Nutcracker 2009: THE END

Friends before

And after.

Games backstage

The fine art of finger knitting

We were exhausted, but had so much fun!!

WHY OH WHY!!

Why is it that you can clean a room, in this case the kids' bathroom, and have it beautifully spotless...

and several hours later, your boy has bled all over the freshly hung towel (White with ducks)?

Someday I hope to see my efforts last for at least a whole day.

Boy Minus Tooth

Nick lost his 1st tooth December 1st.

I don't have a current picture, but he lost the 2nd one on the 5th.

Nutcracker 2009

Katie auditioned for Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre's Nutcracker for the second year, and this year as I previously wrote, she was cast for 6 performances as a gingerchild.

This meant 2 hour long practices every Saturday pretty much since September. And these practices are held at 8 in the morning. She loved it and couldn't wait each and every morning to get there.

Then several weeks into practices, I got a phone call late one night, asking if Katie would be willing to play the part of one of the boy ginger Dolls. She did this role last year as a girl, so I talked to her and she was thrilled!! This meant instead of 6 performances she would dance in all 14 shows.

So for several weekends she practiced the 2 hour gingerchild, 1 hour of ginger doll, and then a 2 hour Act 1 Scene 1 rehearsal on Sundays, and a 2 hour Act 2 rehearsal several hours later. Not once did she ever complain, and typically she couldn't wait to get there.

And to add to it, she almost did another part for 2 school performances to fill in for one of her best friends who had gotten sick. It would have been as gingerchild but doing a different part in the dance that they would have taught to her literally 30 minutes before the show started. But because of the make-up changes involved, and the fact that another girl was backstage that knew the role, I asked if they could see if the other girl could do it.

So here she is starring for the first year as Gingerchild #2.

At the very end of the trail of gingerchildren.

And playing boy ginger doll after doing gingerchild one day. Can you see the white ring around the face??

One more rehearsal, and 6 more shows to go!

Katie Birthday #8

Daddy had to run in to work quickly on the morning of Katie's birthday, so I let her open one of her presents that I had bought several months ago. The cute little pink dress that Princess is sporting in the picture, and a matching one for Katie. She is still dying to wear it, but the Houston weather hasn't cooperated yet.

Then when Dad got home, she opened this present. Molly's accessories from American Girl.

And what good are Molly's accessories without MOLLY!!!!!!

She begged and pleaded and cried and saved money for this doll for 6 months. Little did she know that Grandma Cele had sent it several months before.

And Mike and I are officially going into business to compete with Cake Boss Buddy from TLC.
We made this 4 layer monster with marble cake, chocolate frosting in between layers.
Pink vanilla frosting on the outside.
Sprinkles on top.
Jelly Belly jellybeans lining the bottom.
Gummy bears lining the top edge.
And a pretty white Happy Birthday on top.

Oh and don't forget the fudge covered mint oreos polka dotting the sides. Which when I opened the package one was missing even though the inner package was sealed. So we have coupon coming in the mail for a free package.

A Trip to the Zoo with Dad

While I was down and out, Dad took the kids to the zoo for a morning.

Nick and the armadillo.

Look at the wingspan on these two!

Dad found someone new to kiss.

Halloween 2009

This picture looks almost identical to last years. The kids decided to go with the same costumes they wore before, Dorothy and her dog.