Quilting vs. Newborn Baby

I am on the e-mail list of a local quilt shop. A few days ago I received this notice:

"We are making arrangements for a quilting cruise for 7 days to the Mexican Riveria April 25 to May 2. We are working with Tour West Travel. The cost include cabin, taxes and port charges and range from $ 499 - $779 depending on the type of cabin you want. We will be sending out a flyer soon. We will be joining Memory Lane Quilt Shop for this cruise! We will not have any "famous" people on the cruise to teach classes but we will all be there to keep you busy and entertained!"

I've got to tell you, when I first read this I thought: "Surely the old quilting ladies wouldn't mind if a newborn attended the cruise. And I could totally sew with one hand and nurse with the other. I know all the grandmas would help me out if I needed a break. And I'm sure my doctor wouldn't mind inducing my a couple weeks early so I could be a far enough into the post-partum recovery to really enjoy the cruise and participate fully..."

Haha! Can you believe the craziness that is me! I sure can't. There is no way I can go on a cruise with a newborn. Especially not mere weeks after giving birth! I told Hubby about my crazy few minutes of considering this. He just laughed at me and said the hormones really must be messing with my brain. He's right! I'm usually a pretty rational gal. And taking a newborn on a cruise while still recovering from giving birth to said newborn is definately NOT rational thinking.

So I' m not going on the quilting cruise. Oh well.

But hey! Maybe the cruise will be such a great success they'll do it again next year. I mean, I could totally leave a one-year old in the care of his Dad for a few days. Really! Hubby could absolutely handle that! Don't you think??? ;)

Baptizing Anne!

This December our dear Anne-girl turned Eight years old! Anne had a great birthday filled with family, friends, cupcakes, and presents. However, the best part of her birthday celebrations occurred ten days after her actual birthday. Anne was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She had been looking forward to her baptism the whole year and was thrilled the time was finally here!

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Anne's Sweet Smile

(she wore the baptism dress that I and my sisters all wore. my Mom made it using lace leftover from making her wedding dress.)

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Anne's not afraid to show her true feelings. She's pretty stoked about her baptism!

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Aunt Mermaid braided Anne's hair so it wouldn't float to the top. Anne insisted on pigtails.

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Profile of Anne

(please note the earrings. they stayed in the whole afternoon!!)

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Anne & Her Dad are ready to go!

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Even though we took many precautions, we had to baptize Anne twice. One witness (my Dad) said she was fine, but the other witness (my brother-in-law) said her foot popped up. So Hubby baptized her again, just to be sure. Anne was laughing all through the second baptism. She was excited that she would have a good story to tell. Goofy kid!

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Newest Member of our Ward with her adoring parents

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Anne and her gal-pals .
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My Sweet Anne-girl in her Confirmation dress

What's in a Name?

You know the old saying "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet"? Well, it's just not true when it comes to naming children. Names hold much more significance! The meaning, the cultural references, the way it rolls of the tongue, if you knew a jerk in elementary by the same name, any possible crude words that might rhyme with the name you've chosen. These things (and many others) must be taken into account when deciding on the name of your child.

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Fortunately for me, I have a name book to help me out. This baby will be our third boy. (WOW! Another darling son! I still can't get over it!) Hubby and I have only a few requirements (other than those listed above) for our son's name. The most important being that it needs to be a boy boy name. That is to say, a name that will not make people wonder, upon reading the name, if our son is a boy or a girl. A name that declares itself Male in all ways.
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Hubby and I have diligently searched this book, from A to Z, searching for the perfect name for our son. Here are some of the book's "boy" suggestions:

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1) Ashley (Scarlett's love interest in Gone with the Wind; when I first read the book I thought she was in love with another girl!!)

2) Aubrey (my cousin's daughter's name)

3) Beverly (like Beverly Crusher from Star Trek Next Generation)

4) Caroll (I guess the second "L" makes it manly...)

5) Courtney

6) Kimberly (I've known many Kim's in my life...all female)

7) Lacy (the neighbor girl when I was twelve)

8) Meredith (my sister's name)

9) Paris (male lover to Helen of Troy and Juliet, but Hilton has claimed it as a girly girl name)

10) Whitney (as in Houston??)
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Most of these male names were taken over many years ago. However, the trend to use male names for baby girls has continued and amplified! Hubby worked for a woman named Michael. My dear Mom had a high school student named Jeremie. I guess spelling it with "ie" makes it feminine.

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What's a soon-to-be Mother to a boy supposed to do? How can I be sure that the name I pick doesn't end up a girl's name a few years down the road? The answer is I can't! I just have to pick a name and cross my fingers.
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Wish me luck!

The Great Date Debate

Hubby and I are having a disagreement. During this disagreement Hubby has proven himself to be the most embarrassing Dad that ever was!!! At least he would if I let him have his way.

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Miss Q is 17. Old enough to date. She is a quiet, shy girl who is just learning to come out of her shell. She is interested in dating, but because of past experiences she is very, very timid around boys and pretty awkward. She and I are working on this. I have taken her on a couple of dates, to show her the ropes and have some fun. Hubby would like to help our process along. His idea...call up one of our neighbor boys to take her on a date. Let me say that again...Hubby would be asking a boy to ask Miss Q out!

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Hubby was quite surprised when I vehemently said NO! He was also surprised when I informed him that asking a boy to ask out his daughter would be one of the worst things he could ever do to her socially and emotionally. Hubby assured me that he would pick a nice boy and would give him plenty of money so the boy could take Miss Q somewhere nice. At that point I was a bit dumbfounded and at a slight loss for words. How could my dear Hubby be so dense?

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I've tried explaining to the man that paying someone to go out with Miss Q in wrong. I've stressed the importance of a boy asking her of his own accord. Hubby still doesn't get it. He thinks it would be fine. Fortunately, when we decided to be Foster Parents we also decided that I would have the final say in all matters regarding the children. It is this fact and this fact alone that has stopped Hubby...so far.

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He really thinks I'm wrong on this topic. He is really scoping out the Priest Quorum at church, trying to decide which boy he think would be best for Miss Q. Aaaah!!

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Help a girl out and back me up! I think if I have a few more ladies on my side it would convince him that YES! It is absolutely wrong to ask a guy to ask your daughter out on a date. Especially if you pay. ;)

Into the Woods

Well, I am finally posting about Into the Woods. I was originally waiting until the CD drive on my computer could be fixed, so I could put up a bunch of pictures of the other cast members. But it looks like my CD drive is dead and gone for good. That means you only get pictures from my camera. Which means lots of pictures of Hubby.

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They didn't allow pictures to be taken during the performance. Being my guilty self, I followed this rule, even though my sister-in-law was unashamedly taking picture after picture. She promised to share and true to her word she sent me copies...on a CD. Grrr. ;)

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Hubby heading out the door.

No make-up, No costume. Just his plain, old self.

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Turning into the Wolf!

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His metamorphosis helpers

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The Wolf!

Hubby is wearing a prosthetic on his nose and chin, to give him a more wolfy look. His hair was better the first day. It was gelled into place to look like wolf ears. The lady who helped him do it was sick the day I took this picture.

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Full Wolf Costume-Front View

The ladies who made this did a fantastic job!!

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Full Wolf Costume-Back View

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The Wolf costume looked so good on stage! I had no idea what it would look like. When he first came on stage, I yelped and covered my eyes. Haha! It was such a surprise. And the way he moved while in this costume...Wow! It was very animalistic and kind of creepy. I could hardly watch his scenes with Little Red and Grandma. He was just too creepy for me. Haha!! What a funny thing to say about your husband. ;)

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The ladies who made the costume were cursing the fur fabric. It did not cooperate at all. I think it turned out great! It's already been borrowed a few times for other shows.

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Look out Little Red! He's trying to eat you!!!

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Now he's pretending to be nice.

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His true colors coming out again!

Watch out Granny! Run Little Red!

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What big eyes you have Grandma!

The picture cracks me up.

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After singing Hello Little Girl, Hubby only has a few minutes to take off his wolf coat and pants, throw on his Prince pants and Granny's nightgown, and jump into bed pretending to be Grandma. Again, this picture cracks me up. Seeing it in real life though, absolutely Hilarious!!

After he's killed, crew members wheel him (still in the bed) off stage. He then had to quickly scrub his face, tame his hair, and don his Princely attire.

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The Prince Brothers

The man who played Rapunzel's prince directed Hubby and the girls in Annie!

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After the performance ended, we were able to meet and greet the cast. I left Cakes home with a babysitter. There's no way he would have sat through the entire play. Joe, Anne, and Rose were so excited to see their Dad performing!

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Prince Charming and his adoring family

pictured are Joe, Anne, and Rose with my Grandma and Aunts

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Hubby and the Baker

Showing there are no hard feelings, even though Hubby totally macked on the Baker's Wife!

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The full Cast in one set of costumes

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Full Cast in another set of costumes

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Some cast members only had one costume they wore the entire show. Others had quite extensive costume changes! Cinderella was the worst. She had her dirty cinder clothes, ball gown, wedding gown, and pretty peasant clothes. Luckily, her make-up stayed about the same through the show. She only had to remove some ash after the first set of songs.

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Even though Hubby only had three costume changes, he had to deal with cleaning all the wolf make-up off and applying more princely make-up in a matter of minutes. Granny had a tough time too. She played three characters, Granny, Cinderella's Mom, and the Giant. She also made many of the costumes (including the Wolf). She is a trooper!!

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The show was great. I am so glad that I was able to see Hubby perform in it. The entire cast did a superb job. I absolutely love the theatre and am very grateful to have two active production companies in my city.

They Have Returned!

Annie is officially over. Hooray!

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This afternoon Rose and Anne came home from school, finished their homework in twenty minutes flat, and left to play with friends!!! They were so excited. They got to play until close to 6:00 pm. And when they got home, they were happy. No meltdowns. No exhaustion. No rushing about trying to find their jazz shoes and the tube of lipstick. Nope. They were calm and happy! It was refreshing. I should clarify...Both girls were thrilled to be in Annie, but it was a lot of work. It took most of their free time away. Plus it sapped at their energy levels. And, as every Mom knows, when you mix exhaustion and stress into a little girl you will end up with (as we refer to it in our family) a melted mess of a kid.

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Hubby got home just in time for dinner. He was calm and happy too. No rushing to shove food down his throat before going in search of the eyeliner. No rushing to change his clothes and get out the door. Just calm. It was great! Joe had a performance this evening with his Kindergarten class, and even getting ready for that, everyone was calm! So nice! No stress. No rushing about. Just calm. *sigh* It's so nice to have my family back.

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And as I am typing this, the girls are in bed sleeping and Hubby is on the couch watching Dr. Who. He was three episodes behind! Poor guy! Haha! He watched the first episode, The Next Doctor, last night. Currently he is watching The Planet of the Dead. And while I'm on the subject, I have to say...I am going to really miss David Tenant playing The Doctor. He has done such a great job. I've really fallen in love with his Doctor. And I just know the final two episodes are going to really pull at the heartstrings. For one thing, they are bring back Donna (Catherine Tate). I am so happy about this. I hated how they ended her story. It was such a kick in the bum! I hope she gets her memories back or at least finds her Silent Man.

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Anyhoo, I'm glad to have my family back. Now I can have Hubby paint my bathroom. ;)

Picture Update

I haven't posted any pictures for a while. My computer got a virus. Hubby fixed it, but my picture program needs to be reloaded and I keep forgetting to ask him. There is another picture program on my computer that is s-l-o-w! And it kind of freezes up after downloading a few pictures, making the whole process even longer. Oh well. I worked around it and now have some pictures to share.
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Homemade Bunk Beds

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My kids are big kids. And they keep getting bigger! I wanted to put bunk beds in the boys' bedroom to free up space for playing. Did you know that most top bunk beds only support between 100 - 150 pounds? And that they all have warnings about not jumping or rough-housing or rolling in your sleep due to the shakiness of the bed? Well, they do. And let me think... My oldest daughter (who turns ten in a month) is already 100 pounds. Crazy, I know. She's also already in size 8 shoes and is close to 5 foot tall, if not over! If that's any indication of how my boys are going to grow, I knew that none of the bunk beds on the market would suit our family's needs.

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I talked to one of the Air Force guys in my neighborhood to find out where they get their bunk beds. I was informed that they were special ordered, special made by one of the defense contractors. Sheesh! There went that option. Hubby quickly volunteered to make bunk beds himself. I was very skeptical. I've seen his other woodwork. I love the man, but woodworking is a talent that he is most definitely still in the development stage. Despite my skepticism0, they turned out pretty good! They are solid and sturdy. Hubby jumped up and down on them to illustrate to me how sturdy they were. I told him if he fell through and hurt himself, I wasn't going to take him to the hospital and would be mad at him for a year. He laughed and kept jumping. Surprisingly, the beds held his weight!

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The bunk bed pieces soaking up their stain.

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Hubby and Joe putting the beds together.

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Roadshow!

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Miss Q participated in our Stake's Roadshow. The whole experience for her was hilarious for me (the Mom) to watch. Miss Q had never done anything like this before. She is a kind of shy and very unsure of herself. She was worried about looking like an idiot, which is the goal of every Roadshow I've ever seen! ;) She was also super excited about participating. So she would go back and forth between biting-her-fingernails-off-scared (practically begging me to get her out of it) to school-girl-giddy in anticipation. Silly Girl!

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She did a good job. She's in the middle of the picture holding a palm frawn.
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Pinocchio

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Missoula Children's Theatre came to our town. Joe, Anne, Rose, and Miss Q tried out. The three girls were cast. Poor Joe was so sad. He and another little boy (whose sister had been cast) started crying when they realized that "everyone got picked but me." Poblacito!

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The three girls had an intense week of rehearsing. Monday through Friday we would race from school to the rehearsal site. Saturday afternoon was spent rehearsing. That evening was the performance. It was an interesting take on Pinocchio. Anne played a Ballerina Doll, Rose played a Treasure Island Kid, and Miss Q played Candlewick. They were all very brave and did a great job!

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Joe and Cakes killing time before the performance.

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Anne, the cutest Ballerina Doll ever!

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Rose, the Treasure Island Kid, smiling because she just broke a window. ;)

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Candlewick and her gang, being PUNKS! Miss Q is on the right end.

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BLOCKS

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We try to keep the Sabbath day holy. It is a tough job! One of the activities that we use to keep our brains and hands occupied is building with blocks while listening to jazzy hymns. (No one said all hymns have to be slow and monotonous!) The kids begged Hubby to take pictures of their creations. Here they are. :)

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Anne's block city and flowers

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Joe's tower. Cakes helped by not knocking it down until after the picture.

(That's me in the background, trying to figure out what to name this baby!)

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Annie

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After Pinocchio, the acting bug stuck with Anne and Rose. Hubby volunteered to take them to try-outs. I made him promise that he would not try-out or let himself get roped into Annie in any way other than doting stage father. He laughed and said there was "no way he would try-out". He assured me that he was "way too busy to participate in Annie". The Bum! He had no chance against the audition ladies. He was cast as "Rooster" and the girls were cast as "Chorus".

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For the last few months, they have worked hard memorizing lines and songs, learning choreography, and developing their acting skills. Joe, Miss Q and I attended the opening night show last Thursday. It was great! Rose and Anne did a wonderful job. They sung "Hooverville" and "A New Deal for Christmas". It was such a joy to see them up there having fun. They have one more week of performances, starting tonight. Afterwards, they don't want to do another play as long as they live! Haha! As much as they've enjoyed it, they have really missed playing with friends, riding bikes, and going to bed at a decent hour.

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Hubby did a good job too. It was hilarious to watch him, Lily, and Miss Hannigan. What goofballs! Hubby did fine, but Lily completely stole the spotlight every time she opened her mouth. Hahaha!!!

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Hubby, like the girls, does not want to participate in another play for a long, long time. I told him that was fine by me! Especially since he wasn't supposed to do this one in the first place. Haha. Although, I do expect him to participate in the opera Desert Pointe in putting on next December: "Ahmal and the Night Visitors". My man can S-I-N-G!!! And Opera is right up his alley. *sigh*

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My Chorus Girls

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Lily & Rooster

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Oh! I never posted the Into the Woods pictures. I will get to that...eventually. ;)