Fall Recital

My Fall Recital is over! Huzza! The recital has been scheduled for months. Recitals are a lot of work. Jessica and I decided to do another combined recital. Jessica made the chic invitations. I got invitations and posters printed to advertise the recital. I framed my poster and it has been hanging in my piano room. Making the program also took effort. I thought the program was perfect until one of my students pointed out that I spelled her name wrong. Oops. I felt bad about that typo. My finger stayed down too long and pushed a letter twice.

Ditto Studios has taken off. In fact, I technically have a waitlist with 5 people on it. I currently have 11 students! My Monday and Thursday evenings are filled. It’s wonderful.

To prep for the recital this time, I held 2 performance classes the week of the recital. This gave students a chance to play in front of others. We also did a studio competition leading up to the recital. This was Jessica’s fabulous idea. Each student was given a “41 Days of Practice” chart. Students had to play their recital song every day and practice for at least 10 minutes. At the recital, I announced who won. 3 of my students practiced all 41 days! They got a certificate of recognition and won a $10 Swig gift card and 2 fun sets of piano socks. I wanted to keep some of the piano socks myself.

The recital was held at my church building in the chapel. All day Saturday, I was antsy with anticipation. James said he was sick of being in the chapel. I can’t say I blame him. We cleaned the church that morning (and we were in charge of the chapel), he had primary program practice in the chapel, and then we were back again in the afternoon for the recital.

I played a slew of songs at the recital. I accompanied 5 of Jessica’s students. Jessica and I opened the recital with a beautiful rendition of “Beauty and the Beast.” I also performed piano duets with 2 of my students. I was glad that I didn’t end up getting very nervous. Things ran smoothly without hiccup.

I was extremely satisfied with how the recital went! My students worked hard and were well prepared! It was fulfilling to see how much my students have progressed. I have some advanced students who played showy and impressive songs. I was disappointed that a couple of students brought their music up with them during their performances. They have had their pieces memorized for ages. When a third student of mine attempted to bring her music, I stopped her. I’m so mean.

One of my students had to leave early, so she isn’t pictured. Another student backed out of performing a couple hours before the recital, so he is also missing.

At the end of the recital, people were complimentary. One parent told me, she “recommends me to everyone.” A grandma said, “You are doing such a great job with my granddaughter.” These words meant extra to me because this grandma is an accomplished pianist herself. Another person stopped me to ask if I have any openings because they would love for me to teach their child piano. A young woman leader in my ward told me that they talk about their highs and lows in young women’s every week. She told me that a few of the girls said their “high” of the week was the recital. One girl explained that the recital was both her high and low for the week. I can relate. Recitals can be stressful, but Saturday was certainly a teacher pay-day for me! 

After the recital, it was like a weight had been lifted from my chest. Andrew and I went out on a date. We had a lovely time relaxing at “Crack Shack” and going to the movies. The next recital is tentatively planned for May. For now, I’m enjoying picking Christmas music for my students. Ditto Studios is thriving.

FREE

I'm a sucker for finding a good deal. As a family, we've been able to experience 3 awesome things in the last month all free of charge. I'll start with the most recent.

Disney on Ice

Thursday, November 10

Getting a good pic proved to be very challenging. Maybe it was the time of day? We attempted to take many pics and even resorted to bribery. 

Princess Anna had french braids in (you can't really tell). I was proud of myself. 

I noticed a giveaway on Instagram. 4 free "Disney on Ice" tickets were up for grabs. I didn't bother entering. A few days later, I saw the giveaway again. I decided why not enter? I had 15 minutes to spare before the giveaway closed. I won! I was shocked. There were over 2700 comments, so lots of entries.

I truly feel like winning the tickets was a tender mercy. I was feeling down and couldn't go to sleep the night I won the tickets. I had super itchy hives and my mind was spinning thinking about other challenges. I got on Instagram and saw I had won the tickets. What? It felt like the Lord knew I was struggling and showed me he is aware and gave me a pick-me-up. I'm so thankful. I won 4 tickets that were $35 each. 

We rode the train (tracks) to the arena which the kids had never done. They loved it. The show didn't start exactly at 7 like we expected and we were early because I am always early. The kids were antsy. Some popcorn helped. The emcees of the show were Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. There were 5 main Disney movies in the show-- The Little Mermaid, Moana, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, and Frozen. The Little Mermaid and Frozen were the best according to my kids. Although not mean Ursula!

The kids' eyes were glued to the ice and the performers. Watching their reactions brought Andrew and me so much joy. Isabelle was singing along, James was shouting characters' names, and waving and clapping was a must for all. After each scene ended, Isabelle worriedly asked if the show was over. She wanted it to last forever. Disney on Ice ended after 9pm. James could hardly keep his eyes open. At one point he was laying down because it got too hard to hold his head up. Some sugar helped, but he was out on the train ride home. We got back to our house at 10:15. When I woke James up for school this morning, he declared, "Wasn't Disney on Ice so fun? I think yesterday was the best day of my life." It was definitely a night to remember. 

Hill Air Force Base Museum

Saturday, November 5

Hill Air Force Base has a free museum that I've heard about a lot. We decided to go as a family on a weekend. Andrew was fascinated by the planes. He enthusiastically explained things to us. We were all interested. It was rainy, so we didn't spend much time looking at the outdoor models, but there was plenty to see inside the 2 buildings. I thought the old airplanes without roofs were cool. James was surprised to see bombs and guns in the planes and had many questions about why they were needed. At one point he asked, "why are all of these fighter planes?" The museum is 50 minutes away, so it was a time commitment. We spent nearly an hour and a half browsing the museum before the kids were asking to leave. More like wanting snacks. 

SeaQuest Aquarium

Saturday, October 22

One of my friends told me that SeaQuest was doing a deal. You could get free tickets to the aquarium. I jumped at the chance. This saved us over $70. We had plenty of time to kill over fall break (James had 6 days off of school). This activity helped break up the time spent at home.

SeaQuest is in Layton and is 45 minutes away. We live near the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and going to a different aquarium was a welcome change. There was a pig! We fed birds (ok, it was all Andrew). There were ginormous snakes and one was even out of its cage being held. You could feed most of the animals. The chickens were aggressive and eager to eat. They put an end to the kids' desire to feed creatures. After, we stopped for lunch. I won another giveaway earlier this year, so we ate at that pizza place and used my gift card. It wasn't what we expected. It was a fancy sit-down restaurant with high prices (that our gift card didn't cover.)In Andrew's words, "I've had better pizza from Little Caesars." Not our vibe. I could see us returning to Sea Quest though, especially if I can snag free tickets again.

I'm grateful we have been able to spend quality time adventuring as a family for free. I'm on the hunt for the next bargain or giveaway!

Happy Halloween

Things I want to remember about Halloween this year...

• I helped with James’ class party. Isabelle got to come along too. Isabelle adores being with the big kids. Though she was livid at one point because there weren’t enough juice boxes for her. Being a newbie at the whole elementary parent thing, I eagerly signed up to help with both kids' parties. (Isabelle’s party was a different day). A break is earned next year. Isabelle’s party was especially exhausting since I was in charge of helping 3-year-olds make Oreo spiders. What a mess. I did enjoy seeing my kids in their school environments though.
• The kids have so many costumes and dress-ups. They could not decide what they wanted to wear. Throughout Halloween day, Isabelle wore at least 4 costumes 2 of which were princesses. For her preschool party, she was Elsa. On Halloween night, Isabelle ended up being Wonder Woman and James was an astronaut.

• I took the kids to Crave cookies because they were giving out a free cookie to all school-aged children dressed in costume. Obviously, there was a large mom tax. 
• The kids have wanted to go to the pumpkin patch near our house. It has a slide. I thought Halloween might be our last chance, so we went. It turns out pumpkin patches are semi-deserted on Halloween. We had the slide to ourselves. Izzy was afraid to go down the slide initially, but I was proud of her for doing it again and again.
• I decided that we clearly didn’t have enough sugar and made a new recipe: pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls with maple glaze. They were superb. I will make these again, but probably not on a sugar-packed day.
• Jessica, Chris, and George joined us! We had pizza which is a Halloween must/tradition. George made the cutest George Washington and came trick or treating with us for a few minutes before his bedtime.

• We met up with the Bradshaws and Boones while trick or treating. Valerie is a costume designer and seamstress. Their Spider-Man-themed costumes were next level.
• Our neighborhood is an amazing place to trick or treat. People go all out. Our bishop passes out homemade doughnuts! Someone else provides hot dogs. The buttery popcorn was a highlight; apparently, those neighbors passed out a record high of 400 bags. Cotton candy aka “witches brew” is fun too. We nearly forgot about the homemade root beer around the corner. It was worth the extra steps. 
• Our neighborhood had extra excitement this year. A street was blocked off and many fire trucks, emergency vehicles, and responders were around. There was a large chemical spill. We’re still confused why a neighbor had mercury in their garage, but we’re grateful everyone is ok. There was a news helicopter looming overhead and a full-on news report.  

• We were out trick or treating for over 2 hours.
• Andrew and I typically watch a scary movie after the kids are in bed. We watched “Hocus Pocus” but I don’t think it’s categorized as frightening. Neither of us had seen it before and we didn’t end up finishing or loving it.
• We couldn’t have asked for better weather. I’m so glad the snow waited until later on in the week.
• Cheers to celebrating more holidays with my perky children. I'm here for every minute of it. 

Waiting to go trick or treating was pure torture. The kids' excitement was through the roof.

Soccer

The kids played soccer this fall! Soccer has consumed 9 of our Saturdays. James and Isabelle are not on the same team, so we had lots of back and forth to the field. It’s not too far though! The games were played at Highland Park in South Jordan. It’s a gorgeous spot. Something I like about the league is that practices are right before the game, instead of an additional day during the week. The first 15 minutes of the game are technically “practice” and then there are four, 8 minute quarters. Pretty low key which is necessary for these youngsters.

Isabelle’s opinion of soccer varied each week. Sometimes getting Isabelle to go to soccer was a battle and other times she went happily. The first game Izzy was devastated because the other team “kept taking the ball” from her. Initially, Izzy was a bit shy and hesitant around the coach, Alex, but she warmed up to him. He gave his all to coaching the 2-4 year olds with weekly email reminders and sometimes texts too. Alex was extremely encouraging and enthusiastic. He held Izzy’s hand trying to guide her. We all yelled at Izzy constantly trying to help her run to the ball. Isabelle is a quick runner, but doesn’t quite understand where to run and was often on the opposite side of the field. 

Isabelle’s soccer games were like comedy shows. We laughed endlessly. Wearing shin guards was probably Izzy’s least favorite part about soccer. Isabelle’s pink socks got many compliments and so did she. What a cutie. Who knows if she will want to play soccer again. I’m rooting for it because James and Isabelle could be on the same team next year (4-6 year olds). There was only one other girl on her team and that girl despised soccer and quit coming. Izzy didn’t seem to mind being surrounded by boys.

Go Koalas!

Coach Alex, Isabelle, Lennox, Jack, Robbie, Mckay (Missing Maya)

James has “played” soccer before. Play is a loose term. James was far more interested in the playground and his gang of friends than the ball or the goal. In his defense, he was so little last time. This year, James understands the game. James scored multiple times. He scored at least 4 times if you include the goal he scored in the wrong net. Oops. Much to my chagrin, James scored one of his goals while I wasn’t there. We did have to talk to James about spitting at the opposing team at one point. We also had to explain that the other team isn’t trying to be “mean” to him. They’re just trying to get the ball too, it’s nothing personal.

Grannie was able to come to one of James’ games which was special. James can be a bit clumsy while running and falls sometimes, but he is quick. James is an excellent cheerleader and encouraging teammate. He got into it! James informed me that he would like to play soccer again. I was shocked and thrilled. You got it, buddy. James requested that he has the same coaches next year. There were 3 people who helped coach his team—a cute grandma and her adult kids Jenifer and Eric. They did a great job! Obviously, speculating about what snack would be consumed after the game happened weekly. Adrianna and Elijah Bradshaw were on the team too. I liked chatting and screaming with Valerie on the sidelines.

Go Pandas!

Coaches Grandma and Eric, Elijah, Adrianna, Liam, James, And Ruby (missing Sameya)

Although it will be nice to have our Saturday mornings back, I think I could get used to being a soccer mom! I’m a soccer fan and played many years. The kids have a final makeup game on Saturday, October 29. They get to wear their Halloween costumes and will get some swag (they’re crossing their fingers for a medal). As if this age of soccer isn’t already complicated enough. Hello chaos. It’s going to be a hoot adding costumes and accessories.

Pictures on My Camera Roll

Here's a jumble of recent pictures I have on my phone:

Silver Lake Big Cottonwood Canyon

Friday, October 7

• Absolutely stunning.
• My kids said it was their favorite hike to date.
• We saw 3 deer and many chipmunks.
• The Bradshaws accompanied us.
• Izzy cried most of the way home. It was a 55min drive. Still worth it.

Preschool Adventures

“Monster Face”

• Both our kids love school! I’ve been able to help out in James’ classroom a couple of times and will get to again for his Halloween Party. I also get to assist with Isabelle’s Halloween Party. Loving this stage.
• Isabelle’s preschool does the cutest things. Her favorite part is dance class. She has ballet and tap shoes. When her tap shoes arrived, she insisted on keeping them on full-time and named them her “inside shoes.”
• Itching to get James’ school pictures back!

Andrew's First Pedicure

Friday, October 7

• Andrew was pretty skeptical walking in. The smell was a big turn-off.
• Andrew's feet are even more ticklish than mine. Yikes. We giggled lots.
• Andrew ended up really enjoying the experience. We both read in peace while seated in massage chairs. The employee pulled out the "cheese grater" (official term) and wax to refine Andrew's feet.

Lyle Lyle Crocodile

Tuesday, October 11

• We finished off a large popcorn during the previews.
• The kids asked for a popcorn refill one minute after the movie began. They inherited my love of popcorn. Extra butter, please. At least this time it didn't stain my pants.
• James started dancing and clapping during the movie because he was so captivated.
• James declared this is his new favorite movie. Isabelle was scared briefly, but still liked it. The music is great. I even thought the movie was cute and we plan to rent it, so Daddy can see it too.

Bike Ride to Cafe Rio and Rolling Hill

Wednesday, October 12

• Our house is one mile from tons of shopping and restaurants. It’s my favorite.
• We rode our bikes to Cafe Rio! James is a skilled biker and can easily ride at adult speeds. Izzy was very upset because we told her she could not ride her bike. She rode in the bike trailer and was adamant that I (not Andrew) pull her.
• French fries cheered Isabelle right up. The rest of us chowed on Cafe Rio outside, so we could keep an eye on our bikes.
• On our way home, we stopped at “Rolling Hill.” James has been asking to go there a lot. We made his wildest dreams come true and let him roll his heart out. Honestly, he seemed more interested in climbing the rocks. It’s the little things.

Pumpkin Patch

• Look at that view of the temple! 
• I didn’t expect it to feel like summer during this adventure. The sun was beating down. This was our first pumpkin patch this season and won’t be our last. The kids picked some large pumpkins with friends.
• We take advantage of James getting out of school early on Fridays.

Lion King

Friday, October 15

• We purchased tickets for this show back in March. I vividly remember that day. October seemed so far away, but it finally happened!
• Our friends McCall and Trevor Hendricks came along. Love them!
• We ate at Blue Iguana. Of course, I ate huge amounts and was stuffed right before the show. We all are Mexican food fans.
• I was blown away by the costumes. The animals were amazing and the actors utilized every space they could. The characters were on the balconies at one point and came up the aisles. Our seats were phenomenal.
• "Oh I just can’t wait to be king” keeps popping into my mind. That's fine by me.
• Isabelle was jealous she didn’t get to come along. The kids were lucky to have our nephew Alex and his wife Alexa babysit them.

My photo storage is running low. Next up, I’ll clear out some pictures from soccer season!