Oh the Fun We Had...Day 2

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn just off the freeway.  We only had two queens in this room, so we stacked pillows and cushions on the floor for Misha's nest.  We slept pretty hard until 6:50 am.  I woke up then; Kristen was already awake.  We roused Amy from her beauty sleep only to find a crabby kid had taken her place.  She loudly mumbled something about not being able to sleep in on her vacation.  Sorry Toots!  It wasn't going to change for a couple of days.  We ate breakfast at the hotel and the girls recharged for another day as we packed up and left by 9 am for Bryce Canyon via Zion National Park.  We gassed up at Harmon's Grocery in St. George and purchased snacks for the day.

This was the sunrise from our hotel room in St. George on Saturday morning.  Chris said I missed the best of it when I was showering.

We had tried to remind the girls of our previous trip to St. George four years ago, but none of them seemed to remember.  All of a sudden, Kristen who was almost three on our last trip, had a memory.  It started out with, "I remember our last visit here.  I had a broken arm.  I was standing at the top of the stairs at home holding my little potty, and Mom accidentally pushed me down the stairs."  "WHAAAAT!!!!!"  Let me just most emphatically state here and now that I DID NOT PUSH MY DAUGHTER DOWN THE STAIRS!!"  Not even a little bit.  I was in the basement just having finished vacuuming the stairs.  You can read the account here.  I think I have now firmly entrenched in Kristen's mind that she accidentally fell down the stairs.  Her mother DID NOT push her.  Goodness, how many other memories of theirs are morbidly skewed?  Good thing I keep a journal and can kindly remind them of the truth.

We had to stop before going through the tunnel in Zion because an RV was coming through in the opposite direction and didn't allow enough room for two lanes of traffic. We jumped out to check out the scenery. Beyond the scenery, I was amazed at how long Misha's legs looked.

And so we were on our way to Bryce Canyon steadily rising up past 8000 ft as we drove, while the thermometer dipped lower and lower.  In earlier research, Chris had found that there wasn't much outside of Bryce except for properties under the Ruby's name.  They owned the historic Ruby's Inn, Best Western Plus, grocery, restaurant, rodeo, Old Bryce Town Shops, among other things.  We chose to stay at the Best Western Plus (the first hotel we've actually had to pay for in a long time) because of their continental breakfast, but were equally fascinated by the historic inn.  We chose to eat lunch at the Cowboy's Buffet and Steak Room.  We arrived shortly before noon.  Good thing, too.  One tour bus filled with French-speaking tourists arrived and another tour bus shortly thereafter.   After a filling lunch, we were on to Bryce Canyon.

Previous to even leaving on vacation, we had instructed our daughters that there would be much hiking.  We didn't disappoint.  Our first hike started off at Sunrise Point at 8017 ft, where you looked out over the Bryce Amphitheater, and took us along the Queens Garden Trail down, down, down to the bottom of the canyon and then up again past Thors Hammer and the tortuous switchbacks to Sunset Point at 8100 ft.  There was still plenty of snow on the ground (it freezes 200 days of the year at Bryce) and we often encountered mud and ice on the trail.  I think we should have started at Sunset and gone to Sunrise, oh my gosh, that hike up was a heart-pounder.  It took us approximately 2 hours to go three miles (with a little meandering along the bottom).

After catching our breath, we headed to Bryce Lodge to refill water packs and refresh with a short movie about the history of the canyon (I may or may not have dozed right along with Chris through parts of this movie.)  It was still early enough in the afternoon that we decided to drive further along the rim to see Natural Bridge, Agua Canyon, and Rainbow Point. (Pictures below shown in order listed.)

We turned around after Rainbow Point and drove back down and out of the park, driving along Highway 12.  Chris and I enjoy looking at the scenery a lot more than our children.  We banned iPods for the day much to our daughters' dismay.  As we were driving along, the road went between two mountains with another mountain in the background.  There was no traffic so I got out to take a picture and the best perspective was lying on the center line to snap the photo.  I could hear Chris in the car telling the girls to "get a picture of your mother."  That was until I saw a car coming.  In order to facilitate the picture-taking moment, I returned to the road so that a picture could be taken of me taking pictures.

We figured that the restaurant we had lunch at would be overrun with tourists for dinner and decided to stop instead in Tropic, UT at Clarke's Restaurant.  It was okay, definitely not stellar by any means but our peeps were fed.  Those same peeps were tired from a long day of driving and hiking.  We drove back to the hotel.  Sadly the swimming pool was outdoors.  We nixed the idea of swimming but walked over to the historic inn and grocery store to find some after-dinner treat and returned to the Best Western to eat ice cream by the fire.

Misha was happy to sleep on a roll away.  None of us had any trouble sleeping.

Oh the Fun We Had... Day 1

For a variety of reasons, we were all excited for Spring Break to finally be here. My girls were thrilled to be out of school for a week, Chris looked forward to some much needed rest, and I was anxious to put my new camera to use (I love it, by the way). We signed the girls out of school at lunch time on Friday afternoon. We had a 2:50 flight. Kind of a crazy flight schedule for Chris who regularly makes it a point to not have connecting flights, but we economized on some of our frequent flyer miles and called it an adventure. Our first flight of the day was from Denver to Burbank, CA where we would have about a 40-minute lay-over, then change planes, and fly back to Las Vegas, NV. Quite the round about way of getting to our final destination of St. George, UT. Because Chris is an A-list flyer with Southwest, he always gets low "A" boarding numbers, boards before the rest of us, and saves us seats. It works.

The girls were hoping to see the "Hollywood" sign as we flew in to Burbank, but it was too far away to be visible. There were no walkways connecting the plane to the terminal; our girls were excited to deplane using the stairs--front and back of the plane, no less. Our next plane was a little late in arriving but we only had a short one-hour flight ahead of us. The girls and I were quite amazed by one arrogant and rather large couple.  They apparently had "B" boarding numbers, but stood in line among all of the "A" boarders and stoically would not budge an inch as people tried to get past them with carry-ons and packages.  Hard to imagine what goes on in the minds of some people.  We were ten minutes late leaving from Burbank.

As we flew over Vegas, the girls spied The Strip, not quite as exciting in the late afternoon when all the lights were still off. After landing, picking up our luggage, and then taking the bus to the car rental location, it was dark enough for the lights to be on. We drove in our rented Dodge Grand Caravan toward The Strip so the girls could see it up close and personal. We had originally thought to stay in Vegas, but then decided we would get an earlier start to Bryce Canyon from St. George. The girls oohed and aahed, pointing out iconic names and buildings. Kristen, of course, was thrilled to see the mini Eiffel tower.  Misha took these pictures with my older Canon G12 that I brought along for her to practice with.

I had not been to Las Vegas since being pregnant with Amy and, wow, things had changed.  I think The Strip was twice as long as it had been in 1999.  So many buildings I had never seen before.  The facades were beautiful, the street was teeming with people, and everywhere was lit up brighter than Christmas.  It was getting late, and we still needed to feed our peeps.  We stopped at Viva Zapata's Mexican Cantina and Grill.  The food was rather tasty and filling.  We left Vegas around 9:30 pm and arrived in St. George around 11 pm.  Such a long day.  I think we could have driven straight to St. George from Colorado and arrived sooner, but since Chris needed to be in Phoenix later in the week, flying was our option.  The girls slept the entire way, and I zoned in and out for most of the final leg of our journey.  I think it might have been Chris' swervy driving in the canyon that woke me up.  So we started in Colorado, flew to California, flew back to Nevada, drove through Arizona, and arrived in Utah.

1st Grade Showcase

You'd have thought the entire school attended the 1st Grade showcase at the school, there was standing room only and not a particularly good view of the goings on at the front.  (I think there are four first grade classes).  Misha was sitting in the row ahead of Chris and I.  I wanted to take a picture of her, but every time Chris poked her to get her to look at me, she would turn around with a look of, "What am I doing wrong now?"

I will say that the showcases have improved this year with a theme and coordinated songs (still not so impressed with the music teacher though).  Kristen was pretty excited about her showcase.  She would say to me, "I can't practice my songs at home because they won't be a surprise."  She is pretty enthusiastic about anything she participates in. The kids were especially excited about the frog song and truly got in on the actions. Kristen is on the top row in the middle.

Again, Chris made a special effort to be home for Kristen's performance. He had to change to an earlier flight, but I know it makes a difference to our girls when he is there.

My Little Poser

Kristen is usually quite happy to pose for me as I practice taking pictures.  The challenge is that you have to catch her smile without saying "Smile" to her.  She has the hardest time landing a genuine smile and tries too hard to make it happen, but when she does...magic.

My Bad....

Kristen was loading her dishes in the dishwasher and pulled the bottom rack out a little too fast so that all of the dishes clanged together.  She called out, "My bad."

Misha's Glasses

Remember those dorky glasses that Kristen was wearing under her goggles while studying spelling words.  They're Misha's.  For the past couple of weeks, Misha has been wearing said glasses to school every day.  In fact, she'd put them on as soon as she got out of bed in the morning, and they didn't come off until bedtime.

A couple of times a month, I volunteer in my girls' classrooms at the elementary school.  As I was in Misha's class with Mrs. Spong grading papers, she suddenly asked me, "What's with the glasses?"  It took me a second to figure out what she was talking about.  "Oh, I don't know.  She wears them all of the time at home too."  I shrugged and laughed.  (I suppose I kind of know, though, I use to do the same thing as a little girl as I wanted to wear glasses like my friends did.)

I took a picture of her wearing them, but it was too blurry.  I'll have to get another shot to add here.

Teaching

I have been blessed to teach the 12-year olds at church (and this year that includes Amy).  I have been very impressed with these young people and have determined in my mind that in all my teaching, I will testify and do my best to bring the spirit in to my lessons.

A couple of weeks ago, my lesson was on Prayer.  It was Fast Sunday (Fast Sunday means that as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we skip two consecutive meals once a month in order to draw closer to our Savior, receive answers and inspiration, and to be uplifted).  And as I laid in bed early Sunday morning thinking of my class, an idea for my lesson came in to my mind and heart to teach the concept of prayer with greater impact.

Before leaving for church, I cut two slices of freshly-made, whole wheat bread, grabbed a plastic knife, scooped some peanut butter into one container and jelly into another, and put everything in a bag.  I typed up this question as a handout:

Knowing that the kids were fasting added to the impact of my lesson.  As I began my lesson, I moved a small table to the middle of the room, pulled out a lovely red napkin and spread it out on the table and then placed a white plate on top.  It definitely caught their attention.  As I proceeded through the lesson, I brought out the rest of my props.

The bread smelled wonderful and just the thought of it sitting on the table amongst hungry twelve-year olds held their attention.  I spread the peanut butter on one slice of the bread and then jelly on the other slice of the bread and then smooshed them together.  Then, I handed out the piece of paper (that Amy now has hanging from the mirror in her bedroom).  "Do you hunger for PB&J?  Prayer Between U and Jesus"  (The U came in from the "u" in Butter.  It worked).

I then outlined the parts of prayer with the top layer of bread being our preparation for prayer (red napkin and plate) and how we reverently address our Father in Heaven.

The jam represented our gratitude and the thanks we give for blessings, miracles, family, etc.

The peanut butter was the requests and pleas we make--asking in faith for those things for which we stand in need.

The final slice of bread represented our closing..."In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Do YOU hunger for PB&J?

Best Bears Ever

I walked in to Kristen's room this morning to check on the state of the bed-making and clothes on the floor.  I laughed as I spied her bed and how she had arranged her bears for the day.  Seriously, I've gotta get me one of those massaging pink bears!

Another Last Milestone

Kristen has learned to tie her shoes!!!!  "Mom, you can buy me lace-up shoes now!"  She is so pleased with herself.

Spring

Mr. Robin Red-Breast, I no longer look to you as the signifier of Spring.  In fact, I have noticed you hanging around all winter long.  It is cold here.  Don't you get it?  Spring is on its way, though, there's no mistaking the signs...

Immediate Goodness

Yesterday afternoon, I received a text from Amy that someone had stolen her backpack.  Crap.  I tried to text her back, but my text wouldn't send, so I called the school instead and asked to speak to her.  There are times as a mother when I wish that I could just reach to wherever my children are and enfold them in my arms.  As Amy got on the line, I asked what happened, and she just started crying.  Seriously, my heart was breaking for her.  I began to ask questions such as, "Where was your backpack?  Have you looked around to see if it was left somewhere?  Was there anything important in it?  Did you tell someone?"  She was pretty devastated and just wanted to come home.  I encouraged her to stick out the rest of the day and find a paper and pencil to take notes.  I explained that we could replace the notebooks.  She wasn't carrying around anything of much importance in her pack.  I stayed on the line with Amy until she regained some composure and felt as though she could go back to class.  I told her that the only thing we could do was pray.  I hung up...

Less than a minute later, the phone rang and the caller ID indicated a call from the school.  I thought maybe someone from the staff was calling me.  Amy was on the line again, "Mom, they found my backpack."  Really?  I was so thrilled.  She was still feeling a bit invaded, but I sent her on her way with my love and encouragement.

When Amy arrived home, she explained that her pack was found in one of the boys' bathroom.  Someone had obviously gone through her bag and had taken all of her.....gum.  So grateful that was all that it was.

This morning as we were reading scriptures before school, we came upon a verse that I had never really considered before:  

Mosiah 25:10 And again, when they thought upon the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God.

The word immediate impressed me as my mind remembered the backpack and the quick second phone call.  I, too, gave thanks.  The immediate goodness of God, miracles, tender mercies...call it what you will, He hears and answers prayers.

Leaping for Joy on Leap Day

29 reasons why I love my husband:
1.  We have an ongoing joke about who is funnier, but I'll at least give him that he is funny.  He makes me laugh and smile.
2.  He has an amazingly strong work ethic.  We work beautifully together.
3.  He is a wonderful father.  There's a lot of estrogen going on in our house; he is a trooper to handle it all so well.
4.  He is romantic.  I love all of his innuendos.  He makes me feel wanted and loved.
5.  He brings me flowers just because (and most likely because he knows I love that he brings me flowers).
6.  I appreciate his knowledge of the scriptures and gospel topics.
7.  His mind is full of random facts.  He shares them.  (Don't watch airplane-related movies with him though--he'll ruin them every time.)
8.  He loves to travel.  When we travel as a family, he researches the area finding cool activities and adventures for us to experience.
9.  He rubs my feet.
10. He washes dishes on Sunday.
11. He loves electronics, and I love that he encourages me to be tech savvy as well.  He strongly encouraged/made me give up my Franklin planner for the lovely Ipad he gave me for Christmas.
12. When I am not so tech savvy, he is my go-to-guy for technical support.
13. He works extremely hard at his job and to be the best he can be.
14. He is a great kisser.
15. I love his hands.  They are masculine and strong, yet they know how to quickly pull girl hair back in to a pony tail.  (Speaking of hair, he has some of the best guy hair ever!)
16. He serves others.  Christopher has a very giving heart.
17. This man is not only talented at carrying on a conversation but also in drawing people into a conversation.
18. I love that he is tall (and dark and handsome).
19. He is conscientious about maintaining our vehicles to keep us all safe and likes to keep them spotlessly clean.
20. He is an engaging teacher.
21. He is quick to forgive.  I have learned much from him.  And when I am not so quick to forgive, he loves me still.
22. I am the first one he calls when he has exciting news to share (and when the weight of the world is on his shoulders and he just needs a listening ear).
23. He holds my hand.
24. Financially, he and I are on the same page  We are both willing to sacrifice here and now for peace of mind later.
25. I love that I am a better "me" with him than I could possibly be without him.
26. He married me forever.
27. He takes his daughters on dates.
28. He puts up with my weird obsession with finding the "perfect" handbag.  Now that I have a DSLR camera, I might just have to start all over again.
29.  Out of all the people in this world, I want to be with him the most.  He is my best friend, and I would choose him again and again and again.

Only Kristen....

I say that, because only Kristen could come up with some of these things that make us laugh.  In our house, jeans are not often worn out.  My older two girls especially, are growing and outgrowing pants all the time.  Chris ordered some new Guess jeans the other day to add a little more stylish look to his casual, business, after-hours attire.  Kristen, in all of her six-year old wisdom, asked of her father, "Are you growing or is your butt just getting bigger?" !!!!!!!!  Crazy kid.

How to Embarrass Your Daughter

On Friday evening, Amy, Kristen and I were in Dick's Sporting Goods looking for Christopher and Misha.  My phone rang and it was Christopher, who had left the store, and was looking for us back at Aeropostale where the two girls and I had originally started.  I rounded up Kristen easily enough playing on the little putting green in the back corner of the store, but when I turned around to find Amy, she had disappeared.  I don't enjoy walking through a store calling for my children, but I kept calling for Amy and looking for her.  No luck.  No Amy.  Chris was now waiting for us in the entrance and I sent Kristen to stand with him and to not get herself lost.  Misha came in to the store and suddenly I was missing two children.  Seriously, was there some kind of vortex that was sucking my children in?  As a last resort, I went to the front desk and asked the employee working there if there was PA capabilities in the store.  I looked over at Chris, smiled, and he seemed to know exactly what I was going to do.

"Would Amy and Misha please meet their party at the front check out counters."  What do you know, all of a sudden two girls appear out of nowhere.  None too happy, I might add.  "Why did you do that?  We were just right over there!"  Well, I had looked over there and over here and everywhere.  Chris and I shared a self-satisfied smile and high five as we walked out the door.

Skull Candy

I know, the name sounds weird, but when you know that it is a company that makes and sells headphones, it makes a little more sense.  Anyway, Misha received a pair of Skull Candy headphones for Christmas.  It was not a surprise that a few weeks later, they were left on the living room floor.  What was a surprise is that my foot found them there and without realizing it, I busted the headphones by yanking out one of the wires as I stepped.  She could get sound out of one ear still, but really, what ten-year old wants that? I felt somewhat responsible, but we also told Misha that leaving them on the floor was a bad choice and that she was responsible for replacing the headphones.

So here's where I am became impressed with Skull Candy as a company.  I was inspired to check out the warranty on their website.  I learned two things:  1) if you break a pair of Skull Candy headphones, and it is YOUR fault, they will give you a coupon for half the value of the headphones to be purchased from their website (and then shipped to you free of charge), and 2) if a pair of Skull Candy headphones break and it is a manufacturer defect, they will give you a coupon for the full replacement value of the headphones.  Impressive, because they too will be shipped to you for free.

I packaged Misha's headphones up and shipped them off.  Since I was the one who broke Misha's original pair, I felt somewhat responsible.  Skull Candy's impressive warranty helped me to relinquish my guilt--I got her half off.  I told her what I was doing, but she didn't give it much thought until I received an email from the company saying she had a coupon for $20 off a new pair (she could have chosen any pair she wanted).  Misha was responsible for the remaining $20.  She picked out a similar pair of headphones--gold this time for a little bling on her skull.  I haven't noticed that she has left them on the floor since.

Spelling Test

Kristen has a spelling test every Thursday.  Apparently...this eye attire helps you spell better.  And that's a pair of protective goggles over a dorky pair of plastic glasses with no lenses.

A Date with Dad (and shopping)

Chris and I try to regularly take our girls on dates.  I suppose we concentrate on time with Dad a little more than me since he travels.  The girls love the opportunity to spend time with their dad and often argue over whose month it is to go.

I suppose it wasn't a true date since the rest of us tagged along, but Misha had a blast regardless.  She and Chris scheduled a time on President's Day to use a Flight Simulator coupon.  The business happened to be located in the Colorado Mills mall in Golden (so you can understand why the rest of us went too).  We arrived at Aviation Xtreme as other people were finishing up their time.  Since they wanted a hard copy of the groupon, Chris got on their computer to print it out.  With brief instructions, they each climbed in to their respective simulators and donned head phones. 

Amy, Kristen, and I left them to their flying and headed out to explore. I think Kristen had formulated a plan in her mind previous to arriving at the mall, and when she spied Build-A-Bear, she took off. She used all of her birthday money and traded me some gift cards in order to purchase Cindy along with a dress and shoes. Oh the excitement. The lady filling her bear was a little kooky, but I suppose to a six-year old, it didn't really matter. In fact, Amy and I were both standing right there and the employee kept talking to Amy as though she was in charge. Kind of bugged. Amy may be as tall as me, but she definitely doesn't look like an adult. I digress.

Once the bear was stuffed, Kristen and Amy headed over to the primping station to comb and fluff. Amy was into this as well, so I just stood back and let the two of them go.

As we were finishing up, Misha and Chris found us. Misha was all smiles. Apparently she trounced Chris. He said he was going easy on her to begin with and even when he started "trying", Misha beat him. Go Misha!

We ate lunch in the food court (late since we had breakfast at 10 am) and then walked around the mall. I have tried to be on a buying moratorium this month, so we just passed by a lot of stuff that we didn't really need.

President's Day Breakfast

Oh lucky day!  Chris had the day off too.  We took the girls out for breakfast at The Egg and I in Longmont.  We happened upon The Egg and I a month ago in Estes Park and were quite impressed with the selection and the taste and the pancakes that are the size of a serving platter.  If you happen to go and Manny is your server, you'll not find a more personable young man.  I forgot my camera, but imagine us eating pancakes, waffles, steel cut oats, fruit, and bacon.  Yep, that's exactly what it looked like.

Drama Queen

We have three drama queens living at our house.  Their performances/outbursts take on completely different forms, but Amy, Misha, and Kristen can each lay claim to the title.  Yesterday, Kristen was in full drama mode when I countered her behavior with, "You are not the Drama Queen around here."  She didn't even miss a beat as she looked up at me and queried, "Well, who is?"

Misha's Heart

There are days when the angels sing for joy at the presence of an earthly angel.  My heart joined that chorus yesterday.  Misha was at lunch.  One of her classmates did not have lunch and the money in his lunch account was all used up.  Misha quietly moved to the lunch line, purchased a school lunch using her own lunch account, and returned to the table with a lunch tray.  She set the tray down in front of this hungry young man and then returned to eating the lunch I had packed for her.  I can't even begin to express how this touched my heart.  My daughter is an angel.

Zits

While sitting at the breakfast table this morning, Kristen looked over at her dad and announced, "Dad, you have a big bite on your forehead."  Nothing gets past that girl.  Chris and I both started chuckling.  "It is not a bite, Kristen."  She didn't let it go at that and jumped down from her stool and came in for a closer look. "It looks like a bite.  What is it?"

I reply.  "It starts with a 'z'."

"A zebra?"  Yep, my husband has a zebra on his forehead.  Don't mention it.  He's kind of sensitive about it now.

Babysitting

Amy had her first, official babysitting job.  She was sooooooo excited.  She has been our babysitter for a while now and has been looking forward to sitting for others.  So, even though I'm not ready to give her up as my babysitter, I'm willing to share her a little bit.

A Bunch of Sickies

Ugghhghg, it all started with Misha.  She stayed home from school on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Thursday.  Kristen joined her on Thursday (though by the afternoon, Kristen and I both knew she could/should have gone to school).  Then we had a snow day on Friday.  Everybody stayed home.  I was sick by then.  I thought everyone else was doing fine until Kristen woke me up in the middle of the night with her deep-chested coughing Friday night.  Meanwhile, Chris was stuck in Arizona due to the crazy snow here.  He didn't want to be there, but neither did he want our germs.  He finally made it home on Saturday late afternoon only to pick up the slack and start disinfecting every surface in sight.  Sunday.  Chris was still healthy.  Woohoo.  Amy had succumbed and she, Kristen and I stayed home from church.  Chris left for Arizona again early, early Monday morning.  Amy stayed home with me, and I knew exactly how she was feeling.  Sadly, the older I get, the longer it takes for me to recover.  Amy was back to school today, though I have worried about her all morning knowing she probably feels like crap times two.  Homework and missed classes and assignments and tests--ahh, the life of a middle schooler.  She'll be wiped out when she gets home but she also has a math test tomorrow.  And me?  Excedrin is my friend.

Honor Choir

Back in October or November, Amy came home and announced that she wanted to audition for the Middle School Honor Choir.  It just so happened that she was sick the week of auditions and missed the ones at her school.  Her last chance for auditioning was at the middle school in Erie.  She was still sick but being the great mom that I am, I drove her over just so she could do her five-minute audition.  Since she was sick, she wasn't terribly hopeful that anything positive would come of it, but was later delighted that she had been selected for the honor choir.

The kids had been working with their Music Directors at school (and supposedly on their own as well) to learn the music.  On Thursday, February 3rd, they had the entire day away from their classes to rehearse and work on their music together at Skyline High School.  I had the great fortune of driving kids to the school in the morning and then picking them up in the afternoon again AND then returning once again for the performance in the evening with Amy and Kristen.  (Hooray for iPads that keep little girls occupied while waiting for things to start.)

Fortunately the program wasn't too long as I was worried about the snow storm that was predicted to start.  The kids did a great job.  The boys sang a few songs on their own, the girls then followed up with a few on their own, and then they combined for three songs at the end.

It's No Madonna

So, I've never baked anything before where I saw an actual image in my baked good, but I thought this was pretty cool--an almost symmetrical butterfly on the top of my cornbread.