2012 Favorite Things: Taking Piano Lessons

Last year I did something I've wanted to do for a long time: I started taking piano lessons.  I took piano off and on for about 3 or 4 years when I was a kid.  I stopped taking lessons when I went into 7th grade because I was in the band and I thought it was too much to do both.  But I kept playing.  I've always loved playing the piano.  It is a total relaxer for me.  I used to play when I was stressed in high school or waiting for a date.  But I'm just ok and I really don't like playing in front of other people.  I had a traumatic recital experience when I was little.  I was in the middle of my memorized piece and my mind just went blank.  I hadn't brought the music so I just stopped and went back to my seat in the audience.  I was very embarassed.

Anyway, the girls have been taking for a couple of years now from a lady in our ward.  She is super nice and they love it.  I also visit teach her and when she told me she was going to start teaching adults I was very tempted.  When I went home and told John, he encouraged me to take them so I did.  And I have LOVED it.  It is the best thing I've done in years.  I love practicing.  I love playing.  I love the techniques I'm learning.  I'm learning to play a few hymns and I learned a beautiful piece for Christmas.  I also learned one of the themes from the Gwynneth Paltrow "Emma".  Sometimes I play for an hour a day.  Sometimes when I want to yell at my kids, I just go play the piano instead.

Here's some pictures of our piano.  It's about 100 years old and a little out of tune.  But it has great sound, is beautiful (though well-used), and has a lot of character.  My friend sold it to us really cheap probably 10 years ago.  It is finally getting used.  Best purchase ever!!  I can honestly say that taking piano lessons has changed my life for the better and I'm grateful that I have such an awesome teacher. I think my kids are grateful I'm taking piano too.  Piano music is so much better than yelling.

Some favorite things from 2012: Hand quilting

Since I was awful at keeping a blog last year I thought I'd do a few entries that highlight some of my favorite things I did. 

One of my favorite things that I did last year was learn how to hand quilt and I love it.  I've wanted to try it for a while now because my mother-in-law does a lot of handquilting and it is beautiful.  It also interested me because I love to do handwork.  Some people do and some people don't and that's ok, but I do. 

So, one of my other goals for 2012 was to make gifts for people's birthdays and when John's mom's birthday came up I decided to make her a quilt.  When I finished it, I decided to try hand quilting it because it turned out too cool to tie, and I hate machine quilting. And I had a lot of fun doing it.  It was hard at first, but once I got the hang of it, and a few good callouses, I loved it.  So here's what the quilt looked like when I was finished.

Unfortunately you can't really see the quilting, but I just did basic outline quilting.  I based the pattern on an actual Scrabble board, and the names are all the names of the grandkids (when I made the quilt).  I also embroidered the letter tiles using a satin stitch.  It was really fun to make and was one of those things where it actually turned out as cool as you envision it in your head.

That gave me a taste for quilting and then I was off.  I finished a t-shirt quilt that I've had pieced for John for about a year, but now I could finally finish it because I could handquilt it (It was too big to machine quilt). I did mostly outline quilting in this one too, but tried a few more adventurous shapes.  It was really fun.  These are lots of John's t-shirts from high school, his first year at BYU, and his mission.  It was fun to put together and now he can actually use it. I gave it to him officially for Christmas.

And lastly, I quilted a quilt for my sister-in-law that my mom pieced together.  Since it was just squares, I used quilting tape to quilt half square triangeles within the squares.  It was really simple but it turned out great.  The quilting masking tape is another thing I learned about from my mother-in-law. 

I also learned how to do binding which turned out really well.  Here is how it looked on the last quilt:

Learning how to do these things was one of my favorite parts of last year.  They're definitely things I will continue to do and experiement  with.  Yay for hand quilting!!

Family Poems for Poetry Month

In honor of my book club's poetry month I wrote some poems for my family.  I've actually been thinking about doing this for a while.  I wrote these all on our big white board and the kids really liked it. (And, in honor of Emily Dickinson, my favorite poet, I just titled them with numbers.)

1

Life is lovely

But I wouldn't last long

If I didn't have my John.

2

Life is grand.

Life is great.

What would I do without my Kate?

3

Life is stupendous,

But would be scary,

If I didn't have my Mary.

4

Life is a dandy,

But what a dilemma,

If I didn't have my Emma.

5

Life is terrific,

But to tell the truth,

I wouldn't like it without my Ruth.

6

Life is super,

But would be silly,

If I didn't have my Lily.

7

Life is marvelous,

But I'll tell you, madam,

I'd be sad without my Adam.

8

Life is crazy,

But I couldn't cope,

Without the thought of seeing Hope.

9

Life is beautiful,

But I believe

It's not so belle without Noel.

Adam's Christmas Wish List

I asked the kids to make a list of 5 things that they wanted for Christmas.  Here's Adam's list as written down by me (but he pretty much said exactly this):

1. Super Squad socks that always come back (he's tired of losing his socks).
2. Walking crayons that only walk to Adam (he's tired of losing his crayons and he doesn't want his sisters to take them).
3. Unrippable comic book: Supersquad, Star Wars, or Doctor Who (he has a lot of hand-me-down comic books that are falling apart and missing pages).
4. Bag to put everything in that never stops growing (he really likes the Doctor Who notion of things that are bigger on the inside).
5. Dollar that never gets lost.

That boy makes me laugh.  But looking at this with fresh eyes, I guess he must lose things a lot or his stuff gets destroyed.  What a rough life that boys leads. Alas, what can you do when you have so many sisters?!!

What? Things I've realized I don't know about English society

Background:

John has been trying to get me to watch Doctor Who for over a year.  Last year for Halloween, he dressed up like the Tom Baker Doctor.  I had a conversation with my brother in France about this time last year about Doctor Who and I knew next to nothing about it, except that John really liked it and had gotten Emma hooked.  Mostly they were watching the olds 60's and 70's episodes.  I caught a few minutes here and there but found the cheap sound effects and silly aliens a little too much for me.

Last Christmas John and I made a deal that he would watch Babylon 5 with me if I would watch the new Doctor Whos with him.  So I half-heartedly starting watching them with him.  We started on Netflix with the first of the new Doctor Who episodes (Christopher Eccleston as the doctor). The first episode starts out with mannequins that come to life and chase this girl, then the doctor comes out of nowhere and saves her.  It is silly, scary and a little ridiculous all at the same time.  But I kept watching and eventually I came to like Doctor Who almost as much as John.  There's something about being terrified and laughing yourself silly all at the same time.

So it turns out that I have been watching quite a lot of Doctor Who recently.  It is the perfect show to exercise to because it is fast paced, has lots of chasing music, and is just the right length for an exercise session.

In all of this Doctor Who watching, quite a bit of other British TV and Jane Austen exposure, I've never felt very ignorant of their culture.  They speak English.  They have more class issues.  They call a flashlight a torch.  Big deal.

But over the past few weeks, I've realized how little I really know.  Going along with my Doctor Who interest (John would probably call it an obsession, I can be a little obsessive, I admit it), I found a cheap book on my Kindle entitled "Dalek, I Loved You".  It's a memoir about a guy growing up in England loving Doctor Who.  Mostly it's about this guy's life with Doctor Who thrown in.  About 2 pages into this book, I realized I had little to no idea about most of what he was talking about, things that he was throwing out there like they were common knowledge. I found the book fascinating, mostly because it showed me just how much I don't know. 

So here's some of the things I have no clue about:

• His parents saved up all their money to send him to, wait for it, "public" school.  Obviously doesn't mean the same as here.  I still have no idea exactly what it means.
• British children's television.  I had never heard of one show that he named.  No idea.
• Famous British actors.  I thought I knew.  I know Sean Connery, Patrick Stewart, Colin Firth.  Besides the actors associated with Doctor Who, I'd never heard of any of the people he talked about, people he'd dreamed all his life about meeting.
• British geography.  Seriously, I 'm going to have to find a map of England and figure it out, because I basically ignored all place names.  The only ones I'd heard of were things like London, Wales, and Scotland. I'm not afraid to admit my ignorance.
•  Modern British history.  He talked about some wars and massacres I had never heard of. Big, life-changing events and I hadn't the faintest idea.
• British music scene.  The only person he really liked that I knew was David Bowie and almost all the songs he named of his I'd never heard of. 
• What a big deal Doctor Who is.  I seriously had no idea it was so popular. Kind of like Star Trek in the US, with conventions and everything.

There's probably more.  I just kept reading and reading and realizing how uninformed I am about a place from which I spend a fair amount of time watching their TV shows and reading their literature.  It was eye-opening.  But I kind of like it.  It gives me something to learn more about. Realizing your ignorance is always the first step.

Ist Day Without John and We Went to the Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo.  Since none of my kids could ever remember going to the zoo I guess it was about time.  Melissa used to work there and she's going back to Utah on Wednesday, so we wanted to go with her.  We got the group discount because we had 2 adults and 11 kids (Missy and Steve met us there).  We also had to pay for parking and list on the form whether we had a bus or a car.  I chose car.  The lady said, "You all came in ONE car?"  "It's a big 15 passenger van."  "Oh."  The highlight of my visit.

It was a little hot but we mostly had a good time.  Noel really liked all the animals and insisted that I make room for her so she could see all the animals.  That was fun to watch. The kids were all really good and stayed with their partners.  If we went again I would bring more water, more hats, and another stroller.  Popsicles at the end seemed to make everyone happy.

Conversations and Haircuts

Yesterday my hair was the longest it's been since before I met John. Today it is short and I FEEL FREE!!!

I forget how much I like short hair. But going from reasonable long hair to pretty short takes time. So while the lady (I'm guessing she was in her 20's) cut my hair there was plenty of time for conversation. Here's part of the conversation that made me laugh.
Lady: So do you work or go to school?
me: No, I pretty much just stay home and take care of my kids.
Lady: Oh, that's cool. How many do you have?
me: Seven.
Lady (in shocked voice): You do not!!!
me (laughing): Yeah, I do.
Lady: How old are they?
me: (I list my kids and their ages)
Lady (incredulous): Are they all yours?
me: Yep, they're all mine. (I think she was trying to ask if there were any adopted, or if I married into some or something. I'm not exactly sure, but I found that part the funniest.)
She went on to say that I must be a strong woman and that she could barely handle her one. I told her I thought one was a lot too when I had just one.

I know our family is big but I really don't think about it most of the time. I love all my kids and most days wouldn't want to give any away. But it always makes me laugh when I talk to people. The shock, the awe. I didn't set out to have seven kids, but it wasn't accidental either. It's just the way it is and I happen to like it.

I think I got a good haircut and I definitely had a good laugh. What more can you ask for?

Some Projects From the Past Year

I'm always wanting to post about things I've made but I keep forgetting. A lot of them I even forget to take the pictures. But here are some of the things I at least remembered to take the pictures of:

This is the car seat cover that I made before Noel was born. I got the idea from my next door neighbor who had mad a super cute one. This is some seersucker fabric that I bought a while ago, but I just love the colors and we have loved the cover. It was nice and lightweight for summer--provided shade but didn't get too warm underneath it. I got a basic pattern off the internet, but I honestly can't remember where and I think I combined tips from a couple different patterns. I also really liked the ribbon I used for the loops to attach it to the car seat. It is bright and cheerful and it makes me happy to look at it.

These are the burp rags I made for Noel. I picked out a bunch of my favorite flannel, sewed them on cloth diapers, and added matching ribbon on the edges. I had a lot of fun matching the ribbon with the fabric. And again, I love them. They're bright, they're happy, and they make me smile when I look at them. Noel also loves looking at them because they're so brightly colored. As John says, too bad I didn't think of it 12 years ago. That's ok, because I may not have appreciated them as much as I do today. Plus I just love how they look when they're folded.



This is the front and back of a tag quilt I made. I really love making these. I love picking out the ribbon and doing the embroideries. They're just so much fun. I really like the turtle soft fabric with the yellow fabric. It's bright, it's happy, and it makes me smile. Are you detecting a theme here?

And then there are these flowers. I didn't make them, but someone did. These are not normal flower colors. But I don't care. I love them!! They're bright, they're happy, and they make me smile. Plus they did this really cool thing where, as the dye drained out of them back into the water, the petals starting turning white again. So cool!! They seemed to fit right in with the other projects.

Small Miracles: Helpful Kids and Productive School Projects

Today I am grateful for helpful kids and productive school projects. My kids were remarkably helpful today. I'm not saying there wasn't any fighting, making messes, or yelling. But the helpfulness outweighed all of that. First of all the healthy ones, Lily, Emma, Mary, and Kate all got up and got themselves ready for church way before their ride got here. (John is out of town and I had to stay home with the sick ones.) Yay for them! And Lily was the first one ready. What a good 4 year old.

Second, when everyone was home from church, we had a choose your own lunch (a family tradition that the kids love where one person goes around and "takes orders" and each person gets to order one, easy-to-make, item for everyone for lunch). They all were helpful and cooperative. Lily took orders and Kate and Mary filled them, with a little help from me.

Third, Kate offered to make dinner because she has to do it twice for school--finally a school project I can get behind!! She wanted to make hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, crowd favorites both. I agreed and really only helped her with verbal cues when she was doing it. She did a great job. And her teacher told her that part of completing the assignment was cleaning up and doing the dishes, so she loaded the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen too. I loved it! She also told me that she has to do a cleaning project for school and I suggested that she load the dishwasher once a day while her dad's gone (usually he does it). She agreed enthusiastically and I was overjoyed because I was going to make her do it anyway but now she's happy about it.

Fourth, again for her school project, Kate had to make up a game and teach it to her siblings. She decided to do "Cleaning UNO". The rules were pretty much the same as UNO, but when anyone got a SKIP or a WILD card, they had to clean up 10 things for each card. The little girls loved it and now their room is mostly clean. Kate could have chosen anything, but she chose to choose something that would help make our house better. What a good kid!

Lastly, the kids helped clean other rooms while Kate was doing dinner, they let me take a nap this afternoon, and they were good for Kate while I went visiting teaching. They were all so helpful. And they all read scriptures with me and Mary even read me part of our mother-daughter book-club book while I was feeding the baby. It was a great day and I'm really grateful for my kids and that they like me and each other. They were so good that I even gave the baby a bath, which is monumental (usually John does it because I hate giving babies baths). Great day, great kids. Lots of blessings!

Goals Round-up From 2011

At the beginning of the year, I like to think about the goals I had last year and what I accomplished. I don't think you have to accomplish a goal for it to be positive. I think progressing toward the goal is the point anyway. And then I like to re-evaluate and set some new goals. So here goes:

Last year, my first goal was to read 105 books. It's a lofty goal and I haven't reached it yet in three years of trying, but it keeps me reading and that's what is important. This year I read about 68 books and I enjoyed everyone. This year I think I'll shoot for 100 and I want to make at least 10 of those books that I already own. I love reading and think of it as continual job training, because if I ever work outside the home again, it will probably be in some job having to do with books and reading.

My second goal last year was to index 20,000 names and I didn't even come close. Somewhere near the beginning of summer I fell off the indexing bandwagon and have never been able to climb back on. I still think it is a valuable thing though so I am going to try harder. I think they are releasing the next census records in March, so I'm excited to get involved again. They changed the way they record what you do to a point system. They don't really say how many names anymore (which is also part of my demotivation, sad and silly but true), so I have no idea how many I did last year. But I guess my new goal for this year will be to earn 100 points. In their system that equals about 100 records. I think that is a reasonable goal and very doable if I start doing a little at a time.

My third goal was to finish 50 projects and, in each one, use something I already had. Now I'm not sure how many things I finished, because my record-keeping has gone down the tubes, but I actually feel like I did a lot and I used a lot of things I already own too. Someday I'll post on my blog pictures of some of the cool things I made because I took some, but not today. Now John would like nothing better than if I would use up all the fabric and supplies that covers one whole corner of our back room. (I'm pretty sure it would be the best birthday present I could ever give him--not this year, my dear.) But I have a lot of stuff and I'm pretty sure I couldn't use it all if I tried. I also have realized that I work better with deadlines and a little pressure. So, this year my goal in the project area is to make something for each of my family's birthdays. That way I can be creative and make things I think they might like, use up some of my stuff, and have deadlines to make myself finish. I'm very excited about this goal and have already almost completed 3 things for the first 3 birthdays on my list.

My fourth goal was to complete the DMBA health challenge and earn my $200 cash back incentive. I did it and I am glad I did. My cholesterol check turned up some real concerns that I was able to address. But I also get the $200, which is the best bonus. This year I think I'm going to buy myself a Kindle Fire to use on my summer vacation this summer. I'm very excited. My goal for next year is the same. This year BYU is giving out a gift card to the Bookstore for their side of the reward (in the past they've given out little presents each time you complete a challenge--I've gotten lots of good stuff). That's exciting too. Yay for incentives to keep yourself healthy. For me the obvious incentive is just not enough.

My fifth goal was to post on my blog at least once a week. Now we all know that I didn't make that one but it's ok. I averaged closer to once a month. But I want to try again this year with a little tweak. Our Bishop today talked a little in Sacrament about recognizing the miracles, blessings, and good things in our lives. I know that I could do better at that, so I want to write on my blog once a week, but focus on the miracles and things I am grateful for in my life. I have been doing something similar this year in my journal and I really like it so I think it will make a great incentive to write in my blog.

My sixth goal last year was to write in my journal at least 5 days a week. I actually did pretty well at this one. I would say I wrote closer to 3-4 days a week, but I feel good about that. I really don't write much, but I do quote one scripture that has inspired me each day, and then 5 things that I'm grateful for. I really like it and will continue this goal for this next year too. I think this year I want to make more of an effort to write in my journal on the days when it is not easy and when the kids are out of school. I usually write in my journal right after I take the kids to school in the morning, so if they don't go, I don't write--silly but true. I can work on that.

My seventh goal last year was to finish both the Old Testament manual and the Book of Mormon and do some individual scripture study every day. To be honest I never made it out of Genesis, but I did some really in-depth study and I feel really good about that and am ready to move on to the Book of Mormon for this year. I also was able to finish the Book of Mormon, which was awesome. This year I'm going to focus on the Book of Mormon, since it is this year's course of study for Sunday School. I got the seminary study manual for that too and am really enjoying it. I want to do in-depth study with the manual, and keep up with the Sunday School goal and our family's goal (which is to follow the chart that was in the January Friend). This will mean that I will probably be studying in two different place in the book every day, but I'm good with that. I kind of like it that way, actually. I still want to keep it to between 15-30 minutes a day. And like the journal writing, I want to work on doing it on the days when my kids are out of school (I read scriptures and write in my journal at the same time).

My final goal last year was to be nice to my kids. I definitely had mixed results (really mixed if you talked to my kids). But we did do some fun things as a family. First and foremost, we added Noel to our family. And if you've seen Noel, you'd know how really great that is. She is a cutey!! We also had Seven Peaks passes and enjoyed going once a week as a family all summer long. I think we made some good memories there. We've also done lots of family reading, both scriptures and regular books. In my opinion, those are probably the best times. This year for my goal I was touched by something I read in the George Albert Smith lesson last week. One of his ideals in his personal creed reads, "I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy." I think that is a pretty good goal for a mother. I definitely live with the masses (of kids in my house) and I can try harder to help them solve their problems so they can be happy. That's my goal for the year. Here's to solving problems, whatever they may be.

I think that is a good mix of goals for the year and I'm eager to get started. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to make 2012 a great year in my life and in the lives of those around me.