What a summer it has been so far!  It started off with a bang when Chelsea finished up her performance season with a final concert.  The very next day she and I left for The Big Apple for the annual Clayton Productions tour.  What a whirlwind of a week that was!  Our flight there was a red-eye and many of the kids took an ambien on the airplane to help them get some sleep.  It worked well for most of the kids, but one poor girl was so affected that she thought aliens were attacking.  On our trip were 49 kids ranging in age from 15 to 18, both boys and girls.  These are some really great kids, who have a lot of fun together and then when it's time to put on a show they get down to business!  Each one is assigned a piece of equipment to set up for each performance.  Chelsea had a sub woofer.

Our first day was spent at the Statue of Liberty, where the kids had an impromptu a'capella performance of patriotic songs.  We also spent some time at Central Park and had a nice dinner.  When the day was over we were all about dead.

At Central Park Most of the kids found there way to the Plaza and we took a group photo.  Chelsea's on the top right

For me one of the main highlights of the trip was watching the kids perform.   We had performances at homes for the elderly, the Brooklyn Children's museum, a children's hospital, the  Southstreet Seaport and so many other places.  Usually between 2 and 3 performances a day, either a full show in costume or a simple a'capella performance.

  Chelsea's Seussical medley was so much fun!

I also really enjoyed seeing the diverse culture that makes up New York City.  It was amazing to ride across town on the bus and go from everything being advertised in Spanish, to Chinese, to Italian.  I just loved it!

The other highlights of the trip for me were the World Trade Center memorial museum, seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway, visiting the Empire State Building and spending a few hours in Times Square.  Oh, and the cheeeeeescake!  mmmmm!  What a place New York is!

 Chelsea and I at the Statue of Liberty

Despite having a inept bus driver who caused us to miss a performance, I really loved the time on the bus.  I was able to chat with Chelsea quite a bit, but mostly got to know the other Chaperones better.  Terri was our fearless bus captain.  She made the bus rides so much fun!  I feel like I made some great new friends (which doesn't come easy for me) and I'm so glad I got to know them.

 I was incredibly lucky to get these great girls in my room.  They made chaperoning easy! 

Mostly, I enjoyed watching my Chelsea sing and dance her heart out.  She performed her best every time, made lots of new friends, avoided a CTR (Clayton Tour Romance) and handled difficult situations with maturity and grace.  I was so proud of her and loved spending the time with her.  She has an amazing personality, and a super funny sense of humor.  I am grateful that I was able to spend this week with her.

 Chels dancing with her friend Tony in the Beach Boys medley

These kids loved the performance and wanted to take pictures with the Clayton performers.

My girls after the South Street Seaport performance.  So cute!

Bragging Rights

I don't know if I'm going to jinx myself for saying this or not but I have awesome kids! I am so amazed by each of them every day for completely different reasons.

Last week Alyssa tried out for the Riverton High School talent competition and was one of 9 finalists chosen. The program, which was held last night was interesting to say the least. There were all kinds of acts and each was VERY talented, and there were four judges. As each contestant got ready to perform they were called out on stage and had to sit on a couch and be interviewed by the host (think high school aged Conan Obrien, except lots more awkward) It was a little bit lame, but funny and the kids liked it. There were singers, dancers, pianists, video makers and then, of course a harpist.

This past few months Alyssa has made a lot of progress on the harp. She is nearing the end of her junior year and is starting to think about college and is taking it more seriously. She has a wonderful new harp teacher who swears to me that Alyssa will be "college audition ready" by mid summer. I'm starting to believe her, but that's mostly because of the change I've seen in Alyssa. She practices for an hour and a half every day, and will be practicing more when summer comes. Our next step is to get her a pedal harp, which we will be doing very soon. They cost around the same as a new car. When you take college scholarships into consideration the investment is definitely worth it!

I was so nervous last night! It took me back to watching my brothers run at state cross country races! Alyssa looked beautiful though. Chelsea did her hair, and she wore the dress she got for 9th grade promotion, which is gorgeous on her! She didn't seem all that nervous, which is pretty incredible to me.

When it was Alyssa's turn, she came out to the couch and the "host" asked her a question about how long she had been playing. She gave a very confident answer and then when she sat at her harp a weird hush fell over the previously rowdy audience. She played very well, and the audience cheered. Lots of the other acts had been more contemporary, such as Beyonce songs, and it is strange how the harp quiets and calms. The "host" was even more awkward and speechless after, but did mutter something about it being "heavenly". I liked that.

When they handed out the awards Alyssa took second place! She won a plaque, and a small amount of money. The boy who took first is a pianist. I think a brilliant concert pianist. As soon as he played I knew he would win, and he deserved first place. I appreciated that even though it was a high school competition the judges recognized talent over what is popular.

I know in the future I will have lots of things to brag about regarding my other three kids, but last night was Alyssa's night, and I couldn't have been more proud.

A Post From Paigie

Hi there my name is Paigie make sure you were green for St. Patricks day because i'm coming!
I love holidays espesialy St. Patricks day. I love to get into it it is soo much fun, running , and hiding it has alot of excitment

have fun
Paigie

Mister Christian

Christian is our only boy. We had him after having three girls and we've enjoyed watching him grow up. He's just such an interesting kid! Carlos and I really think that raising confident kids is important, and we have found that one of the best ways to do this is to find out what they are naturally good at and help direct their path. So it has taken a while with Christian. We've discussed sports, , BMX racing, and music, and even though he seems to have some musical abilities, he just wasn't interested.

Several months ago I spent three solid days in the garage with my dad building shelves and organizing and we had lots of time to talk. Over those three days he helped me realize that Christian had a very mechanical mind. He has always asked dozens of questions about any given subject, from space, to poison, to how an outhouse works. Carlos has always been so patient to answer all his questions and I have literally spent hours on the computer with Christian googling whirlpools, pyramids, tornadoes, black holes and any other subject that might interest him. After our "garage bonding time" dad brought over a little four wheeler for Christian. He gave him a tool kit, and showed him all about taking care of it, giving him full responsibility for the little machine. (side note: I firmly believe that it takes more than two parents to raise a child!) Dad also built Christian his own little tool bench where he could store his little tools and have his own area to design, build and invent.

These past few months I have just watched Christians mind go into full gear, coming up with all sorts of inventions and ideas. Several weeks ago he designed a "ski bike" which his dad helped him build in the garage. (I love Carlos!) Last week was "trap" week! Christian set up traps which included string tied to Crayola markers which propped up basketballs which would roll down the stairs when you tripped the trap! (scared the bajeebies out of me one morning when the cat got caught!)

Last Monday for FHE Alyssa helped us put together a new family time capsule and Christian very quickly drew up a couple of inventions he plans on designing some day to add to the capsule. He will be 14 when we open it, and I will be interested to see how he reacts to his drawings! One was for a contraption that eliminates sound, and I didn't totally understand the other one, but it was some sort of electrical stick?

The funny part of all this is that Christian will disappear with some cardboard, rubber tubing, duct tape and wire and come back with something incredible. But if you ask him what he's doing, while he's working on it he won't tell you. He's just a little shy about it sometimes. Having said that, I have enjoyed watching him develop his talents. I love how his eyes light up when he has come up with something new. I love all his questions and how he absorbs every bit of information he can get on subjects of interest!

I'm Baaaack!

Passwords. I can't remember any of them! I finally reset my password so that I can post on my own blog. How sad is that!

Anyway, today is an important day at our house. It is the three month anniversary of "the Christmas light incident". On the evening of December 5, I was laying in bed when I received a call from Carlos. He said "can you please come outside?" and I said "well no, because I'm in my skivvies" (is that how you spell skivvies?) Then he said the 6 words that began our adventure. "I think I broke my foot". So naturally I got dressed and hollered for Alyssa and we went outside and what we saw was so pitiful. The ladder was laying in the driveway, Christmas lights were strewn about and my dear husband was injured. We helped him into the house and when we took his shoe off it was obvious that we were going to the hospital.

So they took some Xray's and we waited for the news. One of the nurses came in and asked if we had seen the Xrays and when I told her we hadn't, she literally dragged me behind the counter at the nurses station where all the other nurses were gathered gaping at Carlos' Xrays. To make a long story short, the orthopedic doctor there said it was the worst foot break he had seen and referred us to a specialist. We really had hoped they could cast it up and send us home but that wasn't happening.

So two surgeries later (including screws and pins) and a two casts and a boot, it has been three long months. I didn't realize how much went into the man work thing, including all the driving, snow shoveling, trash removing, not to mention all the nursing care. Good grief. So this morning it snowed and for the first time Carlos was able to go outside and use his monster snow blower for the first time (or as my SIL has dubbed it, BASB...it took me a minute to get that) I was so excited not to have to do the shoveling that I took my camera out and snapped some pictures! I will try and post them, but since it's been so long since I posted anything, I might not remember how! Anyway, hooray for the three month anniversary of "the incident"!!!