The Burrs In Our Saddles

Mackenzie had her ballet recital on Saturday night.  She knew the dance the best of anyone in her class.  Lots of them even watched her the whole time!  She was so excited for the dress rehearsal and show that she got up early (before I had to go to work) so I could do her makeup and hair.  Then stayed in it all day long. This was her ballet teacher's last hoorah before taking a few years off--she has a very young family that needs more of her time.  We'll sure miss her next year. Madison took her friend, Ella with her.  Ella lives across the street and "Madis-Ella" as the principal calls them do lots of stuff together.  They love to hang out with each other and hardly ever have spats. Kenzie did great and was so excited that Grammy and Granddad got to come and see her.  And Colby even got to stay the whole time without any calls or anything.  We love it when that happens.

Last week Colby turned 36.  It was a great day with much celebration.  I made BBQ Ribs, Macaroni Salad, Corn on the Cob and we topped it all off with an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  Yum.  His parents got to be here and I hope he had a good day.  He's a great dad and I usually love him more than anything.  Thanks for being great and Happy Birthday.

So today is Meriden's 4th birthday.  She had a celebration in her class at Montessori and I was really surprised at how shy she acted while I was there.  I'm sure it was because I was there, but still!  I went in and took doughnut holes.  She wanted to take real doughnuts, but I didn't think that 4 year olds would eat a whole doughnut.  A whole was surely sufficient.  The celebration was really cute.  First they all sang "Happy Birthday" then "how old are you?"  She was supposed to sing "I am 4" but needed a little coaching from her teacher, Mrs. Imberi. Then each of the children who were 4 already stood up, shook her hand and welcomed her to being 4.  It was hilarious to me.  Then the 5 year olds welcomed her to being 4, then the 3 year olds.  I got to tell about how I got ready for her to come and tell all about her first year with photos.  When I got to when she turned 1, they sang the following song: "The Earth goes aro...

Today we unloaded a couple tons of hay and Colby saddled up Lightening and pulled the girls around our 3.5 acres.  They had a ball and especially enjoyed singing "Jingle Bells...in a one horse open sled."  They make me laugh sometimes.  Ok, fine, a lot of times.

I tried to download all that stuff.  You know, the Christmas pictures and videos, New Year, blah blah that I talked about last post, but I can't find my cables anywhere.  And I'm too cheap to go buy new ones because I know they're here somewhere.  If only I could figure out... And we have another meet to add to the list.  Salt Lake Community College this time.  I know the anticipation is killing you all.  But you'll just have to wait until I find those blasted cords.

I started typing in my title and when I finally looked up and saw (at that very point) that I've already used this one. So to reiterate, Holy Smokes! I can't believe how much I have to catch up on! Maybe tomorrow when I don't have visiting teachers coming, cleaning for my mother-in-law to make an appearance, Madie's piano lesson, 6 violin lessons, rehearsal and somehow I found time to pinch poor Meriden's finger in the front door, I'll download some photos from 1. Christmas (What?!? I still haven't done that?) 2. New Years Eve/Day 3. Madison and Mackenzie's first gymnastics meet videos and photos all before we go to another meet this weekend in Salt Lake, making sure I look like a good mom since my mother-in-law is in town (aka having food on the table at a decent hour), teach a few gymnastics classes, getting ready for Madison's big 9th birthday, taking treats into her class and actually getting packed and to Salt Lake all by Friday at 3 pm. ...

Madison is on the Robotics team this year. She has really had a good time helping build and program their robot. Last Saturday, the team had their first (and only, I think) competition. See here . The team did ok, but it was a good learning experience for them. My friend, Denise and I volunteered to help serve concessions. Good times were had by all. I especially liked the turquoise aprons we got to wear from the kitchen at the school. They really brought out our best features. And yes, Santa did come help us in the kitchen.