Huh?

Would someone please tell me where in the world the phrase "whatever makes your skirt fly up" came from? Because seriously- who really wants that? I wore a skirt twice this weekend and I can sure tell you that I was trying NOT to have my skirt fly up. Maybe it had something to do with coming out of Walmart with a cartful and trying to stay clothed while I maneuvered in the Oklahoma wind to my car that I thought, why in the world would anyone want to have their skirt fly up? Where did that saying come from, and how on earth could it be a good thing?

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

We knew that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was coming. We did not purchase tickets.

One must understand that our "normal" meetings when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings, (during our bi annual church wide general conference) are not filled with applause, or shouts of praise. But quite reverence. We don't stand up and sway to the music. Our hands don't clap at the end of a song. It's not a perfomance. It's praise and song to combine a feeling, a prayer turning our thoughts to the Savior. So while my experience with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been enjoyable and spiritual, I would not put it into the category of entertainment.

I had spent the weekend away scrapbooking with my friend Kristie. I mentioned that Jay was going to go usher for the choir that night. She asked why I was not going, and don't you think you want to go? I gave an answer of sort of- but I hear them often and its alright. A while later I got a call from Kim saying she had extra tickets, would I like to go. Then again later on I got another call this time from Julie offering another couple of tickets. I took the opportunity and started making the calls to co-ordinate my mom to watch the boys, and arranging with Jay & my friends about transportation Between the 2 of them we took 3 tickets so that Jay and I would be able to sit together and Savanna could go too.

I was excited to go. I figured it would be a pleasant evening filled with song, and I would come home glad I had gone. The evening far exceeded my thoughts of what I would experience.
I had no idea that the orchestra would be accompanying them. I had no idea how awe-inspiring it would be to hear them in person.

To try and write what I felt- seems hard to re-create. I felt the music. Normally we watch/hear the choir 2-4 times a year. Over satellite broadcast, over the internet, and we listen to their music countless times. But nothing can compare with sitting in front of them live. The choir combined with the orchestra moved my body and my spirit together into one fantastic movement.

The music was broken down into 8 sections-

Hymns of Praise: Alleluia fanfare and Praise to the Lord the Almighty
Morning Has Broken
Hymn of Praise

Music of the Masters: Gloria in excelsis, from Mass in C Minor, KV 427
O Lord God, op. 15, no.11
Cum Sanco Spiritu

Music of the World: Ah, el novio no quere dinero!
Danny Boy
Betelehemu

Two American Fold Hymns: Amazing Grace
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

intermission

From the American Songbook

Songs of the Land: Saints Bound for Heaven
Homeward Bound
Cindy

Songs of Faith and Hope: I Want Jesus to Walk with Me
Organ solo: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Rock-a-My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham

Songs of Inspirations from the American Theater: Come to My Garden
You'll Never Walk Alone
God Bless America

Music and the Spoken Word (celebrating 80 years of broadcasting): Come, Come, Ye Saints
Battle Hymn of the Republic

with an encore of This Land is Your Land (conducted by "guest" director)
and God Be with You till We Meet Again

I was moved and astounded from the beginning and had several favorites and discoverd a favorite song of Jay's. I Loved hearing the section Songs of Faith and Hope. Reminded me of my Nana- and it brought happy loving memories. (especially the organ solo Swing Low, Sweet Chariot) Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing was a favorite before, and remains still.
We clapped and shouted after the song Betelehemu- and wanted to get up and move during many.

But one moment will stand out- that was totally unplaned, but a reminder and a blessing to me. Down on the floor a young girl twirled and spun and danced gracefully arms outstretched, uncarring of what anyone else around her thought. Her movements were so unhibited, reminding me of a little girl I used to know, who will be turning 12 this next week. Her dance along with the music gave me a fresh perspective into the changes and stages we experience with our children. How fleeting really, the time is. How unknowingly we wish the time away. How we need to enjoy each stage, find the good in each one. They will end. Sometimes quicker than we would like.


We tweeted a bit during the event:
(jay)At the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Lloyd Noble Center ~ woot

(alisa)In norman listening to mormon tab choir and orchestra. No one said anything about needing to bring tissues. So moving.

(jay) The motab is getting it's groove on #tribal Betelehemu

(jay) The choir was amazing. The little girl dancing off to the side of the stage on the floor in her party dress was unforgettable. Ahh youth !

(alisa) after the MOTAB concert Savanna and both exclaimed at the same time "wasn't that amazing?"

(savanna) MOTAB concert last night was amazing!! Makes me wish I could be up there on the risers singing with the choir!

I am extremely happy that we went. I am thankful for the shared tickets from friends. I am thankful that my mom watched the boys. I am thankful that Savanna got to go. I am just thankful. And to those who may have wondered why I did not offer to get them tickets. Please accept my sincerest apologies. I sat through the evening in awe and more than once I felt remiss at not purchasing a ticket for every single person that I knew.

What to Eat Wednesday- Spaghetti-dogs

Oh my are you in for a treat today!


I saw this over at Plum Pudding- and just new that some of my kids would love it. I just was not sure which ones. Imagine my surprise when they all LOVED it. And I mean l*o*v*e*d it.


Luke thought it was so funny- he at first called them "medesa heads"


(translation- Medusa heads)
then he started calling them girl heads.


Tonight he requested them for dinner again asking for "girl heads!" I am not so sure what I think of the name. It might have stuck.

Just stick the uncooked spaghetti through uncooked sliced hot dogs. Then boil and serve.

See the original post here-

SPT

Lelly's self-portrait challenge for the month of June:

"your challenge for june is to find your way back. no matter what's been keeping you from blogging, each week you are going to find one small hurdle to overcome. one item to cross off of your to-do list. one pile to declutter. one meal to prepare. one (or ten) pounds to lose.

one thing each week that will bring you to your blog. too vague? don't worry. i have parameters!!

tuesday, june 9 meal-planning/preparations or other organized family time

tuesday, june 16 bringing the indoors outdoors for summer

tuesday, june 23 tackle a very unpleasant cleaning task

tuesday, june 30 i feel better already!"

Well I can't say I actually tackled this one.
Cleaning up the garage- I did move a few things around. I moved clutter. I put things in a pile to take up to the attic. I made a pile of stuff for the back of the car. That was it. Too hot. So I stopped. And what I should have done was come in and organize and clean up the studio since its nice and cool inside the house. But no. I took the kids swimming. Back outside. The place I was trying to avoid-that was too hot.

I was surprised to see that Lelly is taking a break from her blog for a bit- I am not sure if she is meaning it as a long term hiatus- or short term. I will miss her SPT challenges. I have enjoyed doing them for a year and a half. It has put me in the pictures.
I read somewhere where someone was making a point that a self portrait didn't really need to be about self- and they were kind of going in the direction of being selfish. I stopped reading and moved on. That has been the whole point of these challenges. To get me in the pictures. To think about putting myself in our family's history, not just as "voice" but as a person that had a body. And not only my family's history but my own. I am living this life- and I have pictures to prove it!
So thank you Lelly! Since January 2008 I started participating in the challenges. I have appeared in our pictures more this last year and a half than the previous 13 years. I appreciate your time Lelly, in coordinating the challenges!

daddy, dad, dada, papa

Thank you for being the Dad-
Thanks for listening to your kids.
Thanks for your extreme patience.
Thank you for being a teacher.
Thanks for taking time.
Thanks for recognizing their individual needs.
Thank you for being physically and emotionally available for each one.
Happy Fathers Day.

a little FYI

It may never be appropriate to ask a woman if she is pregnant.
Even if she looks as though she is.
Even if you think her clothes look like "cute maternity clothes."
Because there is nothing worse than being on either side of this question and having the answer be "no."

That is all.

Overheard

Just to remember his cuteness-

Tucker wanted some candy- he came to me with a little bowl and in the 2 1/2 year old voice he asked for some skittles. I told him we needed to eat some food first and he quickly said
"Okay! M & M's!"

Last night Jay and I were using the external flash for my camera and trying different angles with it. I turned around to Tucker and he said with surprise and a near miss point of the finger to the lens "see mine head in dar" (translation- see my head in there)

a little of this and a little of that

I have lots of bits and pieces of things- but no real blog post written. In keeping up with life, sometimes I need to excuse myself from technology for a while. I even have taken to my walks in the morning without my music just so I can think. Alone.

Luke and I sat down and made a schedule for what "we" thought we should do this summer. Every August we do "beach week" or we have done spear camp, but "we" thought it would be fun to have something every week- that way we can fit it all in!
We took the first two weeks of summer to get acclimated, sign up for summer reading, get caught up on sleep and we had cubscout camp

Then we started off :

last week was water week


next week will be outdoors week
then
animal week
celebration week (our anniversary, savanna's birthday and 4th of july)
then vacation weeks
and so on. They are pretty loose with different activities related to the theme. Stuff we all want to do, or say sometime we should do this. I am finding I need to schedule some "me" time, and some one on one time with the kids, and a few days cleared on the calendar when I can just be home and get things done.

We are doing a cooking class with Savannas friends every Thursday.

These have been fun-filled, and its great to hear that the girls are making things in their own homes.
It is so interesting to watch them together, and hear what they each want to learn to make.

I have a question and answer post in the works- realized that I have left a few people with unanswered questions. Wasn't sure if I should just send an email, or leave a comment in the comments or just make one big post. Still not sure.

I get lots of looks and stares and a few smiles when we go shopping. And usually there is a double take. I wonder sometimes what the big deal is. And then I look at my kids. I forget because it is so part of the norm. Most of the time someone is dressed up like this:


I am in a dejunking simplifying mode. Wanting to get rid of extra, and excess stuff, to make room for the things we really want. The family has been warned. I think they know, when Mom gets in this mode, if they want something they better have it put away.

I started a 2 1/2 year old post for Tucker 3 1/2 months ago. Still not finished with it.


Our playset is up and all finsihed except the shingles. So thankful to have it, and have the setting up done and out of the way. (Jay is probably more glad about this than I am!)

New favorite song: "Moses and Marco Polo Suite: IV. The Lady Caliph: Dinner"
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone- Sometimes a song just moves you.

Wanting a good book to read. Something that just sucks me in.


Trying to decide on what to do about a van. Its time to start shopping. But having a hard time commiting to it.

Can't find a decent rental car during the time we want to vacation this summer. (translation- can't find something that seats 6 for what we want to pay) Can't rely on our van to get us where we want to go. It is fine for around town, but not so fine for long road trips.
Possibly post-poning trip until we decide about a van.

Excited to spend some time with my camera this week,

(jay and my mom's retro camera- it actually uses film! gasp!)

and hopefully some time with Jay and Photo-shop.




Can't wait for allergies to subside- wondering why in the world- I would start to feel better when we went camping then started feeling immediately worse upon getting in the van and heading home. And why-oh-why was Jay the opposite?

This one is in a biting phase.

This is a first for our kids. I think the others may have bitten once, but this one- its more than once. And he is biting more than our family. He has started to bite friends.


Mostly its when someone has something he wants. Or when he is mad. But now it has happened when we are not around, in the nursery at church. It makes me nervous to leave him. Somehow hitting seems like less of a big deal than biting.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I act like I am going to eat him all the time.


Thinking about finishing some long overdue home projects. Must schedule them and put them on the calendar.
Luke just set a timer of 5 minutes for me so that he can use the computer. Really my 6 year old is timing me and counting down.
Times up.

So what is on your mind?

SPT-

Lelly's new challenge:

your challenge for june is to find your way back. no matter what's been keeping you from blogging, each week you are going to find one small hurdle to overcome. one item to cross off of your to-do list. one pile to declutter. one meal to prepare. one (or ten) pounds to lose.

tuesday, june 9 meal-planning/preparations or other organized family time
tuesday, june 16 bringing the indoors outdoors for summer
tuesday, june 23 tackle a very unpleasant cleaning task
tuesday, june 30 i feel better already!

With the ages of the kids that I have we already eat breakfast and dinner together, and now that its summer we also are eating lunch together.
I was going to take a photo of me rotating and inventorying our food storage, but I did not get around to that. (will I ever?- I guess I have not made a commitment to it yet)
But then with great luck my mom's pool finally opened.
And with it, summer was officially ushered in.
We have been out of school for 2 weeks. And you can be certain we have kept busy. Day field trips, cub scout day camp (if that is not busy I don't know what is), errands, friends over, cooking classes. But we have missed our normal summer routine.


The comfort of sitting at a place I love. Watching the kids play together and their excitement. This is our organized time. Together but being able to do our own thing. The kids take turns playing with each other then swim alone. I am in the pool a while, then sitting relaxing lost in my own thoughts, in the same chairs that have been at the pool for the last 30 or so years. Oh it felt like our life became more simple and more organized just by being able to go to the pool. The kids felt it. The routine "fell back" into place. Swim. Come home. Hang up towels, shower and rinse out suits, eat dinner, bed.
Ah summer. We finally found our way back to you.

What to Eat Wednesday

I have a dear friend who is moving away at the end of the month. It pains me. Many tears have been shed, and many more will come I am certain. I can't even talk about it without my nose stinging, my sinuses getting stuffy and my eyes watering. I am sure I am not the only one that feels this way. Anyone who knows her can call her friend.
So I dedicate this 600th post and what to eat wednesday in her honor. It is so simple and sweet.
And that is something to be grateful for. Simplicity and sweetness and friendship.


Allyson made this shortly for us after she moved here to Oklahoma. I was watching her girls and she brought over popcorn for the kids to eat. Savanna had some and thought it was the best popcorn she had ever tasted. I looked at it, and it looked like normal popcorn with sprinkles on it. So I kind of passed on it. Savanna kept talking about it as she and the boys ate handful after handful. I finally grabbed two kernels before it was gone. This was not popcorn with sprinkles. It was delicious, melt in your mouth goodness. I was sure Allyson had made some kind of yummy topping to drizzle all over the top.
When I asked her she slyly smiled and said you won't believe how simple it is. Just melt 2 pieces of almond bark then poor it over popped microwave popcorn.
Couldn't get any easier than that!

Candy Popcorn (also called Gourmet Popcorn)
Bag of microwave popcorn
2 squares almond bark
sprinkles in any shape or color

Pop popcorn in the microwave. Melt 2 squares of almond bark and pour inside bag of popped corn. Add sprinkles. Pour into bowl and let set. Toss a little before serving. Yum.