halle's fall schedule

Welcome fall and all the activities you bring!

Back to Ballet

Halle was absolutely thrilled when it was time for ballet class to begin again.  She has a new teacher, Miss Becca, who she adores and a neighborhood friend in her class.  I love hearing her use the ballet terminology that she sometimes doesn't get quite right.  And we all know how much I love seeing her in her little leotard and tights.

Soccer Season Starts

 We signed Halle up for soccer along with a lot of her friends from our neighborhood.  She knew nothing about the sport except that you can't touch the ball with your hands.  At the first practice the coach asked if the kids knew what dribbling was.  They all immediately picked up the soccer ball and tried to dribble it like a basketball.  Our little team had a lot to learn.  At her first game we discovered the kids are not at all aggressive and let the other kids have their way.  And don't you just love all the huddling around the ball. It seems Halle is always running off the field asking for a drink of water and just plain daydreaming.  She has a move where she boxes out the other players like in basketball.  It is not very effective in soccer but it gives Wes hope for her basketball future. Halle is a pretty fast runner and spent the first few games basically running around the other kids instead of going after the ball.  We have been practicing and this last game she finally seemed to get the idea of going after the ball.  She even scored her first goal.  She loves the fact that she has a blue jersey and gets to see her friends.  We are loving this new Saturday family activity.  It is actually something Wes can go to since it is outside.  Go Blue's Clues or Blue Sharks or whatever our team name is.  It seems to change weekly.

Off to School

I felt like a little piece of me died as I sent my best little friend off to her first day of preschool.  Of course, she had to wear a blue dress.  I wasn't planning on putting her in a preschool, but she wanted so much to go to school and be with friends that I gave in and signed her up for a preschool we could walk to that was only twice a week.  It was all my little heart could handle.  Lily spent the morning calling for Halle.  It was hard on me and Lily , but Halle had the time of her life.  She loves her teacher Miss Liz and making new friends.  But I am happy to report she still asks to do "Halle and mommy school" stuff.  And my goodness I think the things I have spent forever trying to teach her at home are finally sinking in.  I bet she doesn't tell Miss Liz "I can't learn" as she runs off to play like she does at home to me.  

halfway there

I wanted to do something special to celebrate the halfway point of Wes's chemo treatments.  I planned a mini stay-cation in downtown Salt Lake at Hotel Monaco.  I intended it to be one big surprise.  I kept it a secret up until the day we were supposed to leave.  I planned on packing Wes's bag and after we went out to dinner telling him we were staying the night.  But, the idea of having to pack all of his ostomy supplies and possibly forgetting something essential freaked me out and so I told him that afternoon so he could pack his own bag.  It was still a well received surprise.  I found a deal that included valet parking and breakfast at a hotel with some character. 

My mom came into town to watch the girls and we headed out for some sushi at Kyoto.  After dinner we strolled around downtown hand in hand.  We both had not been to city creek since it opened and decided to look around.  The crowds and germs were all a little too much, so we took a lovely walk to our hotel in the rain.  We loved our modern room and the location.

The nerd in us brought along the board game monopoly.  Little did I know that this simple activity would begin a months long addiction to monopoly for Wes.  He was obsessed with winning and that night I obliterated him (the secret is to get hotels on the light blue and pink properties and suck your opponent dry).  I think he was sweating he was so fiercely competitive. I love that we still find each other so hilarious and have the best time together.  We have never taken a night to ourselves away like that just because.  We have always had a reason to be away.  It was pure heaven.

After a night of no babies sleeping in our bed, we had breakfast at the restaurant inside hotel monaco called bambara.  It was delicious and who knew my favorite things would be the wheat toast.  Why have I never thought to put a little bit of olive oil and salt on my toast instead of butter and jam.  Cancer boy even enjoyed it, which is saying a lot these days.  We packed up and headed home having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and ready to tackle the second half of chemo.