Good Intentions

In the effort to find a fun family activity that we could do as a christmas activity, I had a brilliant idea. Since we enjoy the Polar Express and had such a fun time last year on the train, we should go to the Excalibar and ride the 4D Polar Express motion ride. Then we would go to Sunset Park and drive through the Gift of Lights since we enjoyed seeing the lights at Forest Park last year.

Well.....Cord was to short to go on the ride so we decided to ride in shifts. Daddy went with the girls while the boys and I hung out at the arcade and pretended to play the games. Then Mason and I would go on the ride while they watched Cord. They didn't seem to excited when they got done with the ride and by the time it our turn Cord was tired of the games so they headed out to the car to wait. The 4D effects were lame but the shortened (13 min) film in 3D was OK. Certainly not worth the money it cost.

Then we went to the park, and so did at least half of the las vegas valley. It was packed. By then the kids were tired of being in the car and switched into "fight mode". They argued through most of the ride. And the lights were.... wierd. I guess nothing says Christmas like dinosaurs, nursery rhymes, or sharks. The whole night was a bust. Hopefully daddy can do better when planning our Christmas eve eve activities.

Nutcracker

A holiday tradition for the girls and I include seeing the nutcracker ballet. This year we got the chance to go see the Nevada Ballet Company preformance at the Paris Casino. We have seen a few different variations in the ballet, but in this preformance we saw a few things that we had never seen before. For instance, the nutcracker that Clara received at the party wasn't a doll - but a "life size doll". In the 2nd act where they are viewing the different dances in the sugarland, there were little bakers with the angels at the gate making a big cake. They had children dressed up like each of the different dances (arabian dance, russian dance, spanish dancers, etc). And the part where the big momma has the little sugarplums dancing out of her skirt instead had little sailors on a boat - wierd. But the dancing was great to watch and it was still a fun afternoon together.

Christmas Parties

Last night we invited our primary class of 7 year olds over to our house for a little Christmas party. We just love them and wanted to have a fun night together. At first we made these scratch off ornaments. They were a much bigger hit that I thought. They wanted to do it forever. i thought it would just be a warm up activity. Mike brought in the pizza for dinner. Then we played bingo and the candy bar game. Afterwhich we decorated sugar cookies while watching Charlie Brown Christmas. They decorated enough cookies to take home to share with their family. Fun night with some special kids. We will miss teaching them on sundays.



After they left, Mike and I got dressed up so we could head over to Morton's Steakhouse for his work Christmas dinner. It was the fanciest resturaunt I've ever been to and we won't be able to go again because we can't afford to eat here. I'm not a steak person but decided to be brave. I ordered a filet mignon (at $50.00) and I must say it was absolutely heavenly. Now I know i can never eat steak again because it a cheap steak just won't be as good. For dessert I ordered the special Hot Chocolate Cake. You have to order it with dinner because it takes 20 min to make. It's a little round cake and once you cut into the center, the hot chocolate liquid comes oozing out. So rich and chocolately. I don't even care how many calories were in that tiny piece of heaven. So is this what life is like when you are a lawyer?????

Jazz dance class

Got to go watch Bri dance jazz today. Again, so blown away by her talent. It's obvious how much she loves to dance when you see her doing it.

Webelos and Arrow of Light

Tonight was Mason's last night as a cub scout. And it was a special pack meeting. Not only did he receive his Webelos badge along with the compass badge and one arrow pin, he also received his arrow of light. As part of the webelos rank advancement was a face painting ceremony. Each of the markings mean something:
*The Blue "w" on the nose is for strength as you work on the Arrow of Light
*The Yellow triangles on the chin and forehead is the color of sunlight and will light your way along the scouting trail
*The Red stands for fire so that you have a burning desire to explore new areas.




Then we headed outside for the arrow of light ceremony. Very cool. The Arrow of Light symbol is made up of an arrow which points the way to a good life and a rising sun which symbolizes the constant new challenges provided by scouting and by life itself. Each of the arrows that were lit had a meaning. 1-Wisdom, 2-Courage, 3-Self Control, 4-Justice, 5-Faith, 6-Hope, and 7-Love. By living these 7 virtues you can have a happy life. The boy scout leaders were there to welcome him into their troop, then he crossed the bridge that symbolized his path as a cub scout. As part of the ceremony he was awarded this very cool walking stick. I think we'll mount it on the wall. We are very thankful to his leaders in Utah, Mass, and Nevada (this is brother Deninghoff) who have helped him on this journey. We are also very proud of Mason for all his hard work and dedication to scouts.

Briannas art show

Tonight was the chance for Brianna to show off another one of her many talents, her art. She is just finishing up her art class and they end with a fabulous show. She was chosen to show 4 of her masterpieces (most students only had 2 allowed in the show).

Tile made out of clay, colored with glaze and then fired on a kiln. Notice the dance theme?

Monochromatic painting (my personal favorite). Brianna likes this one and the color wheel the best.

Her color wheel painting with her initials and her lucky number 87 (don't know where that one came from). This is daddy's favorite.

Testilation - One image put together like a puzzle in a repeated pattern.

Dance holiday open house

This week at the dance studio is an opportunity for the parents to come sit in the classes to see what the girls have been learning. I think that 3 hours is a long time to sit and watch, let alone dance, so I went to Brianna's ballet class today and I'll go watch her jazz on wed. I'm so blown away by how much she has grown. She is such a beautiful dancer. I even talked to her teacher afterwards and she told me how good Brianna is getting. At the end they preformed a dance they have been learning from the nutcracker. It was beautiful. I wish I could post it on the blog so you could all see, but it's way to long. So you'll just have to take my word for it!

Oh Holy Night

A holiday tradition that dates back to when I was a little child includes dressing up and acting out the nativity. The kids grumble and complain, but we decided that it's one of those things that you don't really like doing as a child but after you have grown up you look back fondly and remember. So we took the time to try and focus on the real meaning of Christmas. The shephards wandered, the wise men were rolling their eyes, and the baby Jesus almost didn't fit in the manger but they all did a wonderful job.

Cords birthday festivities

My baby boy had the nerve to turn 3. Man time is flying quickly. We had planned to go up to grandpas and drive his cars for his celebration, however, mother nature decided to drop a rain storm on the same day hindering any outdoor activities. So thinking on the fly, we headed down to grandmas school for a fun game of scooter ball. It's like dodge ball but you are on scooter boards. Cord used this opportunity to try out his birthday present so him and his buddy Caleb just weaved in and out and all over the gym while the rest of us played. It was actually quite fun. Then we headed back up to grandmas for some dinner, cake, and presents. Cord is working hard on showing 3 fingers now. All day on the 11th when we told him it was his birthday he would just scream at us. By saturday he had warmed up to the idea and especially loved blowing out the candles. Happy Birthday Cord!

Happy Birthday Cord