Our Half-Leprecaun turns 8!

The people closest to Will knows that he is half-leprecaun.  Remember his money party?  Yes, he is still like Mr. Krabs.  And, he had a birthday!

This year he decided to have his party at Planet Play, a super fun place in Draper.  There is a pizza/pasta/salad bar/ice cream/slushy/drinks buffet, plus every indoor activity and game you can think of for kids.  Even better, we found a great deal on City Deals and bought 12 passes for Will and his invitees.

This was a super easy party...all we did was make the invitations, make a cake, make some favors, and show up.  The rest was easy.  This was a perfect place for his party and we all had the best time!  The only problem was that 2 hours was not enough.  It was extremely difficult to round up all of the boys for presents and cake.  They were all spread out and wanted more play time.

Danny, Mason

Neon Miniature Golf

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W, Bryton, Parker

Van, Xander

Sambo :)

Trevin

Laser Tag!!!

Go Carts!!!

I asked Will what kind of cake he wanted me to make and he said a "Peanut Butter Cup cake."  I wasn't quite sure what he had in mind, but thanks to Pinterest I found a yummy recipe that is definitely a keeper!  LOVE the mini Reese's cups.  The red and white PB M&Ms are supposed to be a 8.

Only 6 candles...oops. oh well

I love how he gave each friend a hug after he opened their gift.  So sweet

12 crazy boys!

We are very lucky that Will has so many good little buddies in our neighborhood, such darling boys!  And Will is feeling very lucky that he not only got some cool gifts, but he also received some cool cash!

Party Favors

Happy birthday great man, we love you very much.  We are looking forward to your baptism in May!

Q with her giant ice cream cone :)

Can I get a haleluiah?  Birthday Party fest is complete for 2 more years!!!  5 big birthday parties in 10 weeks is crazy!

Dancing Queen

Literally, she is a dancing queen because she was awarded "Queen" in her division at a solo dance competition last weekend!
One year ago I would have never believed that she would be doing anything else but dancing.  But with our encouragement (for years actually) she decided to be open-minded about other activities besides dance.  We just wanted her to try some other things too.  If she liked dance best, great!  But if she didn't, then it would be saving us loads of time running her back and forth to dance 3-4 times/week, and loads of money.  She danced on a company team last year and had a great experience.  But it was a big time commitment and she had to sacrifice stuff like playing with friends and doing other activities.

Last Spring she auditioned for company for 2011-2012 and not only made it, but moved up a level!  And then it was decision time.  BS and I left it up to her but told her she had to be 100% sure if she was going to do company again.  She wasn't.  So she chose not to do company and try out some other stuff. It was a really hard decision for her and for me.  Here she was, finally doing something else, and I found myself feeling sad.  But I didn't tell her that.
So, she had a nice summer break from dance and last Fall she had a go at lacrosse and absolutely loved it!  And she discovered that she CAN be good at sports despite her size.  For the past several years she has been hesitant to get involved with team sports because she knows she is small (like the 2nd shortest in her grade).
She still loves dance so we decided she could take some open dance classes 1 day/week and also do a solo to try to keep up her skills and technique.  She asked one of her favorite dance teachers to choreograph her a dance.  In the past she had done a duet, but this would be her first solo.  Her teacher was happy to do it and taught her a beautiful lyrical number.
By the time the holidays were over, I was exhausted from Christmas and knew I had 4 birthday parties to plan -  but I was looking forward to dance competition season.   We have gone into this thing with the attitude of just having fun while doing her best and getting the experience of being on stage alone.  We were actually pretty casual about the whole thing including the costume.  I was stressing about the costume at first, but in the end we were running out of time and I let her pick it out and it was cheap.  I'm very proud of myself for not trying to control that.  I left it up to her.   I try not to be a "dance Mom" if you know what I mean :)
Anyway, she had her first comp the beginning of February.  She was so nervous!  But she did great and I remember fighting tears as I watched her for the 1st time in the spotlight.  She won 3rd place in her division and we were thrilled!

Right before going on stage for her very first time alone

"Shut Up and Dance" comp by Odyssey Dance Theatre

Her second competition was last weekend...where she won!  She was awarded a crown and a RIDICULOUSLY HUGE trophy, like the biggest we've ever seen!  The thing is 6 feet tall!  We barely fit it into the VW for the ride home.  The look on her face was priceless when she realized she had won.  She couldn't stop smiling and we couldn't stop laughing at how incredible it was.

























Because she is 12 now, she was in the teen division and she was so small compared to her fellow dancers.We couldn't be more proud of her and her ability to pull it together under pressure.  BS says she is "clutch."  What a confidence builder!



He and I were a little bit bugged that she won because we were hoping she would learn her lesson about hard work and practice.  I had been pestering and pleading with her to practice her dance in the weeks leading up to the competition.  She has a bad habit of putting things off..."Okay I will do it later,"  or "yeah I will do it in a minute."   Well it was down to the wire and she was cramming it in, in the days before.  She hadn't really practiced it since her last competition that was over a month ago.  I went into it feeling like she could do a lot better.
But, she got on that stage and she danced her heart out, and she was  a beautiful dancer.  I've mentioned before about her stage presence and that night it won the judges over :)
Good job, your Highness.

Quincy's reaction when she saw Mills awarded the trophy and crown

PS: For her hair, Millie wanted to rock the diagonal braid that Katniss wears in "The Hunger Games :)
 She is at that movie for her friend's birthday party tonight

Shots!

In the patient room at the Doctor's office

Look who got her kindergarten shots...and look who got her Junior High shots:

After Quincy's tumbling, we checked Millie out of school and headed to the Pediatrician's office for physicals and immunizations.  Both girls needed them to move on in school.  Of course I didn't tell them what we were doing ahead of time.  That is wisdom I have come to know.  Millie is the WORST with shots and she was really nervous.  But she knew she had to hold it together for her little sister so she wouldn't scare her.  It was a really good tactic, taking them together, on my part.  I was really proud of her for being brave and going first.  It definitely made it easier for Q to handle it.  M got 3 shots and Q got 4. There were some tears, but only briefly.  As soon as the 2 sparkle band-aids were in place, everything was all better.  Thank goodness for sparkle band-aids!  And thank goodness for healthy girls!   

 I am trying not to freak out about the fact that my daughter is now 12, crushing on a boy, and on her way to JUNIOR HIGH!  We had orientation last week - aaah!

Purple Pals and Purple Toes

Here is Rapunzel with two of her friends, Tinkerbell and Cinderella.  They go to pre-school together and have play dates after school.  They come to our house on Mondays.  I look forward to the days they play at our house because I get a kick out of watching and listening to them play.  They have huge imaginations.  And they love purple!  Sometimes if they argue it's usually over something purple.  Looks like Quincy won this time.
Here they are at the new Arctic Circle in Highland:

Quincy got some new boots.  And she loves them, wants to wear them everyday.  Back in the fall I bought her some pink Ugg wanna-bes at Costco.  She wore them so much for the next couple of months and they got filthy.  I couldn't stand it anymore so I went to Nordstrom to buy her some real Uggs that were a darker, more neutral color.  Though expensive, I knew the quality of them and I knew they would get worn.  Like everyday.
But, I got suckered.  Oh I came home with a new pair of Uggs alright, but they weren't black or gray.  The were purple sparkle!  I totally caved.  Quin loves purple so I had to get them.  Look how happy she is:

 But she is not the only one sporting purple feet.  Mom had to get surgery on her toe that had a purple toenail from an injury last summer (biking).  And then they wrapped it in purple.  She thinks her stupid toe hurt almost as bad as kidney stones :(
And for some reason, when you have an injured toe, all of the sudden everyone seems to step on it and you stub it on everything!!!  Argh.

Lego Robot Club

Starting last September, Sambo was part of a group called the "Gear Heads" which participates in a lego robot competition held by the First Lego League.  They came up with their team name themselves.  I had no idea that anything like this existed, and even 4 months later when they had their competition, I admit I still didn't understand what it was about!  But what I did know was that it meant Sambo got to meet with 9 other boys his age every monday from 4:30-6:00 and have fun while working on building/programming a robot made of legos.  Every year there is a different theme and challenge.  Sambo was stoked because it meant hanging with friends, I was stoked because it was an extra-curricular activity that wasn't sports for once...it involved using his brain and creativity! :)

One of the boy's parents, the Terry's, volunteered to head-up the project and host the boys each week.  They were life savers and amazing!  I can't believe the time and commitment they made to do what ended up to be a GIANT project!
The competition was held in January in Sandy.  It pretty much took all day on a Saturday.  I wanted to be supportive and spend some time alone with Sambo so I sported a T-shirt and spent the day with him and his team.  My eyes were opened to a whole community out there that is way into this lego league stuff.  Wow.  The boys did a great job running the programs on their robot and talking to the judges.  In the end, they didn't win but it was a great experience for Sambo.  Hopefully they will do it again come Fall.

In action: The robot had to complete tasks on this table.  It's cool how these boys know how to program that!

 

The Gear Heads

Me and my boy.  Why am I sticking out my behind like that?

The Terry's

Our friends Tristan and Allison

Ethan and Sambo waiting for their turn

Seven of the boys in the group are in the same class at school - their teacher Mr. Sessions made an appearance to support them!  How cool is that?

President's Day - Ski Day

For President's Day we all really wanted to go skiing.  With such a funky winter and basketball games on Saturdays, we hadn't been able to ski nearly as much as we would like.  So I loaded up the car and took the kids skiing.  Unfortunately BS had an important meeting at work right in the middle of the day so he had to miss out.

Mills, Sam, Morann, Quin, Will

We decided to go to Snowbasin because, well, we LOVE Snowbasin!  (And it's close to Grandma's house).  It was a gorgeous sunny day, but quite cold.
Millie met up with her friend Morann and they were off.  Sambo and Will were ski buddies.  That left me and Quincy.  She had only skied once for a couple of hours when we went in January so I was anticipating an exhausting morning teaching her how to ski.
My plan was to ski as long as Quincy would last, then round up the other kids and head to Grandma's for the remainder of the day.
But.
Quincy blew me away!  She was so brave and caught on super fast.  She was making great turns and making it all the way down with no falls by the 3rd run.  That's a funny thing about the youngest child...they just think that they do whatever older brothers and sister are doing.  It's not an option not to. I'm so proud of her and so happy!

Well before we knew it, it was lunch time.  Grandma saved the day by meeting us in the lodge with lunch.  She also brought Quincy a birthday present - a fluffy soft lamb pillow pet that rolls up around a fluffy soft blankie.  She loves it!  The Snowbasin lodge is amazing and so posh and comfortable.  I really could hang out by the fire in there all day eating chile and sipping hot cocoa :)

After lunch the kids were wanted to ski some more, even Quincy.  In fact, we skied for almost 3 more hours!  It was so fun watching the boys ride up the lift together and then see them cruise off to head up a higher lift with each other.  They stuck together and had fun exploring the mountain and ski runs.  I didn't even see the girls all day other than at lunch.

 

So tired after skiing!

 We headed to Grandma's for the evening.  The Cleggs were at the cabin so there was a big group of boys (one in particular who is Millie's age and really cute) out in the field tubing behind the 4 wheelers. So the fun continued for 2 more hours until it got really dark.  What a great holiday!

 We really need/want to make family ski days more of a priority!!!