Let's go to the movies, let's go see the stars.

Today as I mentioned to my kids the possibility of going to see Frozen at the theater, their reaction warmed my heart, and sort of reminded me of that scene in the old film version of Annie(the one with Carol Burnett) where Daddy Warbucks takes Annie to the movies, they get all dressed up, she is bursting with excitement, everyone's singing and dancing and bending over backwards to serve little orphan Annie...it just oozes with glamour.

You see, we hardly ever go to the movies.  Sure, we hit up an occasional dollar theater movie during the summer.  Redbox is a real treat at our house.  Usually we check out movies from the library(obviously long after most everyone has seen and memorized them), set up our projector and watch them on the "big screen" at home.  And yes, I do realize that owning a projector is a bit of a splurge (though still quit a bit cheaper than a flat-screen TV, to keep it real).

But, the point I am making is that my kids are apparently as deprived as little orphan Annie, so much so, that they furiously cleaned up Christmas for me(and their rooms) when they learned of the possibility of going to see a brand new movie(shhh... don't tell them it came out a month ago) in a fancy theater.  It made my heart swell with pride to see their gleeful little faces and utter shock when I presented the idea.

Ahh, isn't deprivation a lovely thing?

I even snuck in a bag of popcorn, a box of Skittles and three drinks for us all to share(Thank you Jill  for the extra purse space!).  For the price we paid just to get in there, no way was I going to fork out more cash for junk food.  And I even instructed my kids to look for signs indicating we couldn't bring in outside food.  We didn't see any.  (Although I'm pretty sure none of us was looking very hard.)

BTW, Frozen = Fantastic.  Even better that I was there with my sister - it was only too appropriate.

Christmas 2013.

Our holiday season was made infinitely more hectic when we found out the tenants at our rental property were moving out at the end of the month.  I didn't even decorate this year (minus the tree, of course because heck, that would be blasphemy).  Still, we managed to fit in reading a few Christmas stories, baking goodies for friends and neighbors, little bits of service here and there, and a delicious Christmas Eve dinner.

Celebrating Christ's birth with a traditional yule log cake.

The kids got a few things they needed.

Such excitement over a pair of boots - I love it!

And one or two things they wanted.

              And then it was time to reveal the big secret we'd been keeping since August:

The surprise was revealed as they opened various clues, culminating with a Disney Planning Guide.

Should be a blast - and the best part is, we get to see cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents while we're there.  My favorite part - the fact that our trash/recycling bins were not filled to the brim this year.  And, it only took an hour or so to clean up and put away the gifts(mostly clothes and shoes).  We topped it off with omelettes and a movie marathon (thanks Grandma and Grandpa) and it was a very merry Christmas.

There's no business like show business.

All three of the oldest girls got to take a turn at performing this fall.   It began with Anna's Veteran's Day music program, where she sang a solo.  I could tell she was stinking nervous, but was so proud of her and the courage it took to audition and then perform in front of so many people, including her peers. 

Anna's first choir and orchestra concert.

Here's what Eve thought about it.

Perfectly happy to snap a picture with lil' sis, who comes to support everyone at every single event.  Lucky youngest child.

Rachel auditioned for and was cast in a Missoula Children's Theater production of Robinson Crusoe as a chameleon.  She was adorable, in spite of bursting into laughter on stage because the boy next to her had tied his shoelaces together backstage and tripped royally when they had to go back onstage.  What can you expect from a bunch of grade-schoolers?

Lily made eye contact for pretty much her entire music program, but accompanied it with a frowny face because I was ignoring her request not to be photographed.

Her time to shine on the chimes, as she called them, but it looked a whole lot like a xylophone to me.  What do I know about percussion instruments, anyway?

Aw, there's a smile.

Piano Guys.

Tim and I like to schedule one-on-one time with each of the kids on a regular basis.  Regular, as in, twice a year.  Although I truly value spontaneous interactions with my children, I am a firm believer in "putting things on the schedule" because it means that they are guaranteed to get that "me" time and it's not sporadic or haphazard or unequal (although I also believe that fairness is not an ideal we should strive for in parenthood, as kids have vastly different needs).  I even have a spreadsheet to track our "dates" with the children.  It's delicious.

I bought tickets for Anna and me to go to see the Piano Guys.  Anna had been introduced to them via her school orchestra teacher (hence, her insistence at playing the cello, even though it carried a much heftier price tag than, say, the flute).  She was pretty stoked, even though we had to hoof it up three flights of stairs to the balcony, where she remarked, "Oh, why couldn't we get tickets down there?" (gesturing to the floor seats) Her disappointment at the nosebleed seats was extinguished within minutes of the Piano Guys' appearance onstage.  They were funny, the music was inspiring, and I had a 10-year old commentator whispering - no, yelling into my ear the whole time about how awesome it was.  She couldn't stop saying thank you.  The concert was fantastic - the brownie points scored and quality time with my daughter were priceless.

At home before leaving.

Our own little selfie, which she insisted I post on Facebook.  I didn't.

Christmas joy.

Eve's Joy School class got to share the nativity with an older neighbor couple before coming to our house to perform it for their families.  They were pretty darn cute, if not always in tune for the singing.  We had spent the month discussing sharing and service, concepts that are not intuitive to kids at this age.  I truly enjoyed the little moments where I could see that they had captured the joy and magic of serving others.  Yep, it was brief, but oh, so rewarding.

Thanksgiving 2013

 We took the girls to see the Sacred Gifts exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.  Totally worth the anxiety of keeping them at least arms-length away from precious paintings.

 Below freezing outside?  Let's get some ice cream!  No trip to BYU is complete without a visit to The Creamery - that place never disappoints.  In fact, I sometimes wonder how I can ever be satisfied with any other brand of ice cream after walking out of that place.  Somehow I get over my ice cream snobbiness, like a dog to his vomit.

 On Black Friday we took the kids down to the mall to see Santa arrive in a helicopter.  It was magical, if not slightly disheveling.  I think my mom might even have shed a tear watching the kids light up over the experience.

 Eve and I are clearly not in sync.  But Tim got the helicopter in this shot so all is right in the world.

One of our favorite post-Thanksgiving traditions is decorating gingerbread houses.  Mom and Jill always assemble the houses ahead of time to give the kids the experience of simply decorating and not burning themselves during the assembly.  I gained a new appreciation for their hard work because I got to do it this year and have the burns to prove it.

 Eve would not us pass through Utah without visiting our dear friends from Boise.  Apparently, she had grand plans to renew her vows with her self-proclaimed future husband.  We caught them holding hands most of the night.  The adults got in a couple of hours of gaming and food so we're all happy.

                                     And the token picture in front of great Grandma's house.

  Now we're home and in the throes of the holiday season.  Can I catch my breath, please?