High School Musical

If you are not familiar with High School Musical, you probably don't have kids old enough to watch the Disney Channel. Our kids caught the High School Musical fever this past summer when High School Musical 2 was broadcast. Since then, we've watched the movie more than a few times, know all of the songs, and have various items of High School Musical paraphernalia. We decided to treat our kids to a night of High School Musical on Ice as part of our Thanksgiving vacation, but we didn't tell them beforehand. This is smart if you don't want to have your kids constantly asking, "How many days until we go to High School Musical?" On our way to Grandpa and Grandma Mitchell's home in Iowa, we stopped off in Des Moines and told the kids we needed to stop by one of daddy's buildings for a minute. (His company manages the arena in Des Moines.) We walked through the building, stopped so daddy could secretly pick up the tickets, and made our way to a suite. Suprise! They could hear the music and were totally excited. Georgia and Emma sat and were mesmerized by the whole experience. Even Noah enjoyed himself.

Kindergarten Popcorn Pow-Wow

The kindergarteners put on a Thanksgiving program for their families each year at our elementary school. Half of the kids are pilgrims; the other half are Native Americans. Emma was a pilgrim this year, and she had a speaking part in the program. She had a great time performing for us and was very happy that her parents were in the front row where they could take lots of pictures.

Soccer

Georgia played 2007 fall soccer. She has been playing since age 4 and enjoys being on a team. She's played with this particular team for two seasons and has a great coach. Each season she gets a little more aggressive and picks up a few more skills. She enjoys being the goalie.

Scarecrow Day

In kindergarten, Emma participated in Scarecrow Day. She made a scarecrow vest out of a paper sack and decorated a felt hat with patches. Emma has a lot of fun in kindergarten and loves to learn.

Maia Sitting

Maia is such a happy baby and likes to socialize with her brother and sisters. She started sitting up at 6 months.

Halloween 2007

This Halloween we decided it was okay to not be matchy-matchy. Last year, the kids were all superheroes. This year, we had a diverse mix of costumes. Georgia was a vampire. Emma was Wonder Woman, and Noah was a good ole' cowboy. Though I was just happy to buy Georgia a new costume, she decided she wanted me to sew one for her. We went to the fabric store, picked out a pattern and fabric, and, well, I started sewing a couple of days before Halloween. Needless to say, I was still sewing in the wee hours of Halloween morning. The things a mom does for her kids! It reminded me of the many times my mom stayed up late doing projects for me and sewing for us kids.

The kids had a blast at their school parties and went trick or treating with Brett in the evening. They pooped out pretty early though because Emma got tired of walking.

Catch Up Time

For the last couple of months, I've felt like I've been constantly trying to get caught up. Maia is 10 months old, and I'm still not even close to feeling like my life is back to normal or even close to being normal. All I can say is that a fourth child adds an exponentially greater amount of responsibility. At least that's what is feels like right now. So, one of my goals for this year is to say "no" more often to the things that matter the least and "yes" more often to those that matter the most--especially my family! I've decided that I can't be superwoman, and that's okay. It's more important to focus on being a good wife and mother than it is to have an impressive resume of volunteer work, have my kids involved in four different activities each, and have a perfectly organized home. At least that's what I try to remind myself on a daily basis.

This blog, though, is a good thing and a great way for me to record nice family memories. So I've decided this is one thing I can say "yes" to, at least occasionally. I'm going to play catch up from the last 3-4 months in the days to come.