Benjamin Franklin and a Ferrari

Once upon a time, Kennedy and Kohen were out selling some fresh apple cider at their "Lemonade stand". Sales were slow so they decided they were going to make sure to smile and wave to cars driving by. As they prepare to wave at the next car coming towards them, they realize it is a Ferrari. A red, convertible Ferrari with a man and woman inside. As the kids smiled and waved, to their surprise, the Ferrari pulls up to the stand.

The man buys one cup of cider and pays for it with a crisp $100 dollar bill. Kennedy tries to tell him it's just too much but he insists, saying that you don't see enough kids out doing things like this now a days, and that it's awesome. He asked if he could take a picture of them at their stand, thanked them for the cider and drove away, leaving two kids -in complete and utter disbelief- in his dust.

They ran inside to tell Nathan about their first sale of the day, and their shock wore off into excitement. What a cool experience!

When I first heard this tale I admit I may have thought for a brief moment about how I encourage them to use the stand to earn some spending money so that they get a small idea about the time and energy it takes to make a few bucks, and this guy blew my "lesson" right out of the water. But the rarity of someone paying with a Benjamin doesn't seem to be lost on the kids, they get that it was likely a once in a life time event.
A very memorable day at the lemonade stand indeed!

ICE at the Gaylord Texan

My parent were planning on coming down to Texas for Thanksgiving but unfortunately my grandma Doris became ill and they went to take care of her in Montana. We are of course disappointed but know that they are where they should be. And they have been missed! Especially on Tuesday when we had tickets to ICE at the Gaylord Texan hotel. 

(They had a naughty/nice list where my name was the only legible one!)

The ICE show is in this ginormous hotel where they section off this huge area, it is a frigid 9* F inside where they have more than 2 MILLION pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures. It was actually kind of unreal. 

I can admit that I underestimated how cold it would be. I made sure everyone wore their winter coats but even with the blue coats they gave all of us, it was still cold on any part that was uncovered. My hands were hurting so bad and as soon as Nathan discovered it he blew warm air into his gloves and put them on my hands. I was never so grateful for a pair of warm gloves!!!

This year's theme was Christmas around the world and there were scenes from different countries. As I mentioned, my parents weren't able to come so we let Kennedy and Kohen invite their friends who are siblings so we ended up with 8 kids, it was a bit hectic keeping track of everyone when we all looked the same! But we only lost track of Ander twice so we are calling that a win!

Different sculptures you could climb through like this ^ Christmas tree, or sit on for pictures. The colors were so vibrant and fun and there was so much to look at. 

In one room there were ice slides and even a special shorter one with helpers for little ones Scarlett's size. Scarlett somehow only brought one glove and her hands were so cold she had put them both in the one glove, like she was praying. So when she sat down on the slide and didn't slide very fast, she started wigglin her little tush to try and scootch down the slide with her hands stuck in one glove, it was so darn cute, everyone was laughing.

Everyone else slid right down the ice slides! They had a great time and wanted to go again but it was too cold to wait in line again.

They had children from different countries all around the world, Nathan and I thought we might let the kids guess which country we will be moving too next in this room but they didn't have it. Close! But not exactly. Guess they (and anyone reading this) will have to wait a bit longer!

Here's our crew towards the end, they did awesome!

As a finale, you walked into this room and saw this giant, lit up ice angel welcoming you in to a beautiful Nativity Scene. The angel was my favorite thing that I saw. 

Those red noses show just how chilly it was. Poor Scarlett was warming up her ungloved hand in her dad's neck. 

The only scene that was clear ice was the Nativity, and it was stunningly beautiful. The perfect way to end our chilly trip through this icey wonderland!

Piano Recital 2015

 Aly and Kennedy performed two pieces each in their piano recital this year and of course, they each did a lovely job! We even got to hear them perform twice because their teacher invited them to play with her husband's students who perform in the second recital. They were relaxed and played beautifully, especially the second time around.

 We always get a babysitter for the littles but Kohen comes along and supports his sisters, bringing them flowers and he is always so proud of both of them. I am so grateful for their hard work and practice and how beautifully it paid off!

Thanksgiving at School

 Kohen had a whole "Colonial Day Experience" at school and it turned out to be really, really cool. He left for school with his lunch over his shoulder in a cloth hanging from a stick. They tried to be as authentic as possible, decorating the whole area with quilts so that it looked less like a 21st century school. Kohen got to try lot's of new things starting with what school would have been like back then, "Strict!" was his immediate reply! And in true Kohen fashion he thinks of his siblings with every opportunity he gets. He brought Ander and Aly little quilted pillows that he had hand embroidered, he brought Scarlett a corn husk doll he had made and he brought me a lovely candle. What a fantastic experience!

 Scarlett had a little preschool feast and they sang my favorite Thanksgiving song. It's because of the line, "with a gobble, gobble, gobble, and a wobble, wobble, wobble, hello Mr. Turkey how are you!" She shakes her little bum so cute on the wobble wobble wobble, I crack up every time! They also made placemats and last year on Ander's he wrote that he was "Thankful for Scarlett" and this year Scarlett's says that she is "Thankful for Ander"- it about melted my heart into a puddle. Those two.

For the first time since we moved to Texas I was able to volunteer in class. Nathan went a few times while I was pregnant but I finally made my debut much to Ander's delight. We cut up fruit to fill the cones for their yummy cornucopia's and they turned out perfectly. They go all out for the Kindergarten Thanksgiving feast, he had such a great time. That of course is not reflected in the above pic, he's been super goofy taking pics lately, making memories either way!

Thinking Cap

 Don't we all.....

 Do our best work.....

With our Thinking Caps on?!

I Take It All Back

You know how a few posts ago I was all, "Kids need to just play and experience getting hurt!" and "We restrict them too much, too many rules!". Well, I take it all back. Kohen rode his long board home from school one day and walked in looking like this:

And to answer your first question, no, he was not wearing a helmet, gosh darn it! He scared me half to death, all disoriented and confused. And that goose egg was about the size of a heaping Tablespoon before it was all said and done. Good grief. I was scared all evening that he had a concussion or worse, and thankfully it wasn't any worse than it was. I was so angry that he wasn't wearing his helmet. He has ridden his long board for a year now without it and never wiped out, then bam! Twice in a week. I was so scared inside that he might have hurt himself doing something stupid like not wearing a helmet. I told him so. I hope he listens. 

 The thing is, I do want my children to take risks and learn their own boundaries, I really really do. But I don't want them to be dumb about it or to needlessly put themselves in danger. And that is what you do when there is something like a seat belt or a helmet that you decide is unnecessary.

Kohen is my sensitive kid. Well, scratch that, all kids are sensitive because God gave us emotions for a reason. But he is especially so and somehow society hasn't beaten it out of him just yet. He is my kid who will stop and watch a storm roll in because it's one of God's creations and he recognizes it's breathtaking beauty. And I hope and pray that he never loses this quality. I want him to be able to jump on his long board (with a helmet securely on his noggin) and fly down the street in one moment, and the next, stop and take in the subtle nature around him. Because this ability is something unique to him, and our world desperately needs more good men who are capable of doing both. 

Halloween 2015

 Halloween 2015 was a success! Except for that part where I did a full on photo shoot of the kids in their costumes without a card in the camera. *winning*.
For the first time Kennedy went to hang out with friends for Halloween and though we missed her we did carry on! First item of business was to carve the pumpkins.

I felt a little guilty after my camera didn't work that we went to the effort to go get Kennedy from her friend's house to come and take pictures. Only a little guilty because she did need me to do a "Katniss" braid for her so it was a short, mutually beneficial visit.

Since I just have the one pic from Nathan's phone, I'll add a couple of details. 

Kennedy- Katniss Everdeen, with her bow and arrow and she even had a mocking jay pin that you can't see in this picture. 

Kohen- The Tomorrowland Kid with the jet pack. His jet pack was legit with flames and all. (if I do say so myself)

Aly- A Court Jester wearing a skirt from my dance days, and hand made collar and hat by yours truly. The makeup ended up slightly more "clown" and less "cool jester" but for winging it, it was fine. Plus Aly loved it so that really is all that matters. 

Ander- A jedi, specifically "Wook Skywalker". 

Scarlett- Olivia the pig

Statham- A monster from Where the Wild Things Are

 Our neighborhood is great about Halloween. Lot's of people go out on their driveways and visit and have a drink. Everyone is super friendly. I don't know what it was about this year, maybe Halloween on Saturday night but by 8pm a LOT of adults were walking around tipsy. Super friendly still, but it was a bit embarrassing, frankly. People would stop and ooh and ahh over Statham and as they left our kids would be like, "what was wrong with them?!" or Scarlett would be like, "She was silly!" Oh dear.

Ander held up his Halloween light and shouted, "Scarlett! Here's your dance spot!" An impromptu, music-less dance party ensued!

 Aly's night was made when she met up with her BFF. Cute girls. I got to take the littles home while Nathan went a bit longer with the big kids.
We gathered Kennedy later and had a funny moment when she had chosen her candy to keep and was turning the rest over. She was all, Goodnight! And Nathan and I were like, Hey, what's in your pockets? And your other pockets? Annnnd, how about your boots? So stinkin funny. That girl and candy.

 A successful Halloween!!!