Polar Express

Kristen's dance studio did their Christmas production based on The Polar Express. It was called 'If You Believe' and Kristen tried out for it and was cast as one of the kids on the train. She's been in Cheer & Tumbling for the last year and a half, but she was able to perform the dancing just fine. She worked very hard at all their rehearsals and was so happy to be dancing again. The performance was at Rose State College Performing Arts Center, so it was a big stage and a large crowd. Some of these pictures below were from the dress rehearsal because I didn't want to be taking too many pictures during the performance. Most of the pictures are blurry, but you can tell what a great production it was. She was in the train car on the right side of the stage, in the middle row. They had several dances they performed, plus while they were sitting in the train car and other groups of girls were dancing, they were dancing in their seats and she was having so much fun. My parents drove up from Texas, my sister and her kids came, and Michelle brought Hannah, Abby and Landis.

Catching up - Fall 2010

I have been the worst blogger ever...I can't believe I've let over 3 months pass since I last blogged. We have been very busy, but that's not an excuse to not blog. I want to capture and remember all these events in our lives, and I've just been in a blogging funk. So this is my lame attempt to catch up some and hopefully not ever go this long again without blogging.

Kristen went to Anna's 5th birthday party at Orr Family Farm (in August...see how far behind I am!!) She had so much fun with the girls, and she just loves babies so she loved playing with Mia. After a lot of coaxing she FINALLY got on a horse. She's been on a horse one other time, but it was at her daycare and she was really little so I don't think she even realized what was going on.

Over Labor Day weekend we took a little trip to Grapevine and stayed at the Gaylord Texan. We'd saved so much on our summer vacation so we splurged a little bit :) Well, we splurged on the hotel but couldn't even afford to eat in the restaurants there so we'd leave the property and go to the cheap restaurants...except for breakfast at a little coffee shop in the hotel. The hotel was having an Alice in Wonderland event so it was decorated really cute and there were pictures with characters and a lot of other special events. Kristen had a blast and I enjoyed a nice, relaxing weekend.

Kristen attended a Cheer Clinic and then they performed a cheer and dance at the Freshman football game. She had so much fun at the clinic, and then even more fun at the game. She felt like such a big girl, and I felt like I already had a teenager on my hands...she didn't even sit with me at the game much...she wanted to sit with her friends.

She's on the far left on the back row.

She right in the middle of that crowd :)

On Halloween we had friends visiting from Texas so I took Kristen, Jackie and Kaitlyn to Storybook Forest in Edmond. It was so fun for them to walk through the forest and get candy at each of the stories. At the end we went on a hayride, played games, and made smores at the campfire. It was cold but definitely worth it.

First day of 2nd grade

Once again I am so far behind on blogging. I keep Facebook updated much better than my blog, but since this is basically a journal of our life this is the one I should keep updated better.

Kristen started 2nd grade and she's having a great year. She loves her teacher, and has made some new friends. One thing they are doing is having cooking classes...although they don't do actual cooking with a stove or heat :) They have made purple cows (vanilla ice cream and grape juice), and fruit skewers (watermelon, grapes, apples). At the end of the year they will put together a cookbook with all the recipes they made throughout the year. She loves cooking anyway so this is a lot of fun for her.

This week she is the "star student" in her class. She took pictures of herself that will be displayed, she gets to be the line leader all week, and gets to make some of the decisions on some things they do this week. She's really excited about it.

She also decided to take Cheer & Tumbling again this year...the same class and same teacher that she had last year. She couldn't even do a cartwheel when she started last year, and now she wants to learn to do a back walkover and then a back handspring. We'll see how that goes :) Several of her friends from the class last year are taking it again with her, so those girls are having a blast!!

Our Summer Vacation

This year for our summer vacation we decided to do kind of a "Staycation". We didn't stay at our home though, we went to Texas and stayed at my parents and did things around Fort Worth and Dallas all week. Kristen really wanted to go to Hawaii this year, but she didn't have quite enough saved up for that :)

It was VERY hot all week. Here is Kristen trying to cool off after digging for dinosaur bones at the Fort Worth Children's Museum.

One day we went to the Dallas Arboretum and the flowers were absolutely beautiful. I changed my camera settings and forgot to change them back so most of my pictures there didn't turn out. But this picture of this cutie turned out just fine :)


Can you see the theme of the week...trying to stay cool!!


We went to visit my aunt and uncle and Kristen decided to try out the riding lawnmower. She's not really dressed for yard work :)


At the Stockyards in Fort Worth, we watched the cattle drive, shopped some, ate some barbeque...


...and went thru the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze. Talk about HOT!! Middle of the afternoon, no breeze at all going thru the maze....whew!! We were supposed to find 4 letters, M A Z E, but after 30 minutes Kristen and I gave up after finding only 3 letters. We could see where the 4th letter was, but just couldn't get to it and we were dripping in sweat.



There we are, coming down the stairs after finding one of the letters.


While eating lunch this nice clown was going around making balloon shapes for the kids.





This is the Marty Leonard Community Chapel, on the grounds on Lena Pope Home. This little chapel is absolutely breathtaking.





The day we were heading home we stopped by my cousin's house because they were having a cookout with some of the family. Kristen LOVED playing with and helping feed her cousin.






We did so much more, too much to even list. We shopped some, and went to some great restaurants, then shopped more, and ate more. And then we shopped more and ate some more. We had to keep our energy up so the heat didn't get to us.

Swimming Lessons

Kristen has always been afraid of the water. While she was with her foster family I only received one update that told me anything about her personality...and one of the things on that update was that she hated baths and cried when she got her hair washed. Some things don't change. Well, she doesn't cry when she gets her hair washed any more, but she still doesn't like it.

And swimming? Well, she's terrified of getting anywhere near deep water. We've worked to get her a little more comfortable in the water, but it's been a slow process.

This summer I enrolled her in a two-week swimming class. She went every night and it was geared towards kids who weren't comfortable in the water. I talked to her about trying to get her head under water. She was having none of that!! She doesn't even like the water in her face :)

So I offered her a very hefty incentive to go under water by the end of the two weeks. Her response?

"I think you and I both know that's never gonna happen".

And it didn't. That little stinker can't even be bribed :)

Recipe for "Margarita" Dip

Don't let the name fool you, this dip is kid friendly :) And it is SO quick and easy. Cool and refreshing and perfect in the summer.

"Margarita" Dip

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup frozen limeade concentrate, partially thawed
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1/2 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

Beat cream cheese, limeade concentrate and orange juice in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in Cool Whip; cover.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Serve with cut-up fresh fruit and Nilla Wafers.
(I served it with cherries, nectarines, and apples, and got the mini Nilla Wafers)

YUMMY!!!

Cheer & Tumbling

I am so behind on blogging...this summer has really been busy. We've been having lots of fun. I'm going to try to catch up a little over the next couple of days. School starts in three weeks so I need to get my act together :)

Kristen finished up her Cheer & Tumbling class in May and they had an end of year showcase and pizza party. They showed us the things they had learned, then we had the pizza party and their teacher handed out awards to each of the girls.

Kristen received the "teammate" award. She said Kristen was always very sensitive to the other girls. She was always the first one there to help if someone got hurt, and always helped the other girls if they didn't know where they were supposed to be standing in the formation.

This class taught just the basics...cartwheels, round-offs, backbends, etc. But Kristen couldn't do any of those things at the first of the year. She's decided she wants to take the class again this next year and continue to improve on what she's already learned. Hopefully she'll be doing back walkovers or even back handsprings by the end of next year :)