Just a Dog

When Jennie recommended this book, she warned me that it had a sad ending. OK, the dog dies, I thought. I can handle it. All dogs die. It's not like I'm going to be crushed by a literary canine's demise. I proceeded to spend the next few days intermittently chuckling, snorting and just plain putting the book down to snicker for minutes on end, reading about all of Marley's misdeeds. Marley reminded me of one dog we had growing up, Rhys. When Santa brought him, my brothers and I just stared at each other, wondering if our parents had gone completely insane. They had. Rhys was a 30-pound puppy, and grew up and up and up to be a 150-pound Irish wolfhound who would jump into the air to catch a crust of bread. Nobody needs a beast like that living in their house. Yet I remember the grief I felt when Scott and I were backpacking through Europe and Rhys died. I wasn't even there to say good-bye.
I knew Marley and Me would end at the vet's office, but I couldn't put it down. When Scott got home tonight from his day out with his brothers, I was sitting on the couch with Star draped over my lap, which never happens. But I needed her there for moral support. My eyes were puffy and red, and I whispered through sobs, "Marley died," like he was somebody we knew. Scott, ever the dog lover, was unmoved. I think he said something compassionate like, "Well, DUH!"
Even if you've never loved a dog, Marley and Me is a good read. Like the author says, dogs can teach you about the things that really matter in life: Loyalty, courage, devotion, simplicity and joy. When Star gets to be a nuisance, I think about Freestone crying in the car on the way home from Disneyland..."Star!...Staaaaar! I want Star!" Poor kid was homesick for his dog. That's priceless.

Roller Coaster

No wonder we're all tired by the end of the day. Each day is an emotional roller coaster ride, if you think about it. Our brains are as schizophrenic as springtime in Utah! For example, take a look at my morning...

7:30 DENIAL, ANGER, BARGAINING, DEPRESSION, ACCEPTANCE, when I look out the window and see the snow.

7:40 GRATITUDE upon seeing that most of the kids are up and getting ready.

7:54 AFFECTION, seeing Golda walk sleepily up the stairs in her jammies.

7:54 1/2 HORROR, realizing that today is Thursday and Golda has choir at 8:00.

7:55 PANIC on Scott's part when he and Ruby thought I had screamed "FIRE!!!" instead of "CHOIR!!!"

7:56 HYSTERIA, accompanied by DETERMINATION, (Golda WILL NOT be late for choir!) as I make a snack for Golda, grab her backpack, throw on her shirt, remind her she has no pants on, throw a brush in her hands and race her to the car.

8:01 SATISFACTION, driving home with wet hair and mascara running down my face, from dropping Golda off on time to her practice.

8:05 GUILT, realizing Xanthe has been knocking on the wall, wanting to get out of her crib, for ten minutes.

8:06 DELIGHT, seeing Xanthe's cute new haircut from yesterday and hearing her say, "Wet's go show Eli, Esmae my new haih-tut!" It really looks cute. It was her very first haircut; she finally grew twelve bucks worth of hair, enough to warrant a trip to the salon.

8:25 FRUSTRATION at the fact that Freestone cannot find socks that aren't "too soft" or "too tall," or "girl socks." I know, socks are an issue around here.

8:30 HAPPINESS as Ruby finishes her guitar practicing. TEMPERED HAPPINESS, thinking about flute, violin, more guitar and cello left to be done.

8:40 RELIEF, watching Ruby and Ari walk up the street with full tummies, full backpacks and shoes on their feet. Three down, two to go.

8:45 SHOCK AND AWE upon entering Freestone's room and seeing the candy carnage from Easter. Empty eggs, candy wrappers and naked jelly beans litter the floor. The graffiti on the wall is a nice finishing touch: In primitive letters, it says, "I'm 4," surrounded by various letters of the perpetrator's name. Had Scott seen the graffiti, he would have said with ANNOYANCE, "Well, where did the kids get a marker?", (as if they were on the Endangered Art Supplies list) at which point I would have experienced CONTEMPT toward my wonderful husband. I might have even said something SARCASTIC like, "Gee, they must have somehow figured out the combination to the lock on the marker safe." Honestly, I secretly LOVE wall art. I still have a backwards Ari (irA) on my bathroom wall from 2005.

8:46 RESIGNATION, realizing I can't possibly have the house in perfect order by the time I leave, which should be in about one minute.

8:46 DEFEAT, bending over to halfheartedly pick up one of the two thousand or so candy wrappers. PAIN, stepping on a broken plastic egg.

9:00 EUPHORIA...All the kids are where they are supposed to be, nobody is trying to wiggle out of their carseat, I think everyone left with their hair brushed, and I get to listen to NPR for at least a full minute before Golda calls from school, DISTRAUGHT, saying she forgot her lunch. Smiling CALMLY, I turn the car around. Forgotten lunch is a problem I can solve. For those problems, I'm THANKFUL.

Anyone else feeling a little emotional today?!

It's Like A Zoo Around Here!

Whether we're actually AT the zoo or not, it's wild all the time. Zeljko and Jen are visiting, and it's so much fun! The kids saw a white alligator at the zoo AND a real life security guard at the children's museum. Which do you think was more exciting? Hint: The museum is going to have to ramp up their kids' classes if they want to compete with relatives of prehistoric reptiles! Although the security guard did give them badges.

Easter Bonnets

Happy First-Sunday-After-the-First-Full-Moon-After-the-Vernal-Equinox! Was that the easiest way to plan Easter they could come up with? How about the second Sunday in April? We can't be planning stuff around the phases of the moon. That's how holidays end up in the wrong month. Nevertheless, we had a beautiful weekend with brilliant blue skies, loads of cousins and friends and non-stop celebrating, secular and spiritual. The Easter egg hunt was so much fun yesterday. I think we had plenty of eggs for all the kids. It is so fun to see friends and neighbors gather on a cold Saturday morning for such a fun task!
Easter dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house was a 6-hour event with enough delicious food to keep us happy the whole time. If you think your mom is a good cook, I invite her to a throwdown with Marlene. I warn you, Marlene could beat Bobby Flay at anything she wanted to! Thanks to Grandpa's new trampoline, several hours went by where I didn't see any of my kids.
Easter morning stared out with Xanthe's worst fear coming true: a giant rabbit breaking into our house. But he left treats, so her fears were quickly quelled. The King brunch saw another beautiful day and another fabulous meal, with the company of more of my favorite people. We are so blessed to have so many relatives whom we count as friends. I love every one of them so much. We saw Dopp, Hill, DeBry, King, Barber and Bazail relatives this holiday, and we have even been joined by the Mijatovic side of the family tonight, now fast asleep upstairs.
How blessed we are, and how thankful. I hope you all feel renewed and uplifted by the simple and profound reality that our Savior lives.

One More Peep...

OK, one more batch of peeps. But they're so fun and easy and colorful!
Today there was a monster in our gully. He had five purple belly buttons and he chased kids. And he was invisible. Golda had lots of stories to tell about him, but Freestone held up his hand and said, "Don't tell me AAAAANY MORE 'cause I might have NIGHTMEERS and I don't even have a dream catcher!" I think in the end, Free dispatched his imaginary friend, Emma, to take care of the monster. It was a good match, since the monster was imaginary, too. I just thought you should know, so you don't have "nightmeers." Happy Easter!

Make A Peep

I found myself in the car with a leprechaun and a bride the other day. With all these holidays crammed into one week, it was bound to happen! It's a good thing we're not Irish Catholic, or we would have been trying to observe Lent, on top of all the celebrating. The atmosphere was so festive in the Minivan of Mythical Characters, I braved the grocery store with Xanthe wearing three skirts on various parts of her body, and nothing else. (Thanks, Ari!)
With the confluence of holidays, we went straight from "Erin go braugh" to Easter peeps. Chocolate-covered Easter peeps! Hence the chocolate-covered kids. As if they couldn't get chocolatey enough by accident, they thought it was great fun to smear chocolate all over their faces. They do make cute little peeps!
Good thing I don't have ANY food in my fridge, huh? Those fondu peeps have to chill. They actually turned out cute and tasted surprisingly addictive. (Yes, addictive equals good in my book.) The best part of the project was sending the kids out into the sunny world while I wrapped each peep in a cellophane bag and tied them all with ribbons. It's all the Zen I can get at this point in my life, wrapping candy in pretty packages, but it's enough. Who has time for meditation with Spring Break starting tomorrow?!

Friends Make My Day

My wonderful friend, Michelle gave my a "You Made My Day" award! Thanks, Michelle! That's quite a compliment, coming from someone who has been making my day since 5th grade! I have to pass the award on to Tiffany, another lifetime friend. Tiff, your pictures and descriptions of spring have cleansed me of my bad attitude towards the season and made me see the beauty once again. And I love the part about the Rite of Spring. Maybe I'll rock out to Stravinsky if it starts snowing again! Tiffany inspired me to go outside and take a picture of some of the many green things that are making their debut in my yard. And just to make your day, all of you, here is a picture of some of Tiffany's Love Boxes. Even when there isn't a bloom to be found, nor a blue patch of sky, I still have these works of art to fill me with happiness. Thanks!
And for more entertainment...conversations with kids...
Freestone: I want to practice with my CAPE ON! It makes me fast.
Me: OK! That would make you play your song really fast.
Freestone: Not that kind of fast. Running AWAY from you fast!

And Ruby: "Uuugh, Daddy is stirring my hot chocolate and I like it shaken, not stirred! Hellooooooooo!" Question: When did Ruby start watching James Bond movies?

Opera Notes

The three older girls and I got to see Cinderella today. Not the Disney character, but the opera by Rossini. It was Araceli's first opera, and she was excited enough to select an outfit that included every color of the rainbow, as well as an array of accessories and a handbag with a 6-year-old version of a 72-hour kit in it. (snacks, crayons, extra barettes, old party favors...) Scott and Free watched Transformers. They were in heaven in their cloud of manliness.
When I was a kid, my family had the same opera seats we still sit in. For some reason, I loved the opera. The rich red velvet curtain, the warming-up sounds from the orchestra pit, tragic tales of unrequited love...candy at intermission! My youngest brother didn't share my enthusiasm. Often, he wore headphones so he could listen to sports during the performance. Once, he cheered out loud during an aria. You can imagine how that went over with my parents, who would literally give you the evil eye for sniffing too loud.
Ari was so well behaved during the first act, I started to wonder if she was sick. I imagined myself holding my purse open so she could throw up in it. (Quietly, I was hoping.) But she wasn't sick, just enthralled with the performance. At intermission, I asked her how she liked it, and her reply was, "Let's go get candy." OK, so she knows the drill. I guess we don't all have to be rabid fans of Rossini at age six. At least she was entertained. If I was wondering whether the girls would get anything out of the experience, my brother answered it for me when we visited him after. When I said Rossini, he started singing a funny part of the Barber of Seville that we thought was hilarious as kids. (This isn't the headphone brother:).) Just the fact that Traj and I still have that joke in common was enough for me to look forward to taking the kids to their next opera. There are worse things that could make up the fabric of their childhoods.
We were lucky enough to run into my friend, Eli, after the opera. He plays his gamba or cello outside downtown events. The kids always look for him because he is so nice to them. Eli and I went to school together and lived in close proximity at the Rainier, if any of you remember that far back. Looking at the picture, it probably isn't apparent, but I see a man who helped me through some rough times in violin making school, and who offered me words of wisdom when I was too naive to have any of my own. To say Eli is plagued by demons doesn't do justice to the breadth of his intellect or the depth of his soul. If you see him pouring his heart into his music outside a Jazz game or a concert, know that he carries a universe of compassion and understanding, that he is a scholar and a thinker, and that he is my friend.

Bottlenose Dolphins

I'm a little bit bitter about the "spring" weather here. Every year, I forget that spring in Utah means snow, cold wind and ugly, bare trees. Fortunately, Ruby is keeping the beach vibe going with her Bottlenose Dolphin diorama. I wish you could see all the detail in the sea mammals and the gull flying overhead. Ruby designed and executed it all on her own, and it turned out looking delightful. The finishing touches were brown sugar sand and shells from Bibbey's shell shop. Ruby's report was well done, too. It said, "Bottlenose Dolphins eat fish, of course. They jump out of the water, open their mouths, and there's their lunch!" Another part I liked was, "Great White Sharks prey on Bottlenose Dolphins, but the dolphins are extremely fast swimmers. Good job, dolphins!"
Good job, Ruby! Everything Ruby does is filled with her unique personality, and I love it. Ruby is an old soul, seemingly full of wisdom and grace beyond her years. I tell her how brilliant she is, but she reminds me about how she hasn't passed off her seven times tables yet. It's a tricky balance, raising kids with humility and confidence, all at the same time. I want them to know how amazing they are, but to temper it with modesty. How do we teach them that balance?

Sunkissed and Sandy

There is something about the crashing of the surf and the seduction of the warm sun that makes me look at my calendar and wonder if anything on it is necessary. I guess we can't spend all of our time searching for sea glass and digging for clams, but last week was an exception. Wednesday night, we drove (sobbing) from Disneyland to our favorite condo in Imperial Beach, wedged in there between San Diego and Mexico. It's a sleepy little surfer hangout that the California Touism Board seems to have forgotten. All day Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we had virtually the whole beach, ocean and pool to ourselves. I had my book to read, but it was more entertaining to watch what the kids could do with a long strand of seaweed and a bucket of shells. Ari spent hours gathering ingredients for the soup that the mermaids kept coming to eat out of her sand bucket.
Our favorite dinner in I. B. is the giant Seacoast pizza. It's so big Scott almost decapitated himself when he slammed into a wall carrying it. It took us 3 days to eat it.
There are certain things we always do in Imperial Beach. One is the world's best 99 cent store. I know it's not up there on the top ten list of things to do in Southern California, but I've found treasures there. Remember the Jerry Seinfeld Halloween books? This time we found Pez dispensers for 33 cents for the Easter Egg hunt. Scott loaded the cart with cookies that I initially made fun of, and subsequently hoarded and gobbled up myself. Scott also took the older girls to the outlets on the Mexican border. I didn't want to lose beach time, so I stayed with the others.
Even though we made good use of every hour with walks along the pier, browsing at Bibbey's shell shop and searching the rock jetty for treasure, we weren't ready to go when Saturday afternoon came. We left at 3:00 and didn't get very far when we decided to stop and surprise the Atnips in Temecula. Tim and Courtney are some of the few friends we have whom we didn't meet in first grade. They traveled with us to China, and we bonded instantly. How can you not bond when your taxi drivers are drag racing each other? We had some exciting adventures with the "California Dopps," as Scott calls the Atnips. Anyway, we walked into their back yard unannounced. Unperturbed, and maybe even excited to see us, they took us to their favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. Xanthe was sad to leave her "friend a China." If Courtney gives me the OK, I'll post some adorable pictures of all the kids! (Tim and Scott included!) We had so much fun catching up with Tim and Courtney. Of course, Tim had our next get-together planned by the time we said good-bye.
We returned home to an immaculately organized house, right down to the kids' sock drawers, thanks to my mom. Organizing is her calling in life, and she spent our whole vacation Coconizing our house. Everyone was ecstatic!
Now that we're back in the tentative spring weather, I don't mind the chill. I can look up at the patches of blue and imagine the sky in Imperial Beach. I can almost feel the warmth on my face and almost smell the salty air. It's nice to have a place that is always waiting for your return, and always in your heart, like an old friend...

Magic

I'm sure you have all heard about the Dopp Disney Trip 2008. It was awesome! Nikki planned the perfect trip, with just the right amount of together time vs. flexibility. Nikki even made big gift baskets for us, with snacks and toys. Thanks, Nik!
Scott and I wondered if four days at Disneyland and California Adventure would be too much, if the magic would wear off. It didn't! Well, there was one point when we couldn't tear any of the kids away from a COLORING TABLE. Scott and I resisted the urge to bark, "We didn't pay hundreds of dollars so you kids could sit here in the shade and color! Now get out there and stand in some lines!" On the contrary, it was heaven to have down times like that, to keep them happy and relaxed. After every ride, Xanthe would turn to me and say, "Wazzit FUUUUN?" Her favorite was the "Pea-pup wide," with the "lellow peapups." Poor kid had no idea what to expect from a ride. Freestone knew what to expect and he was wary. He preferred to sit out the big rides, hugging and/or wielding his new Mickey Mouse light saber. Ari and Ruby were the dare devils who accompanied Scott on free falls and roller coasters.
On the fourth day, at ten minutes to closing time, we were still running from ride to ride, still feeling the magic. I noticed Golda looking around, as if she wanted to take it all in. Suddenly, tears started pooling in her eyes and she ran to Scott, hugging him. She didn't want to leave Disneyland. When Scott told her she would probably be 13 next time we take a trip to Disneyland, we ALL started crying. Driving out, I heard stifled sobs from the back seat, where Golda and Ruby were looking back for one final glimpse of the magic kingdom. I wanted to take them in my arms and run with them back to the Peter Pan ride. If only the ride could deliver what it depicts...endless childhood, with no worries about the tumultuous years ahead. The best we can do, short of pixie dust, is to hold them close and take them places where time can be slowed, where we can all feel childlike together, where riding in a giant teacup seems plausible and where no matter your age, you are Peter Pan.

Wide Awake in America

Generally, our family is pretty good at sleeping. We're not Olympic material or anything, but we do OK. The past couple nights in hotels, however, we're been UP! Example: Xanthe chanting, "Izzy come my house, get candy, get chocolate," at 5:00 in the morning. Sounds like a primitive form of party planning. I like it! Anyway, you can't snooze at Disneyland. You might miss something! I promise you, at this rate, we won't miss anything. We're having a great time!


...It's Monday night, and we have had what seems like a year of a million dreams, just today! Favorites included Soarin' Over California, the Aladdin show, Tower of Terror and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. With 27 people, half of whom were kids, you just couldn't mistake us for anything but a big Mormon family from Utah! The best part of the trip is that the kids get to have so much fun with their cousins. Tonight, all the little tykes (and Scott) are fast asleep, so we'll hope it's a NIGHT of a million dreams!