Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Polar Express

Mom and Dad took us on the Polar Express the day before Christmas Eve. It was a perfect start to the serious holiday festivities. There were singing waiters, a conductor who punched tickets and made them snow on kids' heads, a funny wandering hobo, hot chocolate, cookies, the story, sing a long Christmas songs, and of course Santa. The cd of our pictures with Santa arrived today.


We had a great time!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Diana's (Big) Golden Book

-A Christmas Story-
Written by Diana Denney

Once upon an time there was a girl. Her name was Diana. And for Christmas she wanted (dearly) a cell phone. All her friends walked around with their BIG FANCY cell phones. They were mocking her.

The reason she didn't have a phone was her evil parents (the Stevester and the Teresanator) were very anit-celluar. They also hated unlimited talk and text. There were tragic times Diana was living in.

Diana received a letter...

Dear Diana,
I bring sad news. If you do not receive a celluar phone for Christmas, all Christmas spirit will be lost. Give the Teresanator and the Stevester thos puppy dog eyes and the whole shingding.
                                                              Sincerely,
                                                              The AT&T Elves

"And the whole shingding," thought Diana.

She made figgy pudding. The Teresanator's personal favorite.

She sliced the roste beef. The Stevester's least favorite thing to do.

She decked the halls with bows of holly.

And sang Falalalalalala.

On Christmas morning she walked down stairs shakily. And under the tree was...a cellular phone with a text:

                              U savd X-mas! :)
                               <3 The AT&T Elves

Diana huged her parents, now Teresa and Steve.

Note to my readers: Santa WILL NOT be delivering a cell phone to my ten year old daughter. Christmas spirit is in serious jeopardy. Also, I really hate figgy pudding.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Baking Christmas Cookies!

Piano Recital!

Last weekend, was the girls' first big piano recital. It was held in a church, and about 100 people attended. All the kids were amazing, and we were so proud! Enjoy!






I apologize for the poor quality of the video! Hopefully the music comes through just fine!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

A Milestone

It's early on a Sunday morning, and I've been the only one up for an hour. Bliss! While sipping my coffee and listening to Christmas music, I've been uploading and sorting through two months of pictures which need organizing and posting. It's shocking that my last post was 5 weeks ago, Halloween. The time goes by so fast, and here we are in December. Two stories seem blogworthy to me this morning...

First, my inlaws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on November 23. They hosted 19 for Thanksgiving at their house as people began arriving in Gold Beach for the big celebration the next day. Truly, Thanksgiving paled in my mind compared to the import of the anniversary. What an accomplishment! What luck! How many couples make it to 50 years, I wonder? Chuck and Sharon met at a high school beach bonfire, which Sharon almost didn't attend. She thought it wouldn't be fun. Months later, after graduation, she headed off to San Francisco for dental hygenist training. Within a week, she was home and planning a wedding. Three kids and seven grandkids later, they travel the country in their rv and adore their 57 Chevy which Chuck completely remodeled himself.

The party was perfect. We all spent the night at Tu Tu Tun Lodge up the Rogue River from Gold Beach. The owners are childhood friends of Steve and his brother and sister so we were truly treated like royalty. It was the most gorgeous, classy setting! No decorations were required as the lodge was perfect with its beautiful rock fire place and huge picture windows framing the Rogue and lush forest. There were delicious appetizers, drinks, and about 50 friends and family to celebrate the occasion. Steve's sister had made a beautiful quilt and planned entertainment for the evening. Mary started it off by reading a poem she had written for her Grandma and Papa:


You're just gonna have to turn your head here. I cannot get this stupid thing to turn!

Next, Cousin Zac Houdenney and his Lovely Assisstant Diana performed some fantastic magic tricks:


Grrrr! Sorry!

My niece sang Love Me Tender beautifully, and Laura presented a Powerpoint about life in 1960. That girl is a natural born teacher, I tell you. Here are a few tidbits she learned: minimum wage was $1 per hour, Kennedy narrowly defeated Nixon in the presidential election, individual ketchup packets were introduced, and a postage stamp was four cents. I'm so proud of them all!
It's actually turning the pictures around by itself!

The Sweeney Sisters made a surprise appearance and entertained us with their musical/comedy sketch about Chuck and Sharon.
Why not this one??

And we had cake:



And, a few more pictures from the special night:





Thanks Lisa and Doug, David and Shelley for all the work you put into it!

Since the family got up, it has taken me two hours to finish this post...blogworthy story two will have to wait. We're off to get our Christmas tree!



Sunday, October 24, 2010

Monday, September 6, 2010

Back To School Breakfast #4!

There are a few annual traditions that just have to happen at the Denney house every year. Back to School Breakfast ranks up there on the "important traditions" list. This year our playgroup has grown to 18 children--ages three weeks to almost 11 years old. All but Baby August begin new school years in the next few days. Four years ago, we decided back to school was reason to celebrate, and armed with menu ideas from my inlaws' rv park experiences, Back to School Breakfast was born. Mary and Laura were getting ready for kindergarten. Diana was entering second grade. Like most traditions, food plays an important role in the event. We have omletes and monkey bread. Everyone brings omelet toppings to share. We each "personalize" our omlete in a ziploc baggie, and Steve and John professionally boil the omelets in the baggies to perfection. Monkey bread consists of frozen white bread dough, real butter, cinnamon and sugar. Enough said, right? Today's celebration was a huge success. Laura put together this video of the fun!

Disclaimer: The Mason boys REFUSED to be filmed for this project but were, in fact, in attendance. Maybe their mother has photographic evidence. You will, however, find them in the group shot.

Monday, August 30, 2010

New, sparkly earrings!

In freshly pierced ears. So exciting and grown up! Just in time for
third grade.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Show Time!

Now Playing!
"The Square Dancing Vampire Witch"
Starring Anna, Diana, Mary and Laura

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Lemonade anyone?

It's no wonder business is good! These three aren't afraid to turn on
the charm to passersby. They're on their third batch so far!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Some of my Favorite Photos...

There are lots of great things about visiting my inlaws in Gold Beach. It's beautiful. The home cooked food is delicious. The girls get to play with their cousin hunting newts in the creek in the backyard. It's very quiet. My mother in law refuses to let me help with anything. That gives me time to do things I can't seem to squeeze in at home. Like sorting through and organizing old photos on my laptop. So, here are my favorite photos of our fabulous trip to New Jersey a whole month ago. Better late than never!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Summer Fun!

I suggested a little dish soap in the pool...

Monday, July 19, 2010

Canada!

After months of waiting, Mary and Laura's special trip to Victoria,
BC, has arrived. They left on the train this morning with Baba and
Grandpa for a grand adventure. Such grown up, sweet girls I have! I'll
miss them dearly, but I'm so excited for them to take this huge step
toward independence. I can't wait to hear the stories they'll tell
when they come home next week!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Making Their Live Theater Debut

In Snow White and The Eight Dwarfs

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Meeting Jon Scieszka

One of the best things about vacations are the unplanned, unexpected surprises. A favorite memory for the girls and I from our New Jersey adventure was meeting children's author, Jon Scieszka (it's pronounced 'sheska', I was happy to learn). For those of you who don't have young children or aren't reading teachers (seriously, I doubt there's anyone who reads this that doesn't fit into one of those categories!), Jon has written about thirty books for kids. His most popular are The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man, and the Time Warp Trio series. My quest for coffee late one morning ended at a Starbucks inside a Barnes and Noble in Princeton. As we were leaving, I spied a small sign annoucing the writer's visit and book signing the next afternoon.

We returned a little early the next day expecting a big crowd for the promotion of his newest novel. Happily, it was an audience of about 20 kids and parents. He spoke for fifteen minutes or so, and then fielded questions from the audience. Laura asked why he wrote his new book Spaceheads. His reply was that he read on the internet that waves from earth travel into space forever, and he wondered what aliens would think about life on earth based on commercials they see.

Mary wanted to know his favorite thing about being an author. Without missing a beat, he answered, "Sleeping in and getting money in the mail." He's really a funny guy in person and as an author. I often read his Time Warp books to my class since they fit perfectly with my history curriculum and contain lots of 'boy' humor, hysterical to all 11 year olds and the teachers who love them.

"Seriously," he continued to Mary, "It's an amazing feeling to see your books in print. Seeing them finished and on the shelf is the best part of being an author."

Since it was such a small group, he engaged in personal conversation with each family and posed for pictures during the signing. And, on the way home? Silence in the backseat as they devoured their newly autographed copies.

 
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Happy Fourth of July!

 
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Friday, July 2, 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

"Fireflies" -Mary

I was eating ice cream around a grassy area in Princeton, New Jersey. Little sparks of blazing light flashed across the area.

"What's that?" I asked.

Then I went to the grassy area.

"Fireflies!" I yelled, trying to catch one.

This sight was amazing! I had to try catching one. Then Felipe caught one and showed it to us. I was excited to see one. Fireflies are beautiful, blazing creatures! I walked down the street with Kendra, my sisters and my mom. We could still see fireflies. I caught one, and then my mom took a picture. It was a beautiful sight! I had never seen one in my life, not one. I had seen them in books, but not in real life. This beauty is amazing. Fireflies are big and easy to catch. These bugs are interesting to watch and discover. I never thought I would see these amazing creatures in my life. It was an amazing discovery for me!


Mom's Note: This is exactly as Mary wrote it in her diary the next morning. Thanks, Mrs. Lomas! :)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Not So Plain White Tees

Lately the kids have been obsessed with Super Mario Brothers on the Wii. They get one hour to play after school every afternoon. And I don't use the word obssessed lightly either. The oldest five each have some specific character they always play, and when it's not their turn, they happily cheer each other on. It gets pretty loud and rowdy in the living room, but I love how they have to rely on each other in the game. It really forces them to cooperate and problem solve.That's stretch I know, but I'm trying to find one or two redeeming qualities in a video game. You should hear the cheers when they accomplish a goal! The sense of accomplishment and teamwork is amazing!

For the last couple of weeks, they've been planning t-shirts to wear while they play. They came up with some really clever ideas including nicknames and appropriate phrases for each or them. So, of course, I sprang for the t-shirts at Walmart. Josh already had the fabric markers. This afternoon was blissfully free of piano, dance and baseball so we finally got to work. It was really fun! I can't remember the last time we did a project together, all seven of us. They put a lot of thought and effort into their shirts, and they are so proud of the results. Each kid planned on paper what they wanted on the front of their shirt, then they did the writing and drawing for each other. They turned out so cute, and the kids are so proud of them!

Some of my favorites that you might not be able to see in the photos:

Abby's says, "Can I play?" and "Laura loves you!"
Josh's: "I eat enemies for breakfast"
Laura's: "ABBBBBBY" (Abby signed it herself)and "I bubble for fun"
Diana's: "I laugh in the face of Mario"
Mary's: "Got yellow?" (she's the yellow toad)
James drew the cutest green toadstool!

And on the back of the Team Mario jerseys? "Eitzenney" across the shoulders. It's what Allison and I call the collective group of them. As in, "Eitzenneys, get in the van. It's time to go!" Below that, they all signed each others'. Too cute! Love, love, love these kiddos!

(You can click on the square at the bottom right of the video to watch it full screen)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Birthday Happiness

I had grand plans for Diana's birthday blog post. Newborn photos,
memories...instead I got to do two soccer games and a dance
competition in Portland this weekend. It was all great, but this post
will have to do. The second we walked in the door, she got settled in
new new AG jammies and slippers with Lanie and started her pile of
nine knew Warriors books. What could be better for a ten year old
Denney girl??

Sunday, April 18, 2010

First Dance Competition!

After a morning soccer game (in which we were short players so the
Diana played hard the whole time) we headed to the Convention Center
for her first dance competition. It was something I wasn't quite
prepared for! Sparkles and feathers and sequins, oh my! Diana's team
did great. I could hardly believe that was my little girl up there
looking so pretty and graceful. Their adjudicated score earned them a
"high gold" ranking and fourth place in their division. We celebrated
with a yummy (and very late!) dinner at Olive Garden with the
Gibson's. And, we get to do it all again next Saturday!

Friday, April 16, 2010

A Definite Don't

Or, How Not to Wear False Eyelashes

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Books Are Yummy!

Mary: Mom, the first sentence of my new book is delicious!!

Sent from my iPhone

A Lazy Morning at Home

The girls asked me to take a picture of them and put it on my blog.
I'm happy to oblige! We're enjoying a lazy morning at home. There's no
school today since parent/teacher conferences start at noon. Laura
loves to cook breakfast and make up recipes. She's pretty good at it
too. On the menu today: scrambled eggs in hash brown "nests".
Delicious! Mary had two! And I love how this picture shows how
different my twins are: Mary with her dark hair, green eyes and braces
who wears footie pjs and still is cold, Laura with her fair skin and
freckles who would wear nothing but panties all day if we'd let her.
So different, yet so connected. I guess those of us who aren't a twin
will never get it.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Warning: Vacation Photos Here!



Spring Vacation was just what we needed. There was no rushing anywhere, ever, for nine whole days. It was blissful! I worried the girls were too young for a do nothing vacation, but they loved it! Steve saw some spring training games, and we spent long days at the pool and water park. Since the water was never over 3.5 feet, it was easier to concentrate on my reading and worry about them hardly at all. They played hard, read lots, ate huge amounts of food, and slept extremely well. We had the zoo all to ourselves Tuesday (post with pictures to follow)and got an extra day, night, some meals and future travel vouchers on US Air. It was an awesome ending to a fantastic week! Since we've been home: laundry, cooking, rushing from dance to soccer to school, and rain, rain, rain. Can we do it all over again please?

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Spring Soccer Begins!

It was a beautiful day for soccer to start. Sadly, I know the rest of the season won't be as perfect. Mary happily listened to Hannah Montana and cheered Laura's team on. Laura scored a goal, and Diana had three! Of course I missed all the action. Both games happened simultaneously, and I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a great start to a gorgeous early spring day!

The Columbus Cougar Silver Medal Battle of the Books Team!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Mary Potter

She showed up to dinner like this. And had no idea it was there. Watch
out, Voldemort!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Homework Time for Little Hands

 
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Papa called...

And he wants the $33 from his purple purse back.

Sent from my iPhone

Monday, January 25, 2010

Lesson Not Learned

So, for those of you who don't know, American Girl makes a doll "girl of the year". It's a big deal every January 1 at our house to see what she'll be like. She's exclusive, you know. Only around for 365 days. This year, they have to have her. Lanie. She loves nature and has beautiful blond hair. Understand we already have nine American Girls. I'm a little horrified to admit it, but they really are great. The quality is fantastic. My girls really do love them, and they play with them A LOT. And they really have learned a ton of history from the books. So Diana and Laura have been earning and saving since January first. Do we need another doll? No. Do I see the value of wanting something and working hard to earn it? Yes. Am I thrilled that the two who fight the most are happily working together toward a goal? Totally.

Saturday morning found them just about $15 short so I had them washing windows to earn some cash. Next, I set them onto the bathroom "pretty drawers". The ones where we have several thousand hair accessories affectionately called "hair pretties" since Diana was very little. I'm sure you have these drawers at your house (although you may not be so lucky if you don't have three girls). Tacky plastic bead necklaces are tangled in giant knots. There's toothpaste gluing barrettes together. Floss is unraveled and woven between brush bristles. And on ballet days, I have to dig through it all to find the one hair elastic that actually has elastic still and a few bobby pins to put girls' hair up. About thirty seconds into the job, just as I was settling down with my second cup of coffee and the newspaper, much hooting and screaming came from the bathroom. In an old purple purse, they found cash. No one remembered putting it there. No one claimed it (although Steve tried hard). Who knows how long it's been there or where it originated from. Doesn't matter. There was lots of hugging and yelling. Then the counting began. I'm just hoping the whole time it's a number that divides evenly by three...and it does. Perfectly. The little divas found $33 in there! Enough to order Lanie. There goes the lesson about hard work to earn what you want. Next time you need a little cash, check the pretty drawer in your bathroom. Apparently it pays.