Having fun with 12.12.12

I do love numbers and interesting tid-bits, so I had to document the fact that our tween was twelve years old on 12/12/12.  Kippy wanted a picture with her bestie, Miss Bella, who was freshly groomed and picture ready.  There have been three occurrences of this phenomenon in Angelique's lifetime...

Last November, the numbers and calendar aligned for her on 11.11.11.

 

 With the very first occurrence happening when she was 10 years old on 10/10/10, a little over two years ago.

Now she will have to wait until October 10, 2110, when she will be 110 years old to have the numbers align again!

The Mustache Bash

I must say that I had a blast putting together Kippy's 12th birthday party.  When I originally suggested a "mustache" themed party, Kippy was rather skeptical.  Then I told her my ideas to create an invitation "I mustache you a question, will you comb over to my birthday party?", give every one a "my stache" jar filled with goodies, and play a few games, Kippy came on board.

A huge shout-out to my sister-chic, Lori, who went above and beyond with creating adorable vinyl mustaches with her Silhouette cutting gadget. The only supplies we bought were some stache jars at the Dollar store, along with some green, black, and white streamers, plain white cups, white balloons, mustache duct tape and stick-on mustaches.

We stuck the vinyl mustaches on nearly EVERYthing.  From family pictures....

To balloons....

To bulletin boards...

We even hung them with filament from the chandelier... and with a hole punch, made mustache straws.  The City Bakery created some adorable mustache cupcakes for us, even tho they couldn't figure out WHY I wanted mustaches for a girls 12th birthday party!

The mustache crew had a great time selecting their mustache style, creating milk mustaches while dunking their oreos and just laughing and giggling.

 The girls played some games... Who am I? with labels stuck on their foreheads.

got blind folded and tried to stick the mustache on correctly...

 

ate treats, made faces, giggled some more and watched a movie.

I have to say, I love hosting this party for these tweens.  They were a very fun "crew".

Our unique girl

Today is Angelique Grace's 12th birthday!! Our Kippy Grace is a very unique combination of tough and tender-hearted.

She is so caring, loving, sentimental and sensitive, but has a strong, stubborn side to her as well.  She wants to be a marine biologist and a lawyer.

 It is this mix of seemingly contrasting characteristics make her so special:
  

• socially shy, yet adventurous, bold and willing to try new things (sushi, snowboarding, scary rides)

•  high-energy (think "Red-Bull with legs"), yet can sit and read for hours and hours

•  a true tom-boy, yet likes to have LONG hair and dress up

• extremely creative, yet messy beyond belief (may actually be a hoarder)

•  cries during sad movies, yet never sheds a tear when she is hurt (badly burned her arm this summer and was tough as nails about it)

We love her to the MOON and BACK and wouldn't change one single thing about her!

One of Kippy's birthday requests was to get her own e-mail account. Big steps!!

We wish her the very best, joy-filled birthday today!

A tiny little note

Early this morning, before school, Kippy came down to my office and handed me a teeny-tiny little folded up note.  It was the size of a postage stamp.  I asked her what it was and she said, very matter-of-factly, "It's my birthday wish list.", and turned around and left. I was rather taken aback and paused for a moment before I opened it up.

But first let me back up a bit. You need to know that our family doesn't do birthday wish lists.  There just hasn't ever been a need.  My thought is "you get what you get and should be grateful about it."  The only exception is we do ask for Wish Lists at Christmas time.  This is because extended family members want some ideas, plus Steve & I are frequently stumped on what to get the girls.  It cracks me up that Kippy has put together this birthday list when her 12th birthday is almost two weeks away.  However, since this year is a friend-birthday-party year (celebrated every other year), we had already made and sent out the invites on Sunday.  We have even put together the decorations and birthday favors for her 8 friends she invited to her "Mustache Bash".  For the record, this is the first birthday party I have ever had a plan together this far in advance - yeah, me!! So, needless to say, Kippy's 12th birthday has been a hot topic of conversation.

I unfolded the tiny little note and was amused by the long, long list Kippy put together.  I love her handwriting and how the list started out with small and reasonable requests and then got CRAZY with the iPOD touch taking over in capitols with emphasis and pleading.  The one that really caught my eye was "Inheritance".  I was completely lost on this one.  Does she want to see our Will? What the heck??  Since Kippy had already left my office after handing me her note, I called out to her.  "What do you mean by Inheritance?"  She yelled back downstairs explaining, "It's the 4th book in the Eragon series."  Oh, good to know.  Now I feel dumb.  I love the last sentence, "Come on, I don't even care if I get it on my birthday." Which is a good thing, because with a list this long, there is room for lots of disappointment.

The annual "Back to School" post

 In the spirit of "Hurry UP! So I can take your pictures!", I bring you Back to School Fall 2012 in the traditional we.are.almost.late Lindgren-Style.

Angelique (Kippy - "Redbull with legs") headed off to her first day of school and also her last year at Our Lady of Victory. Just saying that outloud makes me yearn for the bouncy days of super-sized crayola crayons and washable markers of years past.  Kippy has Mrs. Jenc as her 6th grade teacher and is part of an intimate class of 8 (5 girls/3 boys).  She is excited to get back to school to be with her friends.

Abby was ready early enough to eat breakfast, so we all consider ourselves very lucky! (Normally, it is breakfast on the go in the vehicle as her dad rushes her to school.) Abby missed seeing her friends over the summer, but isn't too excited about the "work" part of school.  She heads off to the adventure of her Sophomore year.

 The air was noticeably cooler this morning and there were a lot of crunchy leaves scattered around the yard. Fall is fast approaching and there are many activities on the Calendar for both girls:  Pep Band & Dance for Abby; Soccer, Piano & Dance for Angelique.

 I am looking forward to a more peaceful work environment in my home office during the day, and driving the girls to their various events after school.

 Wishing both Abby and Angelique a school year full of fun, friends, memories and great experiences!

A tale of two camps

Angelique had a fabulous experience back in February when her 5th grade class got to go to Long Lake  Conservation camp in Palisade, MN for 3 days.  Ever since, she begged to be able to go back to Long Lake for their summer camp session.  She selected the Outdoor Explorers camp which ran from July 15-20.  As it turned out, 2 of her fellow classmates (Lexie & Brooke) along with one of her former classmates who had moved away the year before (Tina) had also signed up.

Since this was Angelique's first camp experience, I thought she would want me to help her pack and prepare.  I was wrong.  She was so independent about preparing for camp.  All I did was print the suggested supply list and she went in her room and got prepped.  She had a few items that we needed to go out and specifically purchase (hand sanitizer, bug repellent & sun screen), but everything else she was able to gather herself. (It was very difficult for me to not double check by going through her bags.)

Since the 4 girls had registered together, they were able to stay in the same dorm room.  Steve & I drove 3 of the girls up to camp, while Tina met us there.

Look at how excited these 4 shiny, happy faces are to begin their adventure together!!

We were able to stay for a little while, checking out the facilities, which were very nice.

But all too quickly, Angelique wanted to get rid of us and get to spending time with her peeps.

The girls said good-bye and never once looked back.  Angelique absolutely loved camp!  In fact, she ended up being awarded "Camper of the Week", which was a honor given to 4 of the campers chosen by the staff (2 girls and 2 boys the 2 age groups). In addition to being with her classmates, she also met other kids she became friends with and had some awesome adventures. The description on the camp website turned out to be very accurate:

You'll find life-long friends and life-long memories at Long Lake. Each six-day Explorer session is filled with outdoor activities, games, and enjoying the camp community. Canoeing, archery, bog trekking, Challenge Cooperation Course, and much more are led by enthusiastic counselors and naturalists.

One week later, Angelique attended a 2nd camp (Legionville) which ran from July 29-August 3.  The camp was sponsored by the local American Legion and 3 students from OLV's 5th grade class were selected to attend.  This camp was located north of Brainard on North Long Lake.  The camp was focused on School Safety Patrol Training and was much larger than the first camp Angelique attended.

The girls (Angelique, Brooke & Maia) stayed in a large bunk house and quickly selected upper bunks to stay in.

 

And just like the last camp drop off, the girls were anxious to get rid of Steve and me. Although, this time I was more anxious because we had to leave Angelique with 3 different prescriptions due to a virus she had contracted which caused her to have severe bronchial spasms.

As it turned out, Angelique loved the second camp even more than the first camp.  Hard to believe!  The activities kept the girls very busy and they bonded well with the staff and other campers.

  I'll have to say, I really missed my Kippy-girl.  I swear she grew inches in the time that she was gone and I couldn't get enough squeezes in when she was finally back home.

Summer swimming

 

This summer marks Kippy's second season of swimming on the Fergus Falls Flyers swim team.  She started swimming the first week in June.  Her age group swims 4 days a week M-Th for 45 minutes each day.  With Steve teaching summer school and my work schedule, Kippy has had to ride her bike to the pool.  It is pretty obvious that she loves swimming because she never complains about going nearly every day. 

This photo collage is from the Alexandria swim meet on June 23rd, which was the first time she swam the 100 breast.  She did really well and got 6th in her heat of 8.

The chlorine has really done a number on her suit as it is so very faded, but her joy of the water has not diminished a single bit.  Her favorite stroke is the breast stroke.  She competed in 3 swim meets in June, but won't be able to make any of the swim meets in July because of going to Long Lake Conservation Camp.  That suits Kippy just fine because she doesn't care for the meets AT.ALL!

Another dance season completed

which included 10 months of weekly practices, 2 staging practices, 2 dress rehearsals & 4 performances  (a.k.a. hours and hours of time). Abby participated in Jazz3 and Angelique danced in Modern 1A/1B this season. Again, the girls continue to do a wonderful job despite having me as their reluctant dance mom.

I am secretly looking forward to a dance-free summer, filled with swim team, soccer games, & marching band events.

I must admit, though, both girls continue to love performing on stage and that makes it all worth it!

After I took pictures of the girls individually in their costumes, Abby said, "Mom, you have to take pictures of us together!"  Oh my goodness, I remember when they hated when I put them together for pictures and now they are actually demanding pictures together?  Be still my heart!  These sisters are definitely two peas in a pod and I love them to the moon and back!!

Getting out of the comfort-zone

Angelique did a remarkable job for someone who is nervous about public speaking.  She was selected as one of two representatives from her OLV 5th grade class to complete at the Speech contest in Alexandria on April 14th. She recited from memory the book Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin complete with gestures and enthusiasm.  She received an overall Good rating and is pumped to try to do even better next year.

So proud of her for stepping out of her comfort-zone.  I could not have been paid enough money to even try anything like that at age 11 (or at age 43).  She has come so far from the ultra shy girl who in First Grade went on stage at the OLV talent show to tell a joke, but got too nervous and couldn't talk and was helped off the stage in embarrassment. 

And two weeks later, at the Techno Girls event on April 29th, Angelique was part of putting together a news broadcast about Fergus Falls.

We may have a potential news anchor on our hands... definitely gets her mad skills from her dad.

Eleven on 11.11.11

I had fun capturing Kippy as an eleven year old on 11.11.11.  Can't beat the wonderful weather on this Veteran's day! The stars will align one more time when she is twelve on 12.12.12.

Recap of Angelique's 11th birthday

 Kippy had a number of gatherings to celebrate her 11th birthday.   We started out her birthday morning on Wednesday, September 28th with our traditional off-key singing of Happy Birthday to wake her up.  That was followed by breakfast at Perkin's before school.  It was a bit early (7:15 am), but worked out the best so all 4 of us could be together since that evening Abby had other activities.  We had a huge breakfast and opened gifts, which included a couple of pillow pets, a Harry Potter book & a mood bracelet.  Abby had time to get to pep band practice, which started at 8:30 AM and Steve got to class on time.

I had taken the day off of work since Kippy had a 2 hour late start at school.  We had time to get treats for her school classmates (ice cream bars from DairyLand - YUM!). I had time to pick Kippy up from school and thanks to the beautiful Fall weather, we got a nice afternoon walk in with Miss Bella.

 Her birthday was completed with a special treat - time with her BFF, Madi.  These two are just the best of friends and I absolutely love the energy that surrounds them when they are together.

 The girls picked deluxe treats at Dairy Queen and gorged themselves.

 After getting all sugared up, they ran off their energy at Grotto Park.  The poor Otter statue had his little nose stuffed with leaves as these two scampered around - coming up with crazy ways to entertain themselves.

We waited to have birthday cake until we got to the farm on Saturday, October 1st.  Aunt Claire decorated a scrumptious red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and beautiful marine animals (Kippy's favorite).

 It was a busy field day at the farm, but cousins Makenzie (18) and Logan (9) along with Abby were able to join in on signing and blowing candles out before we headed to Potters Way to pick pumpkins.

On Sunday morning, I took pictures of Angelique next to her 11 year old tree at the farm.

 

 It was a great time honoring our beautiful daughter  {Kipper-doodle, Kippy Grace, Angelique} on her 11th birthday!