) to find some good friends who live close by. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening. The job market is terrible, and he is stuck where he has been for the last 13 years in a job he despises. I feel so awful for him. I want him to be happy and feel fulfilled in his employment. At least he has his calling. He loves being the bishop. He is really good at it. I am sure that one reason he is still in his job is because it has allowed him to have the time he needs to do this calling at hard times, like when KumCha and Graciela each passed away. Other companies wouldn't have been as flexible. But is it possible that it could be over sooner than later so we can leave?

Tristin said something today that hit the nail on the head regarding our ward. "Have you noticed that it is always the move-ins that move out? All of us who were always here are still here, but the people who move here leave and other people replace them and the cycle continues. But we are going to be stuck here forever, aren't we?"

A few new families did move in last month. One of them is the Staples family. Colette and I really clicked. She and I could be great friends. Ten years ago, I would have been calling her regularly by now and seeing if she wanted to hang out. I tell myself that I am too busy with school and she is too busy driving her kids all over to try to keep them in their old school district. But instead, I know that I am being defensive against her either rejecting me (if you haven't heard the story of Lori, ask me another time) or against the eventuality of her moving away or getting split off into another ward, since she lives in another city. Why can't I just make friends and not worry about these things?

My life is really good. I have a terrific husband who loves me and seven healthy children who are really good kids. Despite the homework issues with William and a very loud 7-year-old who I can't seem to convince to use his indoor voice, we are relatively problem-free. Money is tight, but we have enough. I am able to go to school and get the education I never got after high school. I get to be in musicals with my children and with my husband in the pit orchestra. We have a roof over our heads, and modest as it is compared to most of my friends' houses with half the children I have, and as much as I anticipate going out of my mind again this winter any time there is a day with no school due to a lack of personal space for anyone here, it is sufficient for our needs. We could buy something bigger if we wanted to increase our debt, but we would rather be responsible and not do that. We have made our choices, and I know I should live with them and be happy with them. Sometimes I just feel so stagnant, though. I am trying really hard to remember what is important and not feel down about where I am not.

If we moved away, would I get homesick? Would I miss the familiar ward, the musicals and friends in the theater, and my garden and apple trees? Why is it that I have always had this bug in me that wants to move? Is there some reason it has never happened? Sometimes I want to see the end from the beginning. I need to remember the words to one of my favorite hymns, "Be Still My Soul." "Keep Thou my feet. I do not ask to see the distant scene. One step enough for me." I want it to be enough for me. I really do. Maybe in 10 years, we will still be in this house, and I will think, "Why did I ever want to move? We have so much space here." The kids start leaving in two years. In seven years, the kids remaining in our home could each have their own bedroom. In 10 years, we will only have two left. This house will probably feel like a mansion. Maybe we will want to downsize. That's all assuming the kids find jobs and don't start moving back home after missions and college. With their families. Ugh. One step enough for me, right?

Katherine (for Stefany)

This poem was accidentally posted on the Pratt Family Cooking blog last Mother's Day. I don't have any idea how that happened!

Katherine (for Stefany)

Those toes, but stubs of pinkish tone,
poke out of the blanket’s grasp,
and though wanting for a warmer home,
are too beautiful to wrap.

And fairer hair I have not seen,
than the threads that grace my child;
what once was parted, tied and bowed,
now rests both free and wild.

Gazing on those sleepy eyes,
the smiling cheeks, pursed lips, pinched nose,
I trace the lines and memorize
Dear Kate before she grows.

Tristin's Day

Today was a hard day. Tristin failed his second driving text. He didn't look both directions with a head-turn when crossing intersections. I remember being dinged on this one during my first driving test. I think he had so many dings on his first test that the instructor never mentioned this one, although I have been reminding him. He also killed the manual transmission a lot. This was nerves. He hasn't killed it at all in recent weeks until his test. Then, on the way home, (while he was still pretty upset) he killed it repeatedly. He also hit the curb on the parallel park. He had been doing well with it when with Aaron, but right before it I had practice and he only managed to do it perfectly once out of about eight tries, so this is something to work on. I think it would be good if he could use an automatic transmission for the test so he doesn't have so much to focus on. Maybe he needs to borrow a grandparent's vehicle next time.

On an up note, when we got home, he had a voice mail from McDonald's. He was offered a job! I'm very happy for him. Unfortunately, he will not be able to go to Tom & Jessica's on Saturday for the Easter egg hunt and lunch, as orientation is that morning. But at least he will be getting out and earning some money and learning new skills to help him grow. Luckily, McDonald's is so close he can walk there.

I think this is it...First day of school 2010

Well, Aaron came back from Asia last month and I forgot to get these pictures off the camera. The video camera cable is still missing, so I don't have Aidan's first day of school for you to see yet.

Tristin is sporting his new bolaro. He got away with it for a few days before he was told he couldn't wear it in the hallways at school. But, there was a hat day, and he has worn it to some parties, so his purchase hasn't been for naught.

The boys are all doing very well in school so far. Tristin is enjoying being around more mature students, and even has math classes with mostly sophomores and juniors. Show choir practices twice per week, and I think he enjoys it. Aaron and I went to watch him for the last half-hour of dance camp on Saturday (it went from 9-6), and he is keeping up really well!

Brandon had his first show choir activity last night. He is one of 20 boys in the choir, which consists of all of the boys who auditioned, plus all of the 8th grade girls. The 7th grade girls are making up a new show choir this year. There were 112 kids who auditioned in all, so they created a new choir for them.

William is enjoying middle school. Band started last week, so he is working on consistently getting the right sound out of the flute. He is also participating in the play with me. We're working on getting him through his chores. He is not one who likes doing the same thing every day. He'd rather do a big project that has an end than sweep and vacuum the same floors each day.

Ben is becoming more responsible. He has come home to an empty house with Dallin and Aidan a couple of times now, and has done exactly as he's been instructed, making sure Aidan comes right in and doesn't go out to roam the neighborhood. It is only about 20 minutes before the older boys get home, but he has been handling that 20 minutes very well.

Dallin is also doing very well. He has some harder chore responsibilities this year, and is doing well at them.

Wow, these are over a year old and got posted on the wrong blog. Oops.

Yes, I've been negligent.

I finally uploaded the last few months of pictures to my laptop. This one is of Katie on her birthday. She has on the apron and chef's hat that Grandma Merle made for her, and is playing with her new kitchen set that we gave her. I think she's the most beautiful 3-year-old I've ever seen!

Another post that went awry

Apparently I had the flash off for the pictures I took on Katie's birthday. They are pleanty light, but awfully grainy.

Aaron made another hit by frosting Dora onto a double 13x9 cake. He does it all with just a printout from the computer. It is pretty amazing, if you ask me.

Applesauce Post went Awry - here it is now a little late

We made applesauce in November. It was pretty easy, and very worthwhile. The applesauce is extremely flavorful! We cut the apples into segments.

Then, we put them in a pot with a little bit of water until they got soft, then drained them.

Everyone fought over putting them through the KitchenAid.

Tristin chopped for a while, but by the time Aaron started taking pictures, the applesauce-making had Tristin hungry.

 Ben got to help put the applesauce into jars. We didn't get pictures of the final product, but one thing I wasn't expecting was that it was all pink. Processing lightened it up, but it is still light pink.

More Chile

I realized that it is a lot easier to write about the trip in the comments below the pictures in Picasa. So, if you want to see the play-by-play, take a look at them using the links at the bottom of this post.  There are two albums, Aaron's and mine. We are also eventually going to get links to the pictures our friends, the Woods, took while we were in the south.

https://plus.google.com/_/notifications/emlink?emrecipient=108896221080650599446&emid=COiX-_vlra4CFQJ13godQUgAAA&path=%2Fphotos%2F106003110732083474977%2Falbum%2F5711224307603503649&dt=1329783606532

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=108896221080650599446&target=ALBUM&id=5711995599943517521&authkey=Gv1sRgCJCghvCT0KfuLA&feat=email

Chile: Part 1

Here are the two emails I wrote home during the trip. We also Skyped, so that is why I didn't email more than that. I figure I'll start with them, since I got into pretty good detail. Once I get pictures uploaded, I will post again with some of them and write some more about the trip.

Feb. 12th

Hi Everyone,

We had a great day today. We attended church in the Republica ward. It
was a little rough going to Relief Society by myself, and I understood
nothing when I was introduced, but there were two women who knew
English there. One of them, Cecilia, asked me to sit by her after she
found out how little I understood Spanish. She turned out to be an
investigator. She was moving last weekend, and got mixed up on the
date of her baptism. She had thought the 4th was Sunday, and late in
the day on Saturday she thought to look at the calendar and realized
she had missed it. She didn't have the missionaries' number, and they
lost hers when their SIM card got switched out. So, she showed up to
church today and nobody had realized she was there or were looking for
her, as she had moved out of the ward. She started to say to me that
she thought that maybe it didn't happen for a reason, but after our
talk she told the missionaries that she needs to find her new ward and
meet the Elders there so she can set a new date for baptism. She spent
the rest of the afternoon with us. Aaron's old friend, Luis, who was
sixteen and had gone on splits with him each night for six months was
there and has a car and offered to take us up San Christobal. We also
drove to many other places to see the sights. It was really fun
getting to know them both. Luis served a mission in Vina del Mar and
is a civil engineer, working for the government. Cecilia is a grandma
and an artist (a really good one - she has always earned her living by
her paintings and she gave me a bookmark that she made and laminated).
She grew up in a Navy family, and her dad was working for the U.N. as
a diplomat by the time she was 13. He put the children through private
schools and she learned not only English but also French. She was a
very intelligent and spiritual woman, and has been looking for a
personal relationship with Heavenly Father for five years. She just
finished reading the Book of Mormon, and had some great insights about
it. One of her sons is studying classical guitar at the university.
One of her daughters is married to an Atlanta-based Delta management
person that we would guess Reo has probably run into. They live there
and have some children. The other son is currently traveling.
we exchanged contact information and I am sure I will have a Chilean
pen pal for years to come.

We head out to Puerto Montt in the morning, and we do not know how
much Internet access we will have, if any, so don't worry if you don't
hear from us until Thursday.

If anyone needs anything, shoot us an email tonight or we will miss it.



Feb. 15th


We haven't had any Wi-Fi in a couple of days because we are kind of in
the middle of nowhere, so sorry you have not heard from us in a while.
But this is a good thing because we have had some real adventures. Our
first day in the area, we went to the Island of Chiloe by ferry in
search of penguins and good seafood. Unfortunately, we did not find
the best seafood, but we managed to get on a motor boat tour to see
the penguins. The tour operators are limited as to how many tours they
are allowed per day, and they were all full, but thanks to some road
construction (and good  karma - ha ha), the people who were booked on
the next tour did not show up in time and we got to take their places.
It was really neat to see them, and we also saw sea otters in the
water.

We took the ferry back that night and headed for our cabana, which is
just outside Ensenada. We got in really late, due to the road
construction I was referring to earlier, so when we arrived we had an
excellent display of the stars. There is so little light pollution
where we are that we could see more stars than I have ever seen
before. That is also due to the fact that we can see a large band of
the Milky Way that is not visible in the northern hemisphere.

In the morning, we went in search of food. Although there are other
tourists in the area, in this town there are no good restaurants. We
settled on a Supermarcado in town and got some juice, yogurt and
blueberry kuchen. Yes, that is German for cake. Yummy! There is a
little German influence out here, and the cakes are freshly baked and
only available in the morning.

After breakfast, we headed for the waterfalls. It was a short hike
there, with shopping and snack huts along the way (a strange intrusion
on nature). The waterfalls are beautiful, and the water is so clear
you can see the rocks at the bottom of the bed at the bottom. This is
all with a snow-capped volcano in the background. This is actually the
reason for the waterfalls, which are running over piles of volcanic
rock.

Next, we took a 3-hour horseback ride along part of a massive lake and
through the woods. Aaron has never been on a horse before, but did
great. His horse was content to follow along and do what it was
supposed to. Andria's was also pretty good, but Will's and mine did
not do quite as well. Fannie, my horse, was at first quite stubborn,
as was Will's. She did not want to listen to my directions, but
finally realized I meant business when I got off her and picked up
switches for both Will and me. We didn't even have to use them before
they started behaving, although they did need a few little taps later
to get them moving when they had decided to stop to graze.

After we rode, we again tried to hunt down some food. We had thought
to find a decent meal at a restaurant, but everything either  looked
as bad as the place we had eaten the night before or it was between
meals and only had one option. We finally settled on empanadas from
the Supermarcado, which were not as good as the ones we got in
Santiago, but filled us up a little.

We then drove up the volcano. The road wound back and forth at a steep
incline. There were places to stop on the way up, and I did pretty
well until we got to the top parking area. By then, the altitude had
gotten to me and I had some nausea and a light headache. I stayed in
the car while Aaron, Will and Andria climbed almost to the snow cap.

Realizing that we would not find decent food in this town, we drove to
Puerto Varas to try to find dinner. Aaron had thought that Valentine's
Day was not a big deal down here, but boy was he wrong! I have never
seen so many cars parked around a town as I saw last night. There were
thousands of people trying to get dinner there. We went from
restaurant to restaurant, trying to find something both with decent
food and an empty table. Everything was booked until we saw a sign for
a restaurant inside a casino. It turned out to be just the place. It
was all decked out for Valentine's Day. We were not really dressed for
white linen, but we swallowed our pride in our jeans and sneakers and
sat down. We had not yet seen the menu, and when we sat down we found
that there was a special three course meal being served, complete with
a series of wine couplings and a dessert which included mouse with
cappuccino in it. Luckily, we were able to have the alcohol removed
from the meal, as well as from the bill, and there were three mini
desserts, so we were able to eat the other two. The rest of the meal
was great, though. It was a very artistic meal and we only knew about
half of what we were eating, but the favors were fantastic. There was
even raw tuna served over squash, but I ate it and was surprised to
liked it. But maybe it was just that I was so hungry at this point
that I was willing to make myself like it. One of the desserts was
made with rose petals in it, and tasted like roses. It was amazingly
good. Another was formed into the shape of a rose. I felt like I had
tasted it before, and it took a while to figure out what it was. You
know how in a box of chocolates, there is normally a strawberry-filled
one with nugget in it? It was just the filling.

The drive home was late. We finally got back and dropped right into
bed, although it would have been nice to look at the stars for our
last night here, but it was 1 am, and we were tired. We were able to
sleep until 9:30am before getting into a shower that was determined
not to stay warm. Now, my hair is air drying and I am snuggled up in
my bedcovers in a comfy chair in the living room next to the fire
place. This cabin is pretty awesome. It is much nicer than I was
expecting, other than the annoyingly sporadic water heater. We had
yogurt and cereal that is much like Coco Puffs and hot chocolate and
juice that we purchased yesterday at that same Supermarcado when we
picked up our lunch. We think will be taking it easy until the Woods
take us back to Puerto Montt this afternoon.

(later) Just arrived at the Hotel San Martin. We have Wi-Fi here, so
we will leave Skype on tonight in case you need to contact us. We are
pretty exhausted, so unless you have some urgent need, we will contact
you tomorrow to Skype.

Oliver! and other stuff

So, beyond all reason, I decided to audition for Oliver! with the kids. After preparing them for their vocal auditions and watching the movie with them, I felt like I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to be in it with them if they get in.

Unfortunately, I forgot half the words to my song. Fortunately, the vocal director knows me and I did great in the reading and dance parts of the audition.

The boys were fantastic! I wasn't actually able to be in their auditions, except for Tristin's, since he was part of the 16 & up audition with me. Tristin was in tune, read really well, and danced fairly well. Few boys of his age auditioned. The director seemed very interested in him as a possible Artful Dodger. I heard from Aaron, who heard from Alice, that it was obvious that the others could sing and act, so I think they should all get in. I may not, as I have that 10-day trip to Chile in the middle of rehearsals. I let the director know that I will understand if she can't use me because of that, and that the kids would still like to be in it without me. The director also didn't know whether she would be coming up with something for the kids under age nine. I hope so, because they really wanted to be in it.

I am done with the semester now, and my 4.0 stands. I am happy with that. Let's hope that if I make it into Oliver! that I can make it stick through Calculus.

In Case You are Wondering...

In case you are wondering why Stefany has barely been heard from over the past two months, I am squeezing a list out really fast right now (in my free time) of all the things I have done:

• attended "White Christmas" rehearsals 3-5 evenings per week (mostly 5) and some weekend afternoons
• did regular coursework for three credits of biology and three credits of English literature
• painted the kitchen and the adjoining living room wall
• studied college algebra on my own and somehow tested into Calculus, skipping Trig and Pre-Calc!?!?
• completed final project for English literature course (but still have a couple weeks of class discussions left)
• took Katie to weekly dance classes and weekly music classes
• dealt with plumbing leaks from two different sources over the dining room ceiling (not finished with that project yet, but the plumbing itself is fixed)
• had my parents, cousin and her daughter over for Thanksgiving
• practiced Spanish daily with podcasts and/or online tools
• changed my Facebook and Google Mail language settings to Spanish and translated everything that I couldn't understand as it came up

It really doesn't seem like that long of a list when I look at it here.  But it feels like a lot. Rehearsals are terribly time-consuming right now. Final dress is tomorrow, and the show starts Friday. I had a blast at last night's rehearsal. I felt really proud of my accomplishment in learning all the dances and being able to sing and dance at the same time. After next week, I will have a few quiet weeks before the next semester begins. The kids will be auditioning for Oliver in a couple weeks, but I am not. I need to have a little time off to focus on Calculus and the history course I will be taking.

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Letter to Emma

I haven't written to Emma in a while, and since I was updating her, I thought I would copy it over to here so I could update you, too.

We went to Emma Krumbee's last weekend and picked apples. We got a couple of pictures.

Things are busy, as usual. I'm seven weeks into the semester now, and the kids are in school and Katie is in dance class and a music class. White Christmas auditions were last week, and I'll be in the ensemble. It is an extremely talented group, and has a smaller cast than this group normally casts.

Aaron is busy with Bishopy things. He had a stillborn baby to hold a funeral for this month - an awful experience for everyone. He said he was slammed with confessions last Sunday and couldn't wrap his head around everything going on. I'm in the nursery, so I don't know what's going on in the ward, for the most part. Aaron left for Las Vegas yesterday. This is the first of five business trips over the next two months. Your letter came in the mail yesterday, so he won't get it for a couple of days.

Tristin is running on the Cross Country team this year. He is doing the 5K in just over 21 minutes. He is playing in the band, including the pep band this year. He thought he was going to find pep band boring and wouldn't believe me when I said it was really fun, but after he went for the first time he came home all excited about all the improv the drums get to do and how much more fun it is than regular band. Tristin was ordained a Priest this month, and is serving as the 1st Counselor in his quorum.

Brandon is getting to know Facebook. He turned 13 over the summer, and I think he was more excited about being allowed to get an account than anything else. I struggle a little to pry him away from it, but on nice days, like we had here yesterday, he does prefer to go outside and play. He will continue the sax this year, and he is getting pretty good at the piano, playing hymns in Priesthood sometimes, even. He is serving as the Deacon's quorum President.

William was ordained a Deacon this month. He prefers to read books over anything, including chores, homework, piano and flute practice, and is really good at hiding away in his room and making me forget he is here so he can get out of all of the above. He is a good boy, though. He is our thoughtful child when he isn't holed up in his room. He takes good care of Katie and is being a good influence on his new roommate, Aidan. Dallin and William decided to switch bedrooms last month, and it has worked out well.

Ben is struggling getting into the groove in middle school. He is finding out that they actually hold him responsible for homework, so I expect over the next couple of months he will become a little more organized. He will be starting the French Horn this week. He will also be growing up a little faster than he ought to soon, I think. His best friend's mom has leukemia and isn't doing well. You might remember the Olesen family from our ward; they are from Chile. Graciela felt like she had the flu for a few days and finally went into the doctor, where she was diagnosed within just a few minutes. It was unbelievable. Nicholas is their youngest son, and he and Ben were pretty glued at the hip all summer, when this suddenly happened. Now, he is going to be a big support for Nico as he goes through this.

Dallin is our mischievous child. He is constantly dragging things outside to build forts in our lilac trees or on the deck. If there are blankets, pieces of wood and stuffed animals outside, you can be pretty sure it was Dallin's idea. He has recently decided to test the waters of lying to me to get out of his homework, but I have caught on and now as soon as I figure it out he tells me he was just kidding. This would be the age of child I don't particularly like so much. However, he is still awfully cute, so maybe I'll survive. :-)

Aidan can sense frogs and insects in the yard and scoops them up when nobody else even knows they are there. He has always been very independent, and now he has a friend who moved in on the block behind us. He has a sister Katie's age, so the four of them are always playing together after school. Aidan will take Katie with him over there and bring her back. He is starting to be a little more responsible. He is also starting to read better. He is picking it up by word recognition, rather than through phonics, so I have a really hard time helping him, as I have never had a child learn that way before.

I already mentioned that Katie has some classes. We do Music Makers at church once a week, and she goes to dance class on Thursdays. She grins through the whole thing. She is just so thrilled to be in a class of her own and to learn to dance. She is really a joy. She is getting into clothes and has her favorite ways of doing things. She is a very happy child, and really easy for me, even though it is just the two of us at home this year.

Aaron and I have news. No, not that kind of news! We are going to Chile in February for his 15-year mission reunion. We bought the plane tickets, so it is official. Aaron is REALLY excited! I am going to try to cram in the Spanish after this semester, in hopes that I can get really comfortable with the language when I am there. I want to take the CLEP test to take care of a bunch of credits. I may graduate Spring semester, if I am able to pass out of enough. I am going to have to make some special arrangements with my professors when I register for next semester in order to go to Chile and miss a week and a half of class. Wouldn't you know it comes a month before Spring break!

A Hard Few Days (Disclaimer: You don't want to read this if you are pregnant or really don't want to cry right now)

Again, if you are pregnant (Jessica and Lizzy), just pass this one by until well after your baby is born. I need to write this, but you don't need to read it right now.

This has been a hard few days. On Thursday, a woman in our ward was 35 weeks pregnant when she no longer felt the baby move. She went in to have it checked out. The baby had turned breech, and in so doing had somehow tangled up the umbilical cord and died. She went home for a few hours to await the newly-scheduled vaginal delivery. Aaron met them in the hospital and helped them pass the time for about six hours that evening. The next afternoon, Brynlee was born. They spent several hours with their deceased daughter, memorizing her every feature, taking imprints of her hand and foot, taking pictures, bathing her, and doing everything else necessary for them to be able to have a healthy grieving process with no regrets. Aaron was asked to come at about 10pm, after a grandma was flown in, for the naming and blessing of the baby. He stayed for a few hours, until it was time for them to turn the baby over to the nurses. He helped carry the baby out of the hospital room with the nurse. He didn't sleep well that night. Today, he spoke at her memorial service at our church building and the burial service two hours away in Sacred Heart, MN. He ate hot dish afterward, so you know he must have been all out of sorts when it was over.

Did you know that many funeral homes provide free caskets for infants? Did you know that a complete memorial service, burial service and luncheon can be planned to feed 100 in two days? Did you know that a woman who just had a baby four days ago can greet 100 people and talk about her baby and her experience and not fall completely apart? We have some generous people in this world, and some really remarkable people in our church. But best of all, we have a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for us which includes being reunited with our families after death, and a Savior who knows our grief and carries our sorrows. We have the Gift of the Holy Ghost available to us to bring us comfort and guidance.

I don't know what the reason is that the baby had to be taken so early in her mortal life, but I do know that it will serve a good purpose in the end. She was also given the middle name of Faith because her parents know that and trust that they will be reunited again.

So far while Aaron has been Bishop, to my knowledge, there have been two deaths: KumCha, who died of M.S. and Brynlee, who was stillborn; three if you include the guy who died just after the ward split and was found to really be in the other ward, so Aaron transferred his record to the other bishop. One member miscarried twice in the first trimester. This same woman had knee surgery after the first miscarriage, followed by a pulmonary embolism, followed by the second miscarriage, at which time they discovered an aneurysm by the spleen, and then shortly thereafter began packing for her move to Sacramento, where her husband just got transferred. One member, Ben's best friend's mom, came down with chronic leukemia. I don't know any details about the other issues Aaron has gone through with members (i.e. transgressions), but I know that he has had a lot of them come up. I am not complaining about the time he spends helping others. Rather, I am contemplating how the Lord put Aaron at the head of this congregation right when He did. I keep hearing testimonials from people about how wonderful my husband has been in helping them. I have witnessed the power in his talks from the pulpit myself, and I have watched him become a powerful teacher in our home with our children. He did the preparatory work that he had been asked to do, and he was ready for this. I am so grateful he is our bishop.

Maddening

My Biology of Women textbook states, "Folklore has falsely mislabeled masturbation as sinful, evil and even physically or mentally harmful. Such ideas are entirely false, and many therapists and sex experts believe that masturbation can be helpful as a sexual outlet and as a means to become comfortable with one's own body." Apparently my religion is folklore? Why are we allowing our public colleges to teach this kind of thing to our 18-year-olds, just out of the protection of their homes and into the world for the first time? How extremely maddening! Couldn't they have worded this differently, such as, "Some religions categorize masturbation as sinful, evil and even physically or mentally harmful. However, many therapists and sex experts believe..." No, they won't even give religion the time of day. They just classify it as "folklore" and throw it out the window. Ugh!

School Pics 2011

School started on Tuesday for everyone except Tristin. He was up, so I made him come get his picture taken with everyone, too.

It's just Katie and me at home during the days now. She has gone back to taking naps again sometimes. I thought she had outgrown them, but it turns out that when all she has to entertain her is boring old Mom, she would rather take a nap in the afternoon. I can't say I mind that!

State Fair

We went to the State Fair this year. We hadn't tried that in a while, but our children are out of strollers and we thought we'd try. We did pretty well.

Our first stop was at the farm exhibit for toddlers. I think it was really aimed at inner-city kids, or at least those kids who do not garden. Ours were not really that enthused, although Katie and Aidan enjoyed it pretty well.

After the farm, we went to the 4-H building. It was kind of disappointing for Aaron. He remembered it fondly from his childhood, but it had some pretty sad displays this year. The most disappointing was a Styrofoam model airplane display. Aaron went up to it excitedly, then realized that they were all made from a kit with pre-formed parts that were also pre-dyed. Wow. Some 10-year-old knows how to put together a kit. How interesting. Or not.

Outside the building, the Marines had a pull-up contest going. Tristin went for it. 25 pull-ups would have gotten him a t-shirt, but he came in with 14, which got him a poster. That was still pretty good, I thought.

We checked out the art exhibits next, and the kids and Aaron really enjoyed the paintings and photographs there. Then, we headed out for lunch. We lost Aidan for a few minutes while waiting for Aaron to come back with some food, but he was only about 10 feet away in a fenced-in garden. He said he wanted to see the plants closer up. Oops!

We headed over to the animal exhibits after that. Katie loved the bunnies!

After that, we took the kids to the Midway, where they each got to go on a ride or two.

Brandon, William and Dallin went on a fairly tame ride.

Tristin and William got on this crazy one, though (below).

Aidan and Katie got to go on two rides, since they didn't cost as much.

Then, the fun was over and we were all tired out and ready to leave.