Ready or Not?!

Tis' the Season for dance recitals. Jimmy & Tori have been attending a dance studio since August and have been preparing for their Christmas recital from the first day of class. Just a few days ago it was decided that the "All Boys Hip-Hop" class that Jimmy is a part of is ready to start performing at local venues. He was able to perform at the Jubilee of Trees last Saturday, and has a few more opportunities soon as his class will be performing at Christmas functions around town. Here is some brief information. I will post more definite information as I receive it.
1. Dickens Christmas Festival, Saturday, December 5th, 2:00pm: $3 kids/seniors & $5 adults
2. Tuacahn Christmas Festival, Saturday December 5th, 6:00pm and 7:00pm -Free-

The 'official' Dance Recital will be on Saturday, December 12th at Snow Canyon High School. Both Jimmy & Tori will be performing on this day. The recital will be from 5:00pm-6:00pm, there is no cost to attend.

It should be great fun to attend. See you there!

Halloween!

Last year after an evening of successful trick-or-treating Jimmy exclaimed that he had just had the '....bestest day of his life!'. Ever since then, he has been consistent in stating that Halloween is his most favorite holiday.

This year Halloween was very busy. There were school class parties, dance class parties, friends & family parties, the annual school Spooktacular Halloween Carnival, and then of course, trick-or-treating.

Jimmy chose to be Darth Vadar for Halloween, which was easy, since he was Darth Vadar last year. BUT, Jimmy put an interesting twist on the idea, this year Jimmy did not want to wear the Darth Vadar mask, he wanted the mask off so everyone could see him showing the scary face of Darth Vadar. After patiently sitting through 2 hours of make-up construction Jimmy was able to see the results of his wish.

Tori wore 2 different costumes this year. Sometimes she chose to be a bumblebee and sometimes she chose to be a leopard. She had a lot of fun at the school carnival, especially with the hula hoops. On Halloween night she was asked if she would like to get her make-up done for her leopard costume.................she took one look at her brothers make-up and politely declined. :)

Fall Time Fun

As the air has turned crisp, and the leaves are changing colors, I thought that it would be a great time to catch a few good pictures of Jimmy & Tori playing in the fallen leaves. Jimmy & Tori however had different plans in mind. Instead of posing for pictures, they wanted to climb trees, play with sticks & watch bugs. Here are a few of the pictures that I was able to capture.

Kids say the darndest things.......

Jimmy's school has decided to post different fun things that the students say onto their marquee throughout the year. This past week a quote that Jimmy said was featured. Jimmy's class recently took a field trip out to Snow Canyon State Park after finishing a unit on rocks. When the class was loading the bus to return to the school, Jimmy was very excited and exclaimed loudly, "I had the bestest day!".

I asked Jimmy to tell me a few things about this fun field trip. The main thing that he talks about is going on a hike where they had to walk down "......a trench where there was a ditch". He also mentioned that there was a lot sand, which was evidenced by the piles that I poured out of his shoes.

But, the most exciting thing that Jimmy likes to talk about, was seeing ".....a Mountain Lion that was about 1 mile away form us." I am sure that Jimmy will remember this field trip for a long time.

Wii vs. Reality

This summer Jimmy learned about the game of bowling. He sometimes was playing bowling on the Wii, and other times he was playing with a plastic indoor bowling set. He enjoyed the game so much, that he was constantly making it known that he wanted to go bowling in 'real life'. It was explained to him by many, that 'real' bowling was going to be a lot different than bowling on the Wii. Nonetheless, Jimmy was persistent in his wishes to go bowling. This last weekend the opportunity arose for him to go bowling at a local bowling alley. He did an excellent job. He was the top bowler in the group, with a winning score of 89! Tori was there as an enthusiastic cheerleader, clapping & cheering each time the ball was thrown. The votes are in.......real bowling is preferred over the Wii!

Sunscreen anyone?

During the heat of the summer, the only proven way to stay cool in Southern Utah is to be at the pool, the spray parks, or the local lakes and rivers everyday.
So, the question arose this summer: How does one who has been 'blessed' with fair skin limit sun exposure as much as possible & avoid getting sunburned, while staying cool in the outdoor water features?
The answer: staying fully clothed.
Yes, you read correctly. The best way to limit sun exposure is to remain fully clothed while swimming and playing in the water. First we start with hats & sunglasses(or goggles), then on to swim shirts(for both girls & boys), swim shorts(again, for both girls & boys), water shoes and finishing off with a dose of sunscreen. Getting 'dressed' to go swimming has proven to be quite a time consuming task. And, just to let you know, the kids do eventually forget about all the swim-gear they are wearing once they are having fun in the water. :)

Sand, Sand & Dirt...

This summer Jimmy & Tori had a lot of fun playing in what I refer to as their 'local outdoor playground'. Whether it was just going up the street to a local park, or visiting a National Park, it seemed as if we were somewhere fun 2-3 times a week. During the first week of June, while visiting a golf course, Tori found out that she enjoyed the texture of sand. It seemed wherever we went after that, no matter whether is was sand or not, Tori always wanted to sit down & play in the sand (or dirt). Because of this new found interest of hers, I ended up doing a lot of laundry and giving baths almost every night.

One in the same.....

My son Jimmy is currently 7yrs old, and my daughter Tori is currently 2yrs old. Ever since Tori was born people have often commented how much alike my 2 children look. I have heard this comment in a variety of forms; whether it was from a relative saying "Wow, you sure have a 'mold' for your children" or a 5yr old neighbor boy looking at Tori and saying to Jimmy, "Is that your sister? She looks just like you. " Or, my favorite came from a receptionist at a doctor's office; "Tori, don't you just look like a miniature Jimmy?!" she explained, and then she tried to recover her comment with "Well, except you have cute girl hair". Gee thanks...I guess she doesn't have a ton of feminine features, or maybe may son has too many feminine features? Who knows? So, my question is; if everyone around me sees it this way, why don't I? Sure I see certain similarities, and throughout developmental milestones I have noticed common ways that tasks were completed. But, they are siblings, so wouldn't you expect a certain bond? So, thought that I would launch my attempt at a blog spot by posting recent pictures of them.....and letting you judge for yourself. Have fun!