May means Recitals!

 It's all about music!  I love music. It brings so much joy to my life.  I love teaching music to children and watching them master a very difficult song.  Edward had a drum recital but we didn't attend because his youth group wanted to go camping the same night as the drum recital.  I was super sad to miss it because Edward has been playing for a year and it would have been cool to see his progress.  

 

 

Nolen had a piano recital with Eli Tracey and I had my recital with all of my students.  All were successful.  It was incredible to watch all of these kids grow and change.  Nolen played his cello at my piano recital and did great.  He is ready to be done with cello which sort of makes me sad.  But I am so proud of what he has accomplished!  

For memorial day, we went on a little family run.  I am learning to be patient with myself and with Nolen as he struggles through growing pains and wanting to try something new. 

Edward applied to three jobs on Sunday and went to his first job interview on Tuesday at Dion's.  He didn't get the job but that will not deter him. 

LBJ Cello Concert

 I absolutely love that Nolen is still playing the cello!  He is such a good cellist.  He is great at practicing and working toward learning new songs with the school.  This was a sweet short concert for the end of the year and Nolen played great.  

13 and a half

 Today, my sweet Nolen is thirteen and a half. Which means he is half way to fourteen! I just can’t believe how grown up he is now. I used to worry about this time in his life and turns out, I worried for absolutely no reason. He is a wonderful boy. He is helpful and honest. He is kind and silly. He loves to make people laugh and his jokes crack me up. 

We didn’t do anything special today. I am so grateful for my sweet Nolen. I love him! He wants to be done running and I am finally ok with that. I haven’t wanted him to let running go but I realize that is my dream and not his. He is thinking about doing jiu jitsu and that seems like a necessary change of pace for our family. 

Happy half birthday, Nolen! 

Family Photos 2024

 Like clockwork, I forced my sweet family to take family photos for my Mother's Day gift.  I love this family of mine.  I am so grateful they indulge me year after year.  

Mother’s Day

 Why is mother’s day so triggering? It brings up many conflicting emotions including; joy, sadness, failures, love, lost love, and so much more. My mom has been sick for the last year and a half. It has been extremely hard on her. I feel so selfish and I just want her to get better and for things to go back to the way they were. However, I know they can’t and they won’t. This Mother’s Day, I played the piano for a girl to sing in church and taught the relief society lesson. The boys picked flowers for me and wrote a card. Stephen made me brunch and bought me flowers. I made dinner for my mom, including bread. We played games and forced my mom to come downstairs and be social. It was very hard for her. She is dying and I don’t like it at all. 

Saturday night, Blair and I ran in the ladies night 5k. It was so fun! We wore matching outfits and Blair got a PR on her 5k time! We had a blast!