New Looks

We've had a  lot of extra indoor time on our hands with all this freakin' cold weather. The girls decided to get haircuts.  I cut Karissa's on MLK day. She wanted really short. This is as short as I could go and make it still look decent.

Front

Back

 Victoria wanted short and spiky, though I quickly dismissed that idea until she's older and can style it herself. My friend is a pro and cut this cute bob for her and convinced her this was the best since short and spiky is hard to look cute when you wear a winter hat every time you go outside.

Front

Side

Back

Karissa also got another new look. She got an expander! Victoria had hers in first grade as well, but toward the end of the school year. I didn't think Karissa would get one yet, but I wanted the orthodontist to look at the spacer that was put into her mouth before the holidays when her molar was pulled. The tooth was infected and had to go, but after they pulled it, she had (and still does) five missing teeth!

She has gotten a couple of her 6-year-old molars in, which is helpful. 

Well, Dr. Tiefer said all looked good and why not put an expander in now to make more room for all those teeth to grown in? I am still pleased with the work done on Victoria two years ago, so I agreed. Luckily, Karissa already doesn't eat a ton, so it hasn't made food consumption any less for her. More than anything, I'm more willing to let her drink just the special organic chocolate milk for lunch at school that I stocked up on. This way, she'll get something in her tummy for lunch (she had the habit of just not eating any or much of her lunch at school at all).

Christmas Talent

The girls had their piano recital the day before we left for California, so I never got to post it. Karissa did a great job for her first recital and Victoria did very well too. Ready to be bombarded with videos?

 If you remember, I mentioned that our Joy to the Ward Talent show was postponed due to a snow storm. Well, the big night was on Friday. Before you watch those performances, let me explain a few things:

We were very disappointed that the show was canceled when it was because we had worked hard. Victoria and I choreographed the dance for her friends and it was difficult trying to find a time for everyone to practice.

Also, not all the girls who wanted to do it had any experience with dancing, which was fine, but we had all different levels to work with. We practiced one time after our month break before our rescheduled show.

One girl couldn't come to the show and we had another come instead, so she only practiced the one time with us (she actually came to the very first practice in November, but was gone for vacation before the original show, so didn't go to the other practices).

Their dance wasn't bad, considering. Add on top of it the fact that the rescheduled show was very disorganized (we didn't know when we were up until it was our turn, the stage lights weren't on, Jason was still helping clear the church walkways of snow because we didn't know we were third on the program...) It wasn't any one's fault, just some performances ended up not going on due to the rescheduled date and everyone had a more relaxed attitude about it. Anyhow, here is the dance. (It's a little bumpy in the film since I had Erik on my lap while trying to film and giving them a few cues at the same time.)

The number I was in (you might have seen on facebook), was one my very talented friend created and we all helped a little. Only a few practices, but since it was mostly counting, we were able to pull it off and it looked awesome! It was on of the hits of the show! Again, the filming was bumpy since Victoria was filming while Jason manned Erik.

Last, but not least, Karissa and her friends sang, "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" (which she didn't get). Again, it would have been better a month ago, but they were still cute. One girl couldn't show up, which I think confused some of the girls. They put the microphone in front of Karissa and she sang her heart out! The other two just looked around. I think they thought they would have their own turn with the mic. It didn't help that we didn't practice at all for the next show since we thought they would be okay just practicing on their own since they weren't harmonizing. I guess they are a little young still to just get out there and sing, but they still looked so cute!

There are two parts to this since Erik turned off the camera at the beginning.

The Party Never Ends

Since Disneyland wasn't supposed to be the celebration of Karissa's birthday, but just part of our Christmas activity, we had decided to celebrate her birthday with her friends in mid-January, as usual. The idea came to me last month to have a Frozen party, since everything is frozen around here during this time, anyhow. Since we hadn't seen the movie it was simple: party day at the theater! We invited her four besties, and all went to the matinee.

Onna, Laila, Karissa, Veronica, and Olivia before the show.

Erik, the big boy at the theater.

 After the show, we came back to our house to have cake, open presents, and they all played Frozen and sang the songs.

I made a "Frozen" cake.

Happy girl on her special day!

What's Better Than Disneyland on Your Birthday?

Karissa was a lucky girl on her 7th birthday. We had planned to go to Disneyland that day, mostly because it was convenient and we got to meet my step-brothers there. We celebrated with a cake presents the night before at Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house.

Karissa is totally into Hello Kitty, if you couldn't tell. Even her glasses are Hello Kitty. She is still just as cuddly as ever. Her teachers at church and at school adore her. She's just full of sweetness! She's also very sensitive, which is good when it involves others' feelings, but hard when her feelings get hurt so easily.

She is thriving as a first-grader. She loves to read and write, she's great at math, and drawing too. When there's a free moment at home, she's either creating a craft, writing a story, or playing make-believe.

She chose not to dance this year, but to try gymnastics. She still likes to dance at home, though, and is always making up some new song-and-dance. At gymnastics, she's known as the "crazy" girl. So my sweet one gets replaced somehow. She is getting better at cartwheels and especially handstands. Most of the time you'll find her standing on her head on the couch or chair. She also started piano and is outstanding at it! I don't know how I got such good piano players! I'll have to post the girls' Christmas piano recital soon.

Now for the Disney fun!

Karissa got to wear a big button saying it was her birthday so all the workers could wish her a happy day. It worked well, but it was so crowded that day that we didn't get to see as many characters as we had hoped. Luckily, the kids didn't know how much more crowded it was than other times I've been there. They all did much better than I thought they would. I was worried they would all fall to pieces by noon and we'd have to go home. We packed so much food (thanks for carrying a lot of it Grandpa!), and not all of it was the healthiest, just favorites, so I could keep them moving. I was so excited to be there and we got to see my step-brother Terry and his wife and kids and Kevin and his girlfriend (plus their other siblings with more kids), that their excitement was kept up, even with long lines.

Victoria enjoyed the atmosphere, faster rides, and hanging out with 8-year-old Audrey. Karissa loved the fairies the best and the rides second. Austin liked hanging out with the big boys, the Buzz Light Year ride, and Splash Mountain. We don't have any pictures during Splash Mountain as it was the end of the day and way too long of a line. Even still, all three of my older kids loved it and Austin's face was priceless on the picture they take as you go down the last drop. (I should have taken a picture of that, since I wouldn't buy one for $10). I was screaming in the picture, holding onto him, since I wasn't sure how scared he would be. He face was perfectly straight and his arms casually on the sides of the log. He loved that last drop! Erik liked being able to walk through the lines and eat Cheetos (something I never buy him!) I think he liked the rides he went on too. He had a good day.

At the end of the day (or night, I should say), we got to see part of the Fantasmic (is that what they call it?) show, which is one of my favorites. The kids reacted like I thought they would with their jaws dropping at the lasers, fireworks, loud music, and Mickey Mouse at the top. Erik loves to say, "Mi-ey Mmmmouse!"

Tram ride to the park.

Got to have a picture at the entrance.

Met up with our cousins.

Karissa and I snuck away to meet the fairies on our own. This was her favorite part of the day!

Tinker Bell

Fawn

Train ride

Car ride with Grandma Mary Lou

Cousin fun

Waiting for Pirates

Tough boys

Erik finally crashed

They had fake snow falling when they first lit the castle. With princess music playing, it was magical!

Small World

Small World was Christmas style

Happy Birthday Karissa!!

California Fun

I neglected to mention in the first blog about the wind here. The Santa Ana winds have been at their finest. I first noticed Christmas morning when I woke up to the chimes, which seemed very magical and Christmas-like that morning. I also noticed them when we went to Simi Valley on Thursday. Simi is where I mostly lived when I remember living here. It means "windy" in Native American tongue. We got to visit with my friend Diana who I first met when I was Victoria's age (9) when we moved to Simi. She lived two doors down from my house. Now she has an almost 6-year-old and 4-year-old twins.

Instant friends

In-and-Out

My dad then took me to see someone I hadn't seen since I was 8, my old girl scout leader and mother of a good friend I had in Woodland Hills. It's amazing how certain memories pop up when you see things you haven't seen for 27 years!

Grandma spoiled the girls and I by taking us to get our nails done and window shopping at the local nursery.

A trip to the temple where we were sealed was a definite plan!

Erik missed the lights...

One thing I wanted to do with the kids was visit Travel Town, a place in L.A. with old trains that kids can explore. I remember going there when I was younger. The best thing about it now, is that it's free!

Around the corner from Travel Town is the Griffith Park Observatory. From there is an awesome view all the way to the ocean and a view of the Hollywood sign. My kids love the pop song about "dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign..." There were a ton of people there since the weather was so nice, but we still got a few shots of the sign. It was hard to get the kids in it with them focused or the sign focused.