Thursday, January 29, 2009

It's a funny Facebook world

Wow! How much smaller facebook can make the world. I got an itch to look for an old friend AND I FOUND HER!!!!!! 17 years later! That's us if you can believe it.
Me, Leslynn, and Doogie. October of 1991 at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. It's a small small world. Thank goodness.














Now I just hope she doesn't mind if I copied the picture.

Tooth Fairy and Dinosaurs...what a natural combination.

So, it's been a while.

We had our first ever visit from the tooth fairy about a week ago. I've been wanting to take a picture of the now vacant spot in Neil's mouth, but that hasn't happened. He was so excited when he showed me the hole in his mouth. Apparently the tooth just fell out when he was sleeping;) I don't think it was quite ready to, but thanks to something about chewing on his pant leg and losing his balance, the tooth became loose and about 3 weeks later fell out. Wow. Not sure if I was ready for that bit of childhood yet. Oh well, can't stop progress. And you don't want to let them know that you're not just completely thrilled that the little one that you brought home from the hospital and couldn't take you eyes off of, because you knew if you did they'd be 20 and you'd be asking yourself where it all went, is growing into that 20 year old WAYYY to quickly for your comfort. Nope, can't do that. It's happening way too fast, but I'm glad it's happening. Life with him is better than the best of days without him. I adore him, and wouldn't change a minute of it. Thank you Neil for letting me have the best seat in the house for watching you become a boy who will become a man.

Neil entered a contest for the Walking with Dinosaurs that we went to. It was a create-a-dino art contest. The contestants drew their own dino then sent it to the newspaper for the judging. Well, I never heard back or saw anything about it on the newspaper web site when I checked. I knew when we weren't contacted that Neil did not win, but I wanted to know what the winning pictures did look like. So, I went searching, and found nothing. I sent an email to the contact person on the entry form. When she emailed me back, she sent pictures of the winning entries (which I would love to be able to show you, but can't) and said that the nice folks at Walking with Dinosaurs were sending Neil a gift pack to thank him for entering the contest. As if he didn't make enough of a haul the night of the show! They sent him another T-shirt and a very special hat that he can wear when we go on our dinosaur adventures. And we know there will be many. We still have most of the stops on the Dinosaur Diamond to visit.




Sunday, January 18, 2009

Let the Spoiling Begin.

Sometimes you just need to spoil your child more than they expect. Last night was the time for that. My mom's sweetheart got us tickets for Walking with Dinosaurs the arena spectacular. Unfortunately, my mom called in the afternoon to say that she was sick, did Neil have a friend he wanted to invite. So, Neil and I started thinking of who to invite, all of the parents that we know well enough to take their child out for the night. One of the friends had already been earlier in the week, another is afraid of dinosaurs, and the other wasn't home. So there was one wasted ticket. The family sitting next to us didn't seem to mind, apparently coats deserve their own seats. Anyway, we went out to my mom's to get the tickets, went to dinner at JB's downtown, and then headed over to Energy Solutions Arena. Neil was so excited we had to keep a very tight rein on him, he tried leaving the restaurant on his own, and we were nervous he wasn't going to have patience for the traffic lights to change before crossing the street, but we arrived safely. There were lots of "are we close to Walking with Dinosaurs" "I wish we could go nows" and "Is it time yets". The excitement was well rewarded. We got there before the crowds, and Neil and I decided to check out the souvenirs. He said he wanted a toy, but when I looked at all of the cool stuff, just begging to go home with my son, I couldn't stop there. He ended up with a T-shirt, a toy, a stuffed raptor, and a plastic Tyrannosaurus. Quite the load for a little man. Gary was a good enough sport to hold the majority of the booty in his lap throughout the program. During intermission it was time for cotton candy and soda. My poor hungry son who hardly ate any of his shrimp and fries devoured almost an entire bag of the spun sugary goodness.
The show was very cool. We were guided through each period by an actor playing a paleontologist. Starting out on Pangaea with Liliensternus and Plateosaurs during the Triassic. Then, Jurassic with Bracheosaurs, Stegosaurus, UtahRaptor, and Allosaurus. Ornithocherius. And then Torosuarus, Ankylosuarus, and T-Rex in the Cretaceous period. The ending conflict was between a Torosaur, Ankylosaur, and a mother T-Rex protecting her baby. The T-Rex roared loud enough to make roar loving little boys cover their ears. It was awesome. Neil asked if we could go back, and maybe we could have, if I wouldn't have spent so much on the extras. But, I truly had intended for it to be a once in a lifetime experience.
Thank you Mom and Chyrl.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Change

Gary likes to say "No one can keep doing the same thing over and over again and get a different result even if there was lots of faith and hope put into it." Webster says, among other things, change is to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution. And it's synonyms are: alter, vary, and modify. To make or become different.


I need to put forth the actions for change, not just the thoughts. No more looking at things and wishing they were different and being surprised by how they stay the same, because that's not working. It won't work for anybody. Change is necessary, but do I have the courage?

Friday, January 16, 2009

Dinosaur Day

I am SOOO excited. As a family gift, my mom's girlfriend Chyrl, got us tickets to THIS.
Do I need to say how excited Neil is? It should be a BLAST. So, we're taking my mom to dinner and then the four of us are going to the show. Should be FUN!!!


So, in honor of the events, I think I'm making it Dinosaur Day at our house. I wonder if I can make dino pancakes.......

Thursday, January 15, 2009

How We Spent Neil's Christmas Vacation

I like to joke that Neil can take a holiday and give it an extra two weeks (as with Halloween). However, he also does this with his birthday and Christmas. And, since both are in December, that month is one big festival. And, no....I don't do anything to encourage it.






The festivities started on the 6th with a violin performance with his teacher and fellow Suzuki students at Macey's grocery store...hey, I work there. It was GREAT! And my little man was so grown up about it all. He originally didn't want to do it. I think the task of performing where I work was maybe a bit daunting. He knows people there. But, after a lot of preparation at home, some really good lessons, a fairly firm knowledge of "Jingle Bells", and numerous pep talks of how this was going to be just for fun, he was willing. He even said we could take ONE picture of him playing his violin. One turned into a few, and I got the warning looks that I'd better knock it off. Neil only played one song out of several. But he conducted himself so impressively afterward. He put his violin in rest position and stood very respectfully while the performance went on. I was truly impressed.




For his birthday he wanted a Wii, a Bolt cake, and some time to party with the cousins.


Howard liked the idea of the Bolt cake too













After the birthday some Christmas decorating. Tradition says we have to make a gingerbread house, this year we tried something a bit different.





On the 20th we went to a lollipops concert at Abravanel Hall "Here Comes Santa Claus" is the Utah Symphony's Christmas concert for families. They played Christmas music and even had a visit from Santa. Who informed us that there should be no nuts in the cookies on Christmas Eve, and his favorites are chocolate chip. After the concert we went to lunch at JBs where the little shark filled up on sea food then it was off to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for another group performance. We walked in and Neil's eyes were huge, just taking in the place. He looked down from the mezzanine and said "I'll remember this forever". After a bit of time to take in the atmosphere it was time to play. Miss Melodies violins, some of her mom's, some of her sister's, and even some cellos. It sounded incredible. We took a very fast elevator to the top floor and looked at the city through all of those windows. And, I got the idea that next year this little outing should be planned for just a bit better with lunch at the Garden and maybe even a carriage ride downtown to top it all off. Gary did suggest I start saving if that's what I really want. Good idea.


After downtown we took Neil to his cousins for his first EVER sleep over, away from home. It sounds like there was very little sleeping. We met up with him again at Stacy's family Christmas party, where again the little night owl indulged in another late night. It was worth it to watch him play with Carter. Have I ever mentioned how Neil would make a great big brother?

Christmas Eve we went to see the movie "the Tale of Despereaux" nothing like the book, but still enjoyable. Neil said he liked it better. When I asked him why, he said he liked the part with the cat and that was not in the book. And, I have to admit that part was pretty good. The book was a bit sadder than the movie, too.

Christmas day was another opportunity for me to be amazed at how grown up Neil is. Gary worked and it was explained to Neil that we would not open presents until he was home. So, that morning Neil crawled into bed and asked when Dad would get home. I told him after lunch and we talked for a minute, then I said that Santa doesn't wrap his presents. His eyes were HUGE at the idea. I asked him if he would like to go see what was under the tree, and he was already on his way. After playing with what was there, scattering stocking contents from Hell to Breakfast, watching Jurassic Park and starting on Kung Fu Panda Dad got home. Neil was very patient the entire morning. And that patience would be tested further with a Merry Christmas telephone call from my mom. Once off the phone it was time to pick up where we left off and get the unwrapping finished. Convince Neil to get dressed and then go see "Marley and Me". We left in a wind storm and drove home in a blizzard. Stopped by to wish Diane a Merry Christmas and say hi to my horse. Then home. Merry Christmas call from Dad and Becky. Gary getting Neil ready for bed with Neil's protest "Mom's still downstairs". And the end of a great day. A day to recover and shovel snow and try to reclaim the house while still enjoying time with Neil.

Some sledding for father and son that Saturday while I worked. A New Year's Eve party with friends, another movie to watch ("Bedtime Stories") and I have to say the holiday was pretty well spent. Neil was excited to get to school and violin lessons. Now it's another long weekend. It never felt like there were that many when I was in school.