MIA...

I feel like I have really neglected my blogging recently, probably because I have! I always have good intentions but life just has a way of taking over sometimes. Truthfully, there haven't been too many big events to post about so for now I will just give a little update and be done with it.

ME:

Spring break officially started for me after my last class on Thursday. I have really been looking forward to it because this has been a difficult semester. When this semester is over in May, I will have 11 classes left until graduation. Sounds like a lot still but I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I cant imagine what it will be like to go to bed at night (at a decent hour) and not lay there fretting over what homework I may have forgotten to do. I have had some really great leads for work come about in the past few weeks too. This is super exciting because I decided that I just really don't want to teach. I want to work in publishing/editing/writing somehow. This is looking like more of a possibility now that I have been talking to a few people. I am feeling very encouraged at the prospects awaiting me after I graduate! But, this is it for updates on me....school is my life right now. I just registered for Summer classes. I wish I could take a break but I need to get this over with! I am singing in my choir still although I think I may have to drop out this time. I missed a rehearsal already and will be missing another one next Sunday as we will be in Reno visiting my parents.

IAN:

Well Ian is growing up so fast! He is 10 going on 16 and it drives me a little nuts sometimes. He reminds me so much of myself when I was that age. He takes Spanish lessons twice a week after school. He also takes piano lessons and violin lessons through his school music program. I love that he is so exposed to music. Of course he is singing in the children's choir as well and is very enthusiastic about it. Every week he announces a new solo that he wants to try out for. I have had to rein him in a little here and advise him to at least practice the solo part before he auditions! But I am excited that he is really jumping in to this experience. Soccer starts in April...which I am dreading...but now that he has orthotics in his shoes, he likes running more since his feet dont hurt. I am hoping this makes for a more positive soccer experience than

usual.

EVAN:

Evan is about to turn 9 in April. It is just so hard to believe. Time simply will not stand still. Evan takes Chinese lessons twice a week at school. I have no idea how this is going as the teacher does not communicate with the parents and Evan will not say anything about the class to me. I have tried to get him to speak some Chinese to me but he is tight lipped about it. I can only hope that he is learning something. Exposure to languages cannot hurt in any way, shape, or form so I am happy that at the very least he is being exposed. He is also singing in the choir and enjoys it although not quite as exuberantly as his brother. I mentioned in a previous post about the composer Masa Fukuda that Evan's class got to work with. Well, he kept our name and number for times when he needs kids for various projects. He actually called us last night and asked if he could come to our home and work with Evan. He wants to listen to Evan sing alone to determine if Evan has a pop voice or a classical voice. Evan is beyond excited about this. I guess Masa has a couple of projects coming up that he wants to consider Evan for but needs to determine which one would be best for him. Again, I couldn't be more thrilled with the sudden music explosion happening in our house. I love sports for the boys too, but a well rounded man is much better than a sports fanatic (sorry guys!)... Evan also starts soccer next month and he is very happy about it. He loves soccer and all the friends he has made on his team.

ADDISON:

Well, this little girl of mine is turning 5 next month. Again...where has the time gone. 5 is a hard age to swallow because it feels like the end of "baby/toddler" days. She is my last baby and so I have hard time accepting this. In fact, I completely blew off the fact that she starts kindergarten this coming school year and missed an important registration deadline because of it! Im just in denial that we are here already. She has big plans for her 5th birthday party although the plans change every single day. I think we will just have to have a "variety" birthday with Barbies, Princesses, Fairy's, Hello Kitty, and yes...Justin Bieber. She is so prissy and I cant get enough of her.

DENVER:

He is still working in South Carolina. When his year is up in July however, he will hopefully be coming back this way. He misses the kids and they miss him. He is in his LAST class at the University of Phoenix and will finally have a bachelors degree in Business Management in April. This is a big accomplishment for him and will hopefully help him secure a better job out here. In the meantime, he may be working in San Antonio Texas temporarily for Boeing...this will be nice because they will fly him home every 3 weeks. He was just here for a visit this past weekend for his 40th birthday. Everyone had a great time and were sad to see him leave, but he will be back in 3 weeks for the kids birthdays in April. I cant believe I didn't take a single picture of him with the kids. Im really getting bad with the picture taking. I need a new camera to motivate me! I did take this picture of the ring/bracelet that he brought for Addison. She was on cloud nine. She has been asking for a ring for months now....she is such a Daddy's girl.

Like I said, no major news or happenings. Just life moving along at mach 40... Ugh, there's that number again. I'm not looking forward to becoming a 40 year old in September. Oh well...nothing I can do about it I guess but make the best of it!!

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.