So I Finally Decided to Blog

Well, I finally decided to blog. Sorry it took me so long. So here are some pictures from last weekend when we went to Billings for dance competition. Both of the girls performed their solos and they both did interpretive solos. For those of you who don't know, an interpretive solo is a one minute dance performed after the dancer listens to the song only one time before going on stage. They both did very well and had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately and unintentionally, I only got pictures of Alanna while she was in her dance costume. I think my reason for this was that Alanna's dances were earlier in the day and Makenna didn't dance until about 8pm Saturday night. And, in my defense, it was a really long day because I had been awake since about 4:45am. (Not sure why I was up that early, but at 6 I did go down and use the elliptical in the motel fitness room)

Anyways, I promise to get pics of Makenna in her full costume and makeup at the next competition!

Now It's Your Turn

If you are reading this then you've been tagged. Go to the file where your photos are stored, open the fourth file and then post the fourth picture in that file explaining when and why it was taken. Have fun!

Every year there is a Gingerbread house building contest where anyone from the community can build one and then donate it for a charity auction. Then, individuals and businesses can bid on them. This is one of the houses Brad's company bid on and won.

He was sooo excited to finally have won a raffle at work. However, he was in for a surprise when he went to pick up the Gingerbread house. It was sitting on a big board (not sure of the dimensions because I can never guess things like that) that was covered with big sugar granules that looked like snow. Now when I said big, I mean too big to fit through our door to get it in the house. We had to turn it sideways and all of the sugar fell off the board. What a mess! I had to do alot of vacuuming. Once we got it inside we had to figure out where to put it. Originally, we thought it would be a cute little house we could set on the coffee table, but that certainly wasn't going to work. Finally, we decided to set it above the closet in our entryway. Brad had to stand on a chair while I tried to help lift it up into place. It was very heavy. After all of this Brad said, "Well, looks like it will still be here for next Christmas." And, yes, as of now it is still sitting up there. I barely even notice it anymore. Someday we will have to take it down because it is starting to crack.

Valentine's Day

Ahhh, a day for love and romance! Well, maybe for some. I guess in our family we try to make everyday about love. And if you consider taking girls to dance practice and basketball half time performances romantic, then I guess we had a very romantic day. The girls practiced at the dance studio for about 2 hours on Saturday morning. Then, Brad showed up and took us out to eat at Humphrey's. After that it was off to the basketball game to watch Alanna perform. Finally, at 7 Saturday night the girls and I went to the new water park in town with some of the other dancers. So there we were, a bunch of dance moms with our girls on Valentine's night at an overcrowded waterpark with our husbands nowhere to be seen. So, maybe it wasn't a romantic night, but it sure was fun. The girls had a blast and didn't come out of the water except one time to eat pizza. We were there for 3 hours. It was nice talking (or rather, yelling over all the screaming kids) with the other moms.

This is a picture of what I got my family for Valentine's Day. I also got the girls pajamas and earrings and I gave Brad coffee and a mug. I also made chocolate covered strawberries which we all devoured in a short amount of time.

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Friday the 13th

Makenna perforemed a dance at a high school bball game. I have video, I will work on getting it converted so I can post it.

Brad went to help do a home makeover for the family who lost their son in the tragic bus accident. He didn't get home until 2:30am.

A Terrible Accident

A terrible accident happened in our town yesterday. A six year old boy was run over by a bus and killed yesterday morning. They are still investigating the accident and piecing together the details. I am asking that you take a moment and pray for the family, the bus driver, and the children that were on that bus. If you don't pray, please keep them in your thoughts and let this be a learning opportunity for all. Talk to your children about safely crossing the street and please drive carefully.

http://gillettenewsrecord.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/today/news01.txt

Tagged: 5 Things

5 Things on my "To Do" list:

laundry
exercise
take Valentine boxes to school
rhinestone Makenna's solo costume
figure out something for Valentine's Day

5 Jobs I've Had:

waitress at the Wright Slice
childcare provider
preschool teacher's assistant
BHSU Student Union Help Desk employee
Registered Nurse

5 Places I've Lived:

Vermillion
Kaycee
Newcastle
Wright
Gillette

5 Favorite Snacks:

popcorn with cheese
almonds
yoplait thick and creamy yogurt
string cheese
cracked pepper triscuits with pepper jack cheese

5 Things I'd Do as a Billionaire:

payoff debt
take vacations
donate to St. Judes Research hospital
donate to ASPCA and other animal charities
donate to "Green" projects

5 Things You May Not Know About Me:

I take Zumba classes 3 days a week
I broke my right arm when I was in Kindergarten
I had surgery when I was 3 months old
I've been to Disney World twice
I swear when I'm driving through the intersection of Hwy. 59 and Boxelder

5 Things I Love:

My family
watching my girls dance
my pets
camping in the mountains
being at home

5 People I Tag (write your 5 in the comments or, better yet, start your own blog!) :

Krista
Jamie
Amanda
Christina
Brad

Valentine Boxes

I know it has been awhile since I've posted and today I actually had to put blogging on my "to do" list. How pathetic is that? We have been busy even though my blog might not show it.

Valentine's Day is almost here. Do you remember making Valentine boxes in grade school. I remember it being a BIG deal. We usually made ours out of a Kleenex box and then towards the end of grade school we moved up to making Valentine boxes out of shoe boxes.

Well, those were the good ol' days. My girls have moved on to using BIGGER and better boxes than I could have ever imagined. Their teachers are letting them have a Valentine box contest this year and the only rules they have are that the boxes are school appropriate and they must be able to fit through the classroom door.

So last week Alanna came home and told us she wanted to use the TV box as her Valentine box. (Maybe I should remind you that we just got a 47 inch flat panel tv a few weeks ago.) Since Alanna was using a giant box, Makenna decided she wanted to use a big box, too; she is using the sink box.

The contest categories are the most hearts, the most sporty, and the most unique. You will notice that there isn't a category for the biggest; maybe they are going for the most unique.

Even though Alanna told me she okayed the tv box with her teacher I thought maybe I should double check with her. Her teacher said Alanna had asked her and that she told her that the box must fit through the door. I took the time to explain in detail how big this box was. All she said was, "Alanna has big aspirations." I agreed, and decided I had better figure out a way to transport her box to school.

I still have not taken the boxes to school because yesterday it rained and snowed and today it has been really windy and the only way I can get them there will be in the back of my truck. Hopefully, the weather will be nice before Friday so we can get them to school since the girls put so much work into decorating them.