The last couple of months have flown by--a blur of choir rehearsals, basketball games and piano lessons, applications and tests, all the good stuff that makes our lives interesting. I'll try to grab just a few of the highlights, and eventually post some pictures to fill in the rest.
I realized I never posted anything about our visit to Universal Studios in January, but man, that was a good time! I'm not sure I ever entirely convinced Aaron that there is more to that park than rides--I think his early experiences living close to Disneyland may have permanently damaged his DNA in such a way that he can't visit a park without checking out the ride line times and mentally calculating the best way to maximize the fun and minimize the standing in line, but we did manage to mix in a few of the shows and exhibits as well. The Jurassic Park ride was hands down the best ride I've been on in any amusement park ever--the dinosaurs were awesome, but I especially loved the way the entire ride was plotted as a (deliciously scary) adventure. My screams near the end of the ride were totally legit. Though I had less affection for the simulated rides, they were pretty realistic, and I found them more fun than things like Star Tours at Disneyland. The Waterworld special effects show was extremely cool, and we all enjoyed the inside peek at what real Hollywood stuntmen do on-set, and even though the drive on both ends was longer than any of us had realized, we had such a great day of it! We've been back once already, using our passes, and hope that we can squeeze in another visit before we bring home our baby, and quite a few after that!
Asher's basketball team made it all the way to the end of the line, ultimately taking home the championship trophy! It was a pretty fantastic play-off season. They started as the number 7 seed (of 10), but kept knocking off their rivals until the end. The last two games were nail-biters, but every single player pulled out all the stops, with Asher landing enough shots to make the difference all by himself (though I suppose technically you could say the same for almost all the players). It was really cool to see all the work that Asher has put into basketball pay off so spectacularly. Even though he thought at the beginning of the season that his work would make him one of the top players on the team, he quickly found that hops and ball-handling skills were a great start, but weren't enough. His awesome coaches helped the team come up with some great strategies and plays, and by the end of the season they were working so well together, really relying on each other, and it was the fantastic teamwork that took them to the end. Now if we can help that kid apply some of that work-ethic to school work . . . .
There have been some good dates happening recently. Though I haven't been religious about taking the kids out since moving here, I've been doing better lately--partially because when Aaron and I go out for lunch he always wants to hit up the same (admittedly awesome) taco shop, and I crave more variety! So I've been sneaking the kids out of school to accompany me to fun little lunch shops for all kinds of delicious fare, from fresh-from-the-ocean battered fish and chips to French Dip sandwiches to Pad Thai to gourmet burgers at Pure Burger--one of a very few burger joints I will admit to enjoying. It's always great to get my kids one on one, particularly during the school day when they are more prone to talk about what's going on in school than at any other time. I'm trying to do a better job of focusing on them as individuals and better learning where they want to go in life so I can help them get there. Aaron and I have squeezed in some great dates as well--not all to the taco shop either! We went to see The Imitation Game on Valentine's Day, and it was like the whole movie was made just for me: brilliant, misunderstood geniuses in tweed jackets talking about coding and encryption (that I mostly understood except the bits that I'm pretty sure they got wrong), a woman wronged by a misogynist society . . . I loved it. Afterward we got Cold Stone and called it good--honestly, I'm 100% all for simple dates on Valentine's Day. Not long afterward, we went out again for dinner at Cicciotti's, a great Italian place on the ocean with live music, where we watched the sun set before heading downtown for a concert featuring Westminster Choir College. I sometimes wonder how music programs in universities are going to survive with their focus on high-brow historical music that almost nobody ever listens to anymore. That said, I happen to love listening to it, and it was awesome to see such well-performed renditions of absolutely stunning choral music. It was a good night.
In other news, I have started a second piano class, one for older kids, and that has been great too. As I told Aaron the other day, it is nice to have something to give my life meaning (beyond cooking for and cleaning up after my family). I always feel happy after teaching, and it absolutely melts my heart when my little students come up to me at church to tell me what they've been practicing or just to give me a big fat hug. I also took the LSAT in February, and while I didn't feel as spectacular about it as I had hoped (trying to find parking before taking the test made me almost miss it, leaving me a bit scattered as I began), I didn't do as badly as I might have, and I suppose I'll find out whether this path is going to be the right one for me or not. I've submitted my application to USD, where tuition is beyond my capacity to pay, and if they decide to award me adequate funding, well, maybe I'll manage to get myself a law degree before I turn 40. Or 30. Wait, who's counting? It's insane how appealing I find the idea of sitting in classes, taking notes, having discussions and even arguments, sitting for tests, etc. right now. I feel like my brain has been stored in a freezer for about a decade now, and I'd really like to pull it out and thaw it off!
We've started making plans for next year, and after seriously considering a move back to Indiana for a number of reasons, including schools for the kids and cost of living, we've decided fairly firmly to stay here for at least another year. Aaron has been offered an opportunity to expand his teaching load (and therefore his pay and benefits) at the private school where he teaches, as well as salary increases with the Children's Choir and the church where he plays. Even though this will keep him spectacularly busy, we've decided that if we buckle down and save, save, save as much as we can, we will hopefully be poised to make decisions that don't factor money so much into the equation in the future. I'm still up in the air, hoping for an option besides staying home and cleaning up everyone's crap next year, but even if I have to settle for that for one more year (but seriously, I hope not), getting through one more hard year will put us in such a better place to put ourselves on a track we want afterward. Work before play--that's going to be our motto for the year, I think.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Beach Sunsets and Mini-Trips
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With sunsets like these, you have to hit the beach at night as often as possible!
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After franks and s'mores on the beach, the kids did some jumping for us
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Love these silhouettes
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Aaron and I watching the sunset from Cicciotti's
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We took a second trip up to Universal in the daylight, and with much persuasion I got this photo in the daylight--though Aaron wouldn't join us in the picture
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Nabbed him for this one though: The Voice--he loves that show!
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Waterworld is the awesome stunt show at Universal
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Emerson waited a long time (two years, give or take) for his "8-year-old trip," and was thrilled to pieces when he finally got it.
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He originally requested Paris--which, sadly, was never going to happen
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But Las Vegas makes a pretty good substitute! It's like going around the world in three days--you get your Eiffel, your Statue of Liberty . . .
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Even your Italian frescoed cathedral ceilings!
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This guy made it happen for him, and they had an amazing time
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They hit up all the good stuff on the strip (so many people I know are freaked out by the gritty bits of LV, but there's a lot of very cool stuff too if you know where to look . . . and don't stay too late at night)
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They visited Venice
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And had an amazing night at a MoTown show at the Venetian--so glad these boys of mine got some awesome time together!
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Saturday, February 28, 2015
A Party and Some Performances
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| Happy birthday, Sera! |
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| I'm not one to go all out on party food, but everything turned out super-cute this time |
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| Party kids |
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| Splashin' it out |
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| Warming up in the spa |
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| How fun to have a pool party in February, honestly? Sera has the greatest bunch of friends! |
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| A Children's Choir performance at the Organ Pavillion in Balboa Park |
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| Here they're warming up in front of the art museum |
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| And performing at the pavilion--could it be any more beautiful? |
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| Our adorable little performers |
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| Let's try that again, this time with personality |
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| Another concert at a downtown church--Aaron conducting, Addy in the middle row |
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| Zoom in on Addy |
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| Asher, looking about as enthusiastic as he ever does when forced to sing |
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And everyone together in the finale
All those "hops" apparently paid off somewhere
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| And many thanks to these awesome coaches! |
Saturday, January 31, 2015
"On the Shoulders of Giants"
Though you won't find me complaining about a few extra school holidays for travel, we were back in Carlsbad not long after ringing in the New Year in San Francisco, but still had well over a week of school vacation left before the kids headed back to school. We're most certainly spoiled with great weather and a proliferation of fun things to do around here, so we made the most of those, however, by the time school finally resumed, I sent the kids off with big fat kisses and a not insignificant sigh of relief.
Of course January means birthdays for two of our number, and per the request of our newly minted 8-year-old and 10-year-old, we did their birthday dinner at Chuck-E-Cheese. Although I was well aware that most of their longing for that place was borne chiefly of nostalgia (honestly, Chuck-E-Cheese was an insanely fun break from the depths of Saskatchewan winter despair), when they begged, we agreed. They had a pretty fun time with tokens at the famous casino prep school (that's how Aaron and I refer to the place), and we had pizza that wasn't horrible, and that was that. Emerson got his first pet for his birthday, a betta fish named Sparky (which died within a month and has since been exchanged for a fish named Snappy). Sera got a new art kit, which she has put to great use on all kinds of projects.
Another fun adventure for Emerson and Sera this month has been opening a new site for the San Diego Children's Choir here in Carlsbad. They were among about ten charter members, which has since grown to nearly twenty-five. Aaron has been pushing to open this site for almost a year, and we're all thrilled to see it finally open! Though so far the site only accommodates the elementary branches of the choir, Aaron's hoping to expand it to include the middle-school branch for next fall.
Speaking of middle schoolers, Asher has been rocking it with his basketball team this year. He joined the community league, and has had a great team and coach. They've been thriving, learning new skills, having great games whether they win or lose, and at long last he's been able to put those "hops" to use. At our absolute insistence, he has also continued with trumpet (although he's refuses to play in the jazz band that meets before school), and was excited when his band was invited to play at Disneyland this month, where he spent one of his happier school days ever. Addy has been tripping along just fine, though she doesn't have any exciting extracurricular activities going at the moment. She was excited to bring her little sister along to Activity Days at church now that Sera has turned 8, and she really loves singing with Aaron in the San Diego Children's Concert Choir. I would really like to find something else for her to do as well, perhaps art or some of the horseback riding lessons she has always wanted to try, but I've kind of let it slide lately--I should get on that!
As for me, I've gotten a few things going over the past couple of months as well. I finally opened a KinderKeys class--something I've been waffling on since moving here. It was really only the chiding of friends who wanted a class for their kids that lit the fire under me. I'm so glad I did! I'm sure I've mentioned that I've been pretty bored since we moved here--though I've applied for several jobs, nothing has panned out, but I haven't gotten to the point where I would take a job I didn't really want. I know that sounds selfish and arrogant, but I've had a sense that when the timing is right, the right things will happen. That said, I'm not a very patient person. Anyway, last month I sent in my application to USC for their Musicology PhD program, something which would definitely interest me and would finish off the graduate work I started shortly after graduating from BYU. Not long afterward, I had this kind of bizarre interest in looking into law school, something I had never really considered before--my dad was a lawyer and I can't say he loved it so much that it inspired me, but after looking at options in the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer, weighing in my political interests and activism . . . somewhere along the line, law school started to seem vaguely interesting. More out of curiosity than anything, I attended an open house day at the University of San Diego law school. No one was more shocked than I when I loved it! Aside from beautiful campus architecture and view overlooking the Pacific Ocean (I won't lie and say these had no influence), I got really excited about the power lawyers, judges, and politicians can have in areas like human rights, legislation, and justice. Aaron and I have had quite a few conversations on the topic, and while he is offering his encouragement with reservations for now, we both agree that a law degree is probably more practical than a degree in musicology. I've since registered for the February LSAT and checked out some study guides from the library, and I honestly can't say how much I'm enjoying the process of studying again. I'm one of those strange creatures that truly loves studying, I'm afraid.
Now that it's January, we've embraced a new family theme--boy do I love me a family theme! I've put this one off for two years now because the timing didn't seem right, but I was thrilled to finally introduce our theme this year: "On the Shoulders of Giants." It comes from a paraphrase of a quotation by Isaac Newton that I've loved since it was first introduced to me in a History of Mathematics course many years ago: "If I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants."
For each of our family councils/family home evenings this year (we've pretty much merged the two at this point), one of the kids chooses an important figure to give a presentation on. We've subdivided the year into monthly themes to help us wind through as many interesting and important people as possible. January has been "inventors," and we've had excellent power-point presentations on Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and Johannes Gutenberg. Next month is "civil rights leaders," and the kids have already selected Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malala Yousafzai for their presentations. It's been awesome seeing the kids get engaged with the research for their topics themselves, sharing information with each other, helping each other find quotes, videos, and photographs to share, and really paying more attention to how many of the things that we take for granted had to be thought up, worked at, and created by actual people not much different from themselves. At the dinner table each evening, I've started asking a new question as well: "what did you contribute today?" At first everyone, including Aaron, was a bit annoyed at the question, but they're coming around. A couple of times when we've skipped the question (often on Fridays and Saturdays when we don't always eat around the table), we wind up with multiples as people realize that they haven't had a chance to share their purposeful acts of contribution. Even I've been surprised at what an impact this has made in helping the kids to see themselves as part of a larger whole--contributors rather than consumers. Ultimately I'm really glad that we waited until this year for this theme, because the maturity the kids can bring to the table now is so much greater than it would have been in the past. And so at the end of this January, I ask the same of everyone else: what are you contributing? What did you do today that made a difference for someone? They are good questions to have always on a low simmer in the backs of our minds.
Of course January means birthdays for two of our number, and per the request of our newly minted 8-year-old and 10-year-old, we did their birthday dinner at Chuck-E-Cheese. Although I was well aware that most of their longing for that place was borne chiefly of nostalgia (honestly, Chuck-E-Cheese was an insanely fun break from the depths of Saskatchewan winter despair), when they begged, we agreed. They had a pretty fun time with tokens at the famous casino prep school (that's how Aaron and I refer to the place), and we had pizza that wasn't horrible, and that was that. Emerson got his first pet for his birthday, a betta fish named Sparky (which died within a month and has since been exchanged for a fish named Snappy). Sera got a new art kit, which she has put to great use on all kinds of projects.
Another fun adventure for Emerson and Sera this month has been opening a new site for the San Diego Children's Choir here in Carlsbad. They were among about ten charter members, which has since grown to nearly twenty-five. Aaron has been pushing to open this site for almost a year, and we're all thrilled to see it finally open! Though so far the site only accommodates the elementary branches of the choir, Aaron's hoping to expand it to include the middle-school branch for next fall.
Speaking of middle schoolers, Asher has been rocking it with his basketball team this year. He joined the community league, and has had a great team and coach. They've been thriving, learning new skills, having great games whether they win or lose, and at long last he's been able to put those "hops" to use. At our absolute insistence, he has also continued with trumpet (although he's refuses to play in the jazz band that meets before school), and was excited when his band was invited to play at Disneyland this month, where he spent one of his happier school days ever. Addy has been tripping along just fine, though she doesn't have any exciting extracurricular activities going at the moment. She was excited to bring her little sister along to Activity Days at church now that Sera has turned 8, and she really loves singing with Aaron in the San Diego Children's Concert Choir. I would really like to find something else for her to do as well, perhaps art or some of the horseback riding lessons she has always wanted to try, but I've kind of let it slide lately--I should get on that!
As for me, I've gotten a few things going over the past couple of months as well. I finally opened a KinderKeys class--something I've been waffling on since moving here. It was really only the chiding of friends who wanted a class for their kids that lit the fire under me. I'm so glad I did! I'm sure I've mentioned that I've been pretty bored since we moved here--though I've applied for several jobs, nothing has panned out, but I haven't gotten to the point where I would take a job I didn't really want. I know that sounds selfish and arrogant, but I've had a sense that when the timing is right, the right things will happen. That said, I'm not a very patient person. Anyway, last month I sent in my application to USC for their Musicology PhD program, something which would definitely interest me and would finish off the graduate work I started shortly after graduating from BYU. Not long afterward, I had this kind of bizarre interest in looking into law school, something I had never really considered before--my dad was a lawyer and I can't say he loved it so much that it inspired me, but after looking at options in the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer, weighing in my political interests and activism . . . somewhere along the line, law school started to seem vaguely interesting. More out of curiosity than anything, I attended an open house day at the University of San Diego law school. No one was more shocked than I when I loved it! Aside from beautiful campus architecture and view overlooking the Pacific Ocean (I won't lie and say these had no influence), I got really excited about the power lawyers, judges, and politicians can have in areas like human rights, legislation, and justice. Aaron and I have had quite a few conversations on the topic, and while he is offering his encouragement with reservations for now, we both agree that a law degree is probably more practical than a degree in musicology. I've since registered for the February LSAT and checked out some study guides from the library, and I honestly can't say how much I'm enjoying the process of studying again. I'm one of those strange creatures that truly loves studying, I'm afraid.
Now that it's January, we've embraced a new family theme--boy do I love me a family theme! I've put this one off for two years now because the timing didn't seem right, but I was thrilled to finally introduce our theme this year: "On the Shoulders of Giants." It comes from a paraphrase of a quotation by Isaac Newton that I've loved since it was first introduced to me in a History of Mathematics course many years ago: "If I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants."
For each of our family councils/family home evenings this year (we've pretty much merged the two at this point), one of the kids chooses an important figure to give a presentation on. We've subdivided the year into monthly themes to help us wind through as many interesting and important people as possible. January has been "inventors," and we've had excellent power-point presentations on Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and Johannes Gutenberg. Next month is "civil rights leaders," and the kids have already selected Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malala Yousafzai for their presentations. It's been awesome seeing the kids get engaged with the research for their topics themselves, sharing information with each other, helping each other find quotes, videos, and photographs to share, and really paying more attention to how many of the things that we take for granted had to be thought up, worked at, and created by actual people not much different from themselves. At the dinner table each evening, I've started asking a new question as well: "what did you contribute today?" At first everyone, including Aaron, was a bit annoyed at the question, but they're coming around. A couple of times when we've skipped the question (often on Fridays and Saturdays when we don't always eat around the table), we wind up with multiples as people realize that they haven't had a chance to share their purposeful acts of contribution. Even I've been surprised at what an impact this has made in helping the kids to see themselves as part of a larger whole--contributors rather than consumers. Ultimately I'm really glad that we waited until this year for this theme, because the maturity the kids can bring to the table now is so much greater than it would have been in the past. And so at the end of this January, I ask the same of everyone else: what are you contributing? What did you do today that made a difference for someone? They are good questions to have always on a low simmer in the backs of our minds.
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