How would I describe our most recent recital? Animato, Capriccioso, & Giocoso

After a 4-month break, my piano students and I reunited for a Student-Only recital and party at my house.  I had given them each a folder of songs to work on, and then they had to play one song they had selected from the folder and taught themselves.  The songs weren't perfect, but I had to give them all big pats on the back as they played pretty darn close to perfection.  A great accomplishment considering they had no teacher instructing them or helping them, they'd learned them all on their own!  What fabulous kids!

Ashlyn had worn her BYU Cougar hat, so of course Gavin rushed right home so he could don a rival one.  It was BYU vs. U of U the entire afternoon!

 Before their performances, we played a board game where the teams had to answer trivia questions about famous composers or review important Theory.  It was a lot of fun, and they even asked to play a 2nd time!

 The kids had such a great time together - it was a great opportunity to just be relaxed together and just enjoy music.  At one point they all boogied down and I had to get a shot of their fab moves!

At the end we tallied up some music points they had earned.  They earned points by learning songs on their own, attending or participating in performances, and practicing every day.  We had four fun prizes, like movies, treats, bouncy balls, CDs, manuscript paper, ceramic music mugs, and even iTunes gift cards.  I'm pleased to report that Halle won the grand prize for most overall points!  She really earned it and I'm very proud of her!

It was a wonderful afternoon, full of laughter, smiles, and great performances!  Definitely "Animato, Capriccioso, & Giocoso" (Animated, Fanciful, and Playful)!

This is my brother, Eric.  Isn't he handsome?  I love his eyes and his smile.  Charli loved him, too.  Eric's so cute with babies.  He probably wouldn't want me to say that - heck, he doesn't want me to say ANY of this.  But I just have say that he's a pretty great guy, even though I know he jokes about certain stuff just to bug me, and even though I know he must hate it when I get on my soapbox.  But that's just because deep down he knows I'm right and he's wrong.  Right, bro?  ;)

Ladies, I still can't believe this guy is on the market.  If anyone has ever dreamed of dating [marrying] a guy that's like a crusty marshmallow...tough on the outside, handy around the house, loves to be outdoors, loves to hunt, loves to camp, loves animals, and then inside that rugged cowboy exterior a man that is soft and gooey around babies, silly and fun with kids, who works hard to provide for his family, and who loves to laugh and have a good time, LOOK NO FURTHER.  Any girl would count herself lucky to have someone like my brother.  (Be warned, however.  He cheats big-time at Kings in the Corner.)

Eric, I want you to know how much it means to me and Brett that whenever we're in town you make an effort to come over to Mom's and visit with us for a while.  It means a lot that if you're in our neck of the woods, you take the time to stop by or let us have you over for the night.  I give you a lot of crap about stuff and you give me a lot of crap (a LOT OF CRAP!) about stuff, but I know you love me and I hope you know I love you.  You're a wonderful brother.  Thanks.

Hope
(one very lucky sister)

I prefer chocolate bunnies, but these are pretty cute, too...

We spent Easter this year in Vernal - and luckily the Easter Bunny was able to find us and still bring some surprises.  

One of the biggest hits was the ears Charli got in her basket - everyone wanted a picture with the E. Bunny's little helper. 

 

Then, everyone wanted a turn wearing the ears.  

Even Ruby!

 Carson made a bunny mask and wore it pretty much the entire day.  Even for the car ride home!

Crazy Cooking Gals - what lies in the hearts of 10-year old girls

I love these girls, both of them.

I love that they love each other.

I love that Halle has a best friend who is so kind and funny and creative and GOOD.

I love that they are so silly together.

On this day, making cookies turned into filming a cooking show with crazy accents and LOUD voices.

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd9XX_K-SVY

you just can't top this:

Every three hours,

this is what I get to see

for twenty minutes:

This beautiful baby girl's

giant eyes looking up at me

and the occasional milky smile

peeking out from behind the bottle.

* * *

Big brother reading her

story after story.

* * *

From where I sit,

the view couldn't be

any better.

do you know the Muffin Men?

My boys love to help in the kitchen. Too bad they have a mom that 90% time says to their offers of assistance, "I just need to get this done really quickly. Maybe next time." (That's something I don't like about myself - trying to change.)

A few weeks ago we made some blueberry muffins.

These two bakers did a GREAT job.

The muffins were delicious!

the look of hope...

I can't get over the feeling I had when I first saw this painting by Liz Lemon Swindle. Immediately your eyes are drawn beyond the movement of the apostles to the look in their eyes. It is the expression on their faces that Liz Lemon Swindle chose to use as the title of her masterpiece: "HOPE". It stirs within me my own feelings for my Savior. My own hope that I can live my life in a way that is pleasing to my Heavenly Father. That as I utilize the atonement in my life, to right my wrongs and heal my hurts, I will earn a seat at His table and live with Him forever. I love what Ms. Swindle wrote about what inspired her to paint this image:

When Mary came to the tomb, she found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. She ran to the disciples crying, "They have taken away the Lord…and we know not where they have laid him" (John 20:2). Peter and John immediately ran to the tomb.

What did they think as they ran? Were they simply curious to see for themselves? Did they fear, like Mary, that their enemies had stolen the body? Or did they remember His promise, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up"?

The decision that faced Peter and John that Sunday morning is the same decision that faces each one of us today. Will we doubt? Will we hope? Or will we know that He lives? I know that He lives.

And so do I. This Easter weekend I desire to shout from the mountain tops that I know my Savior loves me, understands me, died for me, and lives for me!

"How great, how glorious, how complete,

Redemption's grand design,

Where justice, love, and mercy meet

In harmony divine"

my thoughts on City Creek Center...

For datenight we checked out the new City Creek shopping center downtown Salt Lake. Our conclusion? It's a beautiful facility with 90% of stores that we cannot afford and will probably never shop in. But it's nice to have something to revitalize downtown, and the best part of my conclusion was...

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IT SMELLS SO GOOD!!

(lovin' the perfume counter at Nordstrom's!

Here were my absolute favorites from

the night...they're now on my wishlist!)

wonder which sibling Charlotte most resembles?

Since her birth, Charlotte has appeared to have her own "look" about her. Maybe it's the coloring that has thrown us, where she seems to have a darker complexion (relatively speaking, mind you) than the rest of our kids. I once came upon a photograph of Wyatt at his 1st birthday and there were little snippets here and there about him that made me think of Charli. So I wondered if it was Wyatt she was going to look more like. But no...after looking through baby pictures of all three older siblings, the one that takes the cake is...

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(drumroll, please...)

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CARSON!

See? Even their torticollis is the same -

both had longer neck muscles on the RIGHT side at birth!

Baby Tresses: lovin' these locks!

I've never had a baby with this much hair before!

Halle had some but the helmet she wore for her plagiocephaly wore it off by 9 months (so sad!), Wyatt also had some (although the least of all my kids), and Carson had quite a bit more than the oldest two. However, NONE of them has had hair like Charlotte! I realize some people have babies with even more hair than this (how would that be!) but I am having so much fun with Charli's dark mop. And I do have to say I love that it's dark. It's even showing hints now of having some red highlights in it...think it will change to auburn?

I got a ruler out so I could measure the length - I'm sure it may have grown a tad since birth, but I honestly don't think a ton. It's over 1" long! Just a hair shy (pun intended) from being 1 1/2" long!

You may have noticed in the above picture that her head leans towards her left shoulder. She is the third child out of four in our family to have what is known as Torticollis. It's when the muscles of one side of the neck are longer than the other, most likely caused from either 1) the baby's position in utero, as though they grew and developed in a cramped position or 2) one side of muscles being pulled or stretched during delivery. Since this is child #3 to demonstrate symptoms like these, I'm assuming reason Number One is our culprit. It's discouraging, because it will likely cause her to lay with her head in the same position, causing plagiocephaly (when her skull flattens on one side and bulge in the other), resulting in the need for wearing a helmet to reshape her head. That's sad because presently her head is such a lovely shape. The helmets are also expensive for the parents and uncomfortable (hot and sweaty!) for the baby. But as bad and shallow as it sounds, the idea of her having a helmet concerns me most of all because...I don't want it to rub off her beautiful hair!!!

We feel fortunate that we've noticed it early on and are being very aggressive in the physical therapy stretches we had to do with Carson and Halle to stretch the shorter neck side and retrain her to lay her head in varying positions. We're prayerful and hopeful that we'll be able to do a pre-emptive strike, resolving the problem before any plagiocephaly occurs. But if it does, we do have enough of a perspective to realize other children experience problems much more invasive, painful, and heartbreaking than this. We're grateful that overall Charlotte is in excellent health and that at the moment, her life has no other medical complications.