A Banner Day for the Larsens

Well, it's been one of those days. In a 12-hour span, I've cleaned up dog pooh, Sophie pee and Maggie throwup. (and Spencer's cereal which sprayed all over the floor, but that's just a daily occurence.)

Charlotte (Sophie's BFF) came over to show us their new dog, Priya, who wagged her tail, played real cute, then barfed on my front room rug. Then as we were running out the door to teach my classes in St. Anthony, Sophie missed the toilet by a foot (her first accident in months) and left a huge puddle on the bathroom floor. She got extra credit for timing it perfectly. Then Maggie came home from school green as a frog and has been camping out on the bathroom floor ever since. (Don't worry, it got sanitized after Sophie's mess. Plus this was an entirely different bathroom.) She's usually good to hit the toilet when she vomits, but not today. Lucky me. Moms out there, I know you share my joy.

But Spencer just climbed onto my lap, wrapped his sticky, skinny little arms around my neck, and gave me a completely unsolicited kiss. I didn't even have to bribe him to do it. Aw. Even when covered in gravy, slime or ooze, they're still pretty cute...

I will say that when my kids get sick, the extreme motherhood adrenaline kicks in and I go into supermom mode. I do my best parenting if fevers, sick tummies, or sore throats threaten my brood. Sleep? Who needs it? personal time? what for? my offspring NEED me. Here come the smoothies and the chicken soup, the bedside manner and the Children's Motrin. I awake ten times a night on autopilot to check for cold feet or sweaty brows. Armed with icy ginger ale, soothing fingers and antibacterial wipes, I battle like a true soldier.

Then they get better and life goes back to normal. Oh well. At least for that shining moment they can tell I love them. Nothing says "I love you" like cleaning up someone's puke, right?

Notes from the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch that I Don't Want to Forget

“When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you any more, that means they’ve given up on you.”

“The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Send thin mints with an assignment and the assignment will get done.

Send hand-written thank you cards.

People are more important than things (dumping the can of soda down the seat of the new Volkswagen rabbit).

“Complaining doesn’t work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us any happier.”
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. – Seneca, Roman Philosopher

“It’s not how hard you hit. It’s how hard you get hit… and keep moving forward.”

To say to a friend who’s dying: “Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. Wherever he goes, you go also. He will not be alone.”

The First (and Last) Competition of the Year

We have survived another one of our big events of the spring - the Idaho State Championships clogging competition in Pocatello was last weekend. I am not a fan of competitions AT ALL (you should dance because you love to do it, not because you get a trophy, for crying out loud!) - the chaos and the crowds and the noise and the stress... give me a regular old performance any day. But the kids and the parents seem to LOVE competitions. So we compromised and let all the kids dance at one competition a year. I was not looking forward to it, but it was fairly painless and rather successful. Our kids did really well; Maggie took first on her freestyle (which consists of her moving her feet as fast as she can and smiling hard), and we took home a slew of first places and some shiny trophies (which Spencer will I'm sure destroy later) so that should make our parents feel as though their hard earned money is well invested. Oh well. Anyway, here's some pics of the kids in their costumes; I'll try to load some video on to youtube later but that's a technical frontier I have yet to conquer. Someday.

Since Sophie's tots class was the only one which did not compete, I'm downloading pics from the rest home performance we did two weeks ago too so you can see her in her little red tu tu. She is just so munchy!

Da Da Da Dum.... Gary's Show is Over! And We Survived!

For the last year Gary has been the Artistic Director (and referee, and social coordinator, and cheerleader) of BYU-I's touring company, Dance Alliance. They do everything in their show from ballet to Hungarian slap, hip hop to swing, Gumboot to hoe down. All year they've been focused on getting this show together, and this weekend it all climaxed in their concert "The Journey". He did most of the choreographies by himself or with the help of his amazing TA, Deedee, which meant a huge learning curve - he had never before choreographed ballroom numbers, and his experience with modern and ballet was pretty limited. I am so proud of all he accomplished - it's been a life-changing experience.

Gary chose dance forms and songs to match stages in the human experience. So the opener was a mix of all dance styles (some modern, some African, some Irish, some waltz) all done in cream costumes as the pre-earth experience. Then there was a hoedown to celebrate a birth; a modern piece showcasing the wonder of youth; a Mexican step coming of age dance; a "totally rad" '80s medley (which I helped choreograph - thank you Clayton Entertainment Studios!) and a hip hop number to represent the rebellious teenage years; a Bollywood wedding celebration; a post-modern, a capella "building" number; a modern "motherhood" essay; a foxtrot to represent mature love... you get the picture. The finale was a song by Josh Groban called "You are Loved (Don't Give Up)" with all dance styles mixed again. Over the beginning of the finale, Gary had a voice-over of Pres. Monson saying the following:

"I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by… Instead, find joy in the journey… now."

It was a HUGE success. Five sold-out performances, standing ovations, tears, laughter... Technically there were some flaws, and the quality of dancing could be higher (most of the 12 guys on the company had never danced until they got to college, if that says anything) but the overall spirit of the show - the unique thing it has to offer the world - is strong. We are excited for Gary to take it to Russia in April; they go on tour all over Western Russia for 17 days. I'm not going on this tour, because our kids are so small still and it's in the middle of Maggie's school year, but I'll get to go on future tours. I'm just not ready to leave the kids for that long yet. I'm excited for Gary and his dancers though; it should be an amazing, difficult, challenging adventure.

But first, we could all really use some sleep! I think I'll go lie down now...