11-11-11 Dance

Hey you guys!  Happy 2012!

I've finally put together a little slideshow of one of the highlights from 2011: The Dance

Bunch turned 15 on 11-11-11, so I decided since it was a ONCE IN A CENTURY date, and it was a Friday, that we should totally have a dance party to celebrate.
(You can click the arrows that appear when you hover over the slideshow to zoom fwd/back or stop on a photo.)

So many wonderful people made it happen, and we had a great turnout. I'm so impressed with the quality kids that live around here and make up my daughter's peer group. They were just delightful.  My talented, generous sister-in-law came and took over 250 photos of the evening...these are just a sample of them. 

Special thanks also goes to my brother-in-law-turned DJ Extraordinaire...he was a ton of fun as he MC'd the evening. Bunch's awesome piano teacher loaned us the sound system, and several of our favorite friends came to help chaperone. My dear bestie Shelah's contributions and help were indispensable in making it special.  

Admission was a non-perishable donation to the Utah Food Bank; we collected 212 pounds of food that night, and dropped it off the next day.  It really was a magical, once-in-a-lifetime experience for Bunch, and I enjoyed everything about it. 

(Also, seriously can't believe I haven't heard from MOTY yet.  Hello?!!! ;-) )

Soaring

A couple of weeks ago Bunch decided she wanted to compose a song to perform in her school talent show this year. She worked on it for the week before auditions, and was  pretty nervous that day. Seventy-one acts tried out, but only twenty-one would make the cut and there is a LOT of talent in her school. She felt good about her performance, but either way, she was just glad to have it behind her.

Well, she made it.  I was scheduled to fly that day, but ended up being in town because of a head cold.  I made sure I was all ready with a full battery and empty memory card to record her performance.  So imagine how disappointed I was when a minute into her song my camera turned off...I realized that it had been on the camera setting and not the video setting, so after 60 seconds of inactivity it powered down.  I quickly switched on, but only got the last half of her performance which was AMAZING, the best I've ever heard her play it.  The kids cheered like crazy.

But today I was happy to have another chance to capture her playing it during a small piano recital at her teacher's home.  In her words, "it wasn't quite as good as the talent show", but she still did a fine job. 

The name of her piece is Soaring.

Here is her recital piece from last spring, and the one a year and a half ago with her first piano teacher.

Recital

My little songbird had a recital today. She's not thrilled with her performance, but she's a perfectionist. I personally think it's amazing for a long, complex, fast-paced song...and done all from memory.  She was the only performer who didn't use sheet music at the recital.  It's fun to look back to her recital last year and see how she's changed!  Love this kid!!!





Grateful for:


1) Happy relationships
2) People who develop amazing talents and share them
3) Springtime. At last. (!?!?)  And just in time for our spring break!

11-11-2010

Two-layer Cakes baked: 18
Batches of buttercream frosting whipped up: 18
Bowls of assorted sprinkles, candies and other deco: 9
Bags of frosting with inter-changable decorating tips: 6
Totally great kids in attendance: 21
Large pizzas consumed: 4
Liters of Soda drunk: 8
Ice cream sundae's served: 19
Nights in a row of too little sleep while flying and then baking: 7
Having a happy fourteen year old daughter: Priceless

The back of my car with the cakes loaded up to take to the party


Scenes from the party, including a number of the guests and their creations




























The little sister she never had...


Group shot of some of the guests



Grateful for:
1) Shelah & Ed
2) Good girls for Bunch to have as friends
3) Time to work on my NaNoWriMo again! (I'm a solid week behind now.)

For Bunch, and Everyone Else Who Loves Her

Grateful for:

1) My Happy Family
2) Fourteen years of motherhood
3) A working oven

Carried By The Wind

Bunch loves music. Earlier this year she wrote a song. By "wrote", I mean after composing it, she actually wrote it down...which no one had taught her to do, so I was duly impressed because I am about 1% skilled when it comes to unraveling the mysteries of written music. I'm pretty much a play-by-ear girl...which means it doesn't take much to wow me. But still.

Bunch has been making up songs for a long time, but till now she'd never written one down. It occurred to me that maybe we should look into finding a teacher who would be better able to support her in her musical efforts. Her lovely teacher of the past 4 years had given her a fine foundation, but she wasn't going to take her the distance.

So now she has started studying with a new teacher who is inspiring her and making her reach beyond her former aspirations. (Though some days, truth be told, it's me making her reach, but I think secretly she's kind of glad to have me keeping her on top of things.) Because, while my childhood lasted seventeen-hundred years, Bunch somehow only has a short window of time left before she flies the coop and is out in the big wide world on her own. These next four years are going to fly by, and this is her chance to really solidify things and make the most of her abilities.

So I ride her some days. When she's passed that tipping point and her abilities are firmly established, she'll thank me. Till then, I'm bribing her with toffee.



Grateful for:
1) Fine Autumn days
2) Help getting our yard cleaned up for winter
3) The Dollar Theater...kids and I saw the Despicable Me matinee. It made me laugh!

We ♥ NY

We're home!



Last night Bunch and I returned from our fabulous trip to NYC which included, in no particular order:

• Wicked (which completely exceeded our already high expectations). It was the reason we went in the first place. We both absolutely loved it.
  




• Great times with some of our favorite relatives





• Times Square





• Shun Lee where we enjoyed scrumdiddilyumptious Chinese food in an upscale setting. MMmmm!


• Super fun visit with one of my besties and her darling girls


Getting "fairy dusted"



• Alice's Tea Cup where the famished can order the all-you-can-eat sandwiches, scones, desserts and teas. We stayed a long time and ate far too much. So delish!!! Really. Go if you can.
  
  
  
• Shake Shack (which has notoriously long lines...but we were the first customers of the day)




• Shopping, Shopping, Shopping, Shopping, etc.




• American Museum of Natural History, where we saw this remarkable tree.

• Sampled some classic NY Pizza, soft pretzels and candied nuts
  


• World Trade Center site and Memorial, where I recorded my experience of 9/11 as a flight attendant based in New York.
  


• Good books


• Central Park
  Bunch and Me on the terrace overlooking the park.
  
  (and here's a view of it at night from our place)
  



• Sore feet from hours of walking. (We soaked them in a fountain at the park)




• Magnolia Bakery Our eyes simultaneously popped wide open in delighted surprise when we tasted the first bite of our treat! Blueberry Jamboree...I'll be googling for a recipe for you. Consider yourself warned!
  


• Planes, trains, a convertible BMW with the top down, boats, cabs, subways, and (almost) a helicopter ride!


• Pinkberry (x2) (it was THAT good! But then I'm a complete sucker for frozen treats. Complete.)
  




• Governor's Island (which we think should be renamed Pistachio Ice Cream Cone Island" because that's honestly what the island looks like!
  
  
• Visit to the world famous Juilliard School. So fun for my little songbird
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Lincoln Center
  
  
• Manhattan LDS Temple (which was closed, but we attended church in the same building, where we were happy to see a familiar face from our days in Vermont who's all grown up and famous now, but who is just as sweet and lovely as she ever was.)
  
  
  
  
• Rockefeller Center
  
  
  


• And countless amazing, Crazy, Inspiring, Sad, Beautiful scenes from this remarkable city that I love:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


• And finally, our accommodations. They were more fantastic than you can possibly imagine!

The dining area. I didn't get a photo of the kitchen. Or the terrace with the fountains, trees, flowers and outdoor eating area. My sincere apologies for depriving you...

Living room.

We b0th spent quite a while playing this beauty. If this view doesn't draw out the music in you, nothing will.

Master suite. The bed was so comfortable we almost didn't get out of it. Almost.

Bunch takes a photo of the mirrored ceiling in the master bathroom, which is all granite, glass and mirrors.


Bathroom #2 was all mirrors. No photo of #3, but it's dusky silver walls, black sink, toilet, and floor, and fabbo deco are superb!


This trip was truly one for the books. We packed it in and enjoyed ourselves silly. We're both so grateful to all those who made it possible for us. There's really no way to pay back the kindness we've been shown. We'll be paying it forward (for a long, long, time!)

Grateful For:

1) The fact that, though I used to be intimidated by the sheer scope and craziness of NYC, I've fallen in love with it over the past few years. It's amazing.
2) Perfect weather, health, and company!
3) Doc and Gator. What better ending than to come home to my lovely boys?!

Yesterday

School started!
Here's the traditional "leaving for the first day of school" pictures of Bunch & Gator.






Technically, I should probably have written "Gator and Bunch", as the first picture is actually of Gator--who prefers riding bikes or being driven to school over The Bus. But the good news is NEW BUS DRIVER who has a lovely accent...I'm thinking South Africa but could be off by a few continents. We bribed her with gave her some of my amazing toffee and a friendly note so hopefully she'll be superniceallyear to my kid.

Bunch is my lovely 8th grader this year. She couldn't wait for school to start, and was SO EXCITED to get rid of me when I took her to school that I was summarily dismissed and told to "go and do whatever it is that you do" when we got to school. (That "thing I do" would be the forest-worth of paperwork that it takes for a student to be completely registered and official these days.) I do believe it was the first time in my life that I didn't receive a hug and "I love you" upon saying goodbye.

She made up for it after school.

Gator and I rode bikes to his school which is a nice form of forced exercise as I have two round trips minimum on those days. He's had a fantastic attitude so far this year. I'm very impressed. I'm thinking 5th grade is going to be his year!

More tomorrow.

Grateful for:

1) Happy kids in the morning
2) Great school teachers. If they get more of my kid's time than I do, I want them to be nice!
3) Tomorrow.

Bunch's Recital

This was a busysuperawesome weekend. More on that later, but for tonight, I give you Bunch's Piano Recital Performance:



Grateful for:
1) Talents. For the joy they bring us throughout our lives as we work on them.
2) Teachers. They really are unsung heroes.
3) Supportive family. Bunch's grandies spent 3 hours driving to be at her recital tonight.

My Favorite Things

We don't often have fresh flowers around here, but they are some of my favorite things. The bright colors and exquisite details of the different varieties just make me happy, and I've needed the little boost they offer this week especially.

Watching my kids grow through new experiences is another one of my favorite things, and this week Bunch experienced her theatrical debut as one very happy nun in her school's production of The Sound of Music.

They did a excellent job with it...far better than the plays I was in during junior high. Her school has a top-notch drama teacher, and our schools are happily known for having abundant parental and community involvement and support. All the kids worked very hard and it was such a good experience that Bunch is thinking next year maybe she'll audition for one of the leads.

Below is a shot of the playbill with signed autographs from her fellow cast members, along with the flowers she was given. Thanks Bunch for brightening our home and our lives...you are beautiful...the Deep Beauty kind of beautiful ♥




Grateful For:
1) The goodness of my children
2) The goodness of my spouse
3) The goodness of people everywhere. I'm just grateful for goodness.