Spring Break Awards

Best new tradition: Celebrating Holi

Messiest day: Monday

Number of kids throwing paint at each other: 15

Most boring day: Tuesday

Number of Bollywood movies watched by Megan: 6

Number of Bollywood movies watched by the rest of us: 1 (and a half for Caitlyn)

Silliest Show of Nerves (by Mom): getting a haircut before traveling to see friends

Longest it'd been since Mom had seen her friends: 18 years

Coolest house: the Kagels (they really liked the pool, the lovely kitchen, and the BIG TV)

Most awesome New Friend: Mitchell Kagel (aka Uncle Alberto; he had the girls -- especially Alison and Kristen -- laughing hysterically. Plus he gave them all his spare change.)

Coolest Place We Stopped: Amy's Ice Creams in Austin -- the scooper guy would toss the ice cream scoop in the air and catch it. And then he tossed the ice cream in the air. And we voted for Captain Kirk. And took pics in an "old-fashioned" picture booth. And played with the hula hoops. Oh, and the ice cream was good, too.

Best Train Ride: around Zilker Park in Austin

Longest Two Hours: After Mom's friend Marj got sick and nearly passed out. We called 911, and had to wait for the paramedics (and Marj's husband) to come. Damian (that's Elder Parente) and Megan managed our kids, while Mom took care of Marj's baby, Tiana. It turned out that it was just dehydration and heat stroke, but it was pretty scary. (Though kind of interesting as well.)

Best Ego Boost: When a paramedic asked Mom if Damian was her husband.

Coolest (but most expensive) Grocery Store: Whole Foods in Austin

Biggest cop out: getting Austin and Dallas mugs at Starbucks instead of finding tourist shops

Things We Didn't Do (aka Reasons to Go Back to Austin): see the state capitol; visit the Texas Natural History Museum; stop in West, Texas to get good baked goods; go to IKEA.

Biggest Waste of Money: buying firewood and a fire starter (no one really wanted a fire, and it wouldn't catch, and when we did want a fire, everything was wet from the night before)

Best Revivial of an Old Tradition: Going camping

Most awesome helpers: Megan and Caitlyn

Best Driving Snack: Fruit Loops and Wheat Thins

Longest Day: Friday

Hardest thing Mom's Ever Done: driving home all day Friday after not sleeping much all week

Most Memorable Conversation: Kristen: "Alison said something mean to me!" Megan: "What?" Kristen (growling): "THANK YOU!!"

Worst Idea For a Car Toy (for everyone except Alison): bubbles

Number of Times We Listened to the Bollywood music CD: 7

The Bachelor Award: Russell, for not doing dishes, eating nothing but rice and kimchee, staying up late and watching movies, and basically being a Guy. (He did go to work and the Pinewood Derby, though.)

Laziest Day: Saturday

Kristen's Favorite thing: the overpasses in Dallas (she called it "flying")

Alison's Favorite thing: seeing Elder Parente

Caitlyn's Favorite thing: Camping

Megan's Favorite thing: Listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on audiobook

It was a good break!

Pedernales Falls State Park

When we looked at going to Texas, I did some poking around for campgrounds near Austin. I'd heard the Texas Hill Country was really quite beautiful, and so started there. I don't know what made me choose Pedernales Falls as the place to go; something about it just seemed nice. And it was. The campground was well kept up, and the park itself was lovely.

We did some bumming around the park Friday morning. We figured we needed to go see the falls. Otherwise, it'd be pointless to go to Pedernales FALLS state park. :-D

They weren't much to look at.


But the river was nice.

Alison discovered shells along the riverbanks, and spent a good amount of time collecting handfuls.

One of the things the girls really wanted to see was cactuses/cacti/cactis. (They got called all three names). So, Alison was quite excited when we actually found some.

There was an area of the river we could actually get in. We brought our swimsuits, and while the air was nice (it got into the mid-80s!), the water was still winterized, and quite cold. So, we just waded.

And threw rocks.


It was a lovely morning.

Camping (Just Us Girls)

So, one of the purposes of this little jaunt down to Texas was to actually go camping. I realized I haven't been since before Kristen was born, and -- for some odd reason -- I guess I just really wanted to go. I found a nice state park in the Texas Hill Country, and we headed down there. We got there late-ish (well, after the office closed), set up (I never took a picture of the tent), and cooked dinner.

For the record: this trip was really only possible because Megan was an awesome right-hand woman. She helped cook, she managed kids, she kept me company and helped me stay awake. She is awesome.

She also climbs trees in order to take pictures.


Proof that there was a fire. It didn't last long. The wood wouldn't catch, the girls were tired and wanted to go to bed, so we ended up just putting it out. We wished we had it the next morning though.

Puttering around the next morning...


It was fun. And the weather was lovely. We really ought to go camping during spring break more often! (Or at least again.)

Catching Up

On a last-minute whim, I remembered that our favorite missionary, Elder Parente, was living in Austin. I contacted him, and he was more than happy to meet up with us. We got some ice cream, and then headed out to the park to play, ride trains, and get our feet wet.






The girls never took to calling him by his name -- Damian -- but it didn't really matter. It was grand seeing him again!

Hadippa Holi Hai!

As part of Megan's India obsession, and possibly because I have created a tradition of celebrating every obscure holiday I can (King Kamehameha Day, anyone?), she decided that we needed to celebrate Holi. She did her research, came up with ideas and games, and we invited people over to basically have a grand old time.

(they even wrote a sign!)

The idea was to, essentially, get as painted as you possibly can. They: finger painted on paper, ran around with homemade water "guns" with colored water in them, made a human pyramid to get candy out of a bucket, decorated and ate cookies, and then attacked each other (and me!) with the paints from before. It was all very messy, and loads and loads of fun.
(click to embiggen)

And no, not even moms were spared.
Happy Holi!

Wanted

Two very cute, but silly girls.


Nevermind; we've already got them!

Looking Past the Fuzz

The week's a bit blurry, mostly because I've spent it sick. Remember The Cough that Wouldn't Die back in November? (It's okay if you don't; you didn't have to live through it.) Anyway: it's back. Except it's The Snot that Won't Stop Dripping Down My Throat. I constantly feel like I'm choking. Ew. Anyway, the worst day was Wednesday, when I collapsed at 7 p.m. (honestly!); Russell was a dear and got everything managed and the younger kids ready for bed. The only thing that didn't get done and turned in was Alison's homework. Oops. (We didn't discover that until Friday night, either.)

Russell was off for spring break, but that didn't change our schedules much. He still went in, getting grading done and working on a rewrite of his Hong Kong paper. He did take Friday and rotortill the garden. Then he covered it in plastic; we've decided to let the garden lie fallow this year since we'll be gone for a good chunk of the summer. We'll still have a little patch in the herb garden; we'll see how much we can squeeze in there.

He also spent Friday driving Megan out to Newman to meet with a member of the Rotary club about the process to get a sponsor for their student exchange program. She's really serious about wanting to go over and study in India (right now, anyway) for a year, and is working at finding ways to make it possible. Anyway, Russell was really impressed with the guy and the program, and right now, Megan's operating under the assumption that we'll find a way to fund a plane ticket/insurance and become the type of parents who will let their 16 year old go halfway across the world for a school year. Eep. Russell wondered, abstractly, yesterday if somehow we're warping our kids; we can find the money to fund a trip to Hawaii or back east for a family reunion, or even find a way to send them to India for a year. But there's no money for braces (which she and Caitlyn desperately need). Tells you where our priorities are, anyway.

Yesterday, aside from the regular Saturday stuff, we got Caitlyn's pictures taken (they'll go in the mail on Monday; the one grandparents, etc. get is the one on the right). And then Russell and I went shopping. By ourselves. Whee. He needed pants, and we picked up some supplies for my upcoming camping trip (I'm insane, I have to be: I'm taking the girls to Texas to go camping over spring break. By myself. It's only one night, but Alison, at least, is having some serious misgivings about it all.), and then we picked up supplies to build a closet downstairs. (No, Mom, I'm not painting the bathroom upstairs. I wanted the closet more.) And I built it mostly by myself. *beams* I'll put up before and after pictures after I get a few more organizational tubs and such, and eventually I'll have to figure out how to finish the opening so I can put a door on there, but as of right now? I LOVE my new closet. It's the little things.

As for the rest of the girls? They're happy to be off for spring break. Megan started it sometime last week, when she began staying up until midnight (at least) watching (you guessed it) Bollywood movies. And Caitlyn's already had a sleepover, and is planning another one for tomorrow or Tuesday. And Alison wished for and had friends over on Friday. And Kristen's announced that she has "10 whole days" without school, and is counting them down for me. (Bless her!)

That's about it for us. Enjoy spring! We sure are!

What to Get an 11 Year Old

She stressed about what to ask for for her birthday. "All the cool stuff happens when you're 12," she said. Eventually, she came to the decision: "Just surprise me."

So, after waitingandwaitingandwaiting (a whole hour and a half while Mom decorated the cake; though to be fair, it was Alison and Kristen who were chomping at the bit), she got to discover what we got her.

American Girl doll stuff (Kit's school supplies; she was very excited about that!):

Glass knick knacks


The bird ended up being her favorite present; Alison did a lot of thinking and debating when she chose the present, and ended up getting something quite good.

A regifted necklace

And new shoes and socks.


We waited on the cake and ice cream until after church.

She had asked for a pencil cake, because she liked writing. This was what I came up with, mostly because I didn't want to cut a cake into a pencil shape. I think it turned out pretty cute, in spite of the crooked lines.


Yes, she did sing Happy Birthday to herself. She's just that sort of girl!

Happy birthday, Caitlyn!

Spring....

Well, here anyway. It's almost officially spring here; warmer days: warm enough that the girls can walk to (and from!) school. Warm enough that I can run outside (though I haven't yet). Warm enough for us to shed the coats and mittens and hats, though it was a bit chilly walking home from church today.

Other than that, we spent the week sick. Alison started complaining Sunday night about a headache, which she does occasionally; she tends to get dehydrated. Then she complained again on Monday. Tuesday, she was still complaining, but as I told her: I can't call her in sick for a headache! So, she managed to get a fever which sent her home from school. Wednesday to the doctor: she has, the doctor thinks, RSV. Fun times. And, since Murphy's in charge of these things, we've all, one by one, come down with it. Kristen even got a day home from school, though in retrospect, it was probably unnecessary, seeing as she was bouncing off the wall by 2 p.m. Except Russell. He never comes down with these things.

Megan had a party here on Friday night. I don't know if I should worry that her friends consist of several girls and one guy, but that's who she invited over to watch movies. They started at 6 and all trickled away around 11 p.m.. And they were quite nice about the fact that Megan has younger siblings who are bound to interfere and be slightly obnoxious. I suppose that means she has good friends, right? Anyway, I'm just glad she's being social. She also managed to lose her phone last weekend -- we think she left it at the church during a stake girls camp thing, but by the time we realized it was missing, there had been a funeral and stake conference at the church. Alas. At least she was due for an upgrade. She managed to go the whole week without a phone and didn't die, reiterating that it's a want and not really a necessity that she have a phone. At least she paid for it. (Sort of. Well, she's going without allowance this month, anyway.)

And today Caitlyn's been all over that it's her birthday. She couldn't wait until after church to open her presents (though she had to wait until I finished decorating her cake!). She was a hard person to buy for this year; what do you get someone who doesn't really need anything?? Knick-knacks, American Girl doll stuff, socks, new sneakers, and a gift certificate to Amazon. That's what. :-) Thankfully, she was happy with that.

And church today was nice. I'm a bit under the weather (see paragraph #1), so I don't think I really got much out of anything, but what I remember hearing was nice.

Have a great week!

Kristen Hearts Pooh Bear

I don't know what makes me smile more: Kristen singing Winnie the Pooh, or Russell in the background.

Yet Another Band Concert

We were smart this time: the Freshman band plays first, so we got there early, watched the band play and left. No cranky younger sisters to deal with. (Though, that begs the question of what we'll do next year when Megan's in concert band and will be playing last. Come late?) They did a good job with these pieces, I think. I didn't catch the names of either, but they're worth listening to.

So, the good news is that Megan had one of her *sigh* doctor's appointments up in Salina on Friday. After driving, x-rays, waiting, talking, and then looking, the doctor decided that Megan's grown enough, that her bones aren't going to change, and while she has a curve in her spine, she's not getting any worse. So, he prescribed some physical therapy and cut us loose. No more trips to Salina! (YAY!)

Afterward, Megan and I went to Kababs (that's the Indian restaurant) for lunch to celebrate; we both ate WAY too much. She like the bread and chicken curry best... And then Russell and I went out to the ballet at Friends. Unfortunately, except for one really good short ballet, the evening as a whole was less-than-stellar. I'm sure that it's cheaper/easier for the director of the ballet program to do all his own choreography, but it just was plain dull (and the music choice in a couple instances were just wrong). At least it was free.

Yesterday, Megan had camp pre-certification in the morning, I accompanied a bassist for solo and ensemble (I remember doing those; it's been YEARS and aside from updating the posting technology -- no longer posterboard and sharpies -- it's pretty much the same), and then Caitlyn and I ran girl scout cookie booth sales for a couple of hours. We didn't do great sales -- 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday is not a prime shopping time -- but we did sell some.

And today's been, well, a day. We had General Conference lite this morning, but ever since she got up and asked "What day is it?" Kristen's been throwing tantrums. And it helps that the rest of them (even Megan; she can't find her phone!) have thrown them periodically, as well. I'm sure something inspirational was said at the meeting this morning, but thanks to Kristen I didn't hear it. I'm done parenting for the day; I don't think anyone will mind if we have chocolate pie for dinner and lasagna for dessert instead of the other way around, do you?

I think we should just watch the video of my favorite song from the Bollywood movie we watched last night....

The rest of the week was plain uneventful (except that I left Caitlyn in charge for a couple of hours on Thursday; she did splendidly. Which means: we have two babysitters in the house! And perhaps it's time for her to take that Red Cross babysitting course...). My goal for the week: figure out what to get Caitlyn for her birthday and pick it up!

Have a great week!

ANTFG Culture & Rags Photo Shoot

Just so you know ANTFG stands for America's Next Top Fox Girl. Last night Megan and I did Kristen's and Alison's hair and makeup.

So here are the best shoots from the Culture Photo Shoot:

Alison - Chinese




Kristen - Swedish




And the best shots from the Rags photo shoot (Kristen wouldn't get in rags) :
Alison -






MY FAVORITE SHOT OF ALISON!!! (below)


Kristen -



MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF KRISTEN!!!! (below)


Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love, Megan, Caitlyn, Alison and Kristen