Happy Birthday Opa!

Last weekend, Opa and Kennedy came up and we celebrated Opa's birthday. It was also a nice opportunity for Opa and Oma to see each other. Oma's been up here in Plano doing physical therapy for her shoulder.

Leo and Scott played golf and tried out Opa's new GPS golf watch. This watch can tell you, no matter where you are, how far you are to the hole. Evidently, the watch worked great. But, I don't know if it really improved their game much.

Of course, no birthday would be complete without a cake :)

This was the second time I've used this cake pan. It turned out much better this time. The first time, it was a little lop-sided..... Yes, that's suppose to be a soccer ball.....not a flying saucer.


The weather was pretty nice, so Oma and I took the kids out to a park.

Dallas Zoo

Last Saturday we went to the Dallas Zoo. It couldn't have been a better day to go. It was 70 degrees and sunny. 

We had never been to the Dallas zoo and I really enjoyed it, especially the African safari side. 

Payton's favorite animals were the giraffes because she got to feed them. See those lettuce leaves? They sold those....3 leaves for $5!!!!!!! I felt like such a sucker, but at least the money will go to a good cause (I hope).

Ian liked the penguins the best.

Happy New Year!

What are you going to do differently in 2012? 

I tried to explain to the kids about New Year's resolutions....how people use January 1st as a mark to try to improve themselves or start something new. It's a chance to start anew. Not that we need a specific date to do necessarily do this, but it's a tradition that many people take part in. So I asked the kids if there was something they felt they needed to work on.

Payton said, 'No, Mom. I'm perfect.'

Huh. All righty then.

Of course, then I tried to explain to her that I thought she was very special and unique, but that everyone could always improve somehow or another. And that no one is perfect. I used the example of her whining. She admitted she did whine......

And she didn't have much to say after that.

Relaxation time at Grandma and Grandpa's

After Christmas, we went down to may parents. Initially Scott was suppose to work on Dec. 27, so he was going to fly home on the 26th for that. But last minute one of the Doctors he works with wanted to switch the 27th for the 30th, so Scott was able to hang out with us for several days :)

My parents were very excited to see Scott, not only because they enjoy his company, but he helped them set up their computer, printer, and IPad.

We visited Great Grandma. We drove along Ocean Dr. So we could see the bay. We played in the garden, and just relaxed.

It was nice to have some down time.

Christmas Eve

 We went to Kevin and Dawna's for Christmas Eve. Grandma and Grandpa were there. The cousins played. Grandma made some scrumptious chicken kiev for supper - yum! We opened presents and went to church service at Kevin's church in Cat Spring.

The kids were all dressed up and I tried to get some nice pictures of them.... Ian decided it was a good time to act goofy.....

The Nutcracker

This was our first year in the Nutcracker ballet. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when Payton said she wanted to audition for it. I felt like we lost most of the first week of our Christmas break doing the Nutcracker. It was A LOT of work, but, I think, worth it. The production put on by the Collin County Ballet Theater was first class. The professional dancers and older dancers were really friendly and great to the little cast members. Payton got to be part of a large production and got to see what all the hard work it involves in a very family friendly environment. The moms ran the backstage and the taking care of the children while they got dressed, waited, and waited some more for their turn. Payton got to know some of the older girls who played the angels, mice bakers and petit fleurs. Payton never complained even though she had three dress rehearsals and four performances. We had to start getting her hair fixed at the house, about 45 minutes before we were going to leave because it took me so long to get her hair up in a sleek bun and get her makeup on. Then we had to get to the theaters at least 30 minutes before call times and many times an hour before. Then Payton had to usually wait for an hour and a half till it was her turn on stage. Then on stage, she sat for most of the time she was there. She danced for a minute and then she was off.

The costumes were beautiful. The orchestra and choir added to the overall enchantment of the ballet. Oma, Opa, Grandma and Grandpa all came up to see one of the performances. Ian sat riveted to the performance, especially during the first act. Afterwards he said, 'that was awesome!' We gave Payton flowers after the performance that all the family attended. She said, 'Mommy, getting the flowers makes me feel like what I did was special' :) And it was. I was a proud of how dedicated and patient Payton was through the whole process.

So, I guess if she wants to try out to be an angel next year, I won't protest. About a week after her last performance we were talking about her role and that next year she would be cast as an angel, then a rat, then a baker, and so on. Then Payton said, 'And one day I want to be the only one...where there is no one playing that part, but me.' I said, 'You mean you want a solo role?' She said, 'Yeah, like Clara.' ......oh, boy, we'll see :)

Merry Christmas!

It's been a busy time for us. We've had Nutcracker practices and performances. We've had Oma here for a couple of weeks while she recovers from shoulder replacement surgery. We did manage to squeeze an evening for setting up the tree between Oma's arrival, Scott's work, and a birthday party Ian was invited to. Once the tree was up, I felt we could get ready for Christmas in ernest. I spent a week making cookies :) which all went to Scott's nurses.

I plan to post stories of our Christmas break soon....  :)