It's a Winter Wonderland!

The first day of Christmas break was full of excitement for the girls.  We had over a foot of freshly fallen snow on the ground and they were more than eager to play in it. 

Jessie trying to make a snow angel.

Dad helped the girls make a giant snow fort. 

It wasn't long before the Kensora girls came and joined the fun!

Catching snowflakes.

The younger girls started getting cold after about an hour but Sarah and Hayden would've stayed in the fort playing all day.  We eventually forced them to come inside and warm up their fingers and toes by the fireplace. 

Little Elf Party and Christmas Around the World

Wednesday was the girls' last day of school before Winter Break.  We started the afternoon with a Little Elf party in Mrs. Themm's Kindergarten class. The kids went around to different stations making different mini-size treats- the perfect size for little elves.  They made mini frosted donuts out of honeycomb cereal, frosting and sprinkes, mini Christmas wreaths out of bagels, cream cheese and green shredded coconut, tiny milkshakes made in baby food jars, etc. The kids had so much fun going from station to station and eating to their heart's content. 

The snack table for grown-ups.

Rian, Connor, Lilly and Seth making mini frosted donuts.

Making little elf hats using bugles and spray cheese out of a can (much to my dismay!) Rian had never heard of such a thing before and could hardly believe you could really eat such a thing.

Kendall and Helen

Rian's edible wreath.

Mini snack mix station.

Mike and I stopped by to see Hayden and her BFF Colley at the 5th grade party where the kids were eating a lot of not-so-healthy treats and watching "Home Alone" before singing karaoke, and although Hayden said she really wanted us there, it was clear after a few minutes that we were being ignored and our presence wasn't really required after all!  We then headed back down to the kindergarten room where we were a bit more appreciated!

After school, we had time to run home and change clothes before heading out to Jessie's preschool program at Ellis Ranch.  Ellis Ranch is only about 10 minutes outside of Loveland, headed up towards Estes Park, but with the blizzard we were hit with, it took us forever to get there and the roads were completely treacherous.  We couldn't see a thing and almost missed the Ranch entirely because the road you had to turn down to get there wasn't visible due to all the snow!   Once we finally made it, everyone had a grand time.  The theme was Christmas Around the World, so each preschooler dressed up to represent the country of their choice.  Little J. of course picked Vietnam!!

Everyone brought a dish from the country they were representing (we brought a chicken curry dish with jammine rice) and enjoyed a nice dinner with family and school friends before the program.

Jessie ditched us to sit by her good buddy Jordan.

Jessie and Jordan

Hayden sporting her new glasses.

The Boo Bear.

The program was very cute and entertaining.  The kids did songs and dances of Christmas songs from around the world.  Jessie took her job very seriously and you could tell all the kids had really practiced.

Jessie was paired up with her pal Tayteum and they danced and twirled each other around for an entire song.  All the kids had such a good time.

After the performance, there was a guest appearance by the Big Man himself, but Jessie wanted nothing to do with him and wouldn't even get close enough to Santa to get a picture of him in the same frame as her.  The girls grabbed some cookies and we headed out, and luckily the snow had stopped by that time and we were able to find our way home. 

Piano Recital at Good Samaritan Retirement Community

Rian and Hayden had been practicing their recital pieces for weeks, and today was the big day to show what they had learned.  Hayden had been through this experience many times before, but this was Rian's first recital and she was quite nervous to say the least.  Yesterday, she handed me a note in bed at 6 am that said she was too sick to do the "recidal", and could she please stay home instead.  Then she asked me to check either the 'yes' or 'no' box to let her know the answer.  But after butterflies left and she took a deep breath, Rian performed really well.  She was first on the playlist, so after she played "Chopsticks" and "Jolly Old St. Nicolas", she was off the hook and was able to enjoy the other pianists. 

Hayden's piano teacher, Mrs. Peiffer told us after the show that Hayden had her best performance yet.  She played four rather difficult pieces (Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Canon in D, When Johnny Comes Marching Home and The Irish Wedding Dance) all from memory.  It was impressive to watch and filled our hearts with pride to see our two girls work so hard and perform so well. 

Everyone posed for a few pictures by the Christmas tree before leaving. 

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch (they haven't missed a recital yet!) and Joan and Arlen were there too, along with their friend Wendy, who was interested in seeing Hayden's progress since the last recital.

Mrs. Peiffer- what an amazing lady!

So Jessie was a bit (ok, a LOT) fidgety all througout the recital.  She kept saying her back was itchy and she was scratching at it and lifting up her shirt every so often.  It was only after we got home that I realized the problem- Jessie had stolen one of Hayden's training bras and was wearing it under her shirt the whole time! (Sorry, Hayden, this was too good not to share! xo)

Taekwondo testing- Fall Quarter

After having been out late every night all week due to working on the Robin Hood play, Hayden had to get up early Saturday morning for the most grueling Taekwondo testing yet.  It was a three hour test designed to see which black belt candidates would be ready to test for their black belts this June.  Master Skip Leanord flew in from California to help the other examiners in their decision. Hayden was exhausted, and also VERY nervous! Unfortunately, I took mostly videos, so I didn't get many pictures. I did get a couple of Hayden and Mariah sparring.  But I missed out on Hayden sparring against two attackers because I was videoing it instead.  It was all great fun to watch.   Hayden did great on all the areas they tested her in: Forms (all 16 of them), Hapkido, Sparring, Kicks, Blocks, 11 Basic Stances, and Breaking.  She had to do a two station break this time- a side kick followed by a spinning hook kick.  By this point in the journey, there is so much information to remember, I don't know how she does it!

                     

Everyone was relieved once it was all over and the eight students who tested (4 black belts and 4 black belt candidates) posed for a picture with the instructors. And Master Leonard gave his blessing for all four black belt candidates to test for their black belts this June!

Robin and Robin Hood

As if her scedule wasn't already full enough, Hayden decided to add the 5th grade play to her list of commitments.  Luckily, she chose to be more of a "behind the scenes" player, rather than one of the main actors.  She was in charge of doing all the sound effects throughout the play.  This included making sounds on her own, as well as downloading sound effects onto a CD to play during each scene.  The kids had rehearsal several mornings before school, as well as everyday after school the week before Opening Night.  She had a lot of fun and learned a lot about play production in the process.  After a few minor technical difficulties at the first run through of the show, she had her timing down and her sound effects even brought laughter from the audience at the appropirate times! The 5th graders were in charge of producing the entire play themselves- directing, acting, costumes, set design, managing the microphones, you name it.  Everyone worked really hard, did a fantastic job and had a lot of fun in the process.

Second annual Father-Daughter-Daughter-Daughter Dance!

Mike and the girls got all gussied up for the Father/Daughter dance Saturday night. They had looked forward to it all year and it didn't disappoint. The dance is held at St. John's in Loveland and it is always decorated to the hilt.  They had a red carpet rolled out at the entrance, the "couples" were announced by microphone upon arrival, and the fun began!  They had fancy desserts (cream puffs, mini cupcakes, cookies) and punch, and the room was decorated in snowflakes, balloons, streamers and glitter to the theme of "Winter Wonderland".

Waiting for daddy to get ready!

After a long preparation of showers, perfumed lotion, lipstick, nail polish, and flat-ironing, everyone was ready to get the party started! (Much to mom's dismay, nobody was willing to wear color coordinated outfits this year, much less matching dresses).  

Keeping with tradition, the Kensora Girls joined the Thomas Girls for the dance.  Hayden spent a long time curling Sarah's hair- doesn't it look so pretty?

I am told this was not the first trip to the snack table.

Boo doing the chicken dance. Mike wasn't able to get many pictures due to the lighting, but everyone danced the night away and had a great time, especially the one-on-one slow dances with daddy.  (Well, ok, they tolerated those and totally loved rocking out to Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga!) After a couple of hours, Mike brought Rian, Jessie and Jasmine back to our house to watch Rudolph and fall asleep, while Tim was a good sport and let Hayden and Sarah stay until the dance was over.

Mike and Hayden started the tradition three years ago, just the two of them, and now it has expanded to a party of four. I'm sure it will be an anticipated annual event for many years to come.