Some People Can Sleep Anywhere

It was long morning of holiday shopping for me and Ellen. When we arrived home Ellen went directly to the kitchen counter so she could eat a treat she earned for being such a good shopper. She didn't even get in one bite before she slumped against the counter and fell fast asleep.

It doesn't look that comfortable, but I know how she feels...shopping wears me out too.

We decided to spend Black Friday afternoon ice skating instead of shopping. When we first arrived the Zamboni was refinishing the ice. It was interesting to watch. I totally want to drive one. Then we took off on the ice. Ellen was Mike's constant attachment, she only wanted to skate with him and only gave Mike a break for once around the rink with the aunties. She loved skating....as I suppose anyone would if they had someone to push them around the ice. All the fun and none of the work :).

It was so nice of the Duncan aunties to come with us. The more grown-ups at the ice rink the better. We had a 5:4 ratio, so I sat out to take pictures.
This picture is a little squished, but if you look closely you can see James sitting on an ice-walker and being pushed around the ice by Uncle Paris. James really knows how to enjoy himself.

Sophia skated with Aunt Ali until she found her confidence, then she took off on her own. She has been really looking forward to go skating for a long time. I am glad we were able to make it.

I think James likes to wipe out just for the photo op. He is a mad skater, the boy has no fear. He is highly entertaining to watch.

Ellie loves her daddy!

Wish Me Luck

As many of you know I have been studying voice since September in the hopes of auditioning for BYU's vocal performance major. Last week, with the help of the most awesome camera man ever (THANK YOU PATRICK) I filmed my audition dvd,and today I finally turned it in. If I make it through the pre-screening process I will get a live audition on January 30. Hopefully all will go well. Wish me luck.

We're Back

Our trip across the pond was wonderful. It was great to spend a week with each other seeing new sights, eating new food, and enjoying life.

Here we are at the base of the Eiffel Tower. The thing is massive. We enjoyed sitting in the park, watching the gypsies try to hustle people, followed by the police chasing them down. Not to mention the soldiers packing M-16s. Plazas are awesome places to people watch.
Here is Mike near the entrance to the Louvre....the most overwhelmingly huge museum ever. I highly recommend Napoleon's apartments.

Here is me in one of the courtyards at the Louvre. I just can't get over the size of this place.

This is Notre Dame at night. We were walking by after having dinner in the Latin Quarter, and we noticed the cathedral was open. We went in, and they were in the middle of mass. We sat down to listen and enjoy the ambiance. Afterward, they rang the bells. It was an amazing experience. Paris really is like no other city I have ever been.

London was great too. We visited several places but one of our favorites was the Portobello Road market held every Saturday. I had no idea that Portobello Road was a real place. I highly recommend it. It's a great place to pick up trinkets of all kinds.

Overall it was a really great trip. I am so lucky Mike had to work!

I think it would be fun to go here:

I think I should like to go there as well. With Meredith. In November. Yes, I think I would like that very much.

Mike

What Kids Say

Here are some of the things my kids have been saying lately that make me laugh.

James: I ALWAYS have to sit by a crying woman!

Ellen: Hey Christian, do you want to touch my muscle?

James stated, "Girls don't have to do hard stuff." To which Anna replied, "Yes they do, they have to have babies." James just looked incredulous and retorted, "That's NOT hard."

Anna turns 11

We celebrated Anna's birthday with a family party on Friday night. I put her in charge of the decorations and was quite taken with her creative display of birthday decor. I especially loved the smiley face made of crepe paper on the ceiling. I don't quite know how she reached that high (considering I can't reach it without a stool) but it looks awesome. And the hanging bags....genius!

Seeing the cake. You will notice the cake is shaped like a shooting star. When Anna asked for a star cake I tried not to panic, I mean having a star shaped pan is one thing, but shaping a star yourself takes finesse. Luckily for me, I am married to a man with star shaping talent, and the desire to decorate cakes at 10:30 at night.

Making a wish. She was very deliberate about this. I guess that means she still believes in magic. I am glad about that.

The traditional 'blowing out the candles' shot. Why do we always take this? Lucky for Anna, she looks cute doing everything! Overall it was a really great birthday. Anna is such a great kid. It is so fun for me to be around her and to experience her little personality quirks. She is so smart and beautiful. She is turning out to be so responsible, helpful, and good. She is my right hand girl. I love her so much!

1450 West Theater Company Does it Again!

Here are a few pics of our neighborhood summer theater production of Miss Fox (based on the picture book by Simon Puttock). The play had everything...multiple scene changes, sound effects, paper mache costumes, even a dramatic almost death scene. The kids did a super job, and we had a lot of fun putting together.
Miss Fox applying for a teaching job with Mr. Billy the Niceville School's head teacher. Little does he know that this wonderful teacher has an ulterior motive.

Billy Bunny innocently waiting with Caylee Cat for the wonderful Miss Fox to come to class, so she can tell them wonderful stories about kind and generous foxes.

Miss Fox fattening up her unsuspecting class with treats. "Miss Fox never eats treats. I wonder what she does eat?"

Miss Fox has sneakily lured her class under the guise of a "nice long nature walk" to a cliff, far away from school, where she plans to eat every single one of them..."After all, wonderful teachers do not have favorites."

The whole cast: Maddie(Lilly Lamb), Sophie (Polly Pig), Anna (Miss Felicity Fox), James (Billy Bunny), Ashley (Caylee Cat), and Zac (George Giraffe).

The First Day of School 2009

Well the first day of shcool finally arrived. The kids were so excited to begin a regular schedule of learning again. I hope the enthusiasm continues. But the big question is...what in the world am I going to do with three of my children gone ALL day? I know I will figure out how to cope, but seriously, they are such a big part of my life they leave a big hole when they are gone. Ellen is taking it well so far, and only cried once because she wants to go to school with the big kids. It is going to be interesting to have just one child at home. Breathe deeply. It's going to be okay.

The big three on the big day.

Big J our first grader.

Sophia, the third grader with attitude.

Who is this lady like little thing? It's Anna.....the sixth grader! I am not that old really.

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Anna and Sophia put together this little musical number to help celebrate Auntie Ali and Auntie J's birthday. It's the BIG 3-0, and therefore requires a musical number.

Do Your Ears Hang Low...Part II

Okay, so we had the twins do it. After all everyone needs a little birthday humiliation right?

Beautiful Baked Goods

For our last cooking class the girls decided they wanted to make apple dumplings...in honor of The Apple Dumplin Gang which they recently saw. I had never even seen an apple dumpling before, so luckily there my cook book had great pictures. I was amazed at how well they turned out. They really were a work of art, both to the eyes and the palate!

Hike to the Falls

We decided to get out an enjoy nature by hiking to Stewart Falls with our friends the Paxmans . The day was perfect, it was cool and cloudy. We got off to a slow start because we decided to hike from the Sundance trail head which is rather obscure, but we finally found it. It was great fun...especially once Ellen decided that she could walk.

This is the view from afar.

This is the closer view.

Ryn is such a cutie!

The kids taking a rest on the trail.

The Best FHE Activity Ever!

If you are ever hard up for a family home evening activity try having a whip-cream fight with your neighbors! It's a total blast,

Fun At The Lake

We spent part of the week at East Canyon Reservoir. We fished, camped out in a yurt, went swimming, made sand castles, canoed, and went geo-caching. It was especially fun because cousin Rachel came with us. It was great to see her. It's so nice to have "big-girl" cousins to play with!

FINALLY

James has been trying to loose his top front tooth forever. It just hung there, half attached. Waiting...begging to be pulled but the stubborn thing would not come out. Finally, while chewing a piece of bubble gum, it came out. I think you will agree that his smile is much more agreeable without the hanging tooth.

Jump on It!

We went to Jump On It for FHE. It took Ellie a while to get into jumping, but she finally did. She was dancing and twirling and jumping all over the place. What a cutie!

Good Times at the Family Reunion

We had a Weight family reunion this weekend at Jolly's Ranch. It great to see everyone and get reacquainted. We played games, camped, (and of course) feasted but the highlight of the festivities was playing in the creek. I think this was a first for the kids and they totally ate it up...except Ellen. She just sat on the side of the creek and refused to even get her feet wet :).

Welcome to the Family!

Alison and Paris were married on Thursday. Congratulations, and welcome to the family. It's nice to add some testosterone to all the estrogen. The score is now girls:7, boys:3.

The Birthday Cake

For James's birthday he wanted a firetruck cake. He came very seriously to ask if Aunt Angie could come over and make it for him. However, since Angie is way tooooo far away he had to make due with me. Luckily, he liked my cake interpretation of" firetruck". Personally, I am just grateful that it turned out red instead of hot-pink!

Friday Field trip

We made our way to the Discovery Gateway...the children's musuem for the Salt Lake valley, to celebrate Friday. It was a lot of fun and discovery. A day filled with wonder and most importantly NO WHINING! Anna had fun while trying her hand at weather reporting in front of a green screen and discovered, it's not as easy as it looks on the news.
For Ellen, the world is still such a new place that she was amazed by everything. It is so fun to see the world through a child's eyes once in a while.
I think Sophia was just happy to have somewhere to wear her new hat. She's pretty darn cute!

James had a great time trying out new professions. Unfortunately, this police car was munchkin size. But he had a good time trying to sqeeze himself in while wearing a fireman's jacket and hat.
James took up so much time in the helicopter cockpit that there was a large line waiting for a turn by the time he was done. The best part of it was that he insisted the child taking his place as the pilot wear the red vest. It was great!

Overall it was a fun field trip. Thanks to Janae for coming along for the fun. I am really going to be sad when summer is over and we no longer have time for things like this during the week. I guess that one of the perks of being a mom is getting the summers "off" with your kids. I love summer vacation!

Check out this improvised play, on the theater stage.

Stylin

My future's SO bright, I gotta wear shades!

Happy Independence Day!

We started our celebrations on July 3rd, by attending Provo's balloon festival. James and Ellen were in awe, and kept saying how the balloons flew by magic. It was great fun, and amazingly beautiful.

James was very chipper for being awakened so early.
On the 4th we were part of the the Grand Parade. Anna and Sophia rode their scooters in wide circles to advertise their school Freedom Academy. I walked along with them, while James got to ride INSIDE the firetruck that doubled as our float. It was a lot of fun.

It was a great 4th of July. I love this country!