Prom 2008

Coral's Prom dress...















She looks lovely- the hair took TWO salon visits earlier today-stress, tears, & then finally success!





Coral's date, Nate- nice guy!














Love the look!! Not too 'matchy', classy.














Nate, Coral, Kaitlyn-a really good friend, & Garrett- another nice guy!







Prom is at the newly rededicated State Capitol. The group asked me-I'm still not entirely sure why-to cook dinner for them here. I served Chicken Piccata, Rice Pilaf, & Asparagus, with Strawberries & Balsamic Vinegar over cake for dessert. Kevin provided sparkling drinks & Jello cake as a dessert alternative and helped serve. We had fun cooking for the group and listening to them talk, laugh, sing and play the piano. It was also nice to spend a little more time with the expensive clothes & hair instead of the usual snapping of pictures as they(the clothes) leave.

Trebuchet 2

India's trebuchet is due tomorrow, so naturally, we got to work on it today. This is not India's usual modus operandi with regard to school work. She is generally on top of things and quite self-sufficient, but this assignment was specifically designed to be impossible without the "parent involvement" that was "encouraged" in the instructions.
Really.
''Parent involvement is encouraged?"
Am I to understand that the middle school does not want all its 13 year old students driving themselves down to Home Depot and operating power tools unsupervised?
They should have just written, "Parents, as Spring approaches, we are getting sick and tired of teaching your adolescents. In order to relieve some of our frustration, we are assigning YOU, by way of your child, a super labor intensive, but loosely defined project- the Medieval Siege Machine. You will have to research this online, use only materials available in the Middle Ages(were there golf balls available at the local village Sports Authority at that time? I guess the rules only apply to those building the machine, not those testing it.) , and include a whole list of elements that complicate the design of the machine without improving its performance.

Silly me, I had the naive idea that I, sorry, WE would make improvements/modifications to the trebuchet I, no wait, CORAL built last December and have India turn it in for her assignment. Sadly, Coral's trebuchet was kept by the teacher and subsequently lost by the teacher. I kept telling Coral that if she pitched it in the dumpster after class or sold it to a middle-schooler, I just needed to know so I could stop hoping that I would not be starting this over from scratch for India. She is, however, sticking to her story, and India and I had to build a new one. Several employees at Home Depot had us pegged as seige machine builders instantly. One was quite helpful, the other snidely amused.

Interestingly, since trebuchet building is required in at least two different science classes in the school district, there is an underground market for these machines. Coral's project partner assured her that they could find one built by a middle school student and turn that in for their credit. When that didn't pan out, I was stuck building Coral's at the last minute,too.

Kevin says I obviously have issues about this. I say that he obviously does not have these same issues only because he is blissfully uninvolved in the manufacture of Medieval Siege Machines.

I think a better assignment for learning would be to require students to play the trebuchet game on the following web site- http://www.globalspec.com/Trebuchet/ (thanks, Uncle Lloyd) and then allow those so inclined to build one for extra credit. This would, however, eliminate the vengeance component of the original assignment-the teachers will never go for it, never mind.

I am trying to decide whether to try to keep India's trebuchet for when the boys are older, or to sell it on e-bay to the parents of one of next year's 8th grade science students.

Easter Weekend

Highlights from Easter weekend-

Good Friday- The kids and I saw 'Horton Hears a Who'. We all liked it, but Niall and Coral laughed the hardest. They were completely transported. Niall has been quoting lines and Coral has a new respect for the music of REO Speedwagon. It was a sweet, wholesome movie-and funny!



Kevin and I attended the MoTab/Orchestra performance of Robert Cundick's The Redeemer in the Tabernacle on Temple Square with our friend who just became engaged! Congratulations, Diana.

The music and text were moving and thought provoking. Diana commented on how the text taught the doctrine of Christ's Sacrifice seamlessly from both ancient and modern scripture. Several of the soloists were truly gifted. Kevin liked the orchestra the best, and I thought some of the choir parts without accompaniment were amazing.



Saturday- I took Leith and Niall to the Community Easter Egg Hunt at Draper Park. It was 28F went we left. Brrrr! The egg hunt consisted of large circles on the grass labeled for different age groups. At the sound of the fire engine horn, all the kids ran into their circle and picked up eggs and candy. It lasted about 1o seconds and each child 'found' approximately 2 eggs and 3 pieces of candy. Leith's actually seemed a bit more like a hunt because many parents 'helicoptered' into the circle with their 4-6 yr old children, creating a frightening forests of adults for the children to manoeuvre around - and also obscuring the view of anyone who thought their children were capable of picking up eggs on their own. We then enjoyed the clowns & jugglers as well as several enormous Mastiffs whose thoughtful owners considered to be a good addition to large group of young children. The Spring Carnival-like set up would have been fun for longer if we were not in danger of frostbite, so we didn't stay long. I vote for a redo in a month complete with a May Pole and more street performers.




We then made a first-of-the-season garden center run. We bought raspberry canes and rhubarb and spent the afternoon planting. Kevin has been wanting berries since we left our blackberries in CA. I have been wanting rhubarb ever since my childhood visits to Idaho. My grandparents used to always have in around in the summer to eat on cereal, cake and ice-cream.


Kevin and the boys dyed and decorated eggs with a 'Pirates of the Caribbean' egg dye kit. Lovely.

Easter Sunday- The kids were up early- some by choice, some not- to hunt for Easter eggs and enjoy a breakfast of pancakes and candy-'Dad is great!' They all looked so beautiful in their Easter clothes. When I was buying the pink ties, Leith told me that pink is a girl color. I pointed out that ties are for boys, so the pink tie couldn't be meant for a girl. He totally bought it!

We all enjoyed some fine preaching in Church from our former Bishop and a young woman leaving on a mission to Spain. Now we are off to dinner with Kevin's parents.



As we have enjoyed a lovely weekend here, my parents have spent the weekend in a Dallas hospital trying to stabilize my Dad's condition. They have been in our thoughts and prayers. I am grateful I can talk to them regularly and hope that sharing the comings and goings of our lives will bring them joy and comfort in spite of their difficult circumstances. We love and miss them very much and hate that they are suffering.

Leith turned 4 yesterday!!

Alison, Dale, & Roselyn are here from Texas and we all skied at Sundance- all except Coral & India who went to school. The kids took lessons in the a.m.- Leith was in the 'Wild Bunch' age group. He had a bit of a melt down until the teacher got out the 'snow paint' and candy. The next time I saw him, he was skiing down the mountain- not the tow rope area, or the yard near the 'kids yurt', but the same ski run as everyone else.

By lunch time, he owned the mountain.

When Kevin took over skiing with him after lunch, he quickly repented of the thought that the boys would not need helmets because they would not be skiing fast or in the trees. The last thing we heard him say, as he followed Leith down a chute through the 'Magic Forest', was "Holy Crap!!!"

Niall and Roselyn looked great, too. They are gaining skill and confidence. Niall skis independently and in control. I have felt bad that I can't help the kids learn- because I am not too skilled- but, I had a great time with Niall in the afternoon. We rode the lift and skied several runs together.

The weather favored us. Alison & I spent the morning skiing in a relaxed way while chatting and trying to photograph the kids. Kevin and Dale got in some 'big boy' skiing before lunch and some serious quality time with the kids after.

We went home for cake and presents. It was a perfect day!

The kids' legs are sore. This morning, Leith walked across the kitchen with his legs straight, saying, "Ow, ow, ow, ow", through a big grin.

Mini Ice Age

The warm weather has melted most of the impressive amount of snow we have had in the neighborhood. Today, the last of the snow drifts on the roof are finally gone.
However, the huge pile of snow next to our driveway seems to be receding, rather than melting. It is now several feet away from the edge of the driveway. Kevin pointed out that the steps he carved in it- so that the boys could climb up it and sled down the other side-are still intact, but are now about a third of the way across the gentle slope of our lawn. We have our own miniature glacier.

Kevin and I eat out almost exclusively at the Blue Iguana in downtown SLC. We are passionate about Mexican food and think this is the best in the area.

We understand, however, that popular opinion favors the Red Iguana on W North Temple.

We are not sure how the two restaurants' histories are connected, but they do not currently share ownership or management.

After having not eaten at the Red Iguana in years, we decided to go today to test our bias toward the Blue.

While the food was good, it was not 'food to celebrate'. The crowd was diverse and the service good, but I missed the atmosphere at the Blue Iguana.

I am glad we went- if only to reassure ourselves that we aren't missing Mexican food we can't live without.

Thankfully, this situation isn't like our government where the popular 'red' choice, even when ridiculous, is imposed on everyone. But, this isn't about the Utah State Legislature- I digress.