Loser mom!

Ok, I  know I'm not one, but I feel like one after last night!  Megan and Jessie's school had a Christmas program at a local high school.  They were so excited!  It ended up being a pretty crazy afternoon with homework, etc.  But, around 5:15pm, I realized that it was time to get ready or we would all be late.  I rushed getting Jessica in her reindeer shirt and Megan in her church dress but we couldn't find her black church shoes....anywhere!

It was either the black shoes or be late so we threw her school shoes on her and jumped in the car.  I didn't even feed the kids dinner!   After we had been driving for a few minutes, I looked at the car clock and it hit me!  We were an hour early!  We didn't have to be there until 6:45pm, not 5:45pm!  Well, at least that gave us some time to go buy Megan some new black shoes and grab some dinner.  
We bought the shoes and met Mark at Jason's Deli.  We quickly ate and then I took the girls in my car so we could be there on time.  Mark finished eating with the older kids.
We drove to Cimmeron High School.  We got there with just a couple mins to spare so we quickly got out of the car and ran to find the place where we were going to have the program.  I got a funny feeling inside when I didn't see anybody there from the girl's school.  The only people that were walking around were those attending a basketball game.  I dragged the poor girls around the school looking for the right room.  No luck.  We ran back to the car and I drove around to the other side of the school hoping to find their classmates there.  Nope!  After calling some of the parents cell phones to find out where we were supposed to be, I finally got ahold of a mom.  She told me the program was at Centennial High School, not Cimmeron.  Aghh!  I couldn't believe I made that mistake.  I still had a few mins before the program started, but the problem was that Centennial was clear across town...about 30 mins away!  There was no way we were going to make it!
I felt terrible telling the girls they would not be in the program that they had prepared so long and hard for!  As we were pulling out of Cimmeron's parking lot, Mark was pulling in with the other kids.  I told them about my mistake and then told Mark that I was going to take the girls out for a date.  I did that to try and make them and myself feel better.   And actually, we had a great time!  We went to the pet store, which they love, and then to Target.  They picked out a pedicure kit and then we went home and did pedicures.

I think the girls forgave me, but it still didn't help my aching heart that night.  I really felt so badly!  We ended the night snuggling in bed and falling asleep.  I still feel terrible about last night, but honestly, I think I enjoyed the one on one time with them even more than I would have enjoyed my time at the program.  I love these girls!

Palm Springs Feis

Last weekend Rachel and I went to the Palm Spring's Feis.  It was a fast trip....24 hours.  But, I love these trips with Rach!  It is so fun for me to have time alone with her.  When she wasn't dancing, we were shopping.  She's a great shopper!  It's funny because now she is teaching me what is cool and giving me advice about clothes.  I love it!
I've never really explained a Feis.  It is a dance competition for Irish dancers.  In order to move up in their dance classes, they have to attend a feis and place in a dance.  Sometimes they need to get a 1st, 2nd or 3rd to advance, sometimes a 1st or 2nd and sometimes they need to get a 1st.
Rachel danced 6 dances for this feis.  Four were soft shoe dances and two were hard shoe.
The girls are divided into levels and age groups.  There were around 20 in Rachel's age group.
This is how it works...
For each dance, the girls sign in and line up when it is their turn...

 They patiently wait until the judge is ready for them to walk onto the stage.  Oh yeah, they are all dressed in their own solo dresses (at least at this level) and wear curly wigs.

Here they are walking on the stage...

They wait for the music to start and the judge to tell them to begin.

They are also judged on presentation.

Usually two to three at a time dance for the judge while the others stand back and wait their turn.

Here is Rachel dancing her soft shoe dances...

Waiting for the hard shoe dance to begin...

And here she is dancing the hard shoe dances.

The rest of us just sit back and watch...

About 15 minutes after she has finished her dances, scores and ratings are posted in a separate room.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of them.  She did great this trip.  She got a 2nd (so she will advance in that dance) and a 5th.  Congrats Rach!  Can't wait for our next feis!

Girls night out

Mark and the boys went to California for the BYU/UCLA basketball game so me and the girls went out.  They wanted to go to Olive Garden.  We had pina coladas and great food!

 Then we went home and decorated the Christmas tree that had been up but undecorated for a couple weeks!

It was so fun to be with just the girls.  I sure love them!

The Live Nativity

Wow, this was such a great production put on by our neighboring stake.   It was outside at opportunity village here in Las Vegas.  Mark was going with the youth last night so we decided to tag along.  It has been the highlight of this Christmas season.  The weather was perfect....not too cold, but cold enough to feel like winter.
The kids loved the real animals!

 This is the only picture I got of Rachel.  She was sitting with the youth, enjoying Carmel apple lollipops!

 But here we are...

 And here are some pictures of the presentation...

It was amazing and like I mentioned, the best part of the Christmas season so far!

Heating Pad

Not sure where Tommy came up with this idea, but he has been wanting to make a homemade heating pad for a while now.  Yesterday he found some material and asked if he could sew one.  I told him that my sewing machine was broken, but typical of Tommy, he was going to find a way to accomplish the thing he wanted to do.  I got him a needle and thread and he sewed the whole thing, by hand!  He filled it with rice and a little lavender oil and then he hand-stitched it a second time, just to make sure it would be secure.   He warms it up in the microwave every night and uses it to fall asleep. 

Whatever works!  :)

Mark's Christmas Party

This year for Mark's office Christmas party we went to dinner at Carrabas and then went to the production of Lion King at Mandalay Bay.  We had such a great time.  Lion King was amazing....such a great show!  And it was fun to be with Mark's staff.  They are a really great group!  They gave him a $100 gift certificate to REI and this...

Opportunity Village Magical Forest

It's been somewhat of a tradition to go here and see the lights at Christmas time.  We haven't done it EVERY year, but we have done it a few times.
It was a perfect night....not too cold, but cold enough to feel like Christmas.  We took a little girl from our ward (Lucy) and met some of my family there.

 I remember going to the Magical Forest when I was a teenager, but back then there was only a "Forest."  It was just a bunch of trees with lights on them.  Oh yeah, I think they had the train back then too.  But, a lot has changed since then.  For one, they have this slide now.  I think this was a highlight of this place.  Here are the kids running to get in line....

 "It's gonna be fun!"

 And it was fun.

  I think they went down four or five times.  Other kids started catching on to how much fun this slide was, so the line got pretty long.   We decided to move on to miniature golf...

 and the carousel...

and the classic train....

There were firetrucks, ambulances and police cars that you could check out.

 Inside the Ambulance....

 To end the night, we went inside the building for a little entertainment....

and OF COURSE, ate some funnel cakes!

I'm sad Mark missed out on this night.  He was at Brianhead with the young men in our ward.  But, I had a fun time with my sister, brother, and nieces and nephews!

I love my brother Nate, he always adds life to the party!

The kids had a great time with their cousins too!

Such a fun season!