Spring Break Adventures 2014, part I

Our original spring break plans:  David going to the Netherlands for work, and the girls and I heading to Vegas for dolphin adventures and pool time, did not resemble what actually happened.

David's trip fell through, and I knew he wouldn't love Vegas, so we decided to stay home and maybe play in NM.  Then, Brian and Wendy called and said they would be making a last minute trip down here, so we got to do all kinds of family things too.

The first half of the week, we spent playing with the Salt Lake Chapmans.  Brian, Wendy, and David went on a few bike rides.  The kids played all hours with Jeremiah.  Many games were played at Grandma's.  A sleepover happened, which included viewing the lunar eclipse/blood moon at 2 in the morning.  Yep, the kids got up and went outside to see it at Grandma's house.  Grace set her own alarm to be sure she didn't miss it.  We considered going down to the museum.  They had the observatory and planetarium open from 10pm to 2am that night.  But, we decided we are too old and tired to be fully dressed and out in the middle of the night and opted for looking at it through the bedroom window.

The last day they were here, we headed to Tent Rocks with everyone (Grandma, Grandpa, Christine, Brian, Wendy, Jeremiah and us.)  It's a fun hike, but I think it's better when it has just rained (like the first time I went.)  This time it was super sandy and dusty.  Still a pretty cool spot in NM.  I spent most of the hike with Hattie, so I didn't get good pics of everyone.

The kids love climbing on this thing, but Hattie did it by herself this time and then got stuck up there like a cat up a tree.  Grandpa and I tried to get her down for a while.  Thankfully, Uncle Brian came by a while later and was tall and strong enough to grab her.  

Slot canyons are pretty cool.  

So are jewel-blue skies.

After the Chapmans left, we headed to Southern NM for Carlsbad Caverns.  Next post please.

School DAZE: 5th grade field trip and 2nd grade school market

Is school over yet?  (no, according to the 2nd grade alphabet count down, we're on E day and have 22 days left.)  Every year I know the end of the year will be bad, but I always forget how bad.  It's a good kind of bad, but the busy-ness is just kind of over the top.

Before we hit jog-a-thon, field day, and talent show, I thought I'd catch up.

I wrote about Grace's math project already, so I'm making progress.  Grace also went on the big "5th grade field trip" a couple weeks ago.  APS sponsors EVERY SINGLE 5th grade class in the district to go up to the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center for a hike and some lessons on ecosystems.  It is a really amazing field trip.  I signed up to go, but they told me they had too many parents.  I was bummed, and then at the last minute, a bunch of parents backed out, so I got to go.  I am SO glad I did!  It was an amazing experience to have with Grace.
The field trip was scheduled for April 3rd.  David kept checking the weather for us.  It didn't look good.  Supposed to be cold and windy.  Well, what else is new in spring in NM?  I got prepped for a cold morning on the mountain with the wind chilling me to the bone.  We woke up to giant storm clouds hanging on the Sandias.  It did not look good.  I wondered if they would cancel it.  We got ready and headed to school.  I had good solid jackets and Grace and I were dressed warm, but at the last minute, I thought maybe I should grab a winter hat and gloves.  It seemed silly, but, just in case?

SO glad I did that.  We started driving out I-40 towards the mountains and it started to snow.  SNOW!  We haven't had snow all winter, and now we get it in April on field trip day?  It got really bad.  The bus driver was so nervous.  I thought she was going to pull over and turn around.  She couldn't see anything and the roads were super slick.  I couldn't believe she kept driving, but she was a trooper.  The 5th grade teachers were saying quiet little prayers with creases across their foreheads.  They definitely wanted to turn around.  I am always the party pooper when it comes to these situations and would have gladly joined them, but then, I looked around at the kids' faces.  They were mesmerized by the snow and SO excited to be going out in the storm.  I told the teachers that even if we hated it, the kids were going to love it, so we better just buck up and make the best of it.  I couldn't believe I said that, but I could tell it would be one of those days where the fun memories would trump the crazy.  Up the mountain road we went.

We got out of the bus with snow just coming down in huge flakes.  Grace was SO happy!

I was so glad for our hats and gloves, but hadn't given a second thought to shoes.  We had on trail shoes, but nothing waterproof, and definitely nothing good for the mud.  Most kids were in very bad shape - canvas shoes, little light hoodies, no hats.  We headed into the lodge for an ecology lesson.  I watched out the window as the storm turned into a full-on blizzard.

At one point, you couldn't even see the trees outside the window.  I couldn't imagine we would possibly hike in that.  One of the nature guys with us said "it will stop in 15 minutes and we will hike."  Yeah right.  I've been married to David Chapman long enough to know when a guy is telling a tall tale so that everyone will just keep on going with the crazy outdoor plans.

I'll be darned if it didn't stop snowing in exactly 15 minutes!  The wind was gone and the forest outside was sparkling in the sunshine.  It was like Narnia.  The kids eyes looked like Christmas morning.  It was worth a million dollars to see them so happy and excited.  Since the ground had been so dry, it wasn't even a tiny bit muddy.  The trail soaked up those snow flakes faster than they could fall.  We were set.

The trusty NM sun.  It never lets a snow flake last past noon ;)

lichen - old man's beard, growing on this tree... means the air is VERY clean up here

 The guides took the kids on the greatest hike, stopping for nature lessons all along the way.   We all learned a ton and had the best time.  Grace was in heaven.  I was so glad I was there to see all of it.  I was right.  Having those great memories of her last elementary school field trip made it so worth it.  I'm going to miss this kid next year.

Harriet has also had a busy month at school.  Like I said, they are counting down.  A day was art day and I went in and helped with the most insane messy art project ever.  There is a reason I am not an elementary school teacher.   But, her teacher did have a vision and they created the coolest stuff.  If you have the stomach for it, you can do some amazing things.  She also had the grand idea to host a class market.  She gave the kids 4 days to create store fronts and products to sell to their friends for class citizenship dollars.  It was a squeaker to get that project done, but Harriet LOVED it and was so excited for her store!  She and her friend, Adriana, did a jewelry store and sold beaded bracelets and necklaces as well as some rainbow loom rubber band bracelets.  Harriet planned every detail right down to the outfit she would wear to be a little business woman.  Again, super cute ideas, that I would never try to pull of with 24 seven year-olds, but they did it!

They sold all but 3 items.  Hattie thought it was the best day at school ever!

Animal Report; Shadow turns 14

The dog and the cat.  They have definitely given me a run for my money since Christmas.  Here's what's up with these two lately:

Shadow:  Sweet Shadow dog has really had a rough winter.  After her best friend died, life just hasn't been as peachy.  Between the two dogs, I truly feel like I haven't slept in a year.  And, now, the furry friends seem to think that 5am, sometimes 4:45, is a nice time for breakfast.  I've had so many nights up I can't even remember the last time I slept a full night.  Since Christmas, Shadow has had an anal gland abscess (that I thought was a deadly tumor at first and thought I was taking another trip to the edge of rainbow bridge,) had some kind of terrible food poisoning or gastronomical event that kept both of us up around the clock for about 5 days, and had a small stroke or seizure of some kind. I was with her when it happened.  I thought she was dying.  A few hours later, she was back to her normal self.  I don't know how much more I can take.  

She has struggled to walk very far with me, but David and the girls took her on a 3 mile hike in the volcanoes a couple weeks ago and she did great.  So, she has her moments and definitely goes up and down from highs to lows.  She continues to be a most loyal friend and is always, exactly, one step behind wherever I am.  

Shadow celebrated her 14th birthday this month.  She is still in really great shape for that age.  She has definitely out-lived her life span, but still enjoys most of life.  I took her for a bath last week and she's all soft and fluffy again.  Scruffy dog!

Shadow's "party" - a bowl of ice cream with a dog bone on top, and her good buddies.  

hmm... not so sure how good this buddy is, but she's the only other one in the house who has 4 legs and fur, so Shadow is making the best of it.

Kit Cat:  "THE CAT" has acquired a few new names.  Some can be repeated in front of children.  (no, really, she is a pretty great cat, as cats go.)  Her official name now is:  Kit Cat Sunny Ray Dandelion Chapman.  (Honey Bee Fuzz?) We think we will just keep adding names as we think of them.  We weren't too creative in the beginning, but now keep coming up with things we might have named her.  

Kit Cat has been a funny addition to the house.  It is very weird and has changed the dynamic completely.  I can't believe that an 11 (ahem, 13 now) pound cat can be everywhere you look.  She has kept her promise and has never had more than the one accident from that first weekend.  She has not shredded anything, and has not laid a paw on my new couch, so she is earning her rent.  Her only flaw is that her purr is silent.   No cuddling up with a purry kitty!  You can feel it if you touch her neck.  The other morning, she had a frog in her throat and lost her voice and couldn't meow, but then she tried to purr and her purr worked!  So, we've heard it once.  Crazy cat.  

Now that it is warm, she thinks she might like to hang out outside with the chirping birds instead of inside.  But unfortunately for her, she now has the hearts of 2 little girls who adore her and can't risk losing her.  So, the inside cat she begged to be in December, is the inside cat she shall stay.

Harriet wrote a story about her at school.  "The Lost Cat" - all about how Kit Cat found us and was adopted and lived happily ever after.  

Harriet left her overnight for the first time last week.  We left her while we went to Carlsbad for one night.  Hattie was dying to get home to her.  When Harriet is home, there is rarely a moment when she's not doing something with the cat.  Harriet also spent a night at Grandma's, away from home last week.  I got a text in the middle of the night from her that she was crying and missed the cat.  I had to take a picture of the cat in bed with me and text it to Harriet so she could hold it and go to sleep!  

 The sweet reunion when Harriet came home the next day.  You would have thought it had been a month.

Spring in NM

Ahhh... spring in NM.  It's kind of the worst season here.  The wind BLOWS and pretty much ruins your new found hope of basking in the warm sun, because you can't even see the sun, because there is so much DIRT AND DUST between the ground and the sky.  This year, though, spring hasn't been so bad.  We've had a few super windy days, but the rest have been glorious.

This is kind of random, but we've had so much fun outside in the last few weeks and I love these pictures of the kids just playing.

Dear Grace, #11

I have been feeling really bad that I didn't write a birthday letter to Grace this year.  Before Harriet's birthday hits us this weekend, I just want to write a short note to my Gracers.

Dear Grace,
I'm sorry that this letter is over a month late.  You know your mom lately, I'm not as on top of things as I used to be.  Part of that is YOUR fault, my dear.  You've got us doing quite a lot lately and I'm just not as fast as I used to be.

I do want to tell you, for the more-than-a-millionth time, how awesome I think you are.  You are an amazing girl.  It's hard to watch you get so grown up.  I can't believe you're going to middle school in the fall.  I am quite sure, it was yesterday, that I dropped you at kindergarten.

I sometimes can't believe you're my kid and don't know what I did to deserve to raise you.  I sat in church on Sunday, watching you accompany the senior primary on your guitar, as you all performed Gethsemane for Easter.  You had no fear.  You went up, mic'd up your guitar, and played your heart out.  I couldn't see you very well because your music stand, filled with pages, was blocking my view, but I could see your little blond head above it grooving to the rhythm and I knew you were in your zone.  I heard your guitar over the sound system above me and you were incredible.

I love that you love your instrument so much.  You came home from school yesterday with your talent show form all filled out and shoved it into my face... "Mom!  Sign it!"  Gladly, of course.  Then, you dropped your backpack in the middle of the floor, picked up your electric guitar, and started practicing for it.   Your dedication is far beyond your years.

I think about the math project you just finished.  The assignment was to "create a board game with questions that summarize the math skills you have learned this year in 5th grade."  Board game, schmoard game - that wasn't going to be good enough for you.  Nope, instead I watched you spend hours upon hours in front of the computer as you PROGRAMMED your own math video game.  You know when teachers wonder if the parents did all the work because it was so good?  Well, your project was even better than that - I have no idea how you even did it, let alone could I have helped you with it or done it for you.

I have written before, about what a great friend you are, but I continue to see you set the example.  As we shopped for books for ourselves at the school book fair, you remembered a painfully shy friend of yours, whose birthday it was that week, but was not having a party, nor has many friends.  You remembered a book he said he hadn't read, but really wanted to, and marched up and bought it for him.  

I know it's hard to do sometimes, but you are such a good sister to Harriet and she loves you beyond measure and looks up to you for everything.  Thanks for setting such a good example for her.

Sure, your room is a swamp, your hair a mop, and your clothes, baggy, and sloppy.  But, you really make up for it with your dedication to things that are truly important.  Although, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if you tried neatness, once in a while ;)

I love you Grace.  I hope your year of 11 is as awesome as you want it to be.  I know you've looked forward to it.  I can't wait to see what you do with it.

Love,
Mom

Grunge-style Nostalgia

"I feel like we have to keep our eyes on the road.  Being nostalgic is like taking an off ramp and getting a sandwich - and then you get back on the highway.  I don't want to be spending the rest of my life at the gas station." - Eddie Vedder

Well, Eddie, it's time to stop for a nostalgia sandwich.  Since I didn't have a blog (heck, we barely had computers) in 1994, some of this stuff about me has never seen the written page.  This is a totally selfish post and means very little in the grand scheme of life, but it's my blog and I feel like writing it, so...  here goes.

I realized this morning, thanks to the miracle of social networking (from which I get 90% of my current events and news, sadly) that today is the 20th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain.  My 20th high school reunion is also scheduled in a few months.  So, nostalgia is a good place to be for a little while anyway.  This freeway I'm on is straight and FAST.  Grace just got her note home to watch the puberty video next week.  WHEN did THAT happen?!

I have been thinking about doing a little grunge music post for a while anyway.  I've rekindled my relationship with it and I love it just as much as I ever did as a teenager.  Maybe more.  I've also indoctrinated Grace.  YES!  Listening to Alive or All Apologies pour out of her little guitar just soothes my soul.  For Christmas, Jessica gave me Pearl Jam's new album, Lightning Bolt as well as a little video compilation on Pearl Jam (that's the source of the Eddie quote above.)  A friend of ours asked me about it (when was the last time someone asked me about music?! so rad) and I couldn't have been more pleased as punch to physically give him the CD to give it a listen for himself.  I miss that part of life - letting someone borrow your new awesome CD, because you just can't get over how great it is.  You just don't get to do it as much when you're 38 as when you're 18.

I rarely sit down to watch anything on the boob tube by myself, but I finally watched the video a couple of weeks ago too.  After watching it, I just felt awesome about Pearl Jam and their music again.  They have stood the test of time (20+ years.)  They are the only grunge band left, still producing music that more than 10 people want to listen to.  They are still relevant.  (Soundgarden... not so much.)

Back to the nostalgia.  I read an article this morning about Kurt Cobain.  In it, the writer mentioned that "everyone (especially of Gen X) remembers where they were when they found out Kurt had died."  Well, I don't remember the exact place I was, but I do remember finding out, and that sinking feeling and loss of innocence.  The same feelings returned when I found out that Michael Hutchence had taken his life as well, a few years later.  (I do remember exactly where I was for that one - driving my car down 7th East towards downtown Salt Lake.  I heard it on the radio.  It was wrenching.  I thought about pulling over, but kept driving.  I had high-fived that guy just a few years earlier when we ditched senior spring formal and went to the INXS concert instead.  Good times.)

However, more vividly, I remember the exact moment when Nirvana and grunge music came into my life.  I was sitting in drivers ed, during the fall of my sophomore (first) year of high school.  Everything was new and exciting.  School, driving, friends, music, everything.  This girl, beautiful, very cool, Jacqueline, sits down in front of me and turns around to talk to me.  She's new and sassy and has no friends yet, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for her whatsoever.  She is holding the Nevermind album in one hand and has an UBER cool portable CD player in the other hand with a set of earbuds.  She hands me one and says "listen to THIS."  My mind was blown.  I had never heard music like that before and I was instantly hooked.

I found Pearl Jam shortly after that and my friend, Orion, suggested that if I liked Pearl Jam I should definitely watch the movie "Singles."  To this day, that is hands down my favorite movie of all time.  High school years are formative years.  Somehow, most of what happens then, defines you in some way.  I spent those 3 years dressing like a homeless person trying to escape the 80's (we all did - and now I get after Grace for doing the exact same thing - she is my 17 year old mini-me.)  My dream was to own a real pair of Doc Marten boots.  I had some knock offs until senior year maybe.  I just bought a pair of calf-length cherry red Docs a couple summers ago in Seattle that my 17 year old self would have DIED for.  (would have also died for the trip to Seattle.)

My friends and I ate, breathed, and slept music.  We went to every concert we could get our hands on and in those days, it was a LOT of concerts.   They were cheap.  You could see a band for 15 or 20 bucks.  There were venues everywhere.  Bands everywhere.  I couldn't get enough.  Bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam did not come through Salt Lake at that time.  Pearl Jam did come later when I was in college, but I never got the chance to see Nirvana play.   We dreamed about road-tripping to Seattle to see them play.  (Yeah right - not in a million years if mo-Deb is your mom are you road-tripping to Seattle!  She barely lets you drive to school!) There were all these rumors that they played in little clubs under fake names and if you were lucky enough to guess, you could get in and see them up close in a small setting.  Ahh teenage dreams.

Anyway, what am I trying to say?  I think I love grunge music because of how dark it is.  The music itself is deep and growling and visceral.  The lyrics match.  It makes you search out your own demons and for me, helps to beat them out of my system.  There's nothing more cleansing than turning up some crazy Pearl Jam or Nirvana song really loud and driving out your own crazy.  Or better yet, busting it out of yourself in a mosh pit.  I miss mosh pits.  Sigh.  Some people search out uplifting thoughts in Mo Tab recordings.  Everyone has their thing.

The funny thing about grunge music is that it lasted EXACTLY as long as high school.  Nevermind was released September of our sophomore year.  Kurt died in April of our senior year.  After that, the music was deflated.  Pearl Jam survived, but only because they, themselves, grew up along with the rest of us and left a lot of the grunge behind.  But that early awesome music was only here for that short 3 years.  Nirvana's songs, all both albums of them, are awesome, partly because that's all there are of them, but partly because they are truly genius.  I put up a little poll on Facebook today (poorly attended by the way - come on class of '94!  you guys are total let downs.)  I asked "what is your favorite Nirvana song?" Everyone had a different one.  They were ALL good.  You can't miss with any of them.  I actually didn't grow to truly appreciate Nirvana until later.   I was a die hard Pearl Jam fan for many years before I discovered the real genius of their Nirvana cousins.  I think Eddie's voice attracted me to their music more than Kurt's did to Nirvana's.  Plus, I was 17 and had a hard-core teenage crush on Mr. Vedder.  (Who didn't?)

So, what I have been thinking about all day, today, on the anniversary of Kurt's death is how tragic he and his music were.  His music was only as amazing as it was because he was hurting as much as he was.  Now that I am an adult, I am so sad for him and his friends and family.  Back then, I just mourned the music.  But, now, I see more of the big picture.  He was in a very dark place and the most incredible music came out of it.  If he hadn't been near suicide, the music wouldn't have been as good.  That is truly tragic.  Foo Fighters are great, but they are nothing near as great as Nirvana and it's because they don't have Kurt.  Sorry Foo, but it's true.

It leaves me with 3 questions.  If that much beauty can come from darkness, what are we letting go to waste when things aren't even that dark?  What would Nirvana be now, if Kurt were still here?  (Would they still be putting out great albums like Pearl Jam, or would they have burned out quick, and be gone anyway?)  And... what would Pearl Jam be if Nirvana had survived?   You know.  Deep stuff.

Obviously, nothing can be what it isn't, so some of those questions aren't even valid.  But it's stuff I think about.

Sorry, readers (grandma? mom? dad?  who still reads this thing?)  Thanks for allowing my little self-indulgent post and my moment of navel gazing (as my good friend Katie Clifford calls it.)

RIP Kurt Cobain.  You have had an impact on my life, that's for sure.  I think I might sleep in my cherry red Docs tonight.  Well, I would if I were 18.  But, I'm 38.  You can't sleep in your docs when you're 38.  What's the line from Singles?  "I'm 23.  Time is running out to do something bizarre.  Somewhere around 25, bizarre becomes... immature."  Nevermind about the docs.  I need to go watch Singles!  Thanks for the nostalgia sandwich, Eddie Vedder.  Back on the freeway tomorrow.

11th Annual International Grace Day

(The celebration of International Grace Day fell on David's actual birthday.  Sorry dude.  He totally had to celebrate his big 39 with a bunch of 5th graders.  He didn't even get to bowl.)

Grace's birthday might as well be an internationally recognized holiday.  She seems to think is is important enough to be one.  This birthday was a super important one for her since she became her favorite number in years.  11.

Grace's lucky number is 11.  I have no idea why or when she decided on that number, but she's pretty pumped to make a great year of it.

For all of these reasons, I am still baffled as to why she didn't plan her birthday party better this year! Usually, she has it all figured out, months in advance.  She knows who she's inviting, what is the theme, how the cake will look, what she will do for games and goodies and what she will wear.  She's picked out party-ware and decorations.  This year, 2 weeks before the big day, she STILL didn't know what she was doing!

Granted, turning 11 makes birthday parties a bit harder.  What on Earth do you do to entertain 10 eleven year-old kids, mostly boys, at an indoor, home, birthday party?  They are beyond the crafts and the games and the pin-the-whatever-on-the-whatever-the-theme-is-poster.   She wanted to do a pinewood derby -IN OUR HOUSE.  I seriously looked into it, but just couldn't pull it off.  Then, she wanted to race go-carts.  Too bad - they were all still too young to do it.  I couldn't sell her on laser tag or rollerskating.  Finally, as I racked my 49th Street Galleria memories, I remembered the bowling alley!  Great!  We will go bowling!  She thought it was a fantastic idea.  What world do we live in where bowling is the last thing we think of?  That used to be, like, the first thing anyone did.
Well, we decided in JUST enough time to send out e-vites, order cake toppers and bowling suckers from amazon, and put in a deposit at the bowling alley.

The kids did have a great time and the owner of the bowling alley was extremely nice to us and made sure we had everything we needed.  It was a perfect party for a bunch of growingly awkward 5th graders.  (I can see that AWKWARD is going to be a running theme for the next several years.  Ugh.  middle school.)

Grace, of course, requested a bowling lane in fondant for her cake.  Geez.  That's kind of a fancy cake for going bowling, but whatever.  I have fun making the cakes and as long as they don't take me too many days, I'm cool with putting in the extra time.  This one was pretty easy and the kids went bonkers over it.  You know you've made a good cake when the BOYS compliment you on it.

(Little sis has a very hard time with International Grace Day.  It's just simply too far in front of her own.  Why does SHE have to wait 6 more weeks every year?)

bumpers up!  good thing - there would have been A LOT of gutter balls, otherwise.

AJ, Grace, Dallin, and Dallin

Aiden, Kayla, and Keely

I guess there was a teen bowling tournament going on at the same time and they were super jealous of our cake.  Good thing they didn't cut into it while we were bowling! 

10 bowling pins plus 1 bowling ball = 11 candles.  It was like it was meant to be!

I totally missed her blowing out the candles.  I'm losing my touch.

Grace, reading her cards.  I have to say- her friends (especially the boys!) wrote the SWEETEST things in their cards to her!  She really is a good friend and so many kids just love her to death.   She attracts great kids too.  I've never seen a sweeter bunch of kids than the ones she has gone to school with.  I wish the rest of the kids at school were this good!  Everyone comments on them, wherever they go.  They get invited back for encore field trips.  They are the prized classes in the extracurricular things at school.  Even the owner of the bowling alley commented on them and several parents too, noticed, that they were so nice and happy and well-behaved.

Let's see, the rest of the crowd is Christian, Maren (Christian's little sis), Aiden, Kayla, Keely, AJ, Carter, Dallin, and Dallin.  David kept joking that the names of Grace's school friends, "Kayla, Keely, Carter, AJ, Aiden, Dallin, and Dallin" sound like names for the 7 dwarves when you put them all together.  Ha!  They are totally all little funny dwarves.

SISTERS!

 I just love watching Grace talk to her friends.  One day, when I was volunteering in the school library, I watched her pick up a book and go sit down on a bench by herself and start reading it.  Pretty soon, she had a friend next to her, reading over her shoulder.  Less than a minute later, she had 8 kids gathered around her, intently listening to her read it out loud.  She's a magnet for friends.  It's a true gift.  I wish all little kids (and adults for that matter) could be that easy around each other.  She certainly removes all inhibition in social situations.  

Happy 11th Birthday, Grace!  The planet definitely changed for the better, the day you were born. 

Wow, I just realized as I'm typing this, that I didn't write her birthday letter.  Sheesh, I really am losing my mind.  I guess I will have to do that soon! -before we get neck deep into Harriet's birthday territory.  Watch out.  Hers is big and important and coming up quick!