Sixteen

I have a daughter who is sixteen.

Just need to wrap my mind around that for a minute.

Here are sixteen reasons why she's my favorite daughter:

1) She is wickedly funny.  Emma doesn't always try to make you laugh like her brothers do, but she is plain funny.

2) I gave her a tour one time of where everything goes in our new kitchen and she remembers.  I tell everyone else constantly where to find a spatula or where that bowl goes.

3) She is way smarter than I am.  Which is convenient when I need help.

4) I am better at 1010 than she is (a new game app she has introduced me to).  It makes me feel better when you consider that she is way smarter than I am in every other way.

5) She is good.  She wants to be good.  She has a crush on a boy because he's so good.  I don't worry about her.

6) Her work ethic is incomparable.

7) Her ability to sleep is incomparable.

8) She is one of my very favorite people to be with.  Combine her low maintenance personality and her clever wit and I'm happy for the day.

9)  Emma is extremely independent--she fills out her own paperwork and only needs me to sign it. I love that!

10) She is pleasant even when she doesn't get enough sleep or isn't feeling well.

11) She is fearless.  She doesn't like talking to strangers but will advocate for herself when she needs to.

12) She writes beautiful music.  And poetry.

13) Emma is a loyal and kind friend and sister.

14) She could talk her dad into anything but she doesn't exploit that ability.

15) She is absolutely impervious to peer pressure.  Or mom pressure.

16) I like her more and more the older she gets...which makes me happy, since she keeps getting older.

Emma invited a group of friends over yesterday for a little party.  They made these Harry Potter wands out of chopsticks and hot glue and paint.

You don't even have to be a big Harry Potter fan, they are pretty great wands. 

I like Emma's friends.  In addition to having clever ideas on how to make Harry Potter wands, they are a nice group of girls.  When we sang Happy Birthday, Adam said it sounded like 18 part harmony.  Most of the girls are in choir, and they're good at it.  They gave Emma sweet and thoughtful gifts.  With funny homemade cards.

Adam and I went to buy them pizza after he got home from work.  We discussed the amount.  We scaled way back from what we would have bought if Braeden was having a party.

They only ate half the pizza.

Here's something you may not know:  boys and girls are different.

Here's an example, they're doing Emma's hair:

Braeden and his friends have never done each others' hair....

And here's my pretty girl with sixteen candles:

I love her!  Happy Birthday sweet girl.

Love-ly

A whole weekend of love.  Happiness all weekend long.

Friday was a great start with us finding out Braeden and Emma were both cast in the next play.

(It's possible I cried a little.)

(It's possible I'm emotionally unstable.)

(It's possible I shouldn't be seen in public.)

Another triumph for the day was that Adam's Valentine box placed third which awarded him a $25 gift card.  (Mark immediately wondered about his share.)  Adam said it was too subversive to win first place, but subversive enough to get him on the podium.

I said, "Please tell me there was really a podium."

There wasn't.

Also Friday I made chocolate covered cherries which are 1) delicious and 2) make me think fondly of Janet because she's the one that taught me to make them.

That night Adam and I went on a double date with Ammon and Melanee which was fun.  I like those kids.

Braeden had a group date with some of his friends and Emma babysat for Ammon and Melanee.  I was hesitant to leave Mark home alone which deeply offended him because, "I am twelve, Mom!"  I made sure Emma ate before she went because Melanee was feeding her kids ahead of time.

When we were there dropping off Emma and picking up Ammon and Melanee, Melanee said, "I fed them dinner but here are some crackers if they get hungry."

After, when we were driving Emma back home, she was telling us about her time.  She described a game they played and she said, "Then I made them dinner."

Adam and I both said, "But Melanee had already fed them."

"She had?"

Sometimes my smart girl likes to pretends otherwise.

Saturday morning the boys played in a church basketball game, Adam refereed, I watched and Emma stayed home and slept.  Braeden often reminds me of his uncles and he plays basketball like Tabor.  He mostly fouls.  He was wearing a tie dyed tee shirt and so when Adam would call a foul on him, he would say it was on "Tie Dye." 

In the afternoon we took Tie Dye with us and shopped for our big Seven Course Meal (which we had the next day and I will have to tell you about later or else this blog post will be too long.)  We sampled fancy cheeses and hunted down shallots in the produce section and generally had a good time.  Braeden likes being the only child occasionally.  Takes him back to his roots, I guess. 

Emma had some friends over while we were gone.  When we got home I went in the basement where they were giggling and watching a movie and giggling.  Oh, and giggling. 

That night Braeden had a man date.  (Not to be confused with a mandate.)  It was his friend Andrew's birthday.  The rest of us were generally lazy.  We talked about dinner ideas and landed on waffles and sausage.  Adam and Mark went to the store for toaster waffles and sausage and also came home with flowers for Emma (yellow roses) and for me (red tulips). 

We ate our dinner and then watched Persuasion.  Mark was reluctant.  He said, "Nothing ever happens in those movies."  We coaxed him along until he agreed though.  Every twelve year old boy should be exposed to some occasional Jane Austen whether they like it or not. (And I think in the end Mark did sort of like it...how could he not?  Jane Austen!)

It was a good way to spend Valentine's Day.  I was surrounded by people I love and that's the whole idea, isn't it?

Valentines

Yesterday Adam forwarded me an email about a Valentine Box Contest they were having at work.  In the email it also included an employee list, as in make a Valentine for everyone.

They are all adults, right?

I felt compelled to action though.  Adam needed to redeem himself from Christmas.  His last day of work before Christmas, he came home laden with treats and cards from coworkers.  He had taken nothing to anyone.  I guess we didn't really know that was a thing.

But Valentine's Day!  I was determined to step it up.

I searched Pinterest for Valentine box ideas and Valentine ideas but there were 58 names on the employee list and I couldn't see me going to too much effort.  Adam and I decided to tackle the project when he got home.  We enlisted Emma's help.  (She's kind of the obvious choice around here.)

The three of us went to Hobby Lobby and Michael's and the grocery store.  Adam had an idea to decorate our paper shredder as a Valentine box which is pretty clever but could backfire if whoever came up with the contest idea feels offended by the paper shredder idea.  We plastered it with pink and Mark even wandered through and decided to help once he heard there were cash prizes for the winners.  He stuck hearts on and negotiated his cut of the winnings.

Emma assembled the Valentines.  We decided on some groovy tattoo ones...all peace signs and rainbow colors.  They seemed just cheesy enough.

reading the employee list off the ipad--she put a smiley face on Adam's boss's Valentine

We had fun but I kept thinking, they are all adults, right?

Lucius and Luscious McCoy

Because he's always trying to be funny, Braeden signed his name Lucius McCoy on something.

At least that's what he meant to do.  Later he asked Emma if luscious and Lucius were spelled differently.  "Yes," she told him.

Which just made Braeden laugh because he had accidentally written Luscious McCoy.  In the vast range of Braeden's talents, spelling does not figure in.

Emma is taking a geography class and she has had to make food and then have people taste it and write statements about it.  (And you thought geography was knowing that Istanbul was Constantinople!) She made this Aztec chocolate drink which was really thick with no sugar.  (Pretty nasty.) I noticed the paper and here's what Braeden wrote:

It tasted how I imagine an old miner would taste.  Earthy, with a hint of shame and regret.  Interesting texture though.

--Luscious McCoy

Why I am doing this

Lately I've been working on getting Braeden's doctor appointments in order as he is getting his mission papers in order.  (And it's a pain because I invariably set up the appointments for times that don't work for him but when I asked him earlier if he had conflicts, he didn't. Sigh.)

It occurred to me, while I was sitting on hold with a doctor's office, that I am really shooting myself in the foot here.  I'm helping this process along.  This is a process that will rip my heart out and I'm working towards its success?  I feel like the wiser thing would be to sabotage the whole thing, but I'm helping him.

Am I crazy?

But here's the thing, I know that we have a prophet.  I know that he is inspired by God and I know that when he says these boys should go and serve, it is true.  I sustain the prophet; I'll send my son.

Here's the other thing: my friends.  These glorious women with their glorious sons are my inspiration.

Here's Janet welcoming David home.  Such a happy and wonderful time. Such pure mother love.  

I want that.  I want to welcome my boy back.  I want to throw my arms around him and tell him, "Well done!"

And then there's this picture:

Stephanie and Dillon

That look of pure joy on Stephanie's face.  I told Braeden that there was nothing he could do in the next two years that would bring that kind of joy to my face, except serve a mission.

I know that Braeden will help people.  He will teach them that God loves them and he will help them to be happier.

And when I need to remember why in heaven's name I am helping this process along (this rip the heart right out of my ribcage process), I'll remember those smiles on my dear friends' faces. 

I can do this!

When pinterest and the arrival of chalk markers collide...

I think I saw it when Melanee pinned this on Pinterest.  I thought it was cute.  It works for Valentine's Day and the mascot of the kids' school is the Vikings. And also, chalk markers!

What's not to love?

The last time

Saturday night I watched the last high school musical with my Braeden on stage.  I have enjoyed every moment.  Before the show, I was filling out a "cast-o-gram" to send a treat backstage to my kids.  On Emma's, since she helps make it snow in the poppy field from way up high in the catwalk, I wrote, "There's no business like snow business."

I know, how did I get so clever?

Then I was filling out Braeden's and I couldn't think of anything to write that wouldn't make me dissolve right then and there in front of the concession stand in a puddle of tears.

I had to pull myself together.

And I did pretty well.  No tears.  I knew the exact moment when Braeden saw me in the crowd and he gave me a rascally smile when he was dancing onstage in what was made to look like his underwear.

I stood and clapped my heart out at the curtain call.  Partly because my heart was up on the stage.

Emma emerged first and I hugged her and told her it was all brilliant.  Then she dutifully said, "I'd better go help," because they were striking the set.

Then Braeden came out.  He grabbed me in a long hug and kissed the top of my head.  He hugged everyone else we were with then came back to Adam and me.  He put one arm around each of us and said, "Thank you for letting me do this."

Then he looked at me and said, "I almost cried at the end."

I looked up into his face and saw that his tears were near the surface and that did me in.  Tears filled my eyes and then he started crying and then he wrapped me up in his arms and have I mentioned how much I like that guy?

We both dried our tears and he headed backstage to help and we headed to the car and that was that.

The last time.

I found out they will put some good pictures of the show on the drama website eventually.  For now I have some that Olivia took at one of the shows.  She was using our camera, which is nothing fancy.  She asked me how to zoom and I couldn't remember.  Sigh.

(Sometimes I'm not much.)

"Something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore."

Braeden was too tall to be on his knees like the rest of the Munchkins so he popped his head out a door.

The Munchkin Mayor cracked me up.

So did Braeden's expressions...

Braeden is the cranky tree on the right.

Here's an iconic there's-the-Emerald-City shot:

The Winkies--that's Braeden right in the center

Above is where some of the Winkies (Braeden's the middle one) attacked the Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion.  The Winkies lost the battle and had their clothes stolen so here's where they danced in their underwear after the witch died.

It's blurry but it made me laugh every time.


Here's where the Wizard is trying to take Dorothy home but she doesn't know where Toto is:

Here's Toto, making friends with Braeden. (Braeden!  Tell Dorothy where Toto is!)

And then here we are, back in Kansas:

It was a wonderful show, one of my favorites Braeden has been involved in.  I consider myself very fortunate to have been involved with all the wonderful high school theater I've known as a result of Braeden's participation.

It's been a good time.

After the show, the Wicked Witch, the Good Witch and Dorothy posed for pictures.

Olivia and Ruby, giving the Wicked Witch a wide berth.

Lili and Ruben--Ruben is my kinsman:  eyes closed for the picture