Tuesday, October 21, 2008

New Experiences

I can't believe I'm actually posting twice in one month. That is definitely a new experience.

Other new experiences for the Oliphant family this week: Andrew had his cast removed. The saw was definitely too scary, all that noise right next to him. He had to have a second cast put on, just a short one, for two weeks. The x-rays showed one bone still wasn't healed enough. At least he wasn't screaming at the sight of his x-rays again.

Sarah has her first real cold of the year, and is staying home from school today. That meant I didn't have to wake everyone up and get Peter to school since Kendall took him to school instead of taking Sarah earlier. Oh, for the days of no morning driving!

Sarah is also participating in a special youth choir for the church. They've been rehearsing for the past month or so. This Saturday they are doing the audio recording at the conference center, and on the first week of November they are doing the video recordings. My understanding is that the recording will then be sent to stakes or wards all over North America for a New Year's celebration they are doing. She is growing up WAY too fast for my comfort.

Both Kendall and I have new callings. Kendall was called to be the new Cub Scout Pack leader a few months ago, which he finds he is actually enjoying. (Except for meetings, which he's never liked.)

I was called as the ward choir director just last week. I replaced a wonderful lady who was the director for 6 years and a former member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Talk about intimidating. I haven't decided whether it will be fun or scary, but it will give me more reasons to visit Day Murray and get music. ;-) So I'm in charge of Christmas music...I hope no one is too disappointed in me or my choices. Talk about a growth experience!

Benji is old enough for nursery!!! That is just a joyful thing. Yea!!!!!!!! A great new experience for him (and Kendall and I, not having to deal with him during meetings anymore.)

I'll definitely have to do a Christmas playlist, though, since I'm having to be all musical now. :)

Friday, October 10, 2008

Tis the Season....

Last year as a Christmas gift for Kendall, I got together a group of people from our neighborhood (read: ward) and created a group of carolers. We didn't get started until November, but we were able to learn a few songs from our 'emerge' days to supplement hymns from the hymn book.

Well, we're starting again. It's so nice to be able to enjoy the sounds of the christmas season, with people who enjoy it as well. And hopefully, by starting earlier, we'll be able to learn a few more.

It's always so fun to go to Day Murray Music, to drool over all the music selections. I went on Wednesday while we were in Salt Lake to take Sarah and her cousin, Grace, to a Salt Lake Children's Choir rehersal. It would have been perfect, except for one thing...Benjamin. Our youngest definitely has no tolerance for car travel or being penned in a stroller. But Day Murray is DEFINITELY not a place to let a toddler run around. They do have a 'toy room', which looks like a converted closet (and feels like a church nursery), which entertained him about 18 seconds, until he realized I wasn't standing right behind him. I'd moved two feet away to look at music. So I had to rush through looking at music, and only had time to find one that we can use this season.

Talking about music, Kendall and I finally took time to figure out playlist.com. Kendall kept wanting to know what the catch was, how could we just add that music to our playlist, without having to pay for it. (Such a cynic!) So we went a little crazy, adding all kinds of music. And since I don't have the time or savvy to really figure out everything on blogging, Kendall got it on the blog for me. So if you're interested, you can peruse our music choices. In general, though, everything that sounds like it was written before 1960 is probably mine, while all the 80's heavy metal stuff is Kendall's (he has a soft spot for monster ballads). With a few exceptions, of course. The Queen addition was mine (I've been a closet Queen fan forever), and we mutually agree on More Than Words and Sister Christian. And somewhere in the middle is A Little Less Conversation by Elvis, and Jungle Love, both of which we associate with favorite episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond". That show hits pretty close to home sometimes. We'll let you figure out whose family belongs to whom. ;-)

We also agreed on Into the West, from Return of the King, but I can't listen to it without crying, so I'll probably skip it when I'm just listening to it on my own. I might go all holiday, though, and make a Christmas list to have on during the season.

One happy thing...Football is over!!! Wahoo!!! I loved how enthusiastic Peter was about it, but boy, it sure is a drain with the time commitment. So I'm glad we can use that time for homework now. (And Kendall is thrilled he can finally watch a BYU game instead of listening in stolen moments.)

And one of these days we'll get some family photos up here...I just have to have someone walk me through it once. Or twice.