INFINITE, FIGHTING!

We celebrated our favorite KPOP group, INFINITE's 3 year anniversary by getting the vans washed and decorating them with window markers.  The kids really enjoyed it and we got a lot of questions about it.  The girls and I are learning more and more Korean so that we can understand the words in the song without translations.  We bought some workbooks and ordered others online.  We've made it a full language class.  The younger kids are interested and picking up a lot of words, too. 

We love INFINITE

Two Front Teeth

All Kevin wants for Christmas is his two front teeth... All I want is for him to stop making the Tooth Fairy go broke.

2013 Graduation Mystery Dinner

 At the Maison Elliott restaurant the kids enjoyed their end of school year Graduation Mystery Dinner.  Their waiters were Mom and Dad, but the food... was a mystery.

They each received their menus with a list a little like this of food choices:

Eyes, Hiking Aid, Ruby, Oh Again, Guano, Tuner, Heart Vitamins, Eye Exam, Eden, Gopher's Delight, Porcine, Role Bong

They had to choose which of these items they wanted with each course of their meal.  They got only four items per course.  Some of these are a fork and spoon. All items are removed after each course. If they chose poorly, they'd end up with no silverware for important messy items later.  The kids love doing this yearly.  This year, their friend, Julia, joined them.  Polly was in a rush since she was spending the night at a friend's house right after this, but she still participated.  I'm not sure what she thought of it all, but the kids laughed a lot.

I *heart* him

I'm a little obsessed with this guy lately.  I skipped over all the boy band craziness when I was a teen, but this guy's voice has won me over.  Right now my older girls and I are learning the Korean lyrics to this song:  The Day the Sun Rises  The first person singing in the video is one of his boy group buddies.  Sungkyu comes out half way through to amp up the whole thing.
I also get a kick out of watching his group's videos on You Tube with English subtitles.  The group has 7 guys, and their group name is INFINITE.  Sungkyu is the leader and is responsible for keeping them in line. 

He has the same super power that most mom's have, which is the ability to tell the younger members of the group to straighten up and act right with just a look.  Here's proof: Eye Control  I'm anxiously awaiting his music CDs which we ordered through a website called YesAsia.com, and the girls and I plan to learn the lyrics together.  Polly says she'll help us.  And just for fun, here's Sungkyu doing his best to sing in English: Lucky  I really love this song.

Rocky Mountain Black Conservatives

I follow a conservative group through Facebook called the Rocky Mountain Black Conservatives.  It's led by a guy named Derrick Wilburn who I really respect.  His opinions are very similar to mine overall and he's a really great father, too.  I'm always trying to show my son, Michael, strong Christian black men that he can look up to.  Derrick is a very good example.  We attended one of the group's rallies shortly before election day.  All the speakers were good, but we particularly enjoyed the man who told the story of the Star Spangled Banner and it's creation.

Royally Waste of Money

 I had been looking forward to our trip to the Royal Gorge for about half a year before we finally managed to get there.  Unfortunately, I didn't plan it very well.  We arrived on a day when they closed early and found out that it cost a whole lot more than expected.  It was actually laughably unrealistic pricing.  It's a bridge over a gorge, not exactly Disneyland.

So, we chose to just take pictures at the entrance instead.  Honestly, we got a nice view of the gorge itself from off to the side and the pictures we took at the gift store were pretty fun.  The kids liked the teepee and the totem pole.  I wished we hadn't come at sunset.  The gorge was a lot further away than I had thought it was.  At least the kids all accepted the change of plans with good grace.

Bunco Backup

The ladies at my church have a long standing Bunco group that gets together once a month.  When they short a player or two they sometimes call me to fill in.  I've never won anything, but it's fun to play.  I'd heard about this game for years, but never gotten a chance to play before.  Afterwards, I picked up a boxed version of the game and taught the kids to play.  They really liked it, too.

Bunco Backup

 The ladies at my church have a long standing Bunco group that gets together once a month.  When they short a player or two they sometimes call me to fill in.  I've never won anything, but it's fun to play.  I'd heard about this game for years, but never gotten a chance to play before.  Afterwards, I picked up a boxed version of the game and taught the kids to play.  They really liked it, too.

Colorado Fall

Pep Rally!

 Danya and Gloria's school had a pep rally on crazy hair day.  We made Danya's hair crazy, but nothing could beat the kid with the fro-hawk.  They played Raiders of the Lost Ark and Michael Jackson's Thriller.  I really like taking photos of their band room and the pep rallies and concerts.  I don't have pictures of that sort of thing from when I was in band.  I only have a couple photos from one parade.  Hopefully, my kids will be able to look back at these and smile.

Fall Concert

Our first year with two girls in the band!  Danya on the slide trombone and Rosie rocking the alto sax.  They look so awesome with their instruments I can't help squealing with pride when I see them.  My babies, my little girls, are finally bandos.  My dream has always been to have all my kids play musical instruments.  God seems to provide one just in time.  This year, Daniel's little sister Aunt Jennie gave Gloria her old sax from high school.  It's in great condition and Glo is a natural playing it.  I'm so proud of them both!

Just Us Girls

 Sometimes, on a Tuesday, Daniel really needs to sleep because there is an event in the evening happening.  On those days, Katie, Karyie and I have a special time together, just us girls.  We have deep conversations about things like why boys are gross and how Katie wants to be an airplane flyer when she grows up.  Karyie wants to be a mommy or whatever Katie is going to be.  This photo of Katie on the slide seems so priceless to me.  She will never be this perfect size to do this again.  I wish I could freeze frame her at this size and remember every funny conversation we've had.  Her mind and her curiosity astound me and keep me laughing all day long.

Peek-a-BOO!

 The entertainment value of a cardboard box can NEVER be overestimated.

Who Are You?

 And this year's costumes, in no particular order or cuteness: Bri the Bee, Karyie as Minnie, Mike and Shane the Ninja Assassins (much cooler than Bi), Katie the Puppy, Gloria as Dorothy, Jordan the Geisha Girl, Danya as Red Riding Hood, Kevin and Daddy as the Mario Brothers, and Polly as a School Girl.  For costume day at Polly's school she wore Jordan's Geisha Girl Outfit and gave it a whole new look.