SEE YA' SNOW ... HELLO OREGON COAST

SARI'S CHOIR CONCERT

I went to see Sari's Choir perform at University High School.

I took a video of one of their songs:

The microphone on the camera is not super awesome, so you'll have to believe me when I say that you would hear each part precisely when it was live. And all those P's. They are murderous to sing, you know. I think they did a great job, especially all crammed on those risers like they are.

The judges work with the kids afterwards and this one had the kids all spread out. I wish that I had recorded the song they sang with her - it sounded a thousand times more fabulous!

PART THREE (OF SIX) EXPOSE - all about me, by my kids

Me - What is something I always say to you?
Ben - "Do it now, dang it!"

Me - What makes me happy?
Ben - Chocolate frappuccino things.

Me - What makes me sad?
Ben - When I sass you.

Me - How do I make you laugh?
Ben - Just looking at you makes me laugh (punch in the shoulder - wink wink.)

Me - What was I like as a child?
Ben - Me

Me - How old am I?
Ben - 29

Me - How tall am I?
Ben - Shorter than me

Me - What is my favorite thing to do?
Ben - Read

Me - What do I do when you're not around?
Ben - Read, sleep

Me - If I become famous, what will it be for?
Ben - Inventing something.

Me - What am I really good at?
Ben - Cooking, especially cooking, sewing, you can read really, really fast.

Me - What am I not very good at?
Ben - Nothing.
Me - It's not going to hurt my feelings...
Ben - It's better to find one fault in ourselves than one thousand in another.

Me - What do I do for a job?
Ben - Everything. Can't think of anything you don't do.

Me - What is my favorite food?
Ben - Those icecream cakes that Dad gets you for your birthday.

Me - What makes you proud of me?
Ben - That if you were like me, you made it through.

Me - If I were a cartoon character, who would I be?
Ben - You remind me of Chi-Chi* because you seem all sweet and innocent, but you're not one to mess with.

Me - What do you and I do together?
Ben - argue
Me - What else!
Ben - debate
Me - Think of something else!
Ben - go shopping?

Me - How are you and I the same?
Ben - Same 'tude.

Me - How are you and I different?
Ben - You're the mom, you have more power than I do.

Me - How do you know I love you?
Ben - 'Cause I'm alive.

Me - What do I like most about your dad?
Ben - His patience.

Me - Where is my favorite place to go?
Ben - The couch in the livingroom on a sunny afternoon.




*From the Dragon Ball Z website - The headstrong wife of Goku, some say Chi-Chi is the most powerful woman on earth (because she can control Goku). Her father, Ox-King trained her to be a formidable fighter in her own right. In Dragon Ball Z, Chi-Chi is mainly seen as a loving wife and a doting mother, concerned and protective, perhaps even over protective of her family. She is always encouraging Gohan with his studies and often finds herself stubbornly at odds with Gohan's involvement with the martial arts.

PART TWO (OF SIX) EXPOSE - all about me, by my kids

Me - What is something I always say to you?
jp - You say lots of things to me ... uh ...ummm .... I guess "no"

Me - What makes me happy?
jp - Whenever I hug you.

Me - What makes me sad?
jp - Whenever I am naughty.

Me - How do I make you laugh?
jp - Tickle me.

Me - What was I like as a child?
jp - When you were a baby you had awesome hair like this (shows long hair)

Me - How old am I?
jp - 41

Me - How tall am I?
jp - That's a hard question ... 4 foot 5?

Me - What is my favorite thing to do?
jp - Play games with our family

Me - What do I do when you're not around?
jp - Usually you work

Me - If I become famous, what will it be for?
jp - A singer (haha - check this out)

Me - What am I really good at?
jp - Hugging and sewing.

Me - What am I not very good at?
jp - This is kinda hard because your really good at everything. I can't think of it ... I really can't. (I think he didn't want to hurt my feelings.)

Me - What do I do for a job?
jp - Clean the house.

Me - What is my favorite food?
jp - I would say is bubble gum. (I dislike gum in general, esp. bubble gum flavors.)

Me - What makes you proud of me?
jp - Usually whenever you clean the house

Me - If I were a cartoon character, who would I be?
jp - You know on "Ben 10" there is a girl Gwen?

Me - What do you and I do together?
jp - Usually buy stuff and go on errands and clean up together

Me - How are you and I the same?
jp - We both have black hair and we almost look the same.

Me - How are you and I different?
jp - We have different bodies.

Me - How do you know I love you?
jp - You usually tuck me in every night.

Me - What do I like most about your daddy?
jp - Whenever he gets money for us.

Me - Where is my favorite place to go?
jp - I would say... home. (I haven't thought of it ... but he is right on the nose with this one.)

THE MAGIC GRANDMA QUILT

This is the "very old grandma" (Rachel called her that and it stuck). She is my mom's grandma - Lyma Cook. She was amazing. She lived to be 104. She sewed and crocheted - even after she was blind. She was a master rose gardener. You could give her a rose and she would grow it into a bush for you. She was an excellent cook. She liked her tomatoes peeled. She ate white bread with real butter slabs on top every night. She ate real mayonaisse and drank whole milk - or better, the cream. She loved meat fat and chicken skin.

She went to her grave thinking Larry was black (she met him when he had two summers in a row- Brasil and home (very tan) and he had a fat upper lip from football) - and you remember his hair*. Let's face it, the man did look like a brother) and was so surprised when our children came out white. She told me several times not to worry, that black children often didn't get their color until they were a few days or weeks old.

When each of the great-grandchildren were married we got to select a log cabin quilt out of her stash of quilts she had made. So, I picked a quilt, to be honest, half heartedly because I thought of the scraps as old and none of the colors really matched mine.

Whatever that means.

But I totally appreciated the love that went into it and remember visiting her and watching her whip out square after square of log cabin quilts. No roller cutters either, all hand cut scraps. And hand quilted on the big frame set up in the livingroom of my grandparents' house they used to have in SLC.

About 15 years ago Rachel started having bad dreams. One night, in desperation, I got the Grandma quilt out of the cedar chest and I took it to her room. I told her that "the very old grandma" made it and that it was magic. That's why it was kept in the cedar chest, so the magic wouldn't get ruined. Rachel listened solemnly and believed. After a few nights the nightmares went away and she gave us back the quilt.

Later, Ben got sick and Rachel suggested the magic quilt, and what do you know?! It worked for being sick, too. So it became the magic quilt and was only brought out for the most dire of circumstances - bad dreams and sickness being the two most popular.

Matthew has had the flu for two days. After he "puted" the first time he had two requests - "Get Poppy, I need a blessing and bring me the Grandma quilt".

Done.

I like to think that the reason the quilt works (and it does, I've used it) is because whenever we get it out, Grandma stops trying to make things work with Great-Grandpa's first wife up there in heaven, and she sends us a little love.


*

HAPPINESS IS

caramel creme frappuccino from Starbucks.

PART ONE (OF SIX) ESPOSE about me, by my kids

I am totally copying my friend, Shelli. I am going to try to do this with each one of my kids over the next little while.

Me - What is something I always say to you?
Mamu- I love you.

Me - What makes me happy?
Mamu- Me

Me - What makes me sad?
Mamu- Not loving you.

Me - How do I make you laugh?
Mamu - You give me kisses.

Me - What was I like as a child?
Mamu - Just like me.

Me - How old am I?
Mamu - 80

Me - How tall am I?
Mamu - uhmmm I need a measuring

Me - What is my favorite thing to do?
Mamu - sleep

Me - What do I do when you're not around?
Mamu - I have no idea!

Me - If I become famous, what will it be for?
Mamu - Because I live with you.

Me - What am I really good at?
Mamu - Loving people.

Me - What am I not very good at?
Mamu - Doing back flips.

Me - What do I do for a job?
Mamu - Being a mommy

Me - What is my favorite food?
Mamu - Hot chocolate and toast

Me - What makes you proud of me?
Mamu - When you give me kisses.

Me - If I were a cartoon character, who would I be?
Mamu - The mummy on Scooby Doo.

Me - What do you and I do together?
Mamu - Play.

Me - How are you and I the same?
Mamu - Because we both love each other.

Me - How are you and I different?
Mamu - We love different foods and animals

Me - How do you know I love you?
Mamu - Because you hug me and give me kisses.

Me - What do I like most about your daddy?
Mamu - That he loves you.

Me - Where is my favorite place to go?
Mamu - To Preschool with me! (my note - haha!!!)

WAKE ME UP IN APRIL

Matthew woke up this morning, looked outside and said, "YES!! Christmas is coming!"

Way too much happiness for the eight inches of snow we got today.

Joseph actually whined to be allowed to shovel before his bath. Weird kid. Loves to shovel snow.

Even Matthew insisted on helping out. Then he rolled in the snow over and over. Notice the purple gloves with fur. Those would be Sari's. Daniel's hat. By this time of year, it's a free-for-all when it's time to get gloves.

I didn't take any pictures of Ben shoveling, lets just say, there weren't any smiles, although he did it willingly.

This is what I found in my freezer tonight:

The picture is poor because of the backlight, but there were three Transformers and Luke Skywalker. That's how we roll around here.

WHY?

Why do they do this? I did ask, actually. The answer is, "Some parents feel like it is easier to remember if all their kids have it on the same day."

Isn't that what the phone call on Saturday night is for?

Because you KNOW we didn't work on it before then.

For Daniel's Faith in God requirement he learned to iron his Sunday shirt.

I LIKED KIDS UNTIL I HAD THEM

As you know, I have get to volunteer at Matthew's Presbyterian preschool once a month. There must be a tag that says, Mormon "doesn't play well with others" in my file because I am always the only volunteer on my day. I like to tell myself it's because I can do the work of three volunteers. This wasn't a problem when there were only 12 kids in the class. Now there are 20 and it is a lot more work for one parent to clean up and set up.

Today I spent 15 minutes scraping green playdoh off the carpet and vacuuming it up.

I've found that I tolerate enjoy Preschool more if I self medicate take 4 Advil, 2 Excedrin, and 6 Tums before I even step in the door.

NORTHPOINTE WARD SOCK HOP

YAY!! SUCCESS!!

yay! it's over!!!!
(and as always, since some of you used to live in the ward - lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure.)

Yesterday was our ward Sock Hop. We all dressed up. Most people did. Some didn't and that's okay - whatever you want to do is fine with me. There were only about half as many people as usually come to these things but I really think that everyone who came had a great time. I had about 15 people ask me to do these Sock Hops annually. OH! And my committee was a big help!

But it sure is fun when the whole family gets into it. Recognize this man? He was fixing our water heater in an earlier post. Noelle Jamieson Long and their girls.

We had an old fashioned soda bar, complete with soda jerks:

Terry Dupape, Dan Moore, Scott Cordell, and Bro. Pulliam were our jerks. Which was a good thing to be back in the day.

We had, thank you Tracy O'Donnal, a LIVE band! They were AWESOME! I mean, really, a LIVE band at a ward party. Yeah. I know people. This picture puts in the mind to post a few more similar ones:

The first to arrive, the Long family took advantage of having the gym to themselves. But that's not the point (although how cute are these girls swinging their skirts with their icecream sodas? I should make the picture black and white.)

Here's another one:

Paige and her big brother, Graham McIntire. The whole McIntire family came (except Porter) including all three married kids and spouses. It was great! I love to see that. Here's another picture with the same theme:

Paige and Beth McIntire. Such cute sisters.

Silly boys - Joseph and Matthew. Between the two of them they do not own one pair of jeans without holes in the knees. Back to siblings dancing, check this out:

I can't tell you how much it warmed my heart to see so many siblings dancing together. It was so sweet. Speaking of families:

Our former bishop, current Stake President dancing with his 11 year old daughter. I still avoid him (and the bishop and the counselors), because as we've learned, just because you're friends doesn't mean he won't ask you to speak in Stake Conference. Larry doesn't fear him.

I know, it's touching how happy Daniel was to dance with me.

Larry never passes an opportunity to dance with his girls.

Weird picture but Larry has got dance moves. Speaking of dance moves:

Check out Dan and Linda Moore. They were tearing up the gym floor. They are great dancers.

Of course, we all know that Phyllis and Terry DuPape never miss a chance to dance the night away.

Even Dave Carlsen, who was one of the guitar players in the band, danced with his wife, while playing. That's mad skills. I am sorry to Cynthia about her tuckus on my blog. But let's face it, she had SEVEN children and she looks hot, seven children aside.

Bishop Johnson and Kuulei danced, too.

I even caught this action shot of Brother Pulliam. Shhhhh.... don't tell.

The girls women didn't let their men-folk not wanting to dance stop them for even one minute. They just all danced together.

About half way through we had a hoolahoop contest:

These are some of the girls that are Daniel's age.

Even the boys LOVED it. We ended up doing four songs of hoola hoop contests.

The hands down winner was Tearzah Johnson (should we have excluded her since her mom teaches hula?) Sari was a close second, though.

Even if they weren't dancing, they were having a lot of fun.

The boys.


Joseph and Griff Stauff.

Tyler Parrish, Sloan Krauss and Daniel.


Journey O'Donnal, Emma Grimes, and Sari.

Cute Maddie Jones asked Matthew to dance and he sang, "No, I want to watch the band." So Maddie danced around him while Matthew stood there. It was very cute and it reminded me of me and Larry. (I make all kinds of noise and dance around while Larry stands there like an oak. People think I'm the boss because I'm making the noise, but I can't move the tree.)

My favorite event of the evening was the Doo-Wap Girls. Mikie Smart (and Jenne) did a great job teaching these girls "doo ron ron" and "Lollipop".

Sari, Journey, Paige, and Rachel - "my heart stood still".

I didn't know that the Beach Boys stole this song until Mikie told me about it. Turns out HIS name was BILL not HER name was JILL.

Jan Pugh, who is in the gray hoodie, got the whole audience clapping along. You can see everyone loved it.

A couple of Lollipop pictures.

The pictures just don't do it justice, you'll have to believe me that they were fabulous!

Where were the teenage boys?

In the Primary room flipping tacks into a bulletin board. Matthew Grimes, Austin Stoker, Ben, Tyler Parrish, and Samuel Johnson.

Let's end with Larry's fabulous pimp daddy dance shoes: