Reflections

One of my all-time favorite pics! Why didn't this one win?

It’s definitely fall. There’s a chill in the air, football is in full swing, and I even noticed leaves starting to drop from the trees. There’s something else I noticed, Reflections paperwork coming home from the schools.

Reflections is a contest sponsored by the PTA in the United States so that kids can be rewarded for being creative. My kids love it! When the Drama Queen was a senior in high school (2006), she rallied all the kids and they all agreed that they wanted to enter this contest in every category. There are 8 categories, stuff like Literature, Choreography, Visual Arts…times 6 kids in the public school system equals 48 entries! Oh, they had entered before, just not in such huge numbers, and even though the themes are released almost a year in advance, we never get around to starting anything until the paperwork comes home. We aren't really loving the theme this year...Diversity Means. That could be anything!

So for the last five years, August is flags, and September and October are Reflections. Only this year, with the scout thing and the Dog Walker’s newfound fame (I got my first nasty phone call, btw), September is almost over and we haven’t even started yet.

Our family has managed to place pretty well in every category, but our most consistent wins come in Theater. The Drama Queen and the Dog Walker both won first place at state competition. Princess, Teach, and Sport have also been runners-up at state. I try to provide the kids with the opportunity to prepare their entries, but they do the rest. Remember I told you that we have family home evening on Monday nights? Well, for two months we work mostly on Reflections. Like next week is Visuals Arts night. I’ve already purchased the canvas and the mats and we will break out the oil paints and let all the kids have a hand at painting. I always make sure that everyone gets a turn even if they are too young or too old to enter the contest, although in my family, almost everyone is in the public school system.

The one category we usually don’t do well in is Photography. I just don’t understand what makes a picture great, I guess. I’m tossing in a few of their photos here and there and maybe you can tell me. Dance Choreography is very popular at my house as you can imagine with all of these dancers here. You would be surprised how often the Dog Walker wins in this category. He used to make up dances for just himself, but when he was in middle school he took a social dance class and now he loves dancing with some cute little girl and throwing her around.

My favorite part is that at least once a year we get photos and videos with the kids. That first year, Crafty was in kindergarten and she was so tiny and cute. She made up a dance to House at Pooh Corner. She won on the school level, but that is all. Not that I care…I still have a cute video of her dancing that would never have been made if it weren’t for Reflections. So even though my life is crazy, I’m printing out the grid…6 kids x 8 categories = 48 entries. I’m pretty good at math, too bad they don’t have a category for that!

Or this one...amazing contrast here and the plane is up!

Lots of Flags

Nate (the Dog Walker) was so excited to be on CNN today! Take a minute and watch it if you missed it. It is the same one shown on FOX news, but different from the one on KSL. We have been so surprised at the media coverage! If you google “132 Merit Badges” you get dozens of stories from all over the United States. I’m thinking definitely famous.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. And I don’t want to talk about my Grandma’s funeral either. There will be plenty of time for that on the weekend. The spikes and valleys in my life are so hard right now and I just made them worse. I want to talk about Marching Band.

We have been involved with the Marching Band at Bingham (since you all know our high school now) since Bossy was a Freshman, so almost 15 years now. Everybody had a chance to be in it. Bossy played the sax, the Gym Rat spun a flag, the Drama Queen played the Clarinet, and Teach was in the color guard (including two years as Captain). Now the Dog Walker is working on his second year. And I’m pretty sure I’ve worked on flags for about ten of those 15 years.

Yeah, Teach is a pro!

I started as just a mom helper since Bossy was on the Band Council and in charge of uniforms. Then when she graduated, it became a paying gig. I didn’t charge that much, but the money came in handy right during the days when all the school fees were due. Last year I made 70 or 80 flags and it took me about a month from concept to finished product. Bossy generally draws my patterns and I have to calculate and buy all the fabric. Last year we figured I made about twenty-five cents an hour and I wish I could say it really isn't worth my time. (But I'm a little prideful because I love to see my flags on the field!)

I made all these flags two years ago.

So this year I contacted the instructor in July. I wanted to plan my fall season. He told me that they were having mom volunteers do the flags this year, basically, thanks but no thanks. So I proceeded with my life and did not plan any late nights sewing.

Tonight we attended the Parent’s Night for the band. It’s always fun to see the show before the competitions begin. The Dog Walker did an amazing job! The band itself seemed to be right where they needed to be early in the season for Weber Review tomorrow. But the color guard had issues. It was pretty obvious right away that the flags didn't match. At some point during the evening, the Band Booster president got on the mic and mentioned that they needed 185 flags sewn by Saturday and could anybody help...

This cute little rifle girl in the front corner is Teach.

I texted the color guard instructor right away and offered to do some of them if he were desperate. I gave him a discounted price of $10 each. But that's when I heard that their plan was actually to use the flags as a fundraiser. Each flag was worth $5 toward the Disneyland trip. I know, I'm an idiot. I offered to do some. But let me explain myself. Sewing is usually pretty good therapy for me and right now I'm in real need of some therapy (and maybe a good cry). How many flags do you think I can make between Tuesday and Friday? I might want to sleep a little too...

A Legacy of Love

Edna Benson: March 24, 1918 - Sept 18, 2011

Today started out to be a typical crazy day, but it didn’t end that way. We had my siblings and their families coming over to celebrate Grandpa’s birthday. My sweetie spent the entire morning making Grandpa’s favorite food, spaghetti and (huge!) meatballs. Crafty absolutely loves meatballs! When she was about 7, she heard the “On Top of Spaghetti” song for the first time. Strangely, she started to cry. “What’s wrong?” my sweetie asked. “That’s the saddest song I ever heard…” she whimpered. My sweetie started going over the lyrics in his head. Perplexed, he finally asked her why. “Because somebody’s meatball rolls into the street and becomes nothing but mush,” she sobbed.

So back to my day…we headed out for church and we were running behind because of all the party preparations. I accidentally left my cell phone on the couch. After three rather quiet hours at church, we drove home.

The Drama Queen had opted to stay home rather than show up late, and I was a bit surprised when she met us at the car door. She was upset and clearly agitated. “What’s wrong?” I asked immediately. “I don’t know if you want the kids to know,” she said hesitantly. “Tell me,” I insisted. “Your sister called and Grandma died this morning.” I had been dreading this day for the last 20 years, and now that it was here, the tears did not flow. Grandma was 93 last March and she was so unhappy with her failing body. Oh, she was never sickly, but she just couldn’t do the things she wanted to do anymore. She gave me her quilt frames last winter when she knew she wouldn’t be able to set them up anymore. She was always a small woman, but she was now about the same size as 8-year-old Sport, although I think she weighed about 20 lbs less than he does. She loved cats and dogs and thought everybody should have one.

Grandma and I were always close. I took my sweetie to meet my grandparents on our very first date. My mom used to complain that Grandma was more like a mother to me than she was and I have to admit that Grandma taught me many things. I learned how to cook and clean from her. I learned about budgeting and the power of money. She taught me to quilt and crochet, how to make a bed. Couponing and even how to address an envelope. She taught me about forgiveness and stubborness and how to get along. How to wrap a gift and how to work hard! How to play Pinochle and Yahtzee. Grandma was one of my heroes.
Teach and I were talking about her legacy and Teach took some pics for you of things that help her remember Grandma. These beautiful hot pads, dish cloths, and quilts were some of her contributions. For Grandma it was important to keep busy and productive. I’m guessing they had to pry that crochet hook out of her hand this afternoon before they took her to the funeral home. It was just her way. She gave this necklace to Teach and it is one of her prized possessions. Princess loves her quilts, all made with love by Grandma. I have many fond memories that have nothing to do with yarn, like the day she asked me to dye her hair.

She loved bright colors, but not pink. When we first moved into our home, I told her our color scheme and she whipped up half a dozen pink hot pads for us. Everyone on my street has a couple of hot pads and dish cloths that were lovingly made by Grandma. Every new baby was wrapped in one of Grandma's quilts. We've given away hundreds over the years.


 I called my sisters after church. None of us knew what to do. Then we decided to do just exactly what Grandma would have wanted. We had a party! Albeit a somber party. We gathered at my house at the appointed time, munched on meatballs and talked about Grandma. She would have liked that. I’m not sure what the week will bring. But I do know I will miss her. Last week Teach bought some yarn so Grandma could crochet a few more baby dresses. It's still sitting in the Roberts bag. Should I return it? Who is going to run over the pop cans with their car now that Grandma is gone? And who is going to keep score when we play Pinochle? Even though I know she was done here, and all of her friends died years ago, it is difficult to let her go. She outlived two husbands and her daughter (my mom). She hasn’t been truly happy for quite some time although she never complained much. And yes, Teach, much of her legacy involved yarn, but it is much more than that. It is a legacy of love.

This is the Place

My sweetie works for a large government contractor here in the Salt Lake Valley. Every year they have a family summer picnic and this year it was at This is the Place park. This is the Place is set up like a pioneer village with a nod to Utah’s heritage. The party ran from 10:00 – 3:00 and we showed up about 10:30. The main parking lot was already full even though the park was closed for the private event. We wrapped red wristbands around each kid’s wrist as they climbed out of the van. That was it…everything else was free including lunch and snacks!

The first thing the kids wanted to do was ride the ponies. So we hiked a couple of blocks to the pony rides. Walking with my grandsons is always an adventure. Six-year-old Taco pointed to two brown cows lazily munching hay. “Those brown cows have chocolate milk!” he announced proudly. City kid. “No they don’t,” I commented. Undeterred, he responded. “They must be happy. They’re wagging their tails!”

After all the kids had turns on the ponies, we headed into the petting zoo. The kids loved feeding and petting the baby goats. They followed the pot-bellied pig around, but he wasn’t much interested in them. Some of the little bit bigger goats came right over to the stroller to see if we had anything better than hay to feed them. They took off quick when Baby Doll hollered after one of them licked her toe!

Bean Dip and Sport were interested in earning a This is the Place cub scout badge, so we had a few activities that we had to do. They learned to write their name is “Deseret” which is a phonics alphabet used by the pioneers. They had to play some pioneer games and discover a little history, but it didn’t take too long and we were on our way again.

We passed through an area filled with beautiful yellow sunflowers. Teach remarked, “Look at all these sunflowers!” Curly dropped her hand in a huff. “They’re not dumb-flowers,” he responded, “They’re beautiful!” I think somebody needs his ears checked…

We rode the trains and ate lunch, panned for gold and watched a train robbery. They had a building all set up for crafts. The kids got to bend a nail into a ring, make a whirly-gig, tie an arrowhead necklace, and decorate a small bag. They even launched salt water taffy from a cannon! There were definitely lots more black ones than normal.
Bean Dip got stung by a bee and that made for a few exciting moments, but after a little ice and a wagon ride to distract him, he started to feel better.

The park had booths giving out free kettle corn and roasted corn-on-the-cob (I ate three!). The kids also had their fill of licorice and gummy worms. We were sad and a little surprised when 3:00 o’clock rolled around so quickly. As we walked toward the gate, Teach and I slipped into the “corn” line one last time. As I pulled down the husk and carefully bit into that delicious buttery corn, I definitely had to agree…This is the Place…for tons of fun!