OREO TRUFFLES

This is a recipe I found on www.allrecipes.com and it is so yummy and good. I would have a picture but they are all gone.

1 8 oz. bar cream cheese softened
36 oreos finely crushed in a blender or food processor (do not use double stuff because they will be too gooey.

Mix these ingredients together and form into 40 or so 1-inch balls. Freeze for a few hours.

Then you need
9 oreos finely crushed in a blender or food processor
2 2/3 cups of semisweet chocolate chips melted in the microwave or on the stove

Dip the cookie balls into the chocolate using 2 forks to allow the excess chocolate to drip down. Cool on wax paper. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the balls with the 9 crushed oreos.

Wii did it again!

In addition to all of the Lego Santa brought, we gave the kids a few more Wii games this year: Mario Kart, Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics and Sports Resort. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle David got us Guitar Hero World Tour and Lego Rock Band and Grandpa and Grandma Williams got us some new accessories.

You might think we would be tired of all of this by now, but NOOO! We are having a blast. We limit Wii time to about an hour a day (if at all) and this has made it a valuable reward. It is so fun and the kids work together on a lot of games. I am not good at all, but I like to play when I am home by myself.

We did not just play Wii last week though. We also had a Melvin L. Huber family reunion that I was in charge of. It was not a big deal, but we had a potluck and picnic at a nice park/preserve out in Gilbert. It was fun to see everyone, especially my cousin Heidi whom I have not seen in 10 years and all of my newest nieces and nephews.

This week I am working my usual 3 days and then we are off to Sierra Vista on Thursday for New Years with the Williams clan. Should be fun!

Hallelujah (Chorus that is...)

Matthew happened to mention the other day that his teacher knows the Hallelujah Chorus. When I asked him how he knew that he said "because when I start singing it, she sings with me." How great is it that Matthew feels comfortable singing in class and that his teacher feels comfortable singing with him.

On the singing note, we are halfway through the Boys Choir Christmas season and have completed 4 of 8 concerts. They sound beautiful and Matthew is having a great time. They sing some of my old favorites as well as a couple of new ones. It is really fun to travel around the valley and see other churches. Marissa and Andrew had their school concerts early in the month and they were enjoyable as well. Andrew earned a new moniker from his chorus teacher which Marissa has adopted - he is a "Funky Bass Brother."

My Cub Scouts did it again and made me proud. I got the idea to send my brother-in-law Brady a care package. He is serving in the Army in Afghanistan and will hopefully be coming home soon, but not before Christmas. In a little over a week's time they made over a dozen Christmas cards and snowflakes, and gathered over 30 pounds of snacks and treats for him and his unit.

I am feeling extremely grateful for my job and the children and families I serve. It is a privilege to work with them and I feel blessed by it daily. A new, sweet, 2 1/2 month old baby girl is my latest addition and I could not be more excited.

Life is good, the weather is cool and my heart is ready for Christmas.

Seventy-six trombones, 20,000 walkers, 3 cans of frosting and sprinkles

We have had a really busy month with Andrew in "The Music Man" for his high school in addition to Cub Scouts, stake musical rehearsal, Boys Choir, the JDRF Walk, school, work, and so on, but it has been good.

Andrew did really well as the bass in the barbershop quartet for the musical although it still throws me off to hear him sing so low after being a first soprano for so long. He finished off the Halloween weekend by going Christmas caroling with a couple of friends for Halloween.

The JDRF walk was fun. Susie and Emily, my sisters came as well as my nephew Jordan and our friends, Lynne and Taylor Turschmann. The kids got tons of free stuff and we raised some money for a good cause.

The stake musical is next week and Lee, Marissa and Matthew are all participating. I am excited to see it after hearing about it for a couple of months.

Marissa is going to spend a night at Outdoor Ed at Lake Pleasant this week. She is also busy revising her book which has been edited by two of my very good friends.

I went to Seth's class for a Fall Party on Friday and got sent to the cookie table. The kids definitely had more sprinkles and frosting than cookie. It was really fun.

Matthew is busily getting ready for Choir Christmas season. He is excited for their number "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Lee and I are busy working and taxiing kids around to activities.

Life is still good.

Same old, same old

We are well into the school year and I am getting back into the routine of car pools, rehearsals, more rehearsals, scouts, Mutual, Activity Days, etc. It is good to be busy sometimes, but sometimes I just want to get off this merry go round for a few days. I look forward to Sundays because after we get home from church at noon, we have some time to just be together, read, play games, etc. No homework or TV on Sunday so that simplifies things even more.

I should not complain too much. I am truly blessed. Lately, it has been so fun to see my children learning new things and sharing their talents. It is amazing to me to see what they are able to accomplish. They are growing up to be fun, talented, happy, pleasant, mostly polite and good kids. Lee and I are not always sure where they came from.

I am really looking forward to General Conference this weekend (and it is not just because I get a break from Nursery.) It is so nice to just sit and listen to those inspired messages and get charged up for the next six months. I went to the Relief Society meeting last night and it was good.

I know that none of this may be profound or life-changing, but life is good and I am glad for it.

The Soprano Who Now Sings Bass

Well, Andrew tried out for "The Music Man" this week for the coveted role of the barbershop quartet (the School Board). I was on pins and needles all week and I can't imagine how Andrew was feeling. I knew he wanted the part badly, but I also know that he is a Freshman and that sometimes these parts go to deserving upperclassmen who have put in the time and effort into the drama department. We told him that any part would be fun and that we wanted him to do whatever they cast him for.
He tried out on Tuesday, and callbacks were on Thursday which he went to after school. He said that at the last callback there were eight guys trying out. I talked to the choir director and she said that Andrew had done "very, very well." The cast list was posted early Friday morning, so I had Andrew call me from school. He was so thrilled to tell me that he got the bass part. Even our other kids were excited.
Now, I hear from the older sister of one of the high school boys that everyone is talking about that "Andrew Reay kid who got the part in the musical." At least it is good gossip!
Okay, enough bragging! I am just really happy for him.

Back to School!

Although I know that I should be totally happy to have my children back in school - and part of me is, since I worked all summer and did not get to stay home and play with them - it is with a little bit of sadness that I sent my children back to school last Monday.

Andrew is now a Freshman at Sunrise Mountain High School. He missed the bus his first day to come home (not bad considering he has never ridden a bus to or from school in his life.) But, since then, it has been pretty smooth sailing. He likes his classes, which are Algebra 1, Intro to Engineering and English/World Humanities and Chorus. He tried out for the show choir singing both bass and soprano just to show off. Only 9 boys tried out so he thinks he has a good chance of getting in. He will be trying out for the school musical this week which is "The Music Man." I am so glad he is jumping right in.

Marissa is in 6th grade this year and her teacher is someone that Grandpa Huber hired for the district when he was principal at Peoria High School. Small world. She is also taking Algebra 1 at school (although she says she doesn't like math), and she is excited because her teacher is going to put a lot of focus on writing. She is in the school chorus and we are going to try and find a new piano teacher for her, since hers is going to college in a couple of weeks.

Matthew has a teacher who is new to the school this year but he says she is really nice. They are going to be making a flashlight at some point in the year and he is really excited about that. Boys choir will not start until September when their first gig will be singing the National Anthem at a Diamondbacks game. Too bad it is on Sunday so he can't stay to watch.

Seth has moved over to Copperwood with Matthew and Marissa this year since he tested in, but also because I did not want to leave him at Apache since Andrew is gone. He seems to like school, but by Friday he fell asleep sitting in our rocking chair after he got home from school. It makes for long days for some of these little ones. He is in second grade and is excited because there is another boy named Seth in his class.

Lee is still teaching in the gifted program at 3 schools for 6-8th graders. He is busy as ever, but seems to enjoy it. He is learning a new math curriculum which is taking a lot of time though.

I am busy with work and other projects like Cub Scouts. I still love my job. However, one thing I hate about this time of year is that I have nothing to look forward to in big holidays or vacations. This summer our older kids had some fun trips, but our wonderful week at the cabin and a weekend at a resort were all we had. I know it is more than some, but it is sad to be back to routine.

Our World Travelers!

I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated this blog. My niece Emma (see Extinct Stinks) does a great job with hers and she implied that I had been a little negligent.

Our most exciting news is that right now we only have two children at home - no, we are not early "empty nesters"- Andrew is gone to Japan for a Phoenix Boys Choir Tour and Marissa is spending time with her Reay granparents and cousins in Utah. Both are having the time of their lives.

Andrew has been able to visit many historic sites and stayed with Japanese host families as well as performing both scheduled and impromptu concerts. They also got to ride the bullet train. We have gotten a few pictures and e-mails and he seems like he is having a great time.

As you can see they all look pretty happy. The director has been really good about keeping us updated on what they are doing, so we can vicariously experience Japan. I can't wait until Andrew gets home so that I can hear him talk about everything. He was able to e-mail us at one host family's house and he told us that his family lived 10 minutes from the beach and that they had 2 girls - one 15 and the other 12 - who both spoke English quite well. He also said that he was buying souvenirs. I hope he still has some money left at this point.

Marissa has been having her "dream" vacation. She has been horseback riding, hiking, doing crafts, swimming, going to see "Singin' in the Rain" and - one of the best parts - hanging out with her girl cousins. She gets enough of boys at our house and at Cub Scouts and Boys Choir. She does not really like to talk on the phone, but her Grandma Reay has kept us updated on things.

In the meantime, Lee and I have enjoyed a relatively quiet house and we went with Seth and Matthew to a local resort and spent 3 days playing in the pool with waterslides, a lazy river, etc. They are enjoying going to our community pool nearly every day and I am struggling to come up with different meals every night for my two pickiest eaters.

Andrew the Eldest

Today is Andrew's 14th birthday. He is not here to celebrate however, because he is at Scout Camp. We had the big bash Saturday before he left. He got an ice cream cake which he raved about (I'm glad, because it was my first attempt) and he had breakfast for dinner with all of the sausage and bacon he could eat (which is a lot!)

Andrew has really had some big challenges this year and he has largely risen to meet them. When he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (the shot kind) in September, I was so worried because he doesn't even tolerate getting out splinters well. But, he has really done well and does all of his own shots, blood tests, etc. and he keeps up with it without much prompting.

He also found his voice and found a new talent. He was privileged to sing a solo at one of the Boys Choir Christmas concert, which was a goal of his. He will finish his Choir experience this summer with a 16 day tour to Japan. He has spent 6 years in the choir and has given up many other opportunities and also relaxing on the weekends to do it. His new talent is....comedy. We watched a Victor Borge special on PBS and Andrew loved it. So, he worked up a routine based on the act and did it in the school variety show. He was a big hit. http://mediaserver.peoriaud.k12.az.us/ApacheElementaryMedia/media/movies/Andrew%20Reay's%20Comedy%20Routine%20-%20Variety%20Show%205-14-09%20video.wmv

He is looking forward to new challenges and excitement as he starts high school next year. I can't wait to see what happens.....

Birthdays in Bunches

You may have noticed that Marissa and Matthew have birthdays two days apart in November. Seth and Lee have birthdays 1 day apart in March. We did not plan that very well.

Lee is my wonderful husband of almost 15 years. He is great at playing with the kids, folding laundry, and keeping everything going when I am gone. He has a great sense of humor and he is a hard worker.

Seth is our youngest and he is still my "baby." He has a great imagination and he is often found in his own world. He loves to talk and loves to read and learn new things. He is still in the stage where he misses school when he has breaks and vacations.

I am grateful for my March birthday boys and I love them!

Wow! It's been a while.

Sorry we have been out of the loop for a while. I have been really busy trying to keep my job with the state budget cuts and also trying to keep services for the kids that I work with. I have also been doing some choir functions and everything has just ganged up on me.

Andrew did not advance past the regional spelling bee even though he made it through 4 rounds. He got out on the word "perfidy" which I had seen before but I couldn't tell you what it means. We were kind of glad to be done with that.

Other than that, life goes on.

A-N-D-R-E-W spells success!

For those of you who haven't heard already, Andrew won our school's spelling bee and a couple of weeks ago he took second place in the district bee, so now he is going to the regional bee on February 18th. Keep your fingers crossed for him. He has not really studied up to this point so I am not sure what will happen, but we will be cheering him on. (Too loudly, according to Andrew after the district bee.) I guess I have had too much experience at outdoor events where a well-placed "Woo-Woo" is appropriate.

The marquee was a complete surprise to us. They had misspelled "congrats" with a d instead of a t, but they changed it. We didn't even mention it to them.

Back to the Grind...

Although I am sure that I would eventually get tired of having my kids around all day every day, I wish that some breaks were a little longer. We had such a nice break over Christmas and spent some quantity and quality time together. Now we are back to school, rehearsals, work, etc. and it just gets hectic. I am looking forward to Spring Break already. Too bad Lee and the kids don't have the same one. We'll figure something out though.

But, life is not all bad. The weather has been great and we are enjoying being able to go outside, ride bikes, and so on and so on. Andrew is in the district Spelling Bee this month and we are proud of this accomplishment. It is also Choir Sweeps month - which we are just going to get through this year.