Issue 26

More Peter Pan

Participating in Peter Pan was such a memorable experience for the whole family. Steve L. worked on his theater merit badge during the process and he and his dad helped paint the pirate ship. The window seat boxes in the nursery were painted by yours truely.

Peter Pan's grand entrance.Wendy, Michael and John flying
Tinkerbell

Steve delivered all his lost boy lines perfectly and with great energy.

"I won't grow up!" (That's Daniel on the far right.)

Janey as the white tiger

We had the perfect Captain Hook for our play.Steve- My favorite part of being in the play was being out on stage and acting in front of everyone. My favorite part of the play is when Peter and the lost boys sing “I won’t grow up.” I can’t wait until I can be in other performances.

Daniel- Being in the play was a great experience. I loved being a lost boy. It was really fun meeting all of the people. My favorite part of the play was when they were in the nursery because there were funny parts.

Janey- My favorite part of being in the play was doing curtain call, because we got to come in first to bow. My favorite part of the play is when Michael is learning to fly and the only happy thought he can think of is candy.

Life after Neverland by Noreen

Life after Neverland –

After the curtain closed Monday on the final performance of Peter Pan, (yes, I dutifully watched my children in all 6 performances,) I had to “grow-up” and contemplate putting structure and order back in our lives. I officially declared Tuesday “recover from Peter Pan day.” I let everyone sleep in (after many late night performances) and then put them all to work. We cleaned and did laundry for 9 hours straight. Wednesday we woke to our wonderfully clean house and rebooted our familiar homeschool routine. (Now if I could just get the songs out of my head!) The play was a great experience and the kids are looking forward to doing another. I told them it could be an annual project, because I just don’t think I (or my house) could handle the intense play schedule more often than that.

Issue 25

Quinn’s Homecoming!!

My baby brother Quinn (sorry man - you'll always be my baby brother) return home on Friday from his two year LDS mission to Iowa. We have loved following his mission vicariously through e-mail and he has been such a wonderful example to our children. Several missionaries were coming home on the same flight and there was quite a crowd waiting for them to arrive at the airport. I had dreamed four times the night before that we had missed his flight coming in, so we were at the airport for a good hour before he finally emerged triumphant into the baggage claim area. A great cheer burst out from the whole crowd when we finally saw the first suit turn the corner. There were hugs and tears all around. Quinn, we are so proud of you and glad to have you back. And your looking GOOD!

Pilgrim Hats

Janey went to bed before I remembered to have her tell you about these adorable pilgrim hat cookies she made. Her Liberty Girls held a craft fair and all proceeds went to the Humanitarian Aid fund. They are clever and easy. You coat a marshmallow in melted chocolate and center on an upside down fudge striped cookie. Chill in the fridge and then make a buckle with yellow decorator frosting. They were a hit and she sold out for a good cause.

Opening Night by Steve L.

Last Night we preformed PETER PAN. It was opening night (kind of coincidental that it was my Mom's birthday) and it was a full house. It felt great to actually perform. All those who weren’t there: YOU MISSED OUT!!! After two months of practice the big days are finally here (there are six performances) I LOVE ACTING!

(Note by Mom: THANK YOU SO MUCH to Great Grandma, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that have come or will come to support the kids in their play. They have worked so hard and it was so wonderful for them to perfrom in front of their family.

I'm not happy with the dress rehersal photos I took, and I promise better photos next week. Steve had another performance tonight, 3 on Saturday and one on Monday! Daniel and Janey are in two of the Saturday Performances.)

Whangamata by Noreen

The best part on staying at Opoutere for 8 days was it was only a 20 minute drive to our favorite beach Whangamata (said Fongamutah, go figure?) Playing at the beach at Whangamata were my father summered as a child was my favorite part of our trip. It's the best boogie-boarding beach we've ever seen and we taught all the children down to Janey how to ride the waves. They took to it like fish and had so much fun. Clark Island is an island not far of the beach that at low tide you can walk out to on a sand bar. Anxious to try this Steve found out when low tide would be and he and Whitney hiked over to the island and explored. They had fun but the water was up to their chests and we didn't feel it safe for the younger kids to try. When we came back to the beach a couple of days later we found that he had misread the sign and they had actually crossed at high tide! Oops. We crossed that afternoon at low tide and the water only came mid-calf on the little girls. The children were fascinated with all the hermit crabs they found hiding in the rocks and we played until the tide was turning and we had to head back to the beach.

Clark Island.

The walk to Clark Island.

Issue 24

Halloween

My children were replaced the other night by a hillbilly, a robot, a black knight, a scary witch and a beautiful Snow White. First we had fun Trick-or-Treating at Great-grandma's assisted living home in the afternoon. It was fun to show off our costumes and the kids brought in a haul, Trick-or-Treating at the residents' open doors. Then they canvased the neighborhood on a surprisingly warm evening. We had fun placing familiar faces with their houses. Whitney offered to stay home and man the candy bowl every time the doorbell rang, so it was the first time I got to go Trick-or-Treating since becoming a mom.

A close up of Steve's awesome handmade costume. I love to see his creative spirit shine.

Toothfairy

"When will my tooth fall out?!" This question has been my constant companion since Janey first noticed a small wiggle in a bottom tooth a few weeks ago. The fateful day finally arrived, and Janey produced the world's smallest baby tooth for the Tooth Fairy. It was a proud day for her and she loves showing off the front and center gap in her delightful smile. Tonight she noticed the neighboring tooth was loose, and I have a feeling that I'll be hearing for the next few weeks, "When will my next tooth fall out?"

The Willows by Steve L.

Two weeks ago I went on a scout camp to the Willows. I had chess class, so I got there late. We had a dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers and stayed up until 11:00 playing Kubb (if you don't know what that is, it's the funnest game on earth. When we got up in the morning we went on a big bike ride. We would have ridden all the way to Thanksgiving Point, (the trail went right by there) but Eric (one of the other scouts) almost got frost bite, so we had to turn back. When we got back to camp we packed up and went home. It was fun. I'm going to go back there and ride the whole trial sometime when it's not so cold.

This is Kubb. It rocks!


Me, Eric, and Jared coming back with the kill. It took us over a half an hour to saw this off a dead tree. It was worth it, plus it was fun celebrating.

Cold morning (Under 20 degrees F). We had to warm our hands over the stove before we could start the fire.

Homecomming and Choir by Whitney

Last week at school there were two exciting things that happened. First was the Homecoming dance. It was really cool and I went with my friend Aubry. I borrowed my mum's blue taffeta skirt and a white blouse. I went over to Aubry's house to get ready, and then we went to the dance. It was really cool and I got home at 12:30. It ended at 11:00, but I went to Aubry's to get my stuff and we were tired, so it took ten times longer than it should.

I also had a choir concert too. It was really neat. There are three choirs. Anyone one can get into concert choir, but you have to audition to get into Bel Conto (A woman's only choir, I'm this one), and Madrigals, which is a choir for girls and boys. And the different bands where playing too. It went really well. Bel Conto sang three songs; Johnny said "No", Vois Tushionmea (A french song), and Al Shlosha (a Hebrew song). We sounded really good and we got a standing ovation from the crowd and the madrigals. It was really neat, and Mrs. Steinman said we where so good, that we are going to perform at temple square at Christmas time! I can't wait. (Eventhough we have to memorize five new songs that I've never heard before.)

Opoutere

We found the loveliest spot in all of New Zealand quite by accident. Opoutere is an enchanting campground that borders a pine forest. A short walk through the woods puts you onto the worlds most gorgeous beach and rare bird preserve. We originally signed up for two nights and ended up staying 8. We just couldn't tear ourselves away. We took the North Island at a much slower pace compared to the whirlwind South Island Trip. We filled our time with morning and evening walks on the beach, ice cream novelties, buying fresh plums from roadside stands, flashlight searches for eels at night in the river, and playing board games.

Opoutere happens to be the best place to view the New Zealand night sky in January in the entire country. Opoutere boasts it's own resident professional astronomer for five weeks every summer. He comes from Wellington to study the stars and gives evening lectures to everyone interested. The children were fascinated and asked great questions. We were fortunate enough to be present the week that McNaught's comet streaked past. We got to view it in the astronomers telescope and see it with the naked eye. (Click on the above image to make it larger.) This was a rare and unforgettable experience!

To see a map of the places we traveled so far in this series, click on this link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=-40.359103,172.875366&spn=8.067848,12.128906&z=6&msid=116765397961150020384.000451b63510a46db34d4>

Issue 23