Nutcracker: The Event

The day of the Nutcracker came, and in true Cinderella style, Hailey got to open another Christmas present early and wear her new dress to the ballet. (The invitation did say "formal attire"). John snapped a picture before we ran out the door.



As we were pulling up to the theater, we ran into a parade of about 300 Santas on bikes! I got a shot of the tail end. It's hard to take pictures and drive at the same time. Calm down now, I was at a stop light. I have no idea what that was all about, except a sign that magic was around us downtown. Crazy things happen when you decide to have a fairy-tale day.



We were a little behind schedule (those Santas slowed us down) so we had to run to the theater from the car. Hailey ran with her propeller legs, feet and knees flying everywhere, yelling in what I can only assume was an attempt at an English accent for what reason, I don't know "Huurry, Huurry! We'w gooing to be laate for the bah-let!!" Here's Hailey now settled down and in quiet theater-patron mode.



And the Nutcracker was magical. Hailey shot off her barrage of comments and questions in rapid-fire action the whole time, in an appropriate library whisper. And I let her. And giggled with her. And she sat on my lap, and cuddled with me and showered me with kisses the whole time. I let myself be comfortable with that.







Hailey brought her Nutcracker and held on to it the whole time. Her new dream is to be Clara.



We had a wonderful time together and learned a little more about what Hailey is all about. There are not many four-years-old who are born avid theater-goers, and I saw plenty of little children squirming and crying and ready to leave after the second number. Hailey drank it all in and would have sat watching for another hour. I have a greater respect for who I am raising.



The icing on the cake for Hailey was visiting and getting her picture taken with some of the dancers. she especially loved the mouse.



For those of you asking "Was Nora just left out of all of this?" the answer is yes. But we brought her home a little ornamet. She'll have her day in a few years.

Nutcracker: The Invitation

To be quite honest, Hailey and I have not been getting along as well as we should recently. She is a really high-strung girl (those who know her can "amen" that comment) and talks incessantly from morning until night. She is extremely sensitive and struggles with the way clothes "feel" on her body. It take her five minutes and a lot of tears to put her socks on every day because the seams need to line up just right across her toes. Her coat has to be "just so" and not poke her neck in any way. And this problem has just been exacerbated by the cold weather, which requires sweaters, snow pants, mittens, boots, and hats, which induces more and more tears. It is such a trial to get her ready for school. By the end of the day she is low on patience, and so am I.

I was talking about this a few weeks ago with John, and he offhandedly commented that Hailey and I need to have a positive experience together sometime. This rolled around in my head for awhile, and thought about positive experiences. The one Hailey remembers the most was so simple. This summer I took her with me to the mall to do some shopping. She needed new jeans, and I had a little bit of photo money to spend. I let Hailey choose clothes for me to try on, and she turned out to be the best shopper. Her clothes choices were fresh and interesting. She leans more towards gaudy and decorated (see here), but it was still a fun adventure. And then we got Jones sodas and sat out on the quad in the middle of the mall, and watched the fountains and the clouds, and I let Hailey talk as much as she wanted. And I listened. Hailey remembers it because it did it just for her.

So we've been needing another special "us" experience. And it popped up when Hailey came home from school and told me that she had learned about the Nutcracker Ballet in music time and would really want to see it. John and I decided that part of Hailey's Christmas would be a special date with me to go to the Milwaukee Ballet performance.

So the planning began. I made a special fancy invitation with a gift of a Nutcracker that was waiting for her when she got home from school one day. This day I was crowned "The Best Mom In The World" by my daughter. I'll ignore that she has a flare for the dramatic, and feel good about the compliment.

THE update.

Here's over two months of living in one post. And I'm going to do it all in one breath. Ready? Here we go. . .

Didyouknowwegotanewfamilyphoto? Hereitis.



Noraturnedtwo. Wehadtwopartiestocelebrate. HappybirthdayNora! Weloveyou!







HaileywasapeacockforHalloween. Apeacock! Imaginehowfunofacostumethatwastomake.





Butshewonmostoriginalatherschoolcostumecontest.



Redemption.



Norawasalion. Shewrarrred.




Jennihadanelectiondaybirthday. Godonkeys! Goelephants! (andgotherearspierced. gasp)



Johnturnedthebig3-0. Wealreadydiscussedthat. Movingrightalong.


WenttotheDomestoescapethecold. What? Youdon'tknowwhatthedomesare? Notimetoexplain. Googleit.







HadagreatThanksgivingwithfriends. Wereverythankful. Sawsomelightsdowtown.





Haileygotherhaircut. ThiswasaBIGdeal.





Wemadeasnowmanwithjustaboutallthesnowthatfell. Hetippedoveraboutfiveminutesafterhewasfinished.



thetreeshownbypopulardemand.



madegiftsforneighbors.



johnstudies.

istress.

you'recaughtup.

BREATHE! look at that. all in one breath.

In the middle of tree decorating

They take it very seriously.

Happy Birthday John!

Happy Birthday John! from Jenni G on Vimeo

Of course there is a lot I am skipping over, like Nora's birthday, Halloween, and my election day birthday. But I wanted to share the present I gave to John- a recap of our last year. Happy 30th Birthday John! (And you may get a sneak peek of the infamous peacock costume.)

Kohler State Park

. . .and then we went to the beach, and had a lovely walk by the lake and in the woods.

Nora's last look before she closed her eyes and was left to her dreams all the way home. I bet she dreamt of sinks.

I will dream of that sink for a long time.

The next day we headed up to Kohler about an hour north of here. The community of Kohler is in fact named after Kohler manufacturing company, which is known for making bathtubs, faucets, and sinks. We went to their design center and spent the morning oogling over the crazy fixtures they make and trying to keep the girls out of the shower and tubs, many of which were filled.

This is the sink I am referring to in the title of this blog. . .

. . .although this one would be nice too.

. . .or if you are going for ornate, they have that too.

Nora loved the wall of potties. Too bad she has no interest in using one, though.

That's right, Nora, hundreds of potties going to waste.

Grandpa still loves you, though.

Here's the useless but satisfying information I learned on this trip:

Bubblers. That's what they call drinking fountains out here, and I have never understood why so many people in such a localized area call them this. It just sounds silly, and yet that's what everyone calls them by.

Here is why:

"The Bubbler was developed in 1888 by the then-small Kohler Water Works (now Kohler_Company) in Kohler, Wisconsin, which was already well-known for its faucet production. While Harlan Huckleby is credited with the actual design, it was Kohler that patented it and trademarked the name. The original Bubbler shot water one inch straight into the air, creating a bubbling texture, and the excess water ran back down over the sides of the nozzle. It was several years later before the bubbler adapted the arc projection, which allowed the drinker to partake more easily.

"The Bubbler concept took off and there were many copies. Since the name was trademarked, other companies named their fountains "The Gurgler" and "The Gusher". In the end, the generic terms "water fountain" and "drinking fountain" became the standard terms used in American English for a device that shoots water into the air for purpose of drinking."

-taken from wikipedia to save on typing.

File that away and whip that out later for some stellar party-conversation.