Dance recital!!!

Yesterday was Isabel's first dance recital! She did fantastic. It was a joyous time for her, for me, and her dad. I think her brothers were somewhat entertained, too. As we were driving home she told me she wants to do another recital again soon, and that she loved doing it.

She really has taken to dance better than I would have dreamed. She is always so happy to go do dance class, totally loves her teacher, and practices here dances numerous times a day. It is so cute and fun to see her thrive in this way.

She was the youngest and tiniest girl in the whole recital, so to me that made her especially cute. Her first number was a ballet routine to "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." The second number was a tap routine to "Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party."

She loved the whole experience of wearing costumes, dress rehearsal, being backstage and getting hair done, lipgloss applied, and eating snacks with all the little girls, and even being on stage.

I didn't get lots of great pictures with all the commotion, but Brian did record both routines in their entirely. This was primarily for our families, my mom especially, who was devastated she couldn't be here to see it. Here are a few pictures:



Flowers from daddy:

And the videos! Here is her ballet performance:



And her tap performance:


Because it was a Holiday Show, Santa made an appearance at the end. Isabel didn't want a picture with him, but Connor was all over it:

Great job Isabel! You are a beautiful dancer and we are all so very proud of you!

The winner(s)! and a TDF activity advent

I put all the names of those who left a comment for the Scrabble tile pendants, and decided to give away THREE pendants! I had Connor draw 3 names, and here are the winners!:

Congratulations! Amy and Barb, I need your new addresses. Please e-mail them to me at melissahowell2@yahoo.com. Barb, that pendant you mentioned is actually going to my sister-in-law, but if you like that paper, I have more of it and will try to make one as close to the one you liked as possible.

For those wanting tutorials on this cute craft, go to Just A Girl. Then go to her Nov. 10 post titled "Welcome to the Party" where she has a link to the tutorial. Just a Girl is one of my very favorite blogs for cute, inexpensive crafts and great home decorating ideas. I LOVE that girl (who by the way, entered my prize drawing. I felt almost famous there for a second ;) For those familiar with the craft, I had to order the Diamond Glaze and Aanraku stained glass silver plated bails. The bails I got from Etsy, I believe.

While you're on Just a Girl, you might notice the inspiration for my latest project, a darling twist on the increasingly popular activity advent calendars. You basically buy small matchboxes, cover them with Christmas scrapbook paper, and using stickers, number them 1 through 25. In each little box, you put a slip of paper with a different Christmas-related activity to do each day leading up to Christmas. Then put all the boxes in an apothecary jar, and tie with a Christmas ribbon. Each day in December, open a box and do that activity. Here's how mine turned out (I ran out of stickers for the last few boxes, will have to get more):

This is a fantastically fun project and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the end result. Our activities range from reading Christmas books under the light of the tree, to bringing cookies to neighbors, to doing Christmas crafts, to driving around looking at lights, to reading the story of Christ's birth in the Bible, and a few more adventurous outings that will be weather-dependent.

I'm off to host a Holiday brunch, followed by the big dance recital. Have a good weekend!

A crafty give-away

My latest craft has been making Scrabble tile pendants. Have you seen 'em? SO CUTE. You make a pendant out of a Scrabble tile, scrapbook paper, mod podge, diamond glaze (gives it a smooth, glassy finish) and a stained glass sterling silver bail (what the chain goes through). It's a fun project, and I've been making some as gifts. Here's one of my favorites:

And some of the others I've made:

Like them? You could win one! Just leave me a comment, by Friday evening, and tell me one of your favorite colors to wear. I'll draw a winner from the comments, and I'll make the winner one of the pendants in your requested color and slip it in with your Christmas card (silver chain not included). Good luck!

Now I've got to face this crazy week of mine, which includes:
- Finishing one freelance project
- Starting another freelance project
- I'm on the middle of a HUGE freelance project
- Enrichment
- A birthday party for my friend's daughter
- A Cub Scout meeting
- A craft day with my friend
- Dance class for Isabel
- Volunteering in the Holiday Gift Shop at Connor's school
- Hosting a Christmas brunch for a bunch of friends
- Isabel's first dance recital (!!!!)
- Finishing my Christmas cards
- Planning sharing time for Sunday

Have a good week!

Getting to know you, Christmas-style

I am sitting on this quiet evening by the light of our Christmas tree. I love Christmas trees. When I was younger, my sister and I would sprawl out (literally) under the tree and play board games by the light of the tree. Even now, I love to put on soft Christmas music in the background and just sit and look at the tree and meander down memory lane when I get the chance...

Anyways, here is a little quiz I've seen on some blogs/e-mails, and here are my answers.

1. Will you be home (your place) for Christmas?

yes (and will miss Minnesota at Christmas!)

2. If 'YES' to #1, is family coming home for Christmas?

no

3. I 'NO' to #1, where will you spend Christmas?

4. Real Tree or Artificial?

Artificial

5. When do you put up the tree?

Weekend after Thanksgiving

6. Color of lights on your Christmas tree?

White

7. Do you have a Nativity Scene?

Sadly, no, but really want to get one

8. Do you do outside decorating?

A little

9. Do you mail or email Christmas Cards?

Mail

10. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

Beginning of December

11. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Both

12. Most memorable gift ever received as a child?

Skis, clothes

13. Worst Christmas gift ever received as a child?

I don't remember one specific thing, but I was a bit naughty and used to slyly unwrap my presents, take a peek, then re-wrap. On more than one occasion I had to feign excitement as I opened something I didn't really want. Bad girl.

14. Easiest person to buy for NOW?

My kids

15. Hardest Person to buy for NOW?

My husband. He doesn't ask for much, simple yet difficult

16. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Don't think so.

17. Open the presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

Grew up opening presents on Christmas Eve, but that is one compromise I have made in marriage, and now open them on Christmas morning. This has been a bit of an adjustment.

18. Do you have your Christmas meal on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Hors d'oeuvres on Christmas Eve, big meal on Christmas Day

19. Do you go to Christmas Eve or Day Church Services?

Day - but only when Christmas falls on a Sunday.

20. Do you like fruitcake?

Get real.

21. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas dinner?

Mashed potatoes and gravy, Christmas goodies

22. What do you do Christmas afternoon?

Dinner with family

23. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Can't pick just one, there are so many good ones. I'l go with A Christmas Carol, Christmas Vacation and all the cartoons (Frosty, Rudolph, the Grinch, etc)

24. Favorite Christmas Song(s)?

O Holy Night, I Wonder as I Wander, What Child is This?

25. What do you feel is the reason we celebrate Christmas?

Birth of Christ

Play along if you'd like!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving, with family, friends, food, and lots to be thankful for.

We spent part of the day with our very good friends, the Harts. We had a fun dinner, after which Elizabeth and I (and some of her kids) crafted, while Brian and Trent watched football and the kids played. The only picture I got from the whole day was of Brian and Trent and some kiddos playing Sorry:

After dinner with the Harts we went to Denver for dinner with Brian's family at his grandmother's house. Two dinners and we were definitely stuffed (pun intended).

We had such a fun day, and feel so blessed to have so much to be grateful for: Our little family of 5, parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, many other relates, friends, food, clothing, a home, cars, jobs, this beautiful earth, a loving Savior, to name a few. We hope everyone else had a great day too, and miss those of you we didn't get to see.

Are you ready for the craziness of December? I try not to overdo it and therefore lose the meaning for the season, but it inevitably is a month of non-stop action.

Bowling and Fortunes

Tonight was our first Howell Family Bowling Outing. We managed to play one entire game, and the kids thought it was great fun. Seriously. Connor was very serious about it, was always sad when his turn was done, and was always fascinated with how his ball came out of that ball return thingy. Isabel thought it was exciting as can be, as always (can you tell by her many expressions?). She was cheering for everyone, and loved the music playing in the bowling alley. She was dancing all over the place, and kept telling us she was "rocking it." She really thinks she has the moves these days; it's always "mom, watch this move!" Lucas was a bit young for the fun, and we had to keep his mouth occupied or he kept trying to run down the lane. All in all, a good time! Oh, and the girls STOMPED. ;)










After bowling we went out for Chinese. The reason I am writing about this is because our fortunes were so perfect tonight it was almost scary! Brian and I were totally laughing about how well everyone got a fortune that totally fit them. Judge for yourself, these are for real the actual fortunes each of us had (if you are having a difficult time reading any of these, you can click on the picture and it will enlarge):

Brian's: (at least he thinks he is this!)

Melissa's:

Connor's:

Isabel's:

Lucas's: (hey, he does melt my heart numerous times a day. It's those eyes, I swear)

And you think there's no such thing as fortunes...

Sometimes they like each other

There are moments of tranquility when I realize that my kids do, in fact, like each other and even sometimes enjoy - dare I say love? - each other:

I really have no idea what prompted them this morning to pile into the "roof" from their inflatable ball pit. But when I found them like this I had to take a picture. I really only have 3 things to say about this interesting photo: 1. Isabel's face looks really weird from this angle. 2. The static did a number on their hair. 3. Isabel and Lucas together are about as long as Connor.

Speaking of love, I love me a good clearance sale. While browsing Hobby Lobby over the weekend, I came across an aisle of Halloween/Autumn decor marked down 90 PERCENT. That's practically FREE! It was pretty picked over, but I did find this wire-and-beaded pumpkin and cornucopias to adorn my Thanksgiving table:

Original price for all 3? $49.97. What I paid? $4.99.