An Update....

Wednesday afternoon, Ian & Evan auditioned for a choir called Young Choral Artists. I mentioned this in my last post. The auditions went pretty well, although I couldnt tell how well they sang because they were so quiet and piano drowned them out, but the only one that mattered was the woman sitting at the piano who was making the selections for the choir and she could clearly hear them. I think the boys were pretty nervous once they got there because other kids that were auditioning were in the room with us and we werent expecting that. But, they made it through and we left not really knowing what to expect because they were first and we didn't hear any of the other kids to know what they were up against. I didnt care at that point because I was just so proud of them for actually doing it! What a great experience for them....here are a couple of pic's during the audition.

The auditions were held Wednesday and Thursday, and then Friday morning we got an email from the director letting us know that they were SELECTED!!!! I could hardly contain myself...I called Ian on his phone as soon as his school let out. He was screaming so hysterically (thats my drama king) that I had to hang up and wait for him to compose himself and call me back. Evan, the polar opposite of Ian, just whispered and intense little "Yessss" under his breath and then changed the subject. Ha ha... I love my boys. They are so different and so unique and just wonderful, handsome boys. Ok enough gushing. Rehearsals start on Tuesday...it's going to be fun.

In Addison news, there is nothing new. Still a diva, still beautiful, still my fun little girl. I bought her a new hair clip which she promptly asked me to take a picture of ....here she is in her best model pose complete with the no emotion smile. I honestly don't where she gets it from...its not like we watch Project Runway or anything. Silly girl...but dont let me fool you. I LOVE it :)

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!

What a Week...

This was one of those weeks that goes into the books as 'most stressful week ever'. But I survived and am actually glad tomorrow is Monday because it starts a new week. I wont even attempt to bore you with the details as I am sure you have all had similar weeks. But here is a little picture montage to give you the short version of our weekend....

First: Valentine Boxes for the boys to take to school. We had grandiose plans for elaborate boxes... but that didnt exaclty pan out so, we took the shortcut route and thankfully my boys were thrilled with their "Locker" themed boxes. I mean really, all that matters in the end is that they have a place for all the Valentine junk they will recieve tomorrow, right?

I also had the chance to babysit my nephew's last night and that is always fun. I get my baby fix this way (not that I really have one) and it's fun to play with them. The kids always have a great time. Here is some pictures of sweet little Jude. He really is just the sweetest baby!!

My wonderful neighbors offered to take my kids to church today so I could finish a presentation that I was doing for class tomorrow. It saved me really because by the time I finished, they were coming home and then we spent the afternoon doing Ian's science project and all 3 Valentine boxes. I would have never made it without those extra 3 hours this morning. The same neighbors invited us over for dinner and we had a really fun time eating and playing Scrabble Slam. I forget how much fun it is to socialize with other people, haha.

Saturday afternoon I helped my aunt and uncle clean out some of my Grandma Lloyds basement. She passed away back in August and they have sold her house. I have mixed emotions over it. It feels weird to think that I will never step foot into that house again after 39 years of it being 'my Grandparents home.' Lots of memories...I especially miss my Grandma and wish she were still here.

Finally, I will leave you with a picture of me in my new glasses...I was really looking for something a little more stylish than my normal frames. What do you think?

Success!!!

Yes! Persistence pays off...I've figured out how to post my pictures straight from blogger again on my new computer. What a relief because the alternative was so much more time consuming. Change is hard sometimes...especially when we get comfortable with our processes but with change comes bigger and better things as I am slowly learning on this computer. Once I get the hang of it, I think I will never go back to a PC unless I have no choice to! Addison had just pinched her fingers in between the movie theater seats...that's why she looks so sad. We went and saw the movie "Tangled" this past weekend. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Very cute movie and even though my boys were resistant (its a girl movie mom!) they seriously laughed the whole way through it and loved it just as much as the girls did!!

New Program Testing

, originally uploaded by vanishani.

Im using this photo of Addison and her school project, Koda the Koala bear, to test my new way of posting photos... I got a new computer and the photo storing program doesnt let you just upload photos to the blog. You have to send it to Flickr first then "blog it" from Flickr. Not sure I like it this way because it only lets me do one photo at a time... Im sure there is a way around it but I havent figured it out yet. Until then, I will see how this works.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Hard Work Pays Off....

Im finally getting organized, I think. Ive begun the arduous process of turning this blog in a book...several actually. Ive decided to make one per year. That way I can do one each time I have a little extra money. I'm just about done with 2007 which is the first year in which I started blogging. Its going to be fun to see the finished product although the details are stressing me out...it's not like you can return it if you dont like the way it turns out! Also, I have been working on creating myself an "office space" for lack of a better term. Truly, it is a school space right now...a new desk big enough for the computer and space to do homework. Shelves for stacking books, etc. Then I hung a big white board for writing down important things as well as some cork squares...eventually I will hang a picture frame above the computer with the 3 kids pictures in it.

I love my new space. It makes doing homework so much easier and I feel organized... finally.

I also got a new computer through my school. It is an iMac...

Ive been resistant to the whole Apple revolution but after seeing it in action, I was convinced it was the computer for me. So far, I really like it....A lot. The best part? NO WIRES OR CORDS!!! Seriously...what you see in that picture above is the WHOLE computer. The actual computer is inside the screen itself so there is no extra box/tower on the floor. You literally plug it into the wall with one solitary power cord. The mouse is wireless, the keyboard is wireless and because I have a wireless router in my apartment, there isnt even a cord to hook up the internet. It is a beautiful thing to look under my desk and not see a big tangled mess of cords! Its all very exciting to me, if you can't tell.

I painted a couple of walls in the front room. Green. Its a new color for me but Im really liking it right now. It feels so much more comfy in this little apartment. I figure since I am going to be in this place at least another year, I may as well make it pretty :) I ordered some new pictures of the kids from when we had those studio pictures taken a few months ago. I got one on canvas and I am really excited to hang those.

I was also really excited to get an email yesterday informing me that I made the Dean's List at the University of Utah! I was pretty happy about it considering how hard I work to keep my grades up at school. Sure, I could work less and still get B's and C's but I would always know deep down that I was capable of getting A's and it would eat at me if I didnt at least do the most that I could to accomplish that. So, all my hard work is paying off and that is good to know!