December 2009

Has it really been that long since I blogged?!?! December seems like a very long time ago! For the sake of my very linear brain, I am picking up right where I left off...in December.

Sophie got to go on a field trip with her preschool class to sing for the "grandmas and grandpas". It was so cute to watch them all, and to watch the residents as they sang. It was a very cute performance!
It was such a joke trying to take this picture. I can still remember that eight months later! It would have been nice if my own child would have been paying attention, but hey, at least she's in the picture!!

Here's the cousins...Liz, Marlee, and Sophie with teacher Ms. Jenn

December also brought new church clothes of course. I admit it, I love to dress the kids up at the holidays, especially the girls. Unfortunately for us, I think they love it even more than I do!

And a picture with mom. Following the example of a friend, I am trying to include myself in pictures more often, whether I like it or not! (Photography by Hunter)

Ok, Ok...I get the hint!

So...I'm not sure if anyone even reads this blog anymore. Probably not, since there hasn't been anything new to read in about a billion years. The more behind I got, the more I dreaded getting caught up. Then I signed up for a scrapbooking weekend in July and planned to spend the whole time blogging, but the weekend fell through. It felt like I was destined to fail. But, after some "gentle prodding" from family members, I have decided to climb back on the blogging horse and see what I can do. Over the next few weeks, I will attempt to get caught up on what's been going on around here, and even if I'm the only one that ever reads it, at least I'll know I'll have made the effort for my posterity!
So...here goes nothin'!

Paint the Town December

Before the winter break rolled around, the first graders at Lily's school put on a holiday performance. Lily is our little star. Standing up in front of a gym full of people doesn't even seem to faze her! Plus, she loves any excuse to get all dressed up! (OK, let's be honest, I love any excuse to get her all dressed up too!)

When we got to the school on the night of the performance, Lily was thrilled to discover that her picture had been chosen for the program cover! I love how the simple things mean so much when you're a kid.

When Lil's turn rolled around, she stood up and gave her lines like a real pro. She said them loudly and clearly with great expression. She even got a laugh from the audience. And yes, I AM a proud parent, and I am not ashamed to admit it!

After the show, a few parents told me that Lil was the highlight of the show. (OK, too much bragging?) Plus, she had her own fan club there for the show:

On an unrelated note, I was also quite proud of her hairdo that evening. I just had to have a picture for posterity!

For Your Viewing Enjoyment

I am getting better at keeping track of the important moments, but I need to remember to savor the small things as well. So, here are a couple of small things that I don't want to forget.

Hunter brought this poem home from school the other day. It's priceless because it is so "him" at this point in his life.

If I Were In Charge of the World

By Hunter Monson

(Inspired by Judith Viorst)

If I were in charge of the world

I'd cancel Barbie

Dora and Boots,

pills and also,

vegetables.

If I were in

charge of the world,

there'd be no vegetables,

no vegemite, and

everything for me would be free.

If I were in charge of the world

You wouldn't have pink.

You wouldn't have shots.

You wouldn't have bedtime

Or "Don't go outside it's raining".

You wouldn't even have rain.

If I were in charge of the world

A chicken fried steak dinner with mashed potatoes

would be healthy.

All movies would be PG.

And a person who sometimes forgot to clean,

and sometimes forgot to do homework,

would still be allowed to be in charge of the world.

And as an added bonus, here's a picture of the Bug that totally cracks me up. She is such a ham!!

She came up with this outfit, and the pose, all by herself. Maybe she was supposed to be alive in the 1970's!!

WiCKED

Last week was a week for making memories with my kids. Last Thursday, after many weeks of waiting, Lily and I went on our big outing to the theatre. Let me rewind...

I LOVE the musical WICKED. I've seen it four times now, and I love it every time I go. My sweet husband let me buy tickets yet again when we found out the show was returning to Denver. After some discussion, we decided that the time was right for Lily to have her first "big girl" outing. Since I love the music from the show, she knows a lot of the songs. She had asked a few times if she could please go see the show if it ever came to Denver again. So Tyler took one for the team to stay home with the other kids, and Lil and I had a date.

I wanted to make the evening as special as possible, so we dressed up in our best clothes and went to dinner before the show.

Here is Lil at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. She has a new found love for seafood, and the restaurant is only a couple of blocks from the theatre.

It's hard to tell in the dark, but that's the theatre in the background. Didn't she look pretty?!

This was really a special evening for both of us. She acted like such a lady the whole night. I can't even count how many people told her how pretty she looked. She was one of the only kids there, and people kept stopping her to tell her that she looked like a princess and that she was so pretty. The usher even thanked her for putting on her best clothes to go the the theatre. It was absolutely perfect. She loved the show and was mesmerized by her first real stage production. I was so afraid that she would get tired and fall asleep, she is definitely my biggest sleeper and the first act is rather long. But she didn't. She made it through the whole show, and then she fell asleep in the car not five minutes after we left the parking lot. I was very proud of her, and it's a memory I hope we can both keep forever.

Chalk Talk

Last week, Hunter and I got to go to this cool event sponsored by ESPN called "Chalk Talk". It's a program ESPN puts on in cities when they are in town for Monday Night Football. My ESPN Insider husband got the tickets, and then he had to leave town for work. So I did something that I never do. As the teacher inside me was screaming "NOOO!", I went and pulled Hunter out of school for the rest of the day and we headed down to Mile High Station for the event. There was a fancy catered lunch and a program. (And if you're not a football fan, you can stop reading here, 'cause I'm about to start dropping names!)

This is Hunter on the second floor looking down on the set before the program started.

Here is Denver Broncos owner Pat Bolen, (left), NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and a big wig from ESPN whose name I don't remember.

These are the hosts of the program, EPSN MNF reporter Michelle Tafoya and ESPN analyst and former Bronco Mark Schlereth.
This picture was from the "Legends" portion of the program. You might recognize (from left to right):

Former Bronco Safety Steve Atwater, former Bronco wide receiver Rod Smith, fomer Steeler great Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, and former Bronco Guard Mark Schlereth.

It was SO fun to be in the same room with all these guys, and listen to them talk to each other and answer questions. Then, on the way out the door, we all got handed a gift bag, complete with Monday Night Football cooler and tumblers, plus a Broncos yearbook!!

It was really a fun afternoon, and you know how I LOVE football, but the best part was having some fun one on one time with Hunter. He and I don't get to do that very often, and it was special to take him to do something that he and I both thought was exciting. It was a good day!!

Pirates and Skeletons and Ninjas, Oh My!

Now that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I guess it's time to post the Halloween pictures. I'll catch up someday...maybe!

This year we had a pirate, a skeleton rocker, and a ninja. Halloween gets more interesting around here every year. I kinda miss the days when the kids were little and would wear which ever costume I deemed adorable. Those days are gone! I can remember my halloween days as a kid. Every year, all I wanted was to be something beautiful and sparkly...an angel, a fairy, a princess. Apparently, my girls don't feel the same day!
Sophie loved wearing a costume that allowed her to say "aarrghhh!" and swing a sword. As a bonus, she got to have red streaks in her hair and wear a cool hat.

Lily was a "Skele-Rocker" this year. She LOVED this costume, from the pink hair spray to the dog collar and the pleather skirt with a ruffle. This was SOOO Lil, pink and ruffly, but big and bad at the same time. She is something else!

Ninja Hunter. A nine year-old boy with multiple weapons. Enough said!

And just for fun, here's a picture of the kids with cousins. What a crew!! I am so sure that the big boys are standing behind the little kids threatening them with their weapons. Yep, that sweet ninja is mine!