Reese on the strings

The middle school orchestra concert was great. Reese practice hard and played beautifully. I love hearing you play, Reese! The whole family, including grandpa and lady attended her concert. Reese's favorite pieces were Star Wars and We Will Rock You, but she played the Suzuki Lightly Row just as wonderfully. After the concert, I celebrated her on a mother daughter date for key lime tres leches and sweet potato fries at Table Mesa. 

Family History Conference

 

See how easy this is?! 

This photo is part of my class at the NWA Family History Conference that I taught today called, "Publish Yourself."   I was really just sort of a fake teacher subbing for Valerie, who did all the prep work and made handouts and everything. My job was to just show up and inspire the crowd to switch to digital record keeping for family history. 

I took this photo and posted with my phone in minutes as part of the presentation. 

 

As someone who despises boxes of unused items, and is fascinated by the art of simplifying possessions to only things that I love or make me happy, I felt pretty qualified for the task of offering a persuasive argument that favors digital storage. I'm also consistent enough at documenting our life here that I seem legit enough to fit the role of "blogger". 

Isn't it fascinating that we will be the last generation contribute to the file boxes full of journals and Personal ancestry books that are carted around by our posterity?  So many inspiring words and stories of struggle and hardship and obedience and blessings and faith and overcoming adversity sit guiltily in basements and attic purgatory, or collecting dust on bookcases. What if the stories and photos and documents that tell our family history were as searchable as lds.org? What if you could "google" your family? 

With a personal family blog, that's exactly what I'm doing. My children will grow up with their history available at their fingertips.  I blog by cell phone nowadays and I've decided that's ok, since they will probably search and read it by cellphone as well. 

The class went fairly well. I needed to do this. This crowd was super knowledgeable in record keeping and teaching them was a humbling experience for me, but also rewarding as I received the joy of introducing a new approach to something many of them have been doing a different way, but very well, for a very long time.  I don't love change, especially when it comes to technology, so I think I spoke the same Luddite language of many in my class and really connected to a few in my company. 

A few things (that will only make sense to me, but are still important) to remember from this memorable afternoon: 

-the grand entrance  

-my lovely assistant, uber friend and literal Uber driver, Kristi 

-the heckling about copyrights

-"no one wants to read about your dead grandma anyway"

-the "No! get an Atlas" guy

-helping one sister upgrade her personal ministry from texts to a blog 

-the chatbooks commercial discussion 

-"you're not Valerie"

-running into a set of missionaries we remembered who were recently transferred out of our area

-"you owe me 30 minutes"

-stormy weather

-laughing so hard on the drive home that my face was sore later.

It was a good experience for me. My public speaking skills are natural but out of practice, especially with adults. I think I get more awkward every year.  Thanks to Carly, Becky, and Stephanie for your input about family blogging, and thanks to Kristi for helping me through the question and answer session. And of coursethsnks to Valerie for putting together a really amazing collection to display, a wonderful handout, and for confidence in me to fill her multi talented and knowledgeable shoes. 

St Louis Trip: the Zoo

 

 

 

 

 

It was a warm day at the zoo. A bit too warm for our comfort, so we didn't last as long as we usually do, but the St Louis Zoo never disappoints. It's free! 

Free admission helped justify the kid's favorite attractions this visit: refillable icee mugs and  the rolled penny stamp machines. Corbin saw this little coin collection booklet at the entrance and immediately grew heart eyes. It was the only thing he talked about all day.  He lit up with excitement over every machine we spotted throughout the zoo...which is basically around every corner. So now he's a rolled penny collector.  We are getting a family Amazeum pass this summer with a gift card we received in a gift basket for foster families from Grace Point Church at Christmas time.  Amazeum passes get us into all sorts of other fun museums and science centers.  I have no doubt Corbin will be contributing to many rolled penny machines this summer! His little collector book will be filled up in no time. 

 

St Louis Trip: The Temple

On Thursday morning, I went to the St Louis temple with my mom and it was just what we needed. 

Reese Visits Apple Glen

 

Reese was fortunate to be partnered up with her two very best friends for the most recent  group project at school. She, Finley S. and Emma F. worked hard writing a skit, making a video, and drawing a pretty elaborate cartoon for their presentation about the digestive system. The girls were selected, along with another group, to go on a field trip to present at Apple Glen Elementary. Reese was bummed that the Old High students got to go to Cooper and see Quincy and Corbin, but she did get to see some younger siblings of some church friends at Apple Glen. After the presentation, they went to Peddlers Pizza for lunch and Finley texted me this pic of the group. Great work, ladies! (Pictured here are Minisha, Reese, Olivia R, ?, Emma F, and Finley S.)

 

Sloane Loves Poppy

 

Sloane is obsessed with the movie, Trolls. She asks for "Poppy" all the time, and wants us to call her Poppy, too. It's adorable how crazy happy this movie makes her. Everyone in our family can recite the movie word for word. 

The best part is when Sloane clicks her tongue to the beat of Poppy's cowbell. I die. 

Family favorites are Guy Diamond, the music,  Branch, and the cloud guy who is voiced by Jack Black.  "Little snappy, make daddy happy?" 

And we all melt when Soren quotes, "I could squeeeeeze you forever" in his best auto tune imitation.  We're crazy sick this movie, and yet we still can't get enough. "Eat Glitterrrrrr!" 

Young Learners: Transportation

 

Fine Motor: lacing  transportation foam beads.

Transportation floor puzzles, match puzzle cards.  

Cognitive activity: automobile memory match 

Art: transportation stamps

Cooking: we made jello jigglers  in car shaped egg molds

 

Dranatuc play: gas station/car wash

A Plea for the Arts to the School Board

My sweet friend, Karen, recently approached the school board advocating for the  BHS choir program and the need for an assistant choral director. Unfortunately, the school board is having a difficult time understanding the value of supporting the arts with funds/staffing needs.  I cannot think about my time in high school without choir coming to mind and the GHS Chamber Alumni is a group I proudly still support and affiliate with.  I felt compelled to join the voices asking for adequate staff and support for the program via email.  

"Hello, 

My name is Meg Willardson and I'm joining my voice with the many others who are probably overloading your mailbox, today. 

I did not attend BHS, but I have 6 children who will be students there starting rin two years. There will be Willardsons enrolled at BHS from 2019 until 2035. 

I attended high school in California, and was a member of the Chamber Choir there. I also played team and individual sports, took AP classes, and was in many clubs and community service groups, but the choir room is where I received my high school education. The choral program shaped my life because of two factors: the curriculum and the educators. 

An indescribable bond grows between music students and the teachers who help them develop and refine their talents.  I still remain in regular contact with my choir director and recently was a part of his retirement celebration where several thousands of past and present students gathered together, from all over the world, to sing one last time under his direction. There is an undocumented pedigree that grows through the exchange of wisdom between students and teacher that is unique to music instruction.  I believe the high volume of attendees at Mr Robb's retirement concert was because of our music bond. We are attached for life. This universally bonded  music family line breaks through all cultural and language and socioeconomic barrier. It is all accepting and potential growth is unlimited. That is why so many people are pushing hard for this cause. We  all have a Phil Robb or a Mr Hicks of our own and we know the value of choir director is so much more than a salary, and want this opportunity for our children. 

But it IS a numbers game when it's your job to choose where the money is spent. Here is my plea for the choir department.

The arts are a special cause because they serve both the community, in unifying a large group through the creation of something beautiful, and also the individual, as each participant must work very hard to perfect his craft to fulfill the measure of the gift until it is an invaluable and irreplaceable contribution to the whole. One musician cannot be simply replaced by another without affecting the outcome of the whole. 

And so, I want to advocate for music teachers. They don't just educate the mass, they touch each individual and guide them on a quest for self discovery and self mastery.   

Music is a foreign language. Music is math. Music is history. Music is social studies. Music is literature. Music is diction and speech therapy.  Music is health. Music is family, and therapy, and medicine, and food, and a cathartic release for young, important, developing minds.  

 I hope you will choose to support the  choir staff. One teacher simply should not carry this workload alone. These phenomenally gifted individuals teach many subjects to many many students, but most importantly, to me, choir directors shape lives. You will spend less of the district's money on counseling, academic assistance, and health services if you invest in the music programs, because music teachers also provide all this therapy, every single day.   A choir director truly knows and advocates for the literal voice of every one of his or her students.  How many other academic departments can make that claim? 

Whether or not my own children choose to participate in the wonderful choirs at BHS, I still hope for choir support from the district, because I know that every child who grows through the choir programs at BHS will form a special bond with the instructors. Every young person needs a mentor. Supporting and investing in these special mentors is the best way we can help the biggest number of students. 

Sincerely,

Meg Willardson"

I heart springtime

I'm feeling extra grateful to live in this little pocket of the country where we experience all four seasons. I just planted some cucumbers and squash in my garden and while I was digging up a zillion grubs (worst!) and feeding them to my chickens (who were singing their sad feeble songs begging to be let out of chicken run purgatory), I took a minute to breathe in the wet, green air. It smells of new life. Thanks earth.  Bella Vista is really beautiful today. My woods are vibrant green and moss is covering every surface. I'm lichen it. ;) 

 

 

The garden is in! Yahoo! I kept it very basic this year: tomatoes (souuuuup), peppers, spinach, kale, green beans, peas, some carrots, zucchini and yellow squash, basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary. The strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries are back from last year. Once again I  kicking myself in the pants for not planting some fruit trees or grapevines. I put eight asparagus crowns in the ground this year. The crop I planted the year we moved in would finally have produced enough for a good harvest, this year, but we covered it with the back deck. Oops. Hopefully we will eat well this summer. I'm not planning to invest too much time in weeding/bug control this year, but I'll encourage the children to help me out out there. 

 

 

St Louis Trip: Meg Loves Neil Diamond

 

On Wednesday, after preschool, we loaded up the fun bus and drove to St Louis, Mo for the night. Destination: Neil Diamond. 

My love for Neil goes back to grade school, but I really fell in love with him in 7th grade, when Neil's Greatest Hits album became the soundtrack to every play date at Emily Hepner's house. She had a record player in her living room and the greatest vinyl collection. 

 

We had a dance "routine" to Shiloh. Emily's dad, played in an oldies band that practiced in their bonus room, Tom would sing Neil Diamond (and Beatles, and Beach Boys, and other music legends) hits for us at request.  In 9th grade, I received my own copy of Neil's Greatest Hits (on CD) and a Maltese puppy, Paco, who slept in my bed under my covers with me. (Are you shocked reading this? I loathe furry animals now, but I wasn't always a  hater. I guess my heart of ice has grown colder with age as I have become a cantankerous chicken lady). And the Neil love continued on among the most loved of my non-U2 albums through high school. I remember sitting at Annie Grover's kitchen table eating chips and salsa with Annie, Aaron Rutman, and Ben Smurthwaite while Annie's brother Lane blasted Neil from the living room. I'm pretty sure Lane loved Neil even more than Neil loved Neil. It's foggy but I recall Lane in a Neil Diamond costume with chest hair drawn on with a ballpoint pen. 

 

Anyway, during those years Paco and I fell asleep to Forever in Blue Jeans on loop. 

The song is now a favorite of Reese's, 

Neil is my go to music on a bad day. Neil can turn my Song Sung Blue into a Solaimon better than any other singer. 

When Neil's tour came through Boise Idaho, I wanted to go badly. I was 21 and I remember cutting out the newspaper ad and leaving it on Aaron's wallet. 

Alas  we were starving college students living in the wake of 2001 nationwide hiring freezes.  Spending $60 each on concert tickets was something a young pregnant couple looking for long term employment just shouldn't do. So we passed, and promised we'd see Neil another time. 

Dude. Neil is getting old. I thought our chance would never come. 

We put a fat checkmark on my bucket list on Wednesday night in St Louis, and finally made it to hear him live. Again, timing wasn't ideal, and the closer OKC concert was on the Sabbath, so that was out. Aaron decided to make a mid-week trip out of it and bought tickets in St Louis.  When he bought the tickets, we thought we'd be fast tracking an adoption right now, and it would be either final or at least close enough to final that we could reach out to my friend Desi who lives in St Louis to watch baby for us while my parents joined us at the concert.  Circumstances have changed so now it was quite an adventurous ordeal that involved taking 3 kids out of school and bring my parents with us 4.5 hours north to St. Louis, booking 3 hotel rooms for our crew of 10, since we can't leave our baby with anyone but approved people on our Foster Family Support System list unless they're at our house (and then anyone can babysit, bit only for so many hours. We aren't interested in leaving our baby long enough for a respite stay yet, so Grandma and Grandpa were super accommodating to make a dream come true and came along to babysit in the hotel, and we took Reese and Quincy to the concert. 

Worth. Every. Penny.  

I don't want to go too far and say it was a spiritual experience, but it definitely was an unforgettable night. I completely forgot about every heavy thing on my heart and just had fun. We had court on Tuesday and I was called to witness and it was an awful experience. Hard to shake. Neil, as always, came through for us. 

 

 

He started with Quincys favorite: Cherry Cherry.  Reese's jam is Forever in Blue Jeans. Aaron loves Comin' to America. I had a huge list I hoped to hear, but life was complete when Neil closed with Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show. 

 

The incredible talent in the band, the crowd, Neil Loving, unbalanced population of blue haired, oxygen tank carting and cane wielding ticket holders in the crowd, the music that took me back to the age of my daughters, the home videos from Neil's life that he played on a jumbo screen during Brooklyn Roads, the haka video before Soolaimon, the beauty of skybird and the lovey lovey love of 12,000 fans singing Play Me, being with my Aaron and my big girls, who wowed our neighboring audience members by knowing words and recognizing nearly every song played. It was all so good. (So good! So good! So good! See what I did there?)

 

 

One of the best nights ever. 

Aaron turns 41

 

Aaron turned 41 on April 6th. We had his traditional "turtle cake" made at spark cafe "with every flavor except mocha and the diet vanilla".  We ate and opened presents at my parents house, because I'd been hiding his gifts over there for a week.  

We've discussed investing in better quality yard equipment for years but always decide to save the money and talk ourselves out of it. I saved up preschool money and surprised him with a gas stihl backpack blower, a gas stihl edger and a pressure washer. 

 

And of course the night ended in Aaron's favorite way: falling asleep on the sofa with Top Gun on the tv. ;) 

 

You're the Maverick to my Goose, Aaron. I love you. Happy Birthday! 

Easter 2017

 

Easter Weekend kicked off with the Good Friday Program at the Bentonville Stake Center. I love a community Christian gathering. I grew up singing in and attending the community Christmas concert in Morgan Hill, and now my sister organizes one in Hollister every year. Something magical happens when Christians of many denominations gather to unite inworship and celebrate the one bond we share in common: that Jesus Christ is our Savior.  The Good Friday program was Christ focused and had music and short video clips of the life of Christ. 

On Saturday, we attended Family Strong (all the pics are on Aaron's phone) and then were plus 3 teen/tweens the rest of the day and evening. Our buddy broke his arm and went into surgery, so his brothers came to play for the day with us. Finley S also joined us, and with the addition of Emma from next door, this crew had their school group of friends gathered for most of the day at Ft Willy. I loved having a house full of older kids. I also loved having a giant van to drive 9 kids around in!  The whole day was Reese's wildest dream come true. Allred boys, Quincy, Finley, and Emma all at her house for hours of fun and running around in our woods. 

My parents hosted a sweet Easter egg hunt for the kids at their house (good thing, because the Easter bunny slept 2 hours last night abd didn't fill or hide a single egg!) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our simplified Easter in Memphis last year, we don't want to go back. The Easter bunny covered the kitchen table with some useful and crafty fun and called it good. All but Quincy were thrilled about this new setup. 

 

The Willy family got a couple more nylon hammocks, a set of jump ropes, the two Harry Potter books missing from our library collection, egg shaped chalk and some paint crafts. The girls got a mini flat iron so they can learn to go their own hair, and the boys got a new hair cape because they're all in desperate need of a haircut and our old plastic cape fell apart. 

It stormed and rained most of the day. I tried to be early but ended up rushing in late, across a puddly parking lot in heavy rain, carrying Sloane under one arm and Wren's car seat under the other. Sloane had no shoes on. I was pretty soaked. Oh well. I was in the hall with crying baby for the majority of the 3 hours at church but the 1.5 talks and 10 minutes of a lesson that I did hear were wonderful. A friend with 2 young kids told me over Wren's colicky yells during sacrament meeting,  that she had been feeling sorry for herself for the 18 months she's had of "hallway pacing" until she saw me and figured I was going on 12 years of hallway pacing, so If I could hang in there, so could she. Truth: there have been a few short  gaps between the hallway years, but I'm glad o could give her some ecouragement in our solidarity. And if I hadn't gone, how would my children have received the messages? 

Christ lives. He suffered for us and died for us. Because he loves us, even if we're late to church in wet clothes with no shoes on my kid and a too-loud-for-the-chapel inconsolable baby. He loves me for trying. And he loves you too.

 

My New Years resolution was to decorate for each holiday and be more fun/playful (read: less exhausted) so I set a pretty table with some egg plates I found in the target dollar spot. 

 

I made dough for homemade crescents or parkerhouse rolls but then Wren and Sloane napped simultaneously (an Easter miracle!) sodecided I didn't have it in me to cut and roll 30 crescents and instead threw butter soaked balls of dough in a pan to rise, set a 1 hour timer, and then went into the guest room (so as not to wake Wren asleep in my room every time the kids came in to talk to me) and fell asleep for a solid hour. Bless Aaron for however he bribed our brood into not interrupting. It was only an hour, but it was the best sleep I've had in weeks. I woke up feeling alive, which never happens after a nap. Or ever, really. It's a good thing, too, because poor baby has a gassy stomach and has been crying in my arms while I stand and sway in the laundry room with him for an hour and a half.  Luckily, I feel wide awake and refreshed from a nap today and I'm catching up on the blog on my phone, so how's that for stellar  multi tasking?  

  I finished up the chicken and stuffing and my parents brought fruit abd cheese and this adorable cake that looked so much like a little nest we added some robins eggs. 

 

 

Sloane ate exactly one bite of glazed carrot and the. only butter of the top of her roll and then straight from the knife for dinner. Hahahaha  everyone else tolerated the dry chicken and stuffing (Corbin dunked his in ranch) in order to get a piece of cake. Worth it! 

We wrapped up the night with scripture study. I love this man. 

 

 

Sibling Day

 

I posted a little throwback pic from 1985 to celebrate the "Facebook holiday", Sibling Day. 

We haven't all been together in the same place at the same time since my grandmother (Mima/Myrtle Tenney)'s funeral in 2014, and if you include all of our spouses, we haven't been together since my sister, HolleeAnn's, wedding in 2005.  One of the things I love about this picture (aside from the fact that I am the adorable "baby" in it) are that I can see those Lawrence eyes that only my Corbin seemed to inherit on everyone. I spy my red curls that Soren and Sloane sport on my 2 1/2 year old self. And I love the people in it. 

Happy Sibling Day! 

Young Learners: Weather Week

Art: it looked like Spilt Milk

First, I read the book and did a flannel board read along. 

Then, each of the kids dropped paint onto blue paper and created sweet ink blot clouds! 

 

 

Literature

Pete's a Pizza is a story about Pete, who is about to go outside to play ball, but his plans are squashed by rain. Pete's dad cheers him up by making him into a pizza. The kids laugh hysterically whole their friends roll and stretch them out into pizza dough, add toppings and then chase them around the room after coming out of the oven. Great imaginative play. 

Cooking: of course, we had to bake up some pizzas for snack! We made the dough from scratch 

 

 

 

The dramatic play center was transformed into  Rainy Day Pizza Shop.

 

Order up! No mushrooms, please. ;)

 

 

Science: we needed an activity for while the pizzas cooked so we did a science project and made it "rain" inside a glass jar. The kids learned a hand action rhyme about what makes a storm: When two air masses (palms up) with different temperatures (hands tilted) , humidity (hands fanned) and pressure meet!(hands stacked together and pressed). 

A cloud formed in the space in the jar between the cold ice and hot water and condensation collected and eventually fell down the sides of the jar.

 

Sensory Phonics: letters in the clouds (shaving cream) 

 

Fine Motor: Little Cloud cotton ball transfer

 

 

Sharing: bring something that starts with U. We had many umbrellas today!