Ballet Dance Recital

Kristen has been enrolled in a Friday afternoon ballet class on since the beginning of school.  She has loved it.  Her first recital was held on Friday the 16th.  Sadly, Misha also had a choir performance at the same time.  I went to the recital, Chris and Amy went to Misha's performance.

Kristen dance beautifully.  She was thrilled because I helped her apply makeup before we left and she thought that was fantastic.  I tried to get some good pictures of her dancing, but the auditorium was dark and all of the pictures I took look as though she and the other girls are demon zombie ballerinas with their freaky shining eyes.  So here's a few after pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Her teachers gave her and each other performer a pretty carnation for all their hard work, and I brought her a rose.  When I handed her the rose she asked if it was from her teachers and I replied that it was from me.  She was touched and responded, "Oh, how sweet Mom."

The Road to Texas....

As we drove along the toll road home from Seattle in October and knew that we had our Texas trip scheduled for December, Chris and I talked with the girls about "earning" their next trip.  So I came up with "The Road to Texas is Paved with Good Intentions" and for the next two months, my girls needed to serve each other.  They were able to record their services on the living room windows with dry erase markers.  Sadly, Misha obediently cleaned all the windows for me before I had a chance to take a picture.  I thought it was pretty cute how Kristen wrote, "Got a tishoo for Amy," or I vackumed the living room."  I'm sure there were plenty of missed opportunities for service, but at least they were more focused than usual.

5th Grade Showcase

The week before Christmas break was filled with a myriad of concerts and activities.  Misha's 5th Grade Showcase was held on Thursday, December 14th at the school.  I like how they focus one one grade at a time for their showcases, and even with that, there are three to four 5th grade classes and the gym is packed.

Misha's class did a short play about a hoped for "snow day".  They did a great job.  Misha's part in the program came at the end where the PE teacher had some of the kids demonstrate their skills on the climbing wall.  Go Mish!

My Twelve-year Old

Oh the slowness....I doubt that there has been any one who has wished time to move faster than Amy has.  And finally, she was twelve.

Chris took Misha skiing on Saturday (which is a story all by itself), so Amy, Kristen, and I spent the day celebrating.  We started at the nail salon with a pedicure for me, shellac nails for Amy, and a quick mani/pedi for Kristen.  My girls were both in heaven.  After the nail salon, we headed in to Ulta.  You see, Amy was finally allowed to wear makeup.  We had purchased a lot of different things this summer, but she needed a mineral powder foundation and was more than happy to climb up into the chair for a color match and application demonstration.

Twelve is a big age--important to said twelve-year old--and I wanted to make it memorable.  We headed to Flat Irons Mall after Ulta in hopes of seeing Santa for a six-year old and shopping.  Turns out we only got a glimpse of Santa and a huge eyeful of the two-hour waiting line.  No thanks, much to Kristen's disappointment.  Maybe that's why the Kristen/Jekyll/Hyde persona changed.  As we browsed Sephora, Amy came toward me with Kristen in tow.  Kristen had attempted to apply lipstick and had slipped.  She had red around her lips and across her cheek.  I asked one of the employees if they had anything to help remove the lipstick.  I wish that I had taken a picture.

Kristen has been very much a drama queen lately.  For example, "You can just let me walk home from here!" she poutily announced as we drove past Walmart in Longmont (about five miles from home and in the dark), or "I don't belong in this family," or on Saturday, "I'll just sit down on the floor and you can grab on to my arm and drag me from the store.  Really.  Do it."  How do you respond to that?  We just left and came home.

Back to Amy.  Sunday morning.  The girls and I brought her breakfast in bed (Chris was gone to a meeting so he missed it) and she was able to open her presents.  MAKEUP!!!!!!!  Oh, the joy.

Chris came home after his meeting and helped Amy set up her Facebook account.  I suppose I was feeling nostalgic in church, grateful for the twelve previous, wonderful years, when Amy came to sit beside me on the bench.  As the closing hymn was being sung, my daughter sat singing beside me, and I was overwhelmed, "She sounded just like me."  It brought tears to my eyes to have her as my daughter.  I am blessed.

Family Pictures

I tried to take some of my family pictures using a tripod of Chris' and the self-timer on my camera. We tried on Saturday night as Kristen and I planned to go to the Mormon Chorale Christmas concert at the Stake Center and Chris, Misha and Amy headed to a Daddy Daughter dance at our church building. Don't they look beautiful together?

Now get out of my shot!!!

Some of us have a lot poofier hair with the shadows than we normally have.

There is not a spot in my house that I love for taking pictures. In front of the fire was nice but too dark, and we were in a hurry. On Sunday afternoon, we tried again and ended up on the stairs because of the lighting. As you can see, it took a little time for Kristen to warm up from her poutiness.  I'm still rather amateur at this picture-taking thing, but fun memories for sure.

The Ski Trip

Misha and Chris left early Saturday morning on the 10th for a ski date at Copper. Since Misha is in the 5th grade and Colorado offers free ski passes to all 5th graders who apply, she was all set. Chris purchased a ticket through the Scout Ski Day program for $30 that included lunch.

The weather was in the high 40s at our house and not too much colder in the mountains. The roads to Copper were clear and Chris and Misha made great time in getting to the ski hill. They stopped for breakfast and then picked up their rented ski equipment. Not all the of the ski runs were open, including many of the "green" runs that Misha would normally go on, so up they headed to a more advanced "blue" run. The trouble started when Misha couldn't get on to the ski lift and the operators had to stop the entire lift for a minute or so to get her picked up and situated on the lift. Chris likes to say that she was off her "mojo" from the get go. Once they arrived at the top of the hill, I think Misha was quite unnerved by the blue run and decided that she wasn't going to ski down it. She took off her skis and started to hike and slide down. The ski patrol was close by and perhaps they stuck around thinking that their services might be needed.

Since I am telling this second hand, Chris might update a bit of the story, but I guess Misha slipped and fell on the ice--hard--and couldn't walk or slide or ski.  The ski patrol was quick to assist and helped to put Misha on a toboggan, strapped her in, and carefully made their way down the mountain.  That was Chris' one and only run of the day.  They were home by 1 pm.

Dates with Daddy

With Chris' travel schedule, he is trying to make the most of his time at home with his girls and is taking them on dates.  I got to tag along on Amy's date to The Lion King which was also a birthday gift, but Kristen was thrilled to have her daddy all to herself this last Thursday evening.  He had been working in the Tech Center, so to ease a little of his driving, we met him in Westminster for dinner before he and Kristen headed off to "Disney on Ice:  Toy Story 3" at the Pepsi Center.  She had a blast.

They arrived home rather late for a school night, but as I readied a sleepy Kristen for bed, she whispered to me, "Did you see my picture?"  Chris had taken a few with his cell phone.  She had a fabulous time.

What's in store for Misha?  She and Chris left early this morning to go skiing at Copper Ski Resort.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Colorado gives free ski passes to 5th graders so I imagine this won't be their last excursion to a ski hill.

I'm Done with Primary

That was Amy's chant as she walked out of church last Sunday.  She received her Certificate of Completion from the Bishop and is now thrilled to be moving on to Young Women.  She did a happy dance while chanting away.  This December birthday has been a long time in coming.  After being able to go to Girls' Camp this summer with the older Young Women group, going back to Primary for five more months was quite the drag for her.  Look out Young Women--here she comes.

Thankful Day 30 - Gratitude

Having an attitude of gratitude encourages you to look for the good in life and to remember blessings that are so abundant.  I am grateful for the month of November which has helped me to focus on giving thanks.

Thankful Day 29 - Humor

My children are a great source for humor in my life.  For example, Kristen asked me last night, "Mom, do we celebrate Harmonikkah."

Thankful Day 28 - Inspiration

I am thankful for the inspiration that brings "aha' moments, guidance, great ideas, answers to prayers, and feelings of peace.  Such a blessing.

Thankful Day 27 - School

We have had a good week with the girls home from school and, except for Kristen, my girls don't really want to go back to school.  Whereas Mondays use to feel too much like "getting back to the grind," I love the peace and quiet of my house on a Monday morning now.  I am thankful for school.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a rather low key day.  It was just us for a late afternoon Thanksgiving dinner.  It is times like this when I miss living close to my family and being able to share holidays with them.  We had the typical Kline family Thanksgiving meal--turkey, mashed potatoes, lots of veggies, rolls, jell-o, pumpkin squares, and I introduced a baked sweet potato this year.  I thought it was great--my girls, not so much.

Chris spent time hanging Christmas lights outside (not his favorite thing to do) but had Amy and Misha as helpers.  Kristen was outside too, but she was riding her bike in the almost 70 degree weather.

Normally I look through all of the store ads and plan out my "Black Friday" shopping day.  This year, I purchased a lot of things on line on Thursday and skipped the Friday morning craziness altogether.  It was a nice change of pace this year, but getting in to the "craziness" can be fun too.  We ventured out as a family later in the day and helped the girls find a few things for family members, but there just wasn't much that we needed to get.

Lion King

We are trying to offer our girls "experiences" for their birthday.  For Amy's 12th birthday this year we got tickets to the musical "Lion King".  We made dinner reservations at Osteria Marco on Larimer Square and enjoyed a delightful night in downtown Denver.  The weather earlier in the day had been in the 60s so it was a more pleasant night than it might have been for a typical November.

We had plenty of time after dinner to walk over to the Denver Performing Arts Center.  Can I just say that the performance was A. MAZ. ING!  The opening scene was incredible with the animal characters entering through the side entrances and walking down to the stage.  I highly recommend it.  Sadly, I forgot my camera for any before or after shots.

Painters

Like I mentioned in my Thankful post a couple of days ago, I have had my fill of painting.  When I found a coupon on Groupon, I was more than happy to take advantage of it.  I hired them to paint the main floor powder room and Amy's room.  Amy's room was one of her Christmas presents.  She has never liked the olive green as her wall color and has begged many a time for me to paint her room.  Now it is gray (though she claims at certain times of the day that it is purple!)  I asked, "Do you like it better than the green?"  Her answer is a definite yes.  "So, no complaining then."  I respond.

The main floor powder bath is now a slate blue color similar to my office.  I had to replace the curtain since it had faded from a nice blue to a dull gray over the last eight years.  After a little searching, I happened on to a full-length curtain in the seconds pile at Bed Bath and Beyond.  It was a perfect shade match to the blue I had chosen, with stripes of brown and ecru.  Perfect, though I did have to cut it down to fit my window.  Twenty minutes of cutting and sewing and Voila!

Thankful Day 26 - Online Shopping

I just have to say that online shopping makes life so much easier.  And it is fun to have packages delivered to your door.

Piano Recital

My girls had a piano recital on November 13th.  Amy's participated in them before with her teacher, but this was the first piano recital for Misha and Kristen since they started taking lessons.   They were all a little nervous but did great.  They even invited their friends to come along with them--for moral support? to goof around?  Can't imagine it was that exciting for them otherwise.  The girls each played six songs.  I am proud of them for working so hard.

Bowling

Chris and I took the girls bowling a couple of weekends ago.  They were pretty excited as it is usually a pretty fun experience.  Amy has improved a lot.  Even though she had bumpers, she didn't make use of them much.  Kristen was sadly disappointed after our first round because she had done so poorly and was determined that she wasn't going to play anymore.

As you can imagine, her sisters were quick to take over her turn.  After the first round, I said to her, "You will never get any better if you don't try.  I will help you."  I pretty much didn't give her an option to sit and sulk--nothing good ever comes from sulking.  We pulled her "bowling help" up to the line and instead of using the light little ball she had been using, loaded on a heavier one.  We weren't completely successful until the third of fourth turn where Chris was now helping her by using his heavy ball.  She began to pull ahead in the score and each round would get a little more excited.

We were all pretty close in our scores.  I could have pulled ahead of Kristen on my last turn if I hadn't accidentally bowled into the gutter.  Chris' ball somehow eneded up in the gutter as well, and you couldn't believe the smiling face and happy dancing of a little girl who just achieved the highest score of the family.  It was a good day.

Invention Convention

Misha participated in her school's Invention Convention this year where students come up with ideas for a new product, submit a patent to their teacher, and then try to create a working model of their idea.  Misha came up with the Fast Freeze Freezer (mind you, she didn't tell us about it until a few days before it was due).  Thus started the scrambling to help get her project done.

The finished "invention" involved a styrofoam cooler, tubing, some plumbing fittings, a can of air, and a can of soda.  Other students got to look at all of the inventions and loved coming by Misha's to feel the cold can of soda once it had been "fast frozen".

Misha's friend "REALLY" loved her invention and jumped in to demonstrate on more than one occasion and loved trying it out even if there was no one watching the demonstration.

Thankful Day 25 - Sunshine

I love sunshine.  I love living in a state where there are more than 300 days of sunshine every year.  I am thankful for every single one of those days of sunshine.

Thankful Day 24 - Thanksgiving Day

I love Thanksgiving.  I love the time we spend together as a family.  I am grateful for a day dedicated to being thankful.

Thankful Day 23 - Camera

I must have been bitten by the photography bug a little later in life, but I sure do love taking pictures now--or maybe I just love the great subjects I have for my picture-taking.  My family is great at posing and stopping along the side of the road for my random photo moments.  I am grateful for my camera and for the amazing memories it helps to keep alive.

Differences

As Amy and I were driving to pick up Kristen from her dance class last night, we were listening to a radio station that has already started playing Christmas music.  The announcer lady was commenting on the fact that at Christmas, many of us are still kids at heart.  Amy's comment made me laugh, "Yeah, some are just bigger and have credit cards."  Ahhh, so true.

Thankful Day 22 - Grocery Stores

For a large percentage of the world, walking in to a grocery store as we know it would be akin to witnessing a miracle.  Fruits, vegetables, dairy, breads...ready-made and all in one location.  I am grateful for such a miracle in my life.

Thankful Day 21 - Painter

I have done my fair share of painting in the past 10 years--enough to know that I don't enjoy it. Even more than enough to know that Chris professes that he is no longer helping.  It is a lot of work to prep the room, tape it, paint, touch up edges, and clean up.  I am grateful today for a painter who is working on two rooms for me.