General Conference and my flowers

For General Conference earlier this month, I was looking around for some fun things to help my kids participate in conference so hopefully we'd all get more out of it.  I found this cute idea from an old Friend Magazine:  For the family home evening before conference, we read the story of King Benjamin and how all his people pitched their tents facing the temple so they could hear what he had to tell them.  We also discussed about how there were so many people that not everyone could hear what he said, so they wrote it down and brought it to the people who were too far away.  We related that to General Conference and how not all the Mormons in the world can be at the conference center, so we can watch it on TV or listen to it on the radio, and then later, they publish the Ensign and everyone can have a copy of the talks from the prophets and apostles who speak at General Conference.  

So when conference rolled around we made some "Conference Tents" and faced them toward the television so they could hear the words of the apostles.  The rules were you had to be quiet when you were in the conference tents (or anywhere in the family room, for that matter.)  

Here are some pictures of the kids playing Conference Bingo in their Conference Tents.  They got to keep whatever beads they placed on their bingo cards for use in "purchasing" screen time or prizes from the prize box.

The kids loved the tents, but truth be told, they worked for about 30 minutes, and then the novelty wore off an the little boys were kicked out to play so the rest of us could hear.  But 30 minutes is better than nothing, I guess.  And it made them feel excited about conference.

And below are just my flowers that we planted in our front yard planter.  They have nothing to do with Conference, but I just love them and wish they would last a little longer.  They are mostly gone now, so it's time for me to start planting stuff to stay through the summer.  I'm already looking forward to next spring!

auditions

Auditions - kind of thrilling and terrifying at the same time.  I'd rather perform in front of hundreds of people than audition for 4.   Every once in awhile a show will catch my eye that I'd love to be a part of.  I don't audition for everything because of course, I don't have the time.  But I do have a list of a handful of shows that I will DEFINITELY try out for if I ever see a community theater company put them in their season line-up.

One of those shows is 1776.  I grew up watching that show every 4th of July with my family while we were waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks.  And I always dreamed of someday playing the part of  "Abigail."  I just love Abigail Adams--she was an AMAZING part of our American history, and I love the relationship that she and her husband John Adams shared as documented by their prolific letter writing.  In my reading about her, I discovered that I'm even the same size and coloring as Abigail Adams, so not only do I have an emotional connection with Abigail Adams, I even LOOK like her.  I figured that when I walked into my audition today, they would all breathe a sigh of relief that the perfect Abigail Adams had come to try-out.

And I didn't even get a call-back.

Sad for me.  I guess a good rejection is healthy for me, right?  Keeps me humble?

On a brighter note, the choreographer sought me out afterward and told me he hoped I'd try out for "Annie" coming up in September.  I thought I'd bring Daphne down to audition, so maybe I'll try-out too . . .  just for fun.

dinner-why do I even bother?

Tonight I tried a new recipe.  I made Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers from Our Best Bites.  I just LOVE the combination of coconut and cayenne pepper,  and thought they were DELICIOUS.  I don't make breaded chicken fingers very often because it's a lot of work to dip them all.  But once in awhile when I'm feeling ambitious I go for it.  So tonight I did it, and guess what the the kids did?  First, Hayden complained loudly about how disgusting the dinner was, and then proceeded to pick off all the breading that took me 30 minutes to prepare.  Sean said, "Hey, that's a great idea, Hayden!"  and picked off all his breading too, and they both ate the plain chicken, and only swallowed their vegetables under severe duress.

Seriously?  Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

March Quotes

Dallin:  (watching me cut some fruit)  Mom--you're not ever supposed to cut toward yourself.  

You would never get your whittling badge.

We made a fun rainbow fruit platter with "cloud" fruit dip on one side of the rainbow, and a pot of gold on the other side of the rainbow.  Everyone got a piece of gold if they ate at least one of each colored fruit.  Well, Sydney, without ever having tasted rolos before, just bypassed the fruit and started digging into the pot of gold.  "How does she even know those are yummy?" I wondered aloud.  Dallin replied, "Probably because they are the most blingyest."

Daphne was brushing her cousin Jemma's hair, and they had a funny little conversation that went like this: 
Jemma:  Ouch, Daphne!
Daphne:  Jemma, don't you know it takes a little bit of pain to be beautiful?
Jemma:  what's paint?
Daphne:  pain--it means it hurts a little bit
Jemma:  (thinks for a minute)  Well, that's for grown-ups, not kids, right?

Aunt Jen:  If you could give Papa anything for his birthday, what would you give him?

Hayden:  (thinking)  Hmm, . . . that'th a hard one.  (thinking) It would have to be thomething that he really needth. . .  (more thinking . . .)  I gueth, a glath of water?

Daphne:  Hayden, do you love me?

Hayden:  yeah.

Daphne:  Will you feed my sheep?

Uncle Eric:  You have sheep?

Daphne:  No, but if Obama is reelected we're getting chickens.

Arthur (answering his cell phone):  Hello?

Daphne: Um, Dad?

Arthur:  Yeah?

Daphne:  I just wanted to let you know that we ate all the ice cream, so if you want any when you get home, you should stop at the store and get some.

Sean's kindergarten teacher told me this story at parent teacher conference.  One day during announcements, Sean heard this over the intercom, "Don't forget to bring your dad to bookfair tomorrow for Donuts for Dads!"  His hand immediately went up, and when the announcements were finished, Miss Phillips called on Sean.  He said, "My dad can't come to donuts for dads."  Miss Phillips said, "That's okay--not everybody can come."  Sean announced, "Well, he can't come because he's on a diet."

Daphne:  Boys! do I have to come back there and sit between you?

Hayden:  You made me whine, Mom!

Daphne:  No one can make you whine, Hayden.  You choose to whine.

(can you tell she's been listening?)

Hayden after Star Tours:  I totally thought Darth Vader wath real.  I was about to unbuckle my theatbelt and punch him in the fathe (face).

Dallin:  Who wants to pitch in to buy the Empire Wars computer game?!?

Daphne:  . . .  uh, not interested.

After the boys missed the school bus for the 3rd time in one week, Hayden said, 

"Hey!  I have a great idea!  

We should sleep shorter!"

Disneyland & California Adventure

March 17-20, 2012
Nat & Bri's House, Disneyland & California Adventure


Natalie and Brian were so great to have us invade their home "on our way" back to Albuquerque and be our personal tour guides at Disneyland & California Adventure.  We had such a blast!  We got the 3-Day hopper pass for both parks and went on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.

Saturday it was raining so it was the least crowded of the days we were there.  And since the Evans' passes were blacked out on that day, Natalie kept Sydney home with her.  (thanks, you guys!) So without a stroller and with fewer people at the parks, Saturday was our most productive day.  Our shoes were wet, and Hayden kept freaking out whenever the wind blew his poncho hood off his head, but other than that, we had a wonderful day.

Monday and Tuesday, the weather was perfect, so EVERYbody came out.  But it was still fun.  Natalie, Brian and Kyrie came with us on Monday, and we had those fast passes down to a science!  We hit lots of great rides, and ate at a fun BBQ place in Frontier Land.  On a whim, we stayed to watch the fireworks and Fantasmic.  And I know it sounds super cheesy, but the only word I can think of to describe those shows is "Magical."  Disney knows how to make magic. -- Seriously, when we retire, I might want to go work at Disneyland.

Sadly, on Tuesday, Brian had to go to work  so we muddled along with out him.  That may have been the most crowded day, and as we were navigating through the crowds that day, Natalie had her first experience with losing a child in a big place.  One minute Kyrie was holding hands with Daphne, and the next minute she was nowhere in sight.  We split up looking for her, and were just praying she would find someone nice to help her get to the lost child office, and she did!  It is the worst feeling in the world to discover your child is missing--poor Natalie handled it really well.

So glad we found this girl!!!
Even if she purposely jumped in front of the camera while we were trying to take a picture . . .

We had such a fun time together!  We went on every ride on our agenda, and did lots of fun stuff off the beaten path, like Turtle Talk with Crush, and visiting Beast's Library, where you can read some enchanted book to find out what Disney Characters we most resemble.  That was fun and kind-of telling:  Dallin--Jiminy Cricket, Daphne--Tinkerbelle, Sean--Hades (the bad guy from Hercules) and Hayden--Shan Yu, (the bad guy from Mulan.)  How appropriate.  You can guess what they answered on the last question which determines if you are a hero or a villain: "Would you rather eat lunch with nice people, or eat nice people for lunch?"

We also saw the Aladdin Show (which was great!), the Jedi Training Academy show.  Both Dallin & Kyrie were chosen to participate so after the other kids got over their devastation at not being chosen, it was fun  to cheer their family members on.

 

And the girls saw a Princess Show where they got to learn to dance and wave like a princess, and were visited by Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora.  I took them to see that while Natalie was holding our place in the "Meet-the-princess" line.

 

Even though Sydney recognizes Disney princesses, can even say "Sincess" and refuses to take off her princess nightgown, she was pretty skeptical of the princesses we met.  She wouldn't approach Ariel or Belle, but when we got to Jasmine, Sydney got down from my arms and walked up to her and waved.
Cute.

  

The boys, meanwhile, went on Star Tours--no WAY they were gonna wait for a half an hour to take pictures with some girly princesses, although it should be stated for historical purposes that Hayden has shown some partiality to Jasmine--(probably because she shows more skin than the others, if we're being totally honest.)

Okay, I know this post is too long already, but I just have to write down some of my favorite memories from our Disney trip.

Star Tours--This is a 3-D ride.  The first time we went on that ride, Hayden came out saying, "Oh my gosh.  I totally thought Darth Vader wath real.  I wath about to unbuckle my theatbelt, and punch him in the fathe. (face)"

Splash Mountain--Hayden is a little dare devil.  He loves the fast roller coasters.  He rode on all of them that he was tall enough for, which was almost everything.  He even did Tower of Terror and said it was "Crazy awethome!"  Well, on his third time on Splash Mountain, there was a problem with the ride, and his log/boat/thingy stopped for a few minutes right before the ascent to the big drop.  It's the part where the poverty-stricken little rabbit family is singing in a minor key, "Don't go to the laughing place, the laughing place, you'll surely die . . ."  or something equally as morbid.  Well, after a couple minutes of that, he just lost it, and started screaming at the top of his lungs, and continued screaming for basically the rest of the ride.  What an unfortunate place for his boat to stop.  Poor guy.

Space Mountain--This was my favorite ride growing up.  I think it still might be.  I love it.  The first time we went on this ride, Arthur was wondering if it might be too scary for Sean and Hayden since it was all dark.  I told him I thought it would be fine.  When we got off, Hayden was totally excited and said it was  so crazy fast and was his crazy, crazy, craziest favorite ride ever.  Then I asked Sean how he liked it.  When I looked at him, he was on the verge of tears with his bottom lip sticking way out.  He did not like it.  Just look at this picture of him at the end of the ride.

Now this may reveal what a horrible parent I am, but when I saw that picture, I laughed so hard.  And to this day, when I think about the look of complete and utter terror on his face, I still laugh out loud.  Poor Sean!  I'm pleased to report, however, that we did get him to ride it again, and he liked it better and even better the 3rd time.  But those fast roller coasters are not his favorite, to be sure.

Tips to remember when we take the family again:
Go in February or September (less crowded)
Don't ever let the kids get hungry -- (they fall apart really fast when that happens) They definitely need a real lunch--snacks aren't filling enough.
Don't go two days in a row.  The younger kids were pretty fragile on Tuesday--I think a break in between might have helped . . .

Finally, here's a little slideshow for any of you who feel that you just haven't gotten enough of our Disney experience.  Sydney loves it and points to the "Doggy" (pluto) and "Mickey" and "Daddy" and asks to watch it over and over.  I'm sure you'll feel the same.  ;)

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Spring has Sprung!

When we got home from our Spring Break travels, look what was waiting for us!

Gorgeous weather, blossoms on our fruit trees, and DAFFODILS!  Don't you love how cheerful they are?  Tomorrow, my garden is going in the ground (before all the seedlings I started last month start to die), and I think I'll probably break out my capris for the first time this year.  wahoo!

And eventually, (because I know you're all dying to see) I'll sort through all our spring break pictures and post about our adventures in California over the last couple of weeks.  We had a wonderful time out there!