Musical Memory

Was anyone else completely blown away by the sad, sad news that Whitney Houston died last night?!  I was.  I still can't quite wrap my head around it!  Music has always been important to me.  No other creative medium has the power that music does - to uplift, to calm, to relax, to excite, and especially to elicit memories.

As I was thinking last night about how the music of Whitney Houston has touched my life, I remembered that it was one of her songs that was my very first favorite pop song.  The first pop song that I knew all the lyrics to.  Do you remember "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"?




And then I remembered a very crisp, clear memory of that song.  I was in the bedroom that I shared with my sisters, Dawnette and Megan.  I remember putting that song on and turning the volume up and going and dancing in front of the full length mirrors of our closet doors - singing along to every word, note, and oooohhh.    Pure Pop Music Magic that song is.

And who can forget the best rendition (ever) of the Star Spangled Banner?  Not me.




But, I think, of all of her songs, the most indelible one is her version of the Dolly Parton song "I Will Always Love You".  I still remember watching her performance of that song on the 1994 World Music Awards and marveling at her pure, peerless talent.  We recorded that show on a VHS tape and I remember watching it over and over and over and over again in the days and weeks following the broadcast.  I watched it so much that that section started wigging out after awhile - I think I'd worn the tape of the VHS by watching those 5 magical minutes over and over again.  Simply put, I was obsessed with the power of her voice.




And what person who appreciates music wouldn't be in awe of her talent?  I was.  I am.  I always will be.

The Bread Bandit Strikes Again!

If you are a regular and avid reader of our quaint little blog (and, really, who isn't?!), you may remember a post from a couple of weeks ago wherein I told of how Luke quietly and quite slyly helped himself to a loaf of bread that had been sitting on the counter top to cool.

My little bread bandit struck again... last night.

But this time it wasn't yummy, hearty wheat bread.  

It was fresh, scrumptious banana bread. 

I took it out of the oven and put it on the rack to cool, then went back downstairs where the kiddos were playing.  Audrey asked if I would play (Barbie) dolls with her, so we did.  Just a few minutes later, Luke ventured upstairs.  Sometimes he goes on little lone trips up to the kitchen to play with the alphabet letters on the fridge, or to grab a few kitchen utensils to play with, or just to check things out.  Usually he's not gone for long and comes back to join whatever fun there is to be had with the rest of us.

I really didn't think anything of his disappearance - because, like I said, these one man exploration trips are a pretty regular occurrence - and my doll, Stephanie, and Audrey's doll, Nikki, were busy baking chocolate chip cookies before going to a ball, so clearly we had some big plans to occupy our minds!

Well, a few more minutes passed, and then Luke came back downstairs to play with us.

It wasn't until about 10 minutes later, when I wanted to get a drink of water, that I discovered the cute little pinch marks that formed one long row on one of the loaves of banana bread!  The loaf that was closest to the edge of the counter - which just happens to be right within my little boy's reach.

I'm just glad that he focused his attention on just one of the loaves - since I had plans to give the other two away!

A Big Sunday

Today was a big day.  

(And not because the Super Bowl is just a couple of hours away.)

Today was a big day for Audrey.  During Sharing Time in Primary at church, Audrey gave her very first talk. 

(All of a sudden she looks so grown up... 

and it's not entirely due to her new favorite way to pose for pictures!)

The overall theme for this whole year in Primary is on Choosing the Right.  So, we decided that that's what her talk would be on.  Adam and I sat down with Audrey and asked her what that means - to choose the right.  And what kinds of things she can do that are ways of choosing the right.  Some of the things she came up with were:  to be nice to each other.  To be reverent at church.  Don't yell at others.  Take the Sacrament. Be baptized.  And she concluded with "If we follow Jesus Christ's teachings, we will be happy, and will live with Him again.  I know Jesus lives, and He is my Savior."

She did such a good job!  I was so proud of the way she stood, looking at the large group of her peers, and she talked clearly into the microphone.  I was there to prompt her, but she deserves the most credit.  (I even noticed a few of the adults in the room wiping tears from their eyes.  One of those was Audrey's dad!)

And, as if that weren't enough for one Sunday, we had another first for Audrey just about an hour later during Sacrament meeting.  Being the first Sunday of the month, it was Fast and Testimony meeting.  I felt prompted to get up and bear my testimony, so I walked up and took a seat to wait my turn (there were a few people ahead of me already on the stand).  After about 45 seconds, I looked down the aisle to see Audrey trotting towards me.  She came up and sat in the empty chair next to me and said, "Mom, you're bearing your testimony?"  And I said, "Yes."  Then she looked up at me and said, "I want to bear my testimony, too."  To which I replied, "Ok."

I wasn't sure if she would want to back out when it came to be her turn - the whole congregation of our ward is a much, much larger audience of people to talk too.  (Even I was a little nervous!)

But, she walked right up the little stepping stool in front of the pulpit and, with my help, she bore her very first testimony in Sacrament meeting.  Again, she spoke clearly and confidently.  I was so proud of her!

After Audrey was done, she ran proudly to Adam who was sitting in the congregation, wrestling Luke into submission!  I stayed to bear my own testimony and, as usual, I got teary eyed and emotional.  As I stood saying the things that were in my heart, my sweet little girl came running back down the aisle and stood by my side for the duration of my testimony.  I could tell she was a little worried that I was crying and she asked a couple of times, quietly, "Mom, are you ok?"  and I would smile and nod to her to let her know that everything was fine.  And then when I was done she grabbed my hand and walked me back to our seat in the congregation.  She is such a little sweetheart.  I love her and Luke (and this new one on the way) so, so much!  I feel so blessed to be their mama.

(That was actually the focus of what I said during my testimony - the daunting responsibility of teaching my children correct principles and teachings that will help them find their way through this crazy life.  I referenced a favorite General Conference talk by one of my favorite Apostles - which, if you're interested, you can find here and I also talked about my own righteous parents and their efforts to be good examples and teach their children well.  I feel so blessed to have had them to help form and mold me into the person that I am today.  I am so thankful for stalwart and true believers and defenders of Jesus Christ.  I am reminded of the last line of the famous Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken" that ends with,  "And that has made all the difference."  Having true and faithful parents has made all the difference and I hope to emulate that in my own kids' lives.

I am indeed blessed.

Pictures for My Mama

A couple of years ago, during one of our trips to visit my parents and my sister in California, my mom took us to Ross and among our purchases was a darling dress for Audrey.  We both couldn't wait for her to grow into it - it was a size 4 and Audrey was just about 2 years old at the time, so I knew it would be awhile before she would be able to wear it.

Well, the other day when I asked Audrey what she'd like to wear, she pointed to the cute little black and white dress that Grandma had bought for her.  And it fit!  And she looked so cute in it!  So, I had to post a few pictures so Grandma can see Audrey in her little dress.

Here's that pose again!  She does it completely on her own - it's the funniest thing.

Thanks Grandma for the cute dress!  We love you!

A Loaf for Luke

If I am honest, I have to admit that some of the posts here aren't exactly my best work.  They turn out not to be as witty or funny or just plain as memorable as I'd like them to be.  I will have to take the blame for that.  Sometimes I'm not on my game.  But no matter what I write about this next episode in the Christian home will likely be one of my favorites for years to come.  I'm still shaking my head in bewildered amusement, just thinking about it.

First thing you should know is that I make yummy wheat bread regularly.  We don't really buy bread - unless I decide to go on strike for a couple of days.  Most often, though, our cupboard stores at least one loaf of homemade wheat bread for us... I try to stay on top of things so that when we're about half way through our last loaf, I make a new batch to replenish our supply.  (As a completely related aside:  Thank you to my sister Megan for the recipe!!!)

Well, a few weeks ago I had a freshly made batch of yummy wheat bread, sitting on the counter, cooling on the baking racks, waiting to be put into bags.  We were downstairs playing with the kids.  Luke was a bit whiney but that was understandable because it was getting to be pretty close to dinnertime.  A bit later, Luke ventured upstairs and after a few (very quiet) minutes, when he didn't return, I decided to go upstairs to see what he was up to.  Most moms can attest that when things are too quiet, it usually means trouble!

When I turned the corner from the hallway to the kitchen, this is what I found:

Luke had reached up and grabbed one of the loaves of bread and sat himself down for a little pre-dinner snack!

I was beside myself with amusement!

He would alternately take little pinches of bread with his fingers, or he would just put the loaf to his mouth and take bites right off the top.

He was so cute sitting there munching on a full, uncut loaf of bread - he totally took matters into his own hands and was so business-like about the consumption of his little stolen snack.

When he was satisfied, he simply set the loaf down and surveyed the damage.

I'd say he did pretty good!

Christmas Morning

The thing that I am learning more and more is that Christmas is really for kids.  As much as I love the holiday on my own, for myself, after you have kids a whole new side of Christmas suddenly opens up and everything is so much more fun and exciting than it used to be.  Christmas with kids is simply the best!

(Now, the one exception to all this added joy and fun is trying to get your 4 year old to go to sleep on Christmas Eve.  Audrey was so excited and none of the usual tricks worked.  It made for a very late night for all of us.)

But despite some slight sleep deprivation, Christmas morning was so much fun.  Audrey was excited to see that Santa had eaten the cookies and drunk the milk.  And right away she was looking under the tree, in search for which presents were hers.

She got a few little gifts from Santa and Grammy, her main gift was new outfits and accessories for her Barbie dolls.  She was really excited and proceeded to play all day long trying on all of her new stuff on her dolls.  (It was quite the validation to see her love them so much!)

Luke was excited but wasn't really into sitting still long enough to check out his stuff.  He ran around and around excitedly.  But, then, when we helped him open his main gift - a car track/ramp - that slowed him right down and he wanted to be dad's assistant and help to assemble it.

I love these pictures:  Adam looking at the instructions and Luke trying to figure out where each ramp connector goes.

(You just might be on to something, Luke...)

Luke was excited to start playing with it and had a blast when it was finished.  (More validation for mom and dad for choosing wisely!)

It was a fabulous day!  Can't wait til next year!

Such a Hypocrite!

It's time for a bit of a confession.

Everyday, when I log onto the Internet I have a very predictable pattern of what I do and where I go.  First, I check my email.  Then I come to our blog and check our blog list of blogs I like to visit to see if there are any new posts.  After I do that, I usually head over to a couple of news sites and read up on any big stories that might interest me.  Sometimes I'll head over to Pinterest and see what's up there.  Sometimes I'll go to YouTube and look up some favorite videos or music videos there.  And that's pretty much it.

Now, I realize there's nothing scandalous about that.  Not scandalous enough to qualify as a confession, at least.  What qualifies this as a bit of a confession is that whenever I visit blogs that I like to frequent and find that there is nothing new posted I get bugged.  It's true.  I totally get bothered that the author of the blog hasn't posted anything... and most of the blogs that I go to are very regular posters, like they make a living as bloggers, which usually means at least one post per day, sometimes more.

It doesn't take a genius for anyone to guess why I am calling myself out as a hypocrite.  Just take a look to the right and see my track record for how often I actually get around to posting!  So, I figure I can no longer get bugged at the authors of my favorite blogs for their lack of new/frequent posts when it's been almost a month since my last post!

Along these lines, I just realized I haven't even posted anything about our Christmas.  We had a great time.  It was a wonderful holiday and so much fun to watch the kiddos get so excited by the lights, the treats and the festive music.  The official beginning of the season started for us with a day trip to Dawnette's house.  Audrey really wanted some play time with Talea and they had a blast together... even tolerating Luke being a bit of a tag along.

Here they are in front of the tree.

I'm so glad that Audrey and Talea are such good friends.  I hope they'll always be close!

Christmas Eve was a wonderful night.  We read "The Night Before Christmas", followed by the Christmas story as found in Luke 2.  We sang a couple of Christmas songs and then we opened one gift.  One of my favorite traditions growing up was the one gift we were allowed to open on Christmas Eve.  It was always homemade pajamas from my Grandma.  We'd open our new snuggly pjs and then change right into them to sleep in that night.  I thought it was so neat.  And we've continued that tradition!  (Although, I do not make the pajamas - I'm afraid I'm not exactly gifted in the sewing department... maybe someday....)  Anyway, this year Audrey got a Mulan Nightgown for her Christmas Eve pajammies.

And Luke got Spiderman pjs for his.

We were all in hysterics because Luke seemed to receive some inspiration as we helped him into his new pjs. I think he might have thought that with the outfit came added climbing prowess because all of a sudden he was climbing everywhere on the arms of the couch, on the ottoman and then he tried his hand at scaling the bookshelves.

It was pretty funny.  Audrey was cute because I think she really felt like a princess and wanted her picture taken over and over again.

And, in the meantime, Luke was still trying to figure out how to successfully deploy his spidey-web to aid in his climb to the top of the bookshelf!

Christmas Eve was a ton of fun... 

A bit about our Christmas Day later....