Hart Family News: February 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Short 7 Summation

February 27, 2011

1. Marisa

Marisa had WPA last night (a dance where “women pay all”). She said it was a very fun night. Maybe she will get on and post how it went? She took David Kaiser again.

2. Tyler

Tyler was gone to Dubuque all day for a showchoir competition.

3. Mid Maid Wii Night

The Mia Maids came over for YW this week to do Wii fit. Marisa’s group did Yoga at the church. Bob and Tyler went with the young men to help out at the retirement home.

4. Alayna

I know she is in 3^rd grade, but she hasn’t needed to learn how to tie since all her shoes up to this point have been Velcro. So, this week, the only shoes on sale were ones that tie, so she had to learn and she was so excited!!!

5. Kayla

Kayla had a band concert this week and did a great job. Hopefully Bob will get some of it posted this week.

6. BYU

Bob went to the Alands to watch the BYU game and Alayna went to play and build forts.

7. Gunky Germs

It was my turn to be sick with a head cold this week. That’s it! I’m going to buy all the Lysol in Walmart and spray my house to DEATH!

(Kayla, Merritt, and Alayna filming their movie. Did you all see it on fb??)

3rd Grade Square Dancing

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Linn Mar MasterWorks Concert

Excelsior Band Concert February 2011

Excelsior Show Choir

A slice of heaven and a glimpse into my youth-Part 2

50s Youth activity and dance

Bob and I were asked to teach the triple step swing for a stake youth activity. You must know that we, um, have never done the triple swing before. So, we met on Thursday with the other couple who was going to teach and he taught us all the different moves. Then I hardly slep for 2 days and all I can hear in my head now is “rock step, triple step, triple step, rock step, triple step, triple step”. Kayla knew I was losing my mind when she caught me swing dancing with the soy milk in the kitchen!

The Stake Youth Activity was a 50s theme. All the girls made poodle skirts this month in YW. The whole place was decked out in giant dice, records, and poodle skirts. The activity opened with some fun warm up games. Then half the youth came to us for a 45 minute swing lesson and the other half went with the other couple. Then they switched and we got the other group of kids. Then the last 15 minutes we practiced all together.

Then, they had some speakers, including Marisa who did a wonderful job speaking about how the gospel and the YW programs helps to strengthen her family. We had a fun dinner with hamburgers and root beer floats.

I must say attending the dance brought back memories of my youth and the stake dances we used to attend. I must say that it has changed quite a bit!! I don’t recognize any of the line dances (Cotton-eyed Joe must be out? Or maybe it was just a Texas thing?) And they don’t really dance in couples for fast dances. They get in this ginormous circle (like a mosh pit almost) and jump up and down while pumping their fists. Weird. They do slow dance a little, but a lot also sit in the chairs around the room. The amazing thing is that they danced for hours!! Oh, to be young again….

*Bob should be getting up several videos today of show choir, masterworks, and the orchestra concert.

A slice of heaven and a glimpse into my youth- Part 1

A slice of heaven and a glimpse into my youth

Feb 20

Another week of insanity has come and gone and I often wonder how we do it all. I think retirement will be a very welcome relief! It’s probably sad that I can tell you the exact amount of days we have left of school.

Valentine’s Day

We had an amazing Valentines Day! I decorated the table with my china and crystal and we had a heart-shaped pizza with sparkling grape juice!

(Alayna’s REAL Valentine!)

(Valentines in French from Kayla)

Pioneer Breakfast

This week the 3^rd grade had their big pioneer breakfast. Each child is allowed to invite one VIP and I am honored to say that Alayna chose me! So, we had a fun breakfast of Johnny cakes, sausage rolls, and biscuits with honey. Then they presented a sweet little program about pioneers and Laura Ingalls and then they topped it off with square dancing. Alayna was in heaven and thought it was the best day ever!

Solo and ensemble

Tyler had his trombone solo on Tuesday and did a great job. I have only really heard him with the entire band so it was nice to hear him alone. There is a huge “Murphy’s law” story that does along with that whole experience too, but I will just leave it at “we survived!”

A slice of heaven

On Thursday, the snow started to melt and the temperature actually climbed to 65°!! Everyone came out of their houses- during the winter you forget people actually live in your neighborhood. Anyway, Marisa and I took this as an opportunity to work out outside so we did a walk/run around the neighborhood. It was amazing to breathe fresh air that didn’t freeze your nose hairs and feel actual warmth on your face! Since the snow was melting, everything was very muddy, so we took it as great practice for the Mud Run and purposefully ran through every puddle and pile of mud! It truly was a slice of heaven.

The younger three didn’t come with us because they were all home sick…AGAIN! Stupid germs that have taken up residence in our house!

Masterworks and orchestra concert

Marisa had 2 different concerts this week. The first one was the annual Masterworks concert where the top orchestra combines with the top choir and they perform a major classical work. This year they did Mozarts Grand Mass in C Minor and it was beautiful!

She had her symphony orchestra concert on Thursday which again was amazing. They played :

“Also sprach Zarathustra” fanfare by Strauss (which Bob will post)

Two numbers by Tchaikovsky

Mars, the Bringer of Wat by Gustav Holst (My fav of the night)

Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Seans

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Feeling bad for penguins and my love/hate relationship with February!

Feeling bad for penguins and my love/hate relationship with February!

Feb 13

I feel so bad for penguins! Ok, so they have a wet suit resembling a tuxedo, but do you REALLY think they aren’t miserable? One only has to watch “March of the Penguins” to know how much standing in a snow storm, protecting an egg, has got to suck. Well, I was just thinking this week that if they knew that sunny, warm beaches exist, they would all hop off that ice and swim like crazy to paradise, even risking death by killer whale. I can almost relate…

This week we experienced an entire week of arctic temperatures. A few mornings when we left for school it was -26. That is just so wrong! Even Marisa’s car protested by refusing to turn on and work. I don’t blame it! I doth protest as well. I almost think we should vote and make snuggies an acceptable outfit to wear to work and school. All in favor? One of the primary students summed the week up beautifully when they were singing the snowman song today. When they finished every single primary child was “melted” on the floor except one. When asked why he was still standing, he said, “My snowman won’t melt!”

(Um, thats the tennis court behind that wall of snow. See the top part of the court??)

I almost cried when the temps warmed up to 40 today. Now how sad is that?? If it wasn’t Sunday, I would totally be out running! The snow is melting and the sun is shining!!

My love for February

One reason I love February is because that is when Bob proposed to me. It was the 18^th anniversary of that proposal on Thursday (Feb 10)! I still remember that day because it was cold and icy and when I walked over to his apartment, I slipped on the pavement and slammed my head onto the pavement. My bow even fell out. And unbeknownst to me, this entire event was witnessed by all of his friends watching out the window for me. The proposal was perfect! His group sang for me and he had flowers for me. Then they all left and he knelt on one knee to propose, to which of course I said yes! One of his roommates, Billy, came in during the actual proposal, eating a pot of food and said “Hey, where is everyone?” Oh the silly memories.

I also love Valentine’s Day! Maybe it’s because that’s around when Bob proposed or maybe it’s because I am a romantic deep down? Or maybe it’s because our last name is “Hart” or because I still love the color pink? This week one of my students said, “Don’t you think it’s funny that your last name is Hart and you are the sweetest teacher here?” Awww! I love it. Yesterday Bob bought me two dozen gorgeous roses. Today he presented me with a Serta memory foam pillow A.K.A. HEAVEN!

Then today, Tyler made us some cinnamon breadsticks and he made one set in my initials for Valentine’s Day. Awww!

(That blob isn't me! Its a smiley face)

My hatred for February

For some reason February is one of the busiest months of the year. It seems like there is something scheduled every night. It’s not like I don’t like attending everything, it’s just that it makes me so tired. Here’s what we did this week:

1. BOB: The Battle of the Books competitions started this week. I help run several of the matches and I really love it.

2. Band concert: Tyler had a band concert on Tuesday night. He did a great job. We didn’t want to crawl over a bunch of people to get to some seats, so instead we hopped “over” the seats and I have a huge beautiful bruise on my knee to prove it.

3. Dentist appt: Happy to report no cavities this time for anyone. Whew!

4. New Beginnings: The girls had New Beginnings this week for YW. It was a beautiful program and even had a fun scavenger hunt. Both girls spoke about the personal progress program and what it means to them and they did a great job. Marisa is almost done with the program.

5. Meds Mix-up: Bob picked up my four prescriptions. He came home frustrated because it totaled $200!! I found that one of the doctors had called in the wrong (expensive) prescription. So, I raced back to the store and they refused to take it back since we “left the store” with it!!! Argh!!! Stupid medication!

6. Showchoir Concert: Ok, so I think we have found Tyler’s “thing”. We went to the showchoir concert on Thursday and all our jaws dropped as we watched Tyler. He was AMAZING! He was so animated and can dance like nobody’s business! He even had a huge solo!! Bob will be posting the videos soon so you can see for yourself!

(Tyler is on the far right in the black doing his solo)

(Tyler is on the middle left in sparkly blue)

7. I’m kicking butt in my practicum!

8. Pinewood Derby: Ok, so the “dads” were wanting to get together to have their own pinewood derby. So, Bob built a car, but then got really sick, so he didn’t have time to give it too much pizzazz. But, it looked super sleek and was named “The Night Fury”. Bob won the loser’s bracket! Alayna got to release the cars each time. We were so glad we came to support because they had snacks!

(Pinewood derby cheerleaders)

9. Bowling Meet: Kayla rocks! She got her 2 highest meet scores yet! Go Kayla! We are going to take her to get her fingers fit to her ball next week.

10. ACT: Marisa took the ACT Saturday morning. 5 hours! How gross is that? She did the writing portion too. She did really well on her practice tests so we will see how she does.

11. WPA: Marisa finally got up the nerve to ask David to WPA (Women Pay All). She put the message in blown up balloons and stuffed them in his car. He called 2 days later to tell her yes! It’s Feb 26. Want to hear something cool? She is using material from my prom dress to hand sew in an insert at the top of her dress to make it modest.

(sewing in the insert)

12. Showchoir Tour: Tyler went on the show choir “Sweetheart Tour”. They traveled to 4 retirement homes to perform and also performed in the local mall. He came back exhausted!!

13. Seminary Sunday: The girls participated in seminary Sunday today. Kayla sang “Praise to the Man” with the youth choir while Marisa accompanied them on the violin. It was so beautiful and I cried through the whole thing. I am so proud of them, their accomplishments, and their talents.