Bittersweet

These past few weeks have been very bittersweet for me. Bitter because my sweet Grandma Jones passed away and I miss her so. Sweet because she is finally free from pain and in a wonderful place with loved ones. I lived with she and my grandpa for much of my youth, and for that I feel so blessed. 

I wrote this poem for her and read it at her funeral last Monday. It sums of many of my memories of her in a simple way.

There are those in our lives that change us,And leave us better than what we were,
Ruth is one of those people,
We owe so much to her.

Daughter, sister, and mother,
Wife, aunt and so much more,
She gave us a love of learning,
She taught us to explore.


Ever determined, feisty, and strong,

Smart, capable, and kind,
A lifelong educator,
With a curious, sharp-witted mind.

For grandkids, nieces, and nephews,

Ruth was the go-to for knowledge,
Who was the 18^th president?
Where did Einstein go to college?

If anyone had a question,
About politics, history, art
Ruth always had the answer,
There’s no doubt that she is smart.


A walking encyclopedia,
A collector of knowledge and truth,
Better than Wikipedia,
We knew to go ask Ruth.


She earned a master’s degree,
And became a principal too,
There are so many children she taught,

Educating her whole life through.

She dearly loved to travel,
To England, Italy, and France,
Ruth journeyed to new places,
Whenever she got the chance.

She learned all about politics,
She kept up with the news,
Given a choice, the democrat,
We knew she’d always choose.

Ruth loved her family so,
It was always understood,
To see them happy brought her joy,
She gave them all she could.


She and her sweet sister Fern, did so much together,
They would laugh, share stories, and travel,
They’ll be best friends forever.


I’m sure they’re up there now,
Together as a reward,
Probably writing crossword puzzles,

For spirits when they get bored.

She’s also with other loved ones,
So dear to her in this life,
Sweet and loving Donald,
Is once again with his wife.

With Nana, Amy and others,
She’s once again united,
To be with their wonderful Ruthie,
No doubt they are excited.

We’ve had to say “goodbye,”
Until we meet again,
For we know without a doubt,
We’ll see our Ruth again.

We’ll miss her more than we can say,
Her face, her voice, her smile,
But we know she’d say, with a loving wave,
“I’ll see you in a while.”

Shocking Discovery

I finally have it all figured out with Dray. It came as quite a shock. I'm surprised I didn't come to this conclusion earlier; the signs are so obvious... He is awake all night. His widow's peak is extremely defined. His skin is soooo very pale. His eyes are red in every photo. It can only mean one thing...

He's a vampire.

But atleast he's a happy vampire.

The Sound of Insanity

So.....I think I'm a little bit crazy. Dray wakes up all night long, Ken has been working really long hours, the kids have been very busy with after school activities, I just got called to be the ward Canning Committee Chairman, and STILL I audition for the play "The Sound of Music." Actually Ellie really wanted to be in the play, so I decided to audition also, so she wouldn't be so nervous. I heard that there were hundreds of people auditioning anyway, and I knew that I didn't stand a chance.  So, we both auditioned and went about our business. Surprisingly, a couple of days later, Ellie was invited to callbacks for Gretle and I was invited to callbacks for Elsa. We spent an evening singing and reading lines with some of the most talented people I've ever seen. I felt a little out of my element. There were a couple of other women that were called back to vie for the position of Elsa with me, and each of them were like Kristen Chenoweth, Julie Andrews, and Charlotte Church all rolled up into one one mega actress/singer. Needless to say, I didn't get the part (which because I am a sleepless zombie, is ultimately a good thing) but I did get cast as one of a handful of nuns. I think it will be great fun, but also a crazy-busy nightmare. Ellie didn't get the part of Gretle, but was cast as a member of the Shooting Stars children's performance group, which also adds craziness to our schedule. I do love "The Sound of Music." In high school, I was fortunate enough to get to play Louisa VonTrapp, so it will be fun to be involved in the musical again.
Anyway, Ellie will be performing some cute numbers before the show and some of the actual VonTrapp grandchildren will be there on opening night, so it should be a fun experience. Let me know if you're interested in tickets (buy them from me, not the site). http://www.copperstarrep.org/sound.html. The theater company is pretty amazing and the performers are very talented people (except for the zombie nun.)

Danny

I woke up on the morning of my birthday (Labor Day) to discover a giant surprise. Throughout my almost 12 years of marriage to Ken, I've learned to expect the random and sometimes unexpected. This definitely qualifies as both random and unexpected.

Yes, that is a giant print-out of Danny DeVito on the wall above the couch. Why Danny DeVito? I guess the real question should be, why not Danny DeVito? The photos doesn't do this birthday greeting justice. It is taller than Ken (over 6 feet) and made out of forty nine pieces of printer paper meticulously taped together. He stayed up for hours Sunday night finishing the giant Danny DeVito face that is now pinned to the family room wall. When I walk past it, I'm reminded that I have a very funny and original husband.
On top of creating the gigantic Mr. DeVito mural, Ken is buying me a bike this week. The weather is getting a little cooler and I'm hoping to peddle away some baby weight (jeeesh maneesh, it's been ten months and none of it has come off.) My mom and brothers and sisters were visiting on Labor Day weekend, which made my birthday extra special. All in all, it was a great way to turn 33!

Six and Sweet!

Ellie celebrated her 6th birthday at Build-A-Bear Workshop and had a great time! She and six of her BFFs created fuzzy creatures, played charades, and danced around the store. Afterward we had icecream cones at Dairy Queen and Ellie opened presents. Good times...good times. I'm so glad that we have Ellie in our family. She's fun, enthusiastic, and makes everyday an adventure! Happy B-day El Bell!

Dray will be 10-months-old on Tuesday. He's like the Energizer bunny. He just keeps going and going and going...with small intermittent periods of sleep in between his going and going. He walks all the way across the room, loves to climb on furniture, eats table food, makes toot noises with his mouth and laughs wildly, and LOVES to look at books. Like his daddy, he's very fond of cheese and meat. Also like his dad, he loves technology. He reaches for the keyboard and mouse all day long. At church, he wanders the aisles looking for metal chairs that he can loudly bang on. He just started wearing 24-month-old Onesies because he's so tall. He is our precious little bundle of energy.

Ken and I recieved new callings. I'm the Ward Canning Commitee Chair (if you have food storage ideas or resources, I'd love to hear from you!) and Ken is the Ward Building Coordinator (locks up late, late at night, and makes sure the building is safe and secure.) Maybe I'll get him pepper spray and some nunchucks. (:

Ken took Alan  fishing with the Cub Scouts on Saturday at the community lake. He caught six fish and was extremely excited! His Grandpa Alan was an avid fisherman and we told him that he inherited the "fishing gene." He had such fun, that we're thinking about planning a family fishing day.

Alan and Ellie are doing well in school. Alan is busy with scouts and Ellie takes muiscal theater dance classes. Ken has been extremely busy at work lately. He's had a lot of projects on his plate and has to work most evenings. Well, that's our month in a nutshell!

Baby Steps

I’m sorry I haven’t posted Ellie’s Snow White video. We weren’t allowed to film it, and the camera that did film it was in the back of the auditorium (can’t really see faces or hear the words very well.) Definitely a bummer.


Here is a little update on our youngest human.

Dray at 8 months:

• Can stand on his own for a moment and has even taken a couple of steps! He still prefers to speed crawl though.

• Loves to have books read to him. It is one of the only times that he’ll stay still for a few minutes.

• Has been nicknamed “Laptop” because of his insatiable desire to attack laptops (bang on the keys and hit the screen). If he sees someone with a laptop, he’ll try to jump out of my arms to get to them. Future computer nerd? Highly likely.

• Is addicted to his pacifier.

• Still wakes often in the night and fights falling asleep with all of his might. If he even suspects that I might be rocking him to sleep, he’ll wiggle out of my lap and quickly crawl away.

• Loves to imitate words and noises. He makes kissing noises when we kiss him and blows raspberries after we do. He even tried to hook his finger in his cheek and make the popping noise after Ken showed him how to do it!

• Can say “Momma” and “Abby” and shake his head. He also has waved his hand and said “hi” several times.

• Will put anything in his mouth, no matter how tiny. If there’s a miniscule piece of lint on the floor, he’ll find it.

• Attacks, punches, slaps, scratches, and hits. We hope it’s a phase. If not, we have a future Chuck Norris on our hands.

• Plays peek-a-boo with his silky blanket. He’ll hold it over his face for a moment, then pull it down and squeal.

• Stares very intensely at strangers and when they look at him he smiles and buries his head.

• Still will only drink a bottle while half sleep.

• Loves rice and oatmeal, but makes terrible faces when we feed him fruits and veggies.

• Loathes his highchair. It’s difficult to get him to stay in for more than a few minutes at a time, no matter how hungry he is.

• Is still a major busy body. He is constantly pulling things over, banging noisily on objects, and forever trying to climb over barricades. He rarely slows down. He’s definitely tested our baby proofing to the limit.

• Like Alan at that age, loves watching Veggie Tales. But unlike Alan, he’ll only watch for a minute here and there.

• Though definitely a handful, brings us lots of joy and happiness. We love him more every day!

No, he's not back in his helmet. I just found this old photo and thought it was dimply and cute.

Little Mean Queen

Last Friday we scored front row seats to Ellie's debut as the Wicked Queen in Snow White. I have to say that she did a great job! She's obviously inherited the acting gene (that unfortunately skipped a generation with me.) When I was young, I played orphan Annie onstage as well as Louisa in The Sound of Music, but my flair for the dramatic pales in comparison to my Grandpa's (who was the drama director at EAC for 30 years.) He directed and starred in many, many plays. He was a ham, both onstage and off, and that's what made him so much fun. My mom also starred in her fair share of plays. When I was little I watched her play the characters Grace in "Annie" and Nancy in "Oliver," and several others.

So, when Ellie stood fearlessly on the stage, remaining completely in character, I thought it was pretty dang cute and I think that it's the first play of many to come. She's already asking to do another, but it's tricky to find productions that allow kids so young.

I'm just glad that Ellie found something that she really likes to do!

Before the show, I dropped Ellie off in full make-up in the green room, gave her a quick hug, and told her to break a leg (we'd discussed the meaning of the phrase earlier.) I saw the heads of several of her castmates turn toward me in confusion. One little girl even ran up to her and in a worried voice asked, "Why did your mom say that?" Ellie explained as I laughed all the way to my seat.

I'll post a video of the performance soon.