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After last weekends UPA competition all my time this week was filled with taking care of sick kids. Of the four kids, three of them were sick during the week. They took turns so there was only two at a time. In addition one of those sick days I only had cold water (there was a crack in my hot water heater) and then the following day I had no water for half a day (while they replaced the hot water heater). Somehow we mangaged and I now appreciate the blessing of HOT water.
Week 7 shows Anna and some of the cast from the Sound of Music performing before church to create excitement about their upcoming performances (which I saw last night and will report on later).
Week 8 just had to focus on the UPA dance competition. I took over 300 photos during the less than 6 minutes of dancing time. Continuous mode is wonderful. I picked this one even though it doesn’t show her face. I loved the compostition and the energy. I am working on a few layouts of the UPA weekend that I’ll be posting later for all to see.
Anna is in the center on the outside. Gotta love those pointed toes. Just wait till you see her high kicks.
More details later…
Happy Engineer’s Week!
Got technology–sure you do–you’re here because of your computer.
Got roads–how do you think you get around
Got water–we are blessed in this country for clean water
so be sure to thank an engineer.
This year marked the third year that families from the Funky Minds joined to celebrate the holiday with residents of the local senior citizen center. It started during one of the monthly baking days together as some of the ladies were sharing memories of the Riverside Ballroom. The ballroom, lost during a 1985 fire, had been the local gathering place since WW1 hosting many weekend dances and wedding receptions. That discussion led to “recreating” the ballroom for one night at the center.
This year the woman behind the Funky Minds, Anna, gathered her hostess volunteers to serve treats to the residents. The treats included: cookies, punch and a chocolate fountain. Note the beautiful gowns displayed as part of the decorating.
A local swing dance club was there showing off their moves and dancing with the guests.
Ellie was one of the first ones out on the dance floor with our friend, Katy. Katy is an Americorps Volunteer in our area. Americorps volunteers serve in local communities much like the Peacecorps does overseas. It you’d like to learn more about Americorps see HERE (for Americorps)
It was heartwarming to see my two girls together having fun just being sisters. Ellie wore her new outfit and showed off her skirt in all of it’s spinning perfection.
Anna got a dance lesson. It was serious dancing, the heels came off!
It was a sweet night.
For Ellie, getting ready for the Valentine’s Ball meant finding the perfect outfit. I took her shopping while her big sister was at dance practice. Somehow even at age 5 she knew exactly where the Justice store (a favorite of the pre-teen) was in the mall. It didn’t take her long to gather a sparkly skirt, top and bracelet to try on.
She loved the look of course, but I said “no” to the skirt since it was way too big (you might see a glimpse of the hanger clipping the skirt together in the back).
Then she tried on this one.
“It doesn’t spin, but it’s SASSY.” declared Ellie. Sassy indeed my girl.
Finally one that she loved, one that could spin and one that is my photo of the week.
Big sister, Anna, was also getting ready.
Next weekend she competes at the United Performing Arts national competition in Minneapolis. This year her team is competing in two categories on Saturday and she is participating in two individual events on Friday. As an individual she is competing for the All American Dance award which includes an interview and a one minute dance solo, then she is also competing in the high kicks competition. I am so proud of her for challenging herself and for having the courage to get out there in front of the judges.
This girl loves to “model” for me whenever the camera comes out. I made this for a copycat challenge at Designer Digitals of my friend Amy L. (one of the awesome women I got to spend time with in real life back in 2008). Check out Amy’s layout linked below:
There are many more Christmas memories to scrap from 2009, 2008 and even 2007. Hard to keep up. Are you that “behind” in your scrapping too?
I’ve been sorting through and organizing my photographs (long-term project) and discovered a few of my brothers and myself when we were kids. I used them to make a Valentine’s Day card for my parents using a wonderful template by my friend Linda.
You can get her template here
I also made a card for my hubby
This one was made using a template from Weeds & Wildflowers blog here
Enjoy the day with the ones you love. If the ones you love are far away, give them a call just to tell them how much you love them.
For those of you in the mood to celebrate Valentine’s Day here is a little something for you to spark your creativity.
It consists of three papers, two frames, one word art and one paint splash (created by my 5-year old, Ellie).
Happy Valentine’s Day. I LoveU.
The girls and I are off to the Valentine’s Ball at our local Senior Citizen’s residence. It was so fun to see all the different generations dressed up and sharing the love last year. Ellie picked out a new outfit at the store last night to wear to the ball–maybe she’ll find her prince this year.
You know it’s bad when you drive through your small town and see a news crew ready to go “live”.
And the headline for the six o-clock news report from your very own downtown says “Winter Storm Hassles”.
And your 6′ 4″ tall hubby has difficulty piling the snow higher than his waist.
At least the kids were all happy to be let out 2 hours early to avoid the worst of the snow and traffic. The total snowfall which started Sunday afternoon and ended sometime last night was about 8 inches at our house.
All that snow is good for this:
Jeff, Ellie and I went sledding on Saturday before this last snowstorm. There was already plenty of snow for our sledding fun.
What little girl (or big girl for that matter) doesn’t love a makeover? Our local Kohls store offered makovers last week. Ellie was intrigued by all the jars and tubes of bright color. She didn’t have to be asked twice before climbing up the stool to sit for her turn. The saleswoman was so kind letting Ellie pick out a pretty pink lipgloss. Some pink blush for the cheeks and light purple for the eyes completed the look. She couldn’t wait to get home to show her Daddy her new “look”.
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