Saturday, February 25, 2017

First Dance Competition.

Today was my daughter's very first dance competition. The KAR (Kids Artistic Revue) International Dance Competition. Thankfully she danced at the same place that she has been doing her June productions for the last three season. So she was comfortable on that stage and when she started to feel nervous I was able to remind her of all the times she has danced there before.

Her dance was a ballet piece to the song Carmen (from the Opera.) The story was that they were part of a class. One of the girls is the "teacher" of the class and one girl in class would rather be naughty then listen to teacher. During the dance the naughty girl recruits more girls to misbehave. By the end of the routine the class is split, with the naughty girls doing fun and wild moves and the good girls doing what teacher asks and looking at the other girls with expressions of shock. It is a seriously cute routine and the girls did a fantastic job today earning a "Top First Place" trophy and a judges award for "Tutu cute." My girl got to go up to the judge both times to collect the trophy the plaque and the pins that each girl gets as an award.

We are not allowed to take photos during the competition or the girls could loose points on their routine. We could purchase a video and professional photos taken during the routine, which I did. When they come I will be sure to post what I can of my girl. Until then here are a few of her at the competition waiting and with her trophy at home and some of her "good" girl poses. She had a wonderful time. Which is good because we have four more competitions before the season is done. Wish us luck. I think I get way more nervous then she does.
 
 
 Many blessings this fine dancing day.--Kate

Friday, February 24, 2017

Lego Love

We are a big time Lego loving family. I am not ashamed to admit I am living a second childhood in my love for the Lego Friends series. I am constantly amazed at the creativity and variety that exists with Lego sets.
My daughter has been into Lego since Christmas three years ago.  Her brother was not to be left out though. While she was looking for animal Friends sets he was collecting the Chima animal warrior sets. Then my girl moved on to the animal rescue sets and son number one collected some Star Wars. Now my girl is really into the puppy sets and her brother is so excited about the super heroes. Can you see a theme with my girl. She is totally a big hearted, animal loving, (perhaps one day veterinarian) girl. I do joke a bit, because she loves all the friends sets and is now also getting into the DC girls sets too. It does seem like my boy though is a source of constant variety.
These newest sets they pick out and purchased themselves, with money earned from chores and special tasks. I find they hold a little more value when they are responsible for earning enough money to buy their desired treats.

Anyone else out there a Lego Fan? What are your favorite builds?

Many blessings this fine, engineering night.--Kate

Thursday, February 23, 2017

My Three

Today has been too full. There is nothing left in me and no time left to write. So here is an adorable picture of my three, my hearts' delight.

Many blessings this fine night.--Kate

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Organizing Oils

A little over a year ago, on one of my frequent trips to Michaels, I found these adorable little boxes, in fuchsia and peach. They have a total depth of about 4 inches and have six little compartments. I immediately thought of my rapidly increasing essential oils collection.

The little oil bottles fit into the box well, but once in I could no longer read the labels. Out came the Washi Tape. First I drew tiny circles on waxed paper. Then covered the circles with the brightly colored tapes. Finally I labeled them, cut them out and put them on the bottles' lids.
 
 
The photo looks like they are all a bit haphazard, but since then I have organized them by letter ranges. For example all the A and B oils in one section and all the M,N,O oils in another. They do rattle about in there a fair amount and if I ever dropped a box it would be an unequivocal disaster. All that aside, this method of storage had been awesome.

Many blessings this fine organized and oily night.--Kate 

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Vintage Board Games

I was raised in a family of game players and I mean that in the very best way. I have happy memories of "Candy Land", "Sorry", "Clue" and "Scrabble". I distinctly remember Christmas vacation tournaments of "Monopoly". I also loved going to my grandmother's house to dig through her game cupboard.

I married a man who also enjoys board games, though our carefree evenings of games rarely happen these days. We are raising three delightful little people who I think will continue on the game playing legacy.

What I want to talk about tonight though is vintage board games and I do not mean cool old versions of awesome board games that have stood the test of time. I mean obscure board games from childhood, in this case the 80's. I have three that are so dated and ridiculous they are a little bit awesome.

The first, from 1984, "Mystery Mansion". You build the mansion as you play. Then you search for clues, try to find keys and hope one opens the treasure box. It is a game "board" that can be constructed hundreds of ways . The treasure can be moved into any of 7 treasure boxes and there are trapdoors and card stealing and losing turns to make this a game that really can not be played the same twice. Honestly this is a game that I still really like.
 

The second, from 1987 "Lie Detector". Another version of 20 questions. You have witness cards that everyone can see that have a detail about the guilty party and the "lie detector" indicates if the clue is true or false. There are also secret clues that help you narrow down the suspect and you can also summon another person witnesses if you think they will give you a new clue. In the end you arrest your guilty party and check to see if you were right.

Finally, from 1988 "Heart Throb". I honestly do not even know how to describe this one. A game to pick out your perfect boyfriend? A silly way to spend a Saturday night with your friends? To start there are three boys to choose from and you need to pick a boy, based just on appearance, that you want to take you to the dance. You also try to guess who your friends will pick. For each correct guess you get a point. Then in the second round you turn over two personality cards for each boy and pick again this time to decide who you would go on a date with. The personality cards reveal such charming traits as "Swears A Lot", "Races Motorcycles", "Nickname Grizzly Bear" or "His shoe size is higher then his IQ." Final round you get two more personality traits per boy and this time decide who you would "go steady with." The player with the most points wins. It does not say anything about picking the same boy as your friend though so maybe in that case he wins.
Do any of you have board games from your youth that you still have or that you loved that did not last the test of time?

Many blessings this fine night for games.--Kate

Monday, February 20, 2017

Monday Memories

Today, completely got away from me. We have been working on a major home project, (which I will share when we "finally" finish it.) I had planned on sharing another MOPS craft we constructed at our October meeting. I guess that will have to wait for another day.

So my girl is a huge help, she is also constantly coming up with "plans" for awesome adventures. This past Saturday she decided she wanted to make a special treat for her two brothers. Vanilla yogurt and granola covered bananas. She secured them with the sticks from our Popsicle making set. It was a fantastic and messy treat that her brothers loved.What a wonderful big sis. Love this girl.
 
Many blessings this fine night.--Kate

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Spring Rains?

Gray and wet winter days always make me think of spring. For the last few weeks I have had lots of opportunities to think about spring.

The kids are also ready for the snow to be gone. It is not longer the beautiful powdery white snow of December. That is perfect for sledding, snowmen and forts. It is soppy, grey and slick ice. So for the last few days they have been seeking out and shouting out the "signs" of spring. So far we have the green grass peeking through in patches and a few brave birds.
What signs of spring have you noticed?

Many blessings this fine, wet day.--Kate