Misha's Fifth Grade Tribute

A couple of weeks ago as I was sitting on the bleacher's at Misha's field day, her teacher, Mrs. Spong, came and sat down beside me.  She said, "I have to tell you something neat, but you can't tell Misha."  For the 5th grade April homework assignment, all of the students were asked to nominate another student for "Classmate of the Year".  Out of the 26 students in Misha's class, Mrs. Spong said that about 20 of them had nominated Misha.  I almost started crying as I sat there on the bleachers.  She is such a wonderful girl. 

As I attended Misha's 5th Grade Tribute on the second to last day of school, I brought my camera and moved to stand against the wall as awards were given.  Misha received a Certificate of Completion for 5th grade, an Academic Achievement award that only two others in her class attained, and the Classmate of the Year award.  So proud of my Misha.

Funny note, the boy standing behind Misha in the first picture with the "fro" was named Noah.  He garnered the nickname of "NoFro" once he started growing his hair.  Nice kid.  Funny how the name stuck.

More Kristen Posing

Too bad my other girls aren't as happy to come outside and pose.  Kristen's good for a number of shots before she grows tired of helping me out.

Hair Tales

I'm finding as my daughters age that I don't deal well with pre-teen tears.  Just don't.  I need to try a little harder to be more sympathetic.  Their dad does a better job with it than I do.

I took all three girls to get their hair cut on Tuesday afternoon.  It was a new location for them.  Even before we left the house, my seven-year old--MY SEVEN-YEAR OLD--started to fret.  "I don't know if I can trust them."  Really?  You're seven.  It's a hair cut.  Hair is an important adornment whatever your age I now realize.

I will admit I felt some trepidation--mostly with Misha's hair.  When I requested blending of some pieces around her face, I about threw up when the stylist starting cutting inches off the front of Misha's hair.  Then, she took these freaky scissors that don't really cut as much hair as they look like they are going to and started snipping more hair.  I think my jaw dropped with the first cut and then I realized they were just thinning the hair and not cutting huge random chunks.  Perhaps Kristen was on to something.

Amy was next.  She only wanted a trim--a half an inch--but the same stylist recommended a little more because Amy's hair was dry.  I had Kristen getting started by another stylist so I was back and forth between the two, and perhaps not paying as much attention to Amy.  You cut an inch off her curls and it was like cutting three inches off straight hair. 

I'm pretty sure I could cut Kristen's hair in the future if I do it the way this stylist did.  Kristen's hair was so long, even with Kristen sitting on a booster seat, that the stylist had Kristen stand.  Then blunt cut the ends.  I can do that.

Oh so many tears once we arrived home with Amy.  She hated her hair and its poofiness.  I tried my best to console her by helping her fix it and put product in it.  She wasn't placated.  Her dad went up to talk to her.  It wasn't until the next morning that I learned that it wasn't so much the style but the fact that it was shorter and bouncier and so not what a girl who wants straight hair dreams of. 

Drama.

And my own personal drama with Misha's hair was unwarranted.  She looks great with it framing her face.

My Visual Learner

Misha had a Water Festival Field Trip today.  Not sure exactly what she'll be doing there, but all of the students were given t-shirts to wear.  Said t-shirt ended up on my couch after school.

"Misha, would you please take your t-shirt upstairs?" I asked as she headed up for bed.

"Can I just leave it here so that I see it right when I walk downstairs in the morning so that I don't forget it?"  She responded.

"If you take it to your room and leave it on the end of your bed, don't you think you'll remember to wear it then?"

"No, I'll see this as I come down the stairs," she replied as she pointed to her t-shirt now draped over the back of the couch.  "Besides I am a visual learner.  That's what my testing showed me.  I'll need to see it."

"But...."  I know all you Moms out there are thinking the same thing I was.  But...never mind.

Favorite New Word

I walked in to the kitchen last night with all three girls lined up at the counter for dinner.  Kristen grinned and stated, "My sisters are epic." 

"Oh, really."  I responded.  "Why?" 

"They just are."

Well, alrighty then.  Better than fighting.

Just say "No"

I thought it was pretty funny to catch Kristen's Barbie's Mother's Day feast and Ken's fashion malfunction.  Just say "no" to crack!  And what was for dinner?  Orange Roughy (aka Gold Fish).

Mother's Day

I'll admit that, in the past, I haven't always let my family serve me on Mother's Day.  Something about thinking they couldn't handle a day without my input in some way.  This year, I let them have at it.  I nudged Chris out of bed around 7 am knowing that some of my children wanted to make me breakfast (and I was getting hungry).

I was happy to feast on waffles with strawberries and whipped topping along with scrambled eggs.  Delish.  After church, Chris and Amy barbequed another tasty meal complete with three or four different kinds of vegetables.  On a happy note, we made our children eat these vegetables too.  Amy said the other day that she doesn't even mind the grilled red peppers anymore.  It takes ten tries to develop a taste for a food.  Not sure if the asparagus will fall in to the "like" category.

And, I walked away from the table (mostly) after the meal and let them clean up.  I think I like this style of Mother's Day.  I'm dispensable, and I'm okay with it.

5th Grade Field Day

Here's my preaching, I don't understand schools today.  There is a scheduled Field Day, and yet, they do nothing to practice or to prepare their students.  No strategy for running a relay, nothing.  As a child, I remember PE classes consisting of races, practicing triple jump, long jump, discus, javelin...Perhaps if we hadn't strayed so far from actual effort, our nation wouldn't be facing an obesity epidemic.  I have feelings on the subject.

I was able to attend Misha's 5th Grade Field Day on Wednesday.  I arrived just as she rounded the corner in her relay.  She apparently didn't notice the crazy lady on the sidelines cheering her on.  Sadly, I wasn't quick enough to pull out my camera as she zoomed past.  I made my way to where students from Centennial were sitting.  Misha was just pulling out her lunch to eat.  I was glad that I was able to see her race as she had two events remaining--the tug of war and the obstacle course.  I was grateful that I hadn't arrived at 9:30 am when the day began.  The sun was hot and relentless.

So biased, but my Misha is beautiful. 

Gotta love the twisted-tongue effort.  Her team won their first round but lost the second.  Second place ribbon.

Racing to a second-place finish in the obstacle course.

Broken Dryer

It was such a blessing in a myriad number of ways to have Chris home ALL week long last week.  One can never schedule when an appliance is going to be on the fritz.  That is one of the reasons why I was glad he was home.  I had noticed on Wednesday that my dryer was extremely hot when I took the clothes out--so hot that it had permanently wrinkled a lot of the clothes in the dryer.  On Thursday morning, when I went to transfer a load of sheets to the dryer, I turned the dryer to the on position and could feel heat already starting to pour out of the dryer.

Chris was kind enough to interrupt his work and dig in to see what the problem was.  My washer and dryer set are about 14 years old.  They have served us well, but I am not ready to see them go so I was grateful when Chris and an appliance repair friend of ours figured out the problem.  Until then, however, my dining room became a makeshift laundry room.  You can tell from the blowing sheers that there was plenty of breeze to dry the clothes.

Beyond fixing my machine, he also cleaned out and around both the washer and dryer AND the weekend before had cleaned out the inside of my washing machine.  Such an amazing guy.

Dance Recital

Kristen had a dance recital at the end of March.  Amy was more than happy to help with the makeup application and hair design.  Because I was feeling under the weather, Misha took over photography duties.  Kristen has been taking dance lessons once a week throughout the school year from a family offering the lessons in their home.  It has been convenient for me and fun for Kristen.  Chris was able to attend her performance on Saturday morning.

Wounderful Mommy

Kristen has a very kind heart.  The other day when I wasn't feeling so great, she put together this little snack for me with a thoughtful note.

NJHS & Other Fun Stuff

Amy was once again selected to join the National Junior Honor Society.  She and I attended the induction ceremony.  For some strange reason, the teachers insisted the inductees be at the school at 6 pm, but the ceremony didn't start until 7 pm--and then it only lasted a half an hour.  So we sat and waited for who knows what for an hour.  We are proud that she has worked so hard this past year.  She is learning the importance of being a good student.  Teachers notice.  She was also selected to be a WEB Leader next year.  I think it stands for "Where Everyone Belongs".  She will get to work with the incoming 6th grade students (Misha) and help them assimilate into the Junior High experience.  And she was also recommended for and selected to be on the Yearbook committee.  Like I said, teachers notice.

Wicked

I don't know if Misha knew exactly what she was getting into when she agreed to go to "Wicked" with us way back in December.  She just knew that she had declined seeing "The Lion King", and Amy's enthusiastic description of the performance convinced her that she didn't want to miss a second opportunity.

She loved it.  Amy downloaded the music on Sunday, and Misha has been listening non-stop since.  We dropped Kristen off at her friend Grace's home for the evening and Chris, Amy, Misha, and I drove to Denver for dinner and a play.  We stopped first at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner and even convinced the girls to try cheesecake.  Really, when it is loaded with cookie dough, you can't really taste the cream cheese at all. 

We were in our seats shortly before 7:30 for a little people watching.  Always interesting.  The girls were hooked from the beginning and though Misha grew tired (she's not a night owl), she made it to the end...and loved it.  She talks about going again and this time getting a seat right up front.  Yep, you sure can, and you can pay for that ticket too!

Geocaching

 

Misha had the great idea of geocaching on Sunday evening. Fun family activity...and she found two of the three caches.

Art Show

Amy and Misha both had art selected to be in the School District art show this year.  They were pretty thrilled.  Sadly Amy stayed home from school sick on the day that I planned to take all of the girls to the mall to see their displays.  We found both of Amy's pieces, Misha's piece and they were excited to find two drawings Kristen had done that had been applied to a park bench.  Everyone was happy.

Amy's two pieces (the second one IS supposed to be upside down):

Misha's piece:

Kristen's pieces and the bench:

Happy Birthday Take Two

If you remember from an earlier post, Kristen had grand plans for her birthday.  We obliged by taking her and the girls to Boondocks for mini-golf followed by dinner at Cinzetti's on Monday night.  I am not a big fan of Cinzetti's.  The food is fairly passable, but you feel as though you have to eat a lot to get your money's worth.  Don't like that feeling at all.  I made a point of telling the girls on the way home not to ask to go again for the year.  But, we had fun...and that's really what counts.

Watch DOGS

Chris likes to participate in the Watch DOGS program at school--Dads of Great Students--where dads spend a day at the school with their child(ren) helping in the classroom, playing at recess, and having lunch together.  Misha and Kristen were pretty thrilled that Chris was finally able to fit a day in.  He chose April 20th, which just so happened to be the day after Kristen's birthday and the perfect day to help celebrate her birthday.  I arrived at the school at 12:30 to drop off the pink-frosted, sugar cookies that the kids (and teachers) loved so much.  Chris was just coming in from recess where the kids loved playing with him and seemed to find so much humor in calling him Mrs. Kline.  He made a point of pointing out to them that I was Mrs. Kline and he was Mr. Kline.  They didn't care.  I'm afraid Mrs. Fike had just as much work settling the kids down from his riling them up--like making them stand against the wall just after he encouraged them to do pushups.

We waited next to the bathrooms for almost ten minutes before going back to the 1st grade classroom.  I'm pretty sure these kids didn't need any more sugar (especially since they were planning on root beer floats later in the afternoon), but they were happy to oblige Kristen by eating her birthday treats and by singing to her.  Chris made the faux pas of taking a bite of his cookie before the birthday girl. "Daaad!"

Celebrating Kristen's birthday at school wasn't a big surprise--more an expectation from my little planner.  Celebrating Misha's birthday was a delightful surprise; and I love a good surprise.  Since her birthday falls in the summer, she hasn't celebrated at school until last year when I also surprised her.  Chris said they made a point of celebrating all of the kids with summer birthdays and singing to them.  I wasn't there for the actual celebrating, but dropped off doughnuts after Kristen's cookie affair.  Chris headed off to lunch with Misha and her class. 

As I dropped off the doughnuts, one of Misha's classmates was using the microwave.  I told her it was a surprise and if she spilled the beans I was going to give her a "0" the next time I graded her spelling test.  (Funny thing, she made a point of saying "hi" to me at the grocery store a couple of days later.) Misha just thought I was there after dropping stuff off for Kristen and to take pictures.  (The first one is a little fuzzy but cute nonetheless.)

And Chris is either looking down at the floor or closing his eyes.  You decide.

Chris was pretty worn out after his day at the school.  He came home and wanted to take a shower.  He posted on Facebook, "Finished a fun day volunteering at the girls' school. But I have to be honest: I feel dirty. There isn't enough hand sanitizer to fix the things those kids do."  True, true.  Such a good dad.

Posing Kristen

Kristen dresses up, and I just have to pull out my camera!  Amy gave her the hat for her birthday.  And afterward, I had a little fun tweaking the pics on my computer.

Happy Birthday Kristen

My baby is seven. Kind of surreal. I remember the morning she was born and heading for the hospital early, dropping her sisters off on the way with our good friends Jamie and Jeremy. We all say it, "Time flies," but blink and wow, seven years. This seven-year old girl has a definite plan for everything in life. Already she plans to live in Paris someday and be a famous fashion designer. We encourage her all we can; who's to say she won't live in Paris someday?

What better place than the mantle to stage the birthday presents? It is a popular place for all kinds of signs as well.

Part of Kristen's birthday plan included breakfast in bed, because she had seen pictures of her sisters eating breakfast in bed on their birthdays. Amy, Misha, and I headed up to her room around 7 am before Amy left for school laden with a camera and breakfast tray and ready to break into a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday", but it appeared as though Kristen was still sleeping. We backed out and closed the door, but not five minutes later, I heard the squeak of her door handle turning. I raced back to find her dressed with her bed made. She didn't protest when I told her to go back to bed! We did an instant replay...

Another part of Kristen's plan was to have a doughnut for breakfast. I picked one up the day previous and stored it in our second fridge where it went unnoticed by all peeps under twelve. "Hey, when did you get this?" and "Did you only get one?" Much to Misha and Amy's disappointment, I only bought one doughnut.

Misha didn't do to badly though. Amy handed Kristen a present to open and Kristen said to Misha, "Here, hold this for me," while handing over her doughnut.  Misha took a bite here and a bite there.  And she had no shame either when I finally noticed the top portion of Kristen's doughnut missing.

Kristen got a fun Polly Pocket gift from Grandpa and Grandma Kline and $$$ from the rest of the Grands.  She wasn't complaining.  I made her a cute "spa kit".  She always wants to do spas on me, so I thought she would enjoy her own kit full of lotions, nail polishers, q-tips, a cloth, headband...she has already put it to good use.

Amy and Misha made Kristen's cake.  I will have to say, I don't mind in the least that they want to do this.  I am not a cake maker.  Amy made cupcakes and then arranged them in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.  It was loved.

Chris arrived home before noon on Kristen's birthday so that he was home to celebrate with Kristen in the afternoon and evening.  Kristen's "plan" had included a trip to Boondock's Fun Center and Cinzetti's.  Sadly for her we had to place that part on hold until the following Monday.  That plan sometimes!  Sheesh.

Happy 7th my sweet girl!  You are loved.

Straightening the Curls

It is a rather long process to straighten Amy's hair.  She starts out looking like this:

 

Kidding, kidding, kidding. Like this:

Then we have to comb out her curls and frizz things up a bit..

You get this.  I will say her new flat iron does a much better job and in a shorter amount of time.

Psst. Don't tell her I said so, but she has such beautiful curls. I prefer the curls.

Chris the Cowboy

My husband has a bit of a crazy streak.  The last time he wore his boots to get his hair cut, his stylist kidded him about them.  As he got ready to get his hair cut this last week, he joked, "Do you think I should wear my boots?"  Not sure if he would or not, I said sure.  He did.

As he walked out the door, I IMed his stylist and said, "You should see what's coming your way...You'll laugh."

She did.

Easter

My children LOVE Easter.  We try not to commercialize too much with that bunny dude (Spoiler Alert**they all know that Mom or Dad hide the Easter stuff.)  I'm happy with that arrangement.  I'm even more happy that my husband has done such a bang up job the past two years of creating an Easter egg and basket hunt that I'm quite thrilled to dub him the Easter Dude.

This year, he hid 101 plastic eggs in the back yard.  Some were filled with candy, some with a slip of paper, and some little eggs had none.  The girls had to open ALL of the eggs.  It was kind of funny in the days leading up to Easter how they tried to tell us how we should hide the eggs, they like to orchestrate things (or maybe they just want to ensure that the experience is memorable and fun).  Anyway, the girls raced around the back yard searching for their eggs.  Grandma B (who had just had knee surgery and was confined to bed) and Grandpa B joined us via Facetime on the iPad and watched the girls hunt for and open their eggs and then they helped out by solving the clues.

Misha:  "We're just epic like that."

Chris:  "You are epic like that because your parents make it possible."

Chris giving instructions.

The slips of paper.

Chris had hidden each of the girls' baskets in a variety of places all over the house.  On each slip of paper was a letter, a scriptural reference, and a number.  The girls had to unravel the clues in alphabetical order to find out where to look for their basket.  With each scriptural reference, the number signified which word in that particular passage to use.  So each clue started out something like, "You will find your basket behind/in the..."  Misha's was in the "chamber" behind the tv on the main floor.  Kristen's was in the "chamber" behind the tv in our bedroom.  Amy's was "behind the door" in the sprinkler closet in Christopher's office in the basement.   They took turns discovering where their baskets were hidden since I was following with the camera and Chris was bringing Grandma and Grandpa along.

Well done Chris.  I dub thee Easter Dude.

Getting ready for dinner.

We continued with our tradition of decorating sugar cookies instead of hard-boiled eggs.  These ones actually get eaten.  The girls were given instruction to not over-decorate and they did a lovely job.

Cotillion

For the past couple of months, the young men and young women of our ward have been preparing for Cotillion.  Cotillion is an elegant evening of dinner and dancing.  In preparation, the kids have been learning dances and manners and all kind of skills necessary for such a fun evening.  Amy was excited, as you might imagine, and wanted to do all kinds of shopping for a dress.  It was a wonderful relief when some of the leaders offered their prom dresses for the girls to try on and borrow.  Amy tried on a few and settled on...red, if you can imagine (since that seems to be Misha's color at our house). 

She looked beautiful the night of Cotillion and if it weren't for the crazy wind, I could have gotten some nicer outdoor pictures.