I am done! Today I taught my last after-school piano lesson. I still have one student who is an adult and comes during the day, but I don't have any other students. It feels really nice!
Last month I realized that, although I don't have many piano students anymore, piano lessons were taking too much time away from my kids. They needed my attention and help after school and I wasn't able to give them that when I was busy with piano students. Something had to go. When I looked at the things that were affecting my family the most but not necessary, I realized that teaching piano lessons had to go. There were other factors but my kids was the most important one.
I called everyone to let them know that March would be my last month teaching. Most were very understanding and were actually relieved because their lives had gotten too crazy. But I had some who weren't very happy. But that's okay. I am not making this decision to make other people happy.
I haven't posted cake pictures for a while. To be completely honest, I don't really enjoy decorating the cakes that much. I love baking them and have so much fun doing that. But decorating them isn't all that much fun.
I have one woman who orders cakes all the time from me. She is the office manager at 2 doctor's offices so she will get cakes for the employees for their birthdays. Usually she will order a 10 inch round "Twinkies" cake. Then she picks them up at 6:30 a.m. on her way to work. She usually gives me an idea of what the person likes and then I can do what I want with the cake. They are very simple cakes. In fact a few times I have just had sugar paper printed at Albertson's and put that on the top. And they always love them because they are yummy. I told you, I'm good at the baking part.
This month she had 2 birthdays in the same office on the same week. So she ordered 2 smaller cakes and they both wanted chocolate. It was pretty easy to do.
I don't always take photos of the cakes I do for her but here are the 2 cakes I made this week.
I love the M&M cakes because they are so easy to do! That's the kind of cake decorating I like to do. haha
At the end of January there was a PTA meeting at Santa Clara Elementary. One of the agenda items was trying to figure out what to do as a spring fundraiser. The PTA president had a few ideas that she threw out to see what everyone thought about them.
The first idea was to have all the kids draw something and then send those drawings to a company who would turn them into items parents could buy, such as magnets, coasters, etc.
The second idea was to have the kids sell rolls of garbage bags door to door.
The third idea was .... I can't remember now.
But the last idea was to have a fun run.
I usually sit in the corner with a few other moms. At this meeting we were in our corner and when the fun run idea came up we were all for it. We started talking about how much fun that would be and how much support we could get from the community because there are SO MANY fun runs/races in the area.
Everyone began debating the ideas and what they thought would work best. It was apparent very quickly that the moms were only really considering the drawings idea. I didn't think they would get very much money doing that because the timing wasn't right. If they waited until Fall they could catch people who would already be spending money on Christmas presents and give them an option of spending the money to help the school while taking care of Christmas shopping. Then it wouldn't feel like "one more thing" they have to buy to help their kids.
Slowly, the five of us who sit in the corner began making a plan for how the fun run would work. All of us have run in races before so we had ideas about what needed to happen. After listening to about 15 minutes worth of debate, we decided to say something. We made the point about the timing and then we stated the pros and cons we had just come up with in doing a fun run. There were a few very outspoken moms who weren't too happy with the idea and said there was no way we could pull it off in 2 months. The PTA president called for a vote (something that was hotly disputed later when one of the unhappy moms realized she had lost, but it did happen!).
Luckily, it was a small meeting so the 5 of us were able to persuade enough people that the idea for the fun run passed....and we were the committee. We met the next day and 2 weeks later we were well on our way to having a great fun run.
Each one of us has different contacts in the community and know different people. I live in a neighborhood of entrepreneurs so I was able to get a lot of them to sponsor our fun run. Another woman knows city officials in Santa Clara and is friends with the police chief so she was able to get us permission for the race and ideas on how to mark the course. Another woman is an avid runner and was able to find a fun course that wouldn't be too hard for a fun run. Another woman knew a graphic artist who did the posters for us. And the other mom is a college student majoring in computers and she was able to set up our website for registration. It's been amazing.
We have met each week and have been able to get things moving very quickly. We made a list of local businesses and then asked other PTA members to approach a couple of them asking for sponsorship and donations. Some were too nervous to help out but others had no problem and were able to get a lot of money coming in.
We got the sponsor letter going and were able to get businesses to help us with finances. For $50 their company name will be listed on our shirt and for $100 we will put their logo on our shirt. We not only collected cash donations but we were given coupons to local businesses and one business even donated the use of their blow-up finish line ...thing that you run through when you finish a race. We have helicopter rides, Tuacahn tickets, meals to a bunch of restaurants (Red Lobster, Golden Corral, Texas Roadhouse), carpet cleaning, hard cover books from Deseret Book, free pizza coupons from Papa Johns, free ice cream from Dairy Queen, and a lot more stuff.
Then we began advertising and having people sign up. We tried to keep the run affordable and we actually had a drawing for 2 free family entries into the race. As of today (1 week before the race) we have approximately 178 people registered to run! Our "out of this world" goal was to have 200 sign up. And we are taking race day registrations so we may have more. As of today we have $1,105 in registration fees, $1,900 in cash sponsor donations, and $3,005 in donated items from sponsors for our prize drawing at the end of the race. Not too shabby for 5 moms with only 2 months!
Our fun run is next Saturday and I am very excited to see how it turns out. We are trying to get this to be a yearly tradition so it can grow and grow. I love it!
It is that time of the year again. The time of year I don't like. It's time for the Science Fair. I saw a Facebook post on a science fair project that was titled "Why everyone hates the science fair," or something like that. I really want one of my kids to do that one!
Anyway, since Ethan is in honors science, he is required to do a project. We didn't want to wait until the last minute, and they only gave him 2 weeks to do it, so he got started at once. He wanted to do an experiment to see if facial expressions influence what someone smells.
Ethan spent one day doing research on his topic and found that there is a lot of information about facial expressions but not how they affect what you perceive you are smelling. He spent another day doing the data sheet he would fill out. He spent another day taking picture of what he was going to look like. And then he asked me if I would go around with him while he asked our neighbors to sniff for him. Ethan gave me very strict instructions that I wasn't to talk or do anything but write down their responses. If I said or did anything, he was going to get "mad at you!" I didn't get in trouble once so I was proud of myself.
My mom gave us 3 canisters and Ethan put a different dot on the top of each one. He then filled them ALL with WATER, closed them and we took off for the neighborhood.
Ethan's hypothesis was that he could get people to think that the red one smelled bad by making a horrible face as he handed the canister to them. He also thought he could make someone think the blue dot canister smelled good because he would smile at them while he handed it to them. And the yellow one wouldn't smell at all because he wouldn't make a face.
We first went to 3 houses where the ADULT in the house agreed to sniff the contents of the canisters.
First the red dot canister:
Then the blue dot canister:
Then the yellow dot canister:
All three adults didn't smell anything. All three adults were concerned at the end that something was wrong with their nose. It was pretty funny.
Then we went to 7 kids (ranging in age from 8-14). They were all over the place. One kids said all three smelled "like my cat" and that was a good smell to him. One thought they didn't smell at all. But they were all over the place. I thought it was very interesting.
The adults thought something was wrong because they couldn't smell anything. And the kids thought they smelled something.
Now Ethan has to do his board and he will turn in it next week. I asked if he wanted to use the vinyl cutter to cut out lettering and he looked at me like I was insane. He said, "I'm going to type it up and print it out." Okay. I guess doing boards has changed since I was a kid and we had to measure it all out so the lines would be even and the letters would be spaced just right.
It was a fun project.
Now Courtney has to figure out what she wants to do and we get to start it all over again. Yipee!!
Sometimes the kids just do things that make me laugh. The other day we were doing laundry and Bryan was folding it while watching TV. Ethan and Courtney decided to use the laundry basket as their roller coaster. It was really funny! Both of them can still fit in there. I was impressed.
I was talking to a mom the other day that said her son was really feeling a lot of peer pressure at the Intermediate School. I was a bit concerned so I brought it up with Ethan and asked him if he was feeling peer pressure at school. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Who would want to be like those idiots." Okay... I guess I shouldn't be worried. hahaha
The kids really wanted to go skiing (or in Ethan's case, snowboarding). We had planned on taking them Tuesday, but Bryan and I woke up in the middle of the night to really bad winds. When we checked the forecast for Brian Head, it was supposed to be high gusts and really cold temperatures. We decided that wasn't going to work because we wanted to have a great experience. So we put it off until Friday and I am very glad we did!
Friday morning we woke up, got our stuff all ready and then took off for the slopes. We rented helmets for the kids in St. George, rented skis/snowboard in Cedar City, and then drove up to Brian Head Resort. In January, the boy scouts had gone skiing at Brian Head and everyone was given a 2 for 1 pass when they left. So we were going to use those.
While Bryan got the kids ready, I went in and bought our ski passes. If we would have gone skiing on Tuesday, it would have been $25 Tuesdays. But we only ended up paying for 2 lift tickets because of the 2 for 1 passes. So it was okay.
Brian Head was EMPTY!! It was like this last year when we went tubing there over Spring Break. We had thought it was going to be packed and this time was the same. I thought we would be fighting with a crowd because it was Spring Break, but it was empty. I never had to wait in line all day!! And I was never nervous that I would hit someone going down because there weren't that many people to avoid (which is probably good for all the people).
Bryan, being the smart man he is, took pictures of Courtney and me before we started skiing, just in case he never saw us smile the rest of the day. hahaha
Ethan got on his snowboard and went up the "carpet" (the thing you ski onto then stand on as it pulls you up the hill) on the bunny hill so he could practice. Bryan helped Courtney and me into our skis. Lessons were really expensive so Bryan decided to just teach Courtney on his own and she was a natural. We had a bit of a rough start. I am not a huge fan of skiing but I was looking forward to trying it again. But the minute I strapped on the skis I remembered that it wasn't that much fun. After Bryan showed me a few things I told him to just go help Courtney and I would be fine. After he took Courtney up the "carpet" to the top of the bunny hill, I was able to get the hang of things. I just like being left to figure things out and not be pushed to do things I don't feel comfortable with. I like being with my family and having them around. But I do much better if I am just given small suggestions and then left alone.
After a while Ethan was really bored of the bunny hill so Bryan left to take Ethan down the runs while Courtney and I kept practicing on the bunny hill. I actually did really well and had a lot of fun going down with her. I started to relax and we were having fun! Ethan and Bryan went down quite a few runs before we decided to break for lunch.
See?!? There is proof that I went down the bunny hill.
Here is me, Courtney and Ethan on the "carpet" at the bunny hill.
Bryan took quite a few picture of Courtney skiing because she was slower. He didn't get any of Ethan because he was too fast!
Courtney was wearing a pair of ski goggles that our neighbor gave us years ago. Right before lunch the plastic lens came out of the goggles. But Courtney refused to take them off! It was pretty funny!
We stopped after a few hours to have lunch and then we all got our stuff back on and went down the slopes a few more times. Courtney had Bryan take her up so she could go down some "real runs" with him. She did amazing! I stuck with the bunny slopes and was having a lot of fun.
I went down the bunny run called "You're Ready." Supposedly if you can go down that run you are ready to go up the ski lift and go down a "real run." I got to where I could do that run really well and felt comfortable.
Here is the video proof that I did ski and I did okay. I didn't fall once on the bunny slope!
So I went up the chair lift with the family so we could ski down. I don't like chair lifts. I always fall. And it is probably because I am sure I am going to fall that I always fall. But in any case, I fell! ;) And thus it began. But when you go up the chair lift, you have to get yourself back down the mountain. So I started out and Bryan had me follow him so he could show me some turns. But I can't turn as sharply as he can and I went down. I got back up and made it down the rest of the hill okay.
I decided that I wanted to try it again. After all, I had been watching 4 year old go down that hill all morning and they were doing fine. I should have stopped while I was ahead. I went up the chair lift and actually stayed on my feet! Yeah. I got down the first pitch (where I had crashed earlier) and I started to feel very confident. Then I got to the second pitch which I had done beautifully the time before and I got going way too fast and couldn't slow down. I fell hard and twisted my knee and ankle and I was done. I took off my skis, walked down the hill and went to the van. It had been fun but my feet were tired and I was finished for the day.
As I bent down to take off my ski boots and I was very grateful that I had decided to call it a day. The zipper that went up outside of my snowsuit on my left leg had busted. Yup! It was completely open from the ankle until mid-thigh! haha! I tried to get it to zip up so I could get to a spot where the teeth would meet but it didn't work. After having a good laugh and trying to figure out how to sneak into the lodge to change without anyone asking questions about me flashing my thermals, I got to a bathroom and changed into my jeans. Cheap snow pants!
Here is a video of Ethan snowboarding:
Here is part 1 of a video of Courtney going down the slopes:
Here is part 2 of the video of Courtney going down the slopes:
Bryan and the kids kept going for about another hour and half while I sat in the lodge and people watched. It was fun. Then Ethan got cold and was tired so I met up with him and got him out of his ski stuff. At about 3:40-ish, Courtney decided she was done for the day and she found us at the van. (Because it was so empty, we parked right next to the bunny hill so she didn't have far to walk.) And Bryan spent the time until the lifts closed at 4 p.m. to ski the runs he wanted to as fast as he wanted to.
This was Courtney's face when she finished. Can you see the black marks from the lens-less goggles?
We all loaded in the van and drove back to Cedar City to return the ski equipment. We drove back to St. George to return the helmets and then we went to Golden Corral for dinner. I figured that we burned a lot of calories skiing so we could afford to eat there. It was crowded because there were baseball tournaments, softball tournaments, tennis tournaments, college track meets, and a bunch of other activities in town for the week. But Ethan still got his shrimp and fudge. And Courtney got her mashed potatoes and ice cream. So it was a success.
I think it was a great day! The kids certainly want to go again. Courtney wanted to go back up on Saturday. hahaha!
Thursday morning Courtney really wanted to go to Gubler Park. It is a park in Santa Clara that is right next to Lava Ridge Intermediate where Ethan goes to school. It is only about 1/2 mile away. So Ethan, Courtney and I got on our bikes and went over there. Last year it was just the baseball/softball fields (4 of them) and then a splash pad. Over the winter a playground and some pavilions were added. Now it is such a fun park! They have twisty stuff but also some traditional stuff. I can see us spending a lot of time there in the summer because there is so much to do at the one park and it is so close!
One of Courtney's friends from school happened to be there at the same time, so they were able to play. Ethan even played hide-and-seek with the girls. They had so much fun just being out in the sun. Ethan was raving about the park when we went home.
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