Mommy/Son Ski Day

Today was my first day to ski with Riley this year and I'm pleased to report that our money for lessons at Snowbird was well spent.  He's done so well and we had so much fun today.

We warmed up on the trails near Baby Thunder - his favorites are the little trails through the woods like Mini Miners Camp.  After that, he was cold so we took at hot chocolate break then headed up to try some bigger/longer trails.  We then headed out to try some blues.  The kid did SOOOO well!  He had just as much fun on the blues as I did.  We played "follow the leader" almost the entire day.  I made him try to follow my trail so he would practice his snake turns.  By the end of the day, he was turning so well!  If I'd leave it up to him, he'd go faster down the hills and rely on "pizza" to slow himself.  He even went into the terrain park - he didn't jump anything, but skied up and over the jumps so he thought he was pretty cool.  He wants to go on some black diamonds, but obviously he's not ready for that...so I gave him a challenge.  I told him that Mommy hasn't skied any black diamonds since I lived in NY, so when he can do his snake turns correctly ALL the time on his own, then I'll ski a black diamond with him at Snowbird.

Riding up the lift at the beginning of the day

Taking Momma through Mini Miner's Camp - which are fun trails through the woods for kids.  There are fun mining town decorations to check out.

Playing follow the leader with mom on a powder trail...he liked it...maybe he'll be a powderhound?

Heading down Big Emma

Heading down Bassackwards - a long BLUE trail!

When did my kid get so daring?  His confidence has gone through the roof!  I couldn't be more happy about it!  I'm so proud of him.  He and I had so much fun today and we're both looking forward to our next ski day together!

Celebrity Spotting!

This week is the Sundance Film Festival which takes place here in Utah.  There are celebrities all over Salt Lake and Park City right now.  We thought we'd go on a celebrity spotting hunt of our own.

Look who we found:

Yes, Cinderella came to visit all the way from her castle!

She even let her mean step-sisters tag along for the trip!

Another princess who reminded Kendall of Snow White came to the Salt Lake Valley this weekend too!  What a score for Miss Kendall!

What would a film festival weekend be without seeing some superheros?

Yes, some of the cast of Star Wars are in town today...

Riley was so excited!

Gotta get a picture with a storm trooper!

"Look Mommy, it's a trooper!"

We were hoping to see 'Punzel in person, but she was arriving later than originally planned so this was the best we could do.

Gotta include Tiana in the princess mix.

CP30 as Riley calls him with R2D2 where there in cardboard form.

So obviously we didn't go to Park City for the day to find our celebrities.  There was a "Winter Palooza" going on at the Sandy Expo Center.  The kids had a blast on the bounce houses, swing sets, paint ball, etc.  The best part for them was seeing the characters in real life.  

They also had some wild life there and the kids took advantage of seeing it up close and personal.

Kendall was the only one who would pet a snake today.  She actually touched two different snakes!  Riley LOVES snakes but was too nervous to touch one.  He said he'd pet a lizard, but not a snake...

Luckily we found a lizard for him to pet.

Kendall petting the softest animal in the world...a chinchilla.  

Miniature horses were on hand for the kids to see.

To top off our great morning, Daddy took us to Joe's Crab Shack for lunch!  What a great family day we had today...Now Andy and Daddy are busy working on his pinewood derby car for next Saturday's Humpty Dumpty race for scouts.  The smell of spray paint has spread from the garage into the house.  How lovely!  

Tomorrow Riley and I head up to Snowbird for a Mommy/Son skiing date!  Can't wait for that!  Hope you had a happy Saturday too!

Getting In The Valentine's Spirit

I've never had a wreath specifically for Valentine's Day before, but I saw this idea on a craft blog somewhere and figured I'd give it a try.  I'm so glad I did because I love it and it cost me less than $3 to make!

I took a wire hanger and bent it into a heart shape - I snipped it off the part that actually hangs on the rod afterwards because I didn't need it to attach to the door.  I had considered tying a bow on it and hanging it up that way, but chose this instead.  I bought a roll of red tulle at the craft store (with a 40% off coupon).   I cut the tulle into 6 inch strips and then attached it to the wire just like you do to make a tutu.  For those of you who've never made a tutu, fold the tulle in half then knot it onto the wire by putting the two ends through the loop end.  I used the entire spool on this wreath.  Making it full was the trick.  

Pretty simple and inexpensive...Just what I like in a craft!  Thought I'd share incase anyone else wanted to try it.  

Watch Out! Superheros Have Appeared!

The kids begged me to make them superhero capes this week so one day after school, we stopped by Joann's to see what kind of fabric was on sale and what the kids might have been interested in using for their capes.

Here's what we came up with for them:

Her's is a princess cape and his is a shark cape...That's what they wanted, so that's what they got!

Her's has Rapunzel on the underside and his has sharks on the underside.

Superhero's in action!

They are both running around the house like nuts in their capes - which actually isn't all that different than any other day except they are dressed in princess and shark capes.

The End Of Ski School...

This past Saturday was Riley's last day of ski school.  He's sad that he won't get to ski every weekend, but he's also looking forward to waking up and having a lazy Saturday morning.  Poor kid has been out the door by 8 am 6 days a week for 5 weeks!

His instructors were fabulous and he improved so much in just one session.  His instructor said that Riley kept begging to go faster and always wanted to go first so he wouldn't be slowed down by the other kids who weren't as brave!  He also said that Riley is skiing with corresponding edges across the hill almost all the time and has been skiing some rather difficult terrain and he's ready to move on to more difficult trails...Whoo Hoo!  Go Riley!

I'm going to take him skiing on Sunday if all goes well with the weather...I haven't seen him ski yet this year.  He skied with his Dad and his Nanny and Pappy in December so now it's Mom's turn to see what he can do!  I can't wait!

Here are some pictures taken of him at ski school this winter:

Three kids in a class...Two instructors...Can't beat that!

Here he is leading the pack...gotta be the lead dog or the view never changes, right?

Check out the snowball in his hand...said he would eat it while skiing!

I'm so proud of my little buddy.  He's gotten so much more confident on his skis and with who he is as a person.  I never would have gone to ski school by myself.  I would have needed another friend or sibling there to give me the confidence to do that all day without my parents!  I'm so excited that he enjoys something that his dad and I enjoy.  This is going to become a great family activity for us!

It's Showtime!

At the end of each semester at The Little Gym, the kids show off all the skills they've learned to their friends and family...Well, you know we have no family here so I created a video of today's performance.

Enjoy!

Learning How To Ice Skate

I guess I kind of took it for granted that I had learned to ice skate at an early age as a kid...It didn't dawn on me that I should be trying to teach my own kids right now.  I guess when we lived in Florida, it wasn't a big deal and when we first moved to Utah, we were more concerned with teaching the kids to ski, that ice skating got overlooked.

My dad taught me how to ice skate on the pond at Turkey Hill Dairy (the place that makes that awesome ice tea that I'm always craving!).  My grandparents and the family that own(ed) the dairy were the closest of friends so I got spend a lot of time there as a kid.  My dad and some of his buddies from church use to go skate there, play hockey, etc. so I got to tag along.  When I was older, we use to skate at the pond at Millersville University, which was just a few blocks down the street from our house.  I don't think I skated on an indoor rink until high school!  I loved pond skating and feel badly that my kids won't get that experience.

Riley has a school field trip next week to the ice rink...I figured I had better take him so that at least he's familiar with skates and how to get up when he falls if nothing else.  I wasn't sure exactly what to expect with him because he's not as naturally coordinated as Kendall, but has done really well with ski school this year.  He fell in LOVE with ice skating.  I decided not to give too much instruction and just let him explore and find his way.  He improved so much in the short 2 hours we were there!  He started out looking a lot like Bambi, and was clinging to me for dear life, but once he got the hang of it, there was no more holding mom's hand...he was on his own.  He fell...a lot...but that didn't discourage him one bit.  He'd just hop back up and keep going.  I only gave him two bits of advice - to keep his belly button over his feet and to push off and glide on the ice instead of walking...He gained so much confidence and had so much fun.  Here's the evidence of our success:

He kept asking me when we could go again and if we could bring Kendall...She was so distraught that I wouldn't take both of them yesterday, but now that Riley knows what he's doing well enough on his own, I feel more comfortable taking both of them by myself.  Maybe another trip is in order before the month is out.

Things That Make You Go Hmm...

I just read a horrifying article on KSL.com regarding our national debt!  This paragraph below is directly taken from that article:

Here's what then-Sen. Barack Obama said on the Senate floor in 2006: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance the government's reckless fiscal policies."

It was a blast by the freshman lawmaker against a Bush request to raise the debt limit to $8.96 trillion.

So I guess now that our federal debt is over 14 trillion dollars, we have a serious "sign of leadership failure."  I love how he accused the government of having "reckless fiscal policies."  Ha!  Is that what they mean when the say, the pot calling the kettle black?  

When will we get our country back in shape?  Companies can't operate like this, why is government allowed to?  Our family doesn't spend what we don't have...we make cut backs to our lifestyle when funds are low...Why should government be any different?  And the sad thing is that we (and our children and grandchildren) will be stuck paying for all of this.

Just some of the things that make you go hmm..

Some Things I've Been Working On...

I've taken advantage of some down time over the past few weeks to put my creative juices to good use.  Here are a few of things I've made:

I made this for my little prima ballerina.  All I did was find a ballerina online, print it out, trace it on to freezer paper, then cut it out with an exacto knife.  Then I used fabric paint and once it was dry, I made a ruffle out of tulle and then headed to the sewing machine and VIOLA!  

No, I'm not expecting...but I have a few friends who are and thought these would be a cute little gift for when their bundles of joy arrive!

My niece turns three this month and thought I'd make her a shirt with her name and a cupcake.  My brother and his wife don't celebrate holidays so I thought this would be a cute gift since it's not necessarily a "birthday" gift.

I also made her this picture frame

because she's as obsessed with all things ballerina just like Kendall.  My sister-in-law has some adorable pictures of her pretending to be a ballerina so I thought this might look cute in her bedroom.

And to top off the box of presents for my niece,

a cute rosette headband.  She's got as much (or as little) hair as Kendall.  I made a bunch of these for Kendall and they look so stinkin' cute on her, but she REFUSES to allow anything in her hair except maybe pigtails!  It's so frustrating to have tons of bows, flowers, hats and headbands for a little girl who won't wear them!

Along with the rosette theme, I saw this at Thanksgiving Point in the shops there and fell in love with it, but not the $50 price tag.  

Sorry the picture quality isn't fantastic, I took it with my phone so it wasn't obvious that I was going to try to copy it!

I decided I can make this myself for a fraction of the cost...So I did!

I gave this one to my mom for Christmas and she really liked it.  

I made this one for me and have gotten so many compliments on it whenever I wear it...at boutiques, the mall, from strangers on the street...

Here's the latest one I made...I LOVE this one and can't wait to wear it out!  

I also have a stack of new material up in my bedroom waiting for me to get in a sewing mood.  I think some new skirts and/or pillowcase dresses are in order.  I also have some other ideas bookmarked such as ruffle shirt dresses, bean bags in different shapes and with letters stenciled on them to help Kendall spell her name...Too many ideas, too little time!  Wonder if I could convince my husband to hire us a maid so I could have more time to craft?  Yeah, I know...but a girl can dream, right?

New Things To Be Excited About...

In my weekly "blog stalking" I came across two things that I actually got excited about (It's been a LONG week here at Chez Chunko!).

Here's the first:

Don't they look delicious?  Here's the best part, they are called Chocolate Malt Cupcakes!  Oh My Word!  I can't wait to make them.  If looking at this picture is making your mouth water like it does mine, you'll want to check out the recipe HERE at That Winsome Girl.  I am planning to make these this weekend since I'll have the kids solo again Monday and Riley doesn't have school, this will be a fun project for the three of us.

Here's the second thing I got excited over this week:

If you've never heard of Our Best Bites, you don't know what you're missing.  They have a fantastic food blog and are finally publishing a cookbook called Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms In The Kitchen!  The best part is that I will be able to purchase this book locally and not have to pay shipping to get it from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  You can also pre-order it from Deseretbook.com and save 15% by using the promo code BESTBITES.

Yes, I know I got excited over two things that have to do with food and I can't even taste anything at this point!  Might that be a sign that I'm on the road to recovery?  I can only hope!