Rachel Vocol Solo Festival

 

Rachel participated in the Middle School Vocal Solo & Ensemble Festival last Saturday.  Usually, it is only students with private voice teachers who participate, but because her teacher, Mr. Olsen, knew that I was a pianist, he allowed Rachel to do it.  I was nervous for her and felt a lot of pressure because although I know what sounds good, and what a great vocalist sounds like, I have no idea how to teach her the techniques of it.  Voice is a completely different ballgame than piano.  It was also difficult because we didn't have a piano in our home (because my piano's harp broke about a month ago) and so we had to find time to go up to the church to practice. 

But practice we did, and I was so excited and proud of her for how hard she worked to prepare!  She did so great that day.  She is a 6th grader, and only 12...but she sang beautifully.  I thoroughly enjoyed being her accompanist and performing with her.

The highest score you could get was a 35.  Rachel was the only middle school student from East Valley Middle to score a perfectly perfect score of 35.  They had to wait a few days to receive their scores and judging sheets and those days were like torture to her because she was so anxious to know what she got!   I was so excited for her when she came home from school just glowing with excitement as she showed me her ribbon and the judging sheet! 

She has a beautiful voice, I love hearing her sing, and I hope that she continues to work hard to develop her talent!

And It's A....

GIRL!!!

 

Taylor took a HUGE chunk of cake to show his support of the news!

 

To announce it to the kids, I made a cake, frosted it white, and then told them that they had to cut into it to find out.  Blue meant baby brother, and pink meant baby sister.  They were all really excited.  Notice the look on Matthew's face in this picture...so excited!  He was sure it was a boy.

We got them all gathered around, Addy just liked the frosting...didn't care much about the inside.  But watch all the other facial expressions...especially Rachel's.  Too cute!

 

and....

Yep...she's pretty sure, looks over at Dad to see if she's right...

And it's a GIRL!  Now notice Matthew's face.  Not so excited anymore.  He's still convinced that its really a boy somehow.  Too funny.  Taylor's a good sport though, the girls are excited, and Addy just loves the frosting.

So we're excited to be getting ready for our 5th baby girl.  I was always sad that I was an only girl and never had any sisters or even any girl cousins close to my age.  I've always yearned for that special, close female relationship and have never had it...so I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has sent me 5 beautiful daughters.  I love each one of them, yes, even this one that has still not made her grand arrival...she made it very clear to Andy and I that she needed to come and I'm so excited to finally meet her.  I am so thankful that I have the chance to have that special close relationship with each one of my daughters, I feel very blessed.  Sometimes we don't always get the thing that we've always wanted on our own timeline or how we imagined it should be, no matter how hard we try to make it happen...but it does come.  And my boys?  Well...they are full of enough energy, spunk, humor, grit, imagination, goofiness, and yucky boy habits to make up for the lack of numbers.  Our home wouldn't be the same without them, and I know they'll fall in love with our newest little princess as soon as they meet her.

Needles Revisited

So I had an allergic reaction to the Lovenox injections and now I get to have my medication changed to Heparin injections.  I still have to inject myself each day to keep my blood clotting in check...except now?  Now I get to do it twice a day instead of just once!!!  And I get to have a blood draw at each appointment to check my platelet counts!  Hooray for me and needles!  I can see that by the end of this pregnancy we are going to be best friends.

On the flip side...because I had an allergic reaction, my Doctor needed me to come right in to do an ultrasound and other tests to make sure both myself and baby were okay.  We're both just great...but I got to find out whether it was a boy or girl a week earlier than planned!!  Looks like I'll be baking and coloring that surprise cake for the kids a week early...I'll post pictures of them slicing into it to see what color it will reveal.

Moonrise

I was reminiscing the other night about last summer's Oregon coast vacation we took as a family, and about how much fun we had together...stress-free, schedule-free...watching whales from our balcony, spending entire days strolling along the beach looking for shells or flying kites, and sleeping with the balcony doors open so we could hear the waves through the whole night.  Ahh...so, so, so relaxing just to think about it.

 

So I dug up this picture.  My favorite night of vacation, was the night that Andy and I put the younger kids to bed...the older kids were all set watching a movie...so we took a moonlit stroll all by ourselves. 

 

It was so gorgeous, and so romantic.  We took a picture of the "moonrise" along the water. I loved how there was a moonlit path leading from the beach  all the way out until the water met the sky.  Simply gorgeous.

 

 

 

Other favorite moments of the trip...smooching on the beach in front of the kids. (Thank you Tay for documenting that even after 6 kids we're still very much in love.)

And roasting marshmallows over a driftwood fire on the beach...

 

My idea of a perfectly perfect vacation.

100th Day of School

I don't remember ever celebrating the 100th day of school when I was in Elementary.  I remember celebrating "CHRISTMAS" instead of "WINTER BREAK" and getting out for "Spud Harvest," and especially celebrating that last day of school...but don't remember the schools ever making a new holiday called the 100th day.  I'm thinking that since there are 180 days of school....that celebrating that 100th day is sort of like our Wednesdays being the "hump day" of the week.  It's like National Teacher's "Hey We Made it More than Halfway Through The Year" Day!!! 

 

So with Tay, Rachey, and Brooklynn we've picked up things from the grocery store like, multi-flavored marshmallows, pretzel sticks, and raisins.  They brought these as their snack to share.  Now this year was Matthew's turn.  He didn't want any of those "boring" things.  Nope.  He wanted to bring 100 snack chip packages.  I let him know that that wasn't going to work.  So the next thing he wanted to bring was 100 sugar cookies.  Um...I realized at this point that I'm really just a lazy mom...because I told him I didn't have time to make 100 sugar cookies.  So then he thought of 100 pizza slices.  Sheesh!!! 

 

We finally agreed on bringing 100 pieces of colored elbow macaroni to glue onto his poster...and for snack?  He ended up bring 100 cheerios.  Yes, cheerios. 

I tried things like crackers (of all variety), chocolate chips, raisins, fruit snacks, and pretzels...but nope.  If he couldn't have chips or sugar cookies or pizza slices...it HAD to be cheerios. 

Matthew is so awesome and still makes me laugh every single day.  Here he is modeling his amazing 100th day hat that he made.  What a cute little 1st grader. 

Sweet Dreams...

Last night, little Addy who is now 20 months old, took about 45 minutes to fall asleep.  She wasn't crying, or throwing any sort of fit.  In fact, it was one of the most entertaining 45 minutes I've had in a while!  I was sitting in my bedroom relaxing to a cup of hot cocoa and reading a book on my kindle when I heard her tiny little baby/toddler voice start singing. 

 

All of my older girls LOVE the movie Frozen, and sing the songs all the time!  Rachel can really sing "Let it Go!" pretty well, and sings it quite a bit.  Well, little Addy who is just starting to talk started singing it last night.  So just imagine, a tiny little voice who can't even say all the words singing...

 

"Let go!  Let Go!  (insert baby gibberish here)  Anyway!" 

She sang that line over and over while I put my book down and sat in my comfy chair listening and loving it with all my heart!  I didn't dare peek around the corner to see her because I didn't want her to stop!  Then, she went into something else.  Her two latest words are "yellow" pronounced "lellow" and "pink."  She knows these two colors now.  Last night she started singing...

"Lellow......PINK!!!  Lellow.....PINK!!!!  Lellow....PINK!!!" over and over and over.

 

Then she'd go right back into the Frozen song, and then back into her colors.  She was singing at the top of her little lungs...except for when she sang "lellow..." then she would get really soft, and then belt out "PINK!!!"  in a really loud and excited voice. 

 

I was seriously having silent laughing fits...it was just too funny.  Then, all of a sudden.  Silence.  No humming.  No singing.  No squeaking of crib or mattress.  Then I dared to peek.  She was laying down sideways in her crib with her cute chubby bare feet up on the siderails and arms flailed out to the sides, mouth halfway open.  She looked like she had fallen asleep mid "Let Go!"  Too funny.

 

Addyson 20 months

Before I thought of taking a picture to document this cuteness...I got her all straight in her crib and snuggled her up in her blankets.  But then I just had to sneak in and snap a picture so I would remember this night.  She is such a little sweetie!

Needles

I hate needles.  They scare me.  I can't stand the phrase, "just a little pinch."  All that means is yes, a little pinch...and then discomfort...sometimes stinging...and then for me, a lot of bruising.

 

In 2005, after Brooklynn was born premature, my doctor took a big blood draw and ran a bunch of tests.  The results were that I had a blood clotting disorder called Factor V, or the Leiden disorder.  This means that my blood hyperclots and that I need to take blood thinners in order to stay safe from clots that will go directly to my lungs causing a pulmonary embolism.  This clotting disorder is also lethal to my babies, and my first three, but especially Brooklynn, were literal miracles that they were born healthy and alive.  For the past 3 pregnancies, my doctor has been able to keep this condition in check with the use of daily aspirin...but with this baby it's been different.  This time he said the aspirin is no longer effective enough, and that I need to do a daily injection of Lovenox (a blood thinner.)

 

 

 So each morning, I get up and take out my trusty alcohol...clean an area, and then inject this medication subcutaneously somewhere in my tummy.  Not nice.  It stings as soon as it starts going in, and it stings and burns for a while afterward.  I bruise almost immediately.  Because it's subcutaneous, just underneath the skin, I also have to experience that wonderful sensation of sometimes hitting a blood vessel.  When this happens, a blue bubble immediately appears along with a sharp pain.  At this point, I have to remove the needle, blood follows and then I have to clean and start all over again in a different spot. 

 

 I have injected myself around 90 times so far...and will continue until 6 weeks after the pregnancy ends in July.  When I first started this, I made Andy do it for me...because he's used to giving people shots and I'm terrified of needles so the idea of doing this to myself was out of the question.  But sometimes schedules don't work out, and since I have to do it at the same time each day...then it became necessary for me to just get brave and do it.  The first time I almost passed out BEFORE I even had the needle in.  My hands were shaking, and I was completely terrified!  But now, 90 injections later...I'm getting to be a pro and although I hate it...I can do it.

 

But seriously...what a thing to wake up to in the morning!  Really makes it fun to "rise and shine."  I've had so many people say that the reason why I have so many kids is that I have easy pregnancies.  Sheesh...I could go on and on about all of the things that I deal with during my pregnancies but really, who wants to hear about all of that?  Which is why I don't usually complain or talk about the difficulties...which is why people assume that I have it easy.  The reality is...that I have a lot of kids because I KNOW that I was supposed to have these children.  If I would have stopped having kids when it got hard...I would have stopped with just the one.  Some things are just worth whatever it takes.  So here's to you, little one!!!  Mom's had to face one of her biggest fears and become a needle pro, just for YOU!  Can't wait to see you again in the ultrasound next week!

Does Smell Effect Taste?

Each year, our kids' elementary school has what they call the "Great Brain" night, where students can come and showcase a science project, a research project, or art work.  It does take a lot of time, but it's usually really fun to walk around and see all of the end results of student's and parent's hard work.

 

The 4th graders are required to complete a science project each year the week of Great Brain...so of course a lot of 4th graders participate.  This year, Brooklynn decided to do an experiment to see how the sense of smell effects taste.

Here Brooklynn is at the Great Brain night setting up her powerpoint presentation.

She chose 4 foods that were similar in texture, but different in taste.  She chose chocolate pudding, mozzarella cheese, vanilla pudding, and sharp cheddar cheese.

Then, she had her 5 test subjects blindfolded and put nose plugs in...and gave them a sample of each food.  They had to taste it, and then tell her what the food was.

Test subject 1:  Taylor 13 yrs

Test subject 2:  Matthew 6 years

Test subject 3:  Lainah 5 years

Test subject 4:  Rachel 12 years

Test subject 5:  Andy 30 something.

 We made sure to give each test subject a new, clean pair of nose plugs...in case you wondered.  Brooklynn had lots of fun administering the samples and writing down the data.  I had a blast filming and taking pictures.  It was actually pretty hilarious most of the time to see their reactions.

 

 

 Taylor's guesses...he was pretty close.  He couldn't tell the difference in the puddings, he said they tasted exactly the same.

 Matthew thought the chocolate pudding was honey...and the vanilla was strawberry yogurt.  Brooklynn and I were stifling giggles through his entire turn...especially when he named off the two cheeses.  I didn't even know he new about swiss or Colby jack cheeses.

 

 Lainah came next and she too couldn't tell the difference in the puddings OR the cheeses.  She said they tasted exactly the same. 

 

 Rachel was tied with Andy for correct guesses.  They both took a longer time holding the food in their mouths before swallowing.  They said that because you couldn't see it or smell it...it took longer to figure out what you were tasting.

 

 And lastly, Andy's guesses.  Brooklynn and I were surprised when he guessed tapioca pudding because the pudding wasn't lumpy...that was interesting.

 

And here is  Brooklynn right before we had the first test subject come in.  Everyone had a clean spoon....and inbetween each taste they got a sip of water from their own water glass.  I was impressed on how thorough Brooklynn was in her preparation.  So overall, she found out that her hypothesis was correct, that the sense of smell does greatly effect our sense of taste.  The subjects were able to differentiate between textures pretty easily...but then it was really difficult to tell two different flavors of the same texture apart.

Great job Brooklynn!  Another year of Great Brain finished...and she got a perfect score from her teacher on her science project, all of her paperwork and her classroom presentation.  Way to go!

Accessories

When I go shopping for a main item...like a skirt or new dress, then it is inevitable that I will also buy at least one item to accessorize it with.  You know, like a scarf or a new necklace...or my trademark, a new bracelet!  Andy often chuckles at me about my need to have the perfect accessory to my outfits.  Well...guys aren't much different.  They too have a need to accessorize.  They just accessorize differently.

 

Our Yukon needed new tires pretty badly.  I was just thinking we were going to get the regulars from Costco...but then Andy let me know that a "big shipment" would be coming fedex in a few days.  I was thinking something dental-related.  I was wrong.  The FedEx guy pulls up and asks me if I'd like to open my garage for my new wheels.  I was a little shocked...but opened the garage and he proceeded to unload 4 new wheels.  Andy explained to me that he found them new on ebay...and they were the same cost as a set of tires so he bought them. 

 

Ya...they're shiny chrome.  I think he's excited.

 

 

 

He also let me know that because he didn't want the chrome wheels to look out of place, he went ahead and bought chrome door handles to match.  (ahem...accessories??)  I mean, what else would go better with chrome wheels than chrome handles?  He and Tay were pretty proud of themselves and they're hot new truck.

 

I let them glory for a while...but then reminded them that it's really my truck anyway.  See?  It even has my initials on it.  (In chrome I might add.)

 

In case you couldn't see my initials clearly enough...here's the closeup.  SLT=Sherrie Lorraine Thuernagle.  Oh ya....

Thanks guys...and by the way, I LOVE the new accessories.

About Jeans

I had a conversation yesterday morning with Lainah.  It went about like this.

Lainah:  Ugh....Mom, I think I need to unbutton these shorts, they're too tight on my tummy.
Mom:  Oh!  Well, let's just take them off and put them away for Addy, they must be too little!
Lainah:  No, they still fit me, they're just too tight in the waist.
Mom:  Well, when jeans or shorts are too tight on your waist, that means they're too small.
Lainah:  Not really though Mom, because I can still squeeze into them.

So I then proceeded to explain to her that just because you can physically make your body squeeze into something, it doesn't mean that it fits.  After a little while, she saw my point, we took her cute little jean shorts and put them away for Addy to wear in a couple of years.  Then I had a funny thought pop into my head. 

It went like this:

Dear American society, I would like you to know that I have now just taught my 5 year old daughter how to know when clothing really fits, and when it's just plain too tight.  So in a few years, there will be one less teenage girl....or in a few more years there will be one less woman in the world who is out there prancing around in jeans that were meant for a person several sizes smaller than themselves.  I mean come on...no amount of glitter and glitz on back pockets changes the fact that your jeans are just way too tight for anyone's comfort!

Sometimes I make myself laugh.