So Blessed! Amelia's Sweet 16

If our family was all attending college, then last  week was hell week (finals). We passed through the fires alive but a bit crispy on the edges. Monday morning was way too bright and cheerful for our tired bodies! The kids arrived home from school dragging and I finished the grocery shopping as is customary. Phillip and Everett got handsome haircuts after school. After piano lessons and dinner the little girls and I worked on their Great Brain projects. Josie researched Aurora Borealis (and Australis). She helped type out the slides using information she read about in books and from documentaries she watched over the last month. Next year she is going to research Arctic Foxes! Evelyn researched constellations. She learned her favorite constellation, the Big Dipper, is actually an asterism! After we finished the information sheets the girls glued the papers to the display boards. So exciting.   

Amelia turned sweet 16 on Tuesday! I cannot even believe that is true. Only two more years of her at home?! She dressed up super cute for school in her sage green dress and a flower crown! Evelyn and I started listening to Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm, after we finished Pollyanna on the drive down to Utah. I am reliving all my childhood literary favorites, Evelyn is quite engrossed! After therapy I spent 3 hours in the kitchen making 7 dozen cupcakes, coloring the frosting primary colors, frosting the cupcakes, making Amelia’s raspberry jello birthday cake, and green sauce for chilaquiles verde. Instead of wrapping her birthday presents I made a treasure hunt with her gifts hidden with the next clue along a crazy trail. I made sure she went up and down the stairs as often as possible! That was quite fun. Mostly, it was a regular ole day for the kids with school, clogging, and piano. Evelyn stayed home from hip hop to attend Da Vinci and Great Brain night. Phillip took the girls over to Ronald Reagan helping them set up their displays while I finished piano lessons. Josie wanted to wear her *new* favorite dress, one a sewed Amelia for her 8th birthday. It is a bit long but she absolutely loves the dress! I brought my load of cupcake contribution for the Da Vinci bake sale, used to fund the art program. Last year’s funds allowed us to buy nice 12 foot tall rigid display boards instead of the hard-to-manage cardboard displays. Evelyn and Josie stood by their projects for 20 minutes explaining their projects to anyone with a listening ear. Next to Josie was a student with a real snake, she basked in the attention directed to the other project! The cutest part was watching the girl’s teachers patiently sit while the girls explained all about their discoveries. Ms. Gingerich is a golden soul, a perfect match Evelyn needed this year. We stayed until the science competition was over. Each grade has a project to complete, the grades then compete for awards. For example, Evelyn’s grade made lego cars with sails, the car that traveled the furthest won. Justin and Mia finished up the chilaquiles meal by making the chips and salsa. The avocados were way too hard for guacamole, even the oven trick did not soften those rock hard avocados. Amelia’s birthday celebration did not start until 9 pm. Justin, Amelia, and Phillip got into a yelling argument over some stupid situation. Egos got involved and no one would or could drop the rope. Amelia refused to come down until her face was not puffy and red from crying. The treasure hunt was a bit anticlimactic since she was not very happy, she did perk up as the hunt progressed. Amelia got mostly books (Skyward series and Aru Shah series) and shirts. She also got some camera film, Roblox money, a Monster High doll, a big puffy wearable blanket, 4 squishmallows (purchased before the ban), and a cute Ahsoka backpack. Amelia’s cake was so delicious with raspberry compote and freshly whipped cream. We finished the night off with cute videos of Amelia, the blackmail video, la la lu la, my heart song, sooooory, and somebody he he he are family legends. We sure love our sweet, feisty, creative, musical, pretty, and smart first born. I carved enough time to edit 5 favorites of Mia from her birthday photo session. She is looking so pretty and wonderful. 

We had a short-lived breather on Wednesday before the MCO concert chaos. Josie started off the day making us all laugh for off and on all week. She was at the calendar reading the small print in that date’s box. Suddenly, she asked me what Pahasamus day was?! I asked her to spell it, she started then Evelyn joined in. The verbally spelled word suddenly sounded like some strange Indian holiday. Josie was trying to say Administrative Professional’s Day, which is now pah-hās-a-mus day. I worked hard to get the funeral photos processed through Lightroom and uploaded before the upcoming MCO photo dump. 

Thursday was quite low key until the evening. Somehow the afternoon went quicker than anticipated, ended up trying to grill chicken 35 minutes before go time. The propane ran out so I rushed to finish frying the chicken on the stove. We ran out the door dripping BBQ sauce and chicken thighs. The kids helped me clip name tags to the lead ropes beforehand. I was stressing over child placement and quadruple checking the line numbers for even representation. At the last moment I noticed two of my wiggly kids were right next to each other. After rehearsal I made sure to switch that little disaster in the making. My little, wiggly charges sang their hearts out to Jesus is my Friend and Shut the Door. We practiced entering and exiting two or three times. Brett was not impressed with the lead ropes, asked me to leave them behind. Since he did not elaborate we still used them during the concert to get the kids down three flights of stairs and to the stage wings before removing the leads just to keep the kids in some semblance of order. It was gorgeous outside and stuffy hot inside the High School cafeteria. I stayed until the older kids were finished just listening to the wonderful music floating on the air. Evelyn and Josie had a great time playing on the lawn with other MCO friends. After rehearsal I took the kids to Albertson’s with a $10 budget each to get dinner food for concert day. Amelia started a new potential tradition by grabbing her own loaf of French bread. Moments later Evelyn, Phillip, and Ambree had their own loaves of bread. My ears were ringing and my senses overloaded by the time we checked out. The kids chanted “bread, bread, bread” for a good 30 minutes. I found the kid’s dinner choices amusing: bread loaves, macaroni salad, and candy. Josie chose a sandwich lunchable and strawberry milk. I am eternally grateful to Danielle Young for picking up a Chik-fil-a salad as my concert day dinner. She took good care of me. 

CONCERT DAY!!! The kids did not have to miss school this time because Friday was a teacher workday. We slept in until 8 am then rushed about getting everyone showered, concert wear wrinkle-free, washing Evelyn’s shirt last moment due to a stain from the ironing, packing dinners, assembling the wagon stuffed full of books/games/blankets/snacks/hair stuff, and all my camera gear. Evelyn wanted curly hair so we tried hair curlers, which mostly worked except for one curl which was too wet, she wore the curlers through dress rehearsal. I forgot to remove it so all the photos I took need editing to remove the two curlers from her hair. Danielle needed her three boys carted along so our van was a sardine tin with 10 bodies, 8 of those bodies adult sized. According to Idaho law we were legal since all the seatbelts were used up?! Ha ha, that might have pushed the legal interpretation of that law. I was concerned Everett would get carsick but he managed quite well. The kids were 10 minutes late, but still in time to get settled in the holding area. Phillip’s vest button shank snapped off right as we left. Thank goodness the wardrobe lady had an extra button and thread for a quick repair. I snagged four teens to carry the items in my wagon upstairs since the elevator was only for official use. I plugged in extra battery chargers in the YSC holding room at the top of the tower. My legs got an awesome workout going up and down numerous flights of stairs for 8 hours. I was not given any instructions on what, when, how, and where to photograph after requesting that info several times. Like my modus operandis I forgot part of Josie’s uniform…her white tights. I asked several people in charge but no one knew when I needed to start so I left with Josie to get tights at Target. While there I got a panicked text asking where I was and why I was not photographing. Seriously?! We rushed back AFTER buying the dang tights. I was on stage and clicking away only 1 minute after dress rehearsal. Sometimes the lack of communication is overly annoying! Gotta roll with those punches and not take anything personally. 

The MCO stage manager gave me a running list of what they were looking for, talked down to me like I was some amateur off the streets. Just plastered a smile on my face and went about my favorite thing in the world! I took a ton of photos mostly from the perspective of a parent wanting cute photos of their performing child. Brett is very animated when he directs, I caught moments with both his feet off the podium! Brandon played a phenomenal piano number for A Mighty Fortress, his hands were blurred he was playing so quickly. Once dress rehearsal was over I rushed upstairs to help the concert coordinator with last minute details and switch camera batteries with fresh ones. We played musical dresses since tiny Atzimba was wearing a size 8 jumper and needed a 4, another girl wore Atzimba’s dress, Ruby’s dress went to Hope, and so on. The jumper is supposed to be at knee level, thus all the changes. I had both my camera bodies for the event, my newest camera with a 70-200mm lens (and two extension tubes, one x1.4 and another x2) giving me a chance to photograph unclose from very far away. My older camera had my Sigma art 50 mm or my 20-70mm lens. I quite enjoyed hopping from door to door, side to side, and up on the mezzanine for different perspective shots. The first concert was stunning, hearing all the songs come together along with the conductors commentary was heavenly. I ran into Esther and Fallon at the first concert then met up with their group in the lobby! Got to give Aunt Nancy a long hug. My two access badges gave me access to ALL the places! I visited with the kids during dinner break. The boys were having a blast playing games with gummy worm boy (the boy who stuffed his water bottle with gummy worms the first concert ever and drank all the water), Phillip was immediately hooked into friendship. 

The YSC holding room was a zoo of noise and commotion. One gal asked me what to do about the girl’s black tights, whipped out a pack of baby wipes. Another volunteer needed hair stuff, bam! Here ya go! A kid with no food or snacks? Check the wagon. I may forget my underwear when we travel but sometimes I get it right, ha ha ha. I absconded into the kitchen with my chik-fil-a salad, I was feeling quite nauseous from all the stress. The concert coordinator was freaking out getting the lines and children in order. My trick using gummy bears quieted down the kids enough for her to get them lined up and ready for the second concert. Justin had my seat all warm and ready for the second concert. Dusty, Sara, her parents and sister attended this concert. The second concert was better than the first, thought not without mishap. Professor Bishop lost her baton mid-swing, it clattered loudly on the stage. She is so graceful with her hands and gestures while conducting. Her dress was so sparkly under the spotlight we could barely look at her. Here is the concert order:

Amazing Grace; Come, Come, Ye Saints; Jesus is my Friend, Down to the River to Pray; Shut the Door; I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked; Hoe-Down; Alleluia Fanfare/Praise to the Lord; Were You There?; A Mighty Fortress; Come Thou Fount; I’m So Blessed

The audience was up and dancing for the last number. I LOVED the introduction grand chorus sang, a slow “I am a child of God” followed by a praise the Lord dance fest. We ended the night on a high! The older kids helped me clean up the holding room and get the wagon back 3 flights of stairs. Everyone was parched, a cherry limeade put that craving to rest. It was very hard to fall asleep, we were so excited and tired our bodies refused proper rest. Esther dropped Clare off at our home after they had dinner with Nancy. Clare said Dog Vader ripped apart the garbage again, he’s not too old for mischief. She cleaned up the mess before we got home. Thank you very much.

Saturday morning the little girls slept in until after 10, the rest of us were awake at 7:45 in order to get the house ready for Amelia’s tea party. Mia, Clare, and I had a silly trip to the Dollar Store. We were on goofy balls as we perused the aisles for tea party decor. We crooned over tiny spoons, little parfait cups, fans, and etc.  I was thrilled to find more miniature gnomes for my fairy garden that did not look (as) creepy. Somehow we started loudly talking about shaving our armpits, gloriously my pits were shaved, Amelia’s were a tad shaggy. Justin and the boys worked on the lawn and shed. Clare and Mia made cute tiny treats like macarons, parfaits, lemon curd, and cookies. I worked on setting up a “room” on the patio using my photo backdrop stands with crocheted blankets clamped on. Somehow the weather decided to soar into the 80’s so it was quite warm outside. Justin was tasked to get the kids out of the house during the party, he tried to take the kids to the new Mario movie so Everett could use his 2 free tickets. Evelyn threw a terrible tantrum, she was exhausted from MCO and all that jazz. I laid on her bed and read a book aloud to help her regulate and decompress. She was having a very hard time understanding why she was not invited to the tea party. The kids waited and missed the movie start time 3 times while Justin was napping. I was quite a bit upset that he came home during the party with a raging Evelyn and hopped off to bed. He did try to help with Evelyn before a nap but it was too late. They finally left around 4:30 pm for the movie, after the party was over. Amelia had a great time with her fellow YW group plus Tessa and Clare. Mia can be so inclusive! She was over to moon that Jocelyn is back from SLC, she was in a 24 hr treatment home for anorexia for about a month. There was a lot of fan flapping, tongue wagging, and giggling outside. They came inside because it was quite warm to open gifts and watch a Barbie movie. Clare and Mia requested BFF pics in matching red shirts and flower crowns. So cute. I feverishly worked on culling and LR editing the MCO photos. Pared that mess from 2,000+ photos down to 600, then to 180. They wanted the photos by Monday or Tuesday of the next week. I hoped they would let me share some of the photos with parents, alas, no! Bummer. 

Saturday night Ambree celebrated her 14th birthday! She turned 14 on concert day! Sara made Ambree a jello poke cake (yay) and a chocolate cake. Sara’s parents and sister were there to celebrate as well. Everett chowed down his cake and went outside to jump on the tramp. As he made his way off the porch, Ruby slammed her skull into Everett’s leg bone. It was quite late, around 9:30 pm so a black dog and dark backyard made for a perfect storm for our space cadet Everett. Justin heard him howling and crying in pain, he was acting like his leg was broken. Justin called me over to investigate. I could tell his leg was not broken but could not rule out a fracture. Although how a dog skull could fracture a tibia is beyond me. Honestly, we could not get much information out of Everett so guessed at what happened. He calmed down with some cake, ice on his leg, and a pillow. Phillip got our beloved pair of crutches (one of the most used “toys” we own) to get Everett home. I made Justin upset but swatting his hand away while Everett was lying down, Everett had calmed down and I thought by Justin pressing on his leg he would throw Everett back into tears. Justin went to bed. I walked into the living room to find all the kids staring at me like, why aren’t you taking him to the ER, don’t you love Everett? Everett was whimpering, Josie and Evelyn made cute nurses fetching his slippers, monkey binky, and pillows. I reluctantly took him to the ER knowing he was not seriously injured, but unsure enough to not rule out a fracture. Everett was grateful that I cared enough to take him, at least he knows I care! LOL. A boring 2 hours in the ER resulted in some Gravity Falls on TV, a series of x-rays, ice, and his own ACE bandage. The ruling? A bone bruise. Treatment? Ice, pain reliever, crutches for a day, and snuggles. He stayed home from church to convalesce on the couch. 

I was a hot mess Sunday! Almost to my breaking point with fatigue, emotionally overdrawn, and a to-do list a mile long; just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep a month. I was gone from Primary for 5 Sundays with general conference, stake conference, funeral, and etc. I used the teacher tubs under the chairs this week filled with supplies needed for singing time, that worked like a charm. We used pool noodles cut into 5” lengths and halved for a sensory tool. Monday came all too soon, but thankfully after a bit of Sabbath rest. Sunday evening we had a GLORY session for everyone in our family. Glooooory on: Josie! Pachow!