Analise's Birthday and Valentine's Day Events

This weekend was a fun one for the girls. Lots of partying and hanging out with friends took place.

On Thursday, Emma had a party at her friend Gracie's house.

They sang karaoke, did some group dances and made paintings of each other. Each girl had a partner who sat across from them that they painted. Emma made a painting of Elsie.

Emma said it was a great time and she really enjoyed the experience.

Then next up was Analise's candle making party with her five friends.

They made candles, beeswax wraps and Valentine cards.

Their favorite part was blowing up balloons and decorating them with silly faces.

They also enjoyed jumping on the trampoline because it has finally warmed up a bit.

This weekend is also Analise's final gymnastics meet of the year. This year has been harder learning how to do some high level moves. Lots of practice is needed to perform the skill at the same level as she is able to in her regular gym space. Her last performance proved to be a great one. She took first on all events and first all around. She beat all of her own personal records as well. The seating wasn't the best for getting images of Analise on the podium but we tried.

Whittling Wood

This weekend the girls and Dan took a course on wood whittling. Dan and Analise made spoons and Emma tried to make a wooden whale. They all started out with a block of wood and had to shave it down. They said it was hard work.

Bubbles

The girls got their much desired "cold day" free from the pressures of school today. We tried our bubbles outside in the negative temps for some mid-day entertainment. The bubbles quickly turned solid and shriveled up before busting in the ground. They had a hard time floating in the air for very long. We thought they might just sink and sit on the snow but they shriveled up quickly.

Snow Sculptures in Stillwater

We went to visit the snow sculptures today in downtown Stillwater. They had a cute Christmas display still up as we walked through the downtown to the event.

Erin and Emma liked the sculpture of a rabbit with the timewatch and tortoise which symbolized how different types of people spend their time here on earth. Erin and Emma also liked the man that had boxed himself in. The creators from Thailand represented the idea that some people have limitations placed on them and the importance of shattering those limitations. They want people to break free out of the box.

Everyone in our group liked the box with "Snow Balls" that were spilling out the side. It represented remembering the fun in life's small surprises.

Dan and Analise's favorite was the Mongolian cowboy on a bull. This was the overall winner of the competition.

The US design was a bunch of sign language hands coming out of a giant ball. The ball represented a call for unity and action for democracy. The outstretched hands symbolized collective effort and pulling together for solutions. The hands displayed peace and resistance in sign language.

Comedy of Errors

Analise's sixth grade group put on the Shakespeare play, A Comedy of Errors this year. Analise had multiple scenes where she got to show her passion for theater.

She played Luciana who gets proposed to but is already married. She definitely had the righteous anger expressions down to a science.

And so goes Analise's first marriage proposal..."How dare you even propose such a thought!"

There were some boys in the audience oooing at the proposal so I am sure this was a harder part for Analise to pull off this year. She was found singing loudly in the shower after the play was over-meaning thank goodness I made it through that drama trauma.

Makeover Time

Emma and Analise love to put on makeup and style hair. Tonight they had the opportunity, just once, to put makeup on, dress and style mom's hair. Mom was unsure about the hair style that was pulled fully back because it made her look bald. She was also unsure about the mascara but according to the girls you can barely see it.

The girls picked out jeans and a pink shirt for mom to wear. Somehow we all ended up wearing the same color of shirt. The girls had fun and mom was very glad when she could take all of the stuff off. She was also thankful that she is not at the stage of life where she is trying to impress others with how she appears. Whew!