The Nutcracker Ballet

This past fall, both girls started taking ballet at Rachael's School of Dance and have really been loving it. They have been so excited to be in the Nutcracker and it was a wonderful performance with the whole spectrum of skill level.

I didn't know it would be so much work getting the girls ready 3 times (2 dress rehearsals, and the performance). We had to slather up their hair with gel and hair spray so their hair would stay in their ballerina buns and put on stage makeup (which putting eyeliner on a 3 year old is a joke). Anyways, Taylor loved it and Callie just giggled a lot because it tickled when I put on her makeup.

I guess Callie is tired of getting her ballerina bun for the 3rd time that week.

Here is Callie stealing the show as a sheep. She was running all over the stage, twirling and spinning. In the picture below the girls were supposed to be off the stage but Callie wasn't done performing! The whole audience was laughing at our cute little girl!

Callie also played a baby mouse but none of the pictures really turned out because of the lighting.

Below, Taylor is on the right, next to the big girl. She did her Angel dance perfectly and she looked beautiful.

Taylor was also a bunny in one scene but because of the lighting we didn't get any good pictures.

Here is Taylor with her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs Miller. Taylor absolutely loves her and was thrilled when she found out her teacher was coming to watch her dance.

After the 2 hour long performance, Callie was done with costumes and taking pictures! So this is all we got from her at the end of the show.

Taylor was excited to get her flowers and pose for lots of pictures!

Here is who came (Grandma was there too but didn't make it into the picture)

The pictures below I took backstage at one of the very long dress rehearsals.

I didn't even tell the girls to strike a pose but this is what they gave me...pretty cute!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

One of the reasons we were excited about getting back to Colorado was for Brandon's family tree-hunting trip (with permits of course). We went up to Pike National Forrest and hiked around for a few hours with no luck of a tree. It was a beautiful day, but the kids were still getting cold and exhausted. Right when we were about to settle for less, we went on the other side of the road and it was like night and day. Literally, the other side, down a hill a little ways, was like a Christmas tree garden! We had lots to choose from and because we have a vaulted ceiling, we were able to find the perfect tree at the perfect height! We even got a tree for the girls room which thrilled them to no end. The second we got home the ornaments and lights came out and voila, we were singing, Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree! (not literally--kind of sac religious, huh?). What a fun way to start the season!

November Fun

On one of the many beauiful days of November, we went on a hike with Brandon's dad to Palmer Park. It is such a beautiful hike that is easy enough for kids to do the entire way and ends with breath-taking views of Colorado Springs.

This is one of our two snowstorms of November. The kids were esctatic to go out and play. Too bad it didn't last long!

Just having some fun playing "soccer" with our basketball and volleyball.

This was an early Christmas gift from Brandon to me. My kitchen had very little kitchen counter space with even less storage. Brandon enjoyed making this in his new shop downstairs. The kids and I love it!

Update....

So, I'd thought I'd share with the world my lovely not-so-little scar. It's been a little over 2 weeks since my surgery and I'm actually surprised that my scar isn't too bad. The photo makes it looks redder then it actually is (but what you can't tell is that it is pretty bumpy) The surgeon told us that by 6 months, it will look much better and after a few years it will just look like a crease in my neck.

I finally met with my endocrinologist (Dr Book) last week (it took almost 2 months to get in!) She has me taking lots and lots of vitamins, especially calcium and Vitamin D since my labs are still not up to par since the surgery. I bought $50 bucks worth of over the counter varieties of vitamins, like gummies, chewables and carmels (viativ) because I was getting sick of popping horse pills at every meal!

Dr Book seems very knowledgeable about my situation and we have a written out game plan of how we will deal with my thyroid issues from now on: during pregancy- blood tests every 4-6 weeks to monitor thyroid levels and appointments every 2-3 months. She feels it would be best for me to do the iodine radiation treatment after I'm done nursing baby #4. However, it is still our choice but I'm really feeling like it needs to be done. It just doesn't sound like a fun process....first you stop taking your thyroid medication for 3-5 weeks until you become sufficiently hypothyroid for the treatment. That alone will make me very tired and weak....which with 4 kids isn't great! Then they give me my radioactive iodine and with in a week I will have a body scan to locate any remaining thyroid tissue (cancerous or not). I will also have to isolate my self for a few days since I'll be radioactive :) Then I finally get to start taking my thyroid medication again but it can take another 5-7 week before my levels will be up to normal again. I will need to have a whole body scan every year since recurrence with my type of cancer (follicular variant of papillary cancer) is 25-35%

So there you have it!

The last of the Halloween activites

On Halloween we went to Nana and Papa's and did some trick or treating....what cute bunch!

We made carmel apples before hand....

Below are the few pictures Brandon took at the ward party....I was in charge this year so needless to say I was running around making sure the chili cook off, carnival and trunk-or-treat went as planned. We didn't get a family picture this year :( but I we had the whole Wizard of Oz thing going on. I was a witch, Brandon was the tin man, Taylor was Dorthy, Callie was Glenda the good witch (although she would only refer to herself as a princess :) and Beckett was the cutest little scarecrow I have ever seen!

Out in the parking lot trunk-or-treating......Beckett really loved the whole idea!

On the Monday before Halloween we did our traditional family party, with pizza, carving pumpkins and watching a movie (How to Train your Dragon....it was really good) We had a great time and we were glad to have Grandma there to help out!

Having a little taste!