Monster Concert

Have you ever been to a Monster Concert? The theory is simple. Our elementary school bands are small and they don't have equal numbers of instruments, and sometimes the school productions are a little weird. So they bring together all the little bands and combine them into one large program called a Monster Concert.

Sport happens to play the trumpet in our elementary school band. This is his second year and he is pretty good. Taco is in his school band as well and he plays the clarinet. He has struggled with his instrument and his fingers are too small to cover the holes, but both were involved in the concert.

Bossy and I had Burrito and Curly at baseball practice just down the street from the high school where the concert was scheduled to be held. Unfortunately, practice went a little long and it was 6:53 as we scrambled to make it on time.

As we were half-running, half-walking across the crazy busy parking lot, Curly commented between breaths, "I'm tired!" I definitely agreed!

We got inside and found our seats about one minute before it started. Not much time, but close enough.

The Star Spangled Banner was the first number and they did a great job! Things went a little downhill from there, but they finished strong on the last two songs. Remember, they only had a few hours this afternoon to practice together. Curly fell asleep during the second song.

My favorites were Star Wars (a song I played in our Jr. High band), and Let's Go Band, a local favorite played by every elementary school band in Utah.

I was so proud of our boys and their willingness to try and I love that they are learning to read music and be part of something much bigger than themselves. We will definitely be back next year.

Let's go band!!

Taking the Pins Out

Today was a big day for me, one that I have been looking forward to for quite some time. My visit with the hand doctor! I am just so tired of being laid up.

Nice and straight

Last Friday, one of the pins got pushed a little too far with the plastic part of my brace and started forcing its way beneath the skin of my finger. It was painful, so I tried to move the pin slightly so that it wasn't poking me. I accidentally popped it up about a centimeter! Afraid of messing up my finger, I did the first thing I could think of...I pushed it back in. Bad idea!! I should have had a clue then that pulling out these pins was not going to be the painless procedure Shayne told me it would be.

Fast forward to today.

I arrived at the doctor's office about 5 minutes ahead of my appointment time. I waited in the lobby for almost half an hour before I was finally called back. They did a quick X-ray and then Shayne, the physician's assistant, came in and we looked at it together. He told me everything looked great and it was indeed time to pull out the pins. I confessed to Friday's mishap and showed him the pin. He pulled that one first and honestly, it slipped right out, almost fell out. Unfortunately, that was not the case with the rest of them.

Bleeding finally stopped.

Number two started the bleeding, but it was number three where the pain began in earnest. The first time he attached the pliers and pulled, it didn't budge except for the searing pain that shot through my hand and into my wrist. The second time it moved a little and when I flinched in pain, he stopped. "Shayne," I managed through gritted teeth. "Just pull it out quickly and don't stop!"

He agreed and yanked. It fell like a needle was shoved straight down through the top of my finger as the pain spread through my hand. The tears leaked from my eyes and I almost couldn't let him pull the last one, but after a moment of weighing the options (and the bleeding slowed), I let him yank it out. It was not as bad as the other one.

"I thought you said it wouldn't hurt!" I accused. Shayne shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, "I lied," he admitted. After several minutes of holding a gauze pad in place to stop the bleeding, Shayne found me a new and smaller plastic brace and proceeded to wrap my finger. But it wasn't long before the blood had pooled in the tip and we were unwrapping it again.

The new normal.

So this is it. What do you think of the new look? It's smaller and less likely to get smacked into anything, but I'm not liking the new level of pain. Oh, and I have to wear this brace for 2 more weeks before I can start taking it off for an hour a day. Are you counting? That's six more weeks before I will be even close to normal. And Shayne said a full year before I would have full mobility back.

All that fuss for just one dumb little finger.

Guest Blog: Timbuk-four by Sport

When we were handing out the flyers for the food pantry, we got a big box from our neighbor, Mike. The box was from a chair he had just bought and he thought we might like to play in it. When Bean Dip, Taco, Scout and I came back from Minecraft Madness at the library, four of my siblings (including nephews) popped out of the big box!

The next morning, the kids were playing in it again. At first there were only 2 or 3 kids in the box. There were 4 when this idea called ''That is evil!'' that mostly Bossy and I made up entered my brain. We gave the kids pillows, cereal, water, toys and more things. We put them in the box, taped it up, then taped it up again, and instead of Timbuktu, we wrote Timbuk-four. (Since there were four people we wanted to ship to Timbuktu!) Have you ever seen the Disney movie called the Aristocats?

We picked it up and almost got it out the door, but Mom and Dad arrived and the kids broke it from the inside. Fajita, Scout, Baby Doll, and Curly all fell out of it.

Me, Burrito, and Bossy were pushing them. They were terrified! (Not that we would have really done anything to them...).
Probably. 

This was great fun and an awesome "evil" idea! Well at least for me.

I wasn't inside the box.

A Day of Rest

I had an awesome Sunday. No, we didn't have a big family party or even a big meal. It was just a nice restful day and believe me, I needed one. Sometimes my life just feels like a crazy whirlwind where I can't ever seem to get my feet on solid ground. Today I felt like I got a minute to breathe before I get swept up again. I like life both ways, but today was really nice for a change.

The day started earlier than I wanted it to when I rolled out of bed at 8:15 to get a shower before choir practice. I know, 8:15 isn't that early, but I was up until nearly 3:00 AM the night before. We got back from choir at 10:00 and instead of writing Scout's talk for Primary, I decided to go back to bed for a while. It was probably a bad idea, but I mostly rested until about 11:30. Since it was Fast Sunday it was nice to not have to worry about putting together lunch.

I wrote Scout's talk and checked my lesson for Nursery. All was in good order. When we got to church, Prima Donna, Scout, Sport, and Curly all bore their testimonies and Scout did an excellent job on her talk. Baby Doll said the prayer in front of the whole Jr. Primary (with my help), but it stressed her so much that when she was finished she totally broke down and I had to take her with me to the Nursery for half an hour while she calmed back down.

After church we fed the kids hot dogs. We cleaned up and then we all just chilled for an hour or so. The kids were playing a game, so my sweetie and I watched some fun old songs on YouTube. Remember "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head"? We had never done that before, but it was super fun. It sure brings back childhood memories!

After that we had a movie party and folded laundry. We rarely watch TV, but when we want a movie, we love KBYU-TV for Sunday evenings. They play the fun older Disney movies. Remember the Shaggy DA? The kids had never seen it before and they loved it!

We ate grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade ham and bean soup (leftover from Friday night) for dinner. Cleanup was easy and the kids played games until bedtime while I helped the Dog Walker with some homework. Other than the fact that I have a bunch of laundry to put away, things are good.

And I actually feel ready to face a new week.
How was your weekend?