DIY- 'Frozen' Dancing

OK- so, I am a specialty dance teacher at Arches Academy this year, and during my January classes, anytime I put on the Frozen song, 'Let It Go' during free-dance time, the kids just go NUTS. They dance and sing and use their last ounces of energy and oh my gosh, it is the best thing.  And this is boys and girls, pre-k age all the way to 8th grade. Disney has struck a chord with children and the idea of Elsa and her 'Ice Powers'.

I wanted to let the kids enjoy the 'Frozen' dancing even more this week, and so on my way to teach, I picked up some thick hair bands and a couple of spools of shimmery white ribbon and...oh heck- it was a hit!

It was too hard to teach and take pics at the same time, so I hired some really cute girls to demonstrate this easy, DIY Ice Powers idea.  This is Haily, our great friend Eva, and little Josy.

So, now, if you have kids at home who need to let some energy out while being creative at the same time, have them make their own Ice Powers, put on "Let It Go", sung by India Menzel, move your couches to the walls and "let them go"!  Happy dancing!

 ,

 (I couldn't resist, it was so fun to watch that I had to try it myself...)

Thank you to my dancers who followed my directions so perfectly!  Love you girls!  (Josy is in heaven in this picture...)

mean girls

They exist at every school.  They operate in groups.  And we have already run into an ugly little patch of them here where we live.  Should I report their behavior?  Should my girls even bother being friends with them?  We live in Happy Valley where most of the kids here go to church on Sunday, where they learn about the Gospel and the Golden Rule...  Maybe parents don't even realize their daughters are the 'mean girls' at school.  This is one thing that I could totally do without. 

I am having flashbacks:  

When I entered a new school in fifth grade way back in the 80s, I was targeted by a group of mean girls who all wore the high end clothing and had perfectly in-style hair cuts.  They didn't like me, I don't for sure know why, I didn't even know any of them!  I was cute, had shiny blonde hair and confidence; that must have bothered them because they hazed me for an entire year.  No teacher noticed, no parent caught on, and only two girls stuck with me as friends, an African American girl and a Latina girl. Bless them Lord, forever and ever.  

I do wish an adult had helped me, even if it was to try and help me understand the situation clearly and what sort of power I could have for myself on the playground, excuse me, I mean "battlefield'.

So, report mean girls, right?  Or will that backfire for my own girls at school?  Will the group be even meaner, and just hide it behind fake smiles?  I actually don't know how to handle this very well.  Some websites say to stay as little as possible out of the social seen at your kids' school.  But at what point do parents need to become a part of it?  Need help..   

come on over!

You really should come over.  Husbands at work, Grandmas and Aunties in other states can all see what your cute kids are doing, right when they do it.  No plugging in and downloading and waiting to post to blogs or facebook...so nice...

christmas card 2013

Well hello there!  Been a while...  My poor little family blog!  I have neglected it for quite
some time now... many bigger things have taken the front burner over here @ the Garys...
Although I do feel it is important to still document the kids' fun times and milestones for mine
and Aaron's family, all of whom live in California...yep...no built-in babysitters for me...
Waaaaaaaaa :( !!  Moving on--  here is our Christmas card whose pictures were taken
at Thanksgiving by my cute Dad at the University of Pacific campus, with his tiny
digital camera!  Thanks Pop!

myka's medieval b*day party

This is a pic of the medieval feast we had- we served grapes, cheese, rolls, chicken and a cranberry/raspberry juice.  The kids loved being 'served' and eating with their hands.

Myka doesn't like serious portrait pictures, and therefore, I have silly poses--but that's OK- she's cute however!

The girls dressed their own fairies and put wings on them.  Some went as far as to put arms and a wand on their fairy.



























We also had an archery set from Toys R Us that each guest got to try out, medieval hair-doing, and pie for dessert.  It was pretty darn fun.  And Myka, I am fairly sure, felt special on her tenth birthday!

an imaginary conversation with my blog

blog to me

'So, boss, why haven't you posted regularly for quite some time?'

me to blog

'uhhh...'
...
...

blog

'Yes?'

me

"Honestly, things have been kind of hard for about a year-- '

'It began last summer when I found out my daughter had experienced bullying that had gone on in her class without me knowing it- and- without her teacher noticing it for a whole year!!' (all in angry voice)

'and in between all the regular stuff we have been helping that situation and it really hasn't been all roses, so I haven't wanted to post stuff that isn't rosy...'

---
---

blog

'ok'

'But, you could still post pics of small events, accomplishments, or
even bad hair days.  Blogs aren't all for just happy things, or for
posed pictures that you set up to make it look like your life is
perfect.'

me 

'Ooooooh no!  I can't post about real life!  I can't post pictures that aren't full of cute hair, nails, dresses, handsome-muscular husbands, $100 date nights, new expensive homes, perfect children, clean as whistle kitchens, dream vacations to Hawaii/Europe!  Impossible!  Plus then people will know what's really up...'

blog

'You know, I have been chatting with my blog friends here inside the computer, and we were just having a hoot over you humans and how you don't realize that just because a blogger takes pictures of their 'perfect' life, it doesn't reflect their true reality.  You know the old saying, "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true..."

me

sniffle, 'What?'

blog

'If your friends' blog look too good to be true- then they are not true.  They have chosen to only show one dimension of their life--'

me

(thinking and thinking and then some more thinking...)

Me to Self

'Maybe it would be OK to show more than one dimension of our life on my family blog...'  

kittens, kittens, kittens!

 Oh Heavens to Betsy!  Kittens sure are fun to have around!  They are so cuddly and playful.  Our girls loved this last batch so much--but time to take momma cat in to get fixed...

check out their names:
1. Popcorn
2. Black Star
3. Dragon Star
4. Jambalaya
5. Cheetah

josy & ellie

Josy loves to play with Ellie.  She lives down the hill from us and is a sweet little girl!  Yay friends!

leo's blessing luncheon

My Cousin Meikel and her husband Luke had such a nice afternoon luncheon for the day of Leo's blessing, back in April.  (Myka and Haily helped me snap some pics!)

 

(Meikel always has cute and simple decor in her kitchen- I like following her style)

(I have to- like- threaten horrible punishments to force the redheads to smile nicely for the camera; they didn't believe me for this one, obviously!)

Henry Cavill vs. Kip Dynamite

I have been to Man of Steel twice now.  The first time was to just see it.  And the second time was to make sure my eyes were believing what they were seeing-- I am, of course, referring to Henry Cavill as Superman, I mean, Toogoodlookingtobetrue-man.

How is that fair?  How is it that one guy gets to look like Henry, AKA, Cal-El, and another gets to look like the guy who plays Kip in Napolean Dynamite?  Ok, so, one is showered with opportunities, modeling contracts, women, money, etc-- and then Kip over here hasn't been on screen since the late 90s, right?

All because of looks!?  Why is it that we are so transparent?  Why do we worship beautiful people?
I am so tired of 'us' -collectively- as only seeing people as 'pretty', 'not pretty', 'fat', 'not fat', and on and on and on...

Aren't you?

OK-  anyhoos.

Calming down...

(Heh heh-  There was one cool surprise I found after researching this British-Born-Feast-for-Eyes,
any woman he has dated or had romantic ties with has been totally curvey!!  Look at his girlfriend, in blue, in the picture!  Major curves!  Pardon me, but I'll always love it when curvey figures win over sickly, flat-as-a-surfboard, stick figures-----score curves!)

myka lovely

Here is my lovely girl.  What a beauty.  Love you Myka.

haily in white

Here is our eight year old girl all dressed in white for her baptism day!  We love
little Haily and she is a constant source of happiness for all of us.   Congratulations
Haily, we hope your special day is one you'll always remember.

first place reflections winner!

Here is our little redhead dancing star!  Haily won first place in the dance category of her school district's Reflections contest!  The picture is bad- but she is smiling big!  Go Haily!

valenti'm'es day!

When Haily was little, she called this holiday, "Valentime's Day".  And I will always say it that way in my mind and think of her...

These are the girls' valentine cards they created and handed out today at school- with bazooka gum attached.

Josy got to hang out with her little friend, Ellie.  They were so cute!