Dinner Parties

This year as December crept in, for a variety of reasons I wasn't feeling very excited about the impending Christmas season. In my mind, I began creating all sorts of new scenarios instead of our familiar traditions. The first Sunday in December our Home Teachers (2 men assigned to us from our church congregation to visit with us each month or so to make sure we are doing well and share with us an important message) visited us. I can't even remember what their lesson/message was about, but I do remember one of them asking each of our family members in turn, "What is your favorite Christmas tradition?"

Luke's reply with no hesitation was, "All the dinner parties we have."

I changed my attitude right then and there and realized my personal feelings didn't have to spill out onto my children, especially my 12 year old's favorite tradition.

So...
Just like we do every year, we had our traditional dinner parties with families that we love and enjoy. (With one exception--our dinner with the Tingeys and their extended family wasn't able to happen this year. We were all very disappointed.)

I love that with each dinner party, the personalities and people differ so each activity and evening is varied and unique.

Love that.

Love that dinner with the Freys always includes a game, entertained children, and good conversation. Definitely some of my favorite people to come to dinner. It needs to be more than an annual event.
This year the evening included a candy cane relay that lasted about 10 seconds, but the candy canes were enjoyed for days later. Well, those that weren't immediately consumed that evening. Luke entertained us with a repeat of his match-NFL team names-with-the-right-picture-of-their-helmets game. Kari and Kellen were a good match for this. They know their NFL teams well.

Fun night!

Of course I love when the Wielands come to dinner. They are our only friends we "sing with." Although singing is a frequent event when we are together with these friends, it usually is impromptu and mainly the girls. But at Christmas, it is a more "formal" sit down and have a sing-a-long. I.LOVE.IT. I would incorporate it into more dinner parties, but I fear some friends wouldn't enjoy it.

 I wasn't too thrilled that Mike was laying down singing like this. But at least he was still singing.

 But then he began to do a little more of this. The flash awoke him enough to smile...

Luke on the other hand didn't sing at all. But that's okay. He sat quietly and respectfully observing.

Everyone else on the other hand participated well.

Our dinner party with my BFF's family didn't result in a single photo.
Oops.

What a wonderful time of year!
 

Going Hungry

Megan went on a science field trip the other day. The 9th graders were to leave the school about 9am and due to return about 2pm, when they would then eat lunch. Megan was worried she would get hungry. Duh! Yes, she likely would, so I suggested she take a snack to eat on the bus.

An hour or so after leaving home, I received this picture text from Megan:

Not only had she grabbed a couple of snacks from home, she made a visit to the school office to procure a couple of safety pins.

Despite the text coming through in the middle of the chaos of getting 3 other children out the door for school, I laughed out loud when I saw it. I responded simply, "You are your mother's daughter."

In the chaos of the morning I forgot to forward the text to my BFF. She too would have laughed out loud. You see, she and I made sure we never went hungry while in high school/college.

We have recollections of snacks pinned to our gowns during high school graduation.
We have memories of warm brownies smuggled into the Salt Lake Tabernacle for a fireside. (Our dates were quite embarrassed when the brownies emerged from our pockets and heads started to turn, wondering how and why the smell of fresh brownies was suddenly permeating the air.)

We took a loaf of French bread into a concert.

Ben and Jerry's ice cream was often a must-have at the movie theatre.

And a loaf of left-over bread from Spaghetti Factory was consumed while studying at the Marriott Library at the University of Utah.

Far be it from me to question Megan's need to have food pinned to the inside of her coat for a field trip during 9th grade.

Although, I'm quite certain had I known for the rest of the day she was carrying around an empty plastic sandwich bag filled only with the sugar remains from the Sour Patch candies pinned to the inside of her coat, I may have asked her to remove it. It looked mildly suspicious when I picked her up from school that afternoon.

Love Megan
Love Me
Love food.

Megan's Christmas Choir

Last Saturday my kitchen/family room was full of 25+ people singing Christmas songs. There are few things I love more about Christmas than joining in singing songs of the season. I was overcome by the spirit of Christmas as adults and children sang together some of the traditional songs of the season...

All a result of Megan and her hard work accomplishing a project for her Young Women Personal Progress. (A program in our church that helps teenage girls set goals and work to accomplish them.)

Megan put together a "Children's Choir." With the exception of me sitting on the couch looking 'threatening' during a couple of practices (After a full day at school, 15 children age 4-11 weren't always thrilled to be 'obeying' a teenage girl.), and Mike helping rearrange furniture on concert day, and me baking some cookies, Megan set this goal and accomplished it entirely on her own.

It was so fun during the practices to see Megan perched up on a stool playing the piano and leading/instructing the children at the same time. She doesn't get her musical talent from me. But her talent for being able to be in charge and boss children around? Yes. That would come from me.

Starting in mid-November, she held 4 after-school practices, and a couple of individual practice sessions.

Based off of the practices, I wondered how the final results at the concert would be. I should never have doubted anything. The concert was fabulous!

It was a joyous occasion watching sweet children sing songs of the season, with all the innocence of children.

I loved that Megan held "auditions" for the children to try out for solo parts, after ascertaining which children were even interested in participating in a solo, duet, or small group part. I was proud of Megan for her ability to help children stretch themselves and do hard things. A couple of the soloists were so nervous to participate, but oh boy, did they all do a perfect job!

(Every time this little boy stayed after choir practice to practice his solo, I would stop what I was doing to listen. Such a sweet song, and such a sweet little voice singing. One of the definite highlights of the concert.)

(Ellie sang the first verse of 'Silent Night', before the choir joined in for the 2nd and 3rd verse. Of course it made me cry. )

I had so many favorite moments from this short Christmas concert. With the exception of a few photos, most of my memories were captured with my heart.

For 25 minutes, it felt like a little bit of heaven touched down in my home on a snowy December afternoon.
Kudos to Megan.

"...and a little child shall lead them."

Isaiah 11:6

Generations Later

My grandmother sent me an email the other night informing me that her mother, my Nana once "modeled" for Caterpillar.

Who knew 75+ years later her great-grand-daughter would do the same.
OK-I'm kidding. I didn't model for Caterpillar, I had a photo shoot and a little interview.
Big difference.
(You can click HERE to read about it.)

It's probably just as well I didn't see these photos before our own Caterpillar adventure the other week, or I may have tried too hard to recreate a photo, and I'm not so sure high heels and a skirt, or a sledgehammer for that matter would have been appropriate that day.

Edith and Carl Follett around 1928ish.

 (Not sure who the third person is? Most likely a Caterpillar Mechanic)

Never thought I'd say this, but I do wish the machine was more visible in the photo of me, so it doesn't just look like me posing in a hard hat.

A little family history lesson from my grandmother, Ruth Hill:

A bit of family history. Wheeler Machinery was once known as Landes Tractor Co. Based in Salt Lake. Wheeler bought them out in about the early forties or there about. You are the forth generation to model for them . How's that for a laugh. Your greatgrandfather ( Carl Follett) worked for for Landes Tractor. He sold caterpillar tractors &  repaired them .  Traveling all of Utah and Idaho back roads and farms. Mother even worked for them in the office in Preston after coming west and meeting Daddy. I have some delightful pictures of mother and daddy in this scenario . Mother sitting on the tractor with a marcell (? ) hair do, dressed in coveralls , WEARING HEELS AND HOLDING A SLEDGE HAMMER! Daddy standing at the side . This is one of RJ's favorite photos. What a laugh! So I was glad to see you were keeping up the family tradition. Liked the hard hat! Would you like a copy of the pic?
            Love , Grandma

Mike was so excited about it that he sent the old photos to the Wheeler Machinery people we worked with during our filming. There's talk of a possible re-creation. I told Mike that just because I own my Nana's pearls that could likely be the same ones she's wearing in the above photos, I don't think I'm interested in following suit and modeling by a machine in pearls and heels.

Although maybe I could be easily persuaded.

A Few Randoms

It's been a while since I've posted on the randomness of our lives lately. It seems my cell phone is always the best place to go to remember what we've been doing around here lately.

I think Ellie's half birthday got lost in the recesses of my cell phone picture gallery. Oops. We did celebrate the half-way, despite the lack of blog post telling anyone about it.

I mean for heaven sakes, we wouldn't have wanted to miss out on sharing that blurry photo, now would we?!

I think the harp recital also got lost in the cell phone gallery, but we shan't forget to mention it.

With the freshly fallen snow, and cold temperatures, the peak season of our business is winding down. Although there is still much to do throughout the winter, Mike and I wanted to do something to thank our employees for a successful year of work. Several of our employees prefer to keep to themselves, and having a big dinner at a restaurant, or some kind of party didn't seem like the right fit. So with a few good brains put together we came up with the idea of a....

taco truck coming to the office...

It worked out wonderfully for those wanting to socialize alone with each other outside, and those wanting to mingle with each other inside.

It was a wonderful afternoon enjoying the company of those that help make our business what it is. Mike threw out all sorts of invites, and it was fun seeing who would walk through the door next. We not only had our employees, we had 2 guys from our bank (who were initially mistaken for being LDS missionaries when they walked in!), sales reps, and subcontractors.

Delicious food and good company are among my favorite things.

Note in the above photo what the people in the back are sitting on... it helped that when we ran out of enough folding chairs, we had plenty of sprinkler valve boxes on hand to improvise.

There are definite perks to being the key decision maker in a company. Hooray for taco trucks.

After a little choir performance at our house today (more on that later), Ellie was entertained forever playing with the microphone stand. Unfortunately (for her) the microphone had been put away immediately following the concert, so it could be returned in good condition to the owner. She didn't ask for a microphone to go with the stand--she improvised and made her own! It was the perfect shape for her to sing into, and she was content as can be singing into... the barrel of a gun! Mike was thoroughly amused and had to snap a photo of the performance.

We had an impromptu Family Carnefel on Saturday night, and each child shared a game with us to play. We did everything from pin the nose on Santa, "ask questions about Christmas" directed at the Little People Nativity set, match pictures of NFL football helmets to papers with the names on them, and trying to feel if someone was blowing warm air on us through a straw while our eyes were closed. (This game was a result of the blowing marshmallows up a straw not quite paning out.) I realize those descriptions don't sound like the most entertaining family activities, but they are for us. They are typically always good for a laugh.

Megan's game was last, and instead of any made-up-game, she chose hide-and-seek. I immediately dismissed it, and she replied, "But Mom, that's what we do!" If she really identifies hide and seek as one of our most prominent family activities, I could hardly say no. Especially considering everyone else (including Mike) were thrilled with the game choice. Of course it was better than having air blown on my face through a straw, but still.

I think one of the reasons I don't enjoy hide and seek is because Mike gets far too creative with the kids and their hiding spots. He had Drew squeezed into the frame of the couch at one point, and Joshua essentially being airlifted into a hiding spot behind a piece of furniture in our family room. I feel like what should be an innocent game of hide-and-seek turns into anxieties about whether a shelf will collapse, my pantry will be put back together again, or if the entertainment center really is strong enough to hold a television and a child.

(Joshua hidden behind the computer armoire in the family room! Even Ellie said, "I can't watch" as Joshua was precariously lifted out...)

I usually roll my eyes at the places Mike comes up with for the kids to hide, but this one was great. Megan walked by the "snow clothes drying rack" numerous times before finally spotting Joshua amidst the overalls and gloves. Definitely my favorite hiding place of the night.

I typically observe rather than play, but somehow I got roped into being one to count and hide. Which begs the question--What crazy mother actually goes in search of her peaceful, quiet, hiding children?!? I was thoroughly enjoying the solitary quietness and alone-ness upstairs in my room "counting" until Mike paged me downstairs. I was aided in my search by a dear friend, who just happened to show up on the doorstep with a Christmas gift just as I was beginning my search for five children. The highlight of the game was my friend, Paula helping me search, and ending up jumping out of her skin when Luke appeared out of the living room curtains and scared her. His claim? "I thought it was mom."

Luke spent the balmy day before Thanksgiving outside in his bike shop working on something. He emerged a little while later and announced "You have to come outside and see what I made."

A trailer for his bike?!
Apparently a neighbor boy was the guinea pig and Luke announced it "Very safe to carry Hank or a friend." I didn't deem it quite as safe, and thankfully the snow fell a couple days later and we haven't seen the trailer out since. Although he has come a long way since his scooter building days, he still has a few engineering/physics skills to master before you'll see me climbing aboard any of his contraptions.

Life is good. I really shouldn't complain.
Happy December!

Wish Lists

When catalogs come in the mail, I throw them away without looking at them. My reason, is to throw them away before my children see them. I have the mindset "out of sight out of mind." I prefer my children not know what they are missing rather than look through a catalog and tell me every birthday theme they want next, what American Girl doll accessory they'd like, and what party supplies we just have to have for the next party.

I surprised myself while going through the mail the other day and upon seeing the Toys-R-Us Toy Extravaganza, handed it to Joshua to look through.

Joshua, sitting at the kitchen counter, excitedly placed the toy magazine on top of the new Friend Magazine that had previously thrilled him.

I watched him with baited breath, assuming choruses of "I want... I want... I want..." were going to start. Joshua never said anything once about wanting anything. Instead, all I heard were things like, "That's cool." or "Oh! Look at that!" Occasionally I heard a grunt sounding laugh at something that humored him.

Instead of moving from my mail sorting chore to dinner prep chores, I found myself standing in front of Joshua, staring at his enthusiastic, un-desiring response to the Toys-R-Us Christmas mailing. I saw only dollar signs as Joshua leafed through the pages, but I was quite certain Joshua only saw in his little mind hours of enjoyment and play as he imagined ownership of particular items.

The reason I felt so certain of Joshua's imaginations, was because as I stood there watching him, I was taken back to the days of thumbing through catalogs myself. Specifically, the Argos Catalogue. I remember finding all sorts of items I dreamed of owning. I pictured myself rolling down the streets on roller boots and sitting at my bedroom desk in front of a three-fold mirror.

(I never received roller boots, because apparently my dad was convinced they would make me break my ankle, but that three-fold mirror was one of the highlights of my Christmas morning as a 12 year old. And all credit for it must surely go to my mother... She probably would have bought the roller boots too, if my dad hadn't been so vocal about them first.)

Despite still having issues, never receiving roller boots, I realized as I stood watching Joshua peruse the toy catalog the other day, it never hurt me to look through a catalog filled with more items than I could possibly ever receive or own. It likely won't hurt my children either.

Perhaps I will no longer stand by my garbage can while sorting the mail. Perhaps I will no longer be in such a hurry to dispose of various catalogs before my children lay eyes on them. If that Toys-R-Us catalog had ended up in the garbage can immediately the other evening, I would have missed out on observing, a joyous moment of pure childhood glee coming from Joshua.

Hooray for childlike wonder.

The Little Things in Life

Two months ago, I bought two children's snow shovels at a great price. I hid them away until either the first snowfall or Christmas, whichever came first.

This morning our first real snowfall arrived. I knew it was coming, but I didn't prepare for it by getting the children's snow clothes from our storage room at Mike's office. In the morning rush for school, Mike kindly arrived home with 5 garbage bags full of every pair of snow boots and snow pants we own. (I didn't have time to go to the office myself, and he isn't familiar with what boots/pants fit what kids-so he brought them all.)

Joshua and Drew excitedly dressed at once in full snow attire. Ellie had to be a little more cajoled into wearing snow boots that didn't quite match her outfit, and I kindly reminded Luke there is a difference between 6th graders and 1st graders and to please close his mouth when he was trying to tell Joshua "It isn't cool to wear snow pants to school."

In the excitement of the freshly fallen snow, I remembered the snow shovels hidden under a blanket in the garage and went immediately to get them. Only problem was, I handed them over to the two little boys with only about 6 minutes to spare before the bus was due to arrive.

Freshly fallen snow, two little brothers, two brand new shovels, the first snow of the season...

Drew: "Joshua, I wush (wish) you could stay home and play with me all day."
Joshua: "Mom, Can I stay home and dig with Drew today?"

In that quick moment I was reminded of how quickly time flies. I saw the 2T winter coat behind me laying among the strewn contents of five garbage bags emptied on my kitchen floor. It seems like just yesterday someone fit into that coat. (Why was it even still in a bag?) Atop one of the bags sat a discarded pair of blue snow pants that will surely not fit Ellie this year. They will probably be thrown out instead of donated anywhere, Megan and Ellie wore them well.

I turned back and looked out the back door at Joshua and Drew smiling and laughing in the snow. Snow continued to fall, as I know it is forecast still to do for several hours. Joshua looked up at me and questioned, "Can I still play?"

My vision became blurry as a lump developed in my throat, and I hollered out the window,

"You're only young once. Enjoy the snow day together."

Drew's smile out beat Joshua's this time as he announced, "Yay! You get to stay home for the rest of the day!"

The last week or so has been difficult for a variety of reasons, but my prayers were answered this morning in the least expected way--two little boys and a snow storm.

It seems that for today, my daily mantras became my actions instead of just my thoughts...

The days are long, but the years are short.

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things.

Mike won't be quite as sentimental as me about Joshua skipping a day of school to romp in the snow with his little brother. Perhaps this charming quote will help...

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again. 

~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762