Party in the USA

I know I am posting things from over a month ago, but this is how I keep track of things we have done. (I plan on printing my blog yearly since I am failing in the Scrapbooking department.) I was hoping to have Halloween up by Thanksgiving; that didn't happen. Maybe I can get Thanksgiving up by Christmas =)


Last month our family and my brother's family went to the Miley Cyrus and Metro Station concert. (Monte and Carter didn't brave the concert. They went swimming at the hotel instead.) Before the concert I would say that I was more excited than Lexie about the concert. (Yes, I love teen music. I was more excited about Metro Station than Miley. For some odd reason, I really like them.) I think Lexie, and the other kids and parents, were expecting the Hannah Montana kiddy bop concerts like we have seen from Miley before. Boy were we surprised! It was not a kiddy concert. For one thing, I give it a year before her brother (The lead singer for Metro Station) enters rehab. That boy has issues! We also saw more crotch grabbing in Miley's concert than we have seen in any major league baseball game. I think she is a Britney wannabe. (Not sure that's something to strive for.) But I digress... We really had a great time at the concert. It was fun, and we made a ton of memories.



Before the concert, we ate at Kobe. This was Carter's first experience at a teppanyaki grill, and he was very intrigued and excited about the whole thing. We had planned on going to the zoo, but I ended up getting really sick (not fun when you are not at your own house) so we didn't get to go. But... we did get to go to the Purple Cow!

Kalin, Katherine, and Lexie

We were also celebrating K&K's birthday; it was the day after the concert.



Ofelia and Dan

Monte, Me, and Carter

The girls on the bus.
We had to get bussed to the concert because there were several things going on at once, so parking was terrible.



Dan was SOOO excited about the concert! Can you tell? I was so disappointed that he didn't get out of his seat and dance like we were instructed to do. I'm sure he was secretly dying to get up and dance to Party in the USA :)



Lexie was obviously enjoying the concert-ha!

This was actually between Metro and Miley. Lexie loves to read. She seriously has a book with her everywhere we go.

The self-portrait.

Our eyes were watering because we had been laughing so hard. This was attempt 20 on the self-portrait. One of us was either bug-eyed, eyes closed, out of the picture, or just plain weird looking.



Miley


She flew over the audience during "Fly on the Wall."

I know it's hard to see, but her dancers are wearing 80's type costumes. When this song was over they teased us with a little bit of the "Thriller" dance. Lex and I got so excited, but then it was over before it really started :(

Waiting on her milkshake and cheese fries.

Yay! It's Uncle Dan!! Carter is a HUGE fan of Dan (and his Uncle Matt, but Matt wasn't here).

Happy Birthday girls!

"Here, I need that hat."

"Look, I'm Dan."

Dance Competitions

Lexie's dance team competed in two competitions in October. They were really fun, and I wish there were going to be more. The girls did a great job. I am very impressed with how talented all of the teams were. I can definitely say that the drill teams have changed since I was on it. We were all about short skirts and shaking our booty, but these girls are serious about technique and perfection (and they have to wear leggings under their short skirts at school =).)

Lexie is the queen of facial expressions! It is hard to see it in most of these pictures, but she had a different one for almost every count. Their coach said,"It's not right unless you feel like you look stupid." Lexie has been practicing her facial expressions since birth :)

COMPETITION 1-- Lexie's school competed in the Jazz and Pom categories.

"Ladies, your music is on."- ha ha not really-- Who knew it was so hard to work a sound system?!

Let's try again.

Lexie is 5th from the left

Waiting on the Awards Ceremony to start. (I think there were 10-11 teams at this competition.)

They won 2nd in Pom...


and best technique in Jazz.

COMPETITION 2-- Lexie's team competed in Hip Hop (her favorite), Jazz, and Pom.

My camera battery died as soon as the girls stepped on the floor, so I had to steal these off Facebook. Some didn't transfer very well.

Lexie is first in line.

3rd from the right

3rd from the right--Oh yeah, my girl has attitude!

2nd from the left

"Why smile when you can show EXPRESSION?!?!"

Waiting on the Awards (7-8 teams competed in this competition.)


They won 2nd Place and Best Technique for Jazz, 3rd for Pom, and 2nd for Hip Hop.

WAY TO GO GIRLS!!!

Lexie and Maty enjoying some sugar after the competition.

CAKE!!

Several weeks ago Carter helped me make a cake. It was his first time ever to get to help cook in the kitchen, and he was a very big helper. He did great and had so much fun! Who knows-- maybe he'll be the new "Cake Boss"!

Carter loves carrots, so we made a carrot cake. Yes we used a mix, but it did have real carrots and raisins in it. It was very good!





"Hey mom, we should use cream CHEEEEEESE frosting!"

I love those precious little hands! (Lex is a great photographer! She just came in, saw what we were doing, and grabbed the camera. It was great because I wouldn't have been able to get a lot of these shots.)

ENJOYING THE FRUITS (OR SHOULD I SAY VEGETABLES) OF HIS LABOR

Apology

I know I have apologized on here more than once for being a slacker when it comes to blogging. Well I can assure you that this will not be the last slacker apology. (I know my blog is not very exciting, but I do have friends and family that only get to see the kids via the blog.) We have been so busy (and ill), and I have not had time to update. There are A LOT of posts coming (with the usual 50 million pictures), so hopefully I can catch you all up on our hectic life.