Tilly's Dream Come True!

Tilly has been asking to go ice skating for about two years. We always say we will take her when we are at Katie's in the winter time, but something always seems to get in the way. We finally went over Christmas break. I was afraid she would fall down as soon as she got on the ice, but we found these cones and she figured out her own system. She fell down a lot, but she had a blast and is now saying that she wants to have an ice skating birthday. All the girls actually did quite well. Asha created her own technique that was actually more like ice-running-really-fast that was pretty cool to watch. Sage won the award for most tears shed, not because she fell down but because she wanted to be able to do tricks without actually being able to ice skate. All the kids had a ball. Dewy loved being pushed around the ice by Jon. Every time I would ask the kids about it, he would say "I ice skate." I wish we would have taken them sooner.

Fun in The Snow?

Jon decided to take the older girls sledding while we were at Katie's (yes I do believe that he just wanted to go himself). Katie and I were happy to let him volunteer for such an activity and gladly took Dewy and Zaya shopping and out to lunch. About an hour into there excursion, he called me with a hysterical Cricket screaming in the back ground. Apparently shortly after this video was taken, Jon took Sage down the hill and as he was coming back up he heard a ruckus. Cricket had gotten bossy and was yelling at Asha who decided that rather than take her crap she would punch her in the face. Cricket's reaction was of course to punch her back (later telling Jon, "What was I supposed to do just let her punch me? I had to give it back to her." What a peacemaker!) Another nearby sledding father had to jump in and break up the fist fight that ensued. It's a good thing that ski gloves are so puffy.

Before and After

Okay so it turns out my new hobby as of late is making graham cracker houses. Who knew? I made them for Tilly's class a couple months ago and then again for activity days last week and then again yesterday for the girls to invite friends over. The last one is actually something we do every year and it seeems to become more of a production everytime we do it. I had thirteen girls making graham cracker houses in my kitchen today and let me tell you there was no shortage of drama this afternoon. "She is playing with my friends." "They won't let me play." "I don't want to play that." "I'm in charge here." "No you're not missy sit your butt down." (Can you guess which one belonged to Cricket?) I guess it is better that it was crazy than for them to not have any friends, but here is a word to the wise who have yet to reach this stage with their daughters: The more girls you have in one place the more feeling there are to hurt.

How could you?

Yes that is a Mountain Dew in his hands. I am trying to potty train him and the only bribe that seems to works is Mountain Dew. He calls it "a daddy". Can you guess what Jon drinks. I spend my entire day telling him he cannot drink "a daddy" but if he sits on the potty he can have one. Yes I have tried an M &M like a normal mother. In fact, he is watching me post this and upon seeing the picture is telling me he would like "a daddy" At last, here is visual proof of what a horrible mother I am.

Weekend at Katies

We went to Katie's last weekend for Ryan's blessing sans Jon (he was refereeing). The girls will tell you that the best part of the trip was going over to Aunt Lynelle's house and getting to hold her pet chickens. (It is pretty cool. I am almost 30 and I have never held a chicken. I am afraid it is too late for me. It may be too late for Cricket as well. She was the only one that was too chicken to hold a chicken.) Don't worry Ilah we all made it out alive.

The blessing was really nice. Katie's Bishop came over to her house and presided over the blessing so that we could just do it in her home. Shelly's family got stuck in the blizzard and weren't able to make it, so it was very small and cozy. I really enjoyed it. JP gave a lovely blessing. That is how all baby blessings should be. It was peaceful and relaxed and that baby was surrounded by people who loved him though some were there in spirit only. When JP said Ryan's name I got choked up. His name will serve as a reminder of a beloved uncle he never got the chance to know on this earth, though I am convinced that their paths crossed before baby Ryan was born. He was actually the last one to see Ryan. If baby Ryan could only speak, I'm sure he carries words of love for Katie and their girls.

Jon Saves The Day

I am sometimes refered to as "SmartyPants" at home. I always check up on Jenny's posts to make sure she is not embarrasing me. In checking the blog today I realized I had to spend a few minutes and add a link to the news spot that Jenny mentioned in the previous post about Cricket. I am sure I will get a "SmartyPants" at home tonight. Jenny is so Great to put up with me! The older I get I realize just how crazy I am and how lucky I am to have such a Sweet Wife! She deserves more credit than she ever gets.

Click on "School of the Week" to see Cricket.

School of the Week

CRICKET'S 15 SECONDS OF FAME!

Okay so she isn't really famous, but she was on TV. On Monday Dec 8th Arrowhead Elementary was featured on KCSG TV as the School of the Week. They talked about the Storytelling Festival so the librarian came and got Cricket and had them interview her. I was told the video clip would be on kcsg.com but I can't find it so good luck. It only showed her saying about two sentences, but she was so excited.

The next day I saw the Principal at school and she told me that the reporter and her crew were very impressed with Cricket. She said she had interviewed about a hundred kids from 2 to 18 and Cricket did the best out of any of them. She answered questions clearly and was very quick witted. She told Cricket she gave a very good interview and that she should think about becoming a news reporter someday because she was so good at it. (Am I being a bragger mom? Totally, wouldn't you?)

Who knows where Cricket will end up someday. I just hope she can do something that makes her happy and that doesn't require neat hand writing.

6 Random things

Katie tagged me so here goes.

1) I took six years of Spanish and I can't really speak it. I am reminded of this every couple of months because I get mistaken for a Hispanic person and People start speaking to me in Spanish. I usually kind of understand what they are saying but I pretend I have no idea.

2) I secretly want to be a writer when I grow up. (This tag is probably as far as my writing career will ever go and that's okay because a few year ago I wanted to be a PA and after that a communicative disorders specialist.) Check back with me in about 16 years to see what I am actually doing for my second career. (My first career is being a mom.)

3) I am the secretary of the PTA.

4)I like Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. My favorite part is crying at the end just like I am supposed to, no matter how stupid the movie actually was.

5)I love love love driving a mini-van. I know it is not the cool thing to do, but it is really comfortable and super easy to get the kids out of. If I had a million dollars I probably wouldn't get a new car.

6) I have a hard time spending money on myself. The last time I got a hair cut was in April and Katie kind of made me do it. The only time I get my hair colored is when Katie does it out of boredom. I have had the same bottle of mascara for a year and a half and most of my shirts have holes in the front where they rub on the sharp edge of my tile counter tops when I am cooking and cleaning.

There. Now everyone knows more about me than ever wanted to. I tag Dana, Alena, and Aubrey.

Cricket at The Story Telling Festival

Cricket has mastered the art of story telling! She won the Arrowhead Elementary competition and moved onto the district level competing with other schools.

Go Tilly!

I just wanted to let you all know that Tilly won an Award of Merit in the Reflections Competition in the area of Dance. She was very proud to go up and get her white ribbon and coupon for Golden Coral. Not bad for just dancing around the living room while I filmed her.