MAYcember

I'm taking things a day at a time. With kids, May is one of the most hectic months of the year. Throw in an international trip and it's the perfect concoction for chaos.

• Dance Recital: Saturday, May 18

Isabelle is a surprisingly good dancer and she knows it. Her confidence is astounding. "Mom, I already know how to do all the dance moves, so I don't need to keep doing dance." She also asked me while watching American Idol, "Mom, are any of the singers as good as me?" Let's hope she keeps this confidence. Her dance recital this time around was at Olympus High School in Holladay. Isabelle's ballet class danced to the song: "Let's Go Fly A Kite."

Action shot captured by Debbie Ostler. What a small world to run into some of my parent's best friends there. (They were watching their granddaughter perform.)

Isabelle has been going to dance dutifully on Wednesdays from 10:30-11:15am since September. She even showed up the day after Penelope was born. The only day of dance she will miss this year happens to be picture day. I'm heartbroken. We will be in Brazil. Isabelle has participated in a dance class for over 2 and a half years now. This was our first year at Rocky Mountain Dance and they know what they're doing. I'm getting more used to the intensity. The 6 page recital packet was less overwhelming and Izzy got a ride to the mandatory dress rehearsal the day before which made things more doable. It helped that the recital length was significantly shorter than the last one.

Watching Isabelle's recital was a blast. Izzy's infectious smile was glued onto her face and of course, she was placed in the front row. I recorded the performance and keep watching it again and again. Izzy wants to try gymnastics and will this summer. We thought gymnastics would replace dance because I told Isabelle she could only pick one activity. I'm not ready to give up dance yet though. Isabelle is just too cute and naturally good coming from an unbiased mom. I'm glad I'll get to continue seeing the other dance moms and several people in our ward at each recital.

Preschool Graduation: Wednesday, May 22 and Field Trip: Friday, May 17

It's official. Isabelle is a preschool graduate. Izzy gave graduation her all and lead the class with her enthusiasm. Afterwards, another mom stopped to tell me what a performer Izzy is. When Isabelle introduced herself, she told everyone she wants to be a doctor when she grows up! Preschool this year was a fabulous experience. Izzy made some great friends and Mrs. B has surpassed all my expectations. I can't say enough good about her. She is extremely thoughtful and caring. When I had Penelope, she gave us a baby outfit. What teacher does that? Izzy has asked if we can have her over to our house. Mrs. B really listens to the kids.

At graduation, Mrs. B gave the kids a book of pictures from this year and Izzy hasn't wanted to put hers down. Izzy calls it her "blog book." hahaha How is little Izzy big enough for kindergarten? We went to kinder orientation and my heart just about burst. I'm going to miss my little buddy. She is ready though and will be going to full day kindergarten. (This is the first year UT is offering all day kinder!) Isabelle is reading! Isabelle has mixed feelings about kindergarten starting because she will miss her preschool friends lots. (Her preschool was in Riverton and we are in another city by one block, so they're going to a different school.) Izzy has already asked if we can go visit Mrs. B next year. Good thing we signed up for a few summer camps with Mrs. B.

Penny was a fan of balloons

Isabelle's preschool class went on a field trip to Wheeler Farm this month and Penelope and I tagged along. Izzy now claims that a pig is her favorite animal but was a little disappointed to see that the pig wasn't pink. 

• Soccer: Wednesday, April 3 through Wednesday, May 15

Isabelle played soccer again this spring which was her 3rd season. We signed up for soccer with Isabelle's friend, Quinn from preschool. Quinn missed one game and Izzy was out of sorts. Nobody signed up to bring treats for a couple of the games which resulted in big feelings. The weather was chilly at a few games and Penny wore her snowsuit a time or two. Isabelle determined that she is not going to play soccer this fall. Is it bad to admit that I was counting down games until the end of the season? The squirrels weren't the best and some of the games were excruciating and painful to sit through. One game was 30-0... but we're not keeping score.

Taylorsville Temple Open House: Saturday, May 11

The number of new temples being built near us is keeping us on our toes! We explored the new Taylorsville temple. It was similar to the Provo City Center temple. We met my friend Liz and her son Jameson at the open house. Isabelle wasn't feeling her best, but made it through. We are looking forward to new temples in Lehi and West Jordan too. 

James seemed left out in the post. Sorry bud! I promise there will be lots about him coming up! We ended up having to drop baseball after they gave us his schedule because we had too many conflicts. James is doing track and field this summer! Watching him race other kids is going to be hilarious and I can hardly wait. He is also enrolled in a basketball camp so his dreams of being an NBA Jazz player might be achievable. We watched James present an animal report about bats at school.

The icing on the cake this month was that Andrew got asked to speak on Mother's Day. He spoke so highly of me! Wow! He pampered me that day with breakfast in bed, a gourmet dinner (funeral potatoes, steak, salad, heath cake), and thoughtful gifts (candy and a subscription to book of the month). He looked extra spiffy for his talk in his new suit. His old suit was 12 years old and it showed. Due to the madness of the day, I forgot to take a picture when Andrew was wearing his pink tie and pocket square. This pic is from the next Sunday but will do. 

We made it through the madness and events. Deep breaths-- the dozen hour flight (wish I was exaggerating) with 3 children is going to be a walk in the park!

Family is Everything

We have seen many loved ones lately!

Jessica, Chris, and George drove in from LA for a visit. Wahoo! We ate dinner at the park, saw the movie "Villains" which Chris helped produce, Jessica took Izzy on a lunch date, had a game/pizza night, and enjoyed Sunday dinner and walks together. George has grown up so much since they moved!  We're looking forward to our pit stop at their house in LA later this month. 

Birch, Sara, Chloe, and Cooper drove to Utah for graduation. Alysee, Dallin, and Hailee graduated from BYU and UVU. Catching up with their family at the Provo Rec Center pool was great. Penelope went swimming for the first time! We bathe her each night so it's no surprise that Penny was in her element. My girls in matching suits melts my heart. James nailed rock climbing! He also attempted the tricky ropes course.

Penny met Grandma Ditto! We had a Ditto cousin dinner. Mary and Sara were gracious to host in Vineyard. Grandma made a superb dessert and we got to see people I wish we saw more often!

Olivia and Avery came to stay with us! We caught up, went to the Butterfly museum together, and they supported Isabelle at her soccer game. Izzy was hysterical when they left. 

Family, keep coming please! Nothing brings us more joy.

The Show Must Go On!

It’s over!

My recital has been booked and planned since January! That is a long time to anticipate an event.

Turns out I’m cursed with recitals. Last recital, Jessica was up all night the night before with food poisoning. When she lived here, we did combined recitals. Jessica barely made it to the recital and sat in the back near the bathroom. I had to miss a previous recital because I had covid. This recital, I got hit with a bad cold. I was pretty sick Thursday and Friday. I was extremely congested and my voice sounded raspy and hoarse. Saturday, my illness didn’t suddenly disappear, but it was a little better. I felt the prayers.

I have 17 students! My schedule is filled to the brim. On Mondays I teach from 9:00-9:30am, 4:00-6:00pm, and 6:30-8:00pm. On Thursdays I teach from 4:00-6:00pm and 6:30-8:00pm. One student quit after the recital, so I am now down to 16. I’m proud of these musical humans! Nearly all of my students played their songs memorized!

I tried out a new venue for my recital, the Sandy library. It has a grand piano and I was pleased with the instrument and the space in general. There was a microphone and I had control over the volume, so I was able to hear the students announce their songs well. This venue is free which is excellent. I did still charge my small recital fee to help cover printing and other costs.

3 of my students didn’t perform at the recital–Zoey Hoover as well as Elena and Daniel Miranda. I also gained a student at the concert. Jessica still teaches a couple of students remotely and one of her students played the violin. Sophia nailed it and many complimented her after. I accompanied her and played duets with 4 other students.

This year, I had a folded program which is different than in the past. Shoutout to Jessica (and Canva) for helping with the design. Also, instead of giving my students a sugary treat at the end, I opted for piano music socks for each of the performers. These were popular and Izzy claimed one. Sorry honey but those are mine. Andrew also eyed them and wants some.

Something I continue to have to work on is not letting my stress get taken out on my family before big events (like recitals or hosting big dinners). Not to brag or anything, but I was prepared and didn’t owe anymore apologies afterword. I think it helped that my students were prepared! Originally we had a conflict and Andrew and the kids weren't able to attend the recital. Having them there meant the world to me. (James was at a birthday party.) Izzy helped me go early and set up chairs and Penny was eye candy for the audience. Andrew recorded the recital and I've already listened to it again!

My next recital will be a Christmas recital! I’ve always wanted to have a holiday event and now that we won’t be in Brazil during December, it can happen. Christmas music is simply the best. I forewarned parents that we will be starting Christmas music in September, so hopefully they don’t get burned out.

After the recital, Andrew and I got tacos with McCall and Trevor. James and Izzy got to watch a movie with Grandma Langlois and Penny got to tag-along and be the cutest fifth wheel ever. What a superb way to celebrate the end of this event! Way to go Ditto studios! 

What a Day!

We've been anxiously waiting to go to the symphony and a cooking class for months! Both happened on the same day! Saturday, April 13 was noteworthy. 

Symphony 

The Symphony does a family series geared towards youngsters. It's significantly shorter and more interactive for kids. Our kids got free tickets from their PBS kids adventure passes. I was shocked when I heard they even let babies go to the production. Penny fit right in and even dozed off. The symphony music was outer-space themed. They had 2 actresses come on between songs, and a screen showing images of outer space. The crowd was enthusiastic to hear that the grand finale was the Star Wars theme song. The music throughout the production was charming.

Our children were greeted with outer space slap-on bracelets as we entered Abravanel Hall and these were received warmly. Our seats were perfect for our needs. I was able to stand behind us and rock Penny to sleep. We were on a balcony. Izzy was glad she didn't fall off. I hope to go to this event again. I was proud of our kids for sitting still and engaged.

Cooking Class

For my birthday present, I wanted an experience. I've always wanted to take a cooking class and now I can say I have! Andrew and I went to a gnocchi pasta class at Harmon's grocery store. Whew, making homemade pasta is not for the faint of heart. We made ricotta gnocchi and potato gnocchi. We also had a simple salad, a sausage sauce and prosciutto sauce. It was flavorful! Most people in the class seemed to agree with me and Andrew and liked the potato gnocchi best. The potato gnocchi dough was delicate and sticky to work with. It was surprising to learn that you only have to boil the gnocchi for 2-3 minutes! 

We worked in groups of 4 to make the food. It was nice to have helpers. I thought maybe I would attempt making the dish at home, but after experiencing the intensity firsthand, I'm not so sure. Only trying to make one kind of gnocchi instead of 2 seems less daunting and maybe doable. Working with such high quality ingredients definitely made a difference in the taste! I enjoyed all the fancy cooking gadgets. The knives were so sharp and easy to chop with! I used a device that peels potatoes for you! We made a list of a couple of these items that will elevate our kitchen. It was the first gnocchi class at Harmon's and we were the guinea  pigs. I will say we were crunched for time. About half the group finished plating their meal at the time the class was set to end. We took our dessert to go. I would be up for another class! The street tacos class has been calling my name and Andrew has been more into cooking than ever before, so now's the time.

The best news is that Penelope was happy for the babysitter. Wahoo! I was anxious about this especially after the last time we left her. We went to bed with full bellies after this terrific day feeling like life is beautiful.

Spring Break

I had lots of intentions for Spring Break and we filled our time.

Swimming Lessons

The kids have been eager to get back in the water after a several month hiatus. There were 4 days of swimming and lessons were 40 minutes each day.  After some reviewing for Izzy, the children got back into the groove. James has been bragging about managing to grab the rope on the last day. I let the kids pick new swimming suits. Izzy and Penny have matching suits (stay tuned for pics this summer). Penny's is a long-sleeved version though because we've got to protect those baby rolls.

Ninja Kids

Since we have a one month membership to Ninja Kids, we utilized our passes. The weather during spring break was less than ideal. In fact, it snowed 3 days, maybe even 4. The snow didn't really stick, but the point is that it was cold enough to snow. Because of this, we weren't able to ride our bikes to Cold Stone like we wanted.

Afterword the kids requested this photo. They were wiped out.

Thanksgiving Point

We have been antsy to go to the new exhibit at the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. We've been debating getting a pass to Thanksgiving Point and finally went for it. We're members! I think we will use these passes lots! We went to Thanksgiving Point twice over spring break. On Monday, we went to the Museum of Ancient Life with the Bradshaws and on Friday we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity again with the Bradshaws for Adrianna's birthday. We also tried out the new carousel. Unfortunately 2 buses full of children joined us at the Museum of Natural Curiosity and it was overcrowded. We have plans to go to the Tulip festival in a few weeks when Jessica is in town too.

Rent "Wonka" and get popcorn from the theater.

Andrew finally got to see this movie! He has heard the songs repeatedly playing at our house. I didn't get to watch much because drum roll... I was busy booking flights for our family to go to BRAZIL! What! I still can't believe it's actually happening. We originally planned on spending Christmas in Brazil this year, but things changed and we're now going in May/the beginning of June. Brazil recently changed their travel guidelines and it's now required to have a travel visa to enter, so we frantically filled those applications out for each of us. Many thanks to my parents for paying for this once in a lifetime experience! 

See "Fiddler on the Roof" with Grandma

Grandma Langlois turned 86 today. My siblings went in on a new Firestick TV for her and her excitement level is through the roof.  Andrew and I helped her get the new TV set up. It turned into an adventure. We had to figure out the name of her WIFI, create an Amazon account for her, figure out passwords for multiple apps,  etc. but it all worked out. She was thrilled and made Andrew and I her special root beer freezes. For Grandma's birthday, I got her a ticket to see the play "Fiddler on the Roof" with me at Hale Center Theater. I was completely blown away by the production. It was one of the best plays I've seen there. The performers replicated the emotion to a t. Tevye put his whole heart into his role and nailed it. I ran into Brenda Stott there from our old ward in Pleasant Grove which was a nice surprise.

Big thanks to Andrew for driving to pick grandma up for the play during rush hour. This took him about an hour and 15 minutes due to traffic and a big accident. When I drove grandma home after the play, the freeway was deserted.

Invite the Thomans over for games and cookies!

We have new friends in our neighborhood thanks to James! The Thomans are great. They have 2 kids and one (Josh) is in James' class at school. We had such a great time playing "Cover Your Assets," "Just One," and "No Thanks" with them. We even let the kids stay up late. 8:30 feels like midnight sometimes around here. I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for that night and couldn't seem to stay away from the dough...

Other random Spring Break Happenings:

• The kids had playdates. James played with Taft twice- once at our house and once at his. Izzy went to Cantrelle's house and Quinn came to ours.
• We cleaned my parent's house.
• We organized our basement.
• I set up a dessert night with friends at "The Chocolate."
• Andrew went to the temple.
• Andrew and I did an at home date night. We got Cafe Rio and rented the movie, "The Boys in the Boat."

Penelope is too big! Makes me sad. This girl was a trooper. Keeping up with her 2 older siblings meant she missed many naptimes, but she survived and smiled as big as ever.

Easter

As I testified to our kids about Jesus' resurrection, I was touched. We had a still moment Sunday morning that turned out just like I hoped. We read 2 books about Easter, watched some church videos, and did our egg activity (each egg has a scripture and object in it). The kids were engaged, Penny was napping, and it was something I want to remember among the chaos (choir practice, family video call, dying Easter eggs, etc). There was a musical program at church that I helped organize which turned out well. I'm relieved it's over. I think it's the biggest ward choir we've had and we sounded amazing (I'm not biased at all. I did have to stop singing briefly so I wouldn't get choked up as I thought about the words.) Later we had a delightful dinner at the Bradshaw's home.

I had the week off of teaching piano and thought I'd have much more spare time than I did, but oh well. I got to spend quality time with the kiddos.