Hot boiling plastic lava, a dinosaur and Oreos for science?

A snowflake went up my nose

A snowflake went up my nose. I am pretty sure that’s the first time it has ever happened to me. This freak flurry storm came out of nowhere and I was thinking “Be Positive! Take a deep breath and enjoy the beauty”. But then, I sniffed a snowflake up my nose! That’s what I get for trying out that whole positive attitude thingy.

On a side note, there are some way cool snowmen around here. This is one down the street: notice his Mohawk and the sweet eyebrows, not to mention the arms. He is missing an eye, so technically he can be a pirate. Oh, a pirate with a Mohawk? Too cool!

A 4-day weekend with Spongebob Monopoly

We had staff development day on Monday and the kids had a blast staying home and enjoying the freedom while I sat in an endless pile of meetings (Yes, you heard me! A Pile!) Since it was so cold, the kids spent their days off inside battling each other on Spongebob Monopoly. I told them they needed to be nice and maybe let Alayna win sometimes, but that was met with, “But, mom! She is kicking our butts! She has all the money.” Speaking of how smart Alayna is….

How hot does it have to get to melt plastic?

Those of you who know me know that I am extremely schedule oriented and habitual. That’s how I roll. In the mornings, I get Alayna up, get her breakfast, and I grab my shower. I set the timer for 15 minutes so she knows when to start getting dressed. Well, one particular morning this week, I strayed from the routine (never EVER stray from the routine!) and I had Alayna “set the timer” for that morning. When I got out of the shower, it smelt like the house was on fire. I raced out and asked her if she was cooking which said she wasn’t. I noticed the microwave still going. I opened it up and there was hot boiling plastic lava. Was it the plate that melted? What was that? Later, after it cooled, we discovered that it was the microwave cover that melted into a plastic plate. Apparently she had cooked for 15 minutes instead of timed. Speaking again of how smart Alayna is…

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! Oreos for science??

We have a white board on our refrigerator where we write down items we need to get at the store. The last few weeks it has said things like “Parachute: for Tyler’s science project” and “nutella for French class”, etc. Yesterday, I saw the following on the board “oreos /mint oreos for science project”. Hmmm? Who still has a science project to do? So, I came in and asked the kids who wrote it. Alayna sheepishly replied that she was the one. When I questioned what type of amazing “science project” she would be doing that would require oreos, she simply stated that she didn’t have one, “I just want oreos”! That little stinker! She knows if they need something for school I get it for them, no questions asked.

The electric violin

Marisa was gone yesterday for 15 hours to Dubuque for another show choir competition. Again, the judges pointed her out to say what a good job she did. She was sure dead tired today though!

The cute girl with the clarinet

This week Kayla participated in the Band Solo/Ensemble contest. Marisa and I were able to go in the room with her where she was judged. I videotaped it, so hopefully Bob can post it for you. She did such a great job and has really come along nicely on the clarinet! I cant wait til she is in the marching band!

(Waiting to go see Kayla’s solo)

(Waiting with Jessica for Kayla to do her solo)

A Diabetic walk with a jolly green dinosaur

Kayla’s close friend, Brenna, is diabetic. This week they had a huge “Walk to Cure Diabetes” at the mall. Kayla and several friends spent the night at Brenna’s house and then they all participated in the walk at the mall. They even saw lots of missionaries volunteering there. They saw the dinosaur mascot changing out of his costume and asked if they could try it on. So, he let them try it on and even walk around and be the mascot for a while (except Kayla cause the costume was too big).

Festival of the Orchestras- Festive Overture (Shostakovich)

Marisa is directly behind the conductor, so if you watch closely you can catch a glimpse. He gave them this difficult piece (professional piece) to play and they nailed it!

Festival of the Orchestras - Russian Sailors Dance by Gliere

This was the top symphony orchestra with 8th graders.

Festival of the Orchestras - First Piece

Excelsior 6th Grade Band 2 - Tyler on Right

Excelsior 6th Grade Band - Tyler on right

Masterworks Concert 2

Masterworks Concert

Can an orchestra conduct itself?

February 21, 2010

An Orchestra can conduct itself??

Marisa had her concert this week, “Festival of the Orchestras”. It was fantastic as usual. For their first number (which we will post), the concert master started them with a head nod and they played the whole first piece flawlessly with no conductor!! So VERY awesome!! The second to last piece was incredible! I will have Bob post it, but I could barely get Marisa on the camera (Called the Festive Overture by Shostakovich) and then their last number was the Russian Sailors Dance by Gliere. I LOVE that piece!

Tyler and Kayla had their band concert this week too. Bob will post their concert pieces as well. Kayla’s favorite song was called, “High Water Mark” and Tyler’s was, “Cayuga Lake Overture”.

The Top 10 Things You Learn as a Middle School Teacher

I figured with the end of the 2^nd trimester finally arriving, I should share some things I have learned as a teacher. I was going to write my own, until I came upon these. I really couldn’t say it better:

1. You want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 8-3 and have your summers free."

2. You believe chocolate is a food group.

3. You believe the unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, "Boy, the kids are sure mellow today."

4. When you mention "vegetables," you are not talking about a food group.

5. You believe no one should be permitted to reproduce without having taught in a middle school for at least five years.

6. You think caffeine should be available to staff in IV form.

7. Meeting a child's parents instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like that?"

8. You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac.

9. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

10. You have no time for a life from August through June.

Kayla is FINALLY free:

Kayla got the bottom braces off on Friday and is now braces free!! She is so excited. Two down, 2 to go.

(This is the after picture.  She refused to let me post the before picture)

Is OCD contagious? Genetic? A curse?

Ok, so Alayna took a bath in my bathroom and when I came in later that night, look what I found. Seriously- what kid arranges their toys like this? Notice it is even arranged by color scheme. Poor kid!

(Showing you Patrick’s awesome green shirt…lol)

My Valentines flowers:

Here are my beautiful Valentines flowers. They were pink with a red velvet trim. Does Bob know me well or what? I’m also posting another picture from our date night that our hosts took.

Stake Youth Activity Night:

Marisa had an awesome Stake Youth Activity. They had classes on virtue and dating, an awesome dinner with Lasagna Soup and “really good cookies”, and a dance where she got to dance with some real hotties. I am posting pics I could find. Marisa also shared a joke with me that she made up and I couldn’t pass up: “ What happened to the family who lived in Iowa during the winter? They DIED!” There you go…

(John Sullivan)

(Anders Larson)

(The one 2nd from the right)

Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas of awesomeness

Makes 6-8 servings

3-4-lb. chicken

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. oil

1 14-oz. can cream mushroom soup

1 14-oz. can cream chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

10-oz. can green enchilada sauce

4.5-oz. can peeled, diced green chilies

20 corn tortillas

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Boil chicken. Shred meat and discard bones and skin.

2. Saute onion in oil in saucepan until translucent. Stir in soups, sour cream, green enchilada sauce, and chilies. Heat until warm.

3. Tear tortillas into bite-sized pieces.

4. Layer half of sauce, chicken, tortillas, and cheese in slow cooker, alternating layers. Repeat, ending with cheese and sauce.

5. Cover. Cook on Low 5-6 hours, or High 2-3 hours.

A Mormon cartoon I found and had to share. You can find these cool cartoons at http://www.mormoncartoonist.com/

Kilikina and Lopaka

"I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon." ~Unknown:

Bob and I got to go on a wonderful date last night. Friends of ours hosted a Hawaiian Couples Valentines Party. Everyone dressed up in Hawaiian attire (except us because we don’t own anything even remotely Hawaiian) and we ate Hawaiian Haystacks. We exchanged couples Valentines Gifts and then played the Newlywed game. Bob and I were tied for 1^st place. On the tie-breaker question, I lost it for us because I couldn’t remember the exact make and model of Bobs first car, but we did MUCH better than we have in years past. I even learned that if Bob could tame any wild animal and make it his pet, he would choose a bear. I was way off…I guessed a shark! (Kilikina and Lopaka are our names in Hawaiian)

(Picture taken by Tyler.  I look like an awesome Hawaiian Vampire!)

The worst part of Iowa? The Snow! The best part of Iowa? Snow Days!!

Seriously I have never needed a snow day like I did this week! There is just something about “hunkering down” while the soft snow falls outside and then cements itself to driveway, never to be removed until Spring. We just needed the break. I find myself praying very hard for snow days…very hard! Marisa’s friend , Alex, took her and Alayna to see the “Squeakquel” to celebrate the day off.

(Who is that crazy person in the yellow jacket?)

Legos, Lightning Thief, and Cup stacking Club

The Star Wars Lego’s finally arrived! Tyler raced outside, ripped the box open, and screamed while running down the stairs, “I will be in my room for a very long time!!” He was. He has put together some of it and its pretty cool.

Tyler and his friends, Joshua, Logan, and Hunter, all went to see Lightning Thief on Saturday. They actually got to try and go by themselves without an adult. Tyler said the movie was “so awesome” but they had a very serious discussion on the way home and found “100 ways in which the movie did not follow the book”. Boys are funny.

(An update on Tyler’s arm from last week)

Tyler has also joined the Cup Stacking Club at school. Of all things he chooses to practice 24/7, he chooses that? Man! Is it annoying or what? With all that practice he is getting very good at it though! Too bad it can’t be super quiet!

Who plays with their food and who eats lettuce like it’s a pill?

You guessed Alayna right? Wrong! I have noticed lately like Marisa plays with her food. One day she was reenacting Adam and Eve with a giant broccoli (the tree), a mini broccoli (eve) and the giant one was holding a grape (as the fruit). Then another night, she used a tiny piece of pepperoni to go repelling and rock climbing on the bottom side of her pizza. I bet you money she will be a very entertaining date. Then, there’s Tyler…we told him he couldn’t leave the table until he ate some lettuce. He is boycotting all vegetables, claiming we are trying to kill him! So, after many tears, he tore up his lettuce into tiny, microscopic pieces, and swallowed them like pills with water. I kid you not!

(The broccoli reenactment)

Maybe not the greatest room reveal ever, but whatever…

We worked hard on Marisa’s room and its coming together. I still don’t have curtains up or the vinyl lettering up, but I am posting pictures just so you can see how its coming along. Please realize it is missing some of its homey touches.

(View from the corner by the closet)

(View from the door)

(Another view from the door)

There’s nothing like New Beginnings to make you feel like you are old.

The girls had New Beginnings at the church this week. Each family was supposed to bring a picnic basket and blanket along with a dinner to enjoy the evening together. Our evening was a usual one, where we are all running around like chickens with our heads cut off! I had to go buy my running shoes (yes, I am running) while Tyler had to go buy a parachute for his science experiment and I also ran Battle of the Books. Anyway, I felt so guilty because we got a pizza and then a salad from Taco Bell. It was so tacky, our picnic basket was moldy, and I felt like a loser until the girls told me some moms were jealous of my “smart idea” of getting fast food. Whew! Way to come out on top there! Anyway, we had to sit for the whole program on the gym floor and man were we stiff the next day. Does that mean we are getting old? In the program, they showed the brand new personal progress books, and then showed the old ones and how they progressed through the years. I felt even more old when I realized one of the “oldest” books is the one that I had. Does that make me old too?

Mozart tapped once again the source from which all music flows, expressing himself with a spontaneity and refinement and breath-taking rightness that has never since been duplicated.-- Aaron Copland, Copland on Music (1960)

I attribute my deep love for classical music to my parents unwavering determination to expose us to it. It used to drive me nuts when I was younger, but I truly love it now. Marisa was in the Masterworks Concert this week. (Bob will post some of it on the blog soon) It was a Phenomenal Concert and Dad, it sounded a lot like the Messiah you guys do. They played Mozart’s final requiem (pieces from the choruses) and it was the High School choir with the Chamber Orchestra. It really was fantastic and I just loved the whole thing.

The end of the 2^nd Trimester is near!

This trimester ends this Thursday. Whoo-hoo! 2/3 of the school year is over.

Marisa's 2nd song

Can you hear me NOW?

Can you hear me now?

If any of you have been following Kayla’s facebook lately, you would have seen that she has been counting down to special “something” which FINALLY happened for her on Monday. She got her 1^st cell phone a little early for her 14^th birthday. She loves it! Now we usually get to view the top of Kayla’s head, rather than see the whites of her eyes. Marisa finally got a new one: her 1^st one had some technical difficulties, Tyler broke the 2^nd one on “accident”, and the 3^rd one was a “giant piece of crap! (quote by Marisa)” Bob was also due for a new one. They all got really cool touch screen ones.

(Its not cool having a mom always taking pics of you while you are texting)

Are the aliens trying to contact YOU?

We were in the kitchen last night making the yummy recipe below, when all of the sudden Marisa grabbed her ear and started flailing all over the kitchen and yelling , “Oh my gosh! The aliens are trying to contact me again!!” I think “what the heck??” She laughs hysterically. (She is one funny kid) She then explains: it’s when your ear plugs and then you have that ringing in your ear and it sounds like aliens are trying to contact you. Um…ok…weirdo…

(Our resident chef (kayla) at work)

Does anyone ever REALLY listen?

Tyler got to go to his 1st winter campout this weekend! He came home a stinky, smelly, wet, frozen gob of goo! He said he didn’t sleep because the cabin wasn’t “air tight” and he froze to death! To death, people! At dinner, he was telling us all about it. Do any of you remember on Seinfeld when Peterman would tell his stories? He would go on and on giving very descriptive details! Well, Tyler has mastered that art of storytelling. He went on and on about something to do with sledding. Our whole family was nodding along while eating and then he said his arm really hurts and pulled up his sleeve. He had a HUGE bruise and we were all like “what happened”?? And he said, “I just explained the whole thing!! Didn’t anyone listen to me??” Poor guy- we laughed so hard. We realized none of us were really listening so we had him tell us again. I guess when he was sledding, all his friends missed the barrel and Tyler’s arms got caught in it on the way down the hill. Poor kid! Of course, you all know how I feel about sledding. NOTHING good can ever come from that sport…

The long-awaited unveiling of the girls’ most awesome room:

We FINALLY finished Kayla and Alayna’s room. It took forever because my children are “crap collectors” and no, they don’t get that from me. Alayna collects everything known to man and hides it under the bed…everything from flashlights, Barbie heads, bouncy balls, old cell phones, erasers, rocks, gems…you name it, it’s under there. So, we made a box to put her “treasures” in. So, here is the final product except I didn’t get the curtains up yet.

(View from the doorway)

(View from the closet.  Notice “Catty’s” bed on the floor)

(View from the bookshelf)

Technical difficulties:

I can’t unveil Marisa’s room yet because we have run into some, um, “technical difficulties”. Hopefully we will get it done in the next few weeks for you to see. I should have done before and after pictures of each room so you could oooh and ahhh over my amazing organizing and rearranging skills. Maybe next time?

Scrumptious new recipe of chocolate goodness:

Warning: If you don’t have the quality of “chocolate self control”, then do NOT make these.

1 Cup butter or margarine, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

54 Hershey's kisses (9-ounce package), unwrapped

Confectioners' sugar

In large mixer bowl cream butter, granulated sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour and cocoa; blend into creamed mixture. Chill dough 1 hour or until firm enough to handle. Heat oven to 375. Mold scant tablespoon of dough around each unwrapped KISS, covering KISS completely. Shape into balls; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost set; cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Roll in confectioners' sugar.

Tried to get a picture of our 2 sickies yesterday with their “Rudolf-the-red-nose-noses” but Kayla wanted nothing to do with it :)