Technique

Last week, Emily gave me a foot massage. It was better than chocolate. Really. She ushered me into her room (She's calling it Emiliana's Spa. Tres European.) and had me lay down on her exceptionally soft and comfy bed. I got a washcloth to cover my eyes so I could be all relaxed and then the fun began. She did a fabulous job! She had a few different moves and as she transitioned into a new one that was making my whole being one with the universe she said, "This is a massage technique I learned from Sister Bell." (The girls age 8-11 in our church get together twice a month and have some fun activities. One of them was a mini class for yoga and then learning about massage. Thank you Sister Bell.) I rose from Em's bed a relaxed and happy camper. I told her all I wanted for Christmas was for her to give me some more foot massages.
Then Rich got the treatment. He fell asleep. He was happy too.

The day after our wondrous foot massages, Emily saw a commercial for a massage therapy school. It showed students giving massages. She watched transfixed for a minute and then hollered, "Sarah! Come here! I want to try a new massage technique on you!!"

I'm glad it was Sarah that got to play guinea pig.

Sarah's sense of self preservation kicked in and she assumed the fetal position.

Apparently, this massage technique needs some refinement.

Smiling

Doesn't Sarah look grown up?

This photo was taken at our church's Harvest Fair. A very nice girl from our ward was strolling around taking some candid shots. She gave us this one and I scanned it. Combine that with the gymnasium lighting and you get grainy. I don't care. It was a wonderful day and this will help me remember.
(Emily was off to one of the booths with her friend so she's not in the shot.)

I am extremely thankful to be a mother. It took a while... but oh, it was worth the wait. How I love my daughters! It is my great joy to watch them grow and learn. Life is so good.

A switch to non-fiction

A Thousand Acres is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel is a contemporary deconstruction of Shakespeare's King Lear and is set on a thousand acre farm in Iowa that is owned by a family of a father and his three daughters. It is told through the point of view of the oldest daughter, Ginny. (Wikipedia)

I finished this yesterday.

Very well written. Interesting trip into the world of agriculture. Unpleasant voyage into the realms of dysfunctional family. Sometimes there's a little fun in dys'fun'ctional. Not here.

This is my new read.

An early Christmas present from Rich! Yay!!

I've never had one of these machines and I'm very excited to crank it up and start cooking.

For the first 15 years of marriage, Rich would frequently remove the knife from my hand and offer to chop, dice, mince or julienne whatever might be on the cutting board in front of me. This typically resulted in an insulted and cheesed wife. I don't deny I may have nicked a finger in the past, but I'm not a danger to myself or others when wielding a knife.

Either I've become more competent with a knife or Rich determined it wasn't in his interest to insult my food prep skills when I was near the cold steel. Good man that he is, he hasn't stepped in for years. I love it when we cook together, just not when he tries to play through.

Now when he tries to butt in it'll be because he wants to play with the shiny new Cuisinart! Woohoo!!

Mug Shots

Emily brought home her school pictures today, and now that I have them from both of my girls I thought I'd share.

~4th Grade~

Emily wanted braid waves, so we braided her hair the night before. She's wearing her favorite t-shirt. Its got a funky, multicolored peace sign. She likes a little sparkle. Adorable.

~7th Grade~

Sarah opted for a simple updo. Darling.

I've yet to see Emily's class photo, but am fairly sure I'll know where to find her in the picture... back row, middle. For some insight into the tall girl experience go to my sister's blog here.

I'm so grateful this blue eyed girl got two brown eyed beauties.

Cold

Take a look at this picture and see if you can guess what we're doing at our house these days.

If you guessed nursing a cold, you were right. This is what Emily's room looks like in the morning. What you can't see in this pic is the garbage can Em is aiming for. Lots of blowing and honking occurs in the night and she tries really hard to lob the tissues into the garbage. My sweet girl is beginning to look as though she could audition for the part of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in a Christmas musical.



The cold weather is keeping us inside a little more. Emily turned to an oldie but goodie to keep herself entertained the other day. She set up shop booking cruises for all of her stuffed animals. Sarah very graciously played along. She is a darling big sister for her sweet Emmy.

This is Em in the 'ticket office'. When the specs are on the end of her nose, you know she means business. She may end up in the travel industry yet.

The shorter days and colder nights have helped the color along on this beautiful tree. This is what I see when I step out my front door.

I like this tree a lot. Eye candy.

Happy November people. It feels to me like it's finally here.

Ballet West Rocks!

Last Friday I went to the ballet with my daughters. It was such a treat for me. I got to see world class dance* and have a sweet daughter on each side. Perfect!

This was the kind of ballet I really enjoy. Rather than a lengthy Swan Lake or Giselle, we had three separate ballets. For those of us with a shorter attention span this works out very well.

First off, Songs of the Valley set to American Songs by Aaron Copland for orchestra and baritone. The baritone was Darrell Babidge and the guest conductor was Kurt Bestor. Lots of Western inspired dance. Very accessible to the girls and they enjoyed it. Copland's arrangement of Simple Gifts and the dancing of it was so fine.

The second ballet was Three Preludes set to music by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The only accompaniment was from the piano up on the stage with the dancers... a couple. A simple set made to give the suggestion of a ballet studio with a barre in the middle of the stage. It was breathtaking. Beautiful pas de deux. (Here I must confess that in my many years of ballet class there were quite a lot of daydreams that someday I might be lifted and partnered and made to look absolutely delicate and fragile like these ballerinas. Never happened. I mean really. But those were some very nice daydreams.)

The third and final ballet and big event of the evening was The Dream, based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream. Music by Mendelssohn. Oh my. The costuming, the set, the music and the incredible dancing. I loved it. The girls loved it. Darling humor, yet still elegant. Beautifully done. Kudos Ballet West.

The benefactors for this fabulous night of culture were my mom and dad who were relaxing in a luxury hotel somewhere in Puerto Rico. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us have the tickets. Your granddaughters had a great time. Four generations have sat in those same seats. I thought of Grandma Wright while I was there. How could I not?

Transportation for the night was provided by Richard, in true Grandpa Wright fashion. (My grandparents had season tickets to the ballet and Grandpa was always happy to play chauffeur. Rather than being dropped off in front of Capitol Theater by a black limousine, we would step onto the curb from a beautiful blue Cadillac.)

First, Rich took us to dinner to celebrate Sarah and Emily's very impressive report cards. Well done girls! We're so proud of your hard work. Then he dropped us off and headed back home to take it easy while we enjoyed the ballet. The only glitch was when I called Rich after the ballet to see where he was and when he'd be there to pick us up. "Well... its going to be a little while. I've been pulled over and I'm getting a ticket." Dang! Emily was concerned that Daddy was going to jail. :{ Soon enough, Rich was there to get us. Did you know that a speeding ticket for 5 miles over the speed limit will cost you $90.00? We didn't. Now we do. Here's an impressive stat.... that was Rich's first ever speeding ticket!

It was a lovely evening and I'm so grateful that I could spend it with my daughters and that I have a sweet husband who cheerfully schlepped us around, even after his ticket. That's a real man. No foot stomping, police bad mouthing or otherwise nasty behavior. Thanks for helping to make it a happy night Rich.

*It wasn't til today that I remembered I'd seen this ballet before. The summer before my senior year of high school found me in Paris. I saved up my money and went with a small group of students to France. The big incentive for the trip was that my brother was serving in the France, Paris Mission and I was able to spend some time with him. While we were there a few of us went to The Paris Opera Ballet.

Crazy huh?

What's crazy is the fact that it was 1982.

It was different staging and a different choreographer, but guess what? Ballet West is every bit as good. Ha!

Greensleeves and an Updo

Who knew piano practicing could be so much fun?

Last night the girls were practicing a duet for their Christmas recital. Well, horsing around is more like it. Lots of laughter and giggling. I love these moments, when they're having a great time together. The laughter soon turned to shrieks of indignation.

Please note Em's mischeivous grin and the tap she's giving her sis with the left arm. Something along the lines of "Oh come on... it's not that bad."

This is, "You got spit in my eye! If I had my glasses on you could see it all over the lenses!!"

Brief pause while we all laugh some more.

Aaaand we're back.

They really are starting to sound quite good together.

By way of celebration, after the piano practicing was done,

Em decided to do my hair.

This asymmetrical coiffure is what Emily called a messy bun. Apparently its all the rage right now. (And yes, that is Thoroughly Modern Milly on the screen. We can't help ourselves.)


Thanks Miss Emmy... it was soo much fun. Love you!

The art of the costume

One last report on our Halloween festivities.



The day before Halloween, Sarah and Emily came giggling into my room. I looked up and found a pair of Cousin Its. What you see here is the extent of Sarah's costume. This Halloween marked the end of an era. It was the first time she didn't dress up and go trick or treating with her sister. Instead, Sarah had a small group of friends over for a party. (Mixed, I might add.)

Cue 'Sunrise, Sunset' here.

My Emmy dressed up as a W.I.T. or Witch in Training. Darling. She went trick or treating with her dad and I stayed home to hold down the fort.

This little bit of heaven lives across the street. Oh my.

It's official. I'm in love with Baby Ethan.

Russell and Carl

"Tents are hard."

If you haven't seen Up yet, please make a point to do so in the near future. Its good for the soul.

If you have seen Up you'll appreciate how amazing this costumed duo is. I don't know who the children are or where the picture was taken. It was on someone else's blog and I just couldn't resist.

Happy Halloween all.

Pumpkincide

The last week of October usually finds me trying to catch up with everything that needs doing by the 31st. For example: finishing touches on costumes, putting up and out some semblance of spooky decor, carving pumpkins, etc. I just am not a big Halloween lover. (Kind of a non holiday in my book) My daughter Emily doesn't appreciate my attitude. She loves Halloween and was already discussing her plans for next year's costume and festivities as we were blowing out the candle in her jack-o-lantern. If it were up to her we'd have an authentic looking graveyard in our lawn with every spectre imaginable floating from the trees, rigged up on zip lines to fly through the yard. Alas, she got 'unenthusiastic about Halloween mom' as a parent. I will defend her right to love Halloween and will facilitate her enjoyment in every way... just don't expect to see me in costume as I hand out candy.

Note Emily's two handed assault.

Daddy stepped in when Em's arms tired out.

If only she could open up and express herself.

Sarah wearing the cute apron she just made in school.

Sarah's Pumpkin of Peace

Em's Scary Snaggletooth Pumpkin

I was in charge of the Jack-o-lantern display and judging at the elementary school family carnival.




Sarah came to help with voting for the best in show pumpkin.

Sarah and a friend checking out one of the winners.

The girls had a fun time at the carnival and okay, so did I.