bat mitzvah

Mark and I attended our first ever bat mitzvah on Saturday. The honored girl, Hannah, is a daughter of one of Mark's co-workers. It was a very different religious experience for us, and we enjoyed learning a bit about the Jewish religion. The service lasted about 3 1/2 hours total--we were there for 2 1/2. Most of it is done in Hebrew. The Torah is read during the service and it is not just read but chanted. Hannah and several other people took turns reading from the scrolls, which are handwritten and quite large -- very interesting. In one particular part of the service, Hannah carried the Torah through the congregation. She was nervous about dropping it (but did not) because I'm sure it was rather heavy. I am simply amazed at the amount of learning that takes place before one participates in the bat mitzvah service! I can't imagine learning all the Hebrew and melodies to accompany it -- wow! The Cantor was excellent and the Rabbi was very personable and spoke in English. She gave a speech (kind of like a mini-sunday school class) about the Garden of Eden. Hannah also gave a speech (in English) about learning from Isaiah to pay attention so that you don't miss out on important things. Following the services, we were invited to a kiddush luncheon. The food was absolutely delicious -- bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, fresh fruit, a traditional pasta dish of some sort (yum), couscous salad, a pepper salad with olives and feta cheese (my favorite of all the dishes), potato salad, cookies, cake, and I've forgotten what else, but it was all very good!

over and over and over and over and over

This picture was taken in March. You'd think doing this same activity several times a day for 7+ months would get old, right? Wrong. Matthew does this same thing with the books in the bookcase and it's driving me crazy!!!

10 signs that my kids are growing up

1. They have their own money and bicycle and ask to go to DQ with their friends -- and I let them.
2. They go to activities at 9PM instead of going to bed.
3. They are learning to read all by themselves.
4. They want to go to sleep without being rocked.
5. They have an afternoon meal instead of an afternoon snack.
6. Their pants are too short.
7. They can cook and eat an entire box of mac n' cheese alone.
8. They aren't scared to go downstairs to the storage room alone.
9. They go to nursery.
10. They can babysit themselves.

finding closure

During this last summer, my doctor of the past 10 years very unexpectedly passed away. For some odd reason, I have had a hard time with this. Yesterday I finally realized why. He has shared some very important life events with us, namely delivering our 4 youngest boys. Think about who is actually in the room with you when your new baby is born, your husband, a doctor and a nurse. This is a major life event that is shared with only those few important people! I will always remember the kind way that he treated us when Cole was born. Cole was born around 8 p.m. and he was not actually there to deliver him since Cole came so quickly. I don't remember details, but he talked to me on the phone in the minutes after delivery and told me there wasn't anything he really needed to come to the hospital for at this point (he was at home), the nurses had already done everything that I needed medically, but asked if we wanted him to come anyway? I remember saying "yes" that we wanted him to come anyway and he came without hesitation just to be there for us emotionally -- I believe that act was above the call of duty. I also came to appreciate the way I was treated at the office by him and his staff -- I was a real person and not just another appointment, patient #592 of the day. I never had to introduce myself at the reception desk, they knew me when I came in and the MA's would always ask how the boys were, etc., etc. I miss that. I took it for granted. Thank you, doctor, for your professional and personal care of me and my family.

juvenile delinquent?

Yesterday should be a day to remember for Jacob. I say "should be" because he is only 5 and who knows how much he will remember later in life. So, he and his buddy were playing yesterday and decided it would be fun if they threw rocks at a neighbor's basement window (a house in the friends neighborhood). Golly gee, what happens when rocks are thrown at windows? Yep, they break. I think Jacob found that out. Not one of his better playtime ideas. Now we are in punishment/consequences mode around here. He's turned over his money to Mom and Dad, except for what's in his wallet -- it is nowhere to be found -- how convenient. He's now grounded from playing with his buddy, and gamecube and tv priveledges have been taken away as well. I hope a few life lessons will be learned from this.

jekyll & hyde

Last night we went to a performance of Jekyll & Hyde. I had never seen this before and I only knew it was a musical because one of our neighbors was performing in it. Anywho... it was very well done! The guy who played the tormented Dr. Henry Jekyll & Edward Hyde was quite good and the two women who played Emma & Lucy had amazing voices. I didn't love the storyline so much, although it is perfectly halloween-ish with lots of gory deaths. I kept hoping for a happy ending, but alas, only death. In speaking with our friend after the show, I realized that actors love playing death scenes because they are so, well, dramatic! No wonder this show had lots of people audition for parts! Going to the show was my b-day gift from Mark -- we had a fun evening together!

a day in my life

I had a pretty productive day on Tuesday. Here's a look at what I did:

• wake up/get boys up & going
• go for a short run
• shower and dress
• make & eat breakfast
• get the boys out the door to school
• start a load of laundry
• get Matthew dressed
• do the dishes/clean up the kitchen
• pick up Matthew's messes
• sort the rest of the laundry
• run a couple errands and go to Costco
• pick up Jacob from kindergarten
• put groceries away
• make & eat lunch
• start Jacob on homework
• put Matthew down for a nap
• pick up Matthew's messes
• help Jacob finish homework & read with him
• blog, e-mail, other computer things
• grind wheat and start a batch of bread
• get big boys going on homework
• pick up Matthew's messes
• make & eat dinner
• get boys going on their daily cleanup jobs
• finish cleaning up the kitchen
• pick up Matthew's messes
• give the 2 little boys baths
• go to Jared's basketball game
• get everyone into bed
• clean the bathroom
• pick up Matthew's messes
• climb into bed exhausted

Throughout all this I managed to wash, dry, fold, & put away 6 loads of laundry.

first snow

Sunday morning we woke up to a few inches of wet, perfectly packable snow. We happened to have stake conference that day, and not until 2:00 p.m., so the boys were able to have some good snow fun before conference. Here's Jacob and his snowman: Jacob making a snow angel -- note he's still wearing pj's!
Ryan and his snow buddy:
The snowball fight.
What is it about snow that always makes kids want to eat it?
Jared wasn't into the snow thing until he decided it was good football playing weather. By the time he and Ryan dragged out the football for a few passes/diving catches in the white stuff, I was back inside the house warming up in my warm fuzzy slippers, so there's no pictures of the football fun.

birthday girl

Ok, so I recently had a birthday -- here's the picture to prove it. Yes, I am 3 years old. Well, maybe not, but at least my real age can still be written beginning with a 3! I made myself a quick b-day cake without much effort thanks to Betty Crocker. I've always liked german chocolate cake with butter pecan frosting. A little vanilla ice cream on the side and we'll call it a birthday treat!

retirement savings -- ha!

With stock markets plunging everyday and the economy in turmoil, sometimes I really have to wonder what I was thinking when I tried to save for retirement. I'd have more money if I'd have just stuffed my savings under my mattress. Fortunately, I'm not even close to retirement age, so I guess I'll just be "riding it out" as the experts say. Buckle up! Anyone else have similar thoughts?

no tv

Our tv partly died yesterday afternoon-- just the part that shows the picture -- the MOST IMPORTANT part of the dang thing! Listening to tv is not nearly as thrilling as watching tv -- I feel as though I've been transported back to the days of radio, before tv was invented. This of course also means, no game cube, no movies. The televison part I can live without for a few days (or weeks), but I really hate to admit it, I am missing my "babysitter" and/or "attention distracter".

just call me sister, just call him coach

This week has brought some new opportunites for us. The youth in our ward are participating in "missionary week" and every morning they are meeting at the church at 6:00 a.m. for a 30-minute spiritual class followed by breakfast. They have been assigned to "missions" and divided into zones (classes). I was asked to be a teacher for one of the zones. So yep, I've been crawling out of bed every morning at 5:30 a.m. to put myself in Sunday attire, walk over to the church, and teach class for half an hour, and oh yes, to be cheerful & talkative! Quite frankly I've enjoyed it -- teaching the class, not necessarily getting up so early! I've been teaching about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith and preparing the kids to teach this subject to the families in the ward that they will be having dinner appointments with this Friday evening. We have good youth in this ward and I'm glad that I've had this opportunity to teach and share my testimony with them, it's been a great experience for me.

As for the "just call him coach" part of the post title, Mark is officially Ryan's Jr. Jazz coach this session. That's what happens when you go into the Recreation Center to inquire about why your son hasn't had a call from a coach about an upcoming game! Mark & I decided it was probably our turn to be involved parents, and since the game days and practices work with Mark's schedule, there really wasn't any excuse not to coach. There are 8 boys on the team and they are all firecrackers -- think Ryan multiplied by 8!! Last night was their first game and they won soundly, something like 28 to 4. Ryan scored a career high 10 points. Mark will have his first practice with them on Saturday. He's hoping he can contain their energy enough that they'll be able to have an effective practice session. Secretly, I think he's going to enjoy this!

In more sports news, Jared had his first game this week as well. He had a great game with 11 points (1/3 of his team total -- oh yeah, his team won!), a block, a steal, and a couple other fabulous statistics that I have failed to remember -- sorry about that, Jared. Jacob played soccer this week too. Unfortunately, he didn't score any goals this week, but he has improved so much through the season, that it's just fun to see his progress.

donut falls

On Saturday we took a little family excursion up Big Cottonwood canyon to check out Donut Falls. The kids and I had never been there and Mark hadn't been there since he was a kid. It was a fabulous family hike (very kid friendly, i.e. short distance, good trail, cool, rocks to climb, and water!) and the mountains are just beautiful this time of year! Here's a few photos:
Matthew throwing rocks -- he LOVED this! He could stand in the water and throw rocks without getting wet.
Matthew rode atop Mark's shoulders on the way up, but he walked (ran!) down most of the trail by himself.
Just loved this shot of 3 brothers hanging out together, totally happy together.
At the trail head is this big rock. Jacob climbed up on it and requested that his picture be taken. After taking the picture we happened to notice the carving in the tree behind him -- take a look, there it is -- JACOB. Pretty cool, eh?!
Utah mountains are just gorgeous this fall!!
The boys chilling out on the bridge.

The boys at the falls, although you can't really see the falls in the picture.
Token picture of me at the falls to prove that I did go on the family outing (I'm always taking pictures and therefore avoid being in very many of them!)
Just love this shot of Jacob.
Here's a decent picture of the falls behind Ryan! As you can see, there's not much water this time of year. I would imagine that there is a lot more falling water in the springtime.
I want to go on this hike again next year!