Ethan's the Man!!

Ethan had his piano evaluation today and he did fantastic!! He played "Hurry Scurry" and has been practicing it for months. We went to the Piano Gallery for his evaluation time, he warmed up on a piano there and then we waited until it was his turn. He went into the room with 1 judge, played his song and then exited. We waited until she was finished with her evaluation and it was all scored. The man in charge then went in and got Ethan's music and his score.

The ratings are a big weird but they go something like this: the top is Superior, next is Superior Minus, then Excellent Plus, Excellent, Excellent Minus, and so forth. Ethan got a Superior Minus. (He was a 1/4 count slow on his finish when he hesitated for a second and in order to get a Superior it has to be absolutely perfect.) But we were so proud of him!!

Next Tuesday is his recital at the St. George Tabernacle and he is pretty excited. This evaluation has really boosted his confidence in piano.

The Ding Dong

Ethan came home from his flag football game last week and excitedly told me that his friend had "smashed his ding dong at the game." I, being shocked at my son using language such as that, promptly reprimanded him and told him that I wasn't interested in hearing about it. He said, "No, really Mom, he smashed his ding dong!" I couldn't believe my son.

The next day my mom asked, "So did Ethan tell you how that kid smashed his ding dong?" I stared at my mom, what had this world come to?!?! I asked her, "What?" She calmly explained to me that the TREAT after the game was ding dong and a kid sat his treat on the ground and then fell on it while wrestling with Ethan. I felt so much better about my sons language after that. And Ethan still doesn't get why I told him not to say "ding dong" again. ;)

Who is this?

We were at my parent's house on Sunday to watch Conference and Courtney asked my mom what I looked like when I was a kid. So my mom pulled out the photo albums to show Courtney my baby pictures.

We found one picture loose in the album and, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where I had been when the picture was taken. Tell me what you think:



The reason why I couldn't figure out where I had been???? It's because that's a picture of MY MOM!! I always knew that I looked more "Andersen" than I did "Oman," because I'm short and have the "Andersen figure," but I never realized that I look just like my mom. (I love her hair by the way.)

Huntsman Senior World Games

Every October, St. George is overrun with a TON of old people who could kick your rear end in just about any sport. They are here competing in the Huntsman Senior World Games. Over 60 countries are represented by a bunch of athletes. There is even a swimming division for 95+.

Courtney's dance team was invited, along with 2 other dance studios, to dance in the Opening Ceremonies last night. She was really excited. The Ceremonies were supposed to be held outside at the Dixie State College football stadium. But Mother Nature had other plans...it has been raining here for days! Monday afternoon I took Courtney to her practice at the football stadium. We stood in the pouring rain for about 45 minutes before the directors decided to cancel the practice and just try to practice before the performance on Tuesday.

Here's what it looked like at the field when they wanted to practice:



Tuesday morning we got word that the venue had been changed due to weather and the Ceremonies would take place in the Burns Arena on Dixie campus. It's a lot smaller than the football field so they had to change a bunch of the show and cut some parts. But it all worked out.

Courtney was super excited and in her dance costume (a bright shirt, tights and black shorts) at about noon (she didn't have to go until 3:25). I put her make-up on (something I don't really like doing, but oh well) and tried to keep her busy for a few hours. Then it was time for her to go. Here she is ready to go:



After Ethan's piano lessons and I had taught my piano lessons, we packed dinner for Bryan and Courtney and took off for the Arena. They had blocked off a section for parents to sit in, so we took seats and saved a bunch for family who were coming. Courtney saw me and was super excited. She ate her dinner, finished practicing, touched up lipstick (oh brother!) and then went down to wait for the Ceremonies to start.

It took about 10 minutes before she lost it and started running, crying, up to where we were sitting. I calmed her down and went down to the side of the stage to sit with her. She was super nervous and scared because they really hadn't had time to run through the program too well and she didn't know what she was doing. For my children, who are as type A as I am, this wasn't going to work. We don't fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants very well.

I sat with her while the older dancers did their thing and then the woman helping the little girls asked me to run girls to the bathroom, pass out ribbons, and generally help out. Courtney finally scooted up to the side of the stage and said she was ready to go. And she was! She ran to the front of the Arena with all the other girls and did the ribbon dance great. Here's a picture of all of them. Courtney is in hot pink on the back row (on your right) about the 3rd pink shirt from the top. I was so proud of her for overcoming her fear!



Then she sat back down with me, got on her "Disco" costume and headband, and was ready for the next number. The Games has a pharmaceutical sponsor who sells arthritis medication (I think) who has Gloria Gaynor ("I Will Survive") as their spokeswoman. She sang "I Will Survive" for the girls to dance too. Courtney didn't hesitate at all when it was her turn to run out on stage! She bopped around and did her thing like a pro. Here's the video of the end of the song. Courtney is on the far left in the middle of the basketball floor. She is the blonde with a bright colored disco shirt on in pink, yellow, green, etc.



When we were finished everyone was tired, but we had a great time and she did well. She got a couple of carnations for doing such a great job.

Marathon Cake

This last weekend was the St. George Marathon. My friend down the street (who is addicted to my "twinkie" cake) ordered a marathon cake for her friend. She wanted the marathon logo on it and so I obliged. It is really simple but turned out well, I think.

Where is your garbage can?!?

Bryan moved our TV into the living room so we could all watch General Conference a bit easier. Today he moved it back into the TV room. I was emailing on the computer when I hear an urgent, "Michelle, can you get in here please?"

I...About...Died!!

This is what greeted me behind the couch Bryan had moved to get the TV plugged back in:



I was shocked! I looked at Bryan and then at Courtney and she immediately started to cry and scream, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" We didn't have to go far for a confession. She was in big trouble. I have to confess that I couldn't stop laughing from shock. It was just so ridiculous to move the couch and have piled up banana peels, empty Capri Sun boxes and various wrappers.

First: Food is not allowed in the TV room because we didn't want a mess.
Secondly: Behind the couch is NOT a garbage can. But I guess she was trying to hide the evidence.

She had to clean it all up and put out the trash (although her loving big brother took pity on her and took it out for her), then Bryan vacuumed up everything else. It was gross!!

I hope she has learned her lesson!

Choir Concert

Ethan's school has a wonderful music program with a great director. We have this program because of funding from the Beverly T. Sorenson Foundation for the Arts. The legislature is always threatening to take away this funding and next year is no exception. So the school had a rally, invited Mrs. Sorenson and a legislator who lives in our school boundaries, and had a choir concert to show where the money goes. It was nice to see all the support for the music program in our school.

Here is just one song they sang that night. Ethan is on the 2nd row, 2nd from the left (I think).