23 years!

23 years!

Happy Anniversary to us.  23 years and his twinkly blue eyes and mischievous grin, still make my heart skip a beat. The video above was a gift from Kent for valentines in 2009.

Stretch Armstrong

Stretch Armstrong

I have not blogged for a while, and I really don’t have time to do it now, but I find that I really want the validation that comes from blogging.   My husband says I like to talk, and sometimes I find that I don’t have an audience for all my amazing thoughts and insights, so this blog makes me feel like I have an audience (whether anyone reads it or not.)  I have had so many ideas for posts running around in my head.  Each morning when I am running (literally), my thoughts are also “running.”  And  in order to save my dear husband from too much “yakking” on my part, I turn to this blog. 

So anyway, this morning, as I ran, I started to think about Stretch Armstrong.  (Random-I know.)  Now for those of you too young (or maybe too old) to remember Stretch Armstrong, this was a toy of the late 70’s early 80’s.  Stretch was in the shape of a well-muscled blonde man wearing a pair of swimming trunks.  And as his name implies, his most notable feature was that he could be stretched from his original size (about 15 inches) to four or five feet.  Now, you may wonder why I was thinking about Stretch-and …well…I don’t really know. (Maybe that country song that mentions him had recently played on my ipod.)  I think my little brothers may have owned one of these toys.  However, as I remembered him, I was struck by the similarities between Stretch and myself (and all mothers for that matter.)  No, I’m not a muscled male, I’m fairly “untan,” and I certainly don’t want to be paraded about in my swim suit.  However,  since being a mom I have been “stretched” further than I ever imagined possible (literally-how did my body ever stretch to hold and deliver 6 full-term babies?-and figuratively:  emotionally, mentally, and spiritually- How do I handle a cranky newborn or a moody teenager? What can I do to ensure that my children develop testimonies? What is the best method of toilet training? (Actually-I think I figured that one out-DO NOTHING-they eventually figure it out on their own.) And how can I squeeze 30+ hours of needs, wants, and enjoyment into a 24 hour day?  And as I reflected on my week (particularly last night, when I was simultaneously, ordering graduation announcements, helping a son pack for a band trip, and pressing “play” over and over while critiquing my daughter’s cheer tryout dance-all AFTER the band concert) I realized that I was DOING it!!! My arms and heart and mind CAN stretch, and it is amazing!  Now I don’t always handle everything perfectly, but I am getting “stretched out.”  Just like a new Stretch Armstrong doll, I was a little stiff coming out of the box, a little uptight,  a little “green.”  But this week when my daughter forgot and took my car keys home leaving me stranded at school, I didn’t even get upset.  (I didn’t just not get upset AT her; I really did not even FEEL upset.  Instead I found myself thinking, “It was an honest mistake.  It’s gonna be a pain for HER to have to come back to bring me the keys.”)  And at that moment, I realized that I think I can make it.  I am sorry that my first child had to get the stiff, uptight version of mom. (Luckily he has the most kicked back, resilient personality I know-thank goodness-I don’t think I damaged him too badly.)But with each task, each obstacle, each child, I find myself less stiff, and more “stretchable.”  And even though just like a well-used Stretch Armstrong, I may never get my pre-mom, unstretched “shape” back, that’s ok.  Like Stretch’s last name implies, MY arms (and mind and heart ) are strong enough  to do this, and the stretched out version of me just might be better than the “fresh out of the box” version.

How I Became A Mother....Let Me Count the Ways

How I Became a Mother....Let Me Count the Ways

1-Dallin

2-Analise

3-Kaylee

4-Lynae

5-Trent



6-Luke (These are 14-month pics of all my kids-Aren't they cute?!)




1-2-3-4-5-6.  I LOVE being a mom.  Thank you to all 6 of my kids for making my life so happy.  Happy Mother's Day to me! 

May Day-Multiple Meanings

May Day-Multiple Meanings

If you grew up in Moapa Valley (as I did) you know that May Day means the spring dance festival put on by the elementary school students.  How long this tradition has gone on no one seems to know for sure, but I participated in May Day each spring of my elementary school  career.  (I was an adult before I knew that the actual DATE of May Day was May 1^st-I always just thought it was whatever day the “May Day” dance festival was scheduled for.  The dance festival WAS “May Day.”)  Now I’m going to sound old, but I must reminisce about the “good old days” of “May Day.”  Of course, I think the way WE did “May Day” when I was growing up was the best.  (But don’t “old” people always think that?)  First of all, we always dressed up-like in our Sunday best.  (Of course, when I started elementary school the dress code required girls to wear dresses to school every day – except Friday -anyway.)  It was always fun to see everyone’s new “May Day” dresses and the planning for, sewing of, or shopping for said dresses began months before the event.  (It seemed a new “May Day” dress was more important than a new Easter dress.)  I remember my Grandma sewing me a full skirted dress for the Virginia Reel  in 4^th grade.  This was a dance I anticipated from kindergarten on.  I remember watching the 4^th graders perform this dance when I was in 2^nd grade and thinking, “When I am old enough to do the Virginia Reel, I will really be mature.”   And I can still hear the music and calls in my mind. (“Forward again with a do-si-do and all the way back to place you go.”) But then “back in the day” EVERY dance performed at May Day was a “partner dance” with formations and actual steps.  (No line dances-in fact I don’t think line dances had even been invented.) It was always a big deal to see who you would be assigned to dance with.   And IF you were a REALLY good dancer, you just might get to be an “extra” for another grade should there not be an even number of girls and boys.  This was a coveted position because “extras”  got to get out of class to practice TWICE –once with their own class and once with the class needing an “extra.”   The dances were performed in the “new gym”  (now the middle school gym) and the school (and valley) was small enough that everyone could fit and the students even got to watch each other perform.   Now the dances are performed at the fairgrounds, and I must admit I do enjoy the outside venue (not as hot), but I miss the partner dances, the fancy dresses, and I really mourned the retirement of the 4^th grade “Virginia Reel”  replaced by a new “favorite,” a “period dance”  (“Stayin’ Alive” disco) from the 70’s-the era during  which I was performing the "May Day" 4^th grade “Virginia Reel.”  (In fact, I was in 4^th grade during the 1976-77 school year, and the Bee Gee’s released “Stayin’ Alive” December 13, 1977-so ya we didn’t need to “dress up” in 70’s attire for a dance-it was standard every-day fare- though I don’t remember as many afros, chains, and shades as I see now in the 4^th grade dance performance.)  But whatever the case, I still love to go to “May Day.”  I now only have one child left in elementary school, and while I’m sad that he didn’t get to learn the “Virginia Reel” this year, I have to admit, he looked pretty cool in his “disco attire.”  “May Day” rocks!

The only pic I got of Luke in his 70's "May Day" attire ( he's in the black suit with the blond wig).  I took my good camera, but Kaylee had taken the battery out and it wouldn't work!  So Kent took this with his phone.  Also, although Luke danced right in front of us, the entire group (all 4 lines) faced north for the entire dance! We were sitting on the south side, so this was taken during one of the rare moments that the dancers turned around.   

These are horrible pics, but this is me (with the white knee socks) in 6th grade braiding the Maypole.  (6th grade was part of elementary school back then.)  This is 1979, but I don't see many afros or beads.  However, the guy approaching me is rocking the silk printed dress shirt and white dress pants-total 70's.) P.S. That's Corinne behind me.



Another 6th grade May Day shot-ready to dance with our partners.  Notice how I am the ONLY one wearing knee socks.  I wasn't allowed to wear panty hose yet, but everyone else was.  (Note the girls behind and in front of me.)  And on top of that my partner, Tony May, thought it would be cool to wear a HAT!  How embarrassing!



And now for the “multiple meanings” part of this post:  (Sorry Kaylee, I just can’t seem to make a short post-I have too much to yak about.)  Technically, I’m only going to address one other meaning so the post should be titled “May Day-Dual Meanings” but I liked the alliteration effect of the “m” words. 



So...Besides being the first day of May and the spring dance festival at the school, “May Day” is a call for help sent out by sinking boats, and lately, I have felt like a sinking boat.  Now I know that moms are supposed to be “unsinkable,” but so was the “Titanic.”  Some things that I’ve been doing this last week:  (Many of these are fun, good things- but each task adds weight to my "mom boat," and I feel myself riding lower and lower in the water.)

·         Orthodontist drama-will Kaylee ever get her braces off and will her teeth be straight and can this be done before she leaves for college in 6 weeks? (3 trips to the orthodontist last week.)



·         May Day with Luke

·         Two daughters answering prom dates, getting ready for, and attending the prom.

·         Campaign posters for Trent running for middle school student council

·         Physicals for Lynae and Trent for cheer tryouts and scout camp.



·         Midnight movie opening night The Avengers (I didn’t attend, but Kaylee did, meaning I was up until she got home about 3 a.m.-combine that with waiting up for prom returns, and ya, I’m pretty tired.  And I thought my sleep deprivation problems would be over when I no longer had babies who did not sleep through the night-ha!)

·         Cleaning my carpets



·         Ward temple night

·         Trip to St. George to pick up boat (Kent took Lynae’s prom group out to the lake-this necessitated getting the boat serviced which had been a to-do since last summer.  It also made my 2^nd trip to St. George during the week.  I had also been to Mesquite and Vegas during the week.)

·         Working every day in the high school library-we are doing inventory.

·         Trimming all my rosemary in the front rock bed.



·         Phone call from Analise who is here.  (Check out her blog here.)



·         Phone calls from Dallin who is here trying to work out class issues.

·         The usual-exercise, laundry, meals, etc. etc. etc.

·         Wedding reception

And I missed Lynae’s track meet (I was picking up the boat.) So I hope this week is a bit calmer, cause any more weight on my “unsinkable mom boat”  and it might be going under (even without an ice-berg collision.)

Some pics from the above:

 Kaylee and prom date Daniel

 Lynae and prom date Justin (Aren't my girls beautiful?!)

 Kaylee's day-time prom activity: Paintballing

 Lynae's day-time prom activity: the lake

 Kaylee and friends preparing for the midnight release of The Avengers

One of Trent's campaign posters-He designed and made it; I just punched out the letters.  It looks just like something a 13-year-old boy would come up with :)

Prom Preparation

Prom Preparation

I have two daughters going to prom this year. And things have changed a lot since I went to prom. Of course the dress (shopping for which is worthy of its own post) and corsage/boutonnière are still standard fare, but the ASKING for the date and the ANSWERING are a bit (no actually A LOT) more elaborate. In case you are as old as me, and remember the asking being a shy, awkward,  “I was wondering if you’d like to go to the prom with me,” and the answering being, “sure” (while either rejoicing that the “perfect” date had taken notice and asked, or trying to push down that “sinking feeling” that you would be enduring a formal evening with a less-than-perfect date all the time watching the “perfect date” enjoying the evening with someone else.) here’s a quick update of the new status quo in prom asking/answering etiquette: (And FYI, it puts A LOT of pressure on the parent(s) of the girl-aka me!). The preparation begins months before with the “reserving.” This is the gallant, medieval-type practice of the would be “asker” approaching the parent of the “askee” to obtain permission to “reserve” (and eventually ask) his hoped-for date. And this is also the point where the approached parent begins to feel as though she (or I guess it could be the dad-in my case it’s always been me) is being slowly submerged in a giant pressure cooker. Of course this conversation usually only lasts a few moments, but it feels like an eternity, as the parent (me) tries to remember who this young man is-in my experience this process has always been done on the phone so I sometimes don’t even know what he looks like-and if he is someone who 1-I should ALLOW to take my daughter to the prom and 2-she would LIKE to go to the prom with. After answering in the affirmative, the parent (me) begins a massive research project perusing old yearbooks, phoning friends, and hoping that the answer given was the “right” one. The parent may tell the girl that she has been reserved but should not reveal the identity of the “reserver.” (This requires a lot of parental tact, stamina, and continued reassuring that the "reserver" is "prom-date worthy,"  all while said parent keeps her fingers crossed that she will not be given three years of the silent treatment, if she inadvertantly gave permission to the wrong "reserver.") Then the girl, patiently waits for the “reserver” to reveal his identity through a formal (and the key word here is “formal”) asking ritual. This can be anything from a scavenger hunt, to flowers delivered during a school assembly, to a giant sign on the highway to any number of other creative, unusual, and/or embarrassing venues.  This year, Kaylee was asked via a scavenger hunt in which poems guided her to various locations which spelled out “prom.” The hunt ended at Mcdonald’s (The “M” in prom) where she found the “asker” who made the official request and then bought her a milkshake. Lynae came home to a balloon and streamer filled room with a rose-petal heart on her bed topped with an envelope containing the prom ticket and an “official ask” from the now-revealed date. BUT….it doesn’t end there. No, the ANSWER, must be as formal as the question, so now that prom is less than a week away, and both my girls have been officially asked (Kaylee’s was just made official Monday night), both are scrambling as they prepare their answers (in addition to figuring out the perfect hairdo, nails, and jewelry.....-dresses and all that associated drama have already been decided on.)

Aw, the pressures of youth. Forget about the AP calculus test coming up in less than a week, all free time MUST be devoted to preparing the perfect “answer.”

Burning "R"  (2nd stop on Kaylee's "P-R-O-M" scavenger hunt.)

 Lynae's offical "request"


P.S. Both girls plan to answer in the affirmative.  I must have "chosen wisely" in my parental responses to the "reservation requests."  Oh the parental pressure...And this is only the prom-good thing I don't live in an arranged marriage culture.