And All Who Gathered Around Him...

It's Kimberly's turn to shine like the Christmas Star, and boy did she ever. She stole the show with her singing louder than anyone else. She had 2 opportunities to speak into the microphone as well. She said her line, "And all who gathered around him, rejoiced and praised his birth. For the baby, a savior named Jesus was son Christs son on earth." and then she came up to the mic announced her full name (including middle name) and "Feliz Navidad" at the end of the program (most of the other kids said "Happy Birthday Jesus"). All in all it was a great night. After the program Kimberly and her classmates sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and enjoyed cake and ice cream.

Ready for her Advent Program

 

Kimberly kept talking to me when I would take her picture so we get a goofy smile!

FUN FACT: When I attended Gingerbread Pre-School I was an angel in my Christmas program; Clarissa was also an angel, and now Kimberly was one too. What a neat little tradition us three girls share without even trying!

Twas The Night of An Advent Program...

Clarissa was giddy as could be, when she found her tooth extra wiggly.

With one quick twist her tooth fell out, She got so excited she let out a shout.

Smiling for the camera she felt very cool, knowing her name would be put on a giant tooth when she arrived at school.

Clarissa had dinner but only ate some, knowing her school's Advent Program was soon to come.

Her dress had been purchased just hours before, Clarissa stood for pictures but soon we were out the door.

Her parents were proud, as they could pick her voice from the crowd.

When asked "Are you putting your tooth under your pillow tonight?" Clarissa responded.

"Not just yet, I want keep it longer, is that alright?"

Family Fun

How much fun can be packed into one day? The Painter clan answers...

For some time now the girls (mainly Clarissa) have been asking to go ice skating.  We were able to purchase discounted passes to be used by January 1, 2012 and decided that today was the best day to use them.  We then had the opportunity to attend an Iowa Energy Basketball game we thought it would be a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon and evening in Des Moines. Needing to fill in a time gap between skating and the basketball game we decided to pass the time by going to the mall to buy the girls some shirts and check out the Red Rock Wildlife Center.

We are excited to share stories and pictures since all good adventures come with LOTS of treasured stories you don't want to forget!

Kimberly was getting excited about ice skating and was the first to have her skates on; she was doing great balancing while walking around. Sadly once she got on the ice she got scared and only went about 15-20 feet until she asked to try again when she's older. We got off the ice leaving Quentin and Clarissa. While watching, Kimberly didn't complain that she wasn't skating, but instead she cheered on her sister. Kimberly did make mention one time, "I wish I was as good as Clarissa is at skating." I gave her a hug and told her we could try again next year!

Clarissa, however, was the opposite of her sister. While walking around she was wobbly and almost fell a few times but when she was on the ice she got better and better when going around. I was excited to skate with her and show her some of the tricks I know how to do but my skate's shoe lace broke and I had to call it quits.

After ice skating it was off to the mall for a little shopping and a visit to the Red Rock Wildlife Center. We got there in time to learn about skunks and bob cats. The girls got to pet each of the animals and learn lots of fun facts. Kimberly and Clarissa talked about how cute the skunk was. I made sure to get a good picture of the skunk's face after petting her, something most people don't get to experience.

Fun Facts: A skunk can't spray you if its tail is down. A bob cat can purr, it can also trick its predators with the white dots on the back of their ears making them think the bob cat is looking at them.




We enjoyed KFC for dinner. I don't have much to say about this delicious meal but I did get an adorable picture of the girls together.


The final activity of the evening was the basketball game. Both girls had favorite parts and I will explain them more in depth below.


Like any sporting event you tend to get to know your neighbors. A couple that sat behind us have season passes and even showed up on the kissing cam at half time. Kimberly got to know the lady sitting behind us and even was asked if she wanted to sit with them. This is no surprise that Kimberly made a new friend, and I know where she gets it from: It's a trait that has been passed down from her Great Grandpa Knapp to her Papa Ray, and this trait is also one I have had since I was a kid. I love knowing Kimberly has this unique and fun trait since it has been passed down through at least 4 generations.

The game ended with a win for the Iowa Energy. We were only 9 points away from a free pizza from a local grocery store. Our section also won a membership to Aspen Fitness Club.

Both girls love to dance but Clarissa is the one who talks about it non stop. She loved to copy what the High Voltage Dance Team did. At the end of the game the dance team sat out at a table and signed posters for a special promotion. Both girls got exited and Clarissa even asked if she could take a picture with them. Clarissa was on cloud nine when they all said cheese. She then told me later, "I even held their pom pom."  (Yes you can clearly see Kimberly holding one but Clarissa's hand is on the one that is in front of her.) Both girls are excited to hang their signed posters in their room!

The question we started with was how much fun can you pack into one day but the real question is:   How many smiles, treasured memories, and awesome moments can you have in one day?

Snowy Fun

I've been looking forward to the first snow that actually sticks for longer than over night. The girls also ask me every morning if it snowed yet. Well last night we got what we had been wanting. SNOW! Its not a lot but enough for us to get our snow gear on and play. On our way home from church the girls were asking me to read them Luke: Chapter 2 (thats what they learned in childrens moment) but when we arrived home they asked if they could play in the snow. I was happy to tell them YES! I had their snow gear laid out before leaving for church knowing they would want to play. So enjoy our Snowy Fun pictures.

 

Last night when I took Lady outside I was SO happy to see SNOW!

I love this picture of Kimmy

I could hardly get Clare to stand still for a picture.

Kimberly's snow angel!

 

Clare's snow angel

They had a blast playing in the snow.

Since I didn't get a chance to add this earlier I figured now was a good time. Here is our Christmas tree this year!

Piano Performance...

(This event took place on November 11th posted here late)
As I've mentioned before Clarissa has been taking piano lessons for about 5 months. She was given the opportunity at the beginning of this month to play with others at a retirement home here in town. We weren't sure she would be able to attend but at the last minute she was able to. She did great but we wished her dad and grandparents could have been there as well. I expressed this to my mom and she came up with a great idea to host a piano recital at their house later in the month. I wanted to do this before Thanksgiving so November 18th was the perfect day to have this planned. My mom did an amazing job making invites for this special event.

November 18th came and Clarissa couldn't wait to show her grandparents just what she's capable of. Even though Quentin hears her practice he's never just sat back and listened to her play. Kimberly handed out the programs and  Clarissa played 6 songs; she was given a standing ovation as well as an encore. After she finished her encore I presented her with flowers.  We enjoyed refreshments and the girls showed her Grandpa Laura and Papa Chuck around the house. My parent's house has changed quite a bit since I graduated from high school (that being the last time they were there).

With the recent event of my Grandfather's death I've realized how lucky and blessed my children are to have both sets of their grandparents so close by. With having everyone in one place at the same time I didn't want this to pass without a picture being taken. I cherish this picture and it's most definitely one of my top 10 favorite pictures of the year.

(Quentin's parents, Kimberly, Clarissa, and my Parents)

Reading Buddy

A wonderful opportunity came to our local library:  It's a chance for kids to have 20 minutes reading with a therapy dog named Zazz.  Zazz's owners are good friends of mine who I work with on the Relay for Life committee. Clarissa is reading like a pro first grader these days and I felt that it would be a great way for her to read and have a good listener, other than mommy and daddy. Clarissa picked out a few books and was even able to bring a book from school to read to Zazz. After getting to the librar Clarissa plopped down and started reading with her new friend. She enjoyed not only reading to Zazz but showing her the pictures. I peeked in to get a few pictures and then left so that Clarissa could stay concentrated on what she was reading.  She is on the schedule to read with Zazz on Wednesdays from now until December!

Dad's Weekend

This weekend Molly went with a group of women to the 2011 Hearts At Home North Central Conference in Rochester, Minnesota leaving me with the kids for the entire weekend (insert maniacal laugh here).  This is the first time Molly has been away from us on her own since we have been together.  Both of us were very excited for this weekend to come as she was able to experience something new.  I have no idea of what she has been up to but I can give you an idea of what the girls and I have done so far.

Molly left at noon on Friday and I took over the day care.  This weekend we are also watching my parents' dog, Remi, and Molly's parents' dog, Myangel, while they are all out of town (at least Remi goes home on Sunday morning).  The highlight of the day, at least for Kim, was a birthday party at a friend's house.  While she was at the party Clarissa and I went to Pamida to look at some things, including toys that she may want for Christmas.  After Pamida Clarissa and I went to the local ice cream shop to enjoy some snacks and then we came home and played a game of Mario Baseball on Wii.  We picked Kim up from the party and the girls headed for bed.

Saturday morning one of Molly's friends, who actually lives in Minnesota but was visiting family for the weekend, stopped over to see the girls and Lady since she had never met Lady before.  After she left the girls and I sat down and watched the Iowa Hawkeyes defeat the Michigan Wolverines 24-16 in a nail biter.  The evening brought us a cheese pizza from Casey's and then donkey basketball at the middle school's gym.  There were 4 teams of "local celebrities" playing basketball on donkeys.  There were 3 games played.  Each game featured 2 8:00 periods with the clock never stopping, unless you committed a foul against a donkey (also known as hitting it with the ball).  The penalty for doing such was to take the donkey you hit to center court and getting on one knee to apologize.  In addition to that the player had to give the donkey a kiss; the first offender kissed the nose, the second kissed the rear, and the third had to kiss the rear for a count of 3 (pic below).  Kim and Clarissa were complaining about being tired so we left after the 2nd game and didn't get to see the championship, but they did get a chance to ride on a donkey between the first 2 games.  I will tell you the 2 games we saw might have had a total of 20 points scored between them, so it's a very low scoring but humorous game.  People were having a hard time staying on the donkeys and getting them to go the direction they needed.  One of our neighbors was in the 2nd game and he had some pretty nasty spills off his donkey; good thing he was wearing a helmet:

The girls have their tickets and are ready to go!

The team that won the 1st game ready to start.

Some of the fast and furious action of game 1.

The girls on the back of their noble steed.

This is what happens when you hit a donkey with the ball.  That's one of Perry's key players on the 2001 girls state basketball championship team kissing some donkey rear.

The girls wanted snacks and a bath when we got home and then it was off to bed (they were pretty worn out).  Tonight I hope to get some cleaning done around the house (no it's not messy just because I'm "in charge") and then be ready for Molly to come home tomorrow, whenever that may be.

-Quentin