Musings....

I just got done browsing and boo-hooing over a bunch of blogs about kids with cancer. I know... seems like a strange thing to be doing but there is an acquaintance of mine here in the Village whose 7 month old baby was diagnosed with Leukemia last year. She has just come home and is finally in remission. She had a blog about the experience with links to other blogs of families that she met at the hospital during her daughters fight. It was sobering to say the least. Some of the kids didnt make it. Some did and are still fighting. It gives me such perspective to read things like this occasionally, even if it is difficult. I have 3 healthy, beautiful, children. Aside from some stitches and a couple of minor surgeries, my kids rarely see the inside of a hospital.

I am so grateful for that fact. Cancer is no joke. It has devastating affects both on the person who has it as well as on their families who fight along side them. I pray that I dont have to go through anything like that with my children. Also, yesterday and old high school acquaintance had quite a scare. She got a call informing her that her 15 year old son was lost in the high Uintah mountains. He was there for scout camp. That mountain has claimed the lives of many a scout who found himself lost. It is not a place you want to get lost in. I was so worried for her and thought it must be a mom's worst nightmare. Of course there are many events that could qualify as "moms worst nightmare". We cannot keep our kids sheltered and within our loving grasp at all times, unfortunately. All we can do is hope that they are watched over by a power stronger than a Mother's love and that we teach them what they need to survive in the big bad world. Thankfully, they did find my friends son, unharmed although probably a little shaken. He had hiked 20 miles out of the way after taking a wrong turn on the trail. Yikes....but what a relief that all is well.

So what else? I had lunch with my hermanos the other day. We went to Ruth's Diner up in Emigration Canyon. Great place to eat if you are in the area. I only got a picture of Nathan though...sorry Jeff!

Addie was excited to get "bigger" earrings. Apparently the teeny tiny (fake) diamond studs just werent cutting it anymore so with her birthday money from Mawmaw she bought an assorted variety of "bigger" earrings. Haha...here she is in her hoops ;)

Friday, Ian had to go to the dermatologist to get a massive wart removed from his knee. He wanted me to promise that it wouldnt hurt but I told him I had no clue what they were even going to do to remove it. The wart was very large and thick and therefore required freezing, a shot of anesthetic (or two), burning, and then finally cutting it off. Wow. I could have never predicted that he would have to have all of it done. Poor thing. If you know my son then you know the kind of noise he made over it. VERY melodramatic...the doctor was laughing and saying "we know who to call if we ever need a set of lungs to scare off bad customers".... haha.

Let's just say Ian does not tolerate needles and pain very well....I tried my best not to laugh. Really I did. But the whole thing was rather comical. In the end I apologized by taking him to see Harry Potter for the second time. He also has a wart on his elbow but the doctor opted to just freeze it and put a little acid on it rather than repeat the fiasco he had just experienced. Unfortunately, if the wart doesnt go away from that treatment, Ian will have to come back and repeat the bad way....let's hope it goes away!

Addison has decided she wants long hair. I was hoping to keep it shorter for a couple more years so it could get a little thicker and not have as many tangles. But, if she wants it long then thats fine too. She got some headbands today and I thought she looked cute. Wonder how long it will take for her hair to grow? If its like my hair...forever!

Ian's Talent Show....

Ian's school had a talent show today which a month ago Ian announced he wasn't going to participate in "so don't even ask, mom"! A week later a second grader who sang in his choir with him approached Ian and asked if he would sing a song with her in the talent show. To this, he readily agreed. They were going to sing "Consider Yourself" from Oliver Twist....a song that they sang in their choir concert. So... fast forward to yesterday and we receive news that MacKenzies Great Grandma died and the funeral was going to be today during the talent show so she would not be able to participate. Ian was upset of course...I told him to go ahead and sing it by himself but he kinda freaked out about that a little. I told him to think about it and to let me know what he decides. After school yesterday, he came home and told me that he was going to do it alone! I was so happy :) He did a great job! I am so proud of him for having the courage and the integrity not to just drop out of it and to get up there in front of his whole school and sing alone! It was awesome.... Great job Ian!

Concert Time....

The boys' concert was so much fun. Granted, I am a biased mother speaking here...but I think they all did so well. I was getting nervous the last couple of rehearsals before the concert because it just didn't seem like they were ready. They proved me wrong. The choir was fabulous....cutest songs by the cutest kids. They had to show up that morning to get staged and rehearse. It was only supposed to last 2 hours but they ended up standing and rehearsing for 3 hours! They were starving by the time I picked them up for the break. We ate at Big Ed's.

Ian wasn't too thrilled about the place...it was a bit of a dive. But, it was the closest place on campus and I heard the food was good. It turned out to be a tasty treat and they were happy we stopped there.

The concert started at 2pm. My mom flew into town and stayed the week with me so she could see the concert and my aunt Debbie drove all the way from Eagle Mountain to watch. I love my family... I took a lot of video but I am only posting the one of Ian singing his solo. Sadly, Evan's solo part in the performance did not get recorded somehow. I pushed record but all that actually got recorded was him bowing at the end. I cried all night over it.... thankfully the performance was professionally recorded so I will be able to buy a DVD of the concert and then I will post Evan's part. In the meantime, enjoy "Heart" from the musical "Damn Yankees".... with Ian singing a solo :)

Soccer Season Returns....

The crazy soccer season has begun again. I have to say that Spring session should be better than Fall because most of Evan's games are at noon and most of Ian's are between 8am and 10am. So that means that with the exception of one or two games that cross into each other, I should be able to see ALL of both boys' games this season rather than half of one and half of the other. Still have to go back and forth between two different fields but it makes it a lot nicer that we arent rushing just to see 10 minutes of each game.

Since Fall season ended, Ian has seen a podiatrist for his heel pain and it turned out he had some cracked growth plates which made even walking painful for him. He has since received a pair of special orthotics to wear in his shoes and they have really made a big difference for him. He actually ran during his soccer game and this is a pretty big deal. Normally he would sort of gallop slowly...which now we know was because the one foot was really hurting him. I am so happy that he might actually enjoy this soccer season so much more than last.

Sadly, his team lost their first game...time for practice!

Evans team remains intact each year and so he plays with the same kids and same coach every season. They even play soccer at school during recess together.

Because of this their team is quite cohesive and they rarely lose. I think this is the biggest problem with Ian's team. The boys dont go to the same school so only a couple of them actually know each other. Not to mention the coaches son plays on the team and can be pretty mean. There just doesnt seem to be any unity especially when your own teammates are critical of your playing skills. I hope that it is better for them this time around otherwise I dont think Ian will want to play again next year. Evan plays Goalie, which kills me.

It makes me sooo nervous because every time the ball gets near the goal I am praying that Evan doesnt let it through. Such a high pressure position, it blows my mind that Evan actually wants to play it. I would sure love to see him actually play soccer on the field but he is content being the Goalie and no one else on the team wants the position. It makes for some great action shots though!! Go Evan!

Addie asked me Saturday if when she turns 5 can she play soccer? I dont think I can handle 3 games and practices without Denver here to help me juggle so she is just going to have to stick to Dance for now :)

Fun Stuff....

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a video of Evan singing a little solo in his class production. Since that time the singing "thing" has really just exploded. The first news was that the composer of the song Evan sang part of wanted to have his class come to the studio to record the program and more specifically that he was very impressed with Evan's voice. Fast forward to yesterday, and we traveled to Masa's (the composer) studio to record the songs.

It was fun for the kids to see what goes in to recording music but the whole process was quitetedious and we were all pretty tired by the time we got home. I was a little disappointed because the song that they ended up recording wasn't even the song that had Evan's solo in it and his teacher had mentioned that the composer would be listening to the children and choosing some of them to sing in future projects for him. I felt like Evan never really got a chance to sing for him because in this particular song, Evan was just a part of the chorus. Evan's friend has a great voice as well and nearly perfect pitch but unfortunately he was quite ill mannered and held up a lot of the recording timeby making noise and even going as far as singing into the mic when it wasn't his turn. I was proud that Evan kept quiet and did everything that the director asked. Well, tonight Evan's teacher called from school and said that the composer has asked to put Evan's name on his list of children to call for studio work!! He loved Evan's voice which apparently he was able to hear in the midst of the other 6 kids. Part of his decision was based off of Evan's "impeccable" manners. Hooray! What a compliment not only to Evan but to Denver and I as well. I was very proud of him in that moment. I guess he didn't even ask Evan's friend because despite the fact that he sings well, the composer simply cant work with kids that arent well behaved.

Also, in the middle of all of this, the teacher sent home a flyer for some auditions. It is for a pretty prominent Youth Choir here in Utah and they are having auditions for their show in May. The guest artists that will be performing with the choir is going to be the composer's (Masa Fukuda) children's choir so it is all very exciting. Evan is going to audition and Ian decided he wants to as well! Ian will be singing Edelweiss from The Sound of Music and Evan will be singing the entire song, Reach Out With Love, that he sang the small solo in for his school production. I have no earthly clue if they even have a shot at it but I am so proud of them for wanting to do it and for being brave enough to try!! The auditions are next Wednesday so we are anxiously awaiting it and practicing every day!! I just love that the boys are singing and making music....brings me so much JOY!

End of the School Year and Other Happenings....

I finished up the semester finally on Tuesday and believe me, it wasn't a moment too soon! Still waiting on the final grades but so relieved to be done for a month. The kids didn't get out of school for their break until yesterday so I had a few days completely to myself and will have another full week of bliss in January after they go back and before I start up again. I put my free time to good use finishing up Christmas shopping and running errands....not exactly the vision of bliss I had imagined (read: sleeping in, laying around and watching movies, etc) but it was nice being able to shop alone! In the middle of this the boys both had school performances for me to attend. First was Evan:

He and a partner worked on a report about the endangered Monk Seal and then their assignment was to use this fun program on the computer to create a documentary which they narrated, inserted pictures, and chose background music for. It was a fun project for them and I was excited to see it. Here is a picture of Evan with his teacher Mrs. Norton.

She is super nice and Evan really likes her. Now if only I could get him to do his homework, 3rd grade would surely be a big success!

Next was Ian's piano recital. His school is the only one in the district that has piano lessons once a week and now that he is in the 4th grade, he also has a violin lesson once a week! I love love love this music program and the fact that he is learning and I don't have to force him to practice. Here he is waiting for his turn....sitting next to Josie, who I am not allowed to tell you about; wink wink. At the very end of this post is the video of Ian's performance.....

So, now they are out of school until January 3rd and there is a lot of excitement with Christmas coming up and Denver coming to town....in fact it's all they talk about!

Unfortunately we received some really sad news this week. My mechanic, who also happens to be a pretty good acquaintance of ours passed away. It's a long story but basically we met him and his family when they moved into the first house we rented in Sugarhouse when Addison was just a few months old. We only moved around the corner so we still saw them on occasion and would take our cars to him for cheaper repair. Eventually they were baptized into the LDS church and were attending our ward as well. Jeremy had his struggles but he was always so kind to us and very fair with our car repair. We trusted him and he charged us so little compared to what we would have to spend at a regular shop. Even when he was out of work and needed the money so badly he didn't charge us much. In recent months he has fixed my poor van at least 3 times or more and was scheduled to fix one last thing next week after Christmas. He was going through some really personal trials lately including being out of a job for nearly 9 months and it was clear that he was struggling emotionally. Sadly, it got the best of him and he took his own life on Sunday. I attended his funeral on Friday. It was heartbreaking to look at his 3 children and see what they are going through. I cannot even begin to comprehend that level of sadness both on his part where the hopelessness was so intense or on his children who now have to come to terms with how their dad left them, not to mention just the fact that he is gone. It was a horrible experience. I hope I never have to experience it again. My heart is full of love for his family and I pray that they will be able to reconcile this and move forward. It has hit me much harder than I thought it would....I'm still just struggling to understand why.

But, now it's on to Christmas and a brand new year full of possibilities. I am sure thankful for whatever comes my way, good and bad, because it is a reminder that I am alive and experiencing all that God intends for me....what could be better?

My 4th Grader....

I'm still in denial that I have a 10 year old. Even with his new school picture that makes him look 13, I refuse to believe that he is 10. I will probably remain in denial until he leaves for college....and even then I may shut my eyes to the whole business. Love you Ian!

10 Years Ago....

I gave birth to my first baby...Ian Kenneth Shannon.

It was not an uneventful birth. After my water broke early, the contractions stopped and 19.5 hours later I was finally ready to push. Unfortunately, due to an epidural that never completely "took", I was forced to push without much pain medication.... it took 2.5 hours of pushing to finally hold him in my arms. 2.5 hours of pushing, puking on the nurse, and tearing....a lot. Lets not forget the fact that the doctor had to twist him a full 3 times to get his gigantor shoulders out. "Here is your future football player" the doctor said... all 9 pounds 13 ounces of him. Well, guess what Doc.... Football player he is not. What I got though, was the most lovable, squeezable, kissable, teddy bear of a son that a mother could ever hope for (and he would probably be mortified that I wrote that :) I cannot believe it has been 10 years already. It feels like it was just a couple of years ago..... Words can't express how much I love this kid so I wont bother trying. I am so proud of him....my little Alex P. Keaton :)



We promised him a big birthday party for his entrance into the "double digits". He has been very excited to hit this milestone...much more so than I have - that is for sure. So we invited his entire school class since they have all been together since Kindergarten. I figured half might show up.... out of 24 kids, we had 18 come to the party! It was a smashing success. I rented out the bowling alley at the University of Utah for 2 hours and let the kids go for it. Self contained entertainment....it was awesome, and loud, and crazy but totally worth it. Ian was on cloud 9. Denver was in town for a visit too so that made it even better for him. Also, my mom was in town helping my brother with his boys since Alisa had been out of town on business....it was fun to have her at the party as well.

Here is Addie striking a pose for the camera since she wasn't doing much "striking" on the bowling lanes!

And here is Ian methodically explaining the scientific facts about bowling and how to properly pick up the ball and throw it down the lane.....

Here is my nephew Soren, "secretly" assisting his big cousin in the gift opening department ;)

If you know me, then you know I love to make my kids' birthday cake from scratch each year. This year however, Ian was kind enough to allow me to purchase his cake from Sams Club #1. because I would have had to bake 3 cakes to feed all the guests..... and #2. between my school and our weekly chaos, I would have never had time to do so. It killed me to do it but I have to admit it was such a huge relief!!! By the way, I have to say that for store bought cake, this was pretty dang good...and I am picky.

He got a lot of really fun gifts and his friends were all so cute...they were huddled so close to him while he was opening the gifts that I thought they might literally smother him. It was Awesome....he had such a great time :)

The Boys and Their New Adventure.....

We have always encouraged the boys to be involved in some kind of sport. Ian started with soccer, as did Evan. They have both played baseball, Ian has played basketball and football. Evan seems content to stick with soccer at the moment as he is just finishing up his season with the Firebirds. Anyway, I dont believe in forcing them to play anything. If they ask to play, they are expected to commit to the whole season...and they always do. With summer coming, there are not a lot of sports to play and frankly, Ian isnt really interested in anything anyway. He decided not to play football again this fall; not a big shock there. But he really needs to do something active as I worry about his potential weight issues. I told him to pick something and he chose Tae-Kwon-Do lessons. I was a little hesitant at first because I would prefer some type of team sport. But Ian is who he is and once he gets something into his head its hard to change his mind. So.... happy that he will be doing some type of exercising 3 times a week, I enrolled him and Evan. They have been to 2 classes so far and it is lots of fun watching them try to coordinate themselves to these moves. Listening to them call their instructor 'sir' is fun too...maybe this wont be so bad :)

Here are a couple of videos of their class last night.....

Ian Jams Out.....Cha Cha style.....

Check out the video of Ian singing with Steve James. This man composed all of the songs for the "Parents Empowered" organization for helping prevent kids from harmful behavior such as alcohol and drugs...the songs are catchy and fun. He chose Ian's school to perform his songs for the Mayor's office tonight. It was a lot of fun and I was pretty impressed with his music! The kids clearly loved him. Ian complained a few times that the hand movements for his song were "cheezy" and that he was too embarrassed to do them. I told him before we went tonight that he would look more cheezy if he stood up there and didnt do them and everyone else was doing them.... I believe he actually listened to me for once! Check him out....

Song Title: Honesty (la verdad, yo dire)

Ian's Recital....

I cant go on enough about the music program at Ian's school. Maybe it is normal for schools in other places to have a piano program in their curriculum but I've never heard of it. In our school district, Ian's school is the only one to have this program. Starting in 2nd grade they get piano lessons once a week and each student gets to work at his/her own skill level. Not only do they have a big Grand Piano but they also have several electric pianos with headphones so the kids can all practice their pieces. At the end of each semester they give a recital. They have to introduce themselves before hand and announce the name of the piece they have chosen...one of the kids in the class got up and announced that autographs would be available after the performance if we were interested! I thought that was pretty clever.



I wish that Ian would want to take lessons again outside of this program but as much as he enjoys what he is learning, he doesn't want to take anymore.

I would also love to put him in some type of voice class....a children's choir perhaps. He has a wonderful voice and I would like to see it develop more. But, I don't want to push him into something and then have him hate it. His interest right now lies in Tae Kwon Do...wonder how long that will last! ha ha. Without further ado...here is a video of Ian's song. Its kinda long....and slow....but watch him count with precision. So cute.


Ian Playing the theme to Jurassic Park by John Williams:

Start Your Engines....

Tonight was the annual Pinewood Derby for our scouts. Last year was our very first one....let's just say it was a learning experience and leave it at that. We were much better prepared this year and it showed in the races. We let the boys do the majority of their car helping with little things here and there. Ian chose every color in the palette for his car and Evan went with a little more traditional colors and style. Both cars turned out great.


This was Evan's very first Pinewood Derby and he was pretty excited. His car performed really well, beating both cars that he raced (even though they are technically racing against the clock not the cars). He was equally excited that he ranked 14th out of 40 cars. Evan was awarded his Wolf badge tonight and after an entire year of sitting in the box, mom FINALLY got all of the boys' patches attached to their shirts so they were all official tonight!

This is Ian's second Derby...last year his car placed 38th out of 40. Like I said...learning experience. So this year he placed 25th out of 40. He would have been disappointed in that except for the fact that his car actually beat one of the cars he raced with and what's more important apparently is that this car that he beat was the kid who won the whole thing last year AND is in his class at school. Poor Noah....he was not a happy camper about losing....sadly, Im not sure who was more upset, him or his daddy. Ian was awarded the World Conservation Badge tonight. This was a great honor and not something that many scouts receive. His den made special efforts at improving the environment and donated money to save the Panda's in China.


It was a great night! I do have to share this funny picture of Ian. After his den was awarded their patches, the scoutmaster grabbed Ian on his way off the 'stage' and asked him to choose the scout cheer. Ian discussed this at length with the guy as you can see from the picture and ended up making up his own 'cheer'..... It takes Ian half an hour to decide something as simple as what treat to buy at the store so this was a bit stressful for him. He is soooooo indecisive. Im sure the scoutmaster didnt know what to think ;)


After the races were through they let the kids have their own little races between each other. Ian and Evan just HAD to race their cars against each other. Evan's car won by a hair.... Here they are at the starting line, ready to go!



Here are some videos of the cars racing if you care to take a look. We had a great time!

Our Little Performers.....

First we went to Ian's school for his piano recital. His school is fortunate enough to have a piano lesson program starting with second grade. It was fun to watch although Ian could have played a more difficult piece.....he picked it out himself and said it was "fun to play" (see video below)

Next was miss Addison's very first dance recital. I was a little nervous with how it would go since she doesnt really like to perform on demand. I let her play up on the stage before the recital started hoping that it would help her feel more comfortable. She seemed to be OK after a few minutes and even stood up there by herself waving to us. Then when it was her groups turn to do their little dance....she started out fine but suddenly panicked. Then the screaming ensued and I had to go and remove her from the stage. It was cute, funny, and sad all at the same time. They had a second song to perform as well but no amount of bribing could get her back up on that stage. Oh well....she was still the prettiest girl up there and hopefully when the spring recital comes around she will be more comfortable on the stage . Here are a few pics of her before the recital and of course the video!

Just Yesterday......

I held you in my arms and wondered how I ever lived without you......


And now, 9 years later I know that my life was forever changed the day I held you for the first time.....


I only wish that time could stand still, so I could savor your childhood just a little longer....


But I know that as each year passes, it only gets better......


And 9 years from now, I will remember my funny little 9 year old and wish I could see him again....


So today, I will cherish the fact that you are 9 and remember that time passes quickly......


Because it seems that just yesterday, I held you in my arms for the first time....


Love Always & Happy Birthday......
Mom

Surprise!!!

Today we had a surprise party for Ian's 9th birthday. Technically, his birthday is not until the 29th but considering the extreme state of distress he was in over having to wait "another whole week", and the fact that there is literally no time next weekend to even have a party.....I gave in and told him we would celebrate on Sunday after church. That was Monday, by Wednesday I decided to totally surprise him by having the party today. Denver hauled both boys off this morning to soccer games and football games.... When they returned late afternoon, I quickly got the kids into their Halloween costumes for the Trunk-or-Treat at the church. Ian is Harry Potter, Evan is Draco Malfoy...Harry's classmate enemy, and Addison is our little Snow White. She fully embraced this role as you will see in the pictures! While they were there, I quickly set up the party. It was a small, family party and we were joined by Nate and Soren, and Jeff and Nicola...sadly Alisa was out of town and couldnt be there. We had a lot of fun yelling surprise when he walked through the door. Needless to say he was shocked and very, very happy. You will see from the pictures he got everything he wanted in the line of presents and I believe he will remember this party for a long time.

I had fun making his pumpkin cake and I thought the little "mummy" pigs in a blanket were especially fun for Halloween and so easy to make! Here is a slideshow of the kids in their costumes and of Ian's party. I'll be posting something about Ian on his actual birthday!