Cameron, Ella and Maia take a break from decorating the Christmas tree to smile for the camera.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Merry Christmas 2006!
Happy holidays everyone!!!
Here is our Christmas card -- done by Alea Photography of Williston.
http://www.aleaphotography.com/
Our friend Amanda did a beautiful job.
Here is our Christmas card -- done by Alea Photography of Williston.
http://www.aleaphotography.com/
Our friend Amanda did a beautiful job.
Away in a manger...
All three kids took part in their church Christmas program this year. Maia played Mary, Cameron was a shepherd, and Ella was a sheep. (And the cutest darn sheep you ever did see, not that we are biased...)
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Maia's busy holiday
Mom wrote this column recently about Maia's super busy holiday season...
Woe is to be seven, and a cute little blonde girl with too much to do.
The holiday season has become a very full plate for my daughter Maia – full of songs to learn, hair-dos and costumes to decide on, and schedules to juggle.
It started out innocently enough, as her music teacher, Renae Rike-Fee, started to prepare her second grade class for their annual holiday program.
She selected a bright and colorful production full of cheery music, and before long, we were hearing it at home so often, our kindergartner was learning the songs, too. The two girls could often be found sitting in their booster seats in the backseat of the family van, singing at the top of their little lungs the words, “Black and white, the perfect combination,” over and over and over...
Of course, the holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without dozens of activities all over town, and Maia would soon find this was not the only Christmas program she was to be a part of.
Maia, along with her brother and sister, spends her Sunday mornings at Liberty Evangelical Free Church’s Sunday school. As the holiday season approached, Maia came home with big news – the class was going to put on a Christmas program! She was very excited to be a part of it, and even more excited when she was cast in the role of Mary.
A letter in the mail revealed to us the dates, and we found that Maia would be faced with a busy week. The Lewis and Clark Elementary School program was on Dec. 14 and 15, and the church program would be on Dec. 17, with a rehearsal on Dec. 16. Busy, but not impossible. Maia had confidence she could be a bright shining star in both programs.
Then came a telephone call from J.C. LaBar, asking if Maia was still interested in participating in the Miss North Dakota Youth Pageant this year. Indeed she was – she has been looking forward to it since this time last year. She could hardly wait to find out when and where.
That is, until she found out when and where. Well, just when, really. The pageant is set for Dec. 16 and 17, of course. Frustration ensued, as Maia (and her parents) realized she had been overcommitted.
But wait! All was not lost. Faced with the difficult decision of deciding just which thing she should let go of, we made a few phone calls. Once all of the details were in place on the calendar, it was decided that, if it was important to her, she could pull everything off.
And indeed, this became her intention. All that was left was learning the music for not one, but three holiday performances.
The music for church and school had been selected for her, but Maia was left to decide on her pageant performance herself. First we fumbled through her favorite karaoke CDs, hoping to find a song she already knew to perform as her talent in the pageant, saving on what ever small amount of stress we could.
That effort failed, as nothing she came across seemed quite right. Then Dad stepped in, and together, he and Maia selected a song from her school program that she could perform at the pageant, as well.
Standing proud and tall in the middle of the livingroom floor, Maia belted out an excited song about a bird, flapping her wings and shaking her tail feathers and having a great time.
After a few unaccompanied dry runs, she decided to add the music, and popped in the CD Mrs. Rike-Fee had prepared for her. As the first bars filled our ears, Maia’s demeanor took a noticeable change. Suddenly she was nervous and unsure. She started to speed through the words – Dad tried to help her find the beat and slow down.
Halfway through the song, Maia threw herself on the couch, tears in her eyes. “I’m terrible! I shouldn’t be in any of them!” she declared, with the full drama of any self-respecting teenager.
The music cycled through as she wrapped her arms around my neck, letting out the frustration of stress catching up with her. I patted her hair, we reassured her together, but eventually it was the music that did the convincing.
She started to sing along, and eventually got up, finding the elusive beat as she went, getting more and more confident. Now it only remains for us to listen to the songs until the first bar brings on a bout of nausea for everyone else in the family and she’ll be fine.
Woe is to be seven, and a cute little blonde girl with too much to do.
The holiday season has become a very full plate for my daughter Maia – full of songs to learn, hair-dos and costumes to decide on, and schedules to juggle.
It started out innocently enough, as her music teacher, Renae Rike-Fee, started to prepare her second grade class for their annual holiday program.
She selected a bright and colorful production full of cheery music, and before long, we were hearing it at home so often, our kindergartner was learning the songs, too. The two girls could often be found sitting in their booster seats in the backseat of the family van, singing at the top of their little lungs the words, “Black and white, the perfect combination,” over and over and over...
Of course, the holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without dozens of activities all over town, and Maia would soon find this was not the only Christmas program she was to be a part of.
Maia, along with her brother and sister, spends her Sunday mornings at Liberty Evangelical Free Church’s Sunday school. As the holiday season approached, Maia came home with big news – the class was going to put on a Christmas program! She was very excited to be a part of it, and even more excited when she was cast in the role of Mary.
A letter in the mail revealed to us the dates, and we found that Maia would be faced with a busy week. The Lewis and Clark Elementary School program was on Dec. 14 and 15, and the church program would be on Dec. 17, with a rehearsal on Dec. 16. Busy, but not impossible. Maia had confidence she could be a bright shining star in both programs.
Then came a telephone call from J.C. LaBar, asking if Maia was still interested in participating in the Miss North Dakota Youth Pageant this year. Indeed she was – she has been looking forward to it since this time last year. She could hardly wait to find out when and where.
That is, until she found out when and where. Well, just when, really. The pageant is set for Dec. 16 and 17, of course. Frustration ensued, as Maia (and her parents) realized she had been overcommitted.
But wait! All was not lost. Faced with the difficult decision of deciding just which thing she should let go of, we made a few phone calls. Once all of the details were in place on the calendar, it was decided that, if it was important to her, she could pull everything off.
And indeed, this became her intention. All that was left was learning the music for not one, but three holiday performances.
The music for church and school had been selected for her, but Maia was left to decide on her pageant performance herself. First we fumbled through her favorite karaoke CDs, hoping to find a song she already knew to perform as her talent in the pageant, saving on what ever small amount of stress we could.
That effort failed, as nothing she came across seemed quite right. Then Dad stepped in, and together, he and Maia selected a song from her school program that she could perform at the pageant, as well.
Standing proud and tall in the middle of the livingroom floor, Maia belted out an excited song about a bird, flapping her wings and shaking her tail feathers and having a great time.
After a few unaccompanied dry runs, she decided to add the music, and popped in the CD Mrs. Rike-Fee had prepared for her. As the first bars filled our ears, Maia’s demeanor took a noticeable change. Suddenly she was nervous and unsure. She started to speed through the words – Dad tried to help her find the beat and slow down.
Halfway through the song, Maia threw herself on the couch, tears in her eyes. “I’m terrible! I shouldn’t be in any of them!” she declared, with the full drama of any self-respecting teenager.
The music cycled through as she wrapped her arms around my neck, letting out the frustration of stress catching up with her. I patted her hair, we reassured her together, but eventually it was the music that did the convincing.
She started to sing along, and eventually got up, finding the elusive beat as she went, getting more and more confident. Now it only remains for us to listen to the songs until the first bar brings on a bout of nausea for everyone else in the family and she’ll be fine.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Maia's first pageant
This weekend, Maia participated in her first (and second) Miss North Dakota Youth Pageant. She had a great time, and everyone was really proud of her. She did a great job, putting her shyness aside and giving it so much effort.
She didn't take home a title this year, but she can hardly wait for next time!
She didn't take home a title this year, but she can hardly wait for next time!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Ella is six
Ella turned six on Monday, a big day in our house!
To celebrate, on Sunday she had a special ladybug birthday party. Three of her friends came to play, and they had a grand time. There was pin the ladybug on the leaf, musical leaves, and lots more to do. A special cake make out of cupcakes and decorated with ladybugs was a big highlight.
Dad delighted the girls with a reading of “The Angry Ladybug” by Eric Carlisle, and Grandpa even found a real-life ladybug! It was a very happy birthday for Miss Ella.
Then on her birthday, more special surprises. She received a package in the mail from New Zealand, and was quite pleased to find it wrapped in ladybug wrapping paper.
“Gran is so smart! She knew what my theme was! She knew how much I love ladybugs!”
Ella definitely thought she had a very clever Gran.
She also received some packages from her Gramma Questa, which she was very happy about. Lots of super cute clothes that she has already worn more than once.
To celebrate, on Sunday she had a special ladybug birthday party. Three of her friends came to play, and they had a grand time. There was pin the ladybug on the leaf, musical leaves, and lots more to do. A special cake make out of cupcakes and decorated with ladybugs was a big highlight.
Dad delighted the girls with a reading of “The Angry Ladybug” by Eric Carlisle, and Grandpa even found a real-life ladybug! It was a very happy birthday for Miss Ella.
Then on her birthday, more special surprises. She received a package in the mail from New Zealand, and was quite pleased to find it wrapped in ladybug wrapping paper.
“Gran is so smart! She knew what my theme was! She knew how much I love ladybugs!”
Ella definitely thought she had a very clever Gran.
She also received some packages from her Gramma Questa, which she was very happy about. Lots of super cute clothes that she has already worn more than once.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Spooky Day
Halloween 2006 has come and gone. Everyone dressed up and had SO much fun. Cameron was a skeleton, Maia was a zombie bride, and Ella was a witch (and a scary one, at that).
Ella started her day out with some trick-or-treating at the college with her daycare, then off to kindergarten for Halloween parties and lots of goodies. Maia and Cameron also had Halloween parties in their classes and got to put on their costumes and have a good time.
After school, Mom and Dad took them to the Trail of Treats, a program put on by the Chamber of Commerce. You start out at the Chamber office, where you get a map and a treat bag, and then you trick-or-treat somewhere around 50 downtown businesses. We walked up and down Main Street and hit a couple of others, then Ella went to music class, and Cameron visited a few others that were off the beaten path and had to be driven to.
Once Ella was finished with music we made a visit to the All City Halloween Party, which was a blast. There were tons and tons of carnival-type games, goodies, treats and prizes galore. We loved it! Everyone ran around having a great time, then we topped it all off with dinner at McDonald’s.
We only had two trick-or-treaters at our house this year, but with everything going on, can’t really blame them for not being out in the 20 degree weather freezing their butts off for a little candy.
Not really sure why we didn’t get a photo...silly us! At any rate, we had a great time, and it was all-in-all a very good day.
Ella started her day out with some trick-or-treating at the college with her daycare, then off to kindergarten for Halloween parties and lots of goodies. Maia and Cameron also had Halloween parties in their classes and got to put on their costumes and have a good time.
After school, Mom and Dad took them to the Trail of Treats, a program put on by the Chamber of Commerce. You start out at the Chamber office, where you get a map and a treat bag, and then you trick-or-treat somewhere around 50 downtown businesses. We walked up and down Main Street and hit a couple of others, then Ella went to music class, and Cameron visited a few others that were off the beaten path and had to be driven to.
Once Ella was finished with music we made a visit to the All City Halloween Party, which was a blast. There were tons and tons of carnival-type games, goodies, treats and prizes galore. We loved it! Everyone ran around having a great time, then we topped it all off with dinner at McDonald’s.
We only had two trick-or-treaters at our house this year, but with everything going on, can’t really blame them for not being out in the 20 degree weather freezing their butts off for a little candy.
Not really sure why we didn’t get a photo...silly us! At any rate, we had a great time, and it was all-in-all a very good day.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Dog Jog
Saturday was a good day. :)
We took our eight-month-old puppy, Wolfgang to Spring Lake Park for the "Dog Jog," a special event sponsored by the MonDak Humane Society. The day included a walk with lots and lots and lots of other dogs of all sizes from around the community, raising funds for the Humane Society's projects. Cameron did some pledge collecting and raised $50, which got him his very own bright orange Humane Society T-shirt.
Everyone had lots of fun, Wolfgang included.
We took our eight-month-old puppy, Wolfgang to Spring Lake Park for the "Dog Jog," a special event sponsored by the MonDak Humane Society. The day included a walk with lots and lots and lots of other dogs of all sizes from around the community, raising funds for the Humane Society's projects. Cameron did some pledge collecting and raised $50, which got him his very own bright orange Humane Society T-shirt.
Everyone had lots of fun, Wolfgang included.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Maia's lost tooth
Tonight, Maia and Wolfgang were wrestling on the floor in the lounge, and suddenly she came up with a bloody mouth...and a smile.
While the two of them were tussling, Wolfgang had knocked out one of her teeth! It was all OK with her, though, cuz all she was worried about now was leaving the tooth for the tooth fairy.
Being seven is the best!
While the two of them were tussling, Wolfgang had knocked out one of her teeth! It was all OK with her, though, cuz all she was worried about now was leaving the tooth for the tooth fairy.
Being seven is the best!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
First day of kindergarten
Ella Rose had her first day of kindergarten today. She's growing up so fast! Mom even made it through the day without crying, which made everyone happy. :)
Despite the fact that she doesn't appear to be *smiling* in any of these photos, she really was quite excited. And incredibly disappointed when she realized the first day was mostly just an orientation, and she only had class for 45 minutes.
Tomorrow, though, big day!
Despite the fact that she doesn't appear to be *smiling* in any of these photos, she really was quite excited. And incredibly disappointed when she realized the first day was mostly just an orientation, and she only had class for 45 minutes.
Tomorrow, though, big day!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Jaycees convention weekend
We had a great time this weekend at the Jaycees convention - hosted right here at home in Williston. There was so much for us to do, we spent Sunday lying around and being totally exhausted!
There were two kids programs this weekend, and we had lots of fun with our friends Jill, Michelle and Allayna as they led them. And there was even McDonalds for lunch!
We made a special appearance in matching shirts...just like the "real" Jaycees. It's fun being a Jaycee kid!
There were two kids programs this weekend, and we had lots of fun with our friends Jill, Michelle and Allayna as they led them. And there was even McDonalds for lunch!
We made a special appearance in matching shirts...just like the "real" Jaycees. It's fun being a Jaycee kid!
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