Wyatt is Six! (And a few other things for good measure)

So a little over a week ago my baby turned six. Doesn't he look old?

And handsome too?

He had his party this year at a bouncy house party place called "Just Jump," and even though I felt a tiny bit lame not creating a magical-birthday-at-home, those intimations of lameness were overcome by 1. my sheer relief at not having to host a birthday party with 15 (!!) little boys running around my house and 2. Wyatt's excitement and the good time had by all. For the low low price of only about $50 more than I would have spent trying to pull this baby off at home.

Here are some pics of Wyatt's big day:

They had a "chamber full of blowing money" thingy (really, what are those called?) that only the birthday boy could participate in. It was filled with fake money that he could then cash in for a prize. However, Wyatt seemed mildly traumatized by the chamber full of blowing money; I think he was relieved when it was over. The capper is that we left without cashing in his fake money for prizes.

Below, please see my three attempts at taking a photo of all the boys at the party at once. You can blow them up to get the full measure of their hilariousness.

Here he is, blowing out his candles. Yeah, yeah, I also didn't make the cake (hello, Sam's Club!), but that one wasn't my fault. The Just Jump people wouldn't let me bring in homemade food. Really! But the Sam's Club cake was a big hit at any rate.

Jonas came along with Forrest and me to help. We were glad to have him there. Doesn't he look glad to be there? Seriously, though, a cool 11-year-old brother accentuates any 6-year-old's birthday party.

Speaking of Jonas, that poor guy suffered with a terrible bout of the flu that lasted almost three weeks. He lost seven pounds. I hustled everybody else in to get the flu shot after that--nothing like seeing what the real flu can do to make you stick a needle in your arm. But he's over it now and back to his old self, tromping around the house, randomly hugging people and whistling. Gotta love Joe.

And what about the other two kids, you ask? Ethan's been deeply involved in East Ridge's One Act Play Festival. Each school puts on a 35 minute show (they edit down a play), and Ethan's been doing a play called The Big Meal. Ethan plays "Man #3"--essentially every teenager in the show--and it's been so cool to watch him play more subtle, realistic parts. He even gets to have an angry, ranting monologue, which he pulled off brilliantly, considering how rarely he angrily rants in his real life. They competed in semi-finals last week in a group of 10 schools and were among the 4 schools that advanced to finals, which will be tomorrow night. As a matter of fact, Ethan just got home from school (at 8:00 p.m.) after one final rehearsal and waiting and waiting for the trailer to arrive so they could load  the set inside it. Poor kid has two hours of homework to do too. He's loved being in all these plays, but I don't think he's come home directly from school more than a handful of times since mid-October. He's a little tired.

Elise and Ethan are also both involved in speech; the season just got underway. Look at the two of them, all speechified up at 5:45 a.m. on the morning of their first meet!

Last weekend Elise got to go to an overnight meet, which was really fun (Ethan couldn't go because of the One Act). She and her good friend had a ball riding the bus for hours and rooming together in the hotel. She's doing prose, which is basically memorizing and performing a work of fiction. Elise is doing a version of a short story by Donna Tartt, and I really like it, although it's not as dramatic as some of her other competitors' pieces. (So many prose pieces are about child soldiers in Africa, suicide, murder, alcoholism  etc. etc. There's a lot of wailing and chest clutching in Prose.) I told her that the piece's subtlety will work in her favor once she has it sharp and memorized. She's come a long way already and I know she'll continue to do great.  Ethan's doing creative expression again (a piece he writes himself) and has only performed it once so far, but it has a lot of potential.

And then there's Forrest and me. Forrest is really liking the new job. Busy, but good busy. And me? Well, I've had an employment saga of my own. Long story short: right before Christmas I learned that Inver Hills had a dramatic reduction in expected enrollment for Spring semester. Because of that, they had to cancel a bunch of classes. When they cancel a full-time professor's class, that professor then chooses an adjunct's class that fits in his/her schedule in order to get the required full-time contract hours, and the upshot was that I lost the classes I'd been assigned. I was definitely bummed, but after a week or so decided that it might be a good thing. We might be a little shorter on cash than I'd thought, but hey! I'll have all day with the kids in school! Maybe I'll get some writing done! Etc., etc.!

But THEN . . . last week I got a call from the English dept. chair at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. I'd applied there back when I was looking for work and they'd contacted me for Fall, but I'd already committed to Inver. Turns out they had two professors who had to reduce their class loads at the last minute due to illness and were scrambling to get professors inside the classroom. UWRF has a "J-term" (a one month term from Dec-Jan), so Spring doesn't start until the last week of Jan. So I interviewed on Friday, after which they loaded me up with books, showed me my office and said, "See you Monday!" (I probably could have shown up dressed like a homeless woman and they still would have offered me the job, desperate as they were.) So as of yesterday, and today, I'm now teaching at UWRF. The campus is only about 25 minutes away--we're that close to the border--and although it doesn't pay as well as Inver, I really like the atmosphere. I'm not sure what will happen in the Fall, since Inver says they want me back and I don't really want to teach at two schools, But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, as they say. As of now, I'm teaching one MWF class and one T/Th class, both in the afternoon. And I'm glad I am. As much as it's nice to have the quiet house all to myself, I do better when I have to get my tushie out the door for one reason or another.

And that's life at our house for now. Whew! Onward to February.

2012 Year in Review

2012 was a good year. I remember at the end of 2011 thinking, "Dang, this hasn't been the best year ever." Not a terrible year, no. But not my favorite year, and I had a lot of hope that 2012 would treat me a little better. And wouldn't you know it? It has.

My life is full of blessings. I had those same blessings in 2011 as well, but I was able to notice them and feel them more this year, and for that I'm very grateful. There were lots of changes at our house in 2012 -- job changes for Forrest and for me, school changes for three of our four kids and the big symbolic change of turning 16 for the other one. And in the midst of all those changes, we're all doing well, despite the challenges those changes present. Again -- I'm grateful.

But enough introspection. What you all REALLY want to know are my favorite books, movies and TV shows of the last year. So here's my list!

Movies (in no particular order):

-Moonrise Kingdom. This one was probably my favorite, in all it's quirky, Wes Anderson-ish glory. I loved this movie. Forrest and I went to see it in this old, arty theatre in St. Paul because it was the only theater near us showing the film, and the whole audience erupted in thunderous applause when it was over. I love that kind of communal experience in a movie theater, don't you?

-Looper. I mainly enjoyed this one for being a fun, mind bending ride of a movie. And I've always been a sucker for Bruce Willis, from way back in his Moonstruck days, and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt is fast becoming one of my favorite actors as well.

-Life of Pi. We saw this one with all the kids and Mom and Dad when they came for Thanksgiving and every single one of us enjoyed it. Even Wyatt liked it. (The fourth kid with siblings ten years older than he is gets dragged to all sorts of movies. Remember: this is the kid that we unwisely forced to ride the Tower of Terror when he was 3 years old because everyone else was going. Parenting!) Anyway: a beautiful movie to look at, and thoughtful and spiritual and action packed on top of it all.

-Lincoln. So good. Daniel Day Lewis? The MAN. The scene between Lincoln and Mary Todd when they both break down and start screaming at each other? One of the best pieces of acting I've seen in a long time. Hooray to Spielberg for casting Sally Field even though she's a decade older than Lewis -- she deserved that role. Anyway, not only was the film a great story, but it's a wonderful reminder of how messy and desperate politics have always been, and that issues that seem so obviously right or wrong to us today seemed so complicated and almost unsolvable to those who came before us. I wonder what seemingly intractable problems from the turn of the 21st century my great grandchildren will shake their heads over someday?

-Argo. I wasn't 100% on board when I went to go see this one, but thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Who knew Ben Affleck would come around to being such a smart, thoughtful director? Back when he was making moon eyes at Liv Tyler in Armaggedon I never would have guessed it. (Hey! Bruce Willis was in that too.) I admit to assuming he'd ridden in on Matt Damon's coattails, flashing his chin dimple for good measure. Now I admit it: I was wrong.

I also liked The Hunger Games (love Jennifer Lawrence), Brave, and Wreck It Ralph. We just went to see Les Mis, and while I admit to being moved by parts of it (shout out to Anne Hathaway, who redeemed herself from the Batman movie in my eyes), I've always had a complicated relationship with Les Mis. I love some of the songs, but I haven't been able to connect to it emotionally like many people do. The whole Eponine love story kinda bugs too, although I thought Amanda Seyfried did a great job hitting those tricky high notes and the guy who plays her love interest is a cutie. So, yes, it was a good movie. But not quite good enough to make my list of favorites.

And what about books? If you really want to know what I think you can go read my reviews on Goodreads, so I'll simply list my favorites here:

-The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. Just finished it. If you're a guy who enjoyes literary fiction, this one would be particularly recommended. Guns, hunting, fly fishing, airplane flying, man-and-dog relationships, heroics, romance -- it's all in there. Of course, I am not a guy and still loved it. (Okay, okay, so I didn't just list this one. I'll just list the rest.)

-When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson

-Reached by Ally Condie

-Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

-Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

-The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

-Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

-Open by Andre Agassi

-Partials by Dan Wells

-Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright

-Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Kathleen Boo

-Faith by Jennifer Haigh

-Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard

So many good books this year! Right now I'm in the middle of three different books that are shaping up to be good as well: The Orphan Master's Son (this is an audiobook, a novel set in North Korea); The God Who Weeps by Terryl and Fiona Givens (a book about LDS theology that I'm savoring); and The Oath by Jeffery Toobin, an account of the Supreme Court over the last six or seven years ago that I gave to Forrest for Christmas but started reading while HE's reading another book I got him.

Whew! That's a good year. I suppose all that good reading made up for another kinda lackluster year of TV watching. Nothing new to report, really: I still like The Good Wife and Modern Family and Survivor and Top Chef and . . . hmmm . . . that's about it. And all four of those shows are spotty. C'mon, TV people. Impress me again!

And now I've got to go to bed. What should I read? Givens or Toobin?

Another Christmas in the Books

Or on the blogs, as it were.

This Christmas season has seemed particularly whirlwindy. But now that all the presents have been wrapped, opened, exclaimed over (or not), and put in a pile in each person's bedroom, I can say that this Christmas has been a very very nice one.  Once again it's been a homey Christmas and we've spent a lot of time just hanging out enjoying each other, and I like that. So nice to calm down a little and breathe.  Play a little Cribbage (Forrest's gift to the family -- once I got over having to do math fast in my head, I've been enjoying it). Watch some movies. Read. Get the kids some Tylenol. (Jonas started getting sick Christmas day, and now Wyatt and Elise are down. I'm washing my hands and hoping.)

I don't have very many good pictures this year. The light was bad or something. But not-so-good pictures are better than no pictures at all, right? So here goes.

First, the traditional shrimp-n-mac-n-cheese Christmas Eve dinner. Sorry so blurry. I tried to take a picture with the flash off and my focusing skills were thrown all off. The candles are pretty though, aren't they?

And the nativity! The kids were in charge of the nativity this year, hence the lack of costuming. Although Elise is dressed in black and looks like a stage crew techie (albeit a cute one), she is in fact an angel announcing Jesus' birth to our one costumed actor.

And yes, he was sore afraid. Told you he was a costumed actor (emphasis on the actor).

Neither Ethan nor Jonas wanted to dress up OR act anything out, so instead they took turns narrating.

And here they are, taking a bow, although it appears Ethan was refusing to bow. You can also see a nice shot of Forrest's toes.

The Forrest and Elise sang "White Christmas" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." It was beautiful. I wish I would have recorded it.

Jonas got this puzzle ball from Grandma Sweat and worked on it for a couple of hours, getting himself juuuust to the point where he'd finish it and then having to start over again.

Wyatt with his books from Grandma Sweat. The Human Body book is especially cool (and kinda gross, which he likes).

Before herding the kids to bed, Wyatt decided he wanted to dictate a letter to Santa. Here it is, written by Wyatt in his 5-year-old glory, word for word as he gave it to me:

"Dear Santa, This your lovely Wyatt  from Minnesota. If you write a letter back I will know that you are Santa. I am just making sure. Thank you! Love, Wyatt."

Wyatt was very happy to see that Santa did, in fact, write him back.

The traditional "top-o-the-stairs" pic.

Elise unrolling a poster of her favorite band, Shinee. They're Korean. (Of course!) South Korean. (Of course!) I'm reading a book about North Korea right now and that place is all kinds of crazy. It's like a dystopian novel but it's REAL. Anyway, Elise loves Shinee, and thanks to the Internets, I was able to procure a poster and have it mailed to me from somewhere in Asia. Got here on time!

Ethan showing off his four slot toaster. Because what 16 year old boy wouldn't want a four slot toaster? How else are you going to make two egg-and-cheese sandwiches simultaneously?

Wyatt showing off his Angry Birds head blanket (his name) and a knobby ball I found at Target, left in the checkout line by the little boy in front of me after his mom refused to buy it. We had a knobby BLUE ball that Wyatt had accidentally popped a few weeks back, a cause of much weeping, so this was a nice impulse buy. Although I think the mom of the kid ahead of me in line was ticked because I heard her kid whining, "So why will THAT mom by the new ball and not you?" as she wheeled him out of the store.

Elise posing with her miniature Pony set (because lots of Freshman girls like South Korean boy bands and My Little Pony. It's a thing. Really!)  And in her left hand she's holding the gift that's making her beam from ear to ear: her new iPhone. The gift actually isn't as exorbitant as it sounds. Long story short, we added Jonas to our plan and got a free phone (iPhone 4, though, not 4s or 5), then another line was due for an upgrade and we got ANOTHER free phone, so both Ethan and Elise got iPhones. Jonas got Ethan's old one. (Merry Christmas! :-). He was fine with it, though: not old enough for a smart phone yet. He was just happy to have a phone to call his own.

Ethan's phone. This was a big surprise for him, too. A few weeks back he'd dropped his iPod Touch on the hard ceramic tile of the temple dressing room while changing for baptisms and shattered the screen. After looking it over, it was deemed unfixable by the resident tech kid in Priests' quorum. Surprisingly, Ethan hadn't even asked for a new iTouch and getting an iPhone wasn't anywhere on his radar. So, yeah, a good surprise. He did ask for a rat, though, which we did not get him, although my friend Brooke found a stuffed rat at Ikea and bought it for me to give to him as a consolation rat. When he open the stuffed rat he said, "I'm kind of glad that you didn't get me the rat. It makes me feel good when you don't give me everything I ask for." His is a complicated psyche.

Jonas is holding a Sonic Screwdriver, an item that any Dr. Who fan would recognize. He also got a stuffed Dalek (another Dr. Who item, a robot guy of some kind?) and a Dr. Who shirt that reads, "Rule Number One: The Dr. Lies." Thanks to Netflix, Jonas has become something of a Dr. Who specialist and spent a couple of hours Christmas night coughing, feverish, and watching the Dr. Who Christmas special on the BBC.

And finally, below, a picture of Ethan's lovingly made Christmas card to both of his parents (unsigned). Made me smile.

 Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We miss you.

A Photo Catch-Up Post, In Reverse Chronological Order

So I still have 30 papers left to grade and I'm hoping to be finished by Friday night. Still, I can't just grade, grade, grade. Gotta take a break and blog. Plus I have some great photos to share, some of them extending all the way back to Thanksgiving, and before we know it Christmas will be upon us and I'll have a whole NEW slew of photos to share. So here we go -- starting with the most recent. Today! Wyatt's Kindergarten Christmas party. The whole entire Kindergarten celebrates together, and it was so much fun to watch these kids skipping and dancing down the halls. They even had a karaoke station. It was awesome.

Here's Wyatt with his quintessentially young/cute/blonde/sweet Kindergarten teacher:

Isn't that the best face painting job ever? (They had me on the coloring pages station. I think you had to audition to do the face painting.)

Elise also had the East Ridge choir/band/orchestra concert, and she's been having a great time singing with her women's carolers group too. So far they've hit a retirement home and Sam's Club (twice!), and they have a few more gigs still to come. She looks beautimous in her long black dress. That I haven't hemmed yet.

Wyatt's also spent a lot of time playing with the Red Solo Cups grandma turned from receptacles for drinking to toys for stacking when they were here for Thanksgiving. Here's one of his best creations, completed while I was upstairs on my elliptical machine before school started.

We've also had a little Christmas cheer. Like sugar cookies! I love sugar cookies, which is one reason it's problematic for me to make them. You know how the Pringles people say you can't eat just one? (Or is that the Lays people?) For me it's the sugar cookies; especially homemade ones. Here's Wyatt and Jonas showing off their frosting skillz:

It's a good thing that I took 30 of these bad boys to seminary tonight for our class Christmas party. They were devoured. One kid had five cookies on his plate and I said (semi-coercively), "Wow! That's a lot of cookies you have there!" And he said, "Yup," and proceeded to sit down and eat all of them.

By the way, I love my home study seminary class. Although I loved my early morning class too, it was a "you challenge me, and I love you because of it" kind of experience. They were all good kids, but the early hour, plus a few personalities, plus the every dayness of it contributed to help make a vibrant classroom experience pretty tough to pull off. My home study kids, though, actually listen and discuss and have restored my faith that it is in fact possible to have gospel discussions with teenagers. Anyway -- back to pictures!

I also have some WONDERFUL pictures of the musical that were taken by a professional photographer. (I bought the CD.) The only bad thing--sad sad SAD thing-- is that Elise missed ONE rehearsal, and it happened to be the one where they took these pictures. I can't believe it. So I have professional pictures of Ethan, but not Elise. At least I got a couple of shots of her afterward. Anyway, here are some great pictures of Ethan as Ralph Sheldrake, army buddy to Bob and Phil turned producer at the Ed Sullivan show.

Ethan delivered the first line of the show. (He also figured out how to hide his mic pack after this dress rehearsal.)

I love this picture. Who would have thought I'd ever see Ethan singing on stage??

Soldier-turned-producer, working the phones.

The whole cast in the finale

Ethan, taking his bow

Ethan, looking tall

Another shot of the cast. See that hole next to the two girls in the back? Elise should be standing there. Sigh.

Ethan ended up getting an award from the Spotlight Awards, a state-sponsored award given by a professional theater group in Minneapolis for all high school musicals. He got an honorable mention for "featured performance," which is awesome. Also, East Ridge was one of five high schools in the Twin Cities who scored high enough to perform during the Spotlight showcase  this spring. The whole cast was stoked.

Oh! And Ethan also got a 31 on his practice ACT. AND he scored in the 99th percentile on his PSAT, which will probably qualify him for National Merit Semifinalists status. It's been a good couple of weeks for Ethan.

Finally, here are a few pics all the way back from Thanksgiving that deserve a blog spot:

Wyatt, looking blue eyed and handsome with his homemade turkey

Grandma, showing off her ginormous Pepsi as we waited for The LIfe of Pi to start. (Grandma isn't one to drink ginormous Pepsis very often. Hence the picture.)

The Mall of America, Black Friday. Grandma loved the lights so much she made me take a picture.

Everybody but me at the James J. Hill House, a cool old mansion owned by a curmudgeonly industrialist at the turn of the 20th century. And I say "everybody but me" because I managed to get Forrest and Grandpa in the mirror.

Outside the James J. Hill House. It's so big you can really only get a shot of the entrance.

And now I'm caught up! Wyatt is beside me, snoring like an old man, and everybody else is waiting for me downstairs so we can pray and hit the sack. Next up: Christmas!