The Week in Facebook Updates

I've been a bit under the weather this week -- a sore throat, coughs, and yet I managed to update my Facebook status. Since I went to bed at 8:30 last night, and I'm not feeling too peppy right now, I figured what better way to give you a sense of my week than to share my Facebook status with y'all. (Granted a few of you are already on there, so sorry for the repeats.)

Monday: is drowning in bread dough today: I baked. Everyday bread and Thanksgiving Parker House Rolls. Which leads me to...Making Thanksgiving rolls would be so much easier without the 3 year old's help, but having her help is easier than listening to the temper tantrum. Remarkably, she was a LOT of help and good at it, too. I'm glad I let her help.

Tuesday: Is it just me, or did the holidays sneak up on us this year? A valid question, I think. I'm not sure I'm ready for Christmas and the end of the year. A part of me is still stuck back in, oh, August, I think. Maybe early October. Is in need of help: my dad is looking for something uniquely Kansan/Wichitan to buy for Christmas presents. Either food items or knick knacky items. Got any ideas? (Don't say wheat or Wizard of Oz, please.) At a suggestion from my yoga teacher, we did find something. And since there are people on this list who will be recipients of that something, I'm not going to tell you. :-D And...It's chaos. Good chaos... but still... chaos. Since Russell, Megan and Kristen picked up Grandpa and Grandma Madsen at the airport and when the rest of us got home from Girl Scouts, everything was a bout ten volumes louder than normal. Is it just my kids, or are all kids insufferable show-offs when company comes? And loud. Really loud. We were very excited to have Grandpa and Grandma come.

Wednesday: baking baking baking cooking baking cleaning baking baking playing baking. We went to the stores (for two hours!) to get food, got sidetracked by a digital thermometer and a bathroom rug, but eventually managed to make not one but four pies: lemon meringue, cherry, chocolate nut and chocolate cream. We also prepped a lot of the side dishes and salted a 25 pound turkey. Is really glad her mom's here to teach the girls about making pie, since I'm an complete failure at it. It's because I've never. made. pies. Never had to. But, now my kids know how. Maybe we'll actually use those skills again sometime?

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving! May you all have good meals, fun times, and make wonderful memories.(And not eat TOO much.) We had a small number -- just my parents and the missionaries -- but man, they made a lot of NOISE. We cooked said 25-pound turkey (which took a lot longer to be done than we wanted) -- The hardest part is waiting for the food to be DONE.-- but eventually, done it got, and we ate. And talked. And laughed. And ate. And talked. And laughed. And ate. Full... dishes half done... I need a nap. It was a good day.

Friday: is able to honor that best of all Thanksgiving traditions this year: pie for breakfast! (It's because we actually had pie at our house. Which is unusual, to say the least.) Russell put in the Bob Dylan Christmas CD. Honestly? Listening to it is quite painful. It's official: the Christmas season has started. Thankfully, we have better CDs to listen to. Russell and my dad tinkered with the downstairs bathroom shower, actually braving the crowds Friday morning to pick up parts. And after being lazy all morning, we took them out to see the Keeper of the Plains and then to the airport so they could go home. It was a lot of fun having Grandparents around. Bob Dylan CD off, visiting parents gone, kids complaining about being bored... must be the after-holiday let-down! It always happens, doesn't it? This is our fourth Christmas here and for the first time, we've gotten out to the Botanica Illumination. Why haven't we gone before? It's wonderful. And we'll definitely be going back. Pictures up at the blog...

Saturday: My dad is awesome: after three days of tinkering, and trips to Home Depot, the shower downstairs -- which has been broken for two years -- is fixed! Ta da! Only took three days, too. We spent the day running to stores -- Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart -- getting the lights up, cleaning the house, and just taking it easy. Two children napping, a third has a friend over, and the fourth gone with her dad. I hear the bath and a book calling me! Megan and Kristen were the napping ones, Caitlyn had Merry over and Alison got a much-needed daddy-daughter date yesterday afternoon. They didn't do much, but Alison thoroughly enjoyed the time ALONE with her dad. She needs more of that in her life. I'm still working on Cybils reading... which leads me to...

Sunday: Goal: to read a book a day for the Cybils. Problem: Christmas is getting in the way. I've got about 35 books to read before the 19th. I'm hoping I can read most of it, but we'll see. Church today was good; we talked about government and being good citizens in Sunday School and the Holy Ghost in a combined adult/youth meeting. And choir was really good. It's back to the grindstone tomorrow, so I'll leave you with the last one: is trying to hold on to a moment's peace before the craziness starts tomorrow.

Botanica Illumination

This is our fourth Christmas here, and we've been meaning to go to this for the past three Christmases. Something has always come up, though. However, this year, we got smart and went the day after Thanksgiving. And we're so glad we did; it was a beautiful (warmish!) night to go, and the lights were absolutely gorgeous. We'll have to make a tradition out of this.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a pretty small Thanksgiving this year. My parents came out, and the elders -- Elder Parente thinks our family is the best thing since sliced bread -- came over for a while. You would think it wouldn't be that crazy. Then again, if you think that, you've never met my girls.

Elder Thomas (he's the one with glasses) brought his guitar, which the girls thought was the best toy ever.



We cooked a 25 pound turkey, which took a lot (!) longer than we figured, and had a ton of food for dinner. It was delicious.


And then the kids played games with Elder Parente, while Elder Thomas talked to the grownups.

And then the Elders requested pictures before we went. So we took a mildly serious one...


And one that reflects how we TRULY are.


Bonus picture: we took Grandpa and Grandma out to the Keeper of the Plains, and managed to get a picture with the girls. (It was harder than it looks...) We loved having them here. (And we need to snag some more pictures from them, since they took a bunch!)

Can I Even Think That Far Back?

It's one of those weeks where I sit down and wonder just exactly what happened. I really couldn't tell you...

Highlights:

• I finally ordered our pictures for the last five months. Um, I should do that more often, huh?
• We had kids to play on Friday -- it was a Relief Society temple day and I had offered to baby-sit. It was fun. (Mostly.)
• We've all come down with colds. Alison got a H1N1 flu mist spray at school last Friday. We all got sick this week. (Though not too badly.)
• We've almost got all the leaves raked up
• Megan's 3rd quarter NAL team got a 22 this week, which made her happy. She's stressed about being 3rd quarter captain, but it's not too bad.
• I think I've permanently bruised my knuckles from punching once a week. There's talk about canceling the class, which makes me sad because I like punching.
• Russell and I actually got out on a date on Friday; we went to see Julie and Julia in the cheap theater. And it's still about half (Russell would say 40%) of a great movie.
• I went to see New Moon with Megan on Saturday. Better than the book. But the story still annoys me. I told Megan if she ever acts like that over a guy, I'll pummel her (see above punching entry).
• Church today was about chastity -- it's good -- and diversity -- it's also good. The best comment was that we need to instill a sense of self-worth in our kids.
• I celebrated five years of blogging. Wow. I'm a pathetic loser. Or a geek. Or both.
• It was supposed to snow on Monday. It slushed instead. I wasn't happy. I'm not ready for winter yet. (I think winter should only be allowed between December 1 and December 26 to make the Christmas lights pretty. Before or after that it should be banned. No, I'm not a winter person.)
• Caitlyn had an auction in her class and spent 57,000 pride coupons on a basket of bath soaps which she jealously refuses to share with anyone.
• The girls checked out George of the Jungle yet again at the library. I'm seriously considering buying the dang movie.
• We bought a 25 pound turkey for Thanksgiving. We are only going to have six adults and four kids. Can you say leftovers?
• I'm much less crabby than this is sounding.

Have a lovely week! Happy Thanksgiving!

The Things Kristen's Learning in Preschool

All You Need

A sunny, warm fall day.



A little imagination.

And a mom who doesn't say, "NO! Stop that!"

And you have hours of fun.

Concert Photos

You've seen the videos: here a a couple of still pictures. (I like the videos better, personally!)
Megan, walking up on stage, and


Caitlyn, before the program started.

The Ones We Didn't Get

So, I complained about our family photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. Here are the "outtakes", the photos we looked at and didn't buy:












You'll see the ones we did on our Christmas cards this year. :-)

All About Caitlyn

It's been a busy week -- something going on every day, it seems. Though we managed to squeeze in fun things like starting the 6th season of Monk and watching So You Think You Can Dance amid the piano, girl scouts, doctors appointments, and school.

Letssee... the kids had Veterans Day off, though I don't particularly like mid-week holidays, as it throws everything. I spent the morning in the dr's office with Caitlyn -- we waited and waited and got an x-ray and waited and waited and picked up the films and waited and waited and waited and saw the doctor for 5 minutes, whereupon she said "Looks good!" So, Caitlyn's arm is all better.

She came home sick on Monday, though, with a fever. Nothing else. Just a fever. And not even a big one either. So, she lounged around at home Monday and all day Tuesday (I went to Girl Scouts without her). She was fine Tuesday, but because of swine flu, they have this rule that they have to be 24 hours free without a fever before going back to school.

Anyway.

Friday, Caitlyn and I (along with a bunch of Girl Scouts) had a sleepover at the Exploration Place. Overall, it was pretty fun to wander around the museum completely alone (kind of weird and spooky, too), playing with the exhibits. They did have some activities planned, and we watched a (n absolutely horrid, awful, terrible, really bad) movie in the Cyberdome, and basically had a grand time until lights out at midnight (I NEVER stay up that late). They woke us up at 6:30 the next morning, did a few more actives, and then kicked us out at 8. Whew. I'm too old for this kind of thing, but as "co-leader" I'm stuck. Caitlyn had a grand time, though.

As for the rest of us... we had a good week. Had the Austins over to play on Wednesday; Megan went to a sleepover (and a pack meeting!) on Friday; raked leaves and helped Daddy put out straw on Saturday. (I went to a wedding of a woman I visit teach -- I was "official" photographer -- Saturday night.)

Today's been nice, too. I stayed off the piano before church, so my shoulders are much happier with me. Even though I'm not done for the day: there's a fireside tonight that I'm playing for, too.

That's it for us. They're saying that there's supposed to be snow tonight. I'm hoping not.

Happy Hallowthanksmas

Actually, I think we're down to Thanksmas aren't we? I was in the salon yesterday with Megan (to do some corrective surgery on her hair before family pictures) and they were playing Christmas songs. Now, I know we're already working on Christmas music in choir, and I don't mind that. But, Silver and Gold and Chestnuts Roasting in the salon on November 7th? THAT'S a bit much.

So, we survived the madhouse that was pictures, and in spite of an imperfect situation, managed to get two pictures that were halfway decent. Remind me next year, to take pictures in JULY, not November.

The rest of the week was pretty normal-ish. I had book group, which is always a nice night off. Caitlyn had a concert on Wednesday afternoon. I sprung Megan from school a half hour early because Caitlyn REALLY wanted her to go. Megan was very happy about that because I got her out of a (very lame) academic pep rally. Caitlyn's concert was fun -- it was all about jazz. There are two videos up, one with her speaking part and the other was her favorite song (which didn't end up being mine. Oh, well.)

Then, Thursday night, was Megan's band concert. We survived. (Band is still way better than orchestra.) The girls weren't terrible, the music was okay, and I got two videos there, too.

Friday night, Russell and I went out to a bonfire party, and Caitlyn went to Merry's to sleep over. We all had fun... maybe too much fun? For some reason, we were all cranky on Saturday. Ah, well.

And that's about it. Church today was good, though my shoulders are killing me (note to self: don't practice for 2 hours before going to church where I play on and off for 3. Oh, and playing the organ with sweaty hands is NOT EASY). Which is part of the reason why this is so short: I need to go take a nice, long, hot bath.

A couple of concerts this week.

First, Caitlyn's 4th grade music program. Her speaking part:


And her favorite song:


And then, Megan's band concert. A concert piece:


And (as per her request) her favorite marching band piece:


Still pics coming later...

There and Back Again, Again

This time it was to Utah and my Grandpa Madsen's funeral.

We skipped out of church after Sacrament meeting -- the Primary program was very cute, and, as Russell pointed out, neither of our children have fears of microphones -- and Kristen and I were off. It was actually (relatively speaking) a good flying day. No one in security, no one in the airports (any of them -- Wichita, Phoenix or Salt Lake), and even though the flights were full-ish, we were able to change things around and Kristen and I sat together. Flying with a three-year-old is an interesting and unique challenge: she got a lot of smiles and comments, and people treated us nicely, and yet... she didn't quite grasp the concept that we needed to hurry from one place to another. Oh, well. Other thoughts: Arizona is big and, well, ugly. As is Phoenix. However, it is warm... maybe that's what draws people to the desert?

Anyway. We made it safe (but tired), met up with my parents and sister, and headed to the hotel. Kristen fell asleep on the way down to Sandy, but Grandpa woke her up, so she was bouncing around the hotel until 10. I could do a blow-by-blow... but I think I'm not. (Sorry.) We did eventually get to bed.

Highlights: Kristen was SO happy to go wimming with her himhoot. Twice. :-) The funeral was lovely, and Kristen was okay (aside from an averted meltdown with the crayons and sharing her stickers). I haven't seen some of my cousins for 15 to 25 years, and so it was nice to catch up and reminisce about being kids (and grandma. She really was the heart of the family). I learned that the grandpa many of them knew was not the grandpa I knew, mostly because we moved away soon after my grandma's death, and I didn't really change my attitude towards grandpa. I always thought of him the way he was when grandma was alive. Which was my fault. I did feel guilty about that.

There was a lot of second cousins for Kristen to play with, which was nice -- many of my cousins brought their families. And we segregated by family for lunch; I almost felt bad and wanted to stay talking, but Camilla and Cameron were done, as was Kristen, so we headed back to the hotel to crash. Eventually, Grandma and Grandpa showed up, so Camilla, Kristen and I went shopping at Deseret Book. Hey, we were in Utah, we have to go shopping at Deseret Book. I spent too much money... on books... but then, who knew that a large hymnbook was $35! Not me. Then, we just kind of hung out in the evening. I took Kristen swimming, but she said it wasn't fun with only two people in the pool. So sad... and then she watched movies while Martin, Jessica, Dad and I talked. :-)

We crashed early, got up early, and headed out before the snow in Salt Lake got too bad. (I was REALLY happy for the warm weather in Phoenix going home!) Aside from some security debacles -- the coins I got as my "inheritance" from Grandpa tripped the security, and the confiscated our Play-doh (which we brought out from Wichita, and which set Kristen to crying) -- we had an uneventful couple of flights back. Except the time changes threw us off -- we didn't get lunch until 3 our time! At any rate, we were happy to be home.

The rest of the week we spent doing what I did last week: catching up. It wasn't so bad because I wasn't gone for so long....

Then, of course, it was Halloween. Thursday, Kristen had her preschool parade and party, Friday was Alison and Caitlyn's parade and party. It was all very Halloween-y. Friday night was the ward's trunk-or-treat; I dressed up, but very few people read books (or see kids movies) so I spent the night explaining what I was. Ah, well. Next year I'll pick something less obscure. The girls had a grand time trick-or-treating around the parking lot; I think they all went around three times. (Except Megan; she was too cool to dress up.) Then, there was games inside and an impromptu sleepover was arranged with the Kitchen girls (mostly to watch Harry Potter 5, since Caitlyn had finished the book...).

And Saturday, our bishop was crazy enough to schedule a temple trip on Halloween, so that's where Russell and Megan spent the day. The rest of the girls and I cleaned house, raked leaves, watched movies, and got dressed to go trick-or-treating. Word to the wise: don't do it by yourself. It's NO fun. And we picked a bad neighborhood -- there was hardly anyone home, and no one really had much candy. And Kristen got tired, so I ended up carrying her, her container, and all the coats (since it was warmer than we had figured). When Russell called when he got home, I begged him to come rescue us... and, since he loves me, he did. Then, because he loves his daughters, he drove them across town to one of Megan's teacher's house to see "Trick or Treat Street". They got home an hour later, raving about it. I guess we'll have to go over there to trick or treat next year...

And today was nice. Wonderful fall weather, church meetings were good. We talked about family history and gratitude, which of course is very appropriate this time of year. Life is good right now... especially since no one is going anywhere for quite some time!