No T.V. Week

That means no movies either, because you watch them on the T.V..

Piper said to me when we made the decision to do this, "Mom, that means you won't be able to watch the news." Apparently I watch the news too much. Both my kidlets have made a comment on the matter in the past few weeks. Anywhooooo.....

We didn't choose the best week to do this because the Olympics were on. So we decided, no T.V., except for prime time coverage of the Olympics. We started on Monday August 11. On Sunday night Piper asked, "Are we were going to start no T.V. Week tomorrow?" What kid would be excited about something like this? Mine, of course. Not Teague mind you, Piper.

I am actually pretty amazed at how easy this was. Even when the kidlets went to my mom's house, they didn't watch T.V.. My mom knew that we were doing it so she was very supportive, but why this surprises me is....my parents have the hugest T.V. known to man with every station known to man as well, sometimes we go up there just to watch T.V.. I'm so proud that the kidlets weren't even tempted! I know I was when I was up there.

At our house, we have crappy T.V.'s, and we don't even have cable, in fact, we still use rabbit ear antennas. We get to choose from the following local stations:

Channel 2 KUTV (CBS)
Channel 4 KTVX (NBC)
Channel 5 KSL (ABC)
Channel 7 KUED (PBS)
Channel 9 KUEN (ETV)
Channel 11 KBYU (PBS)
Channel 13 KSTU (FOX)
Channel 14 KJZZ
Channel 18 KWCS (ETV) This is a religious channel
Channel 20 KTMW (analog only)
Channel 24 KPNZ (analog only) This is now only Spanish
Channel 30 KUCW (CW)

Maybe, that is why it wasn't hard.....We are definitely going to be doing this again. In fact Aaron and I talked about it and we think we are going to do a couple of days a week with no T.V., then that would come out to about a week a month with no T.V.

I challenge you all to do this. We had so much fun playing and reading, it was well worth it.

My name starts with a K

My friend Stephanie e-mailed this to me on July8. I thought it was a cute idea for a blog entry, but I am just now getting around to it.

SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours and send it on to 10 people including the one that sent this to you. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to Use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st Initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

So, I thought that I would just post it here, and if you want to be "tagged," you can just do it on your blog! For some reason I didn't have a hard time with this, though I thought I would because K is kind of an uncommon letter:

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Karlyn
4 LETTER WORD: Kite
TV SHOW: Kenny vs. Spenny
BOY NAME: Karly
GIRL NAME: Kelly
OCCUPATION: King
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Keens
FOOD: Kiwi
CANDY: Kit Kat
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Kleenex
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Kidlets sick
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Kalamazoo! Keanu! Kill!

Monet to Picasso

It's posts like this when I wish that I was an eloquent writer, because I know that I will not be able to put into words this experience......

Thinking about it now I am getting a little emotional.

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is doing a special exhibit until Sept. 21. Aaron, the kidlets and I had the opportunity to go last Saturday. I paid $40.00 for our whole family to go. When the lady told me the total I looked at Aaron and said, "Do you still want to do it?" He said "yes," and I am so glad he did. After I paid and we were walking into the exhibit, Aaron said to me, "When are we ever going to get to experience this again?"


We each got this telephone looking thing. Some of the paintings had numbers next to them, some paintings had two numbers next to them. The ones that had two numbers next to them had one number that said "family" next to it. So, you would punch the number into your telephone thingy and a narrator would tell you about the picture and the artist and the story behind the picture. If it was a painting with "family" next to it, a narrator would do the same thing, only in a way children would understand it.

This is when it all started. Original paintings from some of the greatest artists of all time. I had two favorites. "The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet," by Monet. And "The poplars at Saint Remy" by Van Gogh. Aaron's favorite artist is Dali, there was only one painting by him, "The Dream." The kidlets really enjoyed themselves also, they were so well behaved and so "into" the whole experience....I was so proud. Piper also really liked "The Poplars and Saint Remy" and Teague like the Dali one because "it has ants." They both really like Picasso's cubist paintings.

"Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet:" I have always liked this painting, however I don't think I knew that it was his wife, or if I did, I forgot. I don't think I even knew the full name of it, I thought it was just called "The Red Kerchief." I found the following description at www.clevelandart.org I tried to describe it in my own words,but I gave up and found it here. In fact, I think this is the exact wording that the narrator used. The Cleveland Museum of Art is the Museum that is sponsoring the exhibit.

In its early stages, this composition contained two figures seated inside the room on either side of the window. Monet radically altered the composition by painting over the figures. They were replaced by an image of the artist's favorite model---his wife Camille, who passes outside the window in a red cape. Intense light---reflected from the snow-covered landscape---floods the room, obliterating details along the walls and floor. The off-center window frame and the blurriness achieved through sketchy brushstrokes suggest the scanning movement of the artist's eye as he viewed this scene. Contrasted with cold blues and silver whites, Camille's red cape draws the viewer's attention through the glass and into a swift exchange of glances, registering a brief moment in time. This painting evidently held special meaning for Monet, for he kept it with him until his death in 1926.

I just found this so sweet. It got me all choked up. I have heard all kinds of rumors about Claude Monet being a terrible husband and fathering a child with another women while he was married to Camille etc...but this painting made you think of his love for her and nothing else. At least that's what it did for me.



"The poplars at Saint Remy:" I never in a million years would have thought that this painting would have caught my eye. I HATE poplars, I've got 11 in my backyard that I wish would disappear. But, I digress. I stood in front of this painting in awe. I got all choked up and nearly cried, why? I don't know, there was just something about it, I can't even begin to explain. I watched my little Piper listen intently to the description and get excited about it too, so there really must be something. This is what The Cleveland Museum of Art had to say about it, again, I think this is the exact wording that was narrated.

Van Gogh painted this small but intensely powerful landscape at Sainte-Rémy, a small town in southern France, in October 1889. He referred to it in a letter to his brother Théo: "I have a study of two yellowing poplars against a background of mountains and a view of the park here, an autumn effect." At the time, Van Gogh was living at the asylum where he had voluntarily committed himself that spring. After a period of working from memory, he resumed painting outdoors. This painting expresses the full power of Van Gogh's mature style. The trees twist and lean to produce an excited, dynamic effect. Intense color is applied with heavy, charged brushstrokes to express his emotional reaction to the subject.



And finally, Aaron's favorite, "The Dream:" I learned that Dali use to fall asleep sitting up holding a key, the key would drop to the ground waking him up and he would proceed to paint the dream that he was having. This is what The Cleveland Museum had to say about this painting.

This painting gives visual form to the strange, often destrubing world of dreams and hallucinations. ants swarm over a mouthless face with bulging eyelids. The seated man with a bleeding face and amputated left foot (also holding a golden scepter symbolizing access to the unconscious) refers to Oedipus, the tragic figure from Greek mythology who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.
Sigmund Freud interpreted this myth as symbolic of a child's conflicting attitudes toward his or her parents, known in psychoanalytic theory as the Oedipus complex.
The column sprouting from the seated man's back turns into the bust of a bearded figure, a reference to the Freudian father as the punishing superego who condemns the sons sexual fantasies.
In the distance a clothed man and a naked man embrace, while another naked figure reaches one arm into a large red form to penetrate the surface.



Please, if you live in Utah, don't miss out on the amazing exhibit, it is truly and experience I will never forget. I am so grateful that we were able to do this as a family, I hope my kidlets always remember it too.

Teague's Performance

Our Internet has been down for a couple of days, and I have also been doing other stuff. So, sorry about the lack of posting. I have a whole list of posts that I have to do.

Teague's Dramatic Discoveries performance was actually a whole week ago. It ended up being standing room only which is a good thing, it means the program is growing. He was so excited to finally be in the spotlight. When I saw him come walking onto the stage in his bee costume, I got a little bit teary-eyed. Both my kidlets...such naturals...unlike their mom who really has to work at it. Anyway....his little play was called "Mrs. Tiddlemouse." All the kids in it were 5 years old, so needless to say, it was adorable. Teague had been practicing his one line for two weeks, so he had it down pat, "I'm staying put!" He said it perfectly, I could hear him and understand him. YES! He also had another line that was recorded, "Mr. Jackson went to look in the kitchen." I recognized his voice and his line immediately. I was just oozing with Pride......
We didn't get any still pictures of him in his bee costume because we were recording. These pictures are after all of the performances are done and everyone is saying goodbye until next year!

Teague with his classmate, Ellie.

Teague with his classmate, Max.

Teague with his classmate, Zev. Zev was a fellow Gosling in Charlotte's Web.

Teague with his classmate Eleanor. Eleanor is Piper's friend Robin's little sister.

Teague with his stage craft teacher, Zac.

Teague with his company teacher, Stephanie. Stephanie was Charlotte in Charlotte's Web.

Teague with one of his music teachers, Steve.

Teague with program director, Penny.

I am so grateful that my kidlets have been able to be a part of Youth Theatre. I don't think that there is a better program. Every single one of the teachers are there because they love theatre and understand the importance of teaching the kids not only theatre, but Life. I have never met nor worked with such a talented group of people, it's true. Thank you so much to Penny and anybody that is involved with this fabulous program.

Drama Club BHS 1993

I joined facebook and suddenly I am busy catching up with all of my friends from High School, the Young Adult Ward, previous shows that I have been in, all kinds of people.

One of my High School friends posted some pictures of the 1992-1993 BHS Drama Club Officers in her photo album. I was one of those officers. Three of us that were officers have been chatting it up on facebook. When Sandra first told us that she was going to post them, I didn't think much of it and told her to go for it! Heather, on the other hand was not so excited. Here is some of the conversation between the three of us:

Sandra: What's going on Karlyn?? I was looking through my old photos the other day and I saw our Drama pictures of us making funny faces! I'm going to have to scan it and post it on my profile! So funny!
Karlyn: You need to because I have searched high and low for those photos with no avail.
Heather: (to sandra)Oooohhh Sandra, I saw what you said to Karlyn! Don't you *dare* post high school pictures, LOL! What a terrifying thought that anyone has photographic proof that I was such a dork back then!
Karlyn: (to sandra) Post them!!! Just to see/hear Heather's reactions would make it worth it! ;)
Heather:(to karlyn) Trouble Maker. That is what you are. And darn it if I don't love you for it.
Sandra: (to karlyn) Oh I'm gonna!! They're too funny not to... Look for them tomorrow..
Heather: (to sandra) Do NOT give in to temptation!! Karlyn is a VERY bad influence, always was and always will be. Or if you post them, make them very VERY private!
Heather: (to sandra) Okay, so here's the deal... If you post those photos, I claim any and all rights to steal them from your profile and (shamefully) post them on mine.

The pictures were posted....suddenly I am the one freaking out (a little bit) about it, and Heather...well...Heather is loving it!

Now, these are the comments left about photo #1 in Sandra's album:

Heather: Oh gods... you didn't.. Hahaha, oh these are priceless!
Sandra: Heather.. your face is priceless!! And look at Molly! Hahahaahhaahhaa!!!
Karlyn: I just said OUT LOUD, "Did I really have that BOW ON. MY. HEAD?"
I am laughing, Aaron just came walking in and said "Oh yes you did!"
Could this be any more embarrassing?
I have to do a blog entry on this...........
Heather: Hahaha, the bow is freaking hilarious!!!!
Mark (a friend of ours):Wow, and I think I look retarded when looking back at my old High School pictures. But you guys take the cake. I am almost embarrassed to say that I used to hang out with all of you. Yikes.
Heather: Hey, we were DAMN cool! Veritible legends in our own minds.
I showed this picture to Chance and he said "this photo should interest me, why?" didn't even realize I was in it!! Hahahaha

These are the comments left about photo #1 in Heather's album:

Heather: (on the cover of the album)This, my friends, is one of the most humiliating things I think I've ever done.
Heather: (her description/disclaimer on the photo)This is my serious face. So the one in the horrible 90's bow is Karlyn, crazy bitch and I love her to death. Then we have Sandra next to her, she could always make me smile! Mike was always very unique, known him since I can remember! I'm the one in the back with the..uhh..sexy face. Phil, oh bless Phil, that's him looking all GQ with his raised eyebrow. Poor Phil put up with a lot of abuse from me and Karlyn at our SAT prep class. Then there was Mollie, the baby of our group. I miss her, she was crazy hilarious and would get the most adorably pained look on her face whenever someone said something even marginally PG-13 rated. Yes, for those who did NOT believe I was a drama geek.. this should settle that.
Stephanie (a friend of ours):The good old days
Karlyn: Okay, I love your description. I think I am done commenting. I may have to go do a disclaimer on mine.
Heather: Hehe, I'm not sure I'll ever be done commenting on these. Any time I need a laugh, out will come yet another comment. I am, however, going to go shower and get ready to go out and do some karaoke.
Ryan: (a friend of heather's) Wow...... The evidence of you being the coolest person ever is starting to pile up!
Sandra: Oh believe me...Heather was cool! The thought of skipping school would have never occurred to me, but she always had a plan.
Karlyn: True so true, always a plan. And you know, I never felt guilty about skipping when I was with her....we were having WAY to much fun.
Sandra: Oh the dress I wore is hideous! And I remember thinking that I looked so nice...that was my favorite dress!
Karlyn: You know, funny you should say that, because I was just thinking about my dress the other day and how much I loved it! I loved the "handkerchief" skirt, and the lace sleeves! Now I'm thinking....."1993 and hideous FLOWERS!" And I can't stop thinking about that bow!!! What the ef was I thinking....seriously! I don't think it was even in style to do that then.
Oh, and might I add.....look how freakin' skinny I was. Oh my......

Heather: Hahaha, yes, I was such a bad influence! And yes Ryan, I was so damn cool in high school (not!)... but I will say your brother got quite the kick out of these pictures. Especially the letterman's sweaters!
Yeah, that was so 1993, lol. I'm truly grateful that I did NOT have mall bangs in this picture. I was pretty damn skinny, too, haven't been that little since school.

These are the comments left about photo #1 in my album:

Karlyn: (on the cover) Okay, I guess I have to follow the lead of my two worst HS influences.......I hope you all enjoy the extreme nerdiness.
Lia (a friend of ours): Whoa, that takes me back... =) LOVE!

And this my friends.....is photo #1!

From left to right: Karlyn, Sandra, Heather, Phillip, Mollie. sitting: Mike

Now for photo #2 comments left in Sandra's album:

Karlyn: This one is okay, we do look kind of cute....AND Sassy!
Heather: I actually kind of like this one.. although why are Mollie and I the only ones with our hands on our hips? Did we honestly pay someone to take pictures of us?
Mark: Probably was taken by the nerds from the Photo class.
Heather: Umm, I was in photo class, and I can assure you I didn't take this picture.
Karlyn: We got them done out at Royal Photography. I believe you two have your hands on your hips because you are on the ends!?
Heather: Huh. Yeah I suppose so. Guess my portraiture eye is just annoyed with the asymmetry.

comments left in Heather's album for photo #2

Stephanie: Sweet!
Ryan: You're like the superman of coolness. You wear a mild manor t-mobile employee costume, but in reality you're the coolest person that ever lived!
Karlyn: Um...coolest Ever? Hmmmmmmmmmm
Heather: Don't pay him any attention, Karlyn. Ryan is a little crazy, LOL.

And, for the comments in my album for photo #2:

Lia:So cute!
I should look for my sweater! We moved last year and I'm not sure where it ended up. Better make sure it's okay (lia was an officer the following year)

Here is photo #2

From left to right: Heather, Mike, Me, Phillip, Mollie. sitting: Sandra

I know this post is entirely too long, but isn't it hysterical? Okay, maybe just to me, Sandra, Heather, Mark, Stephanie, Ryan and Lia, but nonetheless.......

Soliciting!

Does it really work if you put a "No Soliciting" sign on your door? Please let me know!

I have seriously considered to just stop answering my door! I don't know if it where I live, or my cute house or my charming personality or what! But I get so many stinking solicitors at my door. During the day in the summertime I usually get 5-6 a week and if I can see that it is a solicitor I don't answer the door. However....when your kids are outside playing and they come to the home, there is no way around them! I said "No Thank You" at least a dozen times. And, it doesn't help when they are selling children's books and you have a book worm for a daughter that is standing there giving you the "pretty please" expression.
I stood my ground. I said "No Thank You" to his ridiculous payment plan, half now $235.00, half in two weeks. I said "No Thank You" four times to his counter offers of 4 different options, the cheapest being $116.00!
Call me crazy but doesn't "No Thank You" mean "NO THANK YOU!?"

ARGH!

Karlyn + Food = Happy!

I am a picky eater, we all know that right? But, you should also know (if you know the previous statement) that when I like something, I usually love it, and will eat a lot of it. There has been many a million a time during the past 12 years that Aaron has said stuff to me like, "Oh, did you drop your food?" or "Oh no! Did someone steal your food?" or "Did you forget to get your food?"

So, to get to the point I was sitting here thinking the other day that most of the pictures of myself that I really like are of me eating, and usually if you look at the plate in the picture, the food that I am eating is nearly gone or gone. I found this kind of funny, so I said to Aaron, "Don't you think it is kind of weird that all of my favorite pictures are of me eating? And he said in his loving husband sort of way......

"Well, that's when you're the happiest!"

Dramatic Discoveries

Yes, we are at it again.....Teague started Dramatic Discoveries today. It is the Youth Theatre program for 5-8 year olds. It lasts two weeks. It's Monday - Friday from 9-12, so not too bad. Except for the whole gas thing.
Piper said that he could borrow one of her t-shirts since Teague didn't have one yet. So we woke him up and he was pretty gung ho! He ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, washed his hands and face and got dressed without one complaint (This is very unusual for Teague). We were out the door without any problems (again, unusual for Teague).

He was walking backwards in this picture

Piper spent the night at Grammies, so it was just he and I in the car. We talked and he kept asking me why I like to watch and listen to the news. Over and over again.....whatever.....When we pulled up to the West Institute he got a huge smile on his face and said, "WAAAAHOOOO!" We walked upstairs, he signed in, put his snack on the shelf and got his t-shirts, then stood there patiently (????) waiting for instructions. It ends up that Eleanor (Piper's friend Robin's little sister) and Zev (was a fellow gosling in Charlotte's Web) are in his "Company" (class). And Stephanie, the girl/lady that played Charlotte is his teacher. After everything was situated, I took off. Teague didn't have a care in the world, he just waved and said "Bye Mom, I love you!" Now, this is what is weird. Piper's first year she was the same age as Teague is now, so tell me this...why was it harder for me to leave Teague than it was for me to leave Piper two years ago? Is it because Teague is so small, that it seems weird to see him with kids that are all a head taller than him? Or....is it because he is my baby, and it is weird for me to see him with kids that are a head taller than him that are all his age doing the same thing.....growing up? He isn't a baby anymore! And I won't have another baby. Does this mark the beginning of an end for me?



Anyway, at noon, I was sitting on the stairs waiting for him, he came and sat right next to me and said, "I was kind of bad!"
"What?!?" I said.
"Well, just kind of!" he said
So, I went to talk to his teacher to find out what he had done. Apparently....NOTHING! During music time he just had a hard time staying in his seat and was standing up trying to be funny.....so in other words, he was not being bad, he was just being.....TEAGUE! So we had a little talk about staying in his seat during class. But I love that they let him be himself! I am glad that he felt okay being himself. And, he didn't get in trouble...at all. However, he got the idea somewhere that he was being bad. Hmmmm......I don't want Teague to ever feel like he is being bad when he is just being Teague.

He told me that he loved it and can't wait to go back tomorrow.