1/09/2012

Nutcracker 2011

Chelsea and five of her friends were in the Nutcracker again this year. 

They were casted as the Arabian Night girls.  I am so amazed of the talents of the director of the show. How she can put together an amazing performance and make each of these sweet children feel so special is amazing. 

The month of December was very hectic with all the rehearsals and performances.  Chelsea LOVED being in this performance.

My beautiful mother and Chelsea.
Aunt Kaye coming sure made Chelsea feel special too. 

Even Chelsea's teacher, Ms. Luongo, came to watch.  What an amazing teacher that would spend her Sunday afternoon to watch the students in her class perform.  She made these girls feel SOOOO special. Ms. Luongo is an amazing teacher.  She is so positive all the time. 
All of Chelsea's brothers came.  They enjoyed watching even though the older brothers were texting me during the entire performance.  Marky, of course, was mesmerized by the performance.

My beautiful, sweet girl.


Aaaah, Cute Kate.  Grandma brought sweet Kate to watch the play.  She would always ask me which dancers were coming out next.  I would tell her the next act and she would announce the upcoming dancers with such excitement  to everyone.  It was the sweetest thing ever.  My favorite was when she announced the Snow Queen.  She was so excited to see the Snow Queen.     I LOVE spending time with Kate.  Chelsea and I love her so much.  Kate is the cutest, sweetest girl ever. 

Kate with the Sugar Plum Queen.  I thought Kate was going to pass out when I asked the Sugar Plum Queen to take a picture with Kate.  Kate was beside herself with excitement.  Kate is the sweetest.  Wish we could see her everyday. 


Chelsea and her very sweet friend Laynie.


After the performance, finally getting the move down. 





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1/06/2012

Mother Daughter Book Club- Hundred Dresses

In November, we met and discussed The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes.  This is a wonderful book and I would recommend it for every mother and daughter to read.  It is a great book to start a discussion about relationships.  At our book club, Angela Tamada, led the discussion.  After we discussed the book and shared experiences, Yoomi made bracelets with the girls.  I am sad that I do not have any pictures of this meeting.  I had just had knee surgery and did not think to bring my camera.
The Hundred Dresses (Voyager Books)

Wanda Petronski lives way up in shabby Boggins Heights, and she doesn't have any friends. Every day she wears a faded blue dress, which wouldn't be too much of a problem if she didn't tell her schoolmates that she had a hundred dresses at home--all silk, all colors, and velvet, too. This lie--albeit understandable in light of her dress-obsessed circle--precipitates peals of laughter from her peers, and she never hears the end of it. One day, after Wanda has been absent from school for a few days, the teacher receives a note from Wanda's father, a Polish immigrant: "Dear teacher: My Wanda will not come to your school any more. Jake also. Now we move away to big city. No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in the big city. Yours truly, Jan Petronski."
Maddie, a girl who had stood by while Wanda was taunted about her dresses, feels sick inside: "True, she had not enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet, but she had said nothing.... She was a coward.... She had helped to make someone so unhappy that she had had to move away from town." Repentant, Maddie and her friend Peggy head up to Boggins Heights to see if the Petronskis are still there. When they discover the house is empty, Maddie despairs: "Nothing would ever seem good to her again, because just when she was about to enjoy something--like going for a hike with Peggy to look for bayberries or sliding down Barley Hill--she'd bump right smack into the thought that she had made Wanda Petronski move away." Ouch. This gentle Newbery Honor Book convincingly captures the deeply felt moral dilemmas of childhood, equally poignant for the teased or the tormentor.
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1/05/2012

Sledding

Late in the afternoons, we went back to the ski resort and found a little bit of snow to sled down. 

Chelsea is again the only girl with all these boys.
Sleds on the run. . .



Trying to arrange Will and Marky so they don't start going down the hill before we have taken the picture.

Such cute boys all bundled up!



Love the expression of extreme fun!




Making sure the path is cleared.

Pure joy!!!


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1/03/2012

Tahoe New Years

Even with no snow in Tahoe and no snow predicted in the near future, we made the trek anyway.  No matter what season (or lack of season), it is a beautiful place to visit.  We enjoyed the quiet time being with our family and friends. 

The down time of not doing anything (well, Steve had to work since it was end of year), was so wonderful for the soul.  We watched some family classic movies (Pink Panther)  and watched all the movies that Stevie been wanting to watch with me.  We stayed up late each night to watch the movies that he chose.  Matt was very excited because the condo had the complete set of all Lord of the Rings movies.  He was in heaven.
The kids finally made the gingerbread house together.  Didn't get the picture of the house after Matt added the "finishing touches" to the gingerbread house.  After the kids went to bed, Matt decided to write his name on the roof of the gingerbread house.  As you can imagine, the other kids were a little "surprised" to see his name on the house after they put all the effort into building the house.

Matt watching Lord of the Rings.

Notice the ground?????  No white stuff anywhere.

Piled in the car to go skiing.

Quick picture before we leave for the resort.

Already to take off.  Resort was surprisingly busy.  Look carefully behind the kids and you will see the ground again.


They still had a great time skiing on all the man-made snow.

Marky and I on a walk, looking for snow.  We had to walk all the way up the hill to the ski resort  to finally find the snow.  Love this Power Ranger hat.  Matt used to wear this.  Marky loves Power Rangers just like Matt did.


Taking a break and eating lunch together.

The snow plow that was not being used.


 Little hot tubbing at night.
 Nights with family, good friends and good food.  Matt and Stevie were especially impressed with Jerry and all the relatives from South Africa.  They learned about their martial arts, sports and business endeavors.   Matt said, "You don't want to mess with those guys."


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