Live United

A family friend works for Live United and wanted me to take a few pictures of the girls in Live United shirts. Definitely easier said than done but I got a couple of cute shots. Here they are.











Most of the shots looked a little more like this :)

Popular

"Popular" is sung by Kristin Chenoweth from the musical Wicked. If you haven't seen the musical, here is the synopsis:
Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her relationship with Galinda, later Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South). The two women struggle through their opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, their reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival from Kansas, and includes several references to the events depicted in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

It was such an incredible musical. I showed the girls the video clip of the song but it only left them with a million questions as to why the Wicked Witch and Glinda were singing to each other.

I also tried to explain to Noelle what popular meant. That was rocky too. How do you explain it without bringing in all the negative that it means? So she used it in a sentence: "Oh yeah, Roxie is really popular to me."

And then the whole song is pretty much "tongue in cheek" which is lost on them as well but we sure enjoyed it :).


Now, I'm not sure if they have my love of dance and whether or not it will become either of their "thing" but I do know that these girls sure do love performing. Noelle belted out parts of the song in the performance and Natalie sure could shake her hips.


I started to feel sentimental sitting down waiting for the performance to start, wondering if I might cry when they came on stage. Then we they started running out, they were so stinkin' funny and cute that I just laughed the whole time.

These are two very loved little girls!
We all headed to Spaghetti Factory afterwards, which was fun, minus the water dumped in my lap, down my pants and in my shoes. But I've got 5 years on me as a mom now, par for the course ;).

Saturday Morning Tradition

3-2009

6-2011

For years now, when we are home on Saturday mornings, we make pancakes. Isn't it funny how some of the best traditions are just born out of routine and not out of an attempt to start a tradition?!

Ryan loves breakfast and Noelle loves pancakes. I am not a morning person, especially after waking up multiple times in the night. Ryan was in charge of Saturday mornings. And with that the tradition was born.

We have a great dairy-free pancake mix (Bob's Red Mill - High Fiber Pancake Mix) and chocolate chips with some real maple syrup. One time when it was a banana pancake morning Ryan put on Jack Johnson's banana pancake song and it stuck, so that they listen to it every time they are cooking up the pancakes. So, the girls pull up a chair and Ryan pulls out the griddle, pops in the CD and Saturday morning is complete :).

Do you have any fun traditions that just kind of happened? What are they?

Happy Birthday to Noelle and Natalie

Rockin' Mother's Day!

This video is so wonderful for sooo many reasons.

Easter

I tried really hard to stay calm while dying eggs this year because so far it has really stressed me out. I did it, I stayed calm. That was probably because I walked away to go get some wipes while Natalie knocked over a bowl, moved to the side, knocked over another and Ryan got to endure the stress. The pose wins you back over though.
We had my family and my cousin's family over for a hunt. My dad of course is leading the charge because candy is involved.
Here are some typical shots of our family gatherings. Andrew's little grin, jumping on a trampoline filled with eggs and candy.

Brian telling Grandma an animated story.

Natalie trying to say something to Andrew and then not quite sure what to make of him.
Luke.


And then I got these really precious shots of Noelle. I just love them. They capture her sweetness.


And Natalie had a very blue theme going on :).

Girly Girls!

Ryan saw these pictures and I think was hit once again with the reality that we have two girls - two girly girls. And me!
This was a fun photo shoot because it was totally make-shift and free! There was a photographer shooting the senior superlatives at the high school and since my mom was the one that used to do all the hiring of him he is very open to helping her out. So, in between his shoots, when he was just waiting, he was more than happy to take some fun pictures for us. And the ASB office is filled with fun colored balloons.

Natalie was being quite the little model. Noelle on the other hand was a little more distracted by all the things around her in the room. We still love the results.
My mom had to swap heads with the one great picture of Noelle to create this picture but the pose that they put themselves in was just too adorable!
And here's another one of Natalie hamming it up.
But the majority of the pictures look like this. It is so comical to watch because inevitably, at the moment one girl finally turns to smile, the other looks away or does something strange.
Like this...
And this...

But they are still fun and adorable!
...and girly!

Passes!

We had annual passes that ended in November. I originally decided that I didn't want to renew them but as time went on I really started to miss Disneyland!


I'm afraid that my hinting that I wanted to go back was not too subtle and turned into begging. I felt I needed to convince Ryan of all the reasons why getting passes was an excellent idea even though I had told him we didn't want them again.
So, for our birthdays he decided to give us the green light and partner with my mother-in-law and Grandma to get us all passes.
The thing I love most about it is just being able to go for a few hours with the girls and just take our time, doing whatever sounds fun at the moment. Noelle starts Kindergarten days until 3pm in the fall and I want to soak up this time of having littles at home with full days free as much as I can.

Wow, as I write this I am again reminded of how few people have an option like this and how little we really need such an extravagant option. We will soak it up though while we have it and make some really fun memories.

It was also great to realize that Natalie had forgotten some stuff in the past 6 months, for instance, that she hated It's a Small World and refused to ride it.

EASTER

I am excited this week for Easter. We celebrate the greatest day in history.

I adore Christmas but I sure did spend a lot of time in preparation for the presents and I feel thankful for the simplicity of Easter.

Jesus has rocked my life. I know a freedom that is unexplainable and a love that runs deep in my veins. Hope in him truly does act like an anchor for my soul.

Last night was passover. I only know that because my calendar said so. I overlook it mostly but when I saw it again on the calendar I wanted to look into it afresh and I was encouraged. The Passover Seder points to Christ in uncanny ways.

One particular point stuck out to me, where three pieces of matzoh are selected and the middle one is broken and then hidden. After dinner a child seeks and finds the matzoh to receive a reward. Someone suggested the childlike faith in which we must come to Christ and how rich of a reward we are offered. Another the idea that the Matzoh is pierced and striped.

I look around at our world and see the strife and the pain. I look to this Sunday with a renewed desire to reflect on the significance of the cross.

Crosses are everywhere and a Happy Easter message with a big cross can fool us into missing the depth and the breadth of Jesus' cross. If the cross holds some old, unhelpful meaning to you, I encourage you to look anew to the significance of the cross.

Knowing the cross, all that it represents and how the story unfolds, Easter Sunday takes on new meaning, fresh meaning that is unequally exciting.

Pizza Party!

When Noelle became convinced that she wanted her birthday at Chuck E Cheese I was willing to do a small family thing there but that was it. My plan was to have a joint party for her at our house.

This is a girl who knows what she wants and I'm going to need to learn to go with that.
Because I totally underestimated how much fun this whole Chuck E Cheese thing would be for her.

Rocking out with Chuck-E! Natalie was pretty into it too. She reallllly wanted to go in the ticket blaster! We might be going back for her birthday!


Because you need to have a minimum of 4 kids to do the birthday party package we invited our neighbors, Kaitlyn and Lilah. Kaitlyn is in Noelle's preschool class and Lilah and Nat are the same age.

I realized afterwards that she had seen the whole thing play out on a commercial and was ready! I started to explain the "ticket blaster" and she was like, "Yeah, I know. You put on goggles and then the tickets start blowing all around..."
I'm excited that the party is still coming up! This girl loves holidays so much and her birthday has been such a source of excitement. More fun to come!

TO PET OR NOT TO PET?

This girl is totally obsessed with animals. Whenever we've visited homes with animals she just can't get enough. We saw this cat in a friend's apartment complex and instead of running from the girls it rolled on it's back and wanted them to pet it. Noelle was totally taken, especially when the cat walked onto her lap.

Last week our little neighbor friends came running over to show the girls their lizards. The next thing we know they come back with this cage and ask if Noelle can have a lizard.
I told her they wanted to give her a lizard and even have a cage for her. She was literally gushing, "Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. I always wanted a pet. I'm so excited."

We kept the lizard for a few days and she loved him but then decided to let it go because it seemed a little too sluggish. After letting it go Noelle cannot stop talking about wanting a cat.

Ryan and I have never been animal people. I know for sure I don't want a dog. I might do a fish but I refuse to do a hamster/guinea pig, etc. But because of her great love, Ryan and I are seriously considering getting a cat. We would have it be indoor/outdoor.

I would really love some feedback though. Is this a good idea? Horrible idea? Are your kids obsessed with animals? Is it a phase or enduring? Did having a pet enrich your life? Are you a mom that wishes you didn't have a cat?

Give me your thoughts and advice!!