Costume Call

Paige is in the throes of preparing for the Nutcracker.  Just recently she had a full costume call.  Getting her ready in full hair and make-up is a lot of work for momma, but Paige loves it so much, that I'm willing to do it.  And as I see her glowing with happiness in her costume, I realize what little girl doesn't like wearing pretty costumes and getting all dressed up?

Her Nutcracker performances are on December 7th and 8th, which will be here before we know it.  I'm pretty sure it is going to be a crazy and hectic week.  She has dress rehearsals on Wed, Thurs, and Fri and the actual show on Sat and Sun.  Each day she has a 4-5 hour commitment.  We will be living dance that week!

Bowler? Yes!

I know that there have been a lot of posts about Paige, recently, but don't worry Ashley has not been neglected.  In fact, she has been pretty busy herself.  A couple months ago, she came home and said she wanted to tryout for the high school bowling team.  She even went and talked to the coach about it! Dave and I thought it was pretty funny considering Ashley doesn't bowl and really doesn't know how to bowl.  Bowling is a winter sport, so we just smiled and figured we would see if she still felt the same way when tryouts rolled around.

Well as tryouts neared some of Ashley's friends who were going to tryout too, dropped out, but Ashley still really wanted to do it.  When I realized that she was serious about this, I figured we better help her out a little or least take her bowling so she could practice a little.

SO.....I looked up the home bowling alley for the school and saw that they have a pro shop with a pro who teaches lessons and holds a clinic once a week.  Well, I figured this is just what Ashley needed, I mean we have no knowledge of any bowling rules, techniques, etc.  I just wanted her to have a little more knowledge so she could confidently tryout.

So less than a month before tryouts, Ashley started taking some lessons.  In addition, we have been taking her a 3-4 days a week to bowl so she could practice, because the key to improving is practice.  The results are that she has improved her game by over 40 points, is working with a great coach who is one of the nicest people we know, she has her own bowling shoes, bag and a couple of days ago, she used her own money to buy herself her very own bowling ball with finger holes drilled to custom fit her hand!

This is serious business people!

Ashley during her bowling lesson

Ashley's big purchase - her new bowling ball

I do have to give a shout out to Rich, the pro who has been giving her lessons.  Honestly, he is so great and has really taken Ashley under his wing.  Every time she comes to the bowling alley, he comes out to help her.  He has given her some free lessons and a free bowling bag.  He also let her take home one of his bowling balls when she first started until we could decide what the best ball would be for her.  His daughter actually bowled for Ashley's high school last year and took 2nd in state.  He has been really good to her and given her lots of encouragement.

Anyways, the end of this post is just the beginning.   Ashley had her first team practice today for the high school team.  She'll most likely be bowling on the JV team, which is a great start for her.  It's a huge commitment she'll be bowling every day and even on some Saturdays.  It's going to be a new adventure for her and for our family.  We are proud of her for wanting to try something new.  I think it will be pretty cool to watch her games, at least I can hang out in a bowling alley rather than sit outside and freeze in bad weather!

Party Time

For Paige's birthday, she hosted her first sleepover party and we combined it with our Twister/Bejeweled House Party.  She had 9 friends and we settled in for games and fun.  For dinner they ate Mac n Cheese with carrots and dip.  After dinner, Ashley took the girls downstairs to play games like "killer frog" and "red rover".  By the way, if you can get Ashley to help you with parties I highly recommend it.  This girl was so awesome.  She kept the girls happy and busy, definitely making my life easier.  Plus I think all of Paige's friends thought it was pretty cool to hang out and talk with Ashley.

After game time, they came upstairs for cake and presents.  They were all very excited about this.  It seems like nowadays, birthday parties are so jammed pack with activities, that the birthday kid doesn't even open presents at the party.  I think this is sad.  It's exciting for the birthday person to open presents but the gift givers also enjoy seeing all the presents and knowing the reaction to the gift they have given.  Anyways, Paige got some awesome gifts, including gift cards, games, headphones and crafts!

After this, the girls decided to break into three groups and play games in stations.  They came up with this idea on their own and it worked out pretty nice.  The three stations were playing the Bejeweled board game, making bracelets with the Rainbow Loom and playing the Hexbug game Bugs in the Kitchen.  It was pretty fun.  They liked all the games and activities.

After playing for awhile the girls got into pjs and watched a Monster High movie.  Again Ashley was the superstar chaperone and watched it with the girls so I didn't have to!!  At about 11:30 I told the girls they needed to start settling down for bed.  I think everyone was asleep by 12:30am, not too bad.

In the morning, after breakfast the girls played Twister and Just Dance, then it was time to go home.  Pretty painless party.  Thank goodness Paige has good friends and an awesome big sister!

Halloween

Halloween this year was pretty anticlimactic.  We had been so busy the whole week that Halloween and trick-or-treating just felt like something to check off the list.  Oh yeah, and it was pouring rain that day.  It rained hard all day!  Not really something to get you in the mood to take your kids trick-or-treating.

Dave was working, Ashley went to a friend's house and so I just had Paige to take out.  Of course, we went with Jane and Riley.  The best part was that the rain let up just as trick-or-treating began and that lasted for about one hour before it started up again.  Just enough time to get in trick-or-treating without getting soaked!!  Thank you for tender mercies!  The worst part, was that with Dave stuck at work, there was no one to pass out all the candy we had.  Paige quit a little early so anyone that came to our house and caught us at home got a HUGE handful of candy!

After trick-or-treating with one set of friends, Paige came home and was invited to eat a hot dog dinner with another set of friends.  Dave came home from work to find me home alone in a quiet house eating grilled cheese and tomato soup all by myself---that's a true sign that your kids are growing up.

 
Also we always get a few mystery candies.  The winner this year is:

It is supposed to be a mango sucker but it just doesn't look right.

Choir Concert

Ashley is in her high school Treble Choir.  She wasn't too sure she wanted to continue choir from junior high into high school but I encouraged her to give it a try.  The high school experience is a lot different than middle school and I wanted her to at least give it a chance to see if it was something she would like to pursue.  Plus with all her Honors classes, I figured a choir class would be more manageable with her tough schedule.  Now that we are one quarter into it, she doesn't mind choir but is not too sure she will do it again next year.  She's thinking she would like to use those credits to explore other classes and  interests, which is fine.

Her first concert, was in October.  It was actually very good, there are all kinds of groups and choirs.  Some of them are after-school a capella and jazz groups you audition for, others you can take as a class, so there are lots of options and talent.  Our whole family went to watch and were very entertained.

Mini Golf Party

Paige's class had an indoor mini golf and pizza party with a portion of the costs donated back to the classroom for supplies.  I took Paige, Ashley and Riley.  The little girls were very excited to meet their friends and teacher for an evening of play.  I'm glad we went because it also gave me a chance to visit and meet other parents, that doesn't happen too often.

Did I mention it was glow-in-the-dark golf?

Riley, Paige, and Ms. Bratt

Paige's Birthday

Paige's birthday came as it always does in the midst of a lot of activities.  The week of her birthday we not only had Halloween, class parties and parades, we also had Ashley's choir concert and the Fun Run.  It was a little crazy but we always have time to celebrate the birth of our little spitfire--Paige Carolyn Smith.

On her birthday, Paige took in a little favor to give to all the kids in her class.  Our school has a ban on bringing in treats so you have to bring something like pencils, stickers, etc.  Honestly, it's pretty hard to come up with something small and inexpensive.  A number of times, we have just skipped this tradition because it is so close to Halloween that the kids don't even care about getting something for Paige's birthday when they are going home with tons of Halloween goodies.  This year Paige really wanted to bring something to her class.  Of course, we started discussing this while sitting at Ashley's choir concert around 8pm the night before her birthday.  Fortunately, she decided to make every kid in her class a Rainbow Loom bracelet using her new loom.  Phew!  Saved us a frantic run to the store at 9pm at night!

Here are some of the 24 bracelets she made.  We
stretched them around a cup so they would
keep their shape.

Hot chocolate and powdered donuts with a long candle
for a birthday breakfast.

After a fun day of school, which included the Fun Run, she came home for a family celebration.  She was dying to open her presents, but we told her she had to wait until Daddy got home.  You can imaging how happy she was he came home early that day!  She got a some cute Toms shoes, 2 new outfits for her American Girl dolls, Rainbow Loom bands, and an iTunes gift card.  She was a happy gal.

Paige couldn't decide what she wanted for her birthday dinner.  She did not want to go to a restaurant, but she was torn between Hawaiian haystacks and crepes.  I came up with the perfect solution and suggested we have both---haystacks for dinner and crepes for dessert.  This summer, Kelley gave me a food magazine that featured a "crepe cake."  Now was the perfect opportunity to give it a try and make Paige a crepe birthday cake.  It turned out great.  I stacked a bunch of crepes together layered with pastry cream and raspberry freezer jam.  It was delicious.  Definitely have to make that again.

Happy Birthday Paige!  You are now in the double digits!  The BIG TEN baby!