Wordless Wednesday

And the Mom of the Year goes to...not me but I don't care.

Today is Friday. It is a school day. It is 10 am. The sounds of soft breathing float to my ear from the teenager lying in the bed next to me. She sleeps,  missing school,  and I don't care.   Last night was the opening night of the newest installment of Hobbit movies....but let me explain... two summers ago I stumbled across a blog called the Happy Family Movement you can read more about them here. They had started a summer bucket list where you actually write down all the stuff you wanted to do in the summer, and then check it off as you went. Simple. Brilliant. So I have been following them for while. Recently they have discussed giving their children experiences rather than stuff for their birthdays/holidays etc. Memories last a life time and don't take up shelf space. Simple. Brilliant. So in August JB and I talked about experiences rather than stuff for her birthday, and she chose to go to comicon for her birthday experience. Then right after Halloween, I asked her what she wanted for Christmas and without hesitation she stated she wanted to go to the midnight showing of the Hobbit. I agreed.  JB was SO EXCITED! She would ask me almost every day after Halloween if I had purchased tickets to the Midnight showing. She talked about it for days,  even to the point where she is trying to teach herself to read elvish runes...She asked me to make her a special outfit...she loves that it matches the bow she got from Uncle Shane and Aunt Amber for her birthday awhile back...

She needed a haircut anyway, so after her trim we had the hairstylist do her hair  in an elaborate braid...

 She is ALL in.

Some people I know have asked me why I let her do this. Why do I allow, let alone encourage this?  She is 14 years old and has no business playing dress up anymore. It's time for her to grow up and stop acting like she's a little girl in a princess dress. But the people who ask me this can't possibly see the joy that emanates from this girl through her imagination. She is constantly making up games and writing stories and creating creatures from other worlds. Why would I WANT to stop her from doing the thing that makes her the most happy? The teenage JB wears black clothes and is shy and doesn't talk to people. The costumed JB radiates confidence and will ask some random stranger in a crowded movie theater for a photograph.

The movie was entertaining, but strayed a lot from the book, and introduced a lot of elements that I was so-so with...but none of that matters. What truly matters is the experience. And now, the she-elf is lying in bed happily exhausted from being up until 3:30 in the morning. I truly thought about waking her up and forcing her to go to school, in fact, that WAS part of the deal, that if she went to the midnight show she would have to go to school the next day, but then I couldn't do it. I thought about how hard she works every single day doing homework 4+ hours every night (not counting the 1/2 hour of guitar practice each day.) How she really wishes she could run cross country, or participate in the science club, or continue dance lessons but can't because the school work is kicking her butt. I thought about next week and how it will be difficult for her to make up a missed day of school, and then I thought about her just being here. Right here. Right now. This moment. Warm and asleep, on her dad's side of the bed because we got really cold in the movie theater and he had an electric blanket on his bed and she doesn't. I don't know how many more moments like this I will have in this life time. I heard her breathing, I saw her sweet face, and I let her rest. School can wait. Right now,won't.

Wordless Wednesday

Invited? A matter of some delicacy...

I must preface this post by saying I live in a fabulous neighborhood, made of a lot of fabulous people. Even though I don't attend the LDS church like most of my neighbors, they generally are fairly kind to me and my family.  Most of the neighbors will talk to me on the street, know Miss Lily, and will let JB hang out with their kids. I say most, because not all are so friendly, but this post is not about them. It isn't even really about my LDS ward, though they are the example I am  using...see we apparently are on the LDS ward roster because we are often invited to attend church functions and receive invitations like this one taped to our mailbox frequently. We have lived in our home 5 years, and we are invited to events about once a month, or at least once every other month, so we have received a lot of invitations. While I am glad they are making an effort to let me know of what is going on, am I the only one who sees a problem with the invitation? Granted, I probably shouldn't even post this as I am probably going to irritate someone, and that is NOT my intention, but rather, I'd like to inform, educate, inspire. I like that the invitation clearly states what it is I'm being invited to (Relief Society Christmas Social.) I like the bright Christmas colors, and that if I come I should bring something to share, there will be time to visit, and a short program. I'm OK with that. Thanks for letting me know what to expect. Now for the part that bugs me. Lets pretend I actually DID want to go...  I am not an active participant in your congregation. I have NO IDEA who the person XXXX is so have no idea where her home is. There is no address on the invitation. There is no phone number for me to contact for more information (like an address...) So, it makes me wonder if I was really being invited, or was I just given an invitation with no information so that I really couldn't show up even if I wanted too. For the record, I do not think that was the case, as like I said I have lived here 5 years, and have always received an invitation, but 95% of the time there is no address or information. It will usually say "at the ward house" or at the "Stake Center"  and I think putting the address on the invitation is something that is honestly not thought about...I mean everyone knows where the ward house is, right? From my deck, I can see 3 steeples. I have no idea which one is my ward house. I don't know if any of them are designated as stake centers. I can honestly say that I didn't even know what ward I was in until LAST NIGHT when someone from the ward left a cute little Christmas tree ornament on our door with an invitation to the 15th ward Christmas Service...at the ward house, but this time there was actually an ADDRESS attached!  I know I certainly have not done my part to learn what ward I am in, I am very happy with my attendance to the Episcopal Church, and truly have no intention of attending my LDS ward services, so I shouldn't be bothered by no address because I don't plan on going anyway, but the truth is, it bugs me. A lot! I guess I am posting this as a public service announcement to anyone who wants to invite someone to an event, for any reason. Please just put the address on the invitation, or include a contact number so someone could find the address if needed. Who knows, maybe you'll even get someone like me to show up.

Photo-booth extravaganza!

It all started with Leslie and Steve's wedding. They had a delightfully fun photo-booth set up and I LOVED it! That was a few years ago, but just recently when JB and I decided to turn our house into a labyrinth, we talked about how fun it would be to have a Halloween photo-booth, and I remembered the fun I had at Leslie's so I seriously looked into it.






I soon came across some software called Sparkbooth. You can read all about it here: http://sparkbooth.com/

and then we went photobooth CRAZY!
We used it at Cache Get Away with Girl scouts,


and at Halloween,




and again at Thanksgiving...



Christmas is coming soon! I wonder what we'll come up with next?