Dance Recital (no pictures, but I think I figured out video)

Recital this year was crazy.  Mike out of town, so I was on my own.  In addition, we did to shows on the same day.  The studio has grown so much and because we live in a tiny little town there is no auditorium large enough for everyone who wants to come.  So we did two shows.  SIGH!!

I cannot tell you how so very proud I am of my girls.  dd-A admitted to me in the car that she was so nervous, more than normal.  Of course she should be, who wouldn't be.  My goodness, these little girls get up in front of a huge crowd and dance.  They really did great, and yes, I am biased. :)

Valuable lessons have been learned over time with my camera.  I have learned that sometimes I have to sacrifice photos to be IN the moment and not to cause more stress in crazy situations. As a result, NO pictures were taken tonight.  Which I am totally OK with because, I have also learned to compensate for the lack of photos by staging a photo shoot. :)  I will make both girls get dressed in full garb again for more photos at home. :)  So the recitals are less stressful for everyone involved.

As I mentioned, Mike was out of town for the recital.  When we spoke the morning of, he told me that he was sad that he was missing their dances.  So I decided I would try hard to record them.  I am grateful for Teresa who kept J with her during the first recital while I ran around changing costumes and making sure children were where they needed to be, and for our friends who took him during the second recital so he could play.  And I am thankful that lil D was in a good mood tonight.  And also for the church girls and our neighbor's daughter who helped change costumes and look out for my daughters to get them where they needed to be.  Everything came together to make tonight great.

The first recital was a run through for me.  We had a total of five dances (=five costume changes) and all of our dances were in the first 16 numbers.  You can do the math, I was a little busy.  hahaha!!  The second recital was awesome.  Both girls were more comfortable on the stage and remembered their dances better.  I pulled out the video camera and managed to record all but one dance.  One major downside of Mike being gone was that I was holding D while recording...I apologize in advance for the bad recording job.  It was the best I could to while holding a rascally 1 year old. :)

The second recital was optional for S's class.  The instructor wasn't going to have them in the second show, but then realizing that my dd-A was going to be in it, so dd-S was going to be there anyway, so she put them in.  Well, it looked like S was going to do a solo for the second recital.  There are only 5 girls in her class anyway, and they all had prior commitments for the evening.  In the end, S's dearest friend (her "bestest friend in the whole world" as she stated tonight) decided to go late to their party so she could come for that ONE number and dance with S.  It was so cute...

dd-S and her bestest friend in the whole world.

dd-A has always loved ballet, and this is the first year she was old enough to take a ballet only class.  She loves it.  She concentrates VERY hard to make her body balance and move like it is supposed to.  Her teacher tells her she has great pointe, and every once in a while she gets to lead her class in the bar exercises.  (That is also because she has an incredible memory and remembers what each step is in their proper name).

dd-A's ballet dance (dd-A is the tallest one, the second one from the left)

dd-S's big production number.  It was hard to get a good shot of her, but you can see her red feather hair piece bopping up and down and every once in a while get a decent glimpse of her dancing.

If any of you know my dd-A you know she does not like things to change once she has them set in her mind.  Flexibility is something we continually discuss.  At the same time, her need for structure is something I am continually reminding myself.  Well, this was a great moment for her.  After dressing in her costume she discovered that she only had ONE of the proper tap shoes (luckily she left her old ones in her bag).  To her, the mental process would go something like..."I don't have my tap shoe, we have to have the right tap shoe or we can't dance...I don't have my right tap shoe so I am not going to be able to dance..."  Then the tears would come.  We discussed how there were NO options, and she would need to wear her old tap shoes.  Not ONE tear was shed, and I was bracing for at least a stream. :)  Her dance was hard and fast.  She did great.

dd-A's tap dance (she is the one all the way on the right)

All in all it was a good night. :)

Quick photos

So we were trying to get some family pictures taken this last week, and it finally worked out that we had about an hour after lil D woke up from his nap and before Mike had to take off for a business trip.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get very many shots and it was getting too dark outside for good natural light.  Also I felt a little bummed that dd-S had a little break down right before we took the pictures, but because the sun was going down and because Mike had to leave, we couldn't wait.  I really wish I could have gotten some super fab pics of all my kids all dressed nice, but I was only able to click a few shots.  Oh well,  here are a few of the shots.

I think Mike and I are two of the luckiest people in the world. :)

Feeling busy and a little out of sorts...

Well, tis the season to be busy! We have just been doing normal things, but school seems to have extra activities, as do the youth in the church and so does Mike's facility, so, we have twice as many things to to do in the evenings (so it seems) and not twice as much time to do it.

Mike was out of town quite a bit in November which left me with many sleepless nights. (I do not sleep well without him home.) He had some good trips though. He went to Eastern WA for a business trip and then stayed the weekend to do some pheasant hunting. WHICH HE LOVED!! He brought back some tail feathers for the kids and they are their prized possessions. then he made a business trip to UT to do some recruiting from BYU for his company. We decided to send dd-A with him, and she got to spend some great time with Grandma. She hasn't stopped singing High School Musical since she got home. LOL!!

Then we had Thanksgiving. Which is always fun, good food, great company and a handful of lazy days!! Misty, my sister, and her hubby Phil and Ty, their super smiley baby, came for the whole weekend! WAHOOO!!! I love having them around. It is fun to watch Ty interact with my kids and especially fun to see him and lil D getting along more and more. You can visit her blog and read her stuff for thanksgiving, she updates better than me and with pictures. LOL!! I don't know if I am going to have time for pictures today. I am trying to speed type while D is asleep.

Mike and Phil played in two Turkey Bowls, and I am grateful that they came home injured, but still walking. They had a good time. One of the games was against the high school football team and some of the recents graduates. So they were playing the young and spry.

They came home and we had a few hours until my massive 24 lb turkey was going to be finished. We did turkey, home made stuffing, home made rolls (thanks to Misty and her mad roll making skills), mashed (or SMOOSHED as dd-S says) potatoes, corn, green bean casserole (which was definitely the favorite of the meal), and some sparkling cider. My kids were horrified that we were going to have alcohol to drink. hahaha!! Until they realized that it ws just fizzy juice, then they were alright with it. Dinner was very yummy!!

Chris and Vanessa and super cute Bobby came up that night and spent the next day with us. I told them that it was lame they were only spending a day with us, they agreed. LOL!! But they had a temple trip with the youth in their ward to get back for, so I guess that is a legit excuse. :) Bobby adores J. He laughs at him and follows him around. I love it.

December is looking to be nutsy for us. :) We have dance rehearsals, recitals, and pictures, school music concerts and sing alongs, youth Christmas parties and caroling, and then Mike's big work shin dig. So...

TTFN!!!!

wow--is Novemeber really half done?

***decided to post my drafts: they are unfinished works, but it gives you a little glimpse into our November. :)***

Where did time go this month? HMMM?? let's see. Mike out of town, home, hunting, family visiting, Mike and A out of town, parent/ teacher conferences, kids having half days of school for a week, helping out in two elementary schools, shampooing carpets, ripping down wall paper. I have been busy this month.

I started volunteering at J's school too now. I have been volunteering at A's school for the whole year. I just decided that I could keep better tabs on J and know what was going on at school a bit more if I was volunteering. It has been good. I go and read with kids that are struggling with reading a bit.

We had parent/teacher conferences.  Both kids did really great.  Their teachers say they are model students.  And both received some 4's which their teachers say they hardly ever give out.  I was pleased.

Funny things My kiddos Say: October Edition

I haven't been very good about jotting them down this month, but here are a few.

**DD-S was "reading" a little book about the creation and "read", "Heavenly Father gave us the water so we can drink and the fish can swim. He gave us the birds so we can shoot them and eat them." That is what I get for marrying a hunter. haha! (31 Oct)

**we have our three older kids together in one room for sleeping purposes, and they do a bit more playing than sleeping at night. So, ds-J comes out one night saying, "I know what you can get to watch us better when we are in the room. You know those things they use on the TV to see the deer at night, you could get one of those." He is referring to something he has seen advertised on the outdoor channels; it is like night vision, but recording the deer. Silly boy!

** Kids are supposed to be cleaning, dd-S says, "Mom, my Spirit keeps distracting me, so it is VERY hard to clean." (3 Oct)

**dd-S, trying to convince her sister that she had already seen 101 Dalmations 2, "Yes, I saw it, in Mom's belly, you weren't there. Mom's belly has a dvd player in it. " (1 Oct)

Halloween and Trunk or Treating

We had our church Halloween Party. :) My kids were adorable (if I do say so myself) I just wanted to post a few pics of them. :)

let's give these videos a shot...

I figured I could give the video clips a shot. This first one is for Asher. :) It appears D and you have a few things in common. :)



And oh my gosh! It is taking forever to upload. Sorry, I will have to get the hang of video clips better to upload another one. :) The walking one is 4 times as big as tis one, so it will take even longer. Maybe I will try later tonight.

Cub Scouts

We have been inundated with cub scouts this week. Mike has decided that I needed some motivation to help J get his wolf requirements finished. I think I scored in this set up. If we get cracking and he earns his wolf by the next pack meeting I may just be getting my zoom lens I have been wanting for my camera for a Christmas/b-day present. :) So we have been working like crazy. Mike has definitely taken the lead and we have gotten tons done this week. J helped me plan meals and cook and clean up. We picked up trash around the neighborhood (including half full beer cans) with latex gloves for protection. Mike and J barbecued. J was not happy because he almost lost a burger to the flames. This next week we are going to go to a recycling place at our dump, and learn about safety at home and outside. We are working on chores and his everyday to do list to keep himself clean and healthy. We are busy!

***

This time of year brings lovely sunsets. And for some reason, with the rotation of the earth, the sun sets in a lovely place with our view right now. It is not always there, some times of the year it sets off to the right a bit and we don't see it from our deck. But these last few days we have been enjoying the beautiful sunsets.

Here is a picture I took:


Seriously, gorgeous!

I have promised my mother in law a video of D walking, but the one I have is too dark. You can't see anything on it, so I will have to record another one. :) i will post one soon. :)

TTFN

made something new

I have been playing with felt a bit lately and made something new for my SA store. :) I made these cute little whimsical pumpkins. I think they are so cute. What I sell are NOT actually these REAL items. I make them, then photograph or scan them in and then extract them to a digital file that is transparent in the background. I sell them as digital images.

Whimsical Pumpkins

I just think they are so cute.

kid-decided nick names and cub scouts

On the way home from cub scouts pack meeting tonight my three oldest kiddos decided they need some nick names. They like the ones we use for them, but they wasted to create their own. So that they would be cooler. So after much deliberation... meet

Meatball Dude

Chocolate Head

and AlfredoSo, those are the kid decided nicknames. Funny kiddos.

On a more serious note...Tonight was J's pack meeting. I was so proud of him. He called the flag ceremony, and he did it with a cheat sheet I made for him. We practiced and he didn't want to have a grown up help him. He did a great job. He spoke loudly and clearly. Woohoo!! a proud mom moment. :)

my sickness...

for those of you who have been wondering. I have been sick since the beginning of September. I was the first one with this nasty cold, with dd-S, then, I believe it was taken to NY with Mike and ds-J, then dd-A got it. Luckily ds-D has been spared. But it appears that everyone else has gotten over it, but for some reason, I am holding on to this awful cough.

So today I saw the doctor and guess what? She told me that she thinks I have coughed so much that I think I just have to cough. HAHAAA! Mike has been telling me that it is in my head. (I totally got an "I told you so" when I came home from the doctors) Now, it is not totally in my head, but she told me because I have been coughing so much I have hurt my chest and throat a bit and now I feel like I have to cough all the time. she has me on some asthma stuff to help heal the insides. ANd she believes I will be better in a week. YAY!!!

Mike always knew I was a headcase! HAHAHAA!!

Our last round of visitors

We were so happy to have been able to spend a day with Jens. Chris, Vanessa, and Bobby came up as well. It was fun to catch up and hang out and talk. We have so missed their family--it has been far too long and we REALLY look forward to spending more time with them all this summer.

Honestly, after a few weekends of a house full of visitors it was nice to be able to veg out last weekend and not have to do anything. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely LOVE having family near by and having them pop in and play, but sometimes it is nice to walk around the house anyway i want, and to just let the dishes fill up in the sink, and to just say, "cereal for dinner". So this last weekend we just chilled. and it was nice. Mike went fishing, but he didn't bring home the salmon he caught. HUMPH! I went to Olympia and went to Jaoannes's. I have decided that I want to start actually painting again. So I needed to buy a few new things, like gesso, paint brushes that my little lovelies haven't ruined, some walnut ink, some sketch pencils, and well a few other things for fun. :)

Now I just need to get the courage up to actually try something again. It has really been a LONG LONG time since I have painted. It makes me nervous. hahaaa!

my new little crafty obsession...

So I have come across these adorable little felty food (play foods for children) and I decided that my girls need some for their tea parties. so I made some this weekend. I TOTALLY plan on making some more. But here are my first few donuts. :)


I plan on doing some sugar cookies, some cupcakes, and some chocolates. After that, if I am still into them (LOL) I will do some fruits and veggies. :) I know--I am a total DORK!!

EDITED to add some quick and easy instructions:
I didn't follow a pattern, but they were easy though

1. Cut two four in felt circle out a donut color and then cut a tiny hole (a little less than an inch) in the middle.

2. cut the frosting wobbly-like and a little smaller than the brown felt pieces.

3. I sewed the frosting on the top piece of the donut.

4. I sewed the donut top and bottom together.

5. Then I added the beads for sprinkles.

and then they are completely, adorably finished.

For my Ellis nieces

Guess what little D is going to be for Halloween..........


This isn't the whole costume, but we were trying to get him used to the hat and ears. (that shouldn't be too hard for him. :) )

Love you guys!!! And I am glad you are enjoying reading the blog. HUGS!!
Aunt Amber

A layout with a photo from my lil photo shoot

So, isn't he just the cutest! :)

Credits here

And I believe that is all! :)

Very deserving of it's own post!!

On Monday, dd-A scored her first soccer goal ever!!!! It was like something clicked this game. her first goal was a shot that wiggled it's way through four or so players and trickled into the goal!! YAY!!!! It was so fun because Misty and Phil were there to see. She was so pleased with herself. After she scored she immediately looked at me and put up her five fingers because I told her when she scored her first goal I would pay her five dollars. The rest of the game she was an animal. She stole the ball away, she dribbled and shot, nearly scoring two more times. Like a foot outside the goal. It was a fun day for her!

visitors, conference, more visitors, hunting, and more visitors. :) (did i mention sickness)

Yes, we are still here, but busy!! We have been fighting the back to school bugs, sinus infections, and a touch of some flu (or something that causes flu-like symptoms).

So, on conference weekend we had Chris, Vanessa, and Bobby and Misty, Phil, and Ty. So the weekend was filled with conference, laughing, smiling, crying, fighting babies, videos games, and a little rock band. My sweet dd-A threw up on Sunday while everyone was here, so she was banished to the corner on a foam pad. It was so hard for her because she LOVES her baby cousins, but she did a great job and in a day and a half was tip top again.

The week proceeded normally (other than a surprise trip to Cabellas and then to Chris and Vanessa's house). Then Friday Misty, Phil, and Ty came back up. Mike and Phil took off early Saturday Morning for a bit of hunting. This trip includes new mountain bikes, and seat pads to go with them, and about 17 miles of riding into the deep wooded area or the northwest. They had a touch of success: Phil saw a doe and two butts (EDITED--yes, two deer butts :) LOL!).

While they were visiting dd-S threw up (on the way to church). She had been complaining of her tummy hurting, but I was having "NONE of that nonsense". She often complains and whimpers around in the morning, so I figured that was what was going on this morning. Mike was already at church for his meetings, and I was hustling around getting my four kiddos ready. dd-S even told me that her belly was hurting so she didn't want to eat her Cheerios. I am such a horrible mom, LOL! I told her, "you better go a eat your cereal or your belly is REALLY going to hurt at church when it growling because you are so hungry because you didn't eat your breakfast."(OOPS!!) I was wishing she hadn't eaten those cheerios when her little episode occurred in the van on the way to church! YUCK!! Mike went home with her, so I could stay and teach my lesson.

The boys hunted again on Monday. I wasn't sure they were going to go because both of their bottoms were so sore from riding their bikes. HAHAAAA! but the went and rode another 13 miles or so. They saw about ten deer and 2 were bucks, and one is no longer in the forest. They FINALLY, they had their first deer in WA. Phil shot a little 2 pointer, and was just happy to have finally got a deer. Mike is holding out for something a bigger, but they had a good time and are feeling better because they are figuring out the hunting thing here.

While the boys were off hunting Misty did 18 gajillion loads of laundry. And she even folded it. WOW!! I am thankful, but now I really wish I had a dresser. :) LOL!!

We staged a little photo shoot. We tried to get some cute photos of the two of them together, but with Tyler having just woke up and D needing a nap, we had little success of the two of them together. HOWEVER, I got some super cute ones of D and some pretty good ones of Ty that I will edit and stick up here hopefully tomorrow.

here are the ones of D.





I'm telling ya!! He is so stinkin' cute!! :) I have some video of him walking that I need to put on here, too. He has the funniest little walk.

Also, we are thrilled that we get to see Jens tomorrow. :) that also means that Chris, Vanessa, and Bobby will be here again. And we will fit visiting with them in with cub scouts, and dd-A's last soccer game and pizza party. Life is good!! :)

g'night ! I am pooped!

funny things my kiddos say...

That is a section on my side bar. You should check it out if you haven't. However, I think i should change it to funny things dd-S says. As she is 3 almost 4 she seems to be saying hilarious things regularly. She cracks me up. I am going to delete them all and start afresh with the new month, so here are September's:

**as a Fed Ex truck drives by, dd-S says, "Mom, that is a kid stealer van." Me, confused, "huh? what do you mean?" dd-S, "well, it steals kids, puts them in boxes and takes them away."
(what??? where did she get that idea from?) (30 Sept)

**I drank a sip of dd-S's water from her water bottle, and she pouts, "Mom, now it has your germs on it." I told her we have the same germs so not to worry. then she says, "No we don't, you have spider germs and I have butterfly and lady bug germs." (HMMM--what do you think she is saying about me?) (24 Sept)

**DD-S, "Mom, uh who was it that translated the Book of Mormon, Yoda??" Mom, laughing, "uh honey, Yoda is NOT real, it was Joseph Smith." dd-s, "ah, ah right, that's who it was, Joseph Smith." (20 Sept)

**Mom, "I think I am going to do some yoga." dd-S, "WHAT? You are going to eat some yogurt?" (16 Sept)

**I was teasing dd-S about something. DD-S asks, "Why are you teasing me?" Mom, "Because that's my job." DD-S, "no it's not, that's Daddy's job." Mom, "Then what's my job?" dd-S, without hesitation says, "To make him stop." (15 Sept)

**As a moth is flying above us and lands on our ceiling, dd-S asks, "Do [butterflies] poop?" (14 Sept)

If you recieved my email about updates...

Pretty please send an email back to me. Somehow I stupidly deleted, I think, all of you from my contact list. UGH!! The updated hotmail had me all messed up. So please send me an email so I don't lose your email addies. :) Thanks!

1 year ago!

I forgot to post a scrapbook layout I did this last week. I was feeling a bit nostalgic. This week was Mike and my 9th anniversary! PHEW! :) We were apart (Mike was in CA for work), but at least we remembered to tell each other Happy Anniversary.

Last year, we were in the same city, but we didn't even remember it was our anniversary. SIGH! Five days before our anniversary our littlest baby--D--decided to join us 7 weeks early (I say 6 weeks, but Mike says 7 ;) ). We are so lucky to have been ambulanced out of our tiny town to the children's hospital in the city where they are SO prepared to care for a little one born that early. Mike went back to our home (1 and a half hours away) with his parents and our other three children, while I stayed with our newest joy for 6 more days. Mike came up for one night during those 6 days and it just happened to be our anniversary. Funny thing, neither of us thought of it until the next day. I think we were a little stressed. :)

So, I did a layout of some of the first pictures taken of our little D. There weren't any pics taken right after he was born, they wisked him away to the NICU, but the next day I got a few. Precious little thing!!

Here is this weeks layout:

credits HERE

And then here are a few that i did last year...
this is in Oct '07

credits HERE

These next two are pictures from Nov '07

credits HERE

credits HERE

And then this one is Jan '08:

credits HERE

I am just so thankful we have him with us! He is a joy and blessing in our families life. He is the one who can make us all smile when we are sad with his big "slobber kiss".

Yankee Stadium Part 2

I let Joseph take my old Sony Cyber-shot with him to take his own pictures of the trip. He cracked me up with some of the pictures he took. :)

He started before they even got to the airport.

A nice drive by of the Tacoma Dome.

An Army vehicle that passed them.

And another one.

The airplane wing.

Finally, Yankee Stadium.

The sign to Yankee Monuments Park.

The walk way.

And another VERY important thing he did while he was there...

He LOVED playing the video games with Josh. :)

Now, I thought I would save Josh some embarrassment, but his favorite picture was one of Josh's booty. Every time he looks at it he cracks up! The NUT!

Yankee Stadium Part 1

In case you don't know. This was sadly the last season the Yankees will be playing in the original Yankee Stadium, "you know, the house that Ruth built," as J told me. Mike, with a little urging from me, decided to splurge a bit and he a J made a trip out to NY to watch one of the last games (not the last game-it wasn't THAT big of a splurge ;) ) in the stadium before they tear it down. Sniff sniff! The sad thing is, I don't even care all that much about baseball, but because of the intense Yankee fans in my house, **cough cough** Mike, I even feel a bit sad about that.


The two of them flew out two Thursdays ago and flew home the following Monday. They stayed with Mike's brother and his wife, Josh and Jill. (THANKS!) and had a blast!! The arrived VERy late that night, and spent some time planning the next day with the help of Josh and Jill, plotting trains and subways. J proudly told me that they rode 10 subways in one day!

They woke up EARLY the next morning to go and try to buy tickets to the Yankee Stadium tour. (it was actually like 2:30 WA time, so it was especially early if you take into account the time change.) They got tickets and then filled the day with NY things. I do not know ALL the details, (sadly, I only saw Mike for a day--and a work day at that-- before he left for another 4 days on a business trip which he just returned from last night, so we haven't had tons of time for me to grill him on all the details) but I do know they went to the Bronx Zoo, and the Yankee Moment Park, and had some ice-cream. :) Here are some pictures...

Joseph had his own camera and Mike had one, too. These are some of Mike's pictures:

J posing Moment Park.

My guess is that this is the Yankee dugout where they store their mitts and bats and other equiptment.



Mike and J on (well near) the field. (HMMM, I wonder if the accidently actually walked on the field.)

I believe the boys left the stadium and went off doing some other fun things and then came back to watch the warm ups... ( I think the pictures WIThOUT borders you can click on and see them in all their HUGE glory-you might be able to make out some of the players, if you care.)


All the excitement and waking up so early finally got to J and he fell asleep about 20 minutes before the game started. hahaa! Mike woke him up though so he didn't actually miss the REAL action.

More Game pictures:

Jeter and ARod and someone else during the national anthem.

A look in the dugout prior to the game starting. (this one enlarges)

Jeter getting ready to PLAY BALL!!!!

ARod at bat.

Jeter at bat.

Jeter in action.

and again!

Someone Mike thought was cool enough to get a picture of, but I don't know who. :)

The pitcher and someone else (LOL!)

And Jeter and someone else.

So that was the game. I know the rest of the trip they chilled with Josh and Jill, went to a park, played games, and went to church. They had a VERY fun time.