Tayler's Monster Concert.

Yesterday was okay enough.

The warmth of the sun would settle on your skin in between the whirls of the cold spring wind.  Even with the wind, light jacket weather, and that's better than snow.

Last week, in the pouring rain that lasted all week long, Tayler played in an orchestra concert that was made up of several elementary school orchestra students.  They called it the Monster Concert.  I have no idea why.

As it was, I ended up having a Spanish final on that day. Tayler was a rockstar and got herself to the Middle School (it's only a block and a half from our house) and made sure she had her brown bag dinner packed and with her.  Brynn made sure she went over to support Tayler and save me a seat.

I cranked out several pages of vocab and Spanish verb conjugations and hightailed it on over to the Middle School as quickly as I could.

I made it just in time to catch her in action for a few songs.




Compared to their beginning concert (here) I think they're coming along nicely.

Tayler has expressed her interest in a lot of areas, learning to play the cello, playing soccer, and in drawing.  I love how she's stretching out and finding the things that make her happy and developing talents.

It's a fun thing to watch as a parent.

Even if it does keep me running from one thing to the next.

Finals. Graduation. Mother's Day.

All the activity of the last few months built up to a final accumulation of what is called finals week.

As it turned out, my finals were scheduled 10 minutes apart.  On two different campuses.

Luckily my Spanish teacher let me join another of his classes on a different day to give me some slack, so I took my Spanish final a day early.  Which was good because as it was, after taking my math final I would have had exactly enough time to then drive to my Spanish final, but the stress of standing up from finishing one final just to sit down and take another would have been intense.  Also, there wouldn't have been time for one last glance at notes and flashcards.

Thankfully it all went well and I was able to pass both classes with A's and graduate.

Spanish final on Tuesday.  Check.
Tayler's orchestra concert on Tuesday.  Check. (More on that tomorrow).

Math final on Wednesday.  Check.
Graduation on Thursday.  Check.
Casidee's orthodontist appointment on Friday... well, four out of five isn't bad.  Though I did manage to make my appointment to donate platelets at Red Cross on Friday.  For the first time ever.

Saturday had Tayler's soccer game and was full of errands.  Grocery shopping, Barnes and Noble, Target, and Hobby Lobby.  One of our new friends that we've taken to riding with in Moab has been diagnosed with cancer.  The only thing I can think of to do for someone when I hear they have cancer is to make them a really soft, warm blanket.  I heard somewhere that you get really cold when going through chemo. Unfortunately this isn't the first blanket I've made for such an occasion.  Hopefully the gesture is enough to let them know they're not alone while facing it.  "It" being either cancer or chemo.  I think they both sound miserable.

I enjoyed hanging out with my crew for the week while The Man was away for the week, attending a training in Colorado for work.

Though we sure did miss him.

Sunday dawned on a very rainy Mother's Day but we got to have all six kids at home, and The Man was finally home, so we made good food, including strawberry shortcake, and watched a lot of TV.  I was determined to do as little as possible, enjoying my last day of "nothingness" until school resumed on Monday.  But this time at the U of U, which makes me smile a great a deal.

I want to express how thankful I am for the support and love that was shown to me on my graduation day.  And though receiving my associate's degree is not the final destination, it was a milestone that represents no more general classes and I was excited to celebrate that.

The support the surrounded me filled my soul with love and appreciation for the family and friends that surround my life.  Though The Man was in Colorado with work and wasn't able to be there, I certainly wasn't alone in my day.

The kids and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby (how did I survive before that store?) and found some sparkly letters for the top of my hat.  We wanted to make sure they'd be able to find me in the sea of black hats.

Turns out, it worked better than I could have hoped for.  The Circus spotted me the instant I walked in and had no problems keeping track of me in the crowd.

 

My dad, Brent.

My dad, Dick, West's dad, Mike, my mom, KC.

My brother, Bill.

 

I could not have asked for a better support system than my husband and our kids.  They have never complained once about my schedule or my need to do homework.  They've been excited for me the entire time.  And they've calmed my self-doubt with words like, "You can do it.  You always do."  Even though those words might have been accompanied with an eye roll as it was said.

Casidee, Jayme, and Brynn surprised me with some awesome glasses.

I sent a text to the man at one point while I was waiting to enter in the procession, telling him there was a guy that looked just like Big Hoss from that pawn show.

Some time passed, as The Man was busy in classes, but he eventually replied with, "Is your ceremony today?"

He was answered with this picture.  "You could say that.  Like, right this minute."

He then expressed some very kind words about how proud he was and how much he loved me.

Like I said, I couldn't have asked for a better support group.

Concert Season is in Full Swing

With concert season being in full swing we had a busy week filled with music last week.

Cali and Tayler kicked us off by singing at our City Hall (here) on Monday, Tayler had her Christmas orchestra concert on Tuesday, and on Wednesday Cali and Tayler had their official Christmas choir concert.  That's a lot of concerts for Tayler too, since she was in all of them.

Next week we have Casidee's orchestra and choir concerts, but luckily those will be on the same night.

This week we're excited because The Man is having a birthday.  We have plans to spoil him and celebrate him, and show him that we love him.

I love pinterest for the ideas!

And now... for some concert pictures and videos.

All I wanted was a smile.  Just one smile.

Turns out this is as good as I was going to get.

Sometimes, as a mom, you come to learn that cutting your losses, at times, can be better than trying to win, and you just walk away while shaking your head.

And I'm sorry for the sub par phone pictures.  

You know that child?  The child that does weird dance moves while singing?

That may have been my child during this concert.  And the girl in the blue and gray stripes next to my child?  Her mom probably was not enjoying my child's influence on her child very much.

Thanks to Casidee for being my photographer and videographer for the night.



Cali's favorite song:



Tayler's favorite choir song (she liked it because they sang part of it in German):



Tayler's favorite orchestra song:





I like to post the orchestra concert songs because I think it will be fun in a few years to compare how they sound as they practice and learn and play longer.

Today is my math final and then I'm free to enjoy the holiday season with my Circus.  The tree is up, the porch is lit up with lights (I may or may not have picked a cold snow storm to accomplish that in?  I don't know why, I think it was more or less: "let's just get this done already").

This year my aim is to keep it simple yet focused.  I think sometimes I lose the feel of what I'm doing in all the busy details. We have the list of things we need to finish buying but the kids want to help wrap, which I think will be fun, and take a lot of busy-ness off of me.  I skipped decorating the inside of the house on Halloween and ended up loving how simple it was so I think I'll do the same with Christmas.  Aside from the tree and stockings of course.

I'm looking forward to this month.