Big Jobs

Josh has decided that we need to do a big cleaning job each Saturday as a family. It takes a few hours each time, but I am loving it. I've tried doing it with the girls in the past but it's just too much on my own. With Josh and I working together to divide and conquer and keep the girls involved, it has turned out to be a huge success. I feel like our home is cleaner than it has been since we moved in six years ago and the girls are learning to appreciate the time and effort it take to get things clean. I can't wait until we've done the entire house.

Region Inspirations

Since Kali and Sadie both won 1st place in their school Inspirations Program, their work moved on to the region level. Earlier this week we were given an invitation to attend the region awards ceremony and tonight we found out that Sadie's dance piece got an honorable mention and Kali's won 1st place. Sadie was bummed that hers didn't come with a medal and Kali was pretty excited that she won until she realized that hers was the only submission. She won by default. I'm curious to see how she does at the state level.

Gymnastics Runner

Kali was invited to be a runner at the University of Utah's gymnastics meet against Oregon State. A runner sits down on the floor with the judges and when the scores are given, they put them up on the signs and rotate them around for everyone to see. It was such a cool experience for her to be so close to the gymnasts.

When we first arrived at the Huntsman Center to watch the meet, we ran into Swoop. Emma was terrified and didn't want to get anywhere near him.

The meet was a little long for the girls, but they got a few things for free from spinning a Ford advertisment wheel (scarves, bags, chapstick) that kept them entertained.

And when the meet was over, Kali got to go around to all the gymnasts and have them sign a poster for her. It was a pretty cool experience.

Crazy Hair Day

Today was crazy hair day at school. I saw someone else do a donut in their daughter's hair not long ago and suggested it to Sadie. She loved the idea and was all smiles when she saw what it looked like. After school she couldn't stop talking about all the attention she got. She said some of the teachers even took pictures with her.

Kali requested blue hair with pink curly pipe cleaners. It also turned out very cute but I think she was a little disappointed that she didn't get as much attention.

Inspirations Winners

Kali and Sadie both entered the Choreography/Dance category for their school Inspirations Contest and both won. Because their school is so small, no one else entered the category for either of their age divisions. Thankfully they were in different age divisions because they were both super excited to have a 1st place medal. They especially liked the attention they got from their classmates. Sadie couldn't stop talking about how everyone at school wanted to sit by her the rest of the day. And Kali said that it took her a long time to get back to her seat during the assembly because everyone wanted to give her a high five.

Discovery Recital

Kali and Sadie got to perform for us tonight what they've been working on in Discovery over the last five weeks. Sadie participated in a class called Princess Camp and performed a dance to the song Do You Want to Build a Snowman. They had some really cute choreography and Sadie did great.

Kali participated in a class called Show Time and performed to Jellicle Cats from the musical Cats. She got to both sing the lyrics and do some acting/choreography. Not only did she make an adorable cat but she did an amazing job performing. She's very gifted at being dramatic and I can't wait until she can participate in a school play.

Nine

Kali is growing up so fast. She is already nine. This year her birthday fell on a Saturday so everyone was home to share in the fun. In the morning she opened presents. Then she got a haircut. Then she played with her sisters and her toys.

She also spent some time trying out her sewing machine. I hadn't given her any instructions and next thing I knew, she had already sewn a pillow for her Barbies.

I told her several times that I wasn't going to do anything fancy for her cake after her eighth birthday. Yet she somehow managed to talk me into doing something and this is what we ended up with. It was a bit of a challenge but turned out pretty cute as long as you don't look too close. Family came over to spend the evening with us and she was in heaven.

A couple of the things we love about Kali. She loves to be the center of attention which means she's willing to try anything new. She's very driven and likes to be good at everything. Her determination and drive have allowed her to excel in many areas. She is an excellent writer and very intelligent. She's dependable and very sensitive to the spirit. On the other hand, she's still a kid at heart. She loves princesses and dolls and doesn't want to ever grow up. She is such a good example to her younger sisters and a big help to me.

Nature and Mining

Kali had her celebration of learning on her most recent expedition about nature and mining. Her grade put on a presentation for the parents and it was pretty fun to watch. Kali lights up when she is on stage. She loves the attention. They sang several songs and she sang them with every ounce of gusto she could muster. She also got to take part in the introduction and when she said her part it was very very animated. I have a feeling this girl will love drama class when she is in high school.

Speedskating Olympic Trials

Kali and I got to go with her class see some of the Olympic trials for speedskating at the Oval. It was a ton a fun. We had to be completely silent when the skaters stepped up to the line but when the gun went off we could cheer as loudly as we wanted. We only got to watch the mens 5000m but the American, Jonathan Kuck won 2nd place.

Primary Program Sunday

I look forward to the Primary Program every year and this year was no exception. There is so much to be learned from the mouth of babes. The only difference this year is that I'm the CTR 4 teacher so I was up front singing with the children and redirecting their attention. It was a lot of fun. Kali and Sadie both had very short speaking parts in the program and did a wonderful job saying them. Kali and another boy in her class also had the privilege of playing prelude for the meeting. She chose to play "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet". She was nervous but did great. I was so proud of her. She was also asked to sing a duet with another boy in her class. They sang the fourth verse of "I Am a Child of God" and it sounded beautiful. 

Gymnastic Meet

Kali had her first gymnastics meet today and did an amazing job! She was so nervous going into it. She never really got to practice the vault routine in class and only practiced the uneven bar routine twice. We went over the floor routine and beam routine a ton at home and her hard work payed off. Her coach said Kali was the only girl to remember every detail of the floor routine without any help. I only wish she would have chosen to do her beam routine on the lower beam. Her coach let the girls pick for themselves and Kali wanted to challenge herself so she picked the higher more narrow one - always an overachiever!

Beam

Floor

Uneven Bars

Vault

Cheer

Kali's first session of discovery was cheer and she loved it. Her teachers did such a good job at teaching the basics of cheer in such a short amount of time. Then they taught them the cutest cheer / dance. Kali got to help do a lift and loved it.

First Day of School

We now have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader. Kali and Sadie were so excited to return to school to see their friends and begin a new school year. They don't get to see their school friends all that often because they go to a charter school and live too far from them to have regular playdates. They were also excited because we've only heart great things about their teachers. I have a good feeling about this year because even after enduring the most boring day of school (full of rules and explanations), they both said they loved it. Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that Sadie just likes the fact that she gets to eat lunch at school.

Gymnastics

Kali just loved doing gymnastics and did such an amazing job for her first session. As a matter of fact, she was invited to move up to the next class which is an invitation only class. Her teacher said that it will be hard for her because she is so new to gymnastics but she feels Kali is ready because she's such a quick learner. I really debated what to do because it's so expensive and we were only planning on doing the one session. But after seeing how much Kali loved it and how good she was at it, I decided that if she wanted to do it in place of dance, I would pay for her to do every other session. I talked with her teacher and she said that would be okay but she probably wouldn't progress as fast. I figure it's worth a try for the year and Kali was all for it.

Swim Lesson

Well, we had another successful session of swim. Even though I only put my girls in one session a year, Kali was able to pass her level and even dove off the diving board which wasn't a requirement (only jumping off feet first and swimming to the side). Swimming the full length of the pool was quite a challenge for her, but her swim teacher was the best she's ever had and helped her succeed.

Sadie wasn't able to pass her class, but she really enjoyed being in the water and wasn't afraid to try anything. She just needs a little more practice.

Gymnastics

I finally found a gymnastics class for Kali that's a relatively reasonable price. She has been wanting to do gymnastics every since we watched a U of U gymnastics meet a couple of years ago. The only problem is that most places only do tumbling unless you want to spend a fortune. And tumbling doesn't do the bars and beams which is the reason that Kali wanted to do gymnastics in the first place. I knew she'd be amazing at it because she's such a monkey and has no fear of heights and twisting and tumbling, but it was even better when I saw her at her first class. It was like a light went on in her. They split the girls into two groups based on their cartwheels and she was put in the more experienced group. Since then, she has been asked several times if she has done gymnastics before because of how well she's doing (all the other girls in her group have done gymnastics previously). It'll be fun to see where she's at after the seven week session is over.

Hair Style

Kali is growing up and has been begging to do her own hair for quite some time now. I've been reluctant to relinquish my control over this aspect of her life but decided that during the summer would be the best time to let her have a go at it. I told her that it's just during the summer and that I get to do it if we have anywhere important to go. Her favorite "do" has been the swooping bang with her headband.

Disney Dance Recital

This year the theme for Kali's and Sadie's dance recital was Disney. Sadie danced to The Happy Working Song from Enchanted. She got to dress up as a maid and looked so cute. One of her favorite parts was dusting the other dancer's feet.

Kali's dance was choreographed to The Second Star to the Right from Peter Pan. She also seemed to have a favorite dance move, the very first one that she got to repeat several times. For her dance pictures, the photographer asked if anyone could do a leg extension. Kali and one other girl said they could, so she did a sweet looking leg extension for the group picture. Between that and her splits, she is one flexible girl. Most people only dream of having that kind of flexibility.

Fashion Show

For activity days this week, I was invited to a mother/daughter fashion show with Kali. Thankfully I got to create the fashion while she strutted down the catwalk. I think I missed my calling in life as a fashion designer, don't you! The girls were pretty nervous about walking down the runway so Kali volunteered to go first. She had no clue what she was doing but came out dancing and having a good time. Everyone in attendance was so shocked to see that side of her personality because she always so quite and still at church.

Future Missionary

Josh prepared a family home evening on missionary work and pulled out a ton of stuff from his mission. He explained what everything was used for and why. He even had some old mission pants and shoes that the girls thought were great. They all had to take turns putting them on in an attempt to look like a missionary. Unfortunately an eight-year-old girl dressed up in an Elder's clothing isn't very missionary-looking, but I'm sure she'll make a fantastic missionary one day.