Claire's Turn

Yesterday was Claire's dance recital. She is known to have stage fright, so I wasn't sure how she would do- but she was fantastic. We are really blessed to have the teacher that the girls have the teacher they have. Ms. Muffie is so full of love and is so great with the kids, and the kids really enjoy themselves.

 I also realized that I am really annoying with a camera. I didn't know I was until the recital. I took WAY too many pictures, which wouldn't have been so bad except I realized my camera is really loud. I can see why Smartphones are taking over- no noise, no flash, no annoying everybody sitting beside you.

Anyway, Claire did great!

A Crazy Day

We had perhaps the most interesting day of my parenting life today.

Audra had to have some teeth pulled. She has a lot of extra teeth. One of them is on the roof of her mouth and can't be operated on, but she had to have other teeth pulled because they are blocking her permanent teeth from coming in.

Anyway, that surgery was today. I made Ben take the day off of work to watch the other kids and Audra and I headed off.

She did pretty great until she had to wake up. She was pretty disoriented and cried a lot- this pitiful, sad cry that broke my heart.

 Here she is before the surgery- lots of extra teeth and all!

 She was really nervous- I have never seen her so scared. But really she did fantastic minus the waking up part. You can see some of her now missing teeth in this picture:

 In fact, after we came home and the drugs wore off she was her old self. Outside of not being able to eat she was running around and having a jolly time. So much so I asked her if she wanted to go to her dance recital today. She said yes. (I know that was poor scheduling on my part- but the recital wasn't a big deal, and there were only a few surgery openings left). Anyway, we went.

I didn't get to see hardly any of the recital. Instead I did this with Camille:

 I did sneak in for a few pictures. Audra even has a gap-filled smile here:

 Her dance class is at her teachers house, and the recital was there, too- very low key and absolutely perfect. This is where Claire takes classes, too.

 After the recital they got to feed the nutcrackers- since they danced to the Nutcracker Suite and all.

She still can't eat solid foods so I'm keeping her home from school again for at least tomorrow, maybe Thursday as well. But outside of not being able to eat very much, she really did great. I'm proud of her!

The Polar Express

Last night we went to a Christmas party with my in-laws with their congregation. It was a "Polar Express" party, and they went all out! It really was a lot of fun- great food, and a great message. Camille was scared to death of Santa and refused to go anywhere near him, but the girls were super excited to meet with him.

They shared this awesome video-which I HIGHLY recommend:



                                                       

This morning on the way to church we had the following conversation:

Audra: Mom, do you believe in Christ.

Me: Yes, honey, I do. I believe He came to earth and died for us. Do you believe in Christ?

Audra: Yes.

Me: Claire, do you believe in Christ?

Claire: I don't know.

Oh, how I love that Claire! She keeps me on my toes, and that's a good thing. Hopefully we can continue to teach her about Christ, and she will gain a testimony of her own. I wish that for all my girls- that they will each gain their own personal testimony of their Savior, not because I believe, but because they learn for themselves.

But for now, I wish you all- and them- Merry Christmas!

Santa!

I LOVE this picture!

Naughty Or Nice?

Me: Claire, are you naughty or nice this year?

Claire: I'm naughty AND nice.

Yup, that pretty much sums up Claire!

Don't Freak Out

I was volunteering in Audra's class about an hour ago and the principal came over the intercom and said that the school was in lockdown. When I taught, we often went into lockdown- once because a coyote was on the loose, once because there was a robber several blocks away, or of course, for a drill. I wasn't too concerned. But, thanks to Smartphones (I don't have one, but another volunteer did- because, well who doesn't? Just me), the other volunteer looked up what happened.

And we heard about the shooting.

I went into the hallway and burst into tears.

I called Ben to try and get more details. I couldn't even talk I was so upset. I'm still in shock.

Arapahoe High School is just a few miles from our house. We have seriously considered transferring our kids to the Littleton district and having them end up at the rival school of Arapahoe. Litteton is well known as a superior district. I desperately want/wanted my kids to go there, and we have very seriously considered moving to that area.

I taught at the rival school of Columbine. In fact, after Columbine, the kids all went to the school I taught at- both schools switched to half day schedules for the remainder of the year while they redid Columbine. Many, many of the teachers I taught with had been at Columbine and transferred to my school after the shooting because they could no longer be in that building.

I am very, very upset that I live in an area where when a shooting happens we don't say, "I can't believe it! There's been a shooting!" Instead, we say, "Oh, no- not again."

Now don't freak out when I tell you this, but I have been seriously considering home schooling. Don't freak out!!!!! I know what you are all thinking, because it is all things I would have thought even just 5 months ago. But, losing this election has changed everything. It has changed me- and not necessarily for the best. I have had depression (I think), and I am angry and frustrated. Not just with what is happening in my county, but in the national trend of standardized testing, common core, lack of respect for teachers and education, etc. Anyway, at some point I will do an entirely different post on my thoughts and transformation of my thinking of homeschooling.

As I have been fasting and praying and trying to figure things out, I have not felt like I have gotten an answer. But I have had the thought "something is going to happen that will help you to know what to do."

At the time the thought came to my mind, I didn't think much of it. But I did think to myself, "Well, if there's another shooting in the area, that will make up my mind pretty fast."

And now it's happened. Not at Newtown. HERE. Once again in my backyard. Within just a few miles of my house. AGAIN.

It's devastating. Heartwrenching. Disgusting. Horrible.

And sad. Really, really sad.

Especially since when I talked to a friend about it she said, "At least only two were shot."

Maybe it's time I realize that I don't want to wait until Audra's school is where the next shooting takes place before I do something to protect my children.

Christmas Is Coming!

It has been a crazy busy last couple of weeks. Good busy, but busy.

The local high school put on a Christmas festival. The kids had a great time! The high schoolers do such a great job, and we were happy to take advantage.

Camille was scared and clung to Ben for the first 20 minutes. Especially after we tortured her by attempting to get a picture of her with Santa. Eventually she warmed up- right about the time she realized the high schoolers were giving away lots of candy canes and other treats.

Of course, the girls LOVED all the coloring stations.

 Even Camille got in on the coloring action.

 Here's Camille's handy work:

 The older girls got their faces painted- they couldn't be happier!

We also went with Grandma and Aunt Beth to see Frozen on Saturday. I have to say, that might be my favorite Disney movie. I LOVED the music, and I loved that sisters were more important than Prince Charming. Definitely a classic in my book.

Tonight we finally made our gingerbread houses. The girls have talked non-stop about making them for days. I bought the houses from Michael's this year, and I was a little disappointed. I think the ones from Bed, Bath, and Beyond are a little sturdier. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really don't expect these houses to still be standing tomorrow morning. I had to make sure I got pictures of them tonight.

Even if they do fall down, it was worth it- as the girls had so much fun putting them together! Camille kept wanting to destroy them (she is quite similar to King Kong). Ben's job tonight was to keep Camille out of the way. He did an OK job, but it was kind-of like trying to wrestle a lion. She's tough. But also really cute, so she gets away with it.