Wonderwoman

This year Corrine had been in a tap/ballet class with 3 of her friends from church. The dance and song for the recital was decided at the end of last fall. The girls and Fritz were going to do a tap dance to Wonderwomen. They practiced week after week on their dance, and for the last 2 months or so, they only practiced their recital piece-no ballet.


The costumes originally ordered for them were true Wonderwomen costumes, but there were some issues with some of the costumes, so just weeks before the recital they ordered new costumes for the girls. They weren't true Wonderwomen costumes, but they were sparkly and pretty.



Corrine looked forward to dance class each week, and would get dressed so quickly when it was time to get ready for it. We have been amazed at how much Corrine has grown this past year and we know dance class helped boast her confidence and helped her to open up more.
She loved getting all the makeup on for the studio dress rehearsal, class pictures, dress rehearsal at the US Cellular Center and the actual performance. She especially liked the mascara and RED lipstick. I'm not sure that it made her face stand out more on stage-but it made her feel so much prettier that it was worth putting on (and getting off of her) each time.

The recital was at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. There were LOTS of people there, and Corrine bravely got on stage and danced with what looked like no fear. They were so fun to watch, they were dancing at different speeds and at the end Fritz and the 2 girls pulling him off stage tripped and fell on top of him-taking down the bad guy! They all did such a great job and we are so proud of all of the kids in the class.


Nani & Papa flew in for the weekend with all the fun things we had going on, and they were able to see Corrine at the performance along with Grandpa Smith.


Her Class

Turning 8 is Great!!

What a day today was. It started bright and early as we met the Team in Training Runners at Lower City Park @ 7:00am for Simeon to start them on their run. They sang Happy Birthday to him and gave him a chocolate donut. One of the runners gave him a Star Wars toy for a present. We brought his new bike so he could lead the runners out the park without getting tired too quickly. He ended up being way in front of the runners and we didn't know if he knew where to turn around and come back to us-but he figured it out
After we went to CinnaMonster and got some freshly made HUGE cinnamon rolls for breakfast. They were so good and gooey!!

His birthday present actually came a few weeks early this year. He got to pick out a new bike-which he was very excited to do.

Simeon had a soccer game and Corrine needed to be at her recital early, so we split up. The boys-Simeon, Ammon, dad, Grandpa Jenson and Grandpa Smith went to Simeon's soccer game. We had told his coach that he wouldn't be there so they were surprised when he showed up. And best of all-HE SCORED A GOAL!!! Grandma Jenson, Corrine & mom went early to the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

The boys left the soccer game early to get to the recital on time. Corrine's group was just before the intermission of the noon show. She did a great job remembering the dance and not getting freaked out with the thousands of people watching.

Then we headed for a late lunch/early dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Simeon has been wanting to go here for so long. We ended with way too much food as always. Simeon was brought a big BIRTHDAY ice cream that he said he wasn't going to share-but ended up he was way too full to eat more then a few bites, and everyone else got to eat it.

We headed home for some down time before his baptism. I was trying to get the kids to sit and watch a movie since I thought they would be tired-I was tired, but they wanted to play outside.

At 6:oopm we headed to the church to get clothes and take pictures before his baptism. It was a very nice service with lots of family and friends there to witness such a big milestone for Simeon. Knowing what he's gone through and that we knew that this day might never come for him-made it so special.

It was a busy day-but despite all we had to do Simeon was so happy the entire day (except that he was hungry because his carefully packed lunch got left behind when he went to his soccer game.) and was so excited for all that was planned.

Simeon's baptism

This evening was such a special day for Simeon. He got baptized!! This is something that he has talked about for years. He has been ready for quite sometime to make this important step in his life.



When he got sick with leukemia we talked about how he would probably have his port in when he got baptized, and to be honest we weren't given any guarantees that he would be healthy enough to make it to this day. So needless to say there were tears of joy and gratitude for what he was doing, and also for his health and strength.

Simeon also received his own set of scriptures with his name engraved on them. He knew he was getting them and was so very excited for them.


Great Grandma Riddle


All the family members that were at the baptism.


Carson and Simeon

The program info was:
Opening Song: When Jesus Christ was Baptized
Opening Prayer: Grandma Smith

Talk on Baptism: Grandpa Jenson

Baptism of Simeon by his father, Johann Smith

Talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost: Grandpa Smith

Confirmation of Simeon by his father, Johann Smith

Primary Welcome: Jessica Brown
Bisphoric's remarks: Ricky Cazier

Closing Song: When I am Baptized
Closing Prayer: Grandma Jenson

WE DID IT!!!

Today we finished reading the Book of Mormon-cover to cover!!! We started Oct 26th 2008 and finished today May 8th, 2009.
A few weeks ago we figured out that if we pushed harder for 2 weeks that we could have it all read by Simeon's 8th birthday. We thought that was an attainable and worthy goal so we shot for it and succeeded. What a great feeling it was to do this as a family. And I must admit it was my 1st time ever reading the entire book.

OVERWHELMING

Tight waistbands, high waters and holes in the knees prompted me to get all the boxes of clothes out (ok-Johann did the heavy lifting) so that I could find Ammon some pants that would fit him. It was after about a dozen boxes that came out that we made the discovery of where the next size of boys clothes were. Ammon is now thankfully wearing clothes that fit so much better. He thought it was Christmas to get a full box of new clothes!!



When all the boxes were pulled out we ended up with 21 boxes downstairs and 4 boxes upstairs. 25 boxes of outgrown clothes-OVERWHELMING-to go through and put into a better order. Thankfully a good chunk of the smallest clothes are very organized, but once they hit 2T they're more mixed up, and require more work to get totally boxed up right.
I've been in a purging mood, so not all of the clothes will be being kept. A swap night later this week at church gives me a deadline to get these boxes cleaned out.

Ammon sillies

I found this post that I had started about the funny things Ammon tells me during the day, but had never posted it.

Ammon while shopping at Target: "Some people call me a toddler, but I'm not a toddler, I'm human!"

Ammon gave me a rather wet kiss then said "Don't wipe that one off."

Ammon and I were talking the night before the ultrasound about how we don't get to choose what the baby is, that Heavenly Father chooses the gender a long time ago. To this Ammon said "Before there was ground?" He was talking about the creation.


'FIRE' chips

Ammon saw a mouse trap in the garage. I asked him what we catch in them besides mice. He said "Girls". I said we don't catch girls in them. He said "yes we do-they're fuzzy and live outside." Then I realized he was trying to say "squirrels", NOT "girls"!

We were talking about going to a friends to play. Corrine said "James is a baby." I said actually he's a toddler, to which Ammon said "NO mom-he's HUMAN"

1-24-09
Ammon was playing doctor with dad, and he said "Dad you need numbing cream." We put numbing cream on Simeon's port before they access it-which means putting the needle for the IV in it.

Ammon was coloring a picture in his Star Wars coloring book. He colored alittle bit then asked me "Does this make it come to life?" Another picture he'd fully colored he said "Look how this picture comes to life!"

Lately if you ask Ammon a question he'll put his hand to his chin with one finger up and "think" about it.

Ammon loves to lay by me and "take care of the baby". He'll kiss my belly then ask "Do you think she felt that one?"

"The house is tipping" Ammon said this after spinning in circles.

Flashes of HOPE

During Dance Marathon this year we were fortunate to get pictures taken by 3 different professional photographers. Here are a few from our photo shoots-there are many many more!

The 1st set was taken Friday afternoon when we 1st got there-everyone had energy. We met up with Becky for some pictures.



The 2nd set was taken Saturday late morning, and Simeon wasn't really up for smiling. (What you can't see in the pictures are the green spikes in his hair.)



The 3rd set was taken late Saturday afternoon and would have been a lost cause, except he was able to get his picture taken with our DM Rep Annalisa. Simeon was beyond tired and was giving the strangest smile ever.



Flashes of Hope is a wonderful organization that provides these pictures at no cost to families who have a child with a life threatening illness.