Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

And this would be a "Mom Post". A little over a week ago, I had the opportunity to share in the experience of a super fun birthday celebration with 7 of my favorite friends. The celebration was held at Camp Clark and was prepared by 2 gourmet chefs from The Italian Gourmet of Mpls. FANTASTIC! WE had 3 birthdays to celebrate so we decided to skip the gifts, skip the loud, expensive restaurants and indulge in an intimate,  gourmet chef prepared meal right in the home. Let me tell you, it was the next big thing to actually being in Italy. Of course, there was plenty of wine (as you can see from the photos). Our  two chefs, Antonio Cecconi and his fun assistant (name?? - have a little more wine, Tina)  kindly showed us how to make pasta and prepare an authentic Italian meal and a delicious, chocolatey dessert. FABULOUS! We had such a nice time and ended the night with our standard human pyramid, PLUS 3 varmints who slipped in before their bedtime. Too bad their mama was sheepish about kneeling on the two backs of her partners in crime - it would have been so much better to just GO FOR IT even if it meant an ER visit. Why not end the night with a little excitement? Next time :)

Dylan Wins Big at Cub Scouts Pine Derby Races!

So during the basketball season-end tournament, Dave had to run across the hall between games, weigh his and Dylan's car in and race it in it's first race while Dylan played ball. Good thing mom and the girls were there to keep cheering on Dylan at the game. He was so excited to learn that his car not only won it's first race, but it was voted "Fastest Looking Car" of the entire group. Why am I not surprised, considering Dave had a BIG hand in creating the car, the Red Bullet. 

Dylan almost jumped out of his pants when he won even more races to clench first place in his Den and third overall in the entire Pack. This means he gets to go to Districts at the Mall of America in March which we just found out is the same weekend as our ski trip to Lutsen. Dave and Dylan just may have to leave the Red Bullet in someone else's caring hands (Ethan and his Dad - they are going too!) and pray it does well without the loving touch of Dad and Dylan. Stay tuned!

Basketball Season Rolls to an End

Dylan just finished his basketball season last weekend with a season-end basketball tournament. He had a really great time together with a few of his Aspen classmates. Their coaches were phenomenal and so great with the kids which makes all the difference in the world. It just so happens that his tournament corresponded with Dylan's Cub Scout Pine Derby Races (across the hallway at the school) so Dave had to rush off and race Dylan's car while Dylan played ball. Good news: Dylan won his first race....stay tuned for next post!

Finance 101

This past Friday, I picked the kiddos up from school and went home and had them grab their piggy banks. I had planned a field trip to the local bank so they could open up their own savings accounts and learn a little more about "finance".

They have been saving up for quite a while and have these really neat little "ABC" piggy banks that feature three banks in one: A is Giving (tithing); B is Saving (goes directly to the bank); and C is Spending (for themselves, gifts for others). Whenever they receive $, they usually donate a certain amount to each section. The banker was very impressed with the amount of money they had saved up which was collected from a combination of gifts, allowance, lemonade sales and a few garage sales. The best part is they got to help count the money, see it deposited into their accounts and see on the computer how much they each have and how it will continue to grow as they add to it monthly. Oh boy, how exciting for them!

Dave and I try our best to teach them about the value of money and why it's important to give to others in need, save for their futures and spend wisely. Now that they can go on the computer and see their account values increase each month, it has become even more interesting and motivating at the same time.

Ski Bunnies

We get to add another first to our list of Camp Clark adventures - LTD took their very first downhill snow skiing lesson today at Hyland Hills. To put it in their words, it was "awesome", "amazing", "so cool", "super fun"......I think you get the drift. They absolutely loved it! Those squirts have absolutely no fear and had a complete blast! What a riot watching those little bodies maneuver and come down that bunny hill with smiles plastered on their faces from ear to ear. 

Dave and I had to partake in a mandatory parent meeting for about 15 minutes or so and when we came out to continue to cheer them on, here Taylor had already advanced to the next level! Our Little Peanut (Crash Kemmet II) was moved to the next class due to her "advanced skills" according to the instructor. Dave and I burst out laughing because she is typically "accident prone". Not this time! Dylan and Lindsey weren't far behind and were advanced as well about 15 minutes later which they were really happy about. Next lesson, they get to try out the chair lift which should be very interesting. Let's hope they don't fall off the ski lift like their mom did in high school at Red Lodge, MT!

Dave and I are super excited to ski with our little munchkins in the next few weeks to prepare for our ski trip coming up. In March, we are headed to Lutsen for a 4-day weekend. We rented a ski-in/ski-out condo complete with an outdoor hot tub and an outdoor heated pool. We cannot wait! The kiddos are even more excited and are looking forward to their next few lessons before they "tackle the mountains" :) What a great sport to be able to share with our kiddos.

Absolutely no fear!

I was born ready!

This is AWESOME!

Getting ready for their first ski lesson

Taylor swishing down the bunny hill

When do we go to the top of the mountain - I am SO ready!

Uplifting School News

We have some great news to share regarding our school. First, construction for a brand new school has been approved and is now underway! We couldn't be more thrilled since it is very close to the existing location which means a 2-3 minute drive to school from our home. The parents and faculty are ecstatic about this since it has been over a year in the making and there is now light at the end of the tunnel. It sounds like the building will be ready for our 2012-2013 school year in September. WooHoo!

In addition to our new digs, Aspen Academy has been nominated as 1 of only 8 schools in MN (out of thousands of schools) as a "Blue Ribbon School". This is an extremely high honor and acknowledges our academic excellence at every grade level. There is an application process that Aspen will participate in with this nomination, and if selected, we will move on as a national nominee in Washington D.C. We are so proud of our school board, our staff, our children and all the parents in our small community for helping make our school the excellent school it is. Go Aspen!!

Weekend Fun

This was our first weekend in a LONG time that we didn't have anything whatsoever planned which was PERFECT! We had the entire weekend to just do "whatever"...and whatever we did! Friday night we had our traditional disco night at Camp Clark which has turned into a variety of activities performed at the same time: disco dancing to music from the 70's, guitar playing (Dad), throwing football, singing karoake and a tea party with snacks. The kids just love the music Dave and I grew up on which is hysterical. We let LTD stay up a little later but we all got to sleep in the next day. Saturday afternoon after Dylan's basketball, the kiddos and I headed over to Life Time to swim and burn off some energy. When we got home, it was time to say goodbye to our interior Christmas decorations and everybody pitched in cleaning it all up. Since we have not been sledding much this year due to limited snow, we loaded up the troops this afternoon to go tubing at a local ski area. It was a perfect day to be outside and we had a great time. The kiddos are signed up for downhill ski lessons for the month of February so they are really excited to give that a whirl too. We topped it off with hot cocoa while sitting at an outdoor bonfire. Nothing better than the smell of an outdoor bonfire in the middle of winter.

Tomorrow it's back to work for me but the kiddos have the day off school which means one more day of play time. LTD have friends coming over for a full day of "playing". Wish I could play too!