I Just Don't Think I Can Take That Kind of Rejection!

We had a "Back to the Future" movie night with the Andrews last weekend. We were all set.
We'd had a 'battle of the movie lines' over email,
I had drilled movie quotes into the kids' heads all day to prepare them,
and I had baked a special cake for the occasion. (the kids were peeking over my shoulder as I frosted asking 'Who is Uncle Joey?'!)


We were all settled in and Ward opened the Netflix package to find - GREAT SCOTT! - the movie had broken.
(The Netflix website had troubleshooting tips if your dvd is damaged: gently wipe with a soft cloth from the inside out - we tried, but it didn't help)
The Andrews, who are super tech savvy, have no need for a physical video store nearby, and thereby have no cards. There was no nearby Hollywood video, where the Stewart family has cards for. But there was a nearby Blockbuster store.

Luckily, Adam found his old Blockbuster card.

Surprisingly, they let him check out a movie with that old thing. ("Yes, you can trust me to take your dvds and return them in perfect condition, I promise!")

And all was restored to the time-space continuum.

CCC Rocks the House! (or cathedral in this case!)

Here are a couple of shots from the May 1st concert. Aimee and the kids did great!




















































Okay this isn't one of our kids but I had to include since it's so good!

I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair...

The final concert of the Phoenix Symphony season was "A Tribute to Rogers & Hammerstein" - what fun! They chose 8 men and 8 women from our big choir to sing some of the chorus parts from South Pacific and Sound of Music. We're all too old to be having this much fun!! Our music is memorized, and we, for once, get to stand in front of the orchestra! And, we didn't have to wear all black! This is as exciting as it gets for choir members! :) What HAMS we all turned out to be!
Here's one with Dr. Gentry and his wife Anna...

Lynn and I had a cameo during the men's number "There Ain't Nothin' Like a Dame." We strutted across the stage and blew kisses.

Hippy Day

We are having way too much fun with Spirit Week.

Wacky Hair Day!

The kids have been looking forward to this day all year!

But, alas, every Wacky Hair Day reminds us of the First Wacky Hair Day we had at this Elementary School...

...We had recently moved in, mid-year, and Lizzie was in 1st grade. We were so excited for Spirit Week. Lizzie and I concocted some seriously Wacky Hair. We put the "wacky" in Wacky Hair Day. Wires, feathers, orange hair dye, the Works! It was awesome....until...

I got a phone call from the school about an hour later. It was Lizzie.

"Wacky Hair Day is tomorrow."

People's "Who Wore it Better?"

I was so excited to wear my new dress to church today. It's so me. So unique; so original. LOVE the color.

Kim was excited to wear her new dress to church today too. It's so her. So unique; so original. LOVE the color.

Well, it was the curse of Fairview Street.

I admit, I was diggin' the shoes she paired with the dress. But did you notice my necklace??

And please, don't vote. If there's anyone I don't want to be in a fashion contest with, it's Kim! For heaven's sake, she could wear a couch slipcover and make it look fabulous!! I'm just flattered I bought the same dress as such a fashionista! :)

PS Kim, I claim every 3rd Sunday all summer long for this dress.

Eli's Exciting Weekend

Instructions for Eli's Exciting Weekend:

1. Get checked out of school early on a Friday afternoon. ("See ya later, Suckers!!")

2. Assemble only the most essential gear - compass, magnifying glass, binoculars, net, foam sword, remote control dragon fly, stopwatch, canteen, HP Bk 1, headlamp. Oh, and a toothbrush.

3. Put all essential gear on your person. Remember your favorite stuffed animal, Snakey!
4. Relax!!



Best Stories:
Eli wondering what would happen if he touched a burning stick from the campfire
to a tent. Not our tent, of course. Well, he found out. Kevin, we're Soooooooo sorry.

First time trying out .22 rifle in a creek bed shooting water bottles and clay pigeons off of a log. Eli went last of the group of men and boys. He shot 9 out of 10, best of all the boys, and most of the men. I'm pretty sure he gets his dead shot abilities from me. Wait...no...that would be Adam.

Eli was so excited, he just wanted to be in the tent. So, he just went in that tent. And he was just there. And he just loved it. :)

Thanks Adam, for taking him on the Fathers&Sons Ward Campout! (We don't know if Kevin thanks you for taking him though....)

Russian music. No, we did not accelerate.

At our Riznica concert tonight, a night full of Russian music. I crammed my brain full of "sriet shumnavah bawlaw" to sing my solos. Afterwards, we went with the Andrews to one of my favorite restaurants, Cibo's.

so silly.

A Must Read!!

One of the most interesting friends I have is Tamathy Christensen. I love her. We used to run together in the mornings when we both lived in Roanoke, Virginia. I didn't get up early for the exercise, I got up and jogged with her to hear her stories.

She has started blogging again, Hallelujah!! What a brilliant writer. I believe she is testing out chapters for her book "21." If you know what's good for you, you will click on this link and start letting the tears of laughter roll.

www.tamathy.blogspot.com

The previous post mentions her boys' violin teacher. It was me! I am practically famous.

A.I. Rock Night

For the first time in 2 years, I have decided to watch a full episode.

The reasons for my boycott of Idol are many and varied, but my curiosity won out tonight.

Bottom Line:
If they could combine Adam Lambert's voice with Kris's stage presence, we'd have a winner.

But my suspicions have been confirmed. The judges don't listen or watch the performances at all and try to sway the voters to their previously decided favorites. Their comments don't relate to what they just saw or heard at all. It's so annoying! This is one of the reasons I stopped watching this show.

But I will say...I love the duets. They should have added this feature years ago!

And this is the first time I've seen the show with instruments allowed. The guitar is a very great feature.

Play-by-play:

Adam's solo - I've never heard the song before, but his voice is truly amazing. He's just so difficult to watch.

Allison: She's so cute - what a face! Her voice was really good. It looks like the judges have been beating her down for a while, and it's giving her a complex. Again, I didn't know the song. But seriously, there were a total of 3 different notes. Bad choice choice vocally!

Kris & Danny Duet: Sucked. They only sounded good in their harmonies. Their solo parts were out of tune and yucky sounding. They don't look like they like each other either - it didn't look fun.

Kris: I liked it. It was a great performance. True, his voice isn't as powerful, but his mannerism and face were so charming, it was really fun to watch him.

Danny: Painful. And he looks just horrible on stage. No place, no right to be there. Why aren't they trying to oust him instead? He's terrible. I know this song, and I know it's supposed to be a big scream at the end, but that was the strangling-est chortled death screech I've ever heard. It actually physically hurt my voice just to listen to him.

Duet: Slow Ride. Know it thanks to Guitar Hero. This is great. Their voices match perfectly - great duet. Allison has a lot of sparkle on stage. I like her. And again, Adam's got the award for best vocal chops. He's gifted. But so creepy to watch. Is that really the image American Idol is going for? If so, he's the winner.

the aftermath

It's always interesting to come down after a tremendous project. Today is the beginning of the recovery.

First order of business: Fold a mountain of laundry. This will lessen the time spent digging in piles of clean clothes looking for matching socks. Hey, at least it's clean laundry we're digging through.

Secondly: Fingernails. When I'm distracted, this tend to get out of hand. (punny!haha.) I had some kids to declaw today.

Thirdly: Cooking. I should probably start again. But then I'd have to buy groceries. Gladly and gratefully, thanks to two A-Maz-ing visiting teachers, I don't need to cook dinner for a couple more days. I love you Jane and Xan! :)

Fourthly: Confirm Friends on Facebook. I'm all caught up there now. Whew!

Fifthly: Post a picture of my cute kids. Haven't done this for like an entire week!


Sixthly: Plan an elaborate Primary Music lesson for Sunday that involves art and posters and lamination. Ha! Tricked you! I never do that in the first place! We shoot from the hip in TO2.

Seventhly: Learn some Russian pronunciation. Stat. For two Russian solos next Saturday. Oi.

Eighthly: Piles of papers. Oi again.

Ninethly: Oh, this is a biggie - we've a Scottish wedding to prepare for, me laddies! Fetch me a kilt - lads' size 6! Fetch me a passport for me lass Ivy! And fetch me the Loch Ness monster while we're at it!

Tenthly: Attempt to express the depths of gratitute for dear friends and family, (and mostly my insanely supportive husband), that have helped me along this Children's Choir adventure for the last 12 months. If I haven't expressed it enough to you, it's because I am humbled and at a loss of words to tell you how much I am strengthened by you and inspired by you and bolstered by you! Thank you.

Concert Tonight!

I am so excited about our Children's Choir Concert tonight. The venue is perfect - a cathedral - so we will be able to avoid all those microphone and balance issues we had last time. whew! The kids are prepared. The flute soloist sounds amazing. And I absolutely love the music that I picked. ;) In fact, yesterday I was practicing my conducting in my living room (Ivy was singing for me to represent the choir), and I was getting all teary-eyed! Dude, What is wrong with me?! But it is so exciting to see it coming all together after so much work. I am really excited about tonight.

What a Week!

I know, it's only Tuesday. But it feels like a weeks' worth of stuff happening around here!

Updates: Friday, Eli and I went to the Mother/Son Event. Never heard of it? It's the PC thing to sponsor after you have a Daddy/Daughter Dance. It was really fun. I cheered Eli on as he "jousted" with his opponent.

Saturday: Carmina Concert with Adam, Lizzie, Ward, and Lisa in attendance. So much fun.

Sunday: Carmina Concert in Prescott (2 hrs. away). Bus broke down on the way home. Waited 3 hours for a replacement bus. Not so much fun. Monday: Lizzie brought home the Class Poetry Book. We only got it for one night! Here are Lizzie's entries with translations.
"I am Lizzie Stewart and an animal lover. But I am not a zoo keeper.
I like hot fudge chocolate sundays, vacations and trips, movies and drawing, writing and poetry, and friends and family, planes and parties, and animals and animation.

But I do not like M.M {Mountain Math}, onions, and the Tower of Terror.

I am happy when we celebrate holidays, when I go on a trip or a fun ride, I build a fort, and when I play a fun game with my siblings.

But I am not happy when I hurt myself, when something scary happens, and when I play Truth or Dare.

I feel good about myself when I write a new poem or story, when I eat a new food for the first time, and when I learn something my parents don't know.

If I could be anything, I would be a scientist, an animal trainer, a traveler or a farmer's daughter.
But even though I could be anything, I would not be a pilot (because then I would crash and I would be dead. :( )"

"My Trip to New York"

I'm going to New York
With a spoon and a fork
And my bird that's a stork,
Who's really a dork.

"Singing in the Rain"

I'm singing in the rain
With my chin up and proud
My mouth fills up with water,
So when I sing, I gurgle and it's really loud.

"A good/Bad Sport"

Volleyball I'm good at.
Well, sort of.
When I hit the ball, it says, "Whack!"
But sometimes it goes this direction or that!
Tuesday: Today I got to teach Princess School. I commadeered 90% of Eli's toys today because the topic was "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go." And look what I found for the girls at the dollar store?! Pink Hot Wheels! what luck. :)

So how's your week goin'?

A Hankering for Haggis

So this morning I was curious about what exactly HAGGIS is, and so I went to the ever-trustworthy http://www.dictionary.com/ and here's what it said:

–noun Chiefly Scot.
a traditional pudding made of the heart, liver,
etc., of a sheep or calf, minced with suet and oatmeal, seasoned, and boiled in
the stomach of the animal.
OR
n. A Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and
liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and
boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal.

I'm glad they included the word "slaughtered" in the definition, otherwise, we might think the "etc." meat was boiled in the stomach of a live animal, and for heaven's sakes, that would just be gross.

Why the sudden fascination with haggis? Well, James and Jennie decided to get married in a Scottish castle, this one, in fact, and I wanted to see what we would be up against, meal-wise.

Carmina Burana

We had a rehearsal tonight for Carmina and I must warn you, if you are coming, do not, I repeat, do NOT wear your toupees. They will get blown right off your head. So please, just don't take any chances. It could be embarassing for all of us.

Before & After

Good-bye childhood, Good-bye money. Hello Braces.

Easter Weekend

I know I should be mostly excited about the Easter Pageant that we went to,

or the fun Easter Egg hunt, which was even more exhilirating because of the Zip Line rides,


or doing the Easter morning jelly bean trail to the baskets,

or the Coordinating outfits I came up with for us to wear,



or the yummy ham dinner we ate,



but truthfully, the best part of the weekend for me was curling up with a cozy, witty, and charming book, with nowhere to go all day, listening to the kids playing happily in their fort in the living room.



After several hours of this, Eli approached me and said, "Queen Ivy has sensed you and invites you to her ocean." Which was a great honor, of course. They magically turned me into a mermaid, and I paid obeisance to the throned Queen while the Queen Cobra (Lizzie) hypnotized Eli and made him move with just her eyes.

Dorothy was right: There's no place like home.

Camping with the Teachers

Hi! Adam here. The teacher's quorum and I put together a video about camping. Not sure how well it went off because they released me after we showed it to the youth :) It was a lot of fun. Enjoy!