Senior Prom

Today was Tia's senior prom. 

I think I get just as excited about it as she does....because of my own fun dance memories.

So we learned our lesson from last year and we didn't even bother with dress shopping.  We just went straight to the fabric store and picked out a pattern and fabric. The pictures don't really do the fabric color justice.  This was the prettiest purple ever!   And then the work started (for me).  Tia picked a really great looking dress  In fact, I've never seen anything like it in a store or on the internet--so we know she'll be totally unique. 

( I did remind her that my Grandma Harris made my senior prom dress.  And there was actually another girl at the dance with the same dress done in the same fabric.  So it really does happen!)

 This dress was really, really hard to make.  I had several complete redoes on the bodice.  I had to do some pretty complicated pattern altering.  And I had to make up my own pattern for the sleeves because the pattern call for an off the shoulder look. However the results were perfect, so it was worth it.  I learned quite a bit of good sewing techniques on this dress (most of which I had to come up with on my own because the pattern had terrible instructions and not nearly enough pictures) I am particularly proud of my hidden zipper that comes out perfectly with the V back!.  And yes, there are 723 crystals--each individually glued on by me. 

Of course, we were saved by Bree for the hair.  I really, really can't do hair.  But Bree is amazing and we are lucky she is so willing to come over and help.  

I decided that more than just the high school kids should see this dress.  But Tia wasn't willing to put it on and take a walk around the neighborhood, so I'll just have to be satisfied with putting a lot of pictures up on the blog.

And I'll enjoy a 5 year break from fancy dress sewing while Brooklyn does a little growing up.

Happy Easter

We just had a great weekend of celebrating Easter. I really love this holiday, but I was having a hard time getting in the mood. I even went so far as to just ask my kids what they wanted in their Easter baskets--not even bothering to try to surprise anyone. BUT, then we got together with my parents, Bree's family, and Cory's family for a Saturday afternoon Easter party at Cory's house and everything came back into line. Here's a few highlights:

Brooklyn was very proud of this peace sign creation (it matched her shirt--and we all know that in Brooklyn's world fashionable matching stuff is very important)

There was lots of egg coloring. Grandma donated 10 dozen hard boiled eggs so everyone could decorate to their hearts content.

There was reading time. Tia is currently burning through the "39 clues" series. (admittedly, I did the same thing a few weeks ago--these are hard to put down!)

There was basketball.....

Since my boys were present..... there was soccer!

...and there was soccer mixed with trampoline jumping (?)

....and there was regular trampoline jumping

There was also lots of great food, but since I was eating it no pictures got taken.

I'll just add that on Sunday my primary class of 10 6-year-olds soared to new heights as they redefined the term "sugar rush". It was great........

I hope you all had a fun holiday as well!

Idaho Dance Competition

Wow! multiple posts in one month.....

I had a solid week of being sick with a sinus infection and all the other symptoms you can think of. And then I had to pull myself out of bed and pack up for a weekend in Rexburg, Idaho to watch Tia compete in a ballroom competition. My mom and Aunt Marsha came with me.

Can I say, this was so much fun! I haven't ever watched a big competition like this before (it was a national competition). The dancing was fabulous (it almost made me think I could learn to like dancing, but not quite) and the dresses were amazing. There is nothing fancier than ballroom dance gowns.

This was Tia's first time competing as a couple in the Cabaret, so I needed to be there to watch her. We made her costume. She glued on nearly 700 crystals. I did the sewing and trim. It was an adventurous project, but well worth it. She was beautiful. Her partner is Brayden Roberts. They were both pretty nervous. But they came out with 4th place (whoo hoo!), and they only missed third place by less than a point.

Here's some video of their Cabaret and a video of Tia's favorite group dance. (She's on the front right when the dance starts. You'll have to follow her from there)
PS After you click play, double click the screen to get a full screen version--otherwise the right side gets cut off.

President's Cup Tournament

Last weekend Kobe's soccer team played a tournament in St George. I had such a personal dilemma over this. My grandpa's 90th birthday surprise party was also last weekend. But in the end I decided I needed to be there to cheer on my son. Luckily I will be in Idaho to cheer for Tia next weekend, so I'm hoping to visit grandpa then. Steve couldn't come (Announcement: for those of you who haven't heard--Steve has a new job!) so I teamed up with another mom who was going alone. We rode together and stayed at her aunt's condo in St George. This made the trip so much more fun! Her son Conner is one of Kobe's best friends. Unfortunately the team didn't make it past the quarter finals, but they got 2 wins and 2 ties. Single elimanation tournaments are tough. I was very proud of them. Kobe played awesome. He almost scored in one of the games, getting two shots off (not bad, since he plays left wing defender/mid).

Once the games were over, my friend showed us a really fun park where the boys could rock climb to their hearts' content. It reminded me of a small version of goblin valley. And, of course, we spent a few hours at the pool with some teammates.

This isn't the picture I wanted to add, but I can't seem to delete it. So guess it stays. Imagine a better one with Kobe's eyes open. This soccer complex even had a soccer themed playground by it, so I had to make Kobe pose on the giant soccer balls.

Yeah, he stole that one and went in for a shot!

Another run at goal--I hate it when the other team has a good goalie!

Are we ever too old?

A few weeks ago all my dreams came true. Well maybe not all of them, but a really big one.

You see, we have lived in this house almost 10 years. And in that time my piano has been the one and only piece of furniture occupying the front living room. It was a very lonely place...except at Christmas time when a very cool tree decorated with blue lights and snowman ornaments came to visit for a few weeks.

But now things are much better.
Because we are the proud owners of some new couches! We decided to get different couches for the TV room and move the old ones up to the front room. (the old ones are a wine colored leather and my piano has a cherry finish, so they match nicely) And it looks fabulous.

The best part was that couches come in very large boxes. And now we know that even teenagers can have a lot of fun playing in a box--for quite a few hours in fact. Especially when those boxes come with LOTS of bubble wrap and big pillow-sized bags filled with air.

Teenage boys

So we had spaghetti for dinner last night

And Alex and Kobe really love spaghetti

I just had to show you what Kobe considers a "serving" of spaghetti (Alex wasn't home last night, but he would have had an equal, if not bigger, "serving" to go with Kobe's)

Keep in mind that this is my bigger 11-inch dinner plate.....and that is not a thin layer of noodles...

This year I put in my first try at designing my own Christmas card. It was a little scary, but I think I pulled it off alright. Bree was kind enough to donate an afternoon and help us take a family picture. She did a fabulous job! So wonderful, in fact, that I cannot choose which one to blow up for my wall. Which do you like best?.....

I'm Back

I know, I know. It has been an embarrassing amount of time since my last post. So I'm here to let you know that we are alive and well. To be totally honest, life has been moving entirely too quickly!

I've been putting off writing because I have been overwhelmed with how much I need to catch up on. So I'm going to take the advice of my much wiser sister and just starting with now (and maybe a few past recollections).

We had a great summer. And then I took on the fall carnival at Lincoln Academy (where Brooklyn and Kobe go to school) Yep, I was in charge of the whole thing. Which is mainly why you didn't hear from me in August, September, or October. I will happily report that it was a huge success. We had higher attendance than ever before and made twice as much money as we needed to! I have to admit I was a little proud of myself.....

And then Brooklyn decided to try dance--which meant she had to quit gymnastics. (I just can't afford both, nor is there time) Yes, I was shocked too. I mean, this girl just got 4th place in the all-around at the state competition (and 3rd and 4th places on all the individual events)! But, she is my daughter, so obviously she is talented in more than one area.....(JUST KIDDING!) so I had to let her follow her heart. We found a dance studio we felt good about and jumped in. By the way, she is performing and the Festival of Trees on December 1. If you like to go to that event, this might be a good day to do it! I'll get some dance pictures to show off then.

I love the look on her face in this picture! I mean, here she is winning 4th in the all-around--which is very cool-- and she's mad that she didn't get to stand on the podium (as she did a few minutes before when she won 3rd on the beam).

Alex and Tia had a great cross country season. Alex would like everyone to know that he ran a 19:20 at the Cedar City meet. (He set a goal to go under 20 minutes this season) He might just beat grandpa pretty soon.

Tia is having a great time being a senior. She loves being on the ballroom dance team. And she is busy touring college campuses to see which one she wants to attend next year, and filling out scholarship stuff.

Kobe lives for soccer, as usual. He's playing indoor right now. Sorry-no pictures yet. But he scored 4 goals and got 3 assists in the last game. WOO HOO!

One more thing. Steve's grandma was going to turn 100 this December, but she died last week. She was a wonderful lady and we will miss her. The family was going to make a book of all her decendents as a birthday gift. Since I can't give the pages I made of my family to her I will post them here for everyone to enjoy. I'm rather proud of them, and the people in them.