Feeling Christmasy

We went to Springfield this weekend to visit my parents. A trip to Silver Dollar City yesterday was almost surreal as we looked around at Christmas lights and snowmen in nearly 80 degree weather!

 

I managed to get into the Christmas spirit, though. Eventually, I had to force Sophia to put on her fleece. She probably didn't even need it, but it definitely made me feel better. Just as it was getting dark, we went to the kids rides with no expectations. Last time, Sophia sat down in the frog, looked around and screamed until we let her out - all before it started. So I expected the same this time. Fortunately, she didn't have time to think about it. She was happy to get into her seat.

 

And didn't realize she was nervous until it had already started...

 

Anyway, she got over that pretty quickly. One ride is definitely her maximum at this point. I'm fine with that as there were incredibly long lines for everything! I love a crowd at Silver Dollar City at Christmas. I think the crowd gets happier as it gets closer to Christmas, though, because I could tell there were some who were not yet in the spirit...

We managed to do everything we wanted. Watched the big Christmas tree. Also a little loud and intimidating for Sophia, although she adored it when it was solid blue. That was her favorite. Inspired by a family wearing red in front of red Christmas trees, we decided to get our picture in front of the gold Christmas trees given our wardrobe choices. Sophia wanted in on the action, and this is a picture of our family the way we are at any given moment.

 

We ended up staying until a little after 8, which is a relatively big deal for Sophia. It was lots of fun. On the way home, Sophia somehow coerced us all into singing Christmas songs and carols for a very long time. We also discovered that while we have no lack of confidence, we do have a lack of lyric retention. Oh well. We just need a few more tries to brush up...

Oh yeah, and tomorrow Sophia starts potty training. Booooooo

Check In

 

I don't really have anything to say. It's been a normal week for the most part, with some pockets of emotion thrown in. Maybe there will be something to say about that on another day.

For now, I'm looking forward to celebrating Aaron's 7th birthday tomorrow at Flipz, heading to my parents house, and going to Silver Dollar City for the - yep - Christmas Festival! It will be 75 degrees there tomorrow. Unbelievably, it was 15 when we went last year. So I'm going to have to force a Christmas spirit, but I'm not complaining. Trust me.

Check ya later.

Henri's First Visit to the Big Park

We have our own park up the street. It's a great park. It has a sand volleyball court which serves as a great big sandbox (at least after checking that it isn't a great big litterbox) and playground equipment. However, it has a serious lack of swings. That poses a problem for Sophia's enjoyment.

So on a beautiful day like this, we can be found at big parks like Bethel Park. They have recently added a fantastic playground area that dwarfs anything but Cosmo Park here in Columbia. The other thing about this park that I sometimes overlook - is the lake.

 

Anyway, today being the beautiful day it was, Casey and I decided to load up the kids and head to the park. This being Henri's first outing to the big park, imagine Casey's pleasure at discovering that he so enjoyed it! He slept, but we could tell he liked it....

 

After some kids started spreading cottonwood or cattail fuzz or something on the wind, we decided to take a walk around the lake. That was a great decision. The three big kids really enjoyed the nature hike. We realized we're biased, but goodness...

 

Also, I swear we saw an otter in that lake (it's really more of a pond). Does that happen? Do beavers look just like otters save their tail? I don't think any of us got a good look at the tail. Regardless, we felt like we had made quite a discovery! The boys rushed to the other side of the pond just to see if a log sticking out happened to be the elusive creatre. No such luck.

 

It was a gorgeous day. As always thankful for such great playmates for Sophia within a stone's throw (literally, although that's not a good idea. The same kids who were spreading allergens had earlier been throwing rocks at the playground equipment while some little girls climbed on it.... Sigh.)

Sunshine on my Shoulder

 

It's been an interesting day so far. Unlike many Monday mornings when I give in the whines of Sophia and my own tired eyes, I had us all packed up and ready to go to the gym at a decent time. Key in, van on, can't get it out of park. The button on the side wouldn't push in. Turning the wheel, turning the van off, nothing helped. Sigh. After a few phone calls and stuff, I tried again. It worked this time, but barely went from reverse to drive, so we dropped it off at the dealership.

Stage two: I thought while I had Erick's Jeep, I'd do something nice for him by having the oil changed. It's been a while since he's taken the time to do that... At Jiffy Lube, I was told that the Jeep has two hoses so leaky and rotten that they wouldn't even work on it. Wow.

Starbucks instant coffee is gross.

Erick has a late meeting tonight.

Sophia has been up before 6 am for weeks now.

My house is less than spotless. I guess that would mean it's spotted.

I had to sew up one more hole in Lulu before Sophia could nap.

I'm sure there's something else I could throw in the mix here. However, my point is that I'm in a seemingly unexpected good mood. No explanation other than the sun. It's a beautiful sunny fall day. I'm wearing capris! I don't typically think of myself as that affected by the weather. I actually enjoy rainy days or cloudy mornings. I guess it's just been rainy and cloudy so much lately that these days of sunshine have soothed my soul.

Aaahhhhhh. It feels good.

Treats Galore

Since Sophia has been wearing her Cinderella dress for months (and spreading around the glitter...), I guess I expected her to be somehow less excited about dressing up for Halloween. I was very mistaken.

Just before nap tonight, she told us, "When I wake up, it will be Halloweee-een!" That gave us a good idea that she was up for some fun tonight, and she really was!

First thing, we got her dressed up in her gitup and headed downtown. It was a little windy, so she needed daddy to hold her for a while.

 

We met our friends the Chandlers and hit all the stores. I love Trick or Treating in the District. You get to see lots of great costumes and families and all the people in the shops are great about showing lots of interest in the kids. It's fun.

 

We went to Hy-Vee for some more treats and for supper. Yum on both counts. Then headed home to trick or treat at the few houses on our cul-de-sac. Since our kids, plus one, are the only ones who come to the houses around here, they make quite a haul. The family on the corner bough 7 ounce Hershey's chocolate bars for all four kids (except Henri) on the street. Here are three of them.

 

Needless to say, it was a heavenly evening for Sophia. She so enjoyed being a princess, although with all the super heroes and strong boys around her, she would often flex her muscles and say, "I'm a strong princess!"

 

Happy Halloween everyone!

Dance Class Open House

 

This is Sophia's dance class with their instructor Miss Hallie. Today was the big day I've been waiting for. I got my camera batteries all charged up for the Open House. Sophia was so excited that Erick and I would get to actually watch her dance today. It was so sweet. At first, she was really distracted by our being there, but it didn't take long for her to get into the groove.

Getting to see it in person makes me SO pleased that we signed her up for this on my whim. Her face just beams with pure delight at every moment! Even when she has no idea what Miss Hallie is asking of her, she is just beside herself with happiness at giving it a shot.

She works really hard at everything, although her lack of coordination does show a bit. She's the second youngest in the class, and she has my gracefulness...

 

It's also fun to watch the other kids flit about and look so thrilled just to be doing something on their own, so grown up.

 

Really, though, I still think that for Sophia, at least, it comes down to the fact that she loves, loves, loves being a ballerina. As evidenced by her constantly checking herself out in the mirror...

 

There are other videos on my YouTube channel from today's class too. Check them out if you like!

Techno Sabbath Experiment

You wouldn't have even known it really, but I took the day yesterday to intentionally not participate in my usual web-based activities: Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and anything else on the computer. There are days that I don't get to the computer until late at night, but that's not intentional. I'm usually out most of the day or something. Yesterday, we stayed home all day long...

I regretted my decision for a while when Sophia woke up at 5:30. I figured with it being such a long day, I would miss it even more. That was occasionally true, but I was surprised at how little I missed all those things! So, I've decided to make it a weekly ritual. I don't know if it will always be Tuesdays or not, but I think it's a good idea. I was more engaged with Sophia and I definitely got more done around the house. Like I said, I didn't miss it all that much, so in order to actually feel some pain from it, I think I'd have to go two or three days - even a week. Maybe I'll do that some day. For now, it seems like a weekly techno Sabbath is effective enough.

Do any of you practice something similar? What has been your experience? Positive? Negative? Not a big deal at all?