A Nice Surprise

So, as I sit down at the computer tonight, I have enough blog topics to keep me busy until the new year.  I consider that a blessing--frustrating though because I know I'll never get to them all.  I'm going to start by telling you about something that happened last night that really made our week.
A few weeks ago, Chris found out that he would be traveling to Seattle the first week in December.  He has been traveling quite a bit with his new job--the one that is allowing us to move to Virginia--eventually.  Because of all of his trips overseas, Chris has been racking up frequent flyer miles and has been looking for an opportunity for a weekend away for the two of us.  Interestingly, in the course of my research for Culture Day, I came across information about a traveling Picasso exhibit that will be in Seattle during Chris' trip.  It's a special joint collection that is only coming to a few cities in the U.S.  So between that and a special benefit concert being given by Mr. Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, we decided that a trip to Seattle would a be a great Christmas gift to each other.  The way the benefit concert works is that the entire cost of the tickets can be donated to any charity on a specific list.  We assumed the list would be narrow and favor liberal organizations.  We were pleasantly surprised when we checked it out last night and were 100% wrong.  Not only were organizations like The Arlington Catholic Herald and Catholic Hospice of Florida listed but we actually found the small crisis pregnancy center in Manassas, VA where my mom and I have volunteered.  So now, we are going to hear Dave and Tim in a 2900 seat opera theatre and all of the money we paid for our tickets is going to help mothers and save babies.  Oh--and we get the tax deduct too.  I am incredibly impressed by Dave's generosity and respect for his fans.  It blows me away really.  I put "write Dave Matthews a thank you note" on my to-do list.
In other news--and in the pics that follow--Saturday morning, we surprised the kids with a trip to see Disney Princesses on Ice.  The guessing where we were going may have been the best part.  Chris kept them in suspense till the very last minute.  It was great family fun.

Meeting Cinderella

 I'm not a big fan of Ariel as my girls know well.  I mean really--what's the take-away from her story?  Be stubbornly disobedient and make a deal with the devil and you'll get a prince?  I think a spanking would be more appropriate.  And her poor father--first, a pitiful creature in the witch's garden and then having to turn his favorite daughter into a human and lose her forever.  Not my idea of a happy ending.  (And I didn't even get into her wardrobe issues...)

Waving to her favorite...

 M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E

I liked the skating silverware.

 Daddy's princesses

 My "best part"

Ella thought it was scary.

Sleeping Beauty, 

Sophie's favorite princess

 So cool

What girl wouldn't want to go for a ride in that?

 Pretty pretty princess

 The kick-butt "princess"

I'm glad the girls like her.

Back at home, Princess Grace practices balancing a banana muffin on her forehead.

 Random photo

This is the wishbone from a chicken we enjoyed.

 The moment before Grace realized she lost.

Four of the babes of TEAM 8

Good friends, good sports--

all that and...gorgeous!

Our husbands are lucky men :)

And on that self-inflated note, I'll sign off for now.

See you here next time.

We Are Family

We spent time with a lot of extended family today.  I took many photos and will hopefully have time to edit and post them when we get home.  For now, a couple of photos of me with five of my nine Schadegg cousins, my mom's sister Peggy's kids.  I grew up with Marty and Jenny and spent a lot of time with the whole family on beach trips, retreats and school vacations.  Lots of good memories.  It was great to see them.

From left:  Marty, Jen, Alice, Reed, Susan and Emily

Terrific Teens (gotta' love 'em!)

So, life at the Henkel household is a bit different than life at Casa Doyle.  My cousin Jen's four babies are all teenagers.  Abby, the oldest, is an illustrious college woman (how did that happen?) but she came home for the weekend to spend time with me and Madeleine.  Then, there's the boy factor.  There's a lot of brother-sister bantering, plenty of pile-ons and some very large shoes.  I love it here and I have a feeling that Madeleine is going to be lamenting her lack of a brother even more after this!

Who knew "I Spy" could be so engrossing?

Maggie and Abby

Beauties

Boy Shoes

Baby? Stephen

The Fab Four

I played fairy godmother and gave my goddaughter Maggie the Wii game "Just Dance"

Hours of fun ensued

Jen joined in

(I did too but fortunately, since I'm official photographer, there is no evidence)

 Going out for eggs

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tonight, I know I will.  Tata for now!

Monster Mash Run

Two second place finishers

So, the day before Halloween, Chris and I loaded five pajama-clad, sleeping damsels into the van in early morning darkness.  We drove across town to the Sam Houston Race Park for...a race--the foot kind, not the horse kind.  Chris and I had been training the girls for their 1K run for a few weeks.  The goal was that they pace themselves well and run the entire course.  Not only did Mia, Grace and Sophie finish the race without stopping but Mia walked away with a monster head trophy for second place in her 6-8 year old age group.  Just as incredible, Grace who is at the bottom of her age group, finished fourth.  Heartbroken for at least fifteen minutes over not receiving a trophy of her own, she made a complete recovery after a nice nap.

Adults participated in a 5K, 10K or 15K race.  Chris took second in his age group for the 5K and ran his fastest time since leaving the Marine Corps which has him eagerly anticipating his next race, whenever that may be.

Madeleine opted out of the 5K and served as support crew with me and Ella.  She has become quite the excellent face painter and painted all of her sisters' faces for their races.  She was also the perfect running partner for Sophie.

Costumes were encouraged at the race and we saw several interesting ones such as the guy running the 10K who came jangling along with about 8 big medals around his neck carrying his coffin.  Interesting.

Now--on to the photos:

On the left, Chris speeds toward the finish

Daddy's cheerleader

Ready to Go

Don't you wish you had a pair of tights like Sophie's? 

Playing around before her race

Running and smiling, smiling and running all at the same time

Sophie and her trainer close in on the finish line.

I was especially proud of Sophie's perseverance.  

Fleet-footed Mia on the blocks.  Way to go!

Our super stars

After the kids' award ceremony, we walked around and enjoyed the decorations, 

one of the best parts of this particular race.

Warning to potential boyfriends....

Mia and monsters

In an uncharacteristically gutsy move, Ella not only posed with the tarantula but actually

 shook its furry leg.  Ick!

That's all for now.  My sweet husband surprised me by installing an updated version of Blogger that I am still figuring out.  I plan to work on that a bit this weekend while Madeleine and I are visiting my cousin Jen and family in Maryland.  Coming up--stories and pics of all that fun.

Dinner Guests

It's not every night you get to dine with a rock star!

Halloween 2010

Bat Girl, Cow Girl, Angel named Lucy, Light-Up Pixie and Minnie

Halloween 2010 was a lot of fun. We hosted a party that doubled as a birthday celebration for Madeleine. There was a lot of food, games, pumpkin painting and of course, trick-or-treating. Here are just a few photos to get you started. More to come.

If we'd had a costume contest, my vote would have gone to Madeleine.

She looked great. I was completely impressed with her make-up job.

I may go as Bat Woman next year :)

This costume was inspired by the hat we found at Target.

People commented on what a natural Mia is as a cow girl.

Her line was "Happy Halloween y'all! Yee Haw!"

Grace playing the donut game

She made a beautiful angel. Specifically, she went as her guardian angel, Lucy.

Sophie paints her pumpkin

Sophie's costume was the only one I bought this year.

It is a fairy dress that lights up with the push of a button. I knew Sophie would love it.

Come to think of it, I would have loved one in my size. It was so cool to see as we walked around in the dark.

Ella at the Monster Mash Race

She was Minnie for Halloween but Saturday, we went to a 5K/1K race and I painted her face as a dog for the occasion. More on the race later.

The whole gang looking like they're straight from a movie set.

Ciao for now.