Joan of Arc

Tricia's class held a wax museum. Each student researched a person from history and wrote a paper about them. They also dressed up like the person and wrote a speech. The museum patrons walked among the statues and at certain intervals could push a button in front of the statue and it would give its speech.

Tricia picked Joan of Arc. (Thanks to Uncle Scott and All a dollar for costume help). Tricia put alot of time and thought into her presentation. She painted a brick castle wall as a backdrop and decorated her desk with a tablecloth and props. Her teacher commented to me that she had allowed the children to pretty much pick anyone. What had surprised her was the similarities she could see in her students and the person they chose. She felt like Tricia had some of the same characteristics as Joan--strength and courage.

It wouldn't have been in Joan's character to smile though. (For the record, I did try). War with France was serious business and people in the olden days didn't smile in pictures. Besides how expressive can wax be?

Journaling

It has been a fun and busy few weeks. Staci was able to come home on Halloween weekend. I was sick, sick. (Hopefully it was the swine flu so I have it over with.) Staci jumped in and cooked as per usual and made us yummy food like eggrolls. Another nice thing she did was she took Tricia and Krysta to a trunk-or-treat. I'm not sure her motives were completely altruistic though because she came home with a nice stash of candy for herself.

At the Jr high, Krysta and some of her friends have gotten involved in the Jr Honor Society. Somehow Krysta got roped into singing at the induction ceremony. She has really liked her choir class this year but it wasn't until recently we realized that she likes to sing. Apparently, according to her, some of the rest of us Broadway belters in the family are just so loud that we have just never heard her. So...for a month she has been deciding with her friend Joelyn (a pianist) what to sing and practicing the song. The big night rolled around and she walked up to the stage and sang a duet (with a boy!) just like it was something she did all the time. She sounded so good and she and the boy (a boy) blended so nicely.

Camille has been anticipating her Birthday for months and reminding us often of the day count. She wanted it to be a big deal going out to dinner and having a party for her friends. Several weeks before her birthday her good friend Renae asked me at church if she could have a surprise party for Camille. Camille's birthday was on a Thursday and the party would be on Saturday night. I felt like such a shmuck(is that a word?, is it a bad word?) explaining to Camille that with Krysta's big mystery party (the week before) and helping put together a Daddy/Daughter Activity Days Italian Dinner that weekend I just wasn't able to even think about a friend party until the next week--wasn't that sneaky. On her birthday the family went to a sushi restaurant. She enjoyed that and then on Saturday I dropped her off at Renae's to "watch a movie or something". She was completely surprised when she got there and her other friends were there too.

I am now 3/4th done with my humanities class. With a Jan12th deadline looming I can't putter like I have been. I'm currently reading Dante's Divine Comedy and then writing a paper comparing it to the philosophy of Aristole. A daunting task. Daunting Dante. Hah!

Mystery Party

Heiress Jewel Rockefeller"s father gave her an expensive ruby bracelet. Jewel has been flaunting it at many public functions. At a weekend gala she was spotted wearing the rubies and dancing with Britt Beckham"s boyfriend, NFL star Freddie Foote! (See center photo, Jewel (Amy) and Freddie (Paul)). Today the bracelet is missing, which of the 8 suspects stole it? (picture at left, left to right: Amy, Joelyn, Chrys, Jessica, Krysta, Abby, Rianna, Kymbel)

Krysta had the idea several months ago that she wanted to host a murder mystery party--not really a murder, just a crime. Bruce came up with the concept and helped write it and I finished it up and put it together. When Krysta invited the girls she told them their character so they came dressed and acting like the person. The athlete taped her name to the back of her shirt and the equestrian came with horse barrettes, horse head band, a horse shirt and a notepad covered in horse stickers. she had also googled "horse facts" that she told others randomly, "Did you know that a baby horse is called a colt?". I was the boarding house matron, Alison was the maid (so the house was nice and tidy when we got done) and Camille was the policeman. (right photo) Without knowing, Krysta had assigned herself to be the thief. Which turned out to be quite funny when she was the one who discovered the final clue that proved she did it! It was a fun, loud, giggly night.

Quotes for the week

"I only like the rotini that has spirals that are close together."
Krysta explaining why she couldn't eat the pasta I had made for dinner.

"What is that rice that is whole wheat called?"
Camille trying to remember the name of "brown rice".

Journaling

What a hectic week and this one promises to be too! We had concerts three of the weeknights and a Halloween party that the ward youth put on for the primary children. (Pictures above, Krysta helping with a bowling game and Camille, with Tricia in the backgound getting ready for the party). It was so much fun to attend each performance. The choir program was excellent at Northridge High on Monday night. It was so fun to watch Camille sing in the choir and an extra treat to see Rachel (who like Camille, in women's choir) and then later in the night Daniel and Paul. Paul sang with a smaller little jazz group and accompanied them on the piano for one song and was excellent.

Wednesday at Sunset Jr. we heard from both of their orchestras (Eric in one and Amy in the other) and their choir groups. It was great to watch Krysta having so much fun as she sang with her women's choir.
Friday was a highlight. Camille's voice teacher had arranged for a performance for all her students at Layton High's small theater. Camille sang, "Someday" from Hunchback of Notre Dame. She has nice poise and confidence when she sings and is progressing and sounding so good.

We have been having furnace trouble--actually it has been broken. The fan wouldn't shut off without turning off the power and it wouldn't make us any heat. We researched the problem on the internet, learned to decipher the blinking led code, Bruce took the furnace apart and took out a suspected part, and I took it to a furnace repair and parts store that Alison had recommended. The guys there told me that the part I brought really worked and showed me on a furnace on display what their guess would be. I drove home, Bruce took out the new suspected part, I went and got it and he put it back in. Voila, Heat! It only took three weeks, some chilly mornings, two trips to Clearfield, 21 dollars (yeah, only $21), multiple hours of work and research and it was fixed. The same morning we picked up the snowblower we ordered from Sears. We are prepared now to huncker down for the winter.

Katrina called and asked Tricia to illustrate a children's book she had written as a class assignment. She sent it Thursday but our internet was down. Friday was way too busy to begin it so Saturday morning at 9:45 I put Tricia to work drawing. We figured that to get it to Katrina on time we needed to get it to the post office on Saturday which closed at 2pm. With Tricia drawing, me outlining her art in black and Krysta and Tricia coloring. We got it done and zipped up to the post office with 3 minutes to spare. Pwhoosh, (that was the sound of me wiping my brow).

Camille gave her first Sacrament mtg talk on Sunday. Our home teacher (also in the bishopbic) asked her to speak a month or so ago but never really told us the date, so it was really embarrasing two weeks ago when from the pulpit he asked, "Sister Stanford, Are you planing on speaking today?" My heart raced! Camille's probably did too. So, this Sunday when I woke up and realized that this was the week of the talk, there was no postponing a second time. Bruce printed a couple of talks about the subject off from the internet and I talked to her about it. She went to her room and 45 minutes later she was ready for church and ready to give the talk. She did a wonderful job. It was organized, she used scriptues and quotes and applications to her life--makes me want to see what she could do with more time.

Last night we drove to Springville to participate in blessing David and Rebecca's new baby, Henry. (Tricia tells us that is such a handsome name for a young man) He is a perfect little boy, so cute. It was nice to see extended family and spend some time with Staci, who we picked up at BYU on the way there.

Krysta is planning a muder mystery party (actually it is a theft not a murder) for Thursday. She planned for us to clean "top to bottom" on Saturday and worked hard long after the rest of us got tired. She has left me a list of things to do today so I better get to it.

Three words

I took my humanities midterm.

Identifying art and sculpture was a breeze:
Equestrian group--parthenon--check.

The section on identifying literature was tough--Homer, Virgil, Aeschylus, Sophocles...
all seemed so similar with few identifying features.
The Apology, The Republic, On the Nature of Things, Genesis, Romans, Poetics...
Who said what and why?
I agonized over each passage
looking for clues,
digging deeper into my brain for forgotten tidbits.
Logically pulling apart phrases and narrowing options.

I started on a fresh passage,
read a few words and curiously, I knew...
It was the Bible.
I questioned myself,
"How could I know? I've only read three words."
"Read more then."
I read the first line.
"Yes, it's the Bible."
"But you haven't read anything that identifies it as a Bible passage."
"Right, but it feels like scripture."
"Just to be sure you better read the whole thing."
I slowly read the passage's five lines ending with "sons of God." In all that we had read only Christians believed mankind were God's children.
Those final three words had intellectually proven it. The answer had to be the Bible.
But in my heart I had known after the first three words.

shoot, shooting, shot

I took Tricia to get a flu shot this morning.
The doctor's office said to come at 8am.
We rushed the 25 minutes to Bountiful and learned that--nope, they were out (shoot).
After 2 healthy winters with shots I was determined not to have her go shotless this year, I persevered...
IHC has been out for a while.
Smiths and Walgreens were by appointment only and you to be over 13.
Davis Health Dept--not open on Thursdays.
Weber Health Dept--open but had a limited supply.

Shooting 40 minutes back across the valley we headed to downtown Ogden.
Inside a crowd was gathering--I didn't bother with the scooter, just grabbed Tricia and headed in.
A nice lady coming in at the same time held the door for us.
Inside I learned they indeed still had vaccinations so grabbed forms and asked about costs.
As we filled out the paperwork the nice door lady approached.
Her: "Let me help you".
Me (feeling in control of the situation, so confused): "In what way?"
Her (feeling in her wallet): "Let me pay for your shots".
Me (flustered): "Oh that is so sweet,thank-you, but we are all right, really".

A few minutes later Tricia got her shot (what a tough cookie, she didn't even flinch), a turquoise bandaid that matched her shirt and her double whiff of M1N1.

I'm wondering just a few last things from the day.
-Do you think the McDonald's sausage biscuit that I bought Tricia counted for "you owe me big"?
-What was it about us that prompted sympathy from the door lady? I'm feeling slightly self-conscience. Is there something about us that says, "desperate", "poverty stricken"? My flat hair? My worn purse? Maybe I need some new shoes. New shoes would say money in the bank, right?

Zen Garden-rain

Journaling

For the last week and a half Tricia has been quizzing me. "Can I take orchestra, did you call the place, when will I get my violin, I have to take a soft cloth can you hem this, when will you pick up my rosin...." Last evening I made it back from an errand and went looking for her. She was in her room practicing. She was up an hour early this morning and just minutes ago I dropped her and her forth size instrument off for her first lesson. I hope the enthusiasm lasts.

We had a busy weekend. Katrina came home from school to go to her friend Troy's missionary farewell. He invited us all to come to his open house Saturday night and to hear him speak in church on Sunday. It was fun to meet his family and see their gorgeous home and huge garden. As we met family members and introduced ourselves as Katrina's family they knowingly responded," Ohhh, Katrina's parents..." Not that I can imitate the inflection---but they definitely knew her.

Bruce and I drove Katrina back to Rexburg on Sunday evening. We dropped her off and were headed back home when we heard her cute ring-tone.
"If you're not the one, duh duh duh duh...".
"Oh, Katrina is calling us. Wait... that is her ring tone, not mine."
We stopped and dug and dug around the car until we found it and drove back to return it. The funny part was that she was talking on the way there about how she struggles some with school being so far away from home and I told her that we were only a phone call away. When we returned her phone she said,"Its good we realized it was missing or I wouldn't have been just a phone call away."

Krysta asked me to come and hear her sing a solo in her choir class yesterday. I showed up just before the class started and introduced myself. The teacher was so friendly and nice, had me sit with Krysta, told the class how wonderful it was for mothers to join them and Krysta was going to get 50 extra credit points for having me there. There I was in the middle of 30 singing Junior High girls so I warmed up and sang with them, basking in the memories. Soon enough the bell rang and the girls got up and left. The teacher invited me into her office to see Krysta's grades and thanked me for coming. Not one little mention of Krysta's solo. Fortunately it was fun so I'll enjoy myself next time I go.

Jumping on the trampoline has become an essential part of the day for Camille. Several times she has even been accidentally locked out of the house because she was out jumping in the dark. I mowed the lawn on Monday and moved the tramp to cut under it. As I was pulling it a weld came apart. I felt so sad breaking the news to Camille that it wasn't safe to jump on. All is well though because she already knew--it has been broken for weeks. She hadn't mentioned it because she thought I'd throw it away.

Bruce and I were called to teach 6 year old children in Primary. They performed their Sacrament program Sunday. Tricia sang the solo,"I'll Seek the Lord Early". When she walked up to the mike, the room went quiet (an amazing feat in our ward). She sings with such a sweet spirit and did a beautiful job. As we have been practicing for the program we have gotten to know the children in the ward better. There is something pretty bonding about asking the same child to be reverent 20 different times and ways. We have a little boy that sometimes comes to our class. He is working on his sense of humor, but not all the adults in the room understand that. We have been patiently trying to teach all of the children in our class reverence. Sometimes though especially during long program practices they can't stand it any more. We quietly try to distract them or let them sneak out the side door to get a drink of water one at a time. When we got to primary last week this little boy was seated with the class in front of us, no other seats were available. He turned around and talked to us. He wanted to make sure that we were still his teachers and that if we separated for class he would be going with us. Both of us had to reassured him multiple times. He stuck close when we divided up and tried so hard to do what we asked him to do. He really seems to like us. It is such a sweet thing to be liked.

Bruce has had a sinus infection. He has been too stuffy to use his "machine" at night thus, he hasn't slept well. He went to the doctor last week and got himself several prescriptions. I had them filled at Wal-mart--I've comparison shopped before and I thought they would be overall the cheapest. The total came to $190! Ahh! We had them reverse them out and re-called the doctor to see if he could prescribe a less expensive antibiotic. This time we thought we'd try Smith's--Bruce drives right by it on the way home from work. I called earlier to check if they had heard from our doctor and to ask prices. They told me they could price-match Costco. Great. Bruce decided not to get the nasal spray ($45 at Walmart). The other two prescriptions turned out costing us $43 from Smith's. Explain that?!

We are now finished with our 9 post-check-up dental appointments. I had the last one. The dentist numbed the upper tooth twice. When he was finished I had a side effect that I've never had before--my nose and sinus were totally numb on the left side. Really strange feeling. I didn't let that or the fact that the dentist had been running and hour and a half behind stop me from going out to lunch with Staci. BYU changed some of their employment rules. She had planned to just work full time this fall because she went to school through the summer. To keep her job (and jobs in Utah county are hard to come by) she had to be a student. She signed up for the minimum amount of classes but it is also a rule that students can only work 20 hours a week. Fortunately there is also a hiring freeze and it is football season so happily last week she managed to get 40 hours of work in.

a reptile and other things

I would rather have been blogging about the salamander that is living in my sprinkler valve box (center of photo, under the pipe) but for the last few weeks my literary energy has been used up with topics like Christian themes in architecture and epicurean philosophy.