3 Little Dancers

I have to say I'm really starting to like this "dance mom" thing, even though it's far from the life I knew growing up.  All 3 girls wanted to join this session with Ady doing ballet/tap, Chandler doing ballet, and Brooklynn doing lyrical jazz.  It's been rewarding watching them climb to the top of each of their respective classes and, more importantly, really enjoy it.  Of course the countless hours of driving to and from classes has been tough, but I knew it'd all be worth it once recital time came.

First up was Brooklynn dancing to "Lava".  She was the oldest in her class and really stepped up as the leader, which was great for her confidence!

Ady danced to an old Shirley Temple tune - "At the Codfish Ball", and she really took the reins and led the class, even though she was one of the youngest (but of course the tallest).  She practiced constantly at home and nailed the routine at the recital with no fears of the large crowd.

 Their ending picture pose, which was just the cutest!

Chandler was the last one, with a Christmas ballet medley in these beautiful costumes.  Her class had girls up to 8 years old, but she was amazing and held her own.  She pays such attention to detail that she doesn't miss a beat with each toe tap, flex, and turn.  Although we see great potential here, Steve is still reserving her talents for soccer.

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After the show I was surely one proud mama!  They even humored me while I forced the post-pics.

Love her forced smile!

 More her style

 Awwww......

 And, lastly, we were so glad Kenz could join us for the show!  A family of 4 dancing ladies!

Starting the Season with a Bang!

Somehow we always seem to get thrown into Christmas and it's a whirlwind of craziness!  We do our best to put it all on the calendar so we don't miss an event or forget about it, all while we feel like chickens with our heads cut off!  We were blessed with some gorgeous weather the first weekend in December, so we just had to watch the Parade of Lights in downtown.  It was the warmest one we've been to, and the kids had a blast with their friends!

What a great idea to cage the monkeys!

Happy to be with the Lewis and Startzel families!

As if that wasn't enough excitement, all three girls had their first recital together on Saturday (more to come later).  And Sunday was the annual Disney on Ice ladies day with all the cousins.  I was able to go this year to the Frozen show, and had a great time belting out the songs with the girls.

Since the weather had been so nice we figured it'd be a good time to sneak in Zoo Lights as well.  Again, the warmest weather we've had for the lights ever.  We'll enjoy it for now, but it's hard not to worry about the unseasonable temps.

Visiting Santa at Zoo Lights with Mr. and Mrs. Claus (at first the girls only saw Mrs. Claus and were a little freaked out that Santa was a "girl".  They were worried they were "Bruce Jennered")

Will that girl ever button her coat?  At least they're getting cute at the poses!

Family shot

The girls' elementary school had their first craft fair this year, which was a welcomed change from the usual Santa shop full of overpriced gifts.  The girls had a fun time making some crafts and even got to visit Santa.  Does he look familiar?  Hmmmm.........

Sunday was our annual kids' book exchange party.  The kids always have a blast and pick up right where they left off, even if it's been months since they've been together.  I'm always amazed that we've known all these kids since they were born!  Such a fun group!

It's hard to believe it's only December 13th and we've already done so much!  More to come this season.......

So Much to be Thankful For

This year the girls had the entire Thanksgiving week off from school, so we were planning our week far in advance making sure we'd have a fun time!  

We started our week off with some dress-up at the WOW museum with our good buddy, Charleigh.  

Tuesday we were blessed with some gorgeous weather, so we met the Lewis family at the zoo to see some animals!

After a low-key Thanksgiving dinner at mom's we woke up early the next morning to check out the Colorado History museum and their "Toys" exhibit.  It was on our list since we missed it last time.  It's a nostalgic exhibit showcasing toys from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and it's always amazes the kids to see what we actually played with growing up.

After the snow finally stopped we figured we'd better get out and enjoy it before it melted (which happens too fast around here).  The girls were ecstatic to get out and they jumped right to the big hill (no more bunny hill for these daredevils).

 Brooklynn was a rock star trying to go as fast as possible and even running into a few trees!

On Sunday we loaded up and drove downtown for my friend's charity event #Hashtag Lunchbag, where we'd make sack lunches for the homeless and deliver them.  I was glad to finally find an event we could all participate in.  The girls decorated bags while Steve and I sliced tomatoes and spread mayo on the sandwiches.  The turnout was unbelieveable!  We made 700 lunches in an hour and a half.  What a great way for us and the kids to connect with other volunteers and connect with the homeless in Denver!

We're getting ready to deliver!  The lunches went quick but everyone was thankful, especially our kiddos to witness how fortunate they are for all they have - a great ending to a thankful week!

Cheese's Birthday

Chandler was insistent, yet again, on a pumpkin patch party for her 6th birthday, and since Halloween was on a Saturday this year, we figured we'd try it but keep it low-key in case it was a madhouse on Halloween.  We were welcomed with a beautiful day and a small crowd to make the party a big hit!

Her only request, yet again - a pinata!

Steve's hideous cat costume as he tries to leap the hay bales.

Admiring her Halloween cupcake

They're so photogenic!

Since it's such a busy time of year I asked Chandler if we combine the friends and family party, and she just looked at me with pure disgust.  That's our birthday princess!  So we had everyone over for a nice brunch and gifts.  The best part was that Kenz stayed the night with us, so we had some extra Kenz time.

Cousins!

She actually was able to read her own cards this year - so fun to see!

In lieu of a cake we did monkey bread - so fitting for our monkey!

Six Year Stats and Faves
Weight - 48 lb (72nd percentile)
Height - 3' 11" (81st percentile)

Color - pink
Movie - Inside Out
When I grow up I want to be - a teacher
Game - Yahtzee
Sport - soccer
TV show - Good Luck Charlie
Book -  Cooking with the Cat
Food - corn dog

Chandler, you amaze us everyday with your intelligence, independent spirit, and your sassiness.  You are very strong-willed, but love to surprise everyone with your kindness.  We look forward to cheering you on at many more soccer games and playing hours upon hours of Crazy 8s!

Halloween Times Three!

Halloween is always a major event in our house, but it felt even bigger this year since all 3 girls would be in school with the party.  The girls initially wanted to all be Disney princesses, but I had to nix that right away!  Although I didn't want to replay last year's time spent on costumes I still wanted something that cannot be purchased in the store.  The persuasion was simple - Ady would be a CSU cheerleader (yeah to reusing costumes), Chandler would be Doc McStuffins (yeah again), and Brooklynn wanted to be a dalmatian.  Sweet!  I could do that!

The day before Halloween started with Chandler's party in the a.m. where we had a few craft/game stations and then loads of sugar!

Chandler playing "Pass the Pumpkin" with her classmates

After a quick lunch we were all back for Brooklynn's party.  It was laid-back with the kids hanging out and stuffing their faces.  I couldn't believe how calm they were!

My little dalmatian

 Somehow the little girls were given all the goodies too.  I finally gave up!

Saturday morning we woke up to beautiful weather and headed to the pumpkin patch to celebrate Chandler's birthday (more to come later).  After a chill afternoon we were ready to trick-or-treat.  After rushing through dinner, the costumes were back on.  Ady came down like this:

 She told us, "Now I really look like a Rams cheerleader."  She's such a comedian!

Trick-or-treating time

Wearing our hillbilly teeth and hanging with the neighbors!  Don't let the party end!

Card Sharks

Steve and I have always enjoyed a good game.  Although we've progressed from our college days of King's Cup to more adult nerdy games, like Catan, we embrace our competitiveness and are always looking to win.  Our love of games has been passed on to the girls, but mainly to Chandler and now Ady.  Brooklynn is less competitive and will play the games, but the other two are obsessed!  We started with Go Fish and other kiddy board games but now these two are masters at Crazy 8's, SkipBo, and even King's Corner.

I absolutely love watching kids develop their strategies for games.  It's amazing to watch the wheels turn as they figure out how to play and win.  I truly believe playing games is one of the best activities for kids!

Chandler was home sick with strep throat, but instead of watching TV she chose Crazy 8's.

I had to get a video of our Bubba dealing a hand.  She's so good at it and it helps her work on counting and her 1:1 correspondence.  Bonus!

Our Successful Garden!

I had been getting a little frustrating with our gardening attempts, because it seems every year is a little worse than the one before.  But I've also learned there are just too many variables to really figure it out.  For example, we've been putting tomatoes in the same spot year after year.  Some years we've had quite the bounty while others we've had nada.  

So this year we tried our usual - no-fail zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, various lettuces, and butternut squash.  Our newbies this year were cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, and a separate kale garden.  With our wet spring the garden was looking pretty dismal, because we just didn't have the sun or heat they needed.  Then came July and the heat, and everything flourished!  Our tomatoes went bonkers.  I was making salsa almost daily and even got a few batches of homemade spaghetti sauce.  Our cucumbers took off as well, so I knew I had to learn how to can and pickle some batches so they'd be eaten.  Success!  I forgot how much I just love to park myself in the kitchen all afternoon and cook.

So now that it's the beginning of November we finally had to take it all down, but until now we've still been getting juicy, ripe tomatoes.  Here's one of the plants almost falling over from all the tomatoes!

 Our 1 cantaloupe we harvested.  A lot of work for only 1, so we had to savor it, but it tasted amazing!

 Our "kale box", which was handy for all our smoothies and kale salads.  I was able to freeze the remaining plants for future smoothies!