Fort Collins Classic

Ellie competed for the 2nd year in the Fort Collins Classic and for the 2nd time she placed 2nd!  I think 2 is her lucky number.  Weeks of practice leading up to this nervous and excited smile from the sidelines.  She was curled, sparkled and ready to get things going in this shot 5 minutes before her performance.  

A few last minute words from her coach.

A warm up on the ice.

And show time...

Ellie skated to "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles and she looked like springtime in her costume.  We are thrilled that she has found an activity she loves and enjoys working towards a goal.  She is a joy to her coaches, a friend and great sport to the other skaters and has a great balance between her determination to do well and her perspective that skating is to be enjoyed!  

ART PARTY

A couple weeks ago we celebrated Molly's birthday with an artist themed party. 

It was a fun party to plan and I managed to have 6 creative little girls in my house 

without a drop of paint on my furniture.  Success!

We started off with a photo shoot of the birthday girl and all the artists.

They are masterpieces for sure.  Each the little works of art God made them.

 Next we headed out the painting studio/garage to complete our first project -

marbleizing paint on canvas.  It was fun to see the colors the girls chose.

Each piece was colorful and unique.  

After washing up, we headed in for the next, and favorite, project.  An Eric Carle inspired seahorse picture.  The girls worked so carefully on these and the results were wonderful.

After a break for presents and root beer floats (the birthday girl is not a fan of cake),

 we completed the final project - self portraits.

We set up an art gallery with fancy fizzy drinks and rainbow fruit skewers

 for moms and dads to enjoy at the end of the party.

And in the blink of an eye, my baby is 7.

GUT CHECK

Catchy title huh? 

This is not a post about my need to join a gym.  
Let me explain...

Last week my daughter and I went on her school's 5th grade leadership retreat.  There we participated in activities with names like blob tag, leap of faith, bucket of awesome and gut check.  It was a blast!

Here's how gut check works.

You send your precious daughter up a 3 story tower to be strapped into a harness by a burly, tattooed man... 

...who will then push your daughter off a  platform...

...and she will fly through the air, spinning and twisting perilously...

...and she will LOVE it!

It is such a great feeling to love your kid's school and to know they are in the right place.  

We had 2 days of love, leadership preparation and laughs.  Silly songs, games, bad jokes, and smores.

Praise, pajama parties, and an amazing Colorado mountain sunrise.  

 Here's Ellie thinking, "Help me!  There's a dad on my lap!"

There were some really challenging moments like the high ropes course.

This one was tough and it was so sweet to see all these kids coaching and cheering each other on.

She was really happy to have that one over with!

I was happy to have much needed time with my growing girl.  Thanks Ellie!