Ellie's Place

A while ago a friend of mine blogged about her kids playing "getting-accepted-to-college" which included things like excitement upon receiving the acceptance letter, thinking about the school mascot, packing for college, etc. I thought that was so hilarious and totally unique play for children all under the age of 7.
Well, about one week later Ellie made this poster and a couple of menus too. She was playing "opening-her-own-business" which included a grand opening complete with ribbon cutting, thanking everyone for coming, talking to the newspapers, and making sure everyone was happy. On the menu was spaghetti, pizza, breadsticks, sandwiches, and a few other main dish items. There were also desserts like milkshakes, cookies, and cake. All items were available to order that evening thanks to Richard who couldn't let this type of play go unnoticed or unsatisfied in any way.
Thanks Ellie for the delicious meal. I'll return anytime.

8th Grade Grad

Congrats Maddie!
Maddie was the recipient of the Presidential Academic Excellence Award. She was voted by her peers "Best Female Musician" and "Best Actress". She was a member of Student Council this year and Band. She has 4 poems published in the school literary magazine. She has seen great success this year and will really miss her friends and teachers. But, she has proven that she is capable of great things. I'm totally proud of this gorgeous girl.

Branson

We went to a funeral last week in Branson and mostly just spent a lot of time in the pool. BTW-the World Mark condos in Branson are super! The hot tub could accomodate at least 40 people.
This is Ellie posing as usual.

Just for the record. . .

Maddie recently hula-hooped for 92 min. non-stop! Why, you may be wondering? Well, she had to save face. She told someone she could do it, because she is great at it. But then she got to wondering if she really could. So, just to prove it to herself she stood out on the driveway while Richard and I watched, and we timed her. 92 minutes. She was really sore the next day. I think she could have gone longer, but she probably won't try again for a while.

Mary Poppins

Last month The big girls and I had a chance to go see Mary Poppins at the Cadillac theater in Chicago. Mary Poppins is probably my very favorite Disney movie and I was expecting the show to be merely a theatrical performace of the movie. So, since I like it anyway, I was thrilled to be going, but had no great expectations, thinking that I already knew what was going to be there. Boy, was I wrong. While it did follow the basic story line there was so much more! The story stayed truer to the original storybook version and included some new songs while omitting others. There was magic (seriously--magic!) and some of the most amazing dances I have ever seen. It was sooooo worth it. I would see it again. In fact, if I get a chance I want to take the little girls too. I think they would like it. The new supercali. . . song is awesome. Buy it on itunes. No, just go ahead and buy the whole thing. You'll love it.

Faith in God

Emma is my first child to earn the Faith in God award. I'm so proud of her. She really put forth the effort required to complete all of the goals and requirements.

I am told that there is no longer any sort of pendant, bracelet, pin, etc. to be earned. Rather, kids are supposed to feel the reward of living the gospel and accept that as the greatest reward possible. While I do believe that is true, I did want to express to her that her efforts were not only recognized by me, but very much appreciated. I want her to have something to remind her of the experience and, of course, to remind her to continue to make good choices. So, I decided to forego the hamster that she really wanted, and get a "hold to the rod" pendant. I hope it will last at least as long as a hamster would have.

Finally 12

Happy Birthday to Emma! Festivities included: shopping trip w/Mom for new clothes, family lunch at Steak 'N Shake, then off to the theater to see the Hannah Montana movie (it was actually pretty cute). Her very favorite cake is chocolate on chocolate with more chocolate, so that's what she got. Yummm. Apparently she got my taste for cake. Then she got roller blades and she's been skating nearly everyday since then. I love her.