Adam and Boys' Chorus on the radio

First, let me say that Adam also did a fine job at the piano recital, but his video wouldn't upload to the blog.

Adam has been part of the Tucson Boys' Chorus "Training Chorus" since September, and their big holiday concert was last Sunday, December 20. It was recorded to be broadcast Christmas Eve on KUAT-FM 90.5. If you're interested, you can also listen on the Internet at http://radio.azpm.org/kuaz/ at 8:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Here's the program.

Here are some photos of the event (the picture quality is not great because we didn't want to use the flash):

My heart melted when they walked out on stage with their choirboy robes for the first song. Adam was front and center.


This was during the encore. For both shows, Dr. Ackerley (the conductor), walked on stage at the end, bowed with the boys, and then shook Adam's hand! I guess it was because Adam was right there in front, but the audience seemed to be amused by Adam's obvious surprise. However, due to Adam's regular practice with shaking the home teachers' hands, he recovered and shook like a pro.

The Tucson Boys' Chorus is a fantastic organization, but ended up being more of a time commitment than Adam was willing to continue making. At least the Holiday Concert was a really nice finale to Adam's Boys' Chorus career.

Piano Recital -- Ian

December 5

A Magic Carpet is Not as Much Fun as it Sounds

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to the Post family reunion in Marana. Even though it was a really windy day, the kids had fun riding 4-wheelers and the swings hooked up to a horse exerciser.

After lunch and family business, as we were getting ready to leave, someone announced that any of the kids who wanted to ride the "magic carpet" could go out into the arena. All the kids excitedly ran out to find the following:



(Heath is in back in the blue striped shirt.)

Okay, I'll admit that the kids looked happy while they were riding it, but when they got done, they looked like this:

(Adam's eyes are closed because his eyelashes are full of dust.)

And they complained all the way home about being strapped to the roof of the car because they were too filthy to ride inside!

A Green Halloween

Here's what I liked best about Halloween this year: Adam, Ian, and Heath came up with their own costumes and put them together all by themselves (without Mom having to buy a thing!). And Luke was perfectly happy to wear a costume each of his older brothers had already broken in for him.

Drum roll, please, as we reveal the environmentally-friendly Welker Boys Costumes of 2009:

Tigger!

Magician/Wizard!

Tiny Tim!

"Yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Madison Avenue and Hollywood, poised with my clinical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!"
(Adam may have borrowed this idea from some old friends named Calvin and Hobbes.)

Seriously, our recycling of Halloween costumes has everything to do with how much we love the earth, and nothing at all to do with my reluctance to spend money and time on something that will only be worn one day a year!

NYC

I intended to post photos from our trip here, but John already posted the best ones on his facebook page, so take a look there if you'd like to see them.

As far as commentary, I will just say that I loved New York City! (Or at least Manhattan, which is where we spent the entire time.) I loved the crowds, the beautiful buildings everywhere, the shopping, the history, the great food, the museums, the subways, our hotel, the shows, the parks, just everything. I'm sure I've never been anywhere else that had so much of whatever-it-is-you-want in such a small area.

Okay, one photo, because I just can't have a blog post without a photo. This is us after seeing South Pacific at the Lincoln Center. It was a great show. And then afterwards we ambled by the Metropolitan Opera House and the Manhattan Temple, took the subway to Times Square and had the best cheesecake ever. All in one evening, after spending the day with priceless works of art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- see what I mean?!?

Ian's baptism

Yesterday (Saturday, October 10) Ian was baptized by his dad. He was so excited to finally be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we were so proud of his choice!


This photo was taken at the church. Afterwards, we had lunch at our house, enjoying the beautiful fall weather and being surrounded by people we love! Thanks to everyone who came out support Ian (especially the many who traveled to be here)!

For the week preceding the baptism, John and Michelle were in New York City for a getaway while Grandma Hansen watched the boys. I'm pretty sure they were perfect angels the whole time...

Thanks, Grandma!

I'll post some photos from our trip later on this week...

House Photos -- Before & After

Perhaps the biggest improvement was made in the laundry room/pantry/storage room. Here's the before (yes, such a cluttered mess that you almost couldn't walk through it):


And here's the after:
Three walls were painted yellow, we got rid of one set of shelves and painted the other white, and most importantly, we threw out, relocated, or reorganized almost everything. I replaced our old, gouged sheet vinyl with vinyl tiles, which may have been the most satisfying home improvement project I've done myself -- it was extremely easy, and the finished product looks remarkably like ceramic tile.

Not many people see the laundry room, but I'm in there constantly, so I love having a cheery, well-organized space!

I was pleased to see that Adam obviously felt the same way, as he started doing all of his homework in the laundry room. Then I realized it was just so he could snitch frozen cookie dough from the freezer when I wasn't looking.
I especially like the pegboard for meeting my need for organizing.


Here's the computer area, mid-demolition:

And here it is now:
We painted the wall green and put up the white magnetic boards, in addition to replacing the flooring. For the first time since we moved here, I have my desk, computer, phone, files, and bulletin boards all in the same place. I feel so efficient as I sit in one spot to go through the mail, pay bills, make phone calls, check homework, plan the month's meals, check facebook, play reversi, see what's next on my NetFlix queue, play another quick game of reversi, see if there's anything new on my blog reader, play one more game of reversi, or two if I don't win the first one...did I say efficient?

Still working on getting the family room clean enough to take photos. Hopefully in the next few days!

How to win friends, according to Heath

Mom: So, Heath, did you have a good day at kindergarten today?

Heath: Yeah! Well, actually, it wasn't a very good day.

Mom: What happened?

Heath: Well, after recess, there was all this... arguing going on (shaking hands in front of face to demonstrate), and Tyler said he wasn't going to be my friend anymore. But then I sat on my throne of burpingness, and he was my friend again!

House Photos

This summer we did some major redecorating of our house, painting and re-flooring everything except the bedrooms and bathrooms. Here are a few photos of the areas that have been fully put back together.

We painted most of the walls and ceilings white. The ceiling beams are now a gray-tan color. We painted the kitchen walls a light blue-gray color. The floor is a medium-dark wood laminate ("modern sycamore red").





We still have a few things to finish up in the family room. When it's ready to be photographed, I'll post it here!

First Day of School

Monday, August 10 was the first day of school for Adam (5th grade), Ian (3rd grade) and Heath (kindergarten!). Heath was pretty nervous, but Dad was able to sing silly songs to make him laugh long enough for this picture.


We all went to school together to drop off the boys, and Luke didn't want to come home! He became convinced that if he could put on a backpack, he could go to school too. We went home anyway, where he found his backpack and posed for this picture.
He'd still like to stay at school with the boys, but settles for playing on the playground when we pick them up.


When I picked up Heath at the end of the first day, he was absolutely beaming! He had a great time at kindergarten, and I think he also felt proud of himself and very relieved that it went well.

VICTORY!

More Rocky Point

If you want to see more about our Rocky Point trip (including a cool video of an octopus!), please check out Shari's blog:
http://zerbbt.blogspot.com/

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

We go to Mt. Graham.

(I ask Heath to smile, and he gives me a Richard Nixon impression...?!?)



We celebrate Heath's 5th birthday.

(He requested the same cake as Luke, "except with a five.")
(Can you tell which sprinkles were put on by kids who like eating sprinkles even better than cupcakes?)



We let the kids color on the floor with Sharpies...



...and then tear the floor up


(even Luke gets in on the action!)



Ian goes to soccer camp.

(He's showing his team Brazil spirit!)



We relax on the beach in Rocky Point...
(That's Anne and Shari observing.)

And show off our muscles!
(covered with sand!)

April Celebrations

Last week was Luke's 2nd birthday. He got a birthday sticker in the morning from the Pediatrician's office, then proudly told us all day long that it was his birthday. However, if you asked him how old he was, he insisted, "I'm four," waving random numbers of fingers to prove it.

For presents, he received a Little People airplane and not one, but two lightsabers, which he now brandishes many times each day, sweetly asking "You wanna fight?" as if we have a choice! But the big hit of the party was the water table from Grandma Utah. I thought she might like to see all four boys enjoying it:




(Yes, I do call Luke "Heath" in the video, but that's closer than "Wes" or "Justin," which I regularly call the older boys!)

Now back a few days to Easter...

The fun new thing the Easter Bunny brought us this year was cascarones, which are real colored eggs which have been emptied out, cleaned, and filled with confetti. They're good for smashing on people's heads.



After smashing cascarones on each other in our damp backyard, we thought it was cool that we all had decorated feet for Easter as well:


I think we have a new Easter tradition.

(By the way, I don't know how the Easter Bunny got his cascarones, but I heard they were selling them at Wal-Mart!)

...and we dance

Back in Rocky Point

This is what we do in Rocky Point:

Play in the sand...

Find sea creatures...

Go swimming...

(Okay, only Adam goes swimming in the ocean in February)

(The rest of us prefer the heated pool)

Relax...




Turn cartwheels...



Gaze at the cool beach sand that is made up of tinier and tinier seashells...

(Mostly it's just Michelle who's fascinated with the sand)

Eat at the Blue Marlin...

(Whoops...was too busy enjoying the fish and shrimp tacos and fresh limonadas to take a photo)

We're having a great time in Rocky Point this week and already looking forward to coming back in September!

Christmas Pajamas

I felt like I ought to blog something about Christmas, so I'll brag about the pajama pants I sewed myself for my cute little guys this Christmas...



Yes, I know that pajama pants are just about the simplest item of clothing you can sew, but it doesn't take much for me to impress myself! (Full disclosure: This photo was actually taken December 30, because that's how long it took us to get all four pajamas clean and all four boys clean and happy at the same time!)

I even managed to sew some pajama pants for my cute big guy:

Luke is holding the baby he got for Christmas -- the first baby doll this Welker family has ever owned! Even now, a whole two weeks after Christmas, Luke still loves his baby and sleeps with it every night.

We had a great Christmas break, hanging out together, playing lots of games, sleeping in, and drinking lots of cocoa. I hope yours was great, too!