One of my friends was surprised I was "allowing" Ellie to signup for choir and orchestra because of all the concerts. I wanted her to be able to explore and find her interests, but yes we are in full swing of concerts now. She has to attend an orchestra concert once a term for orchestra and last week she had her fall choir concert, tonight was the fall orchestra concert and after Thanksgiving there is a benefit concert that they will both be performing at and then the Christmas concerts -- good times. I was glad that I was able to attend these first two concerts because a lot of the concerts fall on Wednesday nights which happens to be when mutual is so with my new calling I didn't how it would all play out. I helped with the choir concert and had a good seat to take pictures. Steve was a trooper and took the boys to get Lila from dance and then brought all the kids for 30 minutes then Marcus was getting restless so he brought them home. It was an enjoyable evening and I appreciate all the work the choir teacher does with 170 girls in Ellie's 7th grade choir -- I think she has over 300 choir students in all. Ellie enjoys it, but I don't know if it's her thing -- she really enjoys orchestra so I think she'll probably continue down that path.
Tonight Ellie had her fall orchestra concert and the teacher said they could wear their Halloween costumes so it was a fun concert and I really enjoyed it.
The teachers are really considerate and try to keep the concerts to 45 minutes so I usually go with Ellie at call time which is 30-60 minutes before the concert. At the choir concert I helped check kids in and at the orchestra concert I read my scriptures while I waited for it to begin. It is some nice peaceful time for me and I enjoy the music. We'll have to take the kids to her next orchestra concert (they couldn't come tonight because Lila had dance and a few other conflicts).
We were supposed to go to Bryce Canyon over UEA weekend (the 3rd Thursday/Friday in October every Utah school shuts down for Utah Education Association -- I think teachers attend trainings, but I'm not for sure) anyway, I was really looking forward to it, but Steve got super busy at work and it got really cold quickly (Bryce got snow yesterday and it was supposed to rain today with highs in the 40s and night time lows not even in the teens like 10-12 degrees) so I chickened out. I didn't want to take the little boys and be stuck inside a hotel. I had just taken them to the pumpkin patch on Monday morning and it they froze after getting pumpkins they didn't even want to walk around and look at the animals or do the other fun stuff and to be honest I was disappointed with the pumpkins we got -- they took us to the plot with the little pumpkins, nothing good to carve.
So to fill our weekend we got out the large Halloween coloring sheet, invited friends over to watch Blackbeard's Ghost (and one of our friends we had over is actually related to Blackbeard). We had a fun afternoon decorating cookies and watching the movie.
Poor Ben actually had a little black mustache from the frosting -- it stained his lip, oops.
At one point in the movie there is this gun fight with finger guns and the Ghost does all this funny stuff and Andrew could not believe it and stood up and made his own finger gun -- boys!
Then Lila has been planning and strategizing about her bonus time for a few days so I asked if she would like to go to the spa and get her nails done -- yes! She got a mini mani where she chose to have ghosts put on one of her fingers and they provided those festive treats while I soaked my feet. We had a good talk and I really enjoy these moments to spend some one-on-one time.
Did I mention I went for an hour jog in the morning to just get out and have my own peace and quiet for a little bit. Love them all and I was happy to have some time off with them, but the morning was a little rocky and I was grateful the girls watched the boys so I could clear my head while jogging. :)
Tonight we're going to start reading another book out loud and just relax with the fireplace on. We shall see what tomorrow holds (maybe the temple, lunch at Pizza Pie, our history class Saints, hike or bike ride) . . . we shall see. :)
We bought tickets to BYU Homecoming Spectacular back in July.
At the time I thought Steve and I would take the girls, but then our niece Lexie was accepted to BYU and we thought it would be fun to take her. Unfortunately Andrew was sick the night before so I was up with him and knew that I had to be up early the next morning to coach the 8:30am soccer game so I asked Steve to take Ellie and Lila and meet up with Lexie. The drive down was a little hectic and they barely made it in time.
They each had a favorite part of the program. Steve liked when David sang an Elton John song, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Lila liked "Shine a Light" when Lexie let her hold up her phone with the light on. Ellie liked the number with the Living Legends (Steve was sad they didn't incorporate more of the dancing groups as they have in years past -- like way past when I used to work there). Lexie was surprised when Colbie sang Try at that point she realized who she was.
After the show they went to the creamery. Steve was hoping to score some Mint Brownie Chocolate Milk they made in celebration of being the Stone Cold Sober school 20 years in a row, but couldn't find any.
Steve talked to the girls about the importance of working hard in school so you can get into a good college and how difficult it is to get in to BYU. Steve has also been instrumental in helping both of the girls with math this year -- teaching Ellie how to recheck her work and reviewing her homework for her because he explained homework should be where you aim to get 100% so it will hold up your grade if/when you make mistakes on quizzes and tests; he has also started reviewing Lila's math and helping her work on knowing her times tables better. Gotta love mathmansteve!
My Dear Aunt Brenda passed away last week. She found out she had stage 4 pancreatic cancer over the 4th of July and she and my Uncle Kirk were real troopers with how they endured. My girls had developed a really close relationship with her and they were saddened to hear about her diagnosis and upset with her passing. We decided we would take every one to the viewing Sunday evening and then I would travel back with my sister, Venessa after the funeral Monday.
It made for a really long Sunday because that day I was also sustained as Young Women's President. That calling caught me by surprise and I have been humbled, overwhelmed and quite emotional about it. I know the Lord provides a way and I am excited to get to know the girls better just a little overwhelmed at this point -- I've even been having little mini panic attacks which I've never had before, even Steve said, I've never seen you like this. I believe it is Satan trying to put doubt in my mind. I'm hoping once I get going things we'll feel better. I have had several spiritual experiences as I've prayed about counselors and the calling itself so I know this is what the Lord would have me do now. But it did make for a long Sunday since we couldn't leave until after church.
Steve was a real trooper and drove the kids and Nate and his two older girls back home after the funeral (4 hours of driving within 6 hours). My sweet cousin's girl Tristan who used to spend time with us and Ellie when they were little said the only time she broke down at the viewing was when Ellie & Lila came through crying. It touched her and I thought it was sweet that she remembered those moments from her childhood and the bond still exists.
The funeral was lovely and there were a lot a lot of people there to support the family. I'm so grateful for the knowledge we have of Heavenly Father's plan and that we can see Aunt Brenda again. We talked with the kids about how our spirits are what give our bodies life and that Aunt Brenda's spirit is still living it's just her body here and we will miss her.
Steve and the kids did good yesterday without me. I had made preparations for the kids after school and I had made crockpot meal that Steve could just plug in and it would be ready for us for dinner and the kids had school lunch. It worked out great and I am so grateful for the friends who helped out and have shown their love and support as all of this has been happening. The kids were great and Steve said he was ready to take Andrew to school in his basketball shorts and Andrew said, "Dad Mom would not like this. I'm going to go change quickly." Cute little boy! Ellie watched Andrew when she got home and helped him get his school work done while completing her homework. They are amazing and I am so glad they are my family!!
Marcus and I had some one-on-one bonding time and some extra time spent with Enzo and Nessa's new baby Arianna (the kids all oohed and ahhed over her at the viewing). Mimi even gave Marcus some pj mask pajamas and he refused to take the shirt off for the funeral so we just had to put his dress shirt on top, we called it his super hero look.
