Rapunzel, Rapunzel . . .

For weeks, Marina has been asking for a haircut. It was usually when she was having tangles combed out, so I didn't know if she really meant it or not. Finally she convinced me that she really wanted a haircut. She told the hair stylist that she wanted hair like her friend Emma (we took her to the same person). Well, Marina ended up with hair a little shorter than her friend (to try to blend in what used to be her bangs). Now Emma wants hair like Marina! Marina certainly has a little sass to go with her sassy haircut!


Marina got the immunizations she needed to start kindergarten yesterday. She had four shots! She did not cry or even whimper. She just sucked in her breath a little when they gave her each shot. I know adults who are not that brave! She gets to register for Kindergarten tomorrow!

Lincoln also has some exciting news - he gets to wear glasses. His teacher told us that he was having a hard time seeing the board at school. We will update the blog with photos as soon as his new glasses are ready.

March Madness

We all have had a busy few weeks. Ryan has been working on a 50th anniversary book for the Utah Shakespearean Festival (he is doing research and interviews at this point). Lincoln has been busy with rehearsals (more on that in a minute), and Marina has been busy being cute.

Grandpa Paul and Kara came to visit last weekend, and we all had a great time with them. I worked on getting my old house ready to sell (anyone need a cute little house in Cedar City?), while Kara and Grandpa played with the kids. Lincoln went shooting with his Grandpa. We told him to dress warm since it was cold, and he certainly did - he has about 7 shirts and at least 5 pairs of pants.



Unfortunately, this did not get carried through to his feet and he only wore one pair of socks and his feet got cold!

The kids got to go see the Tooth Fairy with Grandpa and Kara too! They thought it was very funny.

Lincoln's new front teeth are coming in nicely:

(he really does not like to pose nicely for pictures!).

Grandpa and Kara's visit was followed closely by a visit by Nana and Papa. The kid stayed with them at a hotel here in Cedar, and they LOVED the swimming pool. By the end of the visit, I understand that Lincoln could swim the whole length of the pool on his own! Nice!

Lincoln and Marina play very nicely together; here they are in an intense game of Superhero Monopoly.

Lincoln's rehearsals for Seusical the Musical are coming along. Here is a sneak preview of his Lorax walk (this took a little coaxing).




Just as a reminder, the performances are March 25, 26, and 27 (matinee on Sat. the 27th). If you can make it, we'd love to see you!

Not to be outdone, Marina had a rehearsal also. Actually, she got a little restless waiting at Lincoln's rehearsal one day, and Ryan took her outside to the Adams Shakespearean Theatre. Here she is on stage, every inch a diva!

Marina also performs at home sometimes. Here she is doing the alphabet song with her Dora Sing Along Video. She is really good with her letters, and we'll register her for kindergarten next week! We will also get her caught up on her shots next week. She has assured me that she will be very brave. I'll let you know.



Lincoln got a library book about endangered animals. He was in bed reading it one night when I went in to check on him. He told me, "I don't want these animals to be endangered." I said that I didn't either. Then he told me, "I want to help them not to be endangered." So, Lincoln got a stack of paper and some crayons and went to work. He created about 30 posters to help save the animals. Here are a few of them.


He then took all his posters to school and passed them out to his classmates so that they would know that they needed to help save these animals. I also had to assure him that we didn't have any alligator skin shoes, belts or purses in the house. He was skeptical about all leather, until Ryan and I assured him that cows were not endangered. Whew!

I also scanned in this essay of Lincoln's a while ago, but forgot to include it until now. The assignment was to write about what he would wish for.

Fun, Fun, and More Fun!

Lincoln finally lost his other front tooth. It was so loose, I thought that I thought he might accidentally swallow it with his food. It did fall out one day, but it was when he was eating crackers. Luckily, he did not swallow it, and the tooth fairy came through for him again. A whole dollar. Here he is with no front teeth (though the new ones are already peaking out). He also has a very clean nose. :)
Ryan and I got an Iron Chef Wii game for Valentines Day (thank you Kara, Mom, and Dad!). Lincoln is now an Iron Chef, and has only lost one time. He really loves that game and has decided that he loves real cooking too. He cheered Ryan on when he was making dinner tonight!

I was in California for Valentines day (for work), but the kids had a great day. They received lots of valentines in the mail (thank you everyone), and they had valentines from me that they had to find while I was gone. Ryan and I saw Wolfman when I got back to town - nothing says romance like a wolf ripping people apart!

Almost immediately, I left for South Carolina to see my sister, Karlene, graduate from the Army Basic Training Camp at Fort Jackson.
It was fun to see what she has accomplished, and it was nice to spend time with my parents and my brother, Kevin, and his family from Florida.
We got to take Karlene to some of the sights around Columbia, including the State House and a river walk.
It was a fun trip, but I am glad to be home. Ryan had to do all the kid shuffling solo, and with babysitters, play rehearsals, and all the other things that come up, that is a lot! He was a champ at it though. I brought Lincoln a Bionicle home, and now he says that Bionicles are his favorite toys. (They are kind of like lego creatures that he puts together). He says he is going to save up his money to buy some more. I brought Marina a little pink and silver stuffed fish. She promptly named it "silver heart ribbon love". I think that means that she thinks its pretty. She also found a purple hippopotamus in her drawer that she had not named. He (she?) is now Purple Song, because it plays music.

Big News!

Lincoln had a great audition, and his role in Seussical the Musical is . . . . The Lorax
He does not have any lines of his own this time, but he is the only Lorax. He is one of the Whos of Whoville in the play. It should be really cute! He has a special walk (which is really funny!) and he sings a bunch of the songs, including "Oh the thinks you can think." He sang that song to me for the entire drive home one day. He started off the ride by asking me how many times I wanted to hear his new song. I said as many as he wanted. So I heard it for about 15 minutes. I know it now too!

Lincoln and Marina learned the words to Sweet Caroline, probably from Ryan's iPod (he frequently plays the Neil Diamond and the Elvis versions, although I often play the Glee version, so it could be my fault). Anyway the kids sing it really cute. Here is an attempt to capture it, but I will try again to get the full effect of their cuteness singing that song.



Lincoln lost another tooth this morning - one of his top front teeth. You can already see the permanent tooth coming in. The other front tooth is barely hanging on, but he wants to wait and let it come out on its own. He must be chewing really carefully to keep that thing in his mouth. Little Marina is still a sweetheart! She has a new game (as of today), that she tries to make a mad face for as long as possible. The longest she can go is about 6 seconds before bursting out laughing. She loves to color and has gone through 500 sheets of paper since Christmas (Lincoln probably helped a little), but she makes a pile of pictures every day. She loves to draw beautiful women. Marina also likes to be a beautiful woman. Here she is in one of her beloved princess costumes, just prancing around the house. What else can you do when you are a princess?


Marina has an entire entourage of animal friends that she loves to line up in whatever room she is in. She lines them up in her bed, when she thinks of it, and she lines them up on the couch or anywhere else so they can watch TV or she can read to them. The latest addition is called Big Bear (thank you Nana!). This picture is Marina with Elvis Bear. They all have names, and Marina gets fairly irritated if you call them by the wrong name.
Marina is doing well in her Kindergarten preparations. She can write all of her letters, knows her colors and shapes, and can count to 100, with a little help. She is very excited to start school this fall, and asks almost every night if she can do homework. I hope that keeps up!

Winter Comings and Goings

It has seemed like a very busy month, getting back into the routine of things. Lincoln has continued in the second grade with excellent results. Here is his mid-year report card, which he was eager to show everyone. The standardized test results that come with his report card show that his test scores were literally off the chart - he was very proud of that. Rightly so!
Marina (and Lincoln too) has been loving to paint lately. This is a "cool, cool candy factory." Abstract, of course.

They are both so grown up now - they can clean their rooms by themselves. Well, if they are properly motivated. Movies and trips to McDonalds are sure to do it, but having friends over usually works too. Lincoln and Marina got to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie with their Aunt Kara over the Christmas break. Marina really liked the Chipettes from the movie. Their theme song is "all the single ladies," and Marina has sung her version of the song every since. Here she is with her version:


Marina has been quite the little singer for the last little while. Here she is with her version of "The Princess Pat." She stayed home today with a cold. But a little cold won't stop her from dressing like a princess (first Belle, then Snow White). Tomorrow, she just announced, she will be Sleeping Beauty. Yesterday, she was Cinderella. We even watched the movie "A Little Princess" today. She says "it's about a girl who goes to school in London. Her father dies, and the girls at the school are mean to her. She gets a monkey friend. Then she has a new father. The end."



This is Marina's butterfly dance. Sometimes words are not enough and a little interpretive dance is necessary. From both kids!




Lincoln and Marina made sheep out of marshmallows and donuts to go along with our scripture lesson for family home evening. Here are each of them with their sheep.



Lincoln will be auditioning for a part in a musical (Seussical the Musical) tomorrow. If he gets in, the performances will be March 25 and 26. Here are his audition pieces. His poem is "I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor" by Shel Silverstein. His song, which we have no idea how he learned, goes like this "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves, Britain never, never never shall be slaves"


Ryan has been busy with work at the museum and teaching in the mornings. He still teaches 2 American history courses at Southern Utah University. He is scoutmaster, and just this weekend went camping and ice fishing with the scouts. He is a better man than I am. Literally and figuratively. I am still working at the Utah Shakespearean Festival as marketing director and keeping very busy with that, the kids, and everything else.

Marina has been practicing her letters, and now has really good penmanship. K is still kind of hard, but she keeps practicing!

(Sorry for all the videos this time, but they were so cute!)

A Very Merry Christmas!

Whew! What a busy few weeks it has been! We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Paul's right before Christmas, just in time to spend time with the family. Lincoln and Marina got to see their cousins, and there was a Christmas slide show featuring the whole family! We opened some gifts on Christmas Eve, and Lincoln and Marina each got what they now call their special blankets.

Lincoln's has planets all over it, and Marina's has princesses. Lincoln and Marina had left a note for Santa in Cedar City telling him where we would be for Christmas eve. They also left a note for Santa with some cookies on Christmas eve. It included a preemptive thank you for their presents.

On Christmas morning, Lincoln and Marina could hardly wait to go upstairs and see if Santa had found them.

Santa found them just fine, and even left them a note in return!



For Christmas, Lincoln especially wanted Pokemon cards, and Marina wanted a candy necklace. They each got those things, and lots more. Here are a bunch of photos and videos of present opening on Christmas eve and Christmas day.









Some of the present highlights were:


Ryan's Nightmare before Christmas figurine (for his desk at work)

Lincoln's Jedi shadow box (with his Jedi Training Academy Diploma and a photo of his Jedi training at Disneyland).
Lincoln's Jedi training in the large - he already has both hung in a corner of his bedroom (his Jedi corner)
Marina's photo with Snow White (also already hanging on her wall).


Lincoln's Pokemon cards


Marina's many princess dresses (she got a whole collection from her aunt Melissa, and matching dresses for her and her doll from Grandma Paul.




Marina loved playing in her princess dresses:


Marina also loved playing in her cousin Will's new car - notice her twin doll is the passenger.

Marina also loved her Wizard of Oz PEZ dispensers.



Lincoln loved playing with his night vision goggles. They actually work pretty well, so a lot of us enjoyed playing with them!

The week after Christmas, we spent lots of fun times with the family. First we saw Kami's family, and Marina really loved holding her cousin Ella. I think Ella liked it too.


Then, we went to The Living Planet Aquarium.
Lincoln had a great time there. He especially liked the crocodiles and the electric eel. Lincoln liked the part of the exhibit where you could touch a display and get a shock that was about the same as if you touched the eel. Lincoln did it himself and then made sure everyone in that hallway - those he knew and those he did not - knew that you could go get shocked by the eel. He was a great guide!
They both had fun at the aquarium!

They also spent some time with their cousins Carter and Kyle. It was fun to see everyone's Christmas toys. Carter got this toy car from Santa, and Marina could not wait to drive it. (They actually just sat in it and listened to the radio - NPR was the station they tuned it to!)

Then it was back to the Paul' s for more fun. Sledding in the back yard was fun for all:
Melissa and Will

Lincoln


Kami and Marina
And even Grandpa!



Marina made beautiful snow angels when she was done sledding, and we all had a great time!





Lincoln and Marina also found the time to play video games (Lincoln), hang out in her cousin's exersaucer (Marina), and get a little rest too.





Happy new year to all!