Enoch's First Crush!

Okay, I know the last few posts have all been about the play, "A Christmas Carol". This is the last one...I promise.

There was a cute girl in the play with us. Name of Abby. She and Enoch got aquainted waiting in the wings. In fact, they had to go out for bows together after the show.

Enoch is a very serious thespian.

He is always on time for his cues.

He made sure that Abby knew when it was time to go bow. He had a simple method for this;

holding her hand.

Every night just before the show ended, he would be in the wings holding hands with Abby.

He totally loved it.

I also made a quilt for our director with all the actor's names on it. He found Abby's. Then he found his. He was disappointed I hadn't put them together.

Yes, I think my boy had his first crush.....and on an older woman no doubt.

Well, to make a long story short, at the cast party after closing night, Abby and another girl from the play called Enoch over, and this picture was the result.

A surprise to him no doubt, but so much fun!

Christmas Carol Trailer

This is just a short video that promoted our show. You could call it a trailer I guess. Take good notice of the Cratchit family. Have you ever seen so many redheads at one table before? Enjoy!

Ebenezer Scrooge Gets A Bad Rap

The name Ebenezer Scrooge always makes one think of some mean, onery old man who hates Christmas. No one ever wants to be compared to Ebenezer Scrooge. No one seems to remember that Ebenezer changed! At the end of the story our mean, stingy old man becomes a wonderful person. He embodies everything there is about the Christmas spirit, peace and good will to all men. He repents of his former wrongs, and rights them. He becomes a good soul.

I have a deep respect for Mr. Scrooge and all he stands for. Maybe that is why once again members of the Whitaker family are taking part in "The Christmas Carol" playing at the local community theatre.

Enoch plays the village boy who wonderfully gets to experience the changed Ebenezer on Christmas morning. Scrooge calls down to him and pays him for going and getting the prize turkey for the Crachit family. His part is affectionately known as "Turkey Boy".

Hopefully I don't just sound like a bragging parent, but I've been so impressed with Enoch on stage and off. He knows his lines (and he has a few) and all his cues. Off stage, he is the best -behaved kid there. We have never had to get after him for goofing off or running around. He is a serious actor and obeys every rule of the theatre. What a great kid he has been!

If you have never been to our theatre, it is actually a theatre-in-the-round as you can see from the above photo. You will also notice that Enoch gets the entire stage to himself (except for our fearless director in the background during dress rehearsal)


Aaron is once again, our dear Bob Cratchit. This time I get to play Mrs. Cratchit. Normally I don't wear a scarf, but Aaron had let me borrow his before the play because I was cold.

Kiera plays the part of one of the older Cratchit daughters. She has also had the opportunity to be in the theatre's band as they needed a french horn player. This has been a great learning experience for her, and it has also been fun watching her hold her own with more seasoned musicians. She is really getting to be a good french horn player.

The show always has a good message for everyone during the holidays and beyond. The man who plays Scrooge this year said it best. "I have about 10 minutes to make the audience hate me, then about 15 minutes to make them feel sorry for me. After that, I only have about 5 minutes to make them like me at the end. If I can do all that, I might just change their lives."

Merry Christmas and can we all remember its' true meaning!

SOCCER 24/7

I usually don't do a post without pictures, but this story is truly one that needs to be shared.

On Sunday I helped Enoch get dressed.

I know, he is seven, and should be able to do it himself, but he is a slowpoke.

And I'm in a hurry.

So, I help him dress.

I put on his white shirt, and helped him tuck it into his trousers.

Then I put his belt on for him and did it up.

He was ready for church.

When we parked in the parking lot, I noticed he had forgotten his coat.

Oh well. He will learn.

I had to get the kids out of Sunday School because we were going to

my sister's church to hear her family sing.

That is when I noticed IT.

I asked, "Enoch! What is that red thing underneath your white shirt?"

I could see something red underneath his collar.

He was walking in front of me.

And plainly from the back I could see what it was.

The number and the name gave it away...his England football jersey.

This child had taken the time after I had helped him get dressed to:

1. Take off his white shirt.

2. Put on his soccer jersey.

3. Put his white shirt back on.

4. AND, tuck it in!

I am still in disbelief!

However, a part of me is proud.

I truly have a soccer fanatic in the house!

Real Salt Lake Is REAL COOL!

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to take the boys to a professional soccer game. They both had received vouchers for free tickets when they participated in the summer soccer camp sponsored by Real Salt Lake.

Our weekends have been so busy since,

that I had almost given up on being able to use the vouchers.

Luck was on our side though.

A play off game was scheduled for Real Salt Lake against FC Dallas, and we had a free evening!

To top it off, I was able to meet up with my old roomate Carrine and her family for a brief visit. Saturday turned out to be a great day!

I was a little worried about the weather. The boys wore their jerseys with thermal tops underneath, and I brought a bag full of hoodies, blankets and hats, but we never used them

(well, except for the hats).

Enoch was so excited. He truly is a soccer fan. We really enjoyed simply watching him watch the game. Aaron says I have created a monster. And I do take the blame for this obsession. I think he loved every minute.

By the time the game started, the stadium had over 19,300 people there to cheer for REAL.

We got to see our favorite players out on the field; Robbie Findley and Fabian Espindola. Findley pulled through for us and scored a goal! Yeah for number 10!

I was just as excited for the game as the boys.

Final score: FC DALLAS 1 REAL SALT LAKE 1.

Phew...what a game!

Let Music Be Heard

Shenna's life seems to revolve around marching band lately. It is a good thing that she loves it! They had their last competition on Halloween Eve. They headed out early in the morning, and arrived back at the school around 3:45 pm. Dispite the cool weather, the band did awesome! Apparently, the "football" faces are for a particular routine they do.

I think they just like to look tough.
Yep, there they are...the mighty flute section!



"The flute is the show-off of the wind section, the big shot. Everyone knows it's the hardest, blowing across a tiny hole with your head tilted all your life. It's like soloing on a pop bottle!"
-Garrison Keillor in The Young Lutheran's guide to the Orchestra.

Happy Birthday Samuel!

Today is Sam's 10th birthday! It is hard to believe that 10 years have passed already.

He spent the morning going to church and participating in the annual primary program. He did a good job with his speaking part, and had to tell me that not only did he sing the required primary songs, but he sang all the hymns as well.

I couldn't decide what kind of cake to make for awhile, and Sundays generally don't leave a lot of time for leisure baking, so I came up with a Jack Skellington face. Sam really liked the Haunted House ride at Disneyland last week, and they had it all changed to "The Nightmare Before Christmas" story for Halloween, so the cake was a good fit for him.

He was happy with his presents: a pair of binoculors so he doesn't have to use Dad's anymore, a battling tops game (that they played with for literally hours this afternoon) and an airsoft rifle.

California Dreamin'

You guessed it! We just spent some quality time at Disneyland!

Since we had some days off of school, California was calling. We didn't stress much, and just had a relaxing time at Disneyland and California Adventure. Below are some random photos of the trip.
Aaron and I spent most of our time with the boys. Shenna and Kiera had a fun time running around together. Cell phones are a nice invention.


And on another note, just notice how tall the daughters are in this picture. Another year, and I think I might be feeling short!

Is there a 15 year old in the house?!?

For quite a few years now, I've been making really cool birthday cakes for the kids on their birthdays. They get to pick the flavor, but I get to pick the design. Because of that fact, I think I have some explaining to do about the next couple of pictures.

We've known since mid-summer that this year Shenna's birthday would be a bit abnormal. The biggest contributor to that was Shenna herself. She is a freshman. She is becoming involved with extracurricular things at school. She is in marching band. She loves marching band. Marching band had a big competition on her birthday.

So big, in fact, that she would be gone from early morning until everyone else was in bed that night.

On her birthday.

We decided that the best thing to do would be to celebrate at breakfast.

Problem solved.

Until the next contributing factors.

Turns out our ward was planning their annual father/son campout for that weekend. Aaron and the boys would be sleeping out under the stars hours away. They wouldn't make it home for birthday breakfast.

Okay, we will just have a girls party then. Shenna, Kiera and Mom. What fun!

The stars were not aligned. Kiera's friend invited her to a slumber party? Could she go? By now, Shenna could've cared less.

To ease the pain of father and sibling abandonment on her birthday, I took her out to her favorite restaurant for dinner and we watched a movie. In the morning, she ate her favorite breakfast and opened presents.

Off she went to band competition hours away. She had fun. All the band sang to her.

At home, I figured that the birthday was done.

Until 8 pm when I realized she may be 15, but she could still want candles and singing.

Quick looks in the cupboard and I whipped up some cupcakes, frosting and only 8 candles! Where are all the birthday candles?!

As I left to pick her up from the high school, I yelled to anyone who could hear, "hey, arrange those cupcakes into a fifteen!"

So glad we did....her first question when getting into the car was, "Are you guys going to sing to me and eat cake when I get home?"

She didn't seem to care that they were just cupcakes arranged in the shape of a 15. Nor did she notice that she only blew out 8 candles....7 purple and 1 yellow.

What did matter was that we all stayed up way past our normal bedtimes to sing and eat chocolate with her to celebrate her day......Happy 15th Shenna!

Mr. Toothless!

Enoch was so excited when he discovered that he had a loose tooth. He IS in second grade you know. Some of those kids have lost their two front teeth by now. He finally got brave enough to let Aaron pull it out and this smile is the result. Isn't he cute?

Labor Day Happenings

Okay, so Labor Day is typically not one of those holidays that people write down as their favorite. You don't give out Labor Day Gifts. I've never heard anyone sing a Labor Day Song. Basically, in our family, it is just a day where the kids stay home from school and mom and dad try to stay sane and accomplish something, at home.

I decided to change that this year. This year, our family was going to DO something for Labor Day. In the spirit of creativity I took the letters of the word LABOR and came up with a few activities.

1. L = letterboxing

If you've never heard of letterboxing, you may have heard of its technologically advanced cousin, geocaching. Letterboxing, however, is much older, tracing its origins back to England in 1854. I've been letterboxing since 2007, but hadn't really gotten the kids involved until Labor Day 2010. We went and looked for four boxes and found two. Not bad odds I'd say.

Samuel, Kiera and Aaron stamping the logbook of a letterbox.

2. A = Act of Service

One of our favorite things to do, is wait until dark and then take something to someone's house, leave it on their doorstep, ring the doorbell and run. Today was no exception. It's always thrilling, and you know the people should enjoy the treats!

The crew ready for an evening of sneaky doorbell ditching --- with treats!

3. B = Bake

For this activity, the kids split up into teams and picked cookie recipes to bake. Then each team made and baked their prize-winning cookies. Their were some good, some bad, and some ugly-but tasty cookies to be had in our kitchen! UMMM! Did my house smell good! Afterwards, we put them on a plate to use for the activity mentioned above.

Shenna and Enoch during the bake-off

4. O = Order

This simple thing just involved ordering pizza for supper from our favorite local pizza place! Can you say absolutely delicious?

yummy pizza...no, Enoch is not eating it. He has the peanut butter sandwich in his other hand.

5. R = Ride

Simple, but true. The day was filled with riding in the car. However, Aaron did also take Uncle David for a ride in the airplane, so an airplane ride also counts.

Kiera trying to be incognito in the car.

All in all, I think my warped mind came up with some fun things to keep us all entertained. I still don't think anyone in the family will claim Labor Day as their favorite holiday though.

School Begins

School started for the Whitaker kids on August 30. We had two who were really excited and two that were not as happy about it. At least we were evenly split. Of course I had to take the traditional "leaving for school" photos. Just look at the fingers to figure out what grades they are now in.

You can tell by the difference in the sky outside that the girls leave about 40 minutes before the boys this year. They still get home around the same time though. It is always a surprise which set walks in first. Some days it is the boys, and others, the girls saunter in.

Shenna on her way out the door....
Kiera all ready for the day..... Samuel with his perpetual hoodie on.....
and Enoch holding his favorite animal, Roland the rainbow armadillo. There is a story behind that one which may have to be told in another post.

Watch out Neighbors!

So, for awhile now Aaron has been working on this old go-kart that my

brother brought over.

Yesterday, he finally had it tweeked enought to let the kids try it out.

Well, I guess this is ONE way to keep them from sitting in front of the

television/computer/Wii all day!

Playing at the Hot Springs

We had a great time, and believe it or not, all "three boys" went down the steep and scary slide....even Enoch, who thought it was a blast. Sam only went down because he didn't want to be outdone by the younger sibling. Fun Times!

Wheat and Beet Days Parade

This is the second year that Shenna has marched with the Bear River High School Band in the annual Wheat and Beet Days Parade. This year, however, the entire family was able to be there to watch, and I ran by and got some pictures. She is the closest one on the first row. The first row is all the flutes.



It is a nice, relaxed parade to do before all the competitions begin.

Changes

Change.

Not my favorite word.
I've come to realize that the words LIFE and CHANGE are the same.

With Dad passing away on July 22, change happened.
I don't like change.

In trying to comfort my kids (and myself), I've talked and thought alot about what a wonderful time he is having.
Seeing so many people that he hasn't seen in so long.
Meeting all those new people he has never met.

I find comfort in words penned by Penelope Moody Allen.

Come home, loved voices call.
Come home where you belong.
Come home to live in joy
Forever in our family throng.

I'm sure the throng of family were so anxious to see him again.
but,
we are a throng of family here.

Does he miss us? Does he miss me?

I know one thing.

I'll never stop missing him.

We aren't fair weather fans!

Just to prove that the boys and I aren't fair-weather fans. We support our side through thick and thin! Way to go England in the World Cup! Better luck next time!

Country Fun

When you live "out in the boonies" like us, you have to get creative in your summer fun planning. One of our favorite things to do is go to the bookmobile. Yes, they really do exist and still supply great reading to rural areas. I frequented the bookmobile a lot when I was a kid, and I'm so glad that my kids get the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of reading material without having to travel far....it just comes to us! What a treat!

Last summer we bought a small pool for the backyard (it's about as big a dairy watering trough, but hey! it's a pool!) and the kids used it for a little while, then Enoch broke his leg and the excitement was no longer there. This year, we put it back up and not a day goes by that it isn't being used. Aaron loves to cool off in it every night after work and the kids love playing with dad in the water.One of their favorite activities is having dad just throw them around in the air. Who needs a diving board when you have a tall dad?

We've been riding our bikes alot around the neighborhood. If it's not too hot, we've even ridden to the church a few times. It really isn't that bad of a ride. Shenna would rather have her mode of transportation be driving herself in the car, but believe me, THAT isn't happening for awhile!

There's a BEAR in the House!

Sam completed all the requirements to get his "bear" in cub scouting a little while ago. He has really worked hard for it. The tradition in the pack is to be marked witht the sign of the bear. Hence, the bear paw on the cheek. Enoch can't wait until he can join cub scouts, and was almost as excited as Samuel was at the ceremony.

Whirlwind!

My life has been a whirlwind since I got back home. Taking a vacation and coming back the week that school gets out should be avoided if at all possible. Since summer is here you would think that we could relax, but not so. At the moment, I am working on a Woodbadge Staff until Saturday night. This is the second time I have been on staff since being a Woodbadge participant almost four years ago. It was very hard to leave home again for another week so soon after getting back. However, the kids all went to their grandma's for the week, so Aaron should be having life relatively easy while I'm gone.

Here at Woodbadge, I had the opportunity to be the facillitator of a game the participants play. I had to come up with a persona to play. This was what I decided to do, can you tell what I am?

Let's just say that facepaint + outfit + team flag + annoying horn = crazy "futbol" fan game show host! seriously, I can't believe I'm even sharing this pictures...how embarrasing!