David Garrett

Jared & I went to see David Garrett in concert last night at the beautiful Moore theater (oldest operating theater in Seattle). It was, decidedly, the best concert that I've been to in years. Yes, that's right. Even better than Billy Joel. Shocking.

Reason #1 - I love David Garrett's story. You can read it here. His life reads like a movie script. Raised as a child prodigy on the violin, he was utterly submerged in classical music until his teenage years. “I’d listened to nothing but classical music until the age of fourteen,” says the now 27-year-old David, who was home-schooled until that age. “So when I started going to regular school, and started to be exposed to all this pop and rock, it was a revelation.”

Reason #2 - He can PLAY the violin. I love the sound of a well-played violin. The crisp notes, the vibrato, the slurs and broad range of sounds. But when David Garrett plays, you almost forget that you're listening to a violin and you begin to experience the music.

Reason #3 - Watching Jared's face light up as he watched David Garrett play was priceless. Watching his jaw drop when he performed a particularly incredible riff was awesome. Sharing this moment with my son was a memory I will always cherish.

Reason #4 - His reportoire was wonderfully varied. He played some classical - Bach & Paganini (my favorite piece!). And he played some contemporary "soft" music by Gershwin, Bill Withers and of his own composition. But the most fun came when he rocked out on his violin to Queen, ACDC, Led Zepplin, Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson. Here are a couple short videos that I filmed, so you can see his diversity and intensity. This wasn't your average violin recital. :-)

A Sad Day for BI Roller Hockey

For those of you who know my 2nd son, Micah, you know that he LOVES roller hockey! A couple of years ago, we heard about the BI Roller Hockey League on the island and he decided to try it out. Turns out he’s a natural and he had two great seasons playing with them. The league promotes itself as being “family-friendly” and “welcoming” and “all-inclusive.” It doesn’t matter if you’ve never even been on roller blades before; you are encouraged to come and play.

EXCEPT, apparently, if you have any sort of religious beliefs which encourage you to maintain a Sabbath day observance. It is only “family-friendly” if your family wants to spend Sundays at the hockey rink. It is “welcoming” to any who will commit to playing on Sundays. It is “all-inclusive” of non-Sabbath observers. And I’m not just talking about those who observe Sunday as their Sabbath. A Jew or Seventh-day Adventist would encounter similar problems.

I’m sorry if I sound a bit snarky, but this is the response that I received when I informed the BI Roller Hockey League that Micah would not be able to play in any of their Sunday games. Keep in mind that he would attend both of his weekly practices, and all of the Saturday games (in his division, they have 2 games each weekend - one on Saturday and one on Sunday):

I wanted to get back with you on the Rollerhockey decision. As hard as it is, and believe me, we spent a lot of time discussing and considering this - we do need to maintain at least an 80% participation for Roller Hockey and that includes playing in Sunday games. I am sorry.

To be most honest, I would like to share with you two of the main considerations:
1. We set an 80% attendance target to allow coaches and teammates to count on attendance to help have balanced teams.
2 . If we make this exception, where would we be on requests from families who would prefer not to play on Sundays for non-religious reasons, or from families who for religious reasons do not participate in sports activities on Saturdays?

Here is my response:

Thank you for your email. Our family, especially Micah, is disappointed that this is the course Bainbridge Island Roller Hockey has decided to take. We were first encouraged to join this sport by hearing rave reviews about how family-friendly and welcoming the league is to all players. Sadly, this has not completely been our experience.

This is a youth sport. It is meant to be fun and it is a way to get kids outside, learning new skills, making friendships, and staying fit. We are not looking for Micah to go to college on a hockey scholarship, nor for him to play in the NHL someday. He plays roller hockey because it is fun and he is good at it. We attended his games as a family and enjoyed cheering on all the players, both on our team and the opposing team.

Our boys have played a lot of sports on Bainbridge Island - basketball, soccer (both Rec. and Select), Little League, cross country. In each instance, they have made it clear from the beginning that they choose to maintain Sunday as a family day and that they do not participate in sports on that day. In EVERY case, the coaches and directors of the sport have been completely supportive of this decision. Our boys were fully included as team members; they were never penalized nor criticized. I'm sure that the other sports organizations had concerns similar to those that you have indicated, but they never expressed them to us or our boys, nor did their teams seem to suffer due to our boys' lack of Sunday playing time. This has been a wonderful experience for them to see their coaches be so fully supportive of their beliefs and decisions.

I am sorry that Bainbridge Island Roller Hockey has made the decision to ostracize one boy for his decision to not play sports on Sundays. I highly doubt that this isolated situation would have turned into a rash of players skipping out on games, merely because of Micah's Sabbath decision. And I'm sure if you were to ask his previous coaches - both in roller hockey and other sports - you would find that Micah gives 100% to his team. He is hard working, respectful, and focused. He enjoys athletics, and he will continue to play local sports in leagues which support his personal decisions.

As for Micah – he is so awesome! He was initially disappointed that they wouldn’t allow him to play roller hockey. But he never once considered playing on Sundays. Instead, he said, “Hey, how about if we take the money that we would have spent on roller hockey and instead buy a season pass for snowboarding next winter? I’m going to be the next Shaun White!” I said that was a great suggestion.

It constantly amazes me how mature and responsible my kids are. Micah knows that it is important to keep the Sabbath day holy. We don’t make this decision for him; he wants to spend his Sundays going to church and being with his family. I’m sorry that he has to experience this level of discrimination at such a young age, but I’m also thankful for how it shows what a strong, faithful young man he is. Youth sports will come and go, but the life decisions that he is making now will support him for eternity.

Girls in a Pink Car

The weather felt like late spring today. So these two neighborhood chicks decided to take their hot pink convertible Jeep out for a little spin. Ohhhh, heaven help us all when they're teenagers!

What's that!? Those little sneaks must have raided my pantry for their excursion.

And they're off . . . cruising through the neighborhood on this amazing sunny afternoon . . . a box of Cocoa Puffs in the back seat . . . and all is right with the world.

Kayaking Eagle Harbor

Don't worry. We haven't forgotten about our ambitious goal of kayaking all the way around our island. We did hit a few obstacles over the past few months (Christmas, illnesses, emergency surgery, new home purchase . . .). But we have repented of our slacking ways and rededicated ourselves to what is truly important in life: KAYAKING!

Anyone who can count Faithful readers of this blog will probably notice that the Fantastic Four is sadly missing a member in this picture. Let's just say that ONE of us has a bit more repenting to do, namely repenting of sleeping in when you're supposed to be kayaking!! Geesh. She needs a good flogging for that.

THIS is Eagle Harbor. The water was like glass. It may look chilly, but the temperature was actually perfect. It was so fun to paddle around all the yachts and house boats.

Here's a shot of the house that I watched being barged onto the island. They are slowly but surely making some progress on it.

A parting shot of us pointing out boats toward the mouth of the harbor. Open water. The great Puget Sound. Someday, my friends, we will venture out there. But for now, we're sticking close to shore.

Valentine's Day 2010

I think these flowers were meant for me, but don't try telling Adana that.

Fortunately, one of our kids' parents actually enjoys celebrating holidays. Nathan made this colorful breakfast for the kids. Pink pancakes and PURPLE eggs. They were supposed to be pink eggs, but he got a little carried away with the dye. Oh yeah, and don't forget the REAL bacon. The kids devoured it, declaring, "This is so much better than Mom's turkey bacon! No offense, Mom." None taken. (However, I totally disagree!)

Before & After

Why is it SOOOOO hard to convince a teenager that it's time to get a haircut?? It took me weeks to finally drag him in for this.

"Sweet! I gotta get that!"

Any guesses as to what this refers to?

How about if I tell you that this was Jared talking?

And remind you that he's a typical 13-year old boy.

And that he was watching a commercial on TV.

Any guesses?



Did you guess Lysol Instant Toilet Cleaner?

Continuous cleaning action with every flush!
Deodorizes with every flush!
Lasts up to 400 flushes!

What overworked slave teenage boy wouldn't want that!

I love this kid! And I love what a great job he does cleaning the bathroom. :-)

Billy Joel & Elton John

Here's the proof that I really was there:

Billy. Was. Awesome. The nicest, most entertaining guy I've ever seen in concert. And MAN, can he sing!

Elton was pretty darn good too (although not nearly as fabulous, nor as gracious, as Billy).

I just keep running into this guy. Can you spot him?

Here they are with their "Face to Face" pianos.

The awesome friends who took pity on a poor, pouting Billy Joel fan. Thanks for wrangling up a ticket for me!!!

Yep! That's me in the hoity-toity box seat.
Of course, sitting in these swanky seats came at a price . . .

Did I mention that I nearly got a concussion from all the wild drunken women flailing around in that little box?!?

I mean, the music was good, but C'MON! Just tap your foot to the beat or something.

It really is hard to say which I enjoyed more - watching the concert, or the concert-goers. People watching is one of my favorite pasttimes, especially when the people are sloshed and feelin' groovy.

She is frequently kind
And she’s suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She’s nobody’s fool
But she can’t be convicted
She’s earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But she’s always a woman to me

A Week in the Life . . .

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2010
(The last day. Hallelujah!!)

12:00 a.m. - Sleep
1:00 a.m. - Sleep
2:00 a.m. - Sleep
3:00 a.m. - Sleep
4:00 a.m. - Sleep
5:00 a.m. - Sleep
6:00 a.m. - Sleep
7:00 a.m. - Lay around in bed, amazed that none of the kids are awake yet. Pretty soon, though, the girls come sneaking into my room.
8:00 a.m. - I wake the boys up so they can get ready for church. Make breakfast for Adana. She throws a royal fit when I serve her toast on a green plate and give Emma the orange plate.
9:00 a.m. - Collect plenty of snacks, books & toys, then head off to Stake Conference in Silverdale. (For anyone who is wondering what the heck "Stake Conference" means, it's just a larger gathering of a number of our local congregations. It usually happens about twice a year.)
10:00 a.m. - Stake Conference. We got a new Stake Presidency.
11:00 a.m. - Stake Conference. Adana is doing so well - playing quietly at her seat. She earns a Tootsie Roll pop.
12:00 p.m. - Home for lunch.
1:00 p.m. - Nap time. This is hands down, without a doubt, my favorite two hours of the entire week. All four kids have naps/quiet time on Sunday afternoon, and so do I.
2:00 p.m. - Nap time. I get THREE calls which keep waking me up. Grrr . . .
3:00 p.m. - Check email/read blogs.
4:00 p.m. - The kids watch a Sunday movie. They chose a Tom Sawyer cartoon. I should be working on my homeschool schedule for next week, but I get sucked into watching the movie.
5:00 p.m. - Finish watching the movie, then help the kids make dinner. Micah makes waffles and Emma cooks up the turkey bacon. Adana "helps" them. Jared starts packing for his Scout outing next weekend. He takes after his mom - we both tend to plan waaaaay in advance for anything in order to avoid any last minute stresses.
6:00 p.m. - Breakfast For Dinner. YUM! It would probably be more accurately described as Dessert For Dinner, since the kids smother their waffles with syrup, homemade jam and chocolate sauce. My topping of choice: Adam's peanut butter with a drizzle of Karo corn syrup. I've eaten them this way since I was a kid and just can't stomach them any other way.
7:00 p.m. - The kids play Monster Hide-n-Go Seek. It's a game that they invented with their dad. (I hate it, but I'm always out-voted). They turn off ALL the lights in the house, and one of them (IT) goes and hides while the others count to 30. Then they go in search of the hiding IT, who usually sneaks around in the dark and moves from place to place to really throw them off. When they do finally come upon IT, he/she YELLS and ROARS and chases the shrieking kids through the house and back to Base, where they all collapse in a laughing heap and share stories of "Were you hiding in the bathtub that one time . . ." or "You walked right past me when I was in the closet . . ." And then it starts all over again. I spend the whole time calculating how quickly I can get them to the hospital when they fall down the stairs and break an arm. The biggest fan of this game is Adana. She BEGS to play it. Not surprising, considering her current favorite movie is Monster House. She has NO fear, especially of the dark.
8:00 p.m. - We do a quick Service Clean-up of the house (we all work together to clean-up everyone's messes, including each other's bedrooms). Then the older 3 read in bed while Adana watches Caillou and I finish up the homeschool schedule.
9:00 p.m. - Nathan gets home and we get a rare chance to chat.
10:00 p.m. - Off to bed. I read a bit.
11:00 p.m. - Sleep.

THE END

Thanks for all your encouraging comments. This has been a much tougher project than I had anticipated and I'm glad it's over. My next few posts will probably be mostly pictures; I'm tired of typing.

A Week in the Life . . .

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2010
(Next time, I think I'll just do A Day in the Life . . . This is getting tedious.)

12:00 a.m. - Sleep
1:00 a.m. - Sleep
2:00 a.m. - Adana up again (she doesn't usually get up in the middle of the night), this time on Nathan's side. He gets to take her potty and tuck her in.
3:00 a.m. - Sleep
4:00 a.m. - Sleep
5:00 a.m. - Sleep
6:00 a.m. - Sleep. I hear Emma get up at 6:30 and go downstairs to watch cartoons. It is impossible for her to sleep in. I have to get up to let the #^%! cat out.
7:00 a.m. - Adana up. I make sure the boys are getting up and ready.
8:00 a.m. - I take a car full of boys to Poulsbo for the last week of their Boy Scout Merit Badge Clinic.
9:00 a.m. - Meet up with Jenny for a run. We run 4 miles along the southwest beach. It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. The sun is shining on the still water, the mountains rise above us with their sparkling white peaks. A perfect morning run.
10:00 a.m. - I make myself breakfast (I'm back to my usual spinach omelet). Nathan leaves for the lake house. We have renters coming next weekend, so he needs to finish some work on it. Emma & Adana head out into the neighborhood to find friends to play with. Adana brings Sophie (another little 4-year old) back to play.
11:00 a.m. - Catch up on email/news/blog reading. Shower.
12:00 p.m. - Adana & Sophie go back to her house for a picnic. I start cleaning. Yes, Friday is supposed to be "cleaning day," but it is impossible to keep a house clean with this many people going in and out. I also find a plastic tote full of old baby clothes, and I start to sort through them. Sadly, they are nearly all moth-eaten and yellowed.
1:00 p.m. - The boys get home from Merit Badge Clinic (eating the last bites of DQ Blizzards. The carpool mom who picked them up is way nicer than their own mom). Adana & Sophie come back to our house, this time to play school with Emma in the garage. That lasts all of 10 minutes, until Emma annoys Adana to tears by being a "mean teacher." I think Emma has sat in on too many of my homeschool lessons.
2:00 p.m. - My friend, Mariann, and her son, Izaac, stop by to play. Jared's friend, Harrison, also comes over. It is a GORGEOUS sunny day in the mid-50's. The kids play outside while we sit in my sunny kitchen and chat. The only problem is that we are interrupted every few minute by some kid or another needing to tell us/ask us something. Sigh. We give up on our "adult alone" time and head outside.
3:00 p.m. - Harrison's mom comes to pick him up, so we visit with her for awhile. One of life's greatest pleasures has to be visiting with friends on a warm, sunny afternoon while the kids run around the neighborhood playing and laughing. We walk over to the park across the street and the kids play there for awhile.
4:00 p.m. - Come back from the park. Call in all my kids from the neighborhood. Get them started on dinner.
5:00 p.m. - I pick up Outi & Mariann and we head to Silverdale. Outi runs a couple errands, then we try to find a place to eat dinner. Apparently there is a Tolo this evening, so all the restaurants are packed with scantily-clad teenage girls and their oogling zit-faced dates. I just keep muttering, "If my daughter ever dresses like that . . ."
6:00 p.m. - We end up eating dinner at the mall Food Court. Pathetic, but by that time we were both starving and running late.
7:00 p.m. - Go to the Stake center for the adult session of Stake Conference. We sit next to some friends who were there with their 7-month old twins - a boy & a girl. So we get to pass them around. So freakin' cute! And so nice to be able to hand them back when they get fussy.
8:00 p.m. - Still in Stake Conference. Thank goodness for an iPhone with a fully charged battery and lots of games. :-)
9:00 p.m. - Stop by Central Market (my favorite local grocery store) on our way home. Pick up some Greek yogurt and turkey bacon for dinner tomorrow evening. When Nathan's not around, we like to eat breakfast for dinner because he doesn't like it.
10:00 p.m. - Home to a quiet house. The boys had gotten the girls to bed (teeth brushed, prayers said) and were watching a movie. They rock!
11:00 p.m. - Blog. Then off to bed.

A Week in the Life . . .

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010

12:00 a.m. – Sleep
1:00 a.m. – Sleep
2:00 a.m. – Wake up to find Adana staring at me. She is upset that her Baba (Daddy) didn’t come kiss her good-night. I take her to the bathroom, then tuck her back into bed.
3:00 a.m. – Sleep
4:00 a.m. – Sleep
5:00 a.m. – Sleep.
6:00 a.m. – Nathan up. He wakes up Emma. Jared up at 6:45 a.m. for his shower. That wakes me up too. Micah staggers downstairs at 6:59 a.m., as usual.
7:00 a.m. – Scripture and prayer. We discuss how awesome Mosiah 2 is. If you’ve never read the Book of Mormon, get one and read Mosiah chapter 2 (pg. 147). It’s an incredible sermon! Jared walks Emma to the bus. I get Adana some breakfast.
8:00 a.m. – Boys to school. Adana plays with toys. I work on my pile of homeschool corrections.
9:00 a.m. - Get Adana in the tub and I take a shower. Have a slight battle over washing her hair (she insists that since she didn't poop this morning, she didn't need her hair washed. ???) Another slight battle getting her dressed. She, of course, wants to wear either Emma's old witch costume (way too big for her) or a ratty old princess dress that is literally in shreds. We finally settle on an orange flowered sun dress, with no shoes.
10:00 a.m. – It’s amazing how things work out in life. All this week, I have been looking at this strange day on my calendar: Friday, February 05, 2010. It was strange because it was completely blank. Nothing scheduled. I have been wracking my brain, trying to figure out if I was forgetting something. A sport practice? A meeting? Errands I had to run?? I never have a totally blank day on my calendar. Never! Then, last night, my friend Erika called in a slight panic. She just found out that, due to that nasty storm on the east coast, the flight for her long-awaited Caribbean vacation was going to be leaving 10 hours earlier than she’d originally planned. Problem: she didn’t have anywhere for her twin 3-year old boys to go until her dad got home from work. Enter my completely free Friday. I was thrilled to be able to say, “I’m free! I’ll watch them!” That rarely happens for me with my over-scheduled life. We dropped Erika & her husband off at the ferry, then came back home. The twins, P & Q, ARE NOT happy about saying good-bye to mommy & daddy! I even try bribing them with Strawberry licorice, but they keep screaming. I hope my neighbors don't call to report me to CPS.
11:00 a.m. - Thank the Lord for Playhouse Disney!! I set them in front of the TV and they are calmed down within minutes. Soon they are laughing and chatting and asking where all our toys are. The TV is abandoned (it served its purpose) and off they race with Adana to destroy play in the playroom. :-) I start cleaning the house. Friday is our big cleaning day. The kids & I like to get it all done early so that we can play and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
12:00 p.m. - I interrupt the kids' game of climbing up on all of our furniture in order to escape the ravenous crocodiles which are apparently residing in our carpet. Feed them Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets for lunch. They scarf them down, then rush back to battle those vicious crocodiles.
1:00 p.m. – Micah home from school. He practices his piano. Q sits and quietly listens to him play. Very sweet. Micah enjoys having an audience. I drop some chopped broccoli off at the church for a funeral. Jared gets home from school. Adana starts getting really cranky. I decide to put her down for a nap. She thinks that's a horrible idea, and tells me so in no uncertain terms. She takes one anyways.
2:00 p.m. – The boys do their chores. My friend, Mariann, stops by for a quick visit. P & Q play outside while we chat. Emma gets home from school and starts on her chores. We come inside for a snack (popcorn). I pay bills and continue to try figuring out my stupid new Quicken program.
3:00 p.m. – The twins are starting to get bored with our toys inside, so we move out to the back yard. They love the playhouse and running around on the deck. Jared practices his violin, then Emma practices her piano. Adana must have been really tired, 'cuz she's sleeping through the whole thing.
4:00 p.m. - Jared & Micah have 2 friends come over to air soft. The twins start coming in every 2-3 minutes, asking if Bubba (Grandpa) is here yet to pick them up. Sorry guys. Not yet. They have been so good all day. It's really cute to see how well they play with each other. P comes inside once again. "Bubba's not here yet," I say. "I just have to poop," he says. Oh.
5:00 p.m. - Bubba picks up the twins. Adana wakes up from her nap. Jared, Micah & their friends wage war in our yard. Blech. I hate air soft.
6:00 p.m. - The boys come in hungry and scarf down some leftovers for dinner. Their friends' dad comes to pick them up to take them back to their house. Nathan comes home.
7:00 p.m. - I make peanut butter cookies (low sugar - it's an experiment). They turn out pretty good. The texture is a bit different, but the flavor isn't bad. Nathan & the girls watch a movie (The Dark Crystal).
8:00 p.m. - The girls decide that The Dark Crystal is way too scary, so they switch to Ant Bully. I endure it with them. Nathan crashes on the couch within the first 5 minutes. I don't know if he's ever made it through a Friday Movie Night with us.
9:00 p.m. - Get the girls to bed. Think longingly of my bed . . . but have to wait up until the boys are ready for a ride home. They finally call for a ride and I go pick them up.
10:00 p.m. - Ahhhh . . . bed. Sleep.
11:00 p.m. - Sleep

A Week in the Life . . .

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2010

12:00 a.m. - Wait to get on the ferry. I am NOT a night person, so I'm rapidly turning into a pumpkin. Finally get on the ferry. Sit next to some friends from our ward who had also been to the concert. They had awesome seats, and somehow managed to not sit by any drunks. Luckies.

1:00 a.m. - Arrive back on the island. Jimmy & Mariann give me a ride home (and pick up their son, whom Nathan had been watching for the evening). Check on all my sleeping kids. Collapse into bed at 1:30 a.m. Get a sleepy "How was it?" grunt from Nathan. I don't think he was awake enough to hear my "AWESOME!" response.

2:00 a.m. - Sleep

3:00 a.m. - Sleep

4:00 a.m. - Sleep

5:00 a.m. - Sleep

6:00 a.m. - Nathan up (I don't even hear him). Emma up. I drag myself out of bed at 6:45 a.m.

7:00 a.m. - Adana up. Scripture and prayer. Emma to the bus. Make muffins for Adana's preschool (I had forgotten that she was Child of the Day, which also means that I'm Snack Parent.)

8:00 a.m. - Boys off to school. Adana dressed. Type up a quick blog report for all of my anxious fans. :-)

9:00 a.m. - Adana to preschool. I volunteer as Reading Parent in Emma's classroom.

10:00 a.m. - Finish as Reading Parent. Go for my run.

11:00 a.m. - Finish my run. Head to gym to lift.

12:00 p.m. - Pick up Micah at school. Pick up Adana at preschool. Home for lunch (I'm starving because I forgot to eat breakfast).

1:00 p.m. - Put Adana down for a nap. Homeschool boys.

2:00 p.m. - I honestly can't remember what I did during this hour. I know I was starting to feel pretty tired. I must have been in a pseudo-comatose stage. Glad I wasn't driving.

3:00 p.m. - Micah to Glass Bending class. Mariann comes over to download her contraband pictures onto my computer. I'll post them later.

4:00 p.m. - Take Emma to Knitting class. I sit in a chair to watch and barely manage to stay awake.

5:00 p.m. - Home to clean and tidy. Mariann cooked this evening, so at least I didn't have to use a stove or handle any sharp knives. Eat dinner. Ben (a neighborhood friend) joins us.

6:00 p.m. - Wash dishes with Emma. Nathan, Emma & I go to her Open House at school.

7:00 p.m. - Tour Emma's classroom. Oooh and Ahhh at all her cute art projects.

8:00 p.m. - Home. Watch an old Dungeon & Dragons episode from Netflix. Nathan & Jared have their Date Night.

9:00 p.m. - Get Emma to bed. Help her with her knitting (or at least I try. I suck at knitting, so I'm not really much help). Snuggle with Adana, who is complaining of a tummy ache. Offer countless silent prayers that she isn't actually sick and that she won't puke tonight. Please, no puke!

10:00 p.m. - Get Adana to bed. I don't know why I waited so long. Clearly my mind just isn't functioning properly. Nathan & Jared still having Date Night. Micah working on his First Aid Merit Badge (and I was thinking he was in bed all this time). Think about cleaning up the house a bit more, but decide I need to get some sleep.

11:00 p.m. - Sleep

A Week in the Life . . .

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2010

12:00 a.m. – Sleep
1:00 a.m. – Sleep
2:00 a.m. – Sleep
3:00 a.m. – Sleep
4:00 a.m. – Sleep
5:00 a.m. – Sleep. Get up to let the stupid cat out.
6:00 a.m. – Nathan up. Emma up at 6:30 a.m. I’m up at 6:45 a.m. Nathan leaves for work.
7:00 a.m. – Adana up at precisely 7:00. She has a clock in her room and she’s only able to get out of bed if the hour number is “7” or “8”. Some days, I can tell that she’s been awake for a while but just watching the clock until she can come out. I wake the boys up for scripture and prayer. Get Emma to the bus, and then go for my run.
8:00 a.m. – Get back from my run in time to hurry the boys off to school. Feed Adana. I eat a bowl of Toastie Oh’s with walnuts. Not as satisfying as my omelet. Adana plays dress-up. I check email.
9:00 a.m. – Shower. Try to find something to wear tonight, but realize that my wardrobe is very very dull. Do I wear this black t-shirt or that brown t-shirt? Sigh. I finally decide that it doesn’t really matter ‘cuz I’ll probably buy a t-shirt tonight anyways. (Ooooo . . . foreshadowing!) :-)
10:00 a.m. – Adana & I go to Storytime at the library.
11:00 a.m. – Home from Storytime. Reading lesson with Adana. Then paint her nails (and mine) bright ORANGE. I have been trying for months to get her to stop biting her nails. I kept telling her, “When you stop biting your nails, I’ll paint them ORANGE!” But she couldn’t stop. So today I decide to try a different tactic. Maybe if they are painted ORANGE, she won’t want to bite them. Fingers crossed!
12:00 p.m. – Lunch. Pick up Micah at school (‘cuz it is a nasty, dreary, chilly day). Put Adana down for an early nap.
1:00 p.m. – Pick up Jared at school. Get gas. Stop by the store to buy something small so I can get cash back.
2:00 p.m. – Homeschool. Fold my laundry. Emma home. Work on a Top Secret project (for Valentine's).
3:00 p.m. – Finish up chores. Wake up Adana. Drive to Little Dragons.
4:00 p.m. – Little Dragons. Rush home and try to get kids situated/solve disputes/listen to their last minute “urgent” things. (Why is it that I can spend the entire day with them, but the second I’m trying to walk out the door they suddenly have a dozen things that they HAVE to tell me?)
5:00 p.m. – Head to ferry. Get there in plenty of time. Discover that my friend, Mariann, forgot her camera and cell phone in her car. RUN back to get them. Still make it on the ferry.
6:00 p.m. – Arrive in Seattle. Catch a bus up to the Seattle Center. Find a magnificent market and buy some much-needed dinner.
7:00 p.m. – Are you ready for the Big Reveal? What did I do at 7 p.m. last night?!?!
Go to Key Arena for the BILLY JOEL/ELTON JOHN concert!!! Oh man! It was so dang exciting! We have a bit of trouble getting into the concert. At the door, we have to go through a baggage check. Mariann had brought her big, fancy-schmancy camera, but they aren’t allowing them in. They tell us that we will have to just leave it in our car. We explain that our car is parked ON BAINBRIDGE ISLAND. They just shrug with a “sucks to be you” attitude. We ask if we can check it. They say they don’t have that for this concert. We press. They say they will ask someone “higher up” what we should do. . . . . . And while they are going off in search of that “someone,” we quickly get our tickets scanned and sneak inside. Dopey Clever Mariann then goes into the bathroom, takes off her coat and wraps her camera bag in it. I just laugh and say, “Oh yeah! THAT doesn’t make you look like you’re trying to sneak something in!” We find our seats – nosebleed section to the back right of the stage. I’m sitting next to a woman who had clearly drunk waaaay too much Mike’s Lemonade. At 7:30 p.m., the lights dim, and then, rising out of the stage come two black grand pianos. Crowd (including us and my drunk neighbor) goes wild! Elton & Billy start the night off singing a few songs together. They’re both looking a bit older and plumper, but their voices sound GREAT.
8:00 p.m. – Billy’s piano sinks back down and Elton has the stage to himself. He’s pretty good, but I’m not overly impressed. Mariann’s husband, Jimmy, texts that we can join him in his BOX SEAT, right in front of the stage (he’s there with his office; we were just lucky to get some tickets so we could come along too). We don’t have to be asked twice. I ditch my slobbery, wailing neighbor and head off to enjoy the concert in a more refined setting. Or so I think.

9:00 p.m. - The box seats are very nice. A private bathroom. A coat closet. Cushy seats. Bottles and bottles and bottles and bottles of beer and wine. That probably should have been my first red flag. But I was too excited to actually be able to see the front of the stage. They put me right up front, next to Jimmy's boss. Cute little blond thing, sitting so sweetly, sipping her bottle of water. I settle in to immerse myself in what is happening on stage - Elton's piano goes down and HERE COMES BILLY!! I've got to say right up front that, while I enjoy Elton John's music, I was raised on Billy Joel. My mom was a huge fan. I think I learned to sing Uptown Girl before I could sing Old McDonald. Seeing him live was, simply, amazing. I wished my mom could be there with me.

10:00 p.m. - Billy finishes his solo set, and Elton comes back out for their closing songs together. Their voices do sound good together, but I still think it's odd to hear Elton sing Uptown Girl and Billy sing Bennie & the Jets. Our box is also starting to get a bit odd. Well, maybe odd isn't really the word I'm looking for. WACKO is more like it. Most of my box mates have consumed enough alcohol to sterilize a garbage dump. And they're starting to dance. Not just the usual sway-to-the-music-and-clap-with-the-beat that most of the rest of us are doing. And not just the occasional fist pump when the song is really rockin.' No we're talking Steve Martin in The Jerk gyrations! Is that dancing or are you having a seizure!? Quick, get me a helmet 'cuz she keeps whacking me in the head!! I was trapped in a little balcony box full of drunk whirling dervishes. I finally managed to extricate myself from the middle of the fray, and I spent the remainder of the concert sitting behind them, watching their strange tribal movements with alternating amusement and nausea.

11:00 p.m. - Concert over. Say our very polite Good-byes and Thank You's to people who, just mere minutes before, had been bumping and rubbing all over each other. And now we're all smiling sweetly at each other as if we had just come out of church. I find the whole thing strange and hilarious. Mariann, Jimmy & I try in vain to flag down an empty taxi. We give up and decide to just walk back to the ferry. We've got time and it's a nice, dry evening. Plus we're cheap. :-)

Contraband pictures soon to follow (as soon as Mariann emails them to me).

A Week in the Life . . .

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2010

12:00 a.m. – Sleep
1:00 a.m. – Sleep
2:00 a.m. – Sleep
3:00 a.m. – Sleep
4:00 a.m. – Sleep
5:00 a.m. – Sleep
6:00 a.m. – Nathan up. Emma up at 6:30.
7:00 a.m. – Boys and I drag ourselves downstairs for scripture and prayer. Walk Emma out to the bus. Adana up, eats breakfast.
8:00 a.m. – Get Adana in the tub. Continue cycling through the laundry that I started yesterday (today is folding day, so I need to have it ready for the kids by this afternoon). Make my breakfast. I have eaten the exact same breakfast for the past month: a 2-egg omlet with chicken sausage & spinach, and a dollop of Fage. It might be time to branch out a bit.
9:00 a.m. – Drop off Adana at preschool. Go for a run with my friend, Jenny. She is just barely recovering from a long sinus illness, one which had her bedridden for the past week. And she still kicks my butt on our run.
10:00 a.m. – Gym to lift weights, and to sit in their awesome sauna. Call doctor to cancel Jared’s appointment (his elbow is starting to feel better, so I didn’t want to spend the money).
11:00 a.m. – Pick up my friend’s adorable daughter from preschool. Take her with me to get some groceries. Marvel at her 3-year old ability to sit meekly in the cart and never once beg me to buy her anything. I vaguely remember being able to take my own children grocery shopping. Those were my pre-Adana days, of course. Buy a box of those evil Safeway holiday cookies, this time in Valentine Heart shapes. Eat 3 before I leave the parking lot. Stop by the library to pick up some books. Delighted by the fact that this perfect little angel girl ran off to hide behind the bookshelves while I was trying to check out my books. Phew – maybe my kids are normal after all. Eat 2 more cookies to celebrate.
12:00 p.m. – Drop cutie-patootie off at another friend’s house (gotta love kid swapping) and pick up Adana from pre-school. Her teacher reports that “she made more good choices than bad choices today.” Not the most stellar report, but heck, I’ll take it. At least she hasn’t been expelled (yet).
1:00 p.m. – Get Adana down for a nap. Latin lesson with the boys.
2:00 p.m. – Homeschool. Emma home. Chores. Music practice.
3:00 p.m. – Take Micah back to school for a Glass Bending class. Get a call from Jessica (my BFF who lives WAY too far away).

4:00 p.m. - Make dinner. I am doing a dinner group with a couple friends, so I make enough chicken brocolli casserole/rice/fruit salad to feed three families.

5:00 p.m. - Finish up dinner, then try to find the boys so they can babysit while I deliver it to the other families.

6:00 p.m. - Eat dinner with the kids. Nathan is working late.

7:00 p.m. - Go to friend's house to plan our dinner group menu for February.

8:00 p.m. - End up chatting more than planning, but eventually we do get the entire month planned.

9:00 p.m. - Home to help get the kids to bed. Do homeschool corrections. Blog.

10:00 p.m. - Tidy up the house. Check on sleeping kids (or rather sleeping Emma, since the others are still chatting in bed).

11:00 p.m. - Sleep.

A Week in the Life . . .

I've been thinking that I would like to record a typical week in the life of our family. We lead a very average, quite unremarkable life, so I don't anticipate that this will be very interesting to anyone but me (years from now). So please feel free to skip reading this blog for the next week. I promise I won't be offended. (Except you might want to read on Thursday to find out what I did Wednesday night. Ohhhh, a cliff hanger . . .) :-)

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2010

12:00 a.m. - Sleep

1:00 a.m. - Sleep

2:00 a.m. - Sleep

3:00 a.m. - Sleep

4:00 a.m. - Sleep

5:00 a.m. - Sleep

6:00 a.m. - Nathan up & getting ready for work. He wakes Emma up at 6:30 a.m., makes her breakfast and packs her lunch.

7:00 a.m. - Mom, Jared & Micah up. Family scripture & prayer. Emma to the bus. Boys shower, dress, and fix their lunches. Adana wakes up.

8:00 a.m. - Boys walk to school. Adana plays with toys. Mom gets ready for the day. I call Dr. Walters (our pediatrician) about Jared's sore elbow (from snowboarding on Friday). He suggests an x-ray.

9:00 a.m. - Pick up Jared from school and take him in for an x-ray. As we are driving past the high school, we see a police officer hiding behind a tree with her gun drawn. Don't know why.

10:00 a.m. - Return Jared to school. Mom & Adana head to Costco for the week's groceries.

11:00 a.m. - Finish up at Costco. Dr. Walters calls with results of x-ray. It doesn't show a fracture, but does show swelling. He recommends we see an Orthopedic doctor. I call to make an appointment for tomorrow.

12:00 p.m. - Drop groceries off at home, then pick up Micah at school.

1:00 p.m. - Micah babysits Adana while I go visiting teaching. Jared walks home from school. Boys work on their homeschool work and chores.

2:00 p.m. - Micah has piano lesson. Emma rides bus home and has her piano lesson. Adana watches a show.

3:00 p.m. - I drop Jared off at school for Knowledge Bowl practice. Come home to start making dinner. Pick up Jared at 3:45pm. Emma does chores and homework.

4:00 p.m. - Take Adana to Little Dragons (karate) class. Jared has to skip violin lesson because of his elbow.

5:00 p.m. - Finish making dinner. Adana is grouchy and ends up putting herself to bed. Micah plays with a neighbor. Jared does his homework.

6:00 p.m. - Nathan gets home from work. We eat dinner. Emma does the dishes.

7:00 p.m. - Emma teaches our Family Home Evening lesson. Then we play Scum, a new card game. Very fun. Adana finally wakes up and eats dinner. Nathan isn't feeling well.

8:00 p.m. - Kids start getting ready for bed. Micah gathers all the trash and takes it out to the curb. I read Adana a bedtime story and listen to Emma's prayers.

9:00 p.m. - Older three kids & Nathan are in bed, but Adana is having a hard time falling asleep (no surprise after that late nap). I do the homeschool corrections from today.

10:00 p.m. - Finally get Adana to stay in bed. I blog, then head to bed.

11:00 p.m. - Sleep