Hadley’s future in theater

January 21, 2015 By

When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a great actress. That Annie character (actress Aileen Quinn) had nothin’ on me. Well, except that she could act. And dance. And sing.

I enrolled in drama the first chance I could when I was in seventh grade.  My dreams of stardom would soon be realized.

Until I realized I hated acting.

Well, I didn’t hate all elements of it but one in particular: improv. And this class was all about off-the-cuff acting.  Though I was an overly self-assured seventh grader, I was way too self-conscious about being funny on demand so after just one semester my acting career was over.

Last summer, my friend Dawn offered a free drama class for a couple of months and both kids really enjoyed it. Hadley, in particular, has loved acting in her class plays and has an impeccable memory (she can recite everyone’s lines). She had a blast last year during her Unceremonious Death as the Wife of Baldur but I thought that was the extent of it until she begged me to enroll her in Colorado ACTS, a local community theater, with her friend London.

At Colorado ACTS with London

I himmed and hawed. I pulled them from their activities this winter so we could enjoy downtime together but finally relented. Performing in front of people is an excellent skill to have when so many struggle with public speaking. Plus, the theater is literally one minute from my house and the class is only one night a week.

I love that Colorado ACTS is a smaller theater company with a big heart so she’s learning a lot of skills she might not have otherwise. Hadley is having the time of her life! Not only is she learning to sing, dance and act but the kids are helping to craft the script for their original production of “Rock Around the Block.”

On the first night, each child had to decide upon their stage name from the 1950s (she’s Annette) and also write on a piece of paper whether they were willing to do a musical solo. The other kids discreetly gave their answers but when it came her turn, she dramatically declared:

“That would be a big, fat NO.”

Maybe there’s a future for her in theater after all.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Who has it better or worse?

January 20, 2015 By

One morning, we were all snuggling in bed. After Jamie left, Hadley assumed his position and announced “I am Dad!” After a funny role play, I ask the kids, in all seriousness, which was better: being a boy or a girl?

My kids make me laugh every single day. Their responses were a cut out of our family life.

Hadley: “Being a girl is SO. MUCH. BETTER.”

Bode: “Oh yeah, well you have to give birth.”

Hadley: “Oh yeah, well you have to work on the computer all day while I go have adventures with the children.”

Bode: “If I didn’t work you wouldn’t have a house over your head.”

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor

Like a Lion to the Slaughter

January 15, 2015 By

Welp, 2015 has come in like a lion and I’m hoping it will go out like a lamb (if I survive that long). Many, many good things are going down and I’m feeling overwhelmingly grateful but mostly just overwhelmed. A video from comedian Jim Gaffigan has gone viral and my favorite joke from it:  “You know what it’s like having five kids? Imagine you’re drowning. And someone hands you a baby.”

That’s exactly what I’m feeling like, minus the five kids (thank heavens; I can barely manage my two!) I’m not sure how diligent I’ll be here posting here as I try to navigate my way through the next couple of months.

Some things that are coming down the pipe:

Shower Shimmy

Thank you thank you thank you to all who have supported my friend Karla’s campaign for her invention the Shower Shimmy, the world’s first 3-in-1 tool and green cleaning solution. I’ve been managing her social media and mom blogger campaign while Jamie built their website and ads. I could tell you some crazy stories about investors, network news opportunities and I’m sure that will be a blog post at a future date. But the most important thing is she reached her Kickstarter fundraising goal on Day 1 and is still going strong. Make sure to order one before her offer expires. Or I do. The jury is out which will happen first.

School Stress

School. Why didn’t someone warn me how stressful my kids’ schooling would be? I’ve touched upon some drama with Hadley’s teacher and it ain’t over yet. They’re supposed to loop with their teacher every year, which is a great thing until you get a not-great teacher. I’ve requested to have her moved to the other class but that is in flux as well with a pregnant teacher who isn’t coming back. After several school tours, I’ve open-enrolled her at an awesome Montessori charter school next year but chances of getting picked in the lottery are slim-to-none. Plus, I don’t know if it’s the right decision because there are some elements of the Montessori education that are a perfect fit (out-of-the-box, creative, innovative) but one specific part that worries me (self-directed learning). However, I’ve seen glimmers of hope as she has taken the reigns in her spiritual well-being by recently bearing her testimony in Sacrament Meeting, studying the Articles of Faith on her own and reading her scriptures before bedtime. She’s really turning into a lovely young lady.

Bode is still soaring at school but my gosh, writing has become a struggle for him. And unlike his sister’s apathy toward school work, he agonizes if  he’s not excelling. The other night during FHE, I could tell something was wrong.  He whispered to me, “Mom, during snuggles, can we talk?” I’ve started a new tradition in the evenings when I tuck each of them into bed that we snuggle and talk about our day. Sometimes it’s silly, sometimes it’s serious. In tears, he told me about some writing assignments he was falling behind in at school and we role-played different resolutions to help him talk to his teacher (I’m trying to empower each of them to take more personal responsibility in school). He cracked me up the next morning as he begged me to role play it out again (I HATED role playing when I was young) but it gave him the confidence he needed to talk to his teacher. And him confiding in me made me realize how those simple five minutes of being together before bedtime are creating more far-reaching, tender moments than I could have imagined. This parenting gig is tough but oh-so rewarding.

Travel, Travel

Following our month-long trip to Canada last summer, I was SO DONE WITH TRAVELING. And for the most part, we haven’t gone on any trips besides a couple of quick getaways. Now, our winter is full of glorious travels but at a cost: my sanity because I’ll be writing about all of them but I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities. Southwest Vacations (Southwest Air’s vacation package company) reached out and asked our entire family to cover a family vacation to Cancun so we’re heading out for surf and sun. I was in mourning when I wasn’t invited to write an article for The Broadmoor Magazine (truly, it’s one of my favorite gigs) but they recently reached out for us to cover their adventurous offerings (what a perfect fit!) I recently attended a ski media event sponsored by Travel Alberta and was delighted when I was invited on a media trip to the Banff-area resorts. I mean, to revisit my favorite childhood skiing haunts while fitting in a visit with my family afterward? Talk about perfection. Oh, and we need to squeeze in some local ski trips over the next few months so our winter is going to be a whirlwind.

And though I’m completely overwhelmed, you won’t hear any complaints.

You just might not regularly hear from me.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Disney, Family travel, Favorite Posts

Holiday Happenings: In Pictures

January 14, 2015 By

I know we’re well into January but I realized I barely touched upon the holidays. I had my doubts about staying in Denver but we ended up having the perfect mix of playtime and downtime. Here are a few of my favorite things:

The kids’ piano recital. Hadley played “Away in a Manger” while Bode Rocked around the Christmas Tree. As usual, Hadley made me pray for a Christmas miracle because she could barely make it through the song during practice but it finally clicked a few days prior and they both did great!

My solo afterward was the hallelujah shout.

Our ward party is always a blast filled with awesome friends, delicious food, Santa and a live band that featured…Elvis?

Who says Mormons don’t know how to party?!!!!

One night, we opted to watch The Hobbit downtown so we could see the Christmas lights and stroll through the charming Denver Christkindl Market.

Christkindl Photobomb!

I thought the STIHL-sponsored photobooth with the chainsaw cutting off Bode’s head was a particularly nice touch.

We also discovered quite possibly the best present ever: The “NO” pen. Click the link below for our quick video to watch my demonstration.

IMG_5111

It has since gone missing. I suspect The Children may have had something to do with it.

I had a blast appearing on 9News’ ugly sweater segment.

And an even bigger blast when about 50 friends showed up for our sledding party!

On another day, we skated Evergreen Lake, followed by Country Road Cafe.

We did a lot of baking and played a lot of games…

Making cinnamon rolls

…in our PJs.

We made a point to do some service and volunteered at the Santa House to distribute gifts to low-income kiddos. My good friend Sam was about 45 weeks pregnant so we invited her three young kids over for the afternoon for “Elf Camp” with games and snacks. Hadley and her friend Alex were the entertainment committee and they did marvelously…until it came time to change Zoe’s diaper. It would appear we have some work to do before they’re ready to start babysitting.

Though New Year’s Eve day was a bust with our ski trip,we had a fun New Year’s Eve ringing in 2015 with our friends, the Carrolls.

Though they may not say the same thing.

I’ll likely be banned from bringing silly string in the future.

On New Year’s Day, we were invited over to the Huntleys for a PJ/Ebelskiver party!
We didn’t even bother getting dressed for our fondue dinner that night. Things got a bit blurry…


Because of this wild ‘n crazy Martinelli’s kid.

But nothing says Welcome to 2015 quite like lazy gluttony.

It’s gonna be a good year.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor

When the children become the mother

January 8, 2015 By

Sometimes I really wonder if I’m getting through to my kids. Will they remember to say please and thank you? Are they learning to work hard? Are they grateful?

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen visions of myself through my children.

I am anti-procrastination and if there’s a project, I get it done right away so it’s not hanging over my head. When I do laundry, I do everything–washing, drying, folding, putting away–on the same day. I try to respond to emails within an hour of receiving them (you people who rarely check their inbox drive. Me. Nuts). And when I have a writing project, I always finish well before the deadline.

Bode had a project at school that was due mid-December. In essence, they were creating a mini-marketplace where they had to create at least 15 items to buy and sell with fake money. His teacher notified us a few weeks ago but in a rare move, I put it on the backburner because I assumed she would mention it again before the due date. She didn’t and I forgot about it.

So, Bode came home from school freaking out, “My project is due tomorrow, we have to get it done!”

He decided to make little monster page corner bookmarks like these. Fortunately, the only crafty one in the family was home sick from school that day so Hadley valiantly volunteered to cut out the paper triangles and once Bode got home from school, he could tape everything together and draw faces on them. The problem was she wasn’t feeling well (remember the sick thing?) so after about an hour, she brought them into the office for me to finish.

Here’s the thing the kids don’t understand about parents who work from home: we actually work. I was in the middle of finalizing some projects so told her I’d try to finish them off but never got to them. So Bode arrived home, finished his homework and after dinner I announced we’d start on the project. I began cutting out the triangles but we were way behind and Hadley let me know it. Over and over and over again.

“Well, if MOM did what I asked her to we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Don’t ask me what MOM was doing all day. I told her to take of this.”

It was like she was looking through a magnifying glass and seeing my life with them every single day.

The roles were reserved the week before that. Hadley had her final volleyball game while Bode and I had Cub Scouts. We arrived home about 20 minutes earlier so I had Bode help me with a quick dinner. He grilled the sandwiches, warmed the ravioli and apparently it was a lot of work . Because the moment Hadley and Jamie walked in the door, he exasperatingly announced:

“I’ve been cooking for you people and the least you can do is set the table.”

They’re gonna be the best moms ever.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor

Mastering reading but not quite a master

January 7, 2015 By

We’ve had our share of ups and downs with Hadley’s teacher this year but we’re hopeful 2015 will be on the upswing.

She has made some real advances lately. An area she has vastly improved upon is reading, which tickles me to no end. When she missed those weeks of school due to pneumonia, she made a concerted effort to read their classroom book The Hobbit and was delighted when she was able to stay ahead of the class.

On the last day of school before Christmas break, she brought home her report card and it was one of her best ever. They are graded on a scale of 1 to 4. A 1 means beginning, 2 means approaching grade level, 3 means proficient/grade-level mastery and a 4 means advanced/exceeds expectations.

“Mom, I got a 4 in reading!”

“Really? For what?”

“I got a 4 in reading com…compru…compre…I don’t know what this says.”

I looked at the report card. “It stays ‘reading comprehension,’ Hadley.”

“Oh. Reading comprehension. What does that mean?”

“It means you understand what you’re reading.”

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

The Awesome Ski Day That Wasn’t So Awesome

January 6, 2015 By

I’ve documented many amazing ski trips but in an effort for full disclosure (and to keep things real) New Years Eve day wasn’t one of them.

I generally try to avoid ski resorts over the holidays because they are notoriously crowded. But we wanted to fit a quick daytrip to one of our favorite local resorts, and we figured people would be prepping for New Year’s Eve and wouldn’t have time to go skiing.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

After a string of sub-zero days and snow in Denver, Wednesday was the first bluebird, “balmy” day (if you call 25 degrees balmy). Here’s the great thing about the Front Range resorts: they’re close. Here’s the bad thing about those resorts: they’re close. And pretty much the entire city descended upon them.

We should have known our day was going to implode when Fat Kitty, upon seeing our gear strewn out all over the house, assumed we were ditching him yet again to go on a trip (it’s so difficult to be the needy pet of a wanderlust family). And so he rebelled in the only way he knows: by crapping on Hadley’s blanket she left on the floor.

But, there was hope! Traffic on I-70 is notoriously bad and people have been known to get stuck for hours but it was like the Red Sea parted and we made it in record time.

And then our hope was dashed when we saw the lines in the ski rental office. Jamie and I have our own equipment but I’ve held off on purchasing the kids’ because of they are constantly outgrowing them so we rent. Usually it’s a bit of a hassle but nothing like this:

We waited 20 minutes to get our paperwork processed.

We waited 20 minutes to get fitted for ski boots.

We waited 30 minutes to get fitted for their skis and poles (and that was even after I stood in line early while they were getting their boots).

As we were finally ready to leave, Hadley lost her goggles. Fortunately, they were found at one of the many waiting areas.

I thought that was the end of it but then we began the waiting in the lift lines, which were horrendous. We thought the wait time at the base lift was bad but that was understandable. But then we waited way longer at a very slow triple–so long, in fact, that the ski school students would jump the line, ride to the top and then ski back down before we were even close to getting on the lift. So, imagine how relieved we were to ski down to find another triple and see no lift lines whatsoever.

And then, I kid you not, the lift stopped at every single tower because someone was likely falling getting on or off the lift.

I mean, just look at this boy. He almost fell asleep!

I thought Jamie was ready to combust at that point, Hadley was ornery, Bode was getting worn out from all the waiting (but bless his heart, he is rarely/never moody). And me? Welp, patience is not my virtue.

But then, there was hope! We finally made it to our destination, our favorite lift at the resort with epic intermediate-level runs! The line was long but kudos to that high-speed quad because we were through within 10 minutes and were soon cruising down our favorite run. All the headaches and arguments were forgotten because the sun was shining, the snow was glorious and we love skiing together as a family!

After just two epic runs, hunger struck. Big time. It was well past noon (yes, we’d only done three runs) and we had planned to leave around 2 p.m. to make it back for New Year’s Eve festivities. Jamie wanted to push through a few more runs and then just eat on the way back and leave a bit earlier but Hadley hit the wall.

You do not want to be there when this happens. Trust me.

I didn’t blame her. She’d barely eaten breakfast because she was rushed out the door and standing in line is hard work. So, we decided to grab a burger at the mid-mountain restaurant.

But remember the crowds? Jamie stood in line for 20 minutes and after not moving an inch, abandoned his perch. “Let’s just grab some snacks,” I suggested “we’ll ski a few more runs and then eat on the way home.”

I’m not sure what happened. I mean, what could happen? I gave them Fritos! And Snickers! And Vitamin Water! But like Fat Kitty, Hadley imploded. There were tears, there was drama and despite the fact I wanted to fit in those final few runs in our favorite area, I was done, done, done.

Now, lest you think the whole day was a bust, it wasn’t. Just mostly. But there were a few good things. Remember the snow and sunshine? Gosh dang it, if a bluebird day isn’t my best kind of day.

As we were riding our first lift, I exclaimed, “Blast, I forgot the beads to throw on the trees!”

Bode: “We can just throw our underwear.”

That would have been the other good thing…if only we’d done it.

 

Filed Under: Colorado, skiing

The launch of a dream: please support!

January 5, 2015 By

Earlier this year, we went to dinner with our good friends Karla and Ivan. They’re the kind of friends you adore (we even went on a cruise with them a few years back) but due to crazy schedules, you only see each other a couple of times a year.

Well, Karla dropped a bombshell on us: she had become a chemist, businesswoman and patent attorney that year.

My biggest accomplishments were I did some fun hikes and slept for eight hours straight one night.

For background, Jamie grew up with Ivan and I met Karla shortly after Jamie and I got married. She and I are born on the same day (same year, even) and she is an award-winning dance teacher. In fact, her teams sweep nationals every year because she’s just that accomplished and driven.

Well, her latest passion began one day after cleaning her shower. She had her squeegee, grout scrubber, sponge…and a huge mess. She was fed up so started researching online to see if there was an all-in-one tool for the shower and was shocked to learn it hadn’t been invented.

The Shower Shimmy took her literally hundreds of hours of blood, sweat, tears and a newly-acquired ulcer but I’m really proud of Karla because she launched it on Kickstarter today and she has already reached 1/4 of her funding goal. She’s a go-getter extraordinaire and is auditioning for Shark Tank next week!

My goal next week is to drag myself to boot camp three times.

In addition to inventing this awesome 3-in-1 tool that hangs in your shower, she developed a cleaning solution that not only smells great and is non-toxic but was tested at Microbac laboratories and received the top score and tested as well as the top non-environmentally-friendly cleaner on the market!

Shower Shimmy

All of this, she did from her home (with the exception of the Shower Shimmy cleaning tools that a factory in China has been assembling. We’ll discuss all that drama another day).

Karla originally asked Jamie and me to help with her Kickstarter launch but we were both slammed so referred her to a friend who referred her to a dishonest guy who stole her money and didn’t deliver. So, Jamie and I took over and the last few months have been filled with Jamie building the Shower Shimmy website and me helping her with the social media.

Never did I think I could be passionate about a shower-cleaning tool but my gosh, I actually look forward to cleaning my shower now and it has never looked better.

If that isn’t a raving endorsement for a former shower-cleaning-hater, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, we’d love your help!!!! Her Kickstarter campaign kicks off today and will run for 45 days but we’re trying to meet her goal before her audition next week. The Shower Shimmy + Super Cleaning Solution with FREE shipping is just $15!  When you consider that a squeegee alone is $12 or more, the Shower Shimmy is an amazing value.

Be sure to order here: http://theshowershimmy.com/kickstarter/?id=05

Ivan has been incredibly supportive. I mean, he even did a nekkid shower scene in their funny promotional video!

Introducing the Shower Shimmy! from Shower Shimmy on Vimeo.

But Karla tested his limits during all of her cleaning solution experiments, causing him to set the rule “Only one weird thing at a time.” Jamie would like to implement the same policy with me. I say “good luck with that.”

And I wish Karla the best, best of luck!

 

 

Filed Under: Colorado

A sledding party!

December 31, 2014 By

On Christmas, we received a glorious dump of snow. That night, I emailed a bunch of friends from church to see who wanted to go sledding the next day and almost all of them came–40+ people. Chalk that up to how you know you have the coolest friends ever!

My friend Eva suggested we sled at the hill behind her school, which was perfect because we had it entirely to ourselves.  I brought hot chocolate to warm everyone up and we played for hours.

Bode photobombing the Phillips

Snowman photobomb

Sledding train!

The lowlight: Some of the dads were egging me on to tube down the hill at warp speeds. It was early in the day so the fluffy snow was not yet compacted. I took a running leap onto the tube, it completely stuck to the snow while I flew forward, face-planting in the powder. Jon took a picture and after years to exploiting everyone else’s humiliations, I totally deserved it.

The highlight: Earlier that day when I crawled up the ladder in our garage to retrieve our sled from the overhead storage, I asked Bode if he’d catch me if I fell.

“No way, Mom. You weigh like 100 pounds!”

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Hadley, Humor, LDS, outdoors

A Tenderloin Meltdowning, Mexican-Denver Christmas

December 30, 2014 By

Christmas day was one of our most low-key ever. We had planned a huge spread of food with Jamie’s brother and sister but a couple of days prior, they contracted the stomach flu. I received the news shortly after I splurged and bought a $100 beef tenderloin.

Two words: all mine.

Since we weren’t having guests, didn’t need to be anywhere and it started snowing later in the day, we opted to stay in our PJs. Side note: When you declare it a PJ Christmas, it sounds official vs. not getting dressed is just plain lazy.

Though our Santa hats said “naughty” on one side and “nice” on the other, this is what we both insisted upon.

Rather telling, wouldn’t you agree?

Our kids are at funny ages with Christmas. Hadley no longer believes but still loves the magic of it all. Bode is in denial and I’m not ready to burst his bubble. Neither of them could think of anything they wanted for Christmas. Their big gift was the trampoline we bought a few weeks ago and on Christmas day, they got archery sets, clothes, games and movies with the big reveal at the end.

Jamie’s favorite present from Fat Kitty: “How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You”

A couple of weeks ago, Southwest Vacations reached out and asked me if I’d like to go to Mexico. The email was originally sent to spam because really, who gets offered trips to Mexico? But, it was legit and we’ve been working out the details for a quick three-night trip to Cancun in January.

Jamie typed up a big reveal and put it in a manilla envelope on the tree. The kids discovered it at the end and the suspense would have been perfect if they had been able to read the cursive handwriting he used.

Note to self: Don’t use the fancy, illegible font.

The Mexico “Big Reveal”

Regardless, everyone is is so grateful for the opportunity and downright ecstatic. The kids have never been to Cancun so it will be a wonderful getaway.

The rest of the day, we watched our new movies Maleficent (loved) and Guardians of the Galaxy (hated), the kids played more video games than I preferred, we ate a lot of treats, had some cutthroat games of Pit and tested out Jamie’s new ebeskiver (Danish pancakes) pan, his gift from the kids.

I just love gifts that keep on giving.

For dinner, my magnificent tenderloin almost resulted in my nervous breakdown. Jamie was grilling the $100 hunk ‘o beef when he came inside.

“Bad news.”

“WHAT?!”

“Our propane tank is empty.”

Don’t ask me how that happened because I always have one as a back-up. As my veins started bulging out of my head, I realized that I am like The Old Man on “A Christmas Story.” Remember his obsession with the holiday turkey? That is me with my grilled tenderloin.

Jamie roasted it in the oven and, though it wasn’t was succulent as grilled, it was still delicious.

Thanks heavens we didn’t have to resort to the local Chinese restaurant.

Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Family, holidays, Humor
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