Seventeen

  Does that number shock you like it does me?  Alyssa turned 17 this month!  I am the mother of a 17-year-old.  She is in her 18th year.  Next year is her last year of high school.  She is taking college classes.  I am still trying to grasp these facts. 
This week I have been reflecting upon December of 1993.  For the first time in years, I was no longer in school or working.  I spent my days in a little Wymount apartment getting to know our sweet little girl.  I curled up on the couch with her in my arms, staring at the tree lights and listening to Christmas music and thinking about Mary and her newborn son.  What a calm and peaceful Christmas.  I didn’t realize at the time how simple my life was.  Barely any cleaning to do in a 450-square-foot apartment.  Cooking for two—easy.  Christmas shopping?  Not much to buy at all, and not much money to buy it with, either.  No wonder that was a magical Christmas. 
A few things have changed since then, but I am still as thankful as ever to be Alyssa’s mother.  These are 17 qualities I love about her.

1. intelligence
2. beauty—inside and out
3. sincerity
4. artistic ability
5. musical talent
6. sensibility
7. honesty
8. sensitivity
9. obedience
10. integrity
11. kindness
12. example
13. good friend
14. testimony
15. faithful
16. helpful
17. self-confidence

Happy 17th birthday, Alyssa!

Naptime

Hayley is barely two.  She still needs naps.  I still need her to need naps.  See exhibits A and B below:


But she won’t admit it.  She fights the nap war every single day.  Lately, however, she’s become a little more resigned and logical about the inevitable.  This was our conversation one day last week.
We eat lunch, take Corinne to kindergarten, read a story—the usual routine.  “Hayley,” I ask, “now what time is it?”
“Naptime!” she exclaims.
I carry her up the stairs while she tells me that she wants exactly 3 blankets in her bed.  I put her in her crib and cover her up with the right number of blankets.
“Mom—I’m going to be crying soon,” she informs me.
“Why are you going to cry?” I ask.
“Because you’re going to leave.”
“You’re right, I am going to leave your room.  But I’ll be downstairs and I’ll come and get you when you wake up.  Good night, Hayley.”
“Okay, good night, Mom.”
I leave the room and close the door as the crying begins in full force.  Between sobs she is saying, “I. Don’t. Want. To. Take. A. Nap.”
I go downstairs and jump right into project mode.  In a few minutes, all is quiet.  She’s sound asleep.
I love that girl.  She knows a nap is required but has to warn me that she’s really not as grown up as she often acts and that sometimes she feels like crying.  It’s so much easier to handle when she has prepared me first.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just finished all my Thanksgiving baking!  Spinach gratin, cranberry orange sauce, pumpkin roll dough, homemade crackers, roasted squash, and a salad.  The pies are all baked (chocolate pecan, cranberry-apple galette/almond tart/peanut butter cream/ cranberry cheesecake)—I couldn’t choose so I made them all!  We’re heading to Brian’s parents’ home for dinner so my work is done.  Hooray.  And now I can enjoy Thanksgiving!   I’ll try not to think about Christmas yet and all the shopping, baking, planning, sewing, wrapping, mailing, gifting, crafting, singing, etc. that I need to do in the few short weeks before the big day.  See, I’m not thinking about it at all.
Here are some pictures of one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions.  The tablecloth.  Yes, I know it needs to be ironed, but it’s not going to happen before tomorrow.  We’ve been adding to it for at least 6 years now.  Here are some of my favorite entries.  As I’ve read what we’ve been thankful for over the years, I realize that this is also a record of important events.  The things we are grateful for reflect our life experiences and growth.

  


If you could come over and sign my tablecloth, what would you write?

Halloween

See Alyssa’s Hermione robe?  I made it for her in 3rd grade.   And Hagrid’s Grant’s robe?  Made it for Evan in 2nd grade.  I think those costumes have been worn in some form by someone every single year.  Jillian could not figure out what to be.  The night before the school party, she found a picture on FamilyFun.com that she wanted to create.  I present the throw-it-together-in-1 hour washing machine costume.  Corinne couldn’t decide, either, so she was a witch for school and a cowgirl for trick-or-treating.  And Hayley?  A princess all the way.  With boots.  Where was Evan?  Too cool to dress up, but not above begging and stealing candy from Grant and his sisters when they got home.  See the granny/wolf and Little Red in the background?  Loved those costumes, Mitchell and Erin.  Thanks for partying with us!

Secret Revealed

Remember when I said that I discovered the secret to a successful summer with teenagers?  Are you ready for this?  KEEP THEM BUSY.  (Revolutionary idea, I know.)  Pay them if you have to, but keep them productive and teach them some new skills.  They may not admit it to you, but they feel pride in working with their hands to create or improve something.  And you get so much more accomplished!  I’ve been waiting to post pictures of some of our furniture make-over projects until we finished decorating, painting, cleaning, etc. so I could show you a beautiful finished project.  Not sure if that will ever happen, so since some of you have asked, here are a couple of things my kids and I worked on at the end of the summer.
Before:  A 1940’s era twin bed (the wood rails aren’t pictured) that I found on KSL classifieds.

After:  Painted white, lightly distressed, glazed, and waxed.  This is Jillian’s new bed.  We’re going to paint her walls soon, but we also transformed the dresser you see in the background.  It used to be cream and gold.  Thanks, Stephanie, for popping in and helping to prep the dresser that day!

Before:  More of the 1940’s bedroom set.  There is also a dresser, a mirror, a chair, and a stool, not pictured.

Alyssa and her friend, sanding her desk.

Our workshop:  The back patio.  A coat of primer on everything—grey for the pieces that will be black, and white for the white.

After:  Just the nightstand.  The rest of Alyssa’s furniture looks great but she doesn’t want me to post final pictures of her room yet.  There are still curtains and pillows to make, a chair to re-upholster, and dresser hardware to purchase.  We (mostly she and a couple friends) painted her room a soft grey (it used to be the color of masking tape).  Also, don’t you love that cool headboard we also found on KSL?

So, what’s next, Mirien?  I’m glad you asked.  The kids have fall break coming up.  I’ve picked up a few more great finds in the past couple of weeks and I’m itching to get started on them.  I’ll be working on a kitchen table or two (don’t ask), some chairs, and matching headboards for Hayley and Corinne.  (And maybe a dresser that I’m going to look at tomorrow.)  Here’s a sneak peek:

Will she give new life to those baby blue chairs?  Stay tuned.  And will she keep the dated-looking lattice panels on the sides of the headboard?  Time will tell. 

Will the garage ever be clean again?  Yes, Brian.  Before winter hits, I promise! (please don’t let it snow early this year!!!)  Will someone please tell Mirien to stop perusing the KSL classifieds online and just g0 to bed??

My Kind of Fun

I was minding my own business, mixing up a bottle of cleaner and wiping the kitchen counters when Alyssa’s friend said to me, “What kind of brain washing is that?”

“Huh?”

“That box!  And it’s a good thing Hayley can’t read, or that could be toxic!”

So I looked at the old shoebox I’d been using for months to store my cleaning formulas in…and I cracked up.  I’d never noticed it before.

Take a closer look:

Doesn’t that just make you want to clean?  Come on, kids!  Party in the bathroom—just read the box!

Summer is over?

Three months since I last wrote?  Really?  Because it felt like a couple of weeks to me.  Where did the summer go?  As I look through the dozens of photos from our summer adventures, I realize I could write a giant catch-up post about vacations, camps, trek, reunions, recitals, birthdays, anniversary, projects, and the secret to a successful summer with 2 teenagers and one almost teen (it took me most of the summer to discover this secret—the last three weeks of vacation were amazing!)  But a post like that is much too overwhelming and would use up the rest of Hayley’s nap time and I’ve got much to get done before she wakes up!  So I’m starting with today and moving on.  You’re welcome.
Yesterday was the first day since the middle of May that all of my school children are in school at the same time.  Jillian and Corinne started school at the end of July, but Grant, Evan, and Alyssa just went back this week.  This year I have 6 children, 5 of them in school, and attending 4 different schools.  It took me over an hour to enter all of their schedules into Google calendar last night.  Different start times, ending times, early out days, late start days, mid-day kindergarten runs, before and after school practices, Hayley’s nap, and carpools.  Could life get any crazier?  Please, please say “no”.  But the upside?  For the first time in I don’t know how long, I have time to myself every afternoon while Corinne is in school and Hayley is napping.
Guess what I did with that time yesterday afternoon?  Primed and painted a dresser and a little rocking chair (I’ll post pictures later), baked cookies, and cleaned a bathroom!  With absolutely no interruptions.  It was heavenly.  I have big plans for myself.  I am going to savor every minute.  For the next week.  And then Jillian and Corinne will be off-track for most of September.  Just to keep me on my toes and make sure I don’t get too used to this free time phenomenon.
Corinne’s first day of Kindergarten—she’s waited months for this!  (but on the second day of school she said, “This was the worst day of school ever.”)
Jillian is in fourth grade and so far the reports are all good.  This year she is also the only child in the family taking piano lessons!
Grant just started 7th grade—which is the first year of middle school in these parts.  The night before he could barely sleep because he was a little stressed about finding all of his classes, but after 2 days he’s feeling rather confident.(This wasn’t taken on the first day of school.  I’ve given up on those photos for the older kids—they roll their eyes at me, and besides, they leave too early for all that fuss.)
Evan went to his first day of high school yesterday—He’s a sophomore this year.  He’s running cross country and they’ve been practicing since May.  (Sorry, Evan, this is the only recent picture of you I could find!)

And then there’s Alyssa.  On her first day of school, she told her sisters, “I’m in college now.”  Which is true.  She is now attending an Early College High School at the community college.  She’s taking high school and college classes at the same time, but all with other high school students.  I’m excited for her—it seems like it will be a great program.  (As for this picture—I’ll do a post soon that will reveal what she painted.)

Can’t forget Hayley.  This is how she feels about all of the kids leaving her during the day.  Just kidding.  This is what happens when I don’t give her exactly what she wants.  She is sitting on my lap right now (naptime is over, sigh.) and upon seeing this picture on the screen said, “Be happy, Hayley!”

And this is me, enjoying my life of leisure.  I get up every morning and hike in the mountains.  I wish.  Actually, this was taken last week in Logan Canyon.  Brian and I escaped for three days to celebrate our anniversary.  Our kids barely noticed we were gone—Corinne even said, “why didn’t you stay longer?”  (thanks, Mitchell and Erin!)
There.  My brief post is over.  Good thing I kept it short!

Really? Why?

Corinne and I just had one of those great conversations that warmed my heart and reassured me that I’m doing a good job instilling values and gospel teachings.  It happened on an ordinary day, in the car on the way to dance class.  It went something like this:

Corinne:  I just love dancing and I can’t wait to be in the recital!

Me:  I’m glad you like it.  What’s your favorite part about dancing?

Corinne:  (said with great enthusiasm)  I get to wear immodest clothes!  I love being immodest!

Me:  Really?  Why?

Corinne:  Because immodest clothes are so much more stylish and beautiful.

Me:  temporarily speechless and thinking that we need a family home evening lesson soon to combat the glamour of Disney Princesses and Barbie and glitzy ballet costumes

Speaker of the House

Time for me to be the proud mom.  Grant humored me by posing for this picture so I could tell you about the trophy and medal.  He and his partner took first place at the district debate tournament, winning all of their rounds with perfect scores.  Grant also received the "top speaker" award.   Their achievements earned them a trip to the state debate meet last week.  I went to observe and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!  It brought back good memories from my debate years, back when I thought I'd go to law school and someday run for public office.  Oh, well, now I can live vicariously through my kids.  Anyway, Grant and his partner won all of their debates at the state tournament, even against teams from schools who have debate coaches and a history of winning every year (so I'm told.)  Grant even received perfect scores for every round, and he and his partner placed 4th overall.  It was a long day, but Grant didn't seem nervous or stressed.  Public speaking seems to come pretty naturally for him and I loved sitting back and watching him in action, wondering how he'll choose to use his talents in the coming years.

What’s So Funny?

I’m in the kitchen cooking when I become aware of something wonderful.  Most of my children are huddled together on the couch, laughing like crazy.  Wow, I think.  They’re getting along so well and having such a good time.  Then I hear comments like, “Look at his hair!”  Laugh.  “No, look at him—he’s even worse!”  Laugh, laugh.  “Wait—is that a boy or a girl?”  More laughing.  “What about her?”  Ha, ha, ha.
I’m a little concerned now.  Who are they making fun of?  I march into the room, already launching into a lecture about accepting people who are different , when I spy the object of hilarity in front of them.  My high school yearbook.  “Oh, nevermind.  Now I get it.  Go ahead and laugh—we deserve it.”
Of course they found my pictures, and Alyssa was so impressed with my lovely hair that she decided to imitate my look.  Nice try, honey, but you’ll never have better 80’s hair than I did.  This picture was taken when I was Alyssa’s age.  If you think this hair is big, you should see my senior picture.  In any case, that yearbook I purchased 20+ years ago was a great investment—future hours of entertainment for my children.

Is Honesty Always the Best Policy?

Watching me exercise to a DVD this morning, Corinne observed:  “Mom, their legs are much skinnier than yours.”  Really?

And last week it was, “Mom, are you sure you’re not going to have another baby soon?  Because your tummy is still kind of fat.”  Sigh.
But where is the honesty when I’d really like to hear it?  “Corinne, did you cut Jillian’s homework in half?”  “No, it must have been Hayley.”  The same Hayley who is sound asleep and couldn’t cut a straight line with scissors if she wanted to.  I’ve always been able to tell when my kids aren’t telling me the truth—you can just see it in their faces.  Until Corinne.  She is so convincing!