Destination Imagination

Nora joined the Destination Imagination team at school and they worked really hard on building a hoverboard and creating a play and costumes for their competition. They placed third in their district and were able to go to State. The hoverboard wasn't working properly (seems like the freshly waxed gym floor was causing trouble or something...) so they didn't do as well as they'd hoped, but it was still so much fun to be part of. 

Back to Nora's birthday!

For some reason I can't find my pictures from Nora's birthday. Which is pretty sad. However, she had a fantastic day! She wanted to be surprised this year so I decided to plan a day of activities she always wants to do, but doesn't usually get to do. First we went to the zoo! Our zoo is fabulous and it's free. Nora always wants to go to the gift shop, and I generally say no, so on her birthday I gave her some birthday money and let her spend as much as time in the gift shop as she wanted. Once we got home we had her friend Alivia over to do some crafts. After that the kids all watched a Care Bear movie (with minimal complaining) that Nora had picked out while I made her favorite dinner (zuchini soup in bread bowlsl) and decorated a Care Bear cake. Sadly, I guess I am missing all the pictures of the cake as well! After dinner Brian took her to Paint It Up, a pottery store where she got to choose a porcelain figure and paint it, then they glaze it and you come back for it in a few weeks.

Luckily, we have this picture Brian took at the pottery store. 

It was a fun day celebrating our favorite 10 year old!

Birthday girl Nora.

Nora's birthday this year was pretty amazing. She's been saving her money to buy a look alike American Girl doll and we happened to have a trip to Chicago planned the first week of August for Sophie to meet up with her best friend from Michigan. So Brian took both the girls to Chicago and Sophie spent the day with Ellie and Nora spent the day with Brian and got her doll! The funny thing is that every summer there is an American Girl doll sale here (AG headquarters are here in Madison!) and I could have gotten the exact doll Nora wanted for $55, but it doesn't come with an on-line code to play with your doll on-line and Nora really wanted that so she was willing to pay for it.

Then we had a Care Bear party the Saturday before her birthday and had a lot of fun!

Nora made the pinata all by herself, it was the bad guy "No Heart" from Care Bears because she couldn't stand to destroy a Care Bear :)

We all got a laugh when the pinata cracked into a smile!

Nora wanted cupcakes that looked just like the belly badge on Birthday Bear.

 

When Grandma was here we found Kit's bed on Craigslist for a steal so grandma got it for Nora's birthday (Kit is one of Nora's American Girl dolls)  Nora was thrilled! 

 

Then on Nora's actual birthday she woke up to Dinosaur oatmeal that she wants every year for breakfast.

I found a few Care Bears from the thrift store and a Kit coloring book that we gave Nora. Our gift was paying for half of her AG doll so on her birthday she didn't get too much, but it was Care Bears so she was thrilled.  Later that day we went to a splash pad and park as a family.

And just a few pictures of this sweet girl. She's energetic and spunky and crafty and is full of big ideas. We love her so much.

Happy 9th Birthday Nora Gracie girl!

A summer hair cut.

Nora decided to donate her hair this summer and get a nice short hair cut. I was pretty excited because she has thick hair and it isn't easy to comb out! Here are the before pictures:

During:

We had family visiting so Nora's cousin Ava decided to cut hers too!

After:

I think it turned out really cute. She donated 10 inches and the haircut was free. We probably won't be going back to that same place, their cutting was a bit choppy, Emily had to take an inch off of one side of Ava's hair because it was uneven.... but the girls were happy so that's good.

Hooray for cute short hair and easy brushing! It really makes me want to cut my hair again!

The derby, Nora and demolition

 Our ward had a Pinewood Derby and invited everyone to participate. Of course this thrilled Sophie to no end since she is always wanting to join the Cub Scouts. So we built this little beauty and entered it in the competition. Our little car wasn't quite as fast as we'd hoped, but we all had fun anyway!

 Nora takes holidays and any type of "theme" day very seriously. At school they had Color day and the 3rd graders were all assigned to wear....white. White? Isn't white the absence of color? And what parent in their right mind has a white wardrobe for their 3rd grader? Not me. And of course Nora couldn't be content with just wearing a white shirt. She had to go all out in typical Nora fashion. Since I wasn't going to go buy something just for this day we talked about bleaching some pants or something but she finally decided on this outfit. It is a swimsuit cover up. Later that day I looked back at the picture on my camera and spent about 10 minutes laughing because I sent my daughter to school in a swimsuit cover up and tights - in January no less. She didn't even have a shirt on underneath! What was I thinking? (Oh yes, I was thinking that she was happy and there was no drama or tears over not having the right thing to wear.) She also spent a lot of time making her white bracelet, earrings, headband and necklace to go with her outfit. She also made a white puff ball bunny and a little home for him that she took to school as well.  I love this girl. She is quirky and delightful.

The girls had fun demolishing this wall with a hammer. 

In my last post I mentioned how I wanted to take out a wall in the girls room (technically it was a closet.) Well, Brian did it for me on Saturday. He must really love me because on Wednesday of that week he stayed up at work all night long (without sleeping) working on a grant and then worked and taught 2 classes on Thursday and didn't come home until 6. Then Friday he stayed up until 2 grading papers and Saturday morning took 3 of the kids to a birthday party while I had a primary meeting. When he got home he started this project for me because he knew how much I wanted it done, but I needed his help to do it. Such a nice husband! So I've been working on finishing the girls room all week and can't wait to have it done.  Fun!

Nora

On Sunday after church Nora and I were cuddling on the couch while Sophie was reading by the fire with the dog and the boys were playing legos. The camera was sitting nearby so I took a few pictures of us. I often get told that Nora looks like me, but if I look at pictures of me at her age we don't really look that much alike. Nora is our child who has the strongest need for physical attention. She needs to be hugged, kissed and snuggled. And often. She is also highly emotional right now. I watch her struggle to gain control over her emotions and it is so hard for her. She has such a beautiful and tender heart but she is easily upset and can completely spiral out of control over things that seem so very small. We have read books and tried many things; losing privileges and toys, being stern, ignoring her, holding her, sending her to her room, trying to talk with her, etc. I find myself in these situations just wanting to cry with her because I feel so lost as to how to help her. I feel like she reaches a point where she knows she has lost control and it frustrates her even more. Poor sweet girl. She has a harder time if she is over tired or hungry. I know we'll be able to work through this and she'll learn how to deal with her strong emotions, but it is sad to watch her struggle. The good thing is that she has never had any problems at school or church or anywhere but with family. So I know she can do it! I just need to figure out how to help her in the best way.

She's got style.

Nora has always had a style all her own. She came down for church today wearing these socks and shoes with her leggings and dress. It was almost too much for me. I generally let her wear whatever as long as it's weather appropriate and modest - and this unfortunately fit the bill. I almost suggested something else but since I was busy getting the boys ready for church and gathering my church bags and singing time stuff I just let it go. Besides, half of our Sunday mornings she's upset because she can't find shoes to wear so I was happy she at least found a pair without my help. It kept me giggling all through Sacrament meeting every me I looked down at her feet. Oh, and yes our driveway is pretty much an ice rink and so was our church parking lot. I had a hand on both Nora and Miles while getting from the van to the sidewalk at church and I took them both down with me when I slipped on the ice! Luckily for me Miles broke my fall. Poor Miles!

Cave of the Mounds

Nora has been wanting to go to the Cave of the Mounds since last summer when her friend went and brought her back a rock and told her all about it. It's kind of pricey for a family of 6 so we told her we'd go for her birthday this year. Well, we were in Utah this summer but of course she didn't forget that we had said we'd go for her birthday. Through our library summer reading program all the kids got a free pass so we finally went last week. It was only about 30 minutes away and a pretty fun place. They had a "fossil dig" where the kids could dig for jewels, bones and fossils. Of course they were all for sale, but the digging was free. They loved it. And our kids are learning to be like their parents, they thought the prices for the rocks were outrageous (which they were...) and were happy to dig up the rocks and then put them back, which made Brian and I so proud. :) 

The cave tour was about an hour long and Wesley was.... less than delightful. About 5 minutes in to it Brian and I knew it was going to be rough. But since we'd paid we decided to stick it out. He didn't seem scared or anything, I think it was more that we were walking slowly, not touching things and supposedly listening to the tour guide - all hard things for a three year old!

Luckily the older 3 kiddos had a great time. They all love rocks and thought this amazing cave was pretty cool and they loved learning about the formations.

Brian trying to keep Wesley happy.

Grumpy Boy.

Nora brought her money she'd been saving especially for this trip and bought a bag of sand and rocks to "mine". She loved every second of it.

One happy girl!

Me and my girls.

Daddy and Miles (Wesley wouldn't be in it...)

Such a pretty day!

Wesley by the mining area.

He was adorable after we got out of the cave and he could be crazy again!

It was a fun day together as a family. And since it was so close we still got a lot done on that Saturday. Hooray!