April Showers . . .

or When it Rains, it Pours

I just finished a totally insane couple of weeks!

It started because my friend, Nicole, asked me (in the beginning of March) if I would make ten pioneer sunbonnets for her daughter Anna's birthday party on April 16, and I said I would. In the interim, she had asked if I'd also make Anna a pioneer dress and apron. Sure! No problem!

So, of course, I put it off until the last minute. Thursday (April 8) found me madly working on sunbonnets. That same Thursday Ryan reminded me that Pinewood Derby was on the 16th, and we hadn't even started making his car. I promised we would get to it ASAP.

Friday morning (April 9) I was about 2/3 done with the party bonnets when Nicole called to tell me that she was changing the party from the 16th to the 24th, so I'd have an extra week. Whew! "But," she said, "Anna is doing a "wax museum" at school, and the person she's chosen to be is Laura Ingalls Wilder, so could I still have Anna's stuff done by the 15th?" Naturally, I was almost done with everything except for Anna's stuff, which I hadn't even cut out. I said, "Sure. No problem."

I finished the first nine bonnets Friday afternoon. That evening I helped Melanie throw a bridal shower for Stephanie, our niece-to-be.

Saturday morning (April 10) I went to my exercise class—can't miss that! When I got home I pulled out the scroll-saw and cut out Ryan's car and got him started on the finishing (sanding, etc). It was also my birthday, and Bruce took me out that evening. :-)

Sunday (April 11) we had stake conference, so church was only two hours instead of three. Good! We spent the rest of the day making Lindsey's campaign posters.

Monday morning (April 12) I worked on the posters that we hadn't finished on Sunday—we thought Lindsey was supposed to put them up that morning. When they were done I rushed them to her at school only to find out that she couldn't put them up until after school anyway. That afternoon when I picked up the kids I helped Lindsey put up her posters.

Tuesday (April 13) I finally started on Anna's dress (I thought that she needed it for Thursday). During all the rest of this madness our computer got a nasty virus and we had to wipe all the drives. So I also copied all our important stuff onto discs that morning. By afternoon I was able to erase all the computer drives and I spent the evening installing stuff and doing updates. That night we all stayed up until 1 a.m. helping Lindsey write her campaign speech.

Wednesday (April 14), I took Michael to the orthodontist in the morning and then went to buy a few groceries. Back at home, I finished the pioneer dress and apron by 1:00—not bad! Then I got a phone-call from another friend who needed a ride to go run some errands in the afternoon; so I took her and got back just in time to pick the kids up from school. The kids and I delivered the sunbonnets and dress before we went home (I'll post the pictures after the b-day party). After dinner, Michael and I went to his board of review for his Eagle award that evening, and then returned some library books.

Thursday morning (April 15) I did major kitchen-cleaning because I was going to make Stephanie's wedding cake. Not much housework had happened the prior week. And on Thursday afternoon I started making the flowers for the cake. And sometime that day I also realized that, oh, crap! It's tax day! I'd started our taxes earlier, but didn't finish because of all the computer trouble. I had a super hard time getting into the online tax program, but I finally did manage to get my federal taxes in on time. Oh! And I also went to the school to see Lindsey deliver her speech that afternoon. Worked on flowers the rest of the evening.

Friday (April 16) I worked on the wedding cake all day until about midnight. I sent Bruce and the kids off to Pinewood Derby without me. Ryan came in 5th. This year is the last year we'll have a cub scout in the Pinewood Derby. (Dare I say, "Whoo-hoo!" ?

Saturday (April 17) I went to the stake exercise class in the morning :-) and then went home to work on the cake until 3:00. At that point it was ready to transport to the church. By 5 p.m. I was really all finished with it; I went home, fed the kids, and turned right back around to go to the actual reception. (Stephanie loved the cake!) As I was sitting in a stupor at one of the tables, thinking that at last I was done with all the craziness, I realized that I had to teach Relief Society the next day. Shoot!

Sunday (April 18) I taught my lesson, and it turned out all right.

All the stuff I'd done over the previous week or two is stuff I really enjoy. Any one of those projects in a week would be great—and keep them coming! A new one every week. All of it heaped together like that—on top of the everyday stuff—was a bit much. Although I have to admit I'm pleased with myself for getting it all done, done on time, and done well. ;-)

Monday (April 19) I thought things would be quiet again , but I ended up taking Kaylie to insta-care for a bladder infection. But I guess that, at least, is just normal mom-stuff. So, yeah, all is quiet on the Northern front—for now.

Not VP

Despite a celebrity endorsement, Lindsey lost the election.

She says her friends told her the other girl would win because she is more popular (which counts for a lot in middle school). But Lindsey and my other kids heard a lot of people say they voted for her. And when the winners were announced, they said the vote was very close.

Lindsey did a great job! She delivered her speech very well, she had fun with the campaigning, and she was—and is—cheerful about the whole thing. Yay for Lindsey—she's a winner!!

Extension

Last week was insane! I had ten million things to do and think about all week long! As a result, I totally forgot about the poetry challenge. However, this works to the benefit of all you budding poets out there—because I am going to extend the deadline to Tuesday night (April 20). So, two more days! Post your entries ASAP for the chance to win your very own, delightful, delectable dessert, made by the lovely, lily hands of Loralee!

Campaign Speech

On Tuesday night Lindsey's speech-writers stayed up into the wee, small hours writing her campaign speech. It is very clever—if I'm allowed to say so, being one of the speech-writers. I'm going post it here for your reading pleasure. But first I'll have to clue you in on some Entheos Academy-specific terms:

Crew—the classes are referred to as "crews" in reference to a poem that says, "we are not passengers, we are crew," meaning that we don't sit around waiting for someone else to do all the work, we pitch-in.
Expedition—a program that includes many field-trips and, in the middle-school, includes a couple of three to five-day campouts for each grade (7th-9th). They also call their main subject of learning their Expedition. So if a class is learning about "the industrialization of food," then every subject—reading, writing, history, even math—centers around the industrializataion of food somehow. (The Industrialization of Food is a real expedition that Ryan's class did this year, by the way.)
Discovery—a twelve-week program that could be anything from scuba-diving to princess camp; gardening to singing. They have three Discovery sessions in a year. The idea is that the kids will discover where their own interests lie.
Pedals for Hope—an annual cancer fundraiser that Entheos students do; this includes a two-month-long Penny War to see which grade can bring in the most pennies to donate, hair donations for Locks of Love, and a 40-mile bike ride.
Doug Miller and Amy are popular teachers at the school, who have been there since Entheos opened.

Here is Lindsey's speech:

"Hi! My name is Lindsey North and I am running for vice president!
Last Christmas I asked Santa for help with my campaign, so he sent me a letter to read to you:"

(At this point she holds up a big, fancy, red envelope, deliberately opens it up, and pulls out a sheet of fancy, green stationery from which she reads the rest of her speech.)

"Dear Entheos,

‘Twas the first day at Entheos and I came to the school;
I met all the teachers and wow! Were they cool!
I love Expedition; Discovery too.
The teachers! The students! Not passengers—they’re crew!

Entheos crews do so many great things;
They celebrate learning, they dance and they sing.
On middle-school campouts the hikes are a killer!
I swear Amy’s backpack’s as big as Doug Miller!

With Pedals for Hope you raise money each year
To help cancer patients and give them some cheer.
You go out on field trips, and fun nature hikes
For great, hands-on learning, which every kid likes.

And so every year students’ brains get so smart
While you work hard together—a crew with a heart.
When Santa sees all of the great things you do here
He wants to fly out with his eight tiny reindeer.

But I am so busy, and can’t come in Spring,
And so Lindsey North is the next greatest thing!
Lindsey is helpful; she’s caring and quick;
If she weren’t a girl you’d think SHE was Saint Nick!

She helps students and teachers—a great volunteer!
If you have a question, she’ll give you her ear.
So when you see my picture up high on the wall,
Choose Lindsey! Choose Lindsey! Go vote for her, all!"

Then she'll say thanks and sit down, I guess. Oh! And she's wearing a Santa hat throughout the assembly (more branding).

I'm going to go to the election assembly this afternoon to cheer for my candidate. I think Lindsey has a really good chance of winning. All the candidates had to practice their speeches yesterday; Lindsey said hers was the only one that rhymed and the only one that included any humor. That's a plus. And Jessica's teacher told Lindsey that she's already won most of the first grade with her Santa posters. We'll see. Speeches today, voting tomorrow, and then the weekend to stew before they announce the new student council on Monday.

Fun stuff!

On the Campaign Trail

Well I never thought I'd be very involved in politics, but I spent a lot of last weekend making campaign posters. Yes, Lindsey is running for Student-Body Vice President.

I had my own little stint with campaigning when I was in eighth grade. Mr. Strong came and pulled me from Mrs. Jewkes' Spanish class to ask me if I would run for treasurer. I really didn't want to, especially when I found out I'd be running against Wes Atwood, who was tall, cute, popular, and who I had a little crush on. But Mr. Strong pleaded with me, saying that I had fantastic grades, was a terrific student, I'd do great, and, besides, there was no one else to run against Wes. I accepted. But I was way too shy, people took my posters down (Jr. High—what else would you expect?), and my speech was a little worse than pathetic.

Fast-forward to Lindsey:

We decided that a play on our name, "North," would make a good, memorable campaign. We considered "A vote for Lindsey NORTH is a step in the right direction" or just "Go North!"
Bruce favored using pictures of Lindsey's siblings with the slogan "I'm voting for Lindsey North!" —which would be funny since almost all of her siblings go to the same school with her.

But we finally decided on "Santa likes the North and you will too! Vote Lindsey North for Vice President!" We made the Santa out of different furs and fabrics so he'd really stand out, and used this slogan for three of her six posters.

prototype of the Santa poster

Our second set of posters has pictures of her siblings wearing their school uniforms and a Santa hat. By each child's picture it says, "I'm voting for Lindsey!" And then it says "Lindsey North for Vice President" at the bottom of each poster. Her larger poster also has a photo of Santa (along with the brothers and sisters). Santa says, "I like Lindsey North"

Lindsey, at campaign headquarters

Is it very fair and/or ethical to use Santa Claus to endorse your campaign? I'm sure Santa really does like Lindsey. :-) (But he probably likes her opponent too.)

I think Lindsey gives her speech on Thursday morning, and the elections are that afternoon. A whirlwind campaign! I'll let you know how it turns out.