I'll be home for Christmas...

We are currently in Arkansas!! It has been a great trip. We have gotten to spend a lot of time with our family and friends. The quality time with the people we love has been exactly what we all needed.

The kids and I were so excited coming home that we sang "I'll be home for Christmas" on the plane. We had a great time, but unfortunately, I do not think it was as enjoyable for our surrounding passengers. I almost had to go "Denver" on one old man, but in my Christmas spirit, I refrained.


The kids had a wonderful Christmas. They received LOTS of presents, and exactly what they wanted from Santa. As always, I am glad that it is over. Seriously, I think I am the GRINCH. It was difficult for me to muster excitement this year. I really need to work on that for next year.

Now we are facing the dilemma of finding a way to transport the toys, etc. home to Colorado. I think some of the toys will be left here in AR. Maybe it will be like a second Christmas when we return, OR we could re-wrap and re-gift them to the kids for their birthdays in June and July. It will be long enough that maybe they will have forgotten. Always thinking...

Going, going, gone

The best part of the gingerbread house is the EATING of the gingerbread house. Since we are leaving for Arkansas tomorrow, we decided to have a little dessert after dinner. The result was a completely destroyed masterpiece...a true work of art demolished.

Claire and Drew enjoyed the taste, but Braden didn't want any because he ate ice-cream last night, so he didn't want to eat too much sugar. IS THIS MY CHILD?!!!!

Dance Performances

I apologize for the quality of this picture. When I arrived to the performance I realized that my camera battery was dead; therefore, this picture is the result of a camera phone...not high quality.

Sunday, after Claire's busy week as a budding actress, her dancing career was calling. She has been a member of this dance team the entire semester. The three performances were Sunday. She did a great job, even though she was not feeling well and was exhausted from the week.

She can really shake her bum. It is precious how uninhibited the kids are as they groove to the beat. She took the performance seriously and put forth every amount of grooving effort she has. PRICELESS!!

Now let me add that the day could not have been complete without some diva drama. As you can imagine, a budding actress/dancer must practice her diva-ness and her mom was the target of her practice. It was all about the make-up. I had thoughtfully purchased (what I believed) to be appropriate make-up for her to wear. I then began to help her to apply the make-up. However, according to Claire, "I didn't know what I was doing." Therefore, I left it to her. After she was finished, she was completely mad at me because she wasn't happy with the results. It was all my fault because I didn't help her. EXCUSE ME?!! I thought she asked me to stop helping her...WHATEVER!! Sometimes you can't win, and even if you chose to fight, you must learn to "pick your battles."

Winter Park

Last weekend, our friends the Johnsons came to visit. We went to Winter Park for the weekend. It was a lot of fun!!

We rented a condo and the kids loved the excitement of the hottub. They thought it was so cool to sit in the hottub while it snowed. They would then take turns jumping out of the warm water and lying in the snow to make snow angels. I think everyone staying at the resort were familiar with us, between our screams and carolling in the hottub our presence was greatly known.

One of the highlights of the weekend was that we think Drew learned to stop on his skis. He went to ski school (again), and they let him go on the "big mountain." He was very proud of himself. The comments on his reportcard from ski school were as follows: fearless, quite a leader, ready to "rip" (aka go fast), and charming.

Justin and I were able to ski with Claire and Braden. It is such fun to ski together...when the kids are fed and rested. Justin (in true "type A" fashion), pushed the kids. They were not allowed to rest and barely allowed to eat. It was quite humorous. Finally, by the end of the second day, it was a disaster. Claire and Braden were both crying as they skied down the mountain. At one point, the kids were crying, and Justin had lost a ski in deep snow and was cussing. I made up a song at that moment to the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas." The words were something like two kids crying, one dad cussing... Seriously, it is humorous when you make your kids miserable trying to make them have fun. ha/ha

Decorating the Christmas Tree

The kids and I decorated the Christmas tree. My OCD was having issue with their choice of ornament placement; however, I finally "gave up." The result was that I allowed them to finish their job, and then I quietly stayed up late that night repositioning the decorations appropriately. The next morning the kids commented and praised themselves on what a great job they did. If only they knew...wink, wink.

Gingerbread House

After school and play practice on Friday, the kids and I made a gingerbread house. Please do not be too impressed, we used a kit. I had planned (and even saved the boxes) to make our gingerbread village like we made last year. However, I haven't been motivated, and believed it to be a "sign" not to make the elaborate version when we received a kit from Nonna. The kids had a blast. The boys politely took their orders and creative direction from Claire. She really had them "in line" so I sat on the stool and watched. It turned out to be VERY cute!!

May I have your autograph?

This week has turned out to be quite a busy week for Claire. She auditioned and was chosen for the Missoula performance of "The Pied Piper." She was a townsperson, and let me say she was quite a little performer.

Missoula is an international drama company that travels to schools for one week, intensive drama workshops that conclude with performances. The kids were required to practice every night from 3:30 to 8:00 PM. As you can imagine, the kids were exhausted by the end of the week. Of course, in true "Seale" fashion, Claire had a touch of stomach virus during the week, just to keep it interesting and to add to her exhaustion.

Claire did a great job and really seemed to enjoy herself. She was very expressive in her speaking parts. I am amazed at her confidence. She is not shy or intimidated in the least. A packed audience affected her none.

As we were leaving the last performance, she and I were walking home. I asked her if I could have her autograph. She rolled her eyes and said "stop, please." I think she was a little embarrassed by her mom. A true star, a little annoyed by her fans.

DJ Jazzy Drew

Last night while Claire and Braden were doing their endless homework, Drew came to the table. He proceeded to "spin" cds while wearing my sunglasses. He then added sound effects like a rap star. WHERE DID HE GET THIS? His little mind... The scary thing was that he had a little rhythm and beat going. Can you imagine this kid as a teenager? I picture him at parties, "spinning a beat," and dancing on tables. He will probably be the life of the party. We better just hold on and enjoy the ride.

Winter, winter, winter...

I guess that I need to "put on my big girl pants and get over it." (that's for you mom).

Today, as I was following my daily routine of checking the unpredictable Colorado weather, it read "high of 24 degrees." There is also approximately 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground. Now let me say that the issue I had this morning as I read the forecast was that I have my yahoo account set with the LR weather and the Denver weather to appear. You can imagine the sickness in my stomach as I read the high of 24 degrees next to the high of 78 degrees in LR. Oh how I wish I were in Arkansas!!! I am dreaming of wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, WITHOUT the dry, cracked skin that we have acquired.