Getting Ready for the New Year

It's time to get ready for the New Year. I'm cleaning house for our party tomorrow, but my thoughts are a million miles away from what I'm doing (or should be doing ... since I'm blogging).

I'm thinking about the new year, and I am hoping that it will be better. This year was an improvement on 2009 in regard to school. We now have a great principal, which is a tremendous blessing. I have a wonderful group of kids this year. Another huge change over the gangsters of last year.

Being a teacher is difficult though. It seems that whenever schools are discussed in the media, there are so many people who refer to teachers with derision and animosity (if not downright hatred). There is no respect for what we do. No value placed on our jobs. Now we are facing another huge cut to education, and I just don't know if I can face it. I love my job, but we still have bills to pay. I can see hard decisions to be made in the future.

For that reason I look at the new year with trepidation. I'm praying for a good change, I'm hoping for the best ... but I know that I had better prepare for the worst.

Merry Christmas

Two little Santa buddies
In search of treats

It's Christmas Eve!

Sleeping under the tree

Christmas Eve dinner at Olive Garden

Our beautiful young lady

We are enjoying a beautiful Christmas Day. The sky is blue, and the day has been blissfully peaceful.

Last night we went out to our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at the Olive Garden, then went to church. Bailee had a scripture reading in the program this year, and she did very well. Afterward we drove around looking at Christmas decorations. Once home, we made reindeer food, Santa's snack of cookies and snacks, and watched "The Bishop's Wife" and "Polar Express." Bailee determined that she was going to sleep under the Christmas tree this year, so she had her sleeping bag laid out, pulled on her Christmas pajamas, and then fell asleep halfway through the second movie.

This morning, she allowed us to sleep until 8 am. After that, it was all hands on deck! Time to have Christmas. Caribou gets very excited at Christmas, so he spent the first few minutes leaping from one person to another and shredding paper. He discovered his stocking right off and pulled out a treat. Such a funny dog. He then crashed on the kitchen floor in total exhaustion.

Bailee had a wonderful Christmas. Despite the fact that we cut WAY back on Christmas this year, she was delighted. I think that the recession has helped her to be much more grateful for what she does have. It was interesting this year, as we made the move from toys to more mature items. I wondered about how she would react to that (though she didn't ask for toys per se) - but she seemed perfectly content.

I discovered for myself that less is sometimes more. Diana and I cut back on one another severely, but I don't think that either of us felt shortchanged. This year the focus of Christmas was on things of much more value - family, Christ, and giving service to others were far more important that receiving. After all, that is what Christmas is all about.

Christmas Time is HERE!

It seemed very strange this year to NOT be doing THE NUTCRACKER, but the recession hit us here as well. Our studio decided that it would just be too expensive to produce and that few people would probably be able to attend. Instead, we did a Christmas program showcasing the students. One of the local jazz bands performed as well, and we were treated to a special performance by two apprentices from Ballet Idaho, Nic Gili and Elisa Belnap. The night was wonderful, and we capped it off with an after party at Perkins. It was so nice to sit down with the other parents and relax. We have truly been blessed in our association with Studio One. Great girls, great parents, and great teachers. What could be better?



Of course, the stress of putting on any performance takes its toll. Bailee crashed for most of the afternoon today.





We weren't able to get any pictures taken last night (because Bailee had the camera and didn't use it). Luckily, another parent promised to e-mail some of the photos he was able to take at dress rehearsal. I did manage to get some shots of Bailee in her solo costume that the two of us made. She was quite lovely. As you can see, she is really growing up.

I'm done with school for the holidays, but Diana and Bailee still have three more days. Of course, considering the fact that we are now having a terrible wind and ice storm - who knows whether or not they'll be in school tomorrow!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! (With kisses from our beautiful ballerina.)

Deer in the Yard

This has certainly been a year of firsts for us. One of the more interesting first was a visit of some deer to our front yard. The visit occured sometime during the night, leaving only tracks behind as evidence. I think our dogwood and other bushes and trees in the front yard were the draw, but we were shocked. This has never happened before! Pretty cool though. Bailee was thrilled and had to go out and document the event.

Regional Robotics Competition

Yesterday Bailee had the opportunity to participate in the First Lego League Regional Robotics competition. Her team, the Raging Raptors, won in the "Teamwork" category and now have qualified to go to the state competition in Nampa next weekend. Sadly, Bailee won't be able to attend because of prior commitments to dance, but she is sure that her team will do great at state. She's pretty bummed, but conflicts happen when you're as involved in life as she is. Luckily, we hashed through this possibility well in advance, so she knew she wouldn't be able to attend beforehand. They beat the boys' team from their school, and I made a comment about "girl power" to Bailee, which she waved off - "The girls ALWAYS beat the boys in robotics." I guess that qualifies as MAXIMUM GIRL POWER! Whoa! Later, she qualified her comment by adding that the boys always fight too much and goof around too much.

It's another gray day in Idaho, with snow predicted for every single day. Our temperatures are supposed to be in the 30s, so that is great news. Those single digits really are the pits. No doubts about having a white Christmas this year.

We're slowly putting up Christmas decorations at our house. It can be a long process since we're all so stinkin' busy, but we're doing a little every day. I'm really enjoying the Christmas music, which is definitely my favorite part of the season. I'm hoping we can start watching our holiday DVDs today ... "White Christmas," "Christmas in Connecticut," or "The Bishop's Wife" sound perfect.

Back to work tomorrow. Weekends pass all too quickly it seems. Only two weeks of school remain before the holiday break though. That sound great on one hand and terrifying on the other. How can Christmas already be so close? I have to start BAKING! What about those Christmas cards? Oh my!