Les Miserables Denver

I gave Adam our Les Miserables tickets for Christmas, so it had been a long wait to see the musical at the Buell Theater up in Denver last Saturday, but it was definitely worth the wait!  This musical is an absolute favorite of ours, as it is for so many people.  Because it is AWESOME!  We've seen it three times before this, once just before we were married and twice since we were married.  And it was a favorite musical for Adam's family long before I ever saw it for the first time, so he's seen it several times.  It never disappoints!  This touring group was amazing, all had very strong voices and were great actors.  We thought we had seen the new stage format before, but apparently the last time we saw it was still with the revolving stage, because the set seemed unfamiliar, but wonderful!  The backdrops were beautifully painted.

We shared the day with our friends Chad and Adri Murdock, who we purchased our tickets with.  And when we found out Adam's parents would be able to make it to our house (coming from AZ via NM) before the 2pm showing, we talked them into getting tickets with us too.  Let's be clear here, it wasn't too hard to talk them into it.  They found a pair of seats not too far away from where ours were.  We all loved it!

Wow!  It was such a wonderful production.  The songs are going to be stuck in my head for days!

The Last Day

I am writing on the last day of school for the 2012/13 school year, even though the post isn't going up until a week later.

What a great year for my boys!

It's been one of new beginnings and learning for Zac: a new start at a new school with new types of schedules and multiple teachers with different teaching styles; learning to change and adapt to a block schedule, meeting homework deadlines and facing the challenge of organization, something that doesn't come easily to him.  But he's had a great time, most days he would come home saying his day was "awesome."  He's made some quality friends that I love having come around the house.  He's happy and excited and has told me more than once that in my efforts to prepare him, I made middle school sound horrible, but, in fact, he's loved it.  He is a confident kid, faithful, smart and with a good heart and a beautiful optimism about him that help him through those "horrible" bits, if he even notices them at all. 

Ben has continued to strive to blast through limits and break records.  He finished up the 5th grade math curriculum during the third quarter of the year (mind you, he was in 4th grade this year), and started in on 6th grade math and hands-on equations.  He made power-point presentations with quizzes on curriculum the class was working on--for fun.  Every parent I meet who finds out I'm Ben's mom says, "Oh!  I hear Ben's really smart!"  Smart or not, he sure has made that reputation for himself, all while still remaining a great friend, helping peers in their work, assisting his teacher when he finished up his work early.  I don't know how he balances know-it-all with great-funny-guy, but somehow he does!

Josh proved to be every bit like his brothers in his ability to organize himself this year...not his strongest skill!  We had a couple of mornings where he had to go late to school to finish up homework that had been sitting in his folder for a couple of weeks.  But he remains our "absentminded professor!"  He is so bright, plowing through books, flying through math pages, it's hard to keep him interested and motivated.  I am grateful for a teacher that knew how to foster his curiosity while keeping within age-appropriate subject matter.  Fortunately, he never has a bored day at school because he is incredibly social; the first thing kids tell me when I am introduced as Josh's mom is, "Josh is so funny!"  He loves to get a laugh, hang out with his pals, and just be wacky.  He banded together with a few other boys this year and was constantly begging for playdates with any one of them.

Luke had a fantastic year!  I had so many reservations about putting him in school with his late-spring birthday and his sensitivities, but he's bloomed and blossomed and shown me that he was ready!  He is reading, adding, subtracting and although it makes him "tired," he loves going to school.  He had a really great class, a class eager to learn and get to work, and I hope he ends up with many of them next year.  It created such a positive learning environment for all the kids.  I am so proud of how well Luke has done, all the hurdles he's jumped and the progress he's made.  He struggles with perseverance when things get hard, but then he will completely bust through some difficult task and prove to himself and us that it's not so hard after all.  Although we still see some of his challenging behaviors, like emotional melt-downs, at home, he reins it in at school, and that has helped him figure out how to rein in at home too.  He's so excited to eat lunch at school next year and have TWO recesses!

This week on Tuesday, Adam cheered on Zac as he received a medal for maintaining above a 3.5 GPA for the year at the Team 642 Awards Ceremony.  I was able to attend his team picnic and end-of-year celebration on Wednesday.  On Friday, I helped in Ben, Josh and Luke's classrooms for their end of year parties, needing a nap when I got home in the afternoon...how do those incredible teachers do it all day, everyday?!  It is great to be there in the boys' classrooms from time to time, seeing them in their element, experiencing living in their day-to-day.  The boys have such great teachers, education support and peer groups.  

I have to admit I shed a few tears this afternoon as the school day and year drew to a close.  It was a year ago, but I feel like it was yesterday I was sitting in 6th grade orientation, and now the year is over and Zac's in the middle of middle school and the other boys are all moving on, Josh into the upper grades, Ben to be among the kings of the school--5th graders (!), Luke heading off for full-day, away from me all day.  Even Tommy will start preschool in the fall.  Why does time have to go so fast?  I love these days with my wonderful boys, and I love the schools they attend with the educators they have had! 

Summer is ahead, glorious summer, hooray!  And with all that we have packed into it, I am sure it will be over in a blink of they eye too.  So I am praying that I will take time to live in these moments, really live in them...be present, so that when the days are gone so quickly, I will be able to remember and say that I was there.

Zac's First Temple Trip

This week our ward's youth had their first trip up to the temple for temple baptisms since Zac turned 12.  I was so grateful that I was able to be there with him on this very special day.  Zac is becoming a young man full of strong faith and a desire to do the right thing.  It made me feel such joy to see him so excited to go.  I am so proud of him!  I felt honored to be there as he took part in the sacred experience of being within the temple for the very first time and I will cherish this tender experience, of seeing my son participate in his first ever temple ordinance, always.  Zac and I both loved when the temple president spoke to the youth and told them that one day they would be able to meet and embrace those for whom they were doing the work. 

If you ask him what he thought and how he felt, he'd say, "Awesome."  And it was.

Our Week: May 19-26

This week's Instagram digest is a bit short because, well, we had so much BIG stuff going on, most of the pictures got their own posts!  Here's a few of the bits: Luke, who turns 6 on the 2nd of June, chose to bring delicious mint brownies into his classroom for a little early celebration, I think his teacher was excited about grown-up palate-pleasing treats for a change; we had some lovely skies during an active weather week--no surprise since our weather moves across into the plains, turning into the EF5-tornado-producing weather that hit Moore, OK on Monday; Zac earned the "Mathematician of the Quarter" award for his 6th grade team, which came as a great triumph after a bumpy start to his 6th grade math year (YAY!); school let out for summer (hooray!); Josh ended up with a splotchy sunburn after trusting his sunblock reapplication to his best buddy during the 2nd grade end-of-year "beach" party--I love how you can see the finger marks--lesson learned; Ben got a cool gift from his recently-returned-from-Nigeria best buddy Micah; and Tommy gave his first primary talk on Sunday and did a great job--it was nice that Grandma and Grandpa could be here in town to hear it;

The Best Tree the AIES Stage Ever Did See

During the final week of school, the kindergarteners had their chance to shine on the AIES stage with the production of Goldie and the Three Bears.

Oh my goodness!  Does it get any cuter than 35 kindergarteners dressed as flowers and trees standing on the stage singing songs about things being too hot, too soft, just right, etc. and of course, the grand finale moral-telling song called "Don't Snoop!"?  Oh!  And there were dance moves!  No, it does not get cuter than that!  It was darling.  Every parent/grandparent/aunt/uncle/sibling/invited-family-friend there had their camera or camera phone held high in the air with pride for their little tree/flower.  Conlins included.

Luke's afternoon class and one of the full-day classes combined for the performance and they were so great!  There was a wee problem with the sound system, so you couldn't hear most of the lines, but the songs were sung with gusto.  All the kids had at least one line.  Luke's was about Papa Bear finding his bed has been slept in, and I've got to tell you, he spoke loud and clear so you could {almost} actually hear his line even without the mic.  We were so proud of our little shy guy for his bravery, his loud, clear voice, his dance stylings and his can-do attitude.  I don't know if I would have believed it two years ago if you told me that this would be happening, back when he wouldn't even look at a strange adult without crying and hiding.  And I was so happy to see how proud of himself he felt.  He had a great time and wasn't nervous a bit.

His favorite part?  His tree mask.   

A Quick Getaway to Surprise

A few months ago I got a call from my father-in-law....  My mother-in-law, Nicolle, had a big birthday coming up and he wanted to know if maybe I could sneak away for a day or two to surprise her with a mother and daughters' spa day while they were down in Arizona for the graduation ceremonies of my niece (community college--AA) and nephew (high school).  Um...YES!!!  I could definitely do that!  Thankfully, Adam was totally game too.  So last Sunday morning I flew down to Arizona for the best surprise I have ever been a privy to.  My father-in-law did a fantastic job coordinating it all so that Alea and Ashely, Adam's Seattle sisters, and Bree, our Utah sis-in-law, all arrived at nearly the same time.  We drove from Phoenix to Casa Grande, the hometown of Adam's sister Angie's family and waited for the unsuspecting birthday girl to arrive from church.

Surprised indeed!  I think she saw Ashley first, and didn't really process it.  Then she saw Bree and I, who she sees a lot less because we don't live close, and that is when the shock hit.  It was so awesome!  There was laughter, and a few happy tears.  It was perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  Nicolle had no idea!  We were all so happy!

There was a little party at Angie's that night, followed up by some hot tub chatting at the hotel.  And then arrived the spa day.  O happy day!  In addition to the birthday queen, daughters and daughters-in-law at the spa, there was our niece, Kylie, and Janet Madsen, Angie's mother-in-law.  It was absolutely wonderful.  All day by the pool...except for the hours we were in for our massages and facials.  Doesn't get better than that!

We all flew out on Tuesday morning, pampered, relaxed and bummed that we couldn't be together longer.  

A beautiful time, with some of the most beautiful women in my life, celebrating the beautiful life of my beautiful second mother.  It was...BEAUTIFUL!  I sure do love this amazing family that I got lucky enough to land myself in!

Father and Sons'

Two weekends ago our ward held the annual Father and Sons' camp out at Camp Joseph, the church-owned camp where I've attended Young Women camp the past couple of years.  It was both Luke and Tommy's first Father and Sons'; Luke, because he didn't want to go until this year, and Tommy, because we always had a "no boys in diapers" rule that kept him home until now.  Josh was still away in Orlando, so Adam packed up the four remaining boys, left me for a peaceful night with some chick flicks, and headed down to Rye, CO. 

Following camp set-up and a campfire-cooked dinner of roasted hotdogs, there was a great devotional on the priesthood, a cracker barrel junk-food-fest and some run-around in the dark to burn off all the sugar boy craziness--while the dads sat around the fire and chatted.  This year none of my sons ended up 30 feet high in a tree and no bears were spotted, so I call it a success!  They all stayed up way too late, got up way too early and had an all-around GREAT time!  The boys, all five of them, are asking when they can do it all over again!  Adam, who is still working the kinks from sleeping on the ground out of his neck, is attempting to push that happenstance out a bit.

Please note that when Mom isn't there to take pictures, you get what you get...and I am grateful for all four photos taken!  

Music Men

Last week the Conlin Chaos was treated to a May musical display extravaganza!  Zac's spring concert was held a week ago Tuesday night.  The following day, Wednesday night, he participated in the Grizzly Gala, where the various "arts" are represented at the school.  The kids who took a 2D or 3D art class, those that participated in drama, as well as those who were in the band or choir were all invited to display their art and the families are invited to come see the displays and watch the performances.  Zac played several short pieces on his clarinet over a 20 minute period, including Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" which he learned just for this night.  It sounds really cool on the clarinet!  It was his last night of performing on clarinet, as next year he was chosen as one of only two baritone saxophone players for the 7th Grade Band.  There were a lot of kids hoping to move from clarinet to sax, and he feels thrilled to have been chosen! 

Last week's Wednesday night was also the night of Ben's handbell and choir concerts.  Zac's performance time ended with only 20 minutes to move from the middle school to the elementary school.  May!  Crazy month!  Ben has been participating in both the 4th Grade Handbell Choir and 4th Grade Choir all year, arising early twice a week to attend practices before school.  The choirs performed music from around the world.  During the performance of "Sakura" by the choir, Ben played accompaniment on the recorder and did a great job!

Finally, this past Monday was the night of Josh and Ben's piano recital.  As I was away in Arizona, I missed it, but Adam caught every note on video for me.  They've been taking piano from one of my musically talented young women since January, and both boys have really enjoyed it, Josh in particular.  It's been fun watching their musical skills grow.  Josh played "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter for the recital and Ben played "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" from Winnie the Pooh.

I love that my boys love music and I am so happy that, with all that they take on between school and athletics, they still make an effort to make music such a big part of their lives.

Josh's IncredibleAmazingWonderfulFantastical Orlando Adventure

Last week was the best week of Josh's eight years of life, hands down.  It was the week of his 8th birthday Nana and Papa trip, and I can tell you, he's been waiting for four long years for his turn, ever since Zac's trip to DC.  And then two more longer years since Ben's trip to Hawaii! 

When "the Nana/Papa trips" (as the boys call them) were first conceived back in 2008, and Josh was only 4, he said he wanted to go somewhere with roller coasters.  The idea of going somewhere with roller coasters was tossed around for a few years, always on the assumption that Josh would come up with something more concrete as he got older, but the roller coaster theme seemed to have stuck, and since we've been to Disneyland a handful of times, Nana and Papa thought Disney World might be a fun alternative.  Christmas 2011, while my parents were visiting, Josh saw A Dolphin's Tale, a movie based on the true story of Winter, an injured dolphin who receives help from a Florida marine rescue center.  Josh has developed a deep love for all creature-kind over the past few years, and immediately after the movie he said he wanted to go see Winter.  That sealed it!  Orlando was THE place!

On Mother's Day, my parents and Josh set off for Orlando with a HUGE to-do, must-see list.  Thanks to Groupon, they had many adventures planned in addition to their visits to Disney World and Winter.  Josh, who finished the seventh Harry Potter book on the plane flying to Orlando, was thrilled that their first stop was one day at Universal Orlando, home of Harry Potter World...plus so much more!  The next day they took a swim with manatees, which was fantastic because earlier this year, Josh did a project on the Mangrove Forest and the manatee, its gentle, endangered resident.  The day following their swim, they saw Winter, where Josh had the chance to practice his marine mammal veterinary skills on some stuffed turtles, took a boat tour of the bay and learned from on-the-job marine biologists/ecologists; and because of lucky timing, followed up their Winter visit with a viewing of a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral.  Keeping with the "animal" theme, Josh picked Disney's Animal Kingdom for the location of their first of two days at Disney World, which included a live-animal safari.  Their fifth day they took a fan boat tour of the Florida marshes, seeing many endangered and protected species, and toured Kennedy Space Center, taking a ride in a launch simulator!  Their last full day in Orlando found them back at Disney's Magic Kingdom, similar to Disneyland, where they started the day with a balloon ride up above the park, and ended the day after midnight--shutting down the park because as they headed to the parking lot they passed ride after ride with barely any line and couldn't help but jump on!  

It's funny, in the end, Josh only went on a few roller coasters.

To say the Nana/Papa trips are incredible, amazing, wonderful and fantastic is just scratching the surface.  They are awesome trips, yes, but it is so much more.  It means so much more to the boys and to us.  This week for Josh was a week where he was enveloped in his grandparents' love, one-on-one, purely Josh-focused, for one of the few times in his life, and certainly the longest.  His interests were highlighted and enriched.  He learned so much, fell more in love with things he already loved, and came home happy, helpful and excited.  This, I know, will be one of the defining times of Josh's life, as I am sure is the same for both Zac and Ben.  We, as a family, not just the boys who get to experience these incredible journeys, are so grateful, and so blessed by these trips!

Thank you X 10,000, Nana and Papa!

Our Week: May 13-18

May seems to be just as busy as December!  All with good things of course.  This week: Landsharks wrapped up with a BEAUTIFUL race night; we skipped spring and shot straight from winter to summer; sunsets and sunrises amazed and inspired; the breaststroke was {kind of} learned at swim lessons; this season's soccer practice comes to its final week (yes!); Ben forgot how to dress himself but figured out how to make a very complicated, very cool origami Fire Dragon; Tommy's vast rock collection...on our piano...grew and grew; I finally got around to hacking into the old used-up Swiffer Wetjet bottle in order to fill it with a water+vinegar mixture for use over and over (hooray!) and it worked like a charm; Tommy has Kimble over for a rare play date for one of my little boys (I was so good about play dates for the big boys!); I have a long wait at the dealer for an oil change (hey! this blog is to capture all of daily living--even the mundane!); Tommy, Adam and I grab an afternoon treat on a beautiful Colorado day; the men of my family head off for the father and sons camp out--and {somehow} I manage to endure the quiet and peaceful night alone {sigh}; Zac plays brilliantly (he's so fun to watch!) in the stake Deacons' basketball tournament, our team taking 2nd in the stake, only losing to a team that I think had 20-year-old deacons on it for how gigantic they were; planting preparation begins...finally(!); Tommy takes a rare car nap after a late night/early morning camping; and we have our final soccer Saturday of the season watching Ben's team play in the Prodigy Cup--tryouts ahead!