The Value of Work

In trying to give our children a new appreciation for work, and what it takes to have a house run, we have tried to get the kids to do dishes.
So the other night, as Indy was hard at work, I heard the most awful grating sound. Brent and I looked over to ask him what he was using to clean the lovely, NON STICK, pan with? He replied, "a rock. It will scrape off all of the hard stuff."
Yes, my son, along with any finish that was ever put on the product! Lovely, just lovely!
Oh, and did I add, Dishes must now be done with the shirt off. Funny KID!

VIVA LA VIDA!

November 22nd happened to be a GREAT day for the Green Family--we were able to see our beloved COLDPLAY live in concert! Needless to say, they didn't disappoint!
The lights went out, and the BLUE DANUBE WALTZ started to blast. How cool is that?! They opened with Life in Techicolor and then went right into VIOLET HILL. (That song is McKenzie's Favorite! SOOOOOO many great songs with a few new twists.

I think I would have to say that my favorite number was THE HARDEST PART. Chris came out stage right-right on our side, with a baby grand and did the song solo. On the chorus, the drummer-clear back on the stage-would light up as he sang harmony and then, once again, disappear into the blackness. That song was SO beautiful and full of soul.

THEN, they ran off stage and ended up running into the crowd- TURNS OUT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ONE OF OUR TICKET GROUPS OF FOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, my brother in law was an ARMS length from the entire band! MY sister and I-who were on the opposite side of the venue, looked at each other like----WHAT THE (#*^%! I COULD have been us! But now, as my fever subsides, and reason sets in I realize that it probably was a good thing. That bouncer would NOT have been able to hold us off as they sang an acoustic THE SCIENTIST-one of my favorites.

After that was the crowd busting VIVA LA VIDA! I wish I could have recorded it for Indy. HE LOVES THAT SONG! Everyone was singing and feeling it. One of the final numbers was MY favorite from the new album- LOVERS IN JAPAN. During the chorus, thousands of colored paper butterflies flew down from the ceiling, for the perfect culmination of sound and senses. Afterward, I had people scrounge some up for me. When my kids accidentally ripped some the next day, I strongly advised them to be VERY CAREFUL. When asked why, I responded, "THESE ARE MY HAPPY THOUGHTS!" And yes, they have found a place on my wall. Each time I look at them, I smile.

You can consult my sister's blog for a complete set list and other amazing insights about the concert. http://web.me.com/thelampshade/RadRoberts/The_Mother_Blog/Entries/2008/11/24_c_o_l_d_p_l_a_y.html

IT WAS PHENOMENAL. There aren't many bands I would pay anything to see in concert, but this is one of two. It was worth every EURO! I could have listened to them for hours! YOU ROCK COLDPLAY! Please keep coming back! WE LOVE YOU!
If you have the means of seeing them, JUST DO IT!
"I could feel it go down. You left the sweetest taste in my mouth."
This last photo is for the CHRIS MARTIN I MIGHT HAVE TOUCHED fro two feet away!!!

TWILIGHT TIME!!!

Friday came, but it didn't go out until we got our first bite into the TWILIGHT FILM! After being so cruelly disappointed in the last book, I held myself at bay when it came to my obsession--yes, it IS possible for me!
However, when it hit 4 o'clock, I was dressed and ready to go!!! We traveled up to the District to join in the festivities with the TWILIGHT MOMS. I donned my sultry red VICTORIA costume for the look-alike contest, (VICTORIA from Eclipse). We grabbed a few branches from the trees for my hair on the way in! We had a great time visiting vendors, eating pork burritos and getting bite mark tattoos. Finally, after all of the hoopla I changed and we got to go into our assigned seats. COULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN A BETTER SPOT! THANKS SHANNON!
The movie was great! I really enjoyed it. I kept my expectations low and just took it all in. Some performances I was REALLy pleased with--jessica and all of the high school gang, Charlie and James. Bella and Edward seemed able to pull it off, and the Cullens were alright. I would have liked to see more of them.
My critiques are that there is a superfluous amount of close face shots, NO BLOOD TYPING SCENE, and the meadow scene was mixed with the "discovery" scene.
(And they should have kept Carlise dark-haried. His makeup was horrible.)
However, for a low-budget film with no initial concept of its mad following, not bad for a first time around. I had a great time with my fellow addicts and had to download the soundtrack the second I got home!
I'll probably go and see it again tomorrow! AND New Moon is now slated for production, so just ONE MORE FREAKING THING we have to wait for!!! This really is a murderous addiction--but a fun one! I give it a B+.

HALLOWEEN LOVE!

This year has got to be the funnest Halloween I have had in many a year! The kids looked great, had fun, and we got in on the action!
Presley started the week off with her dance class and pre-school parties. I have to say, have you ever seen a more beautiful, angelic cinderella? I think she kills Disney's version--and coming from me, that is saying something! Here are a few pics of her:



Indiana showed some REAL ingenuity by making a costume of what we had. He wanted to be slash--yes he has been playing a lot of guitar hero lately. I thought he looked great.


Kenzie, of course, followed her High School Musical heart and dressed up as Gabriella. I thought I had a black wig. Oh well. She still looked FABULOUS. Maybe we should go Sharpay next time.




Brent really took the cake as John McCain. He looked great, hunched over, thumbs up and a perpetual, "My friends..."coming out of his mouth. He was the bomb. Here he is outside my brother's family's GARAGE OF DOOM. The REAL highlight of the day.



I dressed up as Palin at a party the night before and we neglected to take pictures. HOPEFULLY, one of his friends will send us some!

Here I am in my Orange and black, halloween Glory.


And finally, for the coupe de gras, (Sp?) here are my brothers from the Garage of DOOM! Dustin was a menacing MOLA RAM and Lincoln made a perfect slave sacrifice with his chained emaciation! I'm hoping someone will send the other pics of all of us in our glory. My mom had a great gig going!



At the Garage of DOOM, (which dustin and tara took a week to set up for!) the girls were at the first checkpoint, the witches tent. There they had a bubbling cauldron and told stories of children to took too much candy. The young boys were at the next checkpoint as werewolves, skeletons etc, and went for the surprise attacks. At this point, a scary tour guide, one of which was John McCain, led our victims into the garage. There, they were accosted by me, an insane viking witch who liked to nibble on mice and eat eyeballs and other grossities. Some of the kids wouldn't take my candy even after I assurred them it was really just a bag of skittles. Following me, Tara took over as a ghostly tour guide through the haunted maze of talking heads, snake surprises, (which my dad was only too happy to man with the air compressor) and finally to the final, TEMPLE OF DOOM! There, victims were asked if they had ever tasted of the blood of KALI as Dustin ripped Lincolns heart, still beating, out of his chest cavity. The screams that came from that room were FANTASTIC!
It was great to enjoy the night as a family eating candy, (although if I ever have eat one more gummy fingertip, it will be too soon,) enjoying hot soup, delicious sugar cookies and scaring the pants off of 500 people in SLC. A GREAT HALLOWEEN! Thanks D&T!

Witches Night Out

A group of girls I grew up with have tried to get together every Halloween for Witches Night Out. This year, we managed to do it a few days later and spent the evening HOWLING with laughter and scaring all of those who dinned around us. There is such an irrepressible comfort of being with old friends who really know you, with whom you can say anything and just let your hair down. I am a FIRM believer that every woman needs good girlfriends as much as anything else this world has to offer. I'm so grateful for these gals. Here are a few scary pics of us in all of our GLORY!

Photo Information

Hey Guys,
So glad so many of you like the pictures. You can log onto the photographers website: karenhamiltonphotography.com
She is SO reasonable. Her sitting fee is a mere 50 bucks for up to 3 hours. Then you can negotiate pictures. WE just got the disk because there were TOO many good ones! Seriously, she is so fun and nice. Log on or give her a call!

Photo Shoot

Okay, STILL catching up from the summer.
So one beautiful, august day, my new found Utah friend, Karen Hamilton, graciously offered to take pictures of the tykes for me. Now, i normally have not done this because I take tons of pictures of my children. However, after seeing these AMAZING, LOVEABLE shots, I have realized that it is SUCH a good thing to have someone take a fresh look at your children for yoU!!! WE LOVE THESE shots. They will soon be PLASTERED all over. If any of you want her contact info, you can find her on the web at: karenhamiltonphotography.com
So here they are: McKenzie Kate--wanted to look a bit older and beautiful. SHE SURE DOES! AND her dream came true when she posed for her HSM shot. My favorite is of her as a blooming flower and in the hat as she looks at the camera--you can kind of catch a glimpse into all of the workings of her mind!






Next is Indiana: He sure is a cute lil' man. I love the eyebrow raise, the skater dude, and of course, he was dying to be Michael Phelps with goggles and american swimwear. Ooo-la-la!







Last is baby Presley. She was just TOO dang cute. there are too many to choose. The classic has got to be her habitual sniffing of her "bunny bear's" ear. Brent loves the ratty ponytails, i love the dancing, and of course, my FAV is of her prep school look. The juxtapostion of her acting like she is twenty and the three year old body is SO her! TOO DANG CUTE!




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All hail Karen Hamilton!!! These truly are TREASUREs !!!!!

I"m a MAN!

Indiana has been waiting LONG and HARD since Kindergarten to finally and officially graduate to "BIG-kid-Hood" by losing a tooth. He has even gone so far as to try and dislodge one. not pleasant.
So, FINALLY, thanks to a stubborn glue stick, a tooth started to wiggle. For the next few days, he worked on it. BUT, his fear of letting me pull it would not allow for the final blow--it was too harsh and gruesome for him. So, after talking to Grandpa Pead, he learned the new trick of tying dental floss to the loose tooth and the other end to a door and then slamming the door. LESS SCARY!?! apparently. For that very night, I tied one of my super dooper knots, Brent did the door work, and on the third try, BAM! Out it came! (I'll admit, I was a little anxious to watch!) I was trying SO hard to tape it, but couldn't find my camera. So here is the final product. He is now, officially, a man!

TODAY!

Okay, so I am WAY behind on posts. SO, I"ll just send them through as I feel inspired to write them. TODAYS TOPIC--NIEL DIAMOND.

The story begins as a college student. Fall-1996. A fellow friend, Justin Williams, and I found out that we had a shared love for all Niel Diamond music. On a whim, we went just to sit outside the delta center just to feel his aura; and it turned out that we got 7th row seats and the time of our lives.
Later on in the spring, our ward hosted its very exclusive and notorious LIP SYNC. Not wanting to miss out on being a part of this, we re-created a blast from Justin's past. He forgot all of the words to "AMERICA" in the 3rd grade and has suffered cruelly since. That day, we decided to right this wrong and came up with this amazing show in about 1 hour--also about 1hour before show time. (I must add here that my wardrobe is provided by MERCY STUDIOS--aka. Tara Pead, and it is ONE OF A KIND FABULOUS! One watcher of the show commented to me afterwards that this dress was indeed, "THE HOTTEST DREsS IN CHRISTENDOM!" THANKS TARA!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjZIuWGCOL8

Well, in late August, Justin decided to get married and all he wanted most was to re-live the most wonderful night of his life. SO, thanks to you-tube, and borrowing "the dress" we managed to pull off yet another historic appearance of Niel and his red lady. I stole a few pictures off a friends site. And let's just say, it was yet another thrilling performance. AND, even more miraculously, the dress fit. (The slit is just SOOO much higher that I remember it!!!)
ENjoy!

Missing...period!

My dear good friends,
How I love you. I had THREE comments about my MIA status in the blogging universe. I was explaining to Shannon that my computer is full and I need to download all of the pictures from the summer, etc. and she mentioned that I don't need pictures to blog...lightbulb!!! HELLO!!! Why didnt' I think of that?!
SO, I appreciate your harassment to blog. It makes me feel noticed and missed. SO, I am downloading pics right now (I just erased all of my music, we will see how that GOES!). BUT, more importantly, I AM WRITING. If feels good to get the feel of speed back into these fingers. Sure, the backspace is hit a least once a word, but hey, I'm an old dog.
SO, we had a FUN summer. My plan was to keep us busy and to partake of all of summers golden goodness. Mission accomplished! Brent was gone a LOT of the summer, traveling to Europe and Africa. You can check out his blog, and amazing opportunites on his blog (there is a link on mine). We went to Heber, Park City, and everywhere local. We fed baby cows, swam in springs, had a great photo shoot, rode the Alpine Slide for the Kids first time, watched clouds, had friends from Alaska, waited for Breaking Dawn, pulled off yet another girls camp, went camping--actually had BRENT camp with us--that is a FIRST!!!, went fishing, ran through a nice green, lush lawn for the first time ever since living here, ate 2 gross of Otter pops, went barefoot and had the MOST spectacular Cul-de-SAC of FIRE EVER!!! My Black Mambas were HUGE, BOOMING explosions of JOY! It was my Christmas.
Now, we are back in school, and I am missing the noise and the kids. I'm so content to be the evil step mother playing Cinderella with Presley. Now, she saw Hairspray and always wants to be TRACY. BUT, i LOVE just being in the moment with her--my regret is that I learned it seven and eight years too late for my others.
SO, the Show is BACK on the road!!! More excitement to COME! I love you guys!

I have ONE picture of devotion for you. Here is our family the morning of the day that BREAKING DAWN is to come out. Our dear alaskan friends stayed out all night, I came home to sleep and then joined them after my run in the morning. THen these amazing people came to be with us in line and join the HYSTERIA!!! The title of this picture is: NOW THAT"S LOVE.
(TOo bad the book sucked so bad. YES, I give it 1 star. But that is another post!)

Blog Slack

I know...no new posts. Its been a busy couple of weeks. Brent has been traveling a lot on business and we were in the middle of yard hell. BUT, now I have a lush garden of eden (to me. Anything beside dirt and desolation qualifies!) thanks to many neighbors and friend laborers in our little vineyard. SO, I'm STILL tired. pooped. i am steer manure!
Also, I'm really just trying to enjoy my kids this summer and spend time with them. THus, the priority of blog updates is decimated daily.
I DO get on and check out others bi weekly or so, so keep it rolling! I'll just sit on my hypocritical hinee and enjoy yours!
We are going to have some GREAT stuff in the FALL!!! ha ha. (hopefully, it won't be that long!)
HAPPY SUMMER!

The New Adventures of Indiana Green

This last week has been a whirlwind of fun and adventure for the Green clan. The planets have aligned leaving a bright spot on the horizon of our young sons life. His birthday happens to be on the EXACT same date as the release of the latest installment of his dear namesakes movies!!! Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!
Thanks to Brent's amazing professional expertise, Indiana was invited to be the GUEST OF HONOR at Utah's premiere of the movie at the Gateway in Salt Lake City that was sponsored by ABC4 and CW30!!!
We headed up early to make sure there would be NO missing this! Indiana wanted to eat at the HAPPY SUMO, so we enjoyed sushi, teriyaki and rice. We strolled down the lanes together, had a few photo opps and then went to the movie.
Inside, he was introduced to the crowd and received lots of applause and approbation! Then we settled in and enjoyed. I hate to get all mushy on you, but as a Mom, it was a Magic Moment for me. Who would have ever dreamed that I would be in a theater, watching an Indiana Jones movie with my young son, laughing, ohhing and covering our eyes. As we turned at the exact same points in the movie and looked at each other and smiled, I knew I had arrived. It just doesn't get much better than this!
He was interviewed the following day by the Daily Herald, and ended up on with a huge picture and a great article. Here is the link to that: http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/267493/17/
On his birthday, May 22nd, we visited the Dr. and then went to his class for Birthday treats. As he walked into that room, newspaper in hand, a huge smile went across his face. All I can say is: Happy sumo: 85$. Daily Herald: 5o cents. Seeing your son hailed as a hero: PRICELESS!
We then rushed home for the Deseret News interview, and then off to the movies. We were joined there by family and Indiana's two groupies, Mika and Kim, who had "INDIANA IS MY HOMEBOY" shirts made especially for the occasion! And again, we enjoyed the fast and funny adventures of Indiana Jones. The diner fight, the snake and the THREE TIMES happen to be some of our favorite.
At home, we enjoyed burgers-although, i'm wondering why I didn't think to serve snake and chilled monkey brains!-and the company that surrounded him. Lucasfilm sent him a HUGE movie poster that SHIA is going to sign for us. Harrison Ford's agent sent us the FIRST signed photo of him in the new movie, as well as his usual one. We also cleaned walmart out of the new Indiana Jones Heros-like our Galactic Heroes obsession which is now getting obscene. And of course, the whip. He has enjoyed some dang good, crack-a-laka with that!!!
He had SUCH a fantastic day, and I couldn't think of anything he deserves more. He is so patient and kind with his self-assured, and sometimes overbearing sisters, and we just wanted him to know that HE is special and that we value what makes him so sweet, funny, smart and UNIQUE. I think we could say Mission Accomplished! We love you Indy! Happy Birthday Buddy!

PS. He is on the FRONT page of the Des News this morning. Here is the link to that:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700228437,00.html