We had some last minute Christmas fun. A Shake Shack opened in Edgewater. Unlike the craziness at In N Out in Aurora (I won't try to go there for a long time) they were organized and not very busy. They also had old-timey Christmas carolers! I embarrassed Jack by posing with them and accepting their invitation to sing along to Deck the Halls. When the food arrived we picnicked in the car with a movie playing for the kids.

Sam was thrilled to get a letter from Santa. He said that Sam is on the Nice list and to be sure to go to bed on time because Sam's house is going to be one of the first stops!

Not pictured, I made four batches of cookies (while masked) to pass out to friends and church members. We saw lots of great lights while we went out driving, and we went out to see more elaborate lights on Christmas Eve. One of our church buildings had a little nativity scene that was nice to visit.

Of course, we had to have sugar cookies to leave out for Santa, and a fat carrot for the reindeer. We decided to go Japanese this Christmas and eat KFC. Ben has a penpal in Japan who didn't reserve his KFC bucket in time, so he went to 7 Eleven for his traditional fried chicken. Ben said that he thought it was funny we decided to take back the American-food-via-Japan tradition, and that we could get a full meal in the drive through without advance notice!

Christmas morning was the usual rush of presents and chocolate and talking with family via video calls. It was sad not to see anyone this year, but at least we are used to doing Christmas morning just the four of us.

I made a roast beef dinner. The cats were delighted with their fish filet treats.

The next couple days were spent relaxing and playing with our new toys. The boys built legos and I built a book nook from Andy. We watched Soul on Disney Plus. We had a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed some fresh snow with new winter gear.

The kids are back in school now. Everyone is doing remote with the plan to return in-person Jan 19. I really struggled with the choice to stay remote. But that would have meant they needed to change teachers and classmates, and there wouldn't be a chance to return to in-person for the rest of the year. I'm optimistic that the vaccine will roll out, the weather will get warmer and push people back outside, and that the numbers will continue to trend down now that they holidays are done. Maybe I'll be wrong. But I think the kids need to be in school for so many reasons, and I have faith in the science of distancing, masks, air-purifiers, and all the other practices their school has done to keep the virus out. It seems worth the risk.

Ben turned 40 years old this year! He asked for a nice, quiet day. We started by opening presents. Some were late, due to shipping delays this year. Luckily Ben is patient and they all came within a week or so.

I set up a game playdate with the Walkers for the afternoon. Ben was delighted! He didn't want to do a big social zoom thing like many of his fellow turning-40 friends have done this year. So I kept it small and short and sweet.

For dinner I surprised Ben by making salmon and asparagus. (The kids and I had a small ham.) Ben seemed very touched that I would cook fish for him. I didn't know what I was doing and over-cooked it :-D I also made the kids promise not to mention the smell or make any complaints about the fish, explaining that their attitude would be part of the gift. They did a great job!

Cake was more comfortable for me, even though it was a new recipe. Ben selected the "Italian Cream Cake" from my historical American Cakes book. It's a pecan and coconut cake recipe from Nashville. The book notes that there is nothing Italian about this 1970s recipe. It was delicious nonetheless. I used 3 six inch pans to make a half-batch recipe and it was just perfect for us to split and have leftovers for a few days!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Poop, oh poop. Your Stinky soul.

it makes Me want to climb a pole

to avoid the smell.

my Brother and friend i must tell.

you come out of a butt,

Excuse me, i need to pull out a gut.

My lungs.

to not smell the Poop.

you smell like Dirty chicken coop.

Diarrhea is just worse.

it's like a poop curse.

it is wet too.

it's also a lot like poop goo.

you make a plopping sound.

and that is the end of my Poem about poo.

With the new year I felt the urge to purge my yarn stash. Usually I match yarn to pattern and follow the instructions with minimal changes. But these next three projects were entirely improvised.

First, I whipped up some leg warmers. Very basic 2x2 rib tubes. This was a rough, raw, sheepy wool from Wales. These leg warmers will be perfect to layer with boots on a snowy day.

Then I found a gorgeous ball of superwash sock yarn. I think I bought this green and purple blend in Chicago, but I'm not sure. I love the colors so much, I didn't want to hide them under my pants hem as socks. Instead I made a close-fitting cowl, sort of like a turtleneck-dickie. I knit two stockinette triangles, then joined them and continued in the round with ribbing. It looked a little odd, so I added a tassel - perfect!

My next project was a little more ambitious. I've had many skeins of this berroco wool blend for YEARS. I knew I wanted to make a sweater, but I could never find a pattern I liked for the variegated coloring. I finally decided to make the most basic of sweaters on a knitting machine and just get. it. done.

Well, my knitting machine was falling apart. It was an entry-level model made of foam and plastic. I was proud of the purchase when I made it in my early twenties, but now the machine has lots of chipped or worn out pieces. When I called my mom for advice, she declared that I should have a better machine. A few days later with a Happy Birthday from mom, I had a lovely, functional, reliable machine!

I set up the machine and had a gauge sample knit in only 30 minutes! After washing, drying, and measuring, I did some math to make the sweater. The latest trend amongst knitters is puffy sleeves. What better time to experiment? I mapped out a crop sweater with balloon sleeves and got to stitching. I had all the pieces made in about 1 1/2 hours! It took much longer to figure out how to seam them together, and then hand-knit the ribbed cuffs.

It's a kooky little sweater but I LOVE IT!

I'm already scheming to rip out a previously knit cardigan that's too big, to make another puff sweater (maybe like this?).

BTW, the next trend I'm seeing on ravelry is bobbles. They're everywhere! I want to make a lacy-bobble-halo sweater, but that's a hand-knit project for another day.

The PTA wanted to making rice pack neck warmers for all the teachers for Valentine's Day. Knowing that I'm crafty (I knit during meetings), they asked me to help. I made a test sample and wrote up a tutorial for the other 4 sewers. Then I made 14 more neck warmers. I struggled with my old Necchi, like usual. I've had it for maybe 20 years? I feel like it's always being cranky with me, even after getting it serviced and adjusted and new belts and what-not. It's constantly knots up my starter threads, or jams, or skips stitches, or doesn't feed the fabric evenly. Well, that new knitting machine got me thinking how much I would enjoy sewing better if my sewing machine just worked.

After much online research and testing out some store models I bought a Janome 3160QDC. Happy Birthday to me again! I get presents all month long! ;-)

I LOVE this machine too. It's like night and day between my old machine and this one.

I thought I would want a basic mechanical work-horse. But after trying one with automatic reverse or quilt knotting, thread cutting, a needle-threader, and up/down needle positioning, I realized yes, yes I do want those shiny bells and whistles please.

After getting it out the box and running some scrap fabric through for a few minutes (per the manual), I put some additional quilted stitches on a leftover neck warmer. Like BUTTER, my new Janome.

I've been wanting to make the Pins and Paws pattern since I finished Sam's dragon quilt. Gotta wait for my pre-cut fabric to come from Etsy, then I can match it to backing and binding and dive in!

While waiting, I used scrap fabric to make a quilt block. I've never done triangles before and I wanted to make sure I could it before moving up to the Pins and Paws. I think I'm good to go!

Speaking of paws, the cats are up to their usual antics - passive fighting for warm spots, actual fighting for . . . Spite? Dominance? Entertainment? Who knows.

Some random pics from the last few weeks:

It’s working! I can sew!

We have never celebrated Mardi Gras and I have never had king cake. My curiosity was too strong this year, so I made one myself. Basically a big cinnamon roll? Huh. Can’t really go wrong with enriched dough and cinnamon sugar. It made a warm and exciting after school snack. (They helped me with the sprinkles.)

Last week I celebrated my last birthday on this side of the hill - 39! Ben and the boys did their best to give me a special day even though we couldn't go out anywhere like we usually would.

I didn't take many pictures. It was a very nice, relaxing day. I slept in, and then was greeted with cheers and a banner and a giant pile of presents. I was spoiled by all my family this year, with lots of crafting things, baking supplies, and beautiful things to wear. I had pleasant video calls with the Waterhouses and the Masons, and even my German penpal living in Tianjin! I received many birthday greetings by text message and a couple quick porch visits from friends bearings gifts. I truly felt loved!

My one plan for the day was to indulge in lunch alone. I listened to a podcast on the drive down to Shake Shack and had lunch by myself in my car. Ahhh. For dinner we had Thai take-out and watched Paddington 2. I baked myself a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. We were surprised when snow started to fall, making a beautiful, cozy end to a wonderful day.

Since the vaccines were announced I have been trying to find a way to help. I applied to some part-time positions and wrote to the school district and my county office to let me work or volunteer for them. There was a ton of interest in using me, but no one offering me any actual positions.

After a month of emails and phone calls and applications (including digging up an old public hearing document that had the email address for a person I saw on a news story about a local vaccine clinic) (yeah, I felt like a stalker), I finally got a lead from the Jeffco public health department. They told me to register on the CVM website so they can use me. I later learned that there were issues with taking liability for volunteers, that the recent PREP Act fixed this by putting all liability on the state for any licensed volunteers. And, of course, hiring is always limited and slow, so a paid position will be harder to acquire than volunteering.

Things started to happen fast. I registered and did the FEMA training, and followed-up with (i.e. continued pestering) my collected contacts at the county office.

As promised, 10 days later when my background check cleared, I started getting invitations to volunteer at the vaccine clinics.

Thursday was my first shift!

What a day to start! We got about 4-5 inches of snow overnight. At home that meant the schools canceled in-person learning, and the remote lessons were basically "have fun in the snow!" So the plan for Ben to simple drop off and pick-up the kids for me became a lot more complicated. Poor guy.

For me it meant wearing many layers. My assignment was "Post-Op Supervisor." This was a drive-through vaccine clinic run by the county. A paramedic and myself instructed and supervised every person to stay for 15 or 30 minutes in case they have a reaction to the shot. We reviewed symptoms and answered questions, directed parking, and answered about 4 car honks of people have mild issues (all resolved, none wanted to escalate to the hospital). This meant I spent about 8 hours standing in the snow and sun, speaking more than I have in a year, and talking louder than usual to be heard over the rumbling trucks.

I came home exhausted. My feet were aching so badly, I was fighting my Reynauds all day (yay for heated gloves!), and my voice was dry and cracking. But I haven't been so happy in a long time. I had no energy in my body but my mind was energized and peaceful.

They gave out 510 vaccines that shift. I met some great people working the clinic and saw many polite people who were thrilled to be getting their vaccine. It was so uplifting to be a part of a solution. It was also a big step for me returning to work after quitting clinical practice 7 years ago. My confidence grew and I felt validated and wanted. My supervisor and coworkers were all so grateful I was there and said they hoped I would be back.

I have 6 more shifts scheduled for March at a different drive-through clinic in Lakewood. They tend to request volunteers last-minute: Thursday's shift request was only 3 days prior. So I hope I can add more time in the Arvada clinic too. Bonus points if it doesn't lead to frozen fingers and sunburned eyes! I really want to be a vaccinator and actually give the shots, but even if I only get pre-op education and observer roles, I'll be happy. I learned a lot about what to pack and wear for comfort, and I look forward to helping more.

No one asked me if I needed the vaccine. The county is strict and they said they kick out about 100 people every day who made appointments but don't meet the qualifications. So I didn't think I would get one and was afraid to ask. At the end of my shift I finally asked my supervisor to confirm that I won't be getting one, just so I can tell my family for sure it's not happening. To my surprise, she apologized! She said they usually check every morning huddle for who needs one, and that I absolutely "deserve" a vaccine for being a volunteer. She rushed me into the fire station bay where the shots were given, but they didn't have any extra doses left. She was super apologetic and told me to ask for one at my next shift.

Meanwhile, I had put myself on Kaiser's waiting list as a healthcare worker once my CVM registration was approved. By coincidence, on Friday afternoon I got an email that it was my turn! I took the next available appointment and ta da! Today I got the Moderna vaccine!

I'm so happy. I had joked that I would bake a cake to celebrate the day I got the shot. So I did.

Things are looking up.

For spirit week the kids got to dress up like a favorite character from a book. Jack predictably chose to be a Hufflepuff from the Harry Potter books.

Sam wanted to dress like baby yoda from the tv show The Mandalorian. I told him that won’t work because he’s not from a book. Sam quickly retorted “I’ll make a book about him!” Good loophole, kid :-) He managed to get a decent first draft done by morning that he took to school too. We cobbled together the costume from some of my sweaters.

I got to give the Moderna vaccine to some very happy people in Denver today. It was so fun talking to everyone and working with other great volunteers. This clinic had a different set-up and some challenges with coordinating two facilities vying for authority, but they were on track to serve 500 doses by the end of the day. I had a half day shift scheduled. The shorter day, and the beautiful weather, made for a pleasant Saturday.

I'm still at it, helping spread vaccines as fast as possible. I've been volunteering either two half days or a full day every week. I hope you like selfies, because there's not much else I can document while protecting patient privacy. This guy let me take his picture:

Yeah, this was awesome. We had a few spare doses at the end of the day and they asked if I knew anyone who could get there fast. You betcha! We were so happy Ben got a dose! We both thought it was sweet that I was able to give him the shot personally. What a strangely sentimental moment! I'm pleased that they scheduled me at that same clinic on the day Ben returns for his second dose.

After trying three different clinics I was done with juggling alcohol swabs, bandaids, and needles. A quick trip to the dollar store for baskets, a trip to the craft store for straps and fastener, a little sewing, and I had myself a drive thru vaccine belt.

It's so great! I made two styles, and ended up preferring the larger basket. I refined it even further - I have an inner basket to keep the syringes separate, and a trash cup for wrappers that I can easily tip in the trash every few cars. You can see my larger basket in pics below. It's gotten rave reviews from other vaccinators. I lend my second belt to other nurses and they always love it. I joke that I should make more and sell them. But I have enough going on ;-)

Everyone is so happy and cheerful to get their shots (unless they are scared of needles, but I get them laughing and smiling by the time I'm done). We often have people gift candy and cookies as thanks. The day below, someone brought a whole tray of hot breakfast burritos! Super delicious and appreciated in the cold garage (I ate it in my car during a break).

I returned to Kaiser for my second dose of Moderna last weekend. Even though I'm not planning to change my behavior, I'm counting down the days until I'm considered "Fully Vaccinated."

Today I worked a full day at a new-to-me clinic. This was the largest so far, with 1,170 appointments. I keep a tally of how many vaccines I've given. Today's 86 doses brings me to 344 shots.

This clinic was really nice - very organized and well staffed. I appreciated that they took more though to our safety and comfort than some other clinics, with safety vests, monitoring carbon monoxide levels in the garage, and snacks and PPE, anti-fatigue mats under our feet, and a chair to rest between cars. I'm definitely applying if they put out another request on CVM.

It was also cool to give the vaccine to teenagers. Colorado starting allowing the anyone 16+ (Pfizer) or 18+ (Moderna/Janssen) today. Since we had Pfizer, I gave the vaccine to three high schoolers. I told them I happy they made the choice and can be examples to their classmates. I can't wait for the data that lets my kids get it too.

Ben and the boys went to Grand Junction to visit grandparents. Both Betty and Susan have early April birthdays, so it works out perfectly to celebrate together during Spring Break. I didn't go because I was scheduled for my second Moderna shot. I had a quiet and productive weekend of quilting and watching K-pop, and only mild illness after the second vaccine dose. I saw a few pictures from the trip and it looked like they were kept busy with hiking and playgrounds and other fun activities.

Here's a mishmash of pictures.

This spring has been packed with snow storms. They even canceled school for two days! I thought this recent snowfall mid-April would be the last, but they are predicting another 3-5 inches Monday night. I'm so over it and ready for warm weather!

The cats try to bust out of the catio on warm days, and cuddle during the cold days.

In between snow storms we had a couple nice sunny Saturdays. We took the boys out for lunch and picnicked in different parks.

Easter came and went. The bunny brought small baskets and hid eggs in the yard. We didn't even dye eggs. The hunt for eggs gets faster and more cutthroat every year. I made way too much ham, along with rolls, green beans, and deviled eggs for dinner.

Just one vaccine selfie this time, but it's a good one - I gave Ben his second dose! In a few days we will both be at fully immunity. If only we could do the same for the kids :-( It gives us peace of mind, even if our behavior stays mostly the same.

I started attending in-person zumba classes and it feels so good to be dancing again. My feet are killing me, but it's good for my brain and my muscles. I've been doing tap and yoga at home still, but those can't compare with an hour of cardio. It sucks to wear a mask and I get hotter than usual - and take fewer water breaks. But I love it and it's worth it and I feel ok since everyone is masked and distanced and I'm vaccinated.

I'm still volunteering for vaccines. I have two shifts this week and continue to get frequent requests to work more often. I think the demand will stay through May at least.

We had some housework done, installing a new/safer dryer ventilation duct. Now I need to find someone to cover it with a soffit and repair the drywall. I'm also thinking about our bathroom that badly needs renovations, and the yard that could be landscaped so much better . . . there's always so much you can do a house. Honestly, it's not the money that puts me off home repairs, but the time and effort it takes to obtain workers and deal with their inevitable delays. I want to wait until at least this summer so we can have all the windows open and spend extra time outdoors while they work inside.

I'm working on a quilt but have lost interest in the project. I think I'm too busy lately. I started a new pair of socks (second pair of 2021 for me). It's easy to pick up and put down. I hope to attend Days for Girls this week and get back into volunteering with them, after having stopped for covid. It'll be great to put my new machine to work for them!

Our trivia team has been great. We've had the same crew for a few months now. We placed 2nd in March and this last week was came in first place! We beat my siblings and parents' team by one point. Ben contributed a tricky video game music round that really shook up the typical standings. :-D

The Waterhouses came over for a quick visit. We had a great time catching up and eating good food. It's great that we are all fully vaccinated (aside from the kids). Apparently I only took pictures during our afternoon visit to the zoo. The animals were pretty active and we had lots of great treats.

Jack's school held a Continuation ceremony for 5th graders. "Graduation" was never uttered, though it was clearly a graduation celebration. :-)

They sang the National Anthem, You Can Count on Me by Bruno Mars, and This is Me from The Greatest Showman. There were speeches from students, the principal, and a former NFL player who was an alum of Vanderhoof and currently the coach at the local high school.

Each student had their name called and they collected a certificate (to be traded for the "real" certificate in their goodie bag).

Jack was honored by winning "Roadrunner of the Year" (student of the year) as voted on by his class! We didn't know that he would be given the award, so I was unprepared for filming. His teacher's introduction was touching and had quotes from students that I wish I had been able to record. If she sends it to me I'll post it here. Things like, what a good friend he is to everyone and how he always does the right thing, even when no one is watching.

He's an easily embarrassed preteen who stalked up to receive his award so quickly I could barely film any of it! I convinced him to take some photos afterward (he already ripped off his tie and refused to put it back on).

We are so proud of him!

Jack's teacher came through with his award speech. Now recorded here for all history, to show how wonderful my son it ;-)

(SOAR behavior is Safe, Outstanding, Accountable, and Respectful.)

Roadrunner of the Year

This year we would like to give an award called, Roadrunner of the Year. In order to receive this award students had to be nominated by their peers. Students were asked to think of a classmate who consistently demonstrates SOAR behavior all year long. I am proud to say many students were nominated and this year we have 2 Roadrunner’s of the Year. 

Our first award goes to a student who’s peers said the following: “He has always been a great person to me and everyone else” Another said, “I would nominate this person because I look up to him and he always does the right thing even when nobody's watching!” or “He has shown SOAR behavior in ALL of his time here at Vanderhoof. He is loving, kind, and selfless.” This 2020-2021 Roadrunner of the Year award goes to Jack Mason. 

Jack's birthday started with presents. The big milestone this year was getting his own cell phone. Much responsibility and regulation were heaped with it, but he is very proud and has been a using it well ever since. He likes to text gifs to family members, so that's been fun ;-)

With adults vaccinated, low incidence rates, and good evidence for outdoor safety, we were able to give Jack a real birthday party! He invited his three best friends from class for an afternoon of science fun.

First we tried Mentos and Diet Coke. It worked, but was a little underwhelming.

Then we took the kids out for fro-yo.

The kids were content to chatter away excitedly. Jack has some great friends: friendly, smart, and polite. I eventually interrupted to suggest we do our next science demonstration - Elephant Toothpaste.

It took a while to get everyone's solutions mixed up properly. We experimented with different container shapes, different volumes, and different hydrogen peroxide strengths.

This time we got great results! The foam was bountiful and the colors were exciting. They really liked the warm foam, caused by the exothermic reaction. I spent a lot of time admonishing them from touching it too much, to test the heat first, and not get it on their skin. They mostly listened to me.

Our final activity was a giant tub of oobleck. I bought out the cornstarch supply from King Soopers and Target and let them dump all of it in a storage bin. It was a total hit. Somehow the kids managed to worry me with this one too - sinking their hands in deep and then yanking them hard enough to pop their joints. Of course, one of them had to go all in with her feet too.

Lastly the kids opened their goodie bags and had chocolate cake with strawberry frosting. I didn't get any pictures of the cake but it was delicious (there's a slice on the table in the pic above). The kids were meant to take home the weird Japanese candy kit that Ben found. But they wanted to build them together instead. I had to call parents to extend the party because they were having so much fun. I think the best part for Jack was getting to relax with his friends outside of school for the first time in over a year.

I meant to include these videos in my post about Jack's birthday. Enjoy!

A quick trip to GJ was the perfect way to kick off the summer.

With both of us vaccinated, we indulged in a trip to the movie theater! We haven't been on a movie date since we saw Emma on March 10, 2020. We used to go to the Alamo 2-3 times a month, so stopping was one of the major lifestyle changes we made for covid.

We got tickets to see Cruella. We picked seats in the far corner away from other ticket-holders, and chose a matinee in the hopes that crowds and maskless eating would be lower (popcorn munching squashed that hope). This was also exciting because it was the first time we used Jack as the babysitter for our movie date! Over the last year he has been doing many short babysitting jobs. Usually while we run a quick errand, or pick up our take-out meal. This time it felt so weird to just leave the kids for a movie! We paid him, of course, but it was so luxurious not to have to coordinate with a sitter. What new freedom!

When the pre-show and trailers ended and the "Feature Presentation" animation played, they had added "Welcome back" to the end. Ben and I looked at each other and giggled because we were both holding back tears. I didn't expect to get so emotional!

The movie was gorgeous and silly. Both Emmas Thompson and Stone gave strong performances and were fun to watch.

We were still nervous to be in a theater with other people. Even at a well run establishment like the Alamo, it's hard to relax. Plus, we missed having food. Dinner was always half the fun of going out! We decided to forgo food to keep our masks on the whole time, and it was sort of a bummer.

We want to see more movies, but it looks like they are no longer doing the auto-spacing of tickets, so capacity limits must be gone. We hope to see In the Heights later, when the initial rush is over and theaters are less crowded. As the vaccination rate continues to climb and the incidence rate continues to drop, maybe we will feel comfortable ordering food! I don't know what we're going to do about Black Widow. Tickets are already out and I don't want to wait too long . . .

Jack is a big fan of Mark Rober, the youtuber. He eagerly clicks and laughs through every new upload. For his birthday we enrolled him in Mark Rober's Engineering camp for June. In the class he learned how to brainstorm solutions to problems and use real tools to build his inventions.

The first task was to build something mechanical to solve a food problem. Jack has struggled to cut apples, because the apple slips around he and he doesn't think he has the strength. His solution was the Apple Annihilator.

The next project was fairly open-ended, to learn how to build and code using an Arduino kit. They just had to make something related to art. He struggled with this, partly because the task was so vague, and because his ideas were bigger than his tools and skills. We had to coach him back down to using the tools in the kit already, and aim for something simple. He ended up making a little music player. I think it turned out great! Some kids didn't even finish a project in the allotted time.

The final build assignment was to use all these skills to build something that will help with habits. Jack already had in mind that he wanted to made a cat guard, to keep Nimbus from waking him in the early morning. We encouraged him, saying it was the cat's "habit" that he was trying to fix :-)

I didn't get a chance to take pictures, but Ben filmed his final video submission here.

Overall I think it was a great experience for him. It was a lot of work, and less instruction than I had hoped for. But he came out of it with three actual inventions, all made with his own hands! He has said that he is interested in robotics for a long time, and this was another step in the direction, to see if it is something he really wants to pursue.

Right now Jack is doing a two-week camp at his new middle school. He has Strings Orchestra camp first, where is he playing with other enthusiastic musicians and getting to know the great teacher he will have next year. After that he goes across the school campus to Vex IQ Robotics camp. This teacher also seems great. She is a lot of fun and very enthusiastic. She runs the Robotics club that Jack hopes to join next year. It's limited in size and competes with other schools. I think the engineering camp, and his other experience with programming at home, are giving him great background knowledge on the subject.

Earlier this month we all enjoyed another summer "Gramp Camp." The kids packed up for 10 days in Grand Junction, sharing time between both grandparents. It looks like they had a great time! Lots of swimming and lots of video games. Lots of spoiling by doting family with late bedtimes and many sweets. A very good week for kids by any standard.

After delivery the kids, Ben and I eagerly planned out a relaxing week of quiet at home. Ben took time off work to make it true vacation. We went to two movies at the Alamo - In the Heights and Black Widow. I took a fun daytime hip hop dance class that I usually can't attend. We made many day trips to parts of the Front Range to see friends and eat good food. I also ate ice cream almost every day!

Thank you to all my family for taking care of the kids and driving them back. We had an amazing, relaxing week to explore locally and rejuvenate our minds.

Today we celebrate 19 years of marriage. 🎊

Being a Monday, a pandemic, and the unremarkable number nineteen, we kept it simple.

Ben brought me a mass of sunset colored roses.

We had dinner at a local Japanese restaurant with nice outdoor seating. Ben loved his ramen and I had delicious beef curry, shumai, and veggie tempura.

Not wanting to rush home, we gazed into each other’s eyes and said

“Target?”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Ok, lame I know. But immediately after our ceremony at the temple we went to Target in full wedding attire. We wanted to pick up a cold drink on our way to the ring ceremony!

So really, the first thing we did in our marriage was go to Target. It’s sentimental!

Yeah, Ben is laughing in the pic because I treated it like a thing. But it IS a thing to me!

We are still so in love and so happy we followed our young foolish hearts 19 years ago. 💕

I love you, Ben.

Sam would like to share two funny MadLibs we recently did.

Pirate Makeover, words provided by me.

Love Letter, words provided by Jack.

If you would like to do a MadLibs with Sam, comment your words for one of these pages below, or email them to me. Sam will fill them in and do another reading!

Jack has been working on many different pieces this summer. Here is the theme from Ocarina of Time, a Legend of Zelda game. (He says the song fades out, that why he trails off at the end).

Here is "A Recipe for Ice Cubes" with words provided by mom via email.

If you want Sam to do your submission, email or comment your words to me. You can do the Caveman, previous posted, or The Blob:

Here are a couple pieces that Jack learned during his orchestra camp session.

Caveman, words provided by Betty and Rick.

The day he has been waiting for is finally here. Jack got braces today!

They put on a top set and will do the bottom layer. 18 months to two years of treatment, then a retainer to maintain. He’s so excited to be “full nerd.”

The kids wanted to share some magic tricks. I don't think a lot of practice or preparation went into these, but it's fun anyway :-)

Yay! Jack started middle school this year. He gets the ride the bus! Hurrah! He's happy to have a friend and some classmates from elementary on the bus with him.

Today was all orientation for 6th graders. Jack came home brimming with excitement. There were definitely nerves, but overall he seems psyched. He has friends in almost every class, including 3 classes with a friend he made in the summer camp program. He raved about his science teacher, who entertained them with pyrotechnics during their brief orientation period. He said math might actually be a challenge this year, since he is in the accelerated 6th & 7th grade math class. He's also taking Western Hemisphere studies, English/Language Arts, orchestra, and PE.

Sam is in third grade this year. He had a good day with no real surprises. It seems like he only has minor changes to his schedule and routine from last year. He said his new teacher even reminds him a lot of his second grade teacher, in looks, manner, and teaching style. She seems great to me, very experienced and easy going. Sam's best friend is in the same class again - yay! The school had some renovations over the summer, so at least that was new to him!

Sam was more resistant to me taking pictures than Jack was. He blandly obliged me with these pics, and then ran off to start the year.

Me? I had a fabulous day! I cleaned the house and it STAYED CLEAN. I indulged in some quiet morning time watching three new k-pop music videos that dropped last night and DIDN'T GET INTERRUPTED ONCE. I'm talking, like, 12 minutes in a row!

I made a new recipe, S'mores cookie bars. I love having fresh baked cookies ready for the boys after school. I usually bake on Wednesdays, but why not celebrate the first day? I got out my mixer and reached for my headphones, before remembering that I was all alone. I put the headphones back and pulled out a loudspeaker. It was really fun to crank up my music and dance and bake.

Cleaning, laundry, working, and reading made up the rest of my quiet day.

If I wasn't still suffering from an SI joint spasm it would have been an A+ day. This lower back pain pops up 1-3 times per year ever since my pregnancies. I already saw my chiropractor twice and have been throwing all my therapies at it (ice, heat, anti-inflammatories, rest, yoga, foam rolling, etc). I'm much better than when it flared last Wednesday, but not 100%. Dang, because I was thinking I could do a hip hop class in Boulder tomorrow morning while the kids are in school. Maybe next week ;-)

Sam has had several loose teeth for months. He finally wrestled one out yesterday after school.

This was a special tooth, a Siamese twin tooth! We identified it when he was a baby. The dentist told us it’s a single tooth that had a fusion, so it looks like two teeth from above the gum line. He assured us that a single tooth would erupt below it. It’s time to test his theory!

(He got the regular $5 plus $1 for this fancy tooth specimen)

Gross tooth photo warning. ⚠️

If you are not into that the post ends here!

Twin tooth:

Here's some pictures I took last week. Nothing remarkable, just a slice o'life.

I love dancing again! I've been trying to do two classes a week all summer, and so far am keeping it up since school started.

In Zumba Wednesday night my teacher filmed one of the routines and I asked for a copy. It's a super old song and I've done at least 3 versions with different instructors over the years, none of them recently. So I was a little rusty! I love when they put old routines in playlists though.

Here's a short clip of the dance. I'm wearing all black and the mask on the left. My friend and instructor is center in the white tank top.

I tried putting that one directly into wordpress, so I hope it plays for you. Here's the full video on youtube. It got a copyright claim with the music, I apologize if it plays annoying ads as a result.

My little guy turned 8 years old this month! He can legally ride in a car without a booster seat, like a fully formed human. We've been talking about baptism and letting him know he can decide to do that now. But we all would prefer to wait until he is fully vaccinated.

Just for fun, here's a link to his 8 month blog post. Look at those cheeks! I'm happy to report he has been sleeping through the night for the past few years! Hurrah! Hmm, stubborn and wanders off to do his own thing? That hasn't changed much. Now he's a spacey kid and hard to snap to attention. He'll look at you without hearing what you are saying, or wander off mid task with item in hand, completely forgetting what he was asked to do. He's still smiley, funny, creative, and fun to be around!

He celebrated his birthday with a small outdoor party that was Minecraft themed. He started by having his best friend over for indoor video games - a treat he hasn't been able to do in over a year! Of course they were masked and I opened all the windows and set up fans to blow fresh air around while they played. They loved it so much, they were a little dismayed when it was time to start the party outside!

Sam started with presents and snacks. Then they made Minecraft character keychains with perler beads.

There was an item matching game with cards hidden in the balloons.

Everyone got a couple turns with the pinata before Desi was let loose. He annihilated the creeper, as expected.

The kids hunted for little containers of ingredients to craft the birthday cake. I found little food items to represent the milk, eggs, wheat, and sugar, that you need to use in the game to craft a cake.

Cake time! Sam asked for a cake that looks like the one from the game. I think it turned out great! It was chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream. A little marshmallow fondant and squares of Fruit Roll-up were used for decoration. We employed the hygienic method for blowing out candles: using canned air.

A brewing thunderstorm ended the party right on time. Sam was feeling a little worn out from all the friends and eating too much junk food. He recuperated shortly and we opened his family presents.

That was all on Saturday before his birthday. Sunday was a quiet day at home. Monday the 13th was his actual birthday. I made him chocolate chip pancakes with peaches for breakfast before school.

That morning I left for GJ to help mom with her knee surgery. Sam had a good time at school and an indulgent time at home with the Ben and Jack. I hear there was pizza and video games, to no one's surprise. He had a good birthday all around.

The boys got their first dose of the Pfizer covid vaccine this morning! Our pediatrician’s office was extremely well organized and celebratory. We are so happy!

What a fun Halloween weekend! On Friday we all dressed up for school and work.

Jack's costume turned out very well! We went to the thrift store and bought a green graduation robe, the boots, a silver scarf that became chainmail, the turtleneck, and the belts. I spent a few afternoons sewing the robe into the tunic and hat, and got some faux suede to make arm gauntlets. Most people knew he want Link (only one parent called him Robin Hood). Here's a throwback to his first time dressing as Link, when he was one year old.

Sam wanted to be "The Spirit of Halloween," which he described as a pumpkin head with black robes. I found an old Harry Potter cloak I had made for Jack many years ago. I added a hood and extended the sleeves. Sam picked out the mask at the Spirit Halloween store. We had the skeleton gloves from Jack's Jack Skellington costume, and Sam picked out dark clothes to wear underneath. Easy peasy.

Ben found all his cool stuff online. We were all enamored with the prop sword, which looks really good considering how cheap it was!

I loved my costume this year. My vampire look was inspired by the many, many, many kpop vampire performances. (Those links are from the last year alone, and I left some out. Kpop clearly has a love of vampires.) I wore a ruffled shirt, cummerbund, and a costume coat that I tailored to fit. The dangly chain earrings, velvet choker, and combat boots are what bring this 18th century look to modern Korea.

Amanda's musical auditions were this month. I posted a dance video for the kids to practice with. Of course, I had to post a Halloween version, like all the kpop groups do too.

I'm the room parent for Sam's class, so I organized and hosted their Halloween party. After setting up, I got to watch the school costume parade. Then back inside for games and a craft project.

We were so excited to share Halloween with Andy this year! He drove over the mountains to join in our merriment.

Amanda took these great pictures of pumpkin carving. I'm proud of the kids - they did the most independent work ever this year. I only helped them a little on final clean-out. They scooped and sawed all by themselves!

Our new friends from trivia invited us to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood on the other side of Denver. The houses are close together and the homeowners decorate a lot! Kids from all over come to trick-or-treat there.

We came home for a quick dinner and to warm up. Then Andy and Ben took the kids out for another round in our home-neighborhood. I can't believe how long they trick-or-treated! We have so. much. candy now.

Happy Halloween!

Both Jack and Sam had a chance to perform for us this fall.

Jack had his first real orchestra concert. It was hard to get a good picture, but he's in the center of these with a black mask and glasses.

Ben took some video of the songs, since he had a slightly better angle than me.

We think he did a fantastic job! He was upset about a few mistakes, but we assured him that we didn't notice at all.

Sam's third grade classes have been working on a musical for the last couple months. They performed a "dress rehearsal" for the first and second graders, then a real show for their parents. He is wearing the green shirt & mask, red bandana, and brown hat.

The teacher had me record the whole show for her to save and distribute to everyone. So there aren't any close-up shots of my adorable son. It's a 30 minute show with 7 songs.

If you want to skip to Sam's part, it's at 17 minutes into the video. He forgot to come down with group 4 narrators, but he launches down the risers just in time to deliver his line.

I'm so proud of both my boys!

Personally, Ben and I were pretty stressed about being in the audience with a group of people, even though masks were required. It's going to a long time before we are comfortable in public again. We are working on it slowly, and these performances were a joyful excuse to go out.

Did you know the kids sing a parody version of Smash Mouth's All Star? It makes me happy to hear this. And old. I feel old.

(I think Sam hasn't learned the chorus yet. I wonder how it goes.)

Last night they had a large concert for orchestra students of local schools grades 5 - 12. Jack got to play three pieces on his violin. He did a great job! His favorite piece was Impulse. Please enjoy the video of his performances:

Do you ever get super excited for something, and then it doesn't turn out great? That was me tonight.

If you have talked to me at ALL in the past year, you know that I've fallen down the k-pop hole. All day, every day, I listen and watch dance. It's re-ignited my love of dance and choreography. I've gone back to Zumba and I am trying different classes at Alchemy of Movement in Boulder. I've been looking for a k-pop dance class for over a year.

Finally, I found one. I was reading a random Colorado k-pop fan blog, who had a calendar with a "k-pop dance class" listed on Thursdays. I followed the link and sure enough, it looked like exactly what I wanted! They seemed to be learning the chorus choreo for all the recent songs that I loved! Deja Vu, Rock With You, Fever, etc.

I wrote to the studio to ask if they announce what they are teaching each week. Since it's a 40 minute drive to East Colfax during rush hour, I wanted to sure it was a song I liked (I'm still mostly a boy group fan. Blackpink is sometimes ok, but otherwise I only like men's choreography). The studio owner gave me instragram links for the teachers (which I had already snooped on my own) and said they usually post before class to announce the lesson.

So two weeks later (because of Thanksgiving) I was so hyped up to go to this class. Finally! I could meet people who like k-pop! And dance to music I love! They never updated their social media with the song, but I wanted to try to class anyway. I was giddy all day and nervous to be going somewhere new.

It was . . . fine. It was not what I wanted. Yes, we learned choreo to a new song. But it felt like I was at a university club, not a dance class. I was at least 15-20 years older than everyone and, for some reason, about a head taller too. The others talked about assignments and finals, one wearing a Metro State shirt. The teachers were friendly, welcoming me and introducing themselves. But they were not great teachers. It's hard to be a good dance teacher, and they just didn't have the skills. Poor demonstrations, not knowing the details clearly, over/under explaining, etc. (Another odd thing was one of the teachers hitting her vape like it was her water bottle throughout class).

I asked if they do a warm-up and they said they do Random Play Dance for five minutes, and you can just do jumping jacks if you don't know the choreo. For real? RPD is a dance memory game played by fans and idols themselves. Yup, that's what they did. They played youtube for 5 minutes and mostly did jumping jacks.

They had a laptop on a stool in the front of the class where they literally played a video off youtube. With ads. I considered offering to sign-in to my premium account. Couldn't they at least rip the files before class? They also had to tether the internet from a student's phone.

With no introduction they switched to the choreo video. It was Hwa Sa's new solo "I'm a 빛" (the Korean word is "light," but it's pronounced like our b-word). I recognized the video they showed as the 1 Million Studio channel and Lia Kim, the choreographer. As I said, I don't like girl group choreo, but Lia is usually good.

The teaching was very imbalanced - they spent 35 minutes on the beginning floor section, then rushed through the second half on our feet in less than 10 minutes. I'm sore on my neck and tailbone from spending so long covering the floor work in excruciating detail. I felt like I could have taught myself from the same video just as easily.

After we did the whole piece together we split in two groups. I surreptitiously filmed my group to share here. I thought we were done. Nope. The teachers each performed solo, while a friend filmed them. Then others got filmed for their social media too. They spent the last 20 minutes just filming each other. Again, for real?

Here's my video. One of the two teachers is in shorts on the floor in front of me. (I think I did pretty good, aside from the side swivel because my feet don't bend that low anymore.)

Man, I feel bad. Like, I don't want to rag on these guys. They had a fun time with their friends and I DID learn the dance. I got what I signed up for.

But it was so unprofessional and immature. I wanted better, you know? I already knew that I'm old for a k-pop fan. And I know that I stand out as an experienced dancer in Zumba classes, and even at Alchemy. They were friendly to me and I to them, but clearly this is not my crowd. It's just disappointing, you know?

At least I tried. At least I'm comfortable with my life and happy with the experiences I've gained. Now I know that this class is here if it sounds good one day. Ben suggested I try teaching a k-pop class at the Boulder studio. I'm gonna tuck that idea away and think on it for a while.

We were grateful to my parents and brother for driving over the mountains to celebrate Thanksgiving with us! We had a very traditional holiday with all the usual trimmings: more snacks and appetizers than main dishes, parade and dog show on TV, two puzzles to puzzle over, all while many delicious dishes roasted and baked. We had far too much food, as is expected and appropriate!

Jack has been participating in his school's Robotics club after school. Saturday they held their first meet. With varying COVID restrictions, the coaches decided to limit the meet to their own school. They have 14 teams, so there was plenty of matches and trials to fill out the competition!

Once a week since September Jack has been working after school to build, program, and drive his team's robot using Vex IQ. At the meet they got to put them into action for real points. If they are allowing to hold competitions at other schools in the spring semester, then the top performing teams can attend those as well as regionals. We don't know the overall scores from this weekend.

From what I could understand, first the kids work in cooperative matches. Two teams are put in the arena. They have one minute to accomplish as many tasks as possible to earn points. The tasks have different difficulties and point values, so there is strategy in planning your goals and building a robot that excels in different areas. For example, hanging off the low bar for 3 seconds seems to be a common goal that about half of them accomplished. (No one got their bot to hang from the high bar.) Each team must switch drivers after 30 seconds (two drivers per team per match). The team both earn their collective points. They do multiple matches during the morning.

There's another section of the meet where they demonstrate technicals. I didn't attend this part, and couldn't quite get a full explanation from Jack, except that he thinks this part is boring. The judges also interview each team member during the day.

Jack's team did great! Their first round was a little rough. Nerves played a part, I'm sure. Then their bot collapsed during the hang. But their other matches went very well. Again, I don't have all the scores so I don't know how they performed overall.

But most importantly, his team won the Judge's Choice Award! This was given to the team with best collaboration, positive attitude, and kindness not only to themselves but to everyone. I'm super proud of him! Only 4 teams out of 14 got any kind of reward, so it really was an honor to win any sort of recognition.

Not their best rounds, but the two I happened to film:

Sam's best friend invited us to go skating at the local rink during their open skate hours. We haven't been ice skating since 2018! Sam was excited to go, but I warned his hockey-obsessed friend to be patient with him.

Sam did so great! He started by hugging the wall with both hands, following my instructions to march with baby steps. Slowly he learned to push like a scooter on one foot. He didn't like the A-frame assistant, and went back to using the wall. He would do a lap, then get a drink at the fountain, then do another lap, etc.

Eventually he was only using one hand. I stayed close, but stopped to take pictures or video when he could move solo. At one point I was helping him go around a stopped group, and he pushed off me to get to the wall by himself. He didn't even realize what he had done! I challenged him to go along his favorite part (without the plexiglass) and see how far he could go without touching the wall. He did it! Our families cheered for him. By the end of the hour he had done two laps with only occasional help from the wall. What a champ!

Enjoy some photos and a montage video where you can see his progress.

We had so much fun. Sam has asked a few times when we can go skate again. We better not wait 3 years again!