Wicked

Chris and I had the opportunity to see the play "Wicked" in Denver at the beginning of November. We were excited to go with our good friends, the Burnhams, and have a fun night out.

I made reservations at PF Changs--close enough to be in walking distance to the Performing Arts Center. We lucked on to the tickets as Burnham's two oldest daughters had school concert/play conflicts and were no longer able to attend with their parents. Lucky for us--and the girls were able to go another day. The play was excellent and I found it amazing how the playwright could mesh ideas with The Wizard of Oz. So many creative people in this world.

Crazy how we coordinated our outfits without any prior planning.

Like Michael Jackson

Let me preface this post by saying that my older girls love Michael Jackson's music; they also listen to spoofs of his videos, especially those by Weird Al. So, the other day I was warming myself by the fire. Kristen came to stand by me and started patting my legs. I inquired as to the reason for this weird behavior and she replied that she was making me fat. "What?!" and no thank you anyway. She replied, "Just like Michael Jackson." Again, "What?" Her response, "You know, I'm fat. I'm fat. I'm really really fat." Sung to the tune of I'm Bad. Weird Al might be proud. Michael, not so much.

More fun with Kristen

So, Kristen has had some issues with Henry from preschool and his smell. I had talked to her about not making people feel bad with her nose-plugging. She was so pleased with herself last week when she said, "Henry didn't smell very good, and I didn't even plug my nose!" Woohoo.

On Halloween night, Amy and Misha had a friend over watching tv and Kristen had been tucked in bed. She was having a hard time staying in bed and going to sleep knowing they were still up AND watching a movie. After repeated "go get in bed!" moments, she finally came out of her room and said, "If you will clap for me, then I can go to sleep." Without missing a beat (because you know on the inside you are laughing), Chris and I started clapping. Ten seconds later, "Now go get in bed." "Ok, Mommy. Now I can sleep." And that was that. Chris and I just looked at each other, shook our heads, and said, "Well, that was a new one."

There aren't many threats that get Kristen moving faster than starting the parental count: 1.......2....... (that and hot sauce). Kristen barely makes it past one before she jumps up all panicky and does whatever she is supposed to do. Not sure why it works so well with her, but I am grateful.

Today at lunch, I asked Kristen what she was going to have. Her reply, "Hmmmm, I think I will order......" Seriously, order?

Snow Day and Cookies

A lot of snow fell in our town, so much that the school district thought it expedient to cancel school! Crazy that school was canceled because of the snow but the snow hill behind our house was packed with students who somehow found their way there. Regardless, it WAS a cold and windy and snow-filled day. My older girls were among the sledders (they didn't want to take Kristen and have to "babysit" her on the hill).

I was grateful to have picked up Anne of Green Gables from the library and happily introduced my daughters to one of my favorite shows. They've been hearing quotes from Anne all their lives, I was hoping they would recognize them. Misha picked up on one of my favorites when Anne was making up a story for Marilla about her broach that was lost. "It slipped....." So funny when she says it now. I always say to them when they ask "What are you doing?" and they can obviously see what I am doing, "Fishing for lake trout." So when Anne said that in the movie, I thought for sure they would recognize it. I said, "I say that to you all the time!" They looked at me with blank expressions. "Whatever," I muttered.

Amy made cookies all by herself. I gave a little direction in the combining and measuring of ingredients, but she made them from start to finish. Not like last time when they begged to make cookies, and I ended up finishing their double batch!



I just stuck the cookies in the freezer today, they kind of lost their appeal what with all the Halloween candy around here and all!

Halloween

Apparently it is Blogger that is messing up my pictures. Don't know why.

I was pretty lame when it came to Halloween pictures this year: I forgot to take them! Oh, I got a few, but not many. Because of the snow day, Kristen's Halloween Party at school was missed. She was invited to come Friday afternoon to participate in the costume parade at the school and to get some treats from her teachers.

The administration of the school dressed up as Peter Pan characters with the principal dressed as Capt. Hook. I love how they get involved.

Amy chose to only wear part of her costume.



Misha's teacher only let them put on costumes right before the parade, thus she didn't get her face done up in mime makeup.

This is what she looked like with her makeup.



The girls were excited to go to Trunk or Treat at the church on Saturday evening with their friends Lexi and Morgan. The group this year was sooooo small, that we were all done within twenty minutes. It was still light and parents decided that now would be a good time to go trick or treating through the neighborhood (Amy was okay with that because she didn't want to wear her big heavy jacket and it was still warm enough that she didn't have to!)

Chris went with the girls and the neighbors--Mike, Kathy, Lexi and Morgan. They were all pretty pooped after being out for an hour and a half and even though Chris offered to drive them to some of their friends' houses, they declined. Kristen changed her costume from Barbie Mariposa to a cowgirl for the evening. Sadly no picture.

The visitors to our house were probably under 50 in number, but the most that we have ever had.

The Horses in Colorado

It was a pleasant surprise for my girls when we moved to Colorado and Mom and Dad actually let them ride on the mechanical horses you find in grocery stores. I remember when I was a kid that I would look at those horses with longing, rarely being given the chance to actually ride them. Okay, maybe I got to sit on them, but no coins were inserted.

So why the happiness with them now? Most of the horses cost one penny. Yep, $0.01. So easily affordable, and my kids get their chance to ride fairly often.

Tiredness

So I have been trying to teach Kristen the fine art of expressing her tiredness by saying, "Whew, I am pooped." Pooped=tired. Today, after shopping with me for awhile, hanging around while I returned stuff, and getting a cookie at Target, Kristen finally heaved a big sigh and said, "Whew, I have pooped." And then she inquired of me, "Have you pooped?"

Halloween Party

Chris and I attended a Halloween Party on Saturday evening. It was our first time ever dressing up and going to a party together for Halloween. Last year, I was sick so he went by himself as a Walmart greeter (pretty easy costume). Neither one of us love Halloween, nor dressing up, but it was kind of fun. Perhaps next year, our costumes might even match!

Chris was Mr. Bling and pulled it off with style:



I was a gypsy:





Misha was our photographer.

Halloween Recital

Misha as a mime:


Amy as a vampire:


Misha and Amy participated in a Halloween Recital on Saturday afternoon. They were pretty excited because it was their first opportunity to wear their costumes--the realization that they might get nervous came later. They both did very well. Amy's piano skills seem to have blossomed in the last six months. Now it is quite enjoyable to listen to her practice. Misha has been playing the violin for almost a year and a half; practicing is NOT her favorite thing to do, but she does it and continues to progress and improve.

Tales from the Nose II

My crazy kid. So I made this yummy lunch for myself today--zucchini, mushrooms, peppers over a garden burger. As soon as the smell started to waft through the kitchen, Kristen had her nose plugged. (At least she doesn't gag over smells she doesn't like.) I placed my plate on the table and then turned around to find her sitting on her stool with a piece of cheese applied to her nose to block my lunch smells.



So, I just had to run for my camera, and when I was about to snap a picture, she said, "CHEESE."

Goosebumps

I was sitting in church with my girls yesterday with Misha snuggled up next to me. As I listened to a beautiful musical number, Misha noticed I had goosebumps on my arm. She asked, "Why do you have goosebumps?" and I explained that I got goosebumps when I listened to things that were beautiful. I loved her next question as she sincerely inquired, "Do I give you goosebumps?"

Miniature Golf Day

On Saturday, we wanted to spend some time with the girls (by the way, the purple guy is not Chris) and decided to take them over to Boulder to play miniature golf. The weather was beautiful. Kristen has definitely reached a point where she has improved in her abilities. She used to just goof around on the course, but with Chris' help, she did pretty well. (My camera was on a funky setting when I took the first bunch of pictures--looks kind of cool).





Kristen also got to try driving the smaller bumper cars that only went about 3 mph. She loved it.



Misha was a grump half the time we were there. Who knows why.



Then she cheered up.



Then she was grumpy again.



Amy was beyond thrilled when she got to take a test to get her own driver's license for the race cars. Her comment after riding around the track once with the instructor, "I just love the feel of the wind in my hair!" She did quite well driving. She was kind of cautious, but so was the boy in front of her. She said, "I tried to pass him but couldn't."





Let me fill in the words here, "That was AWESOME!!!!!!!"

Ahhhh, we were good parents again.

Happy Birthday Christopher

Another year, another birthday. We started off the day with cinnamon rolls, and as it turned out, his only opportunity to blow out a candle. Thankfully it doesn't hold quite the appeal for him as it does for my girls. We had plans later in the evening to go for dinner and to a comedy club in Westminster--Madcaps--with friends. He already talked about the cool gift he got from his dad, and I got him golf lessons at the local course here.

Excited for Halloween

My girls are pretty excited for Halloween, and at least once a week, Amy goes through the costume bin to try stuff on. She doesn't plan to wear it for her costume, she just likes to pull everything out and leave it all over my house! Here she included Kristen in her fun:

Cooking with Claudia

My friend, Claudia, has a wealth of knowledge and years of talent when it comes to cooking Mexican food. It is just one of those things you learn as you grow up and it becomes second nature. She likens it to me and baking--I know yeast; she knows rice. She offered to teach me how to make Chilaquiles and sent me a list of groceries to buy. I have never cooked with tomatillos or jalapeno peppers before, so I was excited to learn some new stuff. I packed up my groceries, a dish and Kristen and we headed over for Mexican Cooking 101. Claudia (who is also 8 1/2 months pregnant) simply had me peel the papery skins off the tomatillos, wash them halve them, and drop them in boiling water to cook for about 20 minutes along with a quarter of a white onion and the peppers. Simple. Once they softened, we added them to the blender along with sea salt and garlic. Presto, a beautiful green sauce--a little spicy though with the three jalapeno peppers we added. I knew my kids would never eat something so spicy and the fumes made me cough when I removed the lid from blender. She graciously let me have her sauce which didn't have any peppers in it. (It was still pretty spicy and my girls wouldn't try more than one bite, but I feel more confident in cooking with tomatillos now.)



Claudia also taught me how to make Spanish rice and introduced me to some delicious cheese:





Ben, Claudia's husband, called me early Thursday morning from the hospital saying Claudia was in the hospital. My initial response to him (because she is 8 1/2 months pregnant and ready to be done) was "Great." Not really, she had been throwing up all night long, losing fluids, and had a fever--plus contractions. "Ahhh, not so great." She was on IV fluids and hopefully would be able to go home later in the day. He was calling me to just to give a warning. Fortunately, we've been healthy still.

Tales from the Nose

So for the past two times when I have gone to pick up Kristen from Preschool, I has spied her sitting in the circle with the rest of the students with her hand plugging her nose. The first time I asked her about it she told me that there was a new student in her class named Henry. And matter of factly, she stated, "Henry's poop stinks!"

Today, she was again sitting in the circle with her hand over her nose. Her teachers and some of the other mothers noticed. Miss Cathy said, "We cut open a pumpkin today. She must not like the smell." When we got outside I asked, "Why were you plugging your nose?" I couldn't imagine her response would be a dislike for pumpkin smell, but you never know with her.

"Henry. Henry stinks. It is not fun to smell Henry. It is not fun." (Add a little dramatic inflection to the statement and you'll get the full effect.)

Ahhhh, she makes me laugh.

I'm Not a BABY!!!!

You know how it is, so easy to tell your child, "You're acting like a baby!" when they are throwing tantrums. Kristen is adamantly opposed to being called a baby. Her normal response is, "I'm not a baby! I don't look like a baby!"

Tonight she and Amy were having a verbal tussle, Kristen wasn't getting her way, and Amy said, "You're acting like a baby!"

Kristen responded: "I'm not a baby. I don't even look like a baby! Do I look like a baby? See, I don't even have baby hair!" She made her point there.

It's Christmas!

That is what Kristen said when she woke up yesterday morning, and honestly that is what it felt like. It seemed as though I needed to be Christmas shopping or baking or something. I'm just glad that the weather will be a tad warmer this week. I am just not ready for colder weather all the time.

We spent our Saturday leisurely watching movies and shows (after a few chores, of course). And that was also after flu shots. Amy is deathly afraid of needles, so you can imagine she wasn't too happy about our early-morning excursion. We placated the girls with breakfast at McDonalds. Don't know that I can remember all of us doing that together.

In the afternoon, we decided we might all have a case of stir-craziness and drove into Longmont, ending up at Borders bookstore. We don't do that very often either, but the girls had a great time. We heard a lot of, "I want that," or "Can I have..." They heard a lot of, "It's going to be Christmas soon; make a list."

Prayer Priorities

This was just a part of Kristen's lunch time blessing on her food: "Please bless that we can go trick or treating and find lots of Easter eggs. Please bless us to get lots of stuff for Christmas....." I think we need to have talk about a couple different things.

Daddy?

Will you play with me?

Love....True Love

I call these my Love Carrots.

Spell Barbie

Kristen wanted to watch Barbie clips on Youtube. Instead of asking me how to spell "Barbie", she went up to her room, found a toy serving tray with "Barbie" imprinted on it, brought it down, and typed "Barbie" all by herself. That's using your noggin.

Cinderella

I was folding towels in the living room and Kristen quickly plucked all of the washcloths out of the basket for herself to fold. I finished the rest of the basket and went to the kitchen to put the dishtowels away. In her best Cinderella voice I heard, "Why do I have to fold all of the laundry?" She gives me such good material.

Noooooo

Kristen was sitting up at the counter eating her Easy Mac for lunch while watching Barbie Mariposa. Every time she turned her head to watch the movie, her ponytail brushed across her bowl. I casually mentioned, "You need to finish eating your macaroni. Every time you turn your head, you get macaroni in your hair!"

Astounded she said, "You mean my hair is going to turn orange?"

"Orange and crusty," I responded.

"Nooooooo. This is my favorite hair!"

Rabbit, Rabbit

This morning as I was helping Misha fix her hair, she said to me, "Did you say 'Rabbit, rabbit' when you woke up this morning?" Not one of my usual morning recitations, so I responded, "No." She was quick to say, "On no, you are going to have bad luck all month, no all year long!" Apparently, her teacher, Ms. Bloms, shared this info with Misha. Thanks Ms. Bloms.