Mr. Robot

Me: Topher, would you please break down the boxes and put them in the recycling bin?

Topher:

Five

On Saturday Cooper ran the 1600M at an invitational at a university about 40 minutes away from our house. Bryan was there to cheer him on and has the sunburn to prove it. Cooper beat his personal best and ran it in 5 minutes! I think that's amazing!

His next goal is to run a sub-five minute mile.

Here he is warming up.

And here he is crossing the finish line. This is a screen capture from the video Bryan took.

Well done, Cooper!

Hours of Curls

Bonus Grease post: I had to document the curls we were able to achieve. There is so much hairspray holding them together, but they lasted all the way through many dance numbers! These pictures are from two different show days. We learned that a regular curling iron didn't work for her hair, but curling with a flat iron did the trick.

Grease is the Word

The last four months of work culminated in performance weekend for Phoebe. She did a wonderful job in Grease! She was one of five members of the cheerleading ensemble. She also danced in several group numbers, usually highlighted in the front. And she had some funny bits as a background performer. 

She had lots of fun, but she's glad she can sleep on a regular basis again.

Due to the PG-13 nature of the show, Topher and Peter didn't attend. I took Cooper and Sophie on Thursday, opening night. Then Bryan and I saw it on Saturday night.

Great job, Phoebe!

Plant the Seed

We're all running on fumes at our house. We've had too many rehearsals/meets/performances/school assignments and not enough time for chores/rest/calm. It's showing up in how we talk to each other. Too much grumpiness and contention, not enough kindness.

 This is one of the things I was pondering on Sunday before church. I was praying about what we need to do differently. Specifically, I was praying about what I could do differently as the mom.

As the first members of our ward stood to give their testimonies in sacrament meeting, Topher leaned over and told me that he had a new testimony to share. I grabbed a tiny notebook out of my purse and started writing down everything he dictated into my ear. As soon as he finished whispering to me, Cooper stood up to share a lovely testimony about sustaining President Oaks as the new president of our church. Then Topher shared his testimony that we'd written down. I was so moved by what they both said that I decided I would speak too. Sophie and I stood at the same moment. I motioned for her to go first. She and I both spoke about General Conference. The first thing I said when I got to the microphone was, "I promise I didn't know we were all going to speak today."

We still need to make changes at home, we still need to be kinder, we still need less contention. But hearing my kids bear their testimonies on Sunday was a tender mercy. They're growing their faith, and they're not afraid to share it. We may not be doing everything perfectly, but what we are doing seems to be producing positive fruit.

I needed that reminder.

This is the testimony that Topher had me write down, I didn't correct anything:

A few days ago, my prayers have changed a lot. And I know how they changed. It is by the power of Jesus Christ and my family. It started at my brother's birthday. I was thinking if I could be kinder. And then I thought that my prayers could change. And then, a few later, after Easter, I said the longest prayer that I've ever said. It was about Easter, General Conference, and the Holy Ghost. Since I've been praying more I've been kinder. I bear my testimony that I know that Jesus's love is eternal and that whenever we pray the Holy Ghost always answers. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

What a Lovely Bow

Sophie did a beautiful job at her violin recital on Saturday. She played I See the Light from Tangled as a solo and Amazing Grace in a trio with her friend and their teacher. I'm so thankful for good music teachers!

You Missed a Spot

I spent a major chunk of my day mowing the lawn. It's the first cut of the year and it's overdue, so it was a slow process. I thought ahead and made sure I put sunscreen on my arms, neck, and face. I ran out of time before I could finish and had to hurry inside and shower so I could pick up Topher from the bus on time.

I knew I was tired from all that manual labor. But I felt extra tired. It wasn't until Sophie pointed something out that I realized why. I had put sunscreen on my arms and neck and face, but not on my legs. It was nearly 90 degrees today and I wore shorts. Sophie asked if the back of my legs hurt. I looked behind me and saw that the backs of my knees are very sunburnt.

'Tis the season.

Go, Go, Go

For the first time, Cooper ran in two events at one track meet. He ran the third leg of the 4x800 meter relay and he ran the 3200. Thankfully one event was at the beginning and the other event was at the end of the meet. They won the relay and Cooper placed fourth in the 3200. I think it's the fastest I've ever seen him run!

The Happiest Instrument

Sophie and I joined some of our ukulele orchestra mates and watched The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain perform on Friday night. They were amazing! They were hilarious and their playing was insanely good. The concert felt way too short, even when they came back onstage and played three more songs for an encore.

Same First Name

Topher's class has been working on their wax museum projects for several weeks. Topher saw the list of options and decided on Christopher Columbus since they share the same first name. There was also a boy named Marco in his class that picked Marco Polo, so Topher was not alone in his first-name choice.

He researched, wrote, and practiced. The costume and props were my job. Thanks to a healthy backstock of costume items, we were able to put this together without buying anything.

That's why I felt okay buying a wig to add to his look. He didn't love the idea.

But seriously, the wig made the costume.

Topher did a great job on his presentation! He had it mostly memorized and spoke clearly. They each picked a pose and stayed frozen until one of the many parents stopped at their station and tapped the Push button. Then they would begin talking.

As soon as he finished his speech he returned to his wax museum pose, which is what they'd been told to do. One of the moms told me she was impressed that he didn't unfreeze when she tried to talk to him. 

Great work , Topher!