Recap of 2013

It's hard to believe that it's almost been two years since I've posted anything on Hannah's blog! There are times when I am so disappointment with myself for having not kept up on blogs like I had done all these years. It's my goal to be better at blogging in 2014. 

I'm sitting on the couch, literally minutes away from ringing in the New Year and I'm looking at pictures from the last year. Thinking about the highlights of the year when it came to Hannah.

I think the biggest thing of 2013 was that Hannah turned 13 years old, we have a teenager in our house!! She turned 13 in April and had a big party with family and friends. It was a purple party that included a purple candy bar and all kinds of purple treats!

In May, not only was Hannah recognized for a year of AVID completion, she attained a place on the Vice Principal's Honor Roll for holding a 3.8 GPA!! We were very proud! She not only adapted well to Jr High, but she's succeeding and excelling in all seven of her classes. She continues to do that even now as she just completed the first semester of 8th grade!

The week after school got out, Hannah had an adventure. She ventured for the first time out of the State of California to visit Steven's aunt in Las Vegas, with our sister in law, my mother in law, and our niece.

 

First Day of 8th Grade, August 2013.

 I think if you were to ask Hannah what the best highlight of 2013 was for her, I think she would say The Catching Fire Premiere in Los Angeles!! She has been a HUGE Hunger Games fan since the first time she saw the movie. Her room is filled with posters, memorabilia, and is a huge fan of Josh Hutcherson.

Long story short, I figured out where the L.A. premiere was to be held and in attempts of becoming Mom's of the Year, actually we were hoping for just Mom of the Week, a friend and I surprised our girls with a trip to Los Angeles in hopes of catching some of the hype that surrounds movie premieres. Little did we know how our night would turn out!!! We managed to find the stand by line for the Red Carpet sidelines and scored a spot at the beginning of the arrivals!! Not only did our girls see the celebrities of their most favorite movie, but we got pictures, and they got autographs! Hannah got Josh Hutcherson's autograph and the look on her face when she'd attained it was priceless!! As we excited the Red Carpet sidelines, we were presented with tickets INTO the premiere!! We were going to see the movie that very night! This picture and the expression on her face says it all!! One thing is for certain, I had definitely scored at least the "Mom of the Day" award! LOL.

Hannah's been going to Disneyland since she was 6 weeks old. She's been to Disneyland more times in her life than the neighborhood park around the corner! The last couple of years, she hasn't enjoyed going as much as she once did when she was little, but 2013 was the year it's changed. She's developed a new hobby, new character crushes, and very much enjoys going and asks all the time when our next trip it! I absolutely love it! We've managed to go 2-3 a month, especially the weeks they girls were off from school! I look forward to many more trips in 2014, especially with friends who received passes as Christmas presents!

2013 also brought about top braces and monthly orthodontic appointments, internet hobbies in the form of  instagram, pinterest, and tumbler. She's a self professed "FanGirl" and loves all things Hunger Games/Catching Fire, Harry Potter, and Disney. It's hard to believe that in 2014, our firstborn will turn 14, promote from Jr High, and will be a Freshman in High School!!!!!

Casted in the Beauty and the Beast

Tonight, we had a parent meeting for the upcoming Beauty and the Beast whereas the official cast was announced and the girls each got their part.

Hannah was casted as an enchanted object that fits her perfectly for her tall and slender body...she's a knife!! The tallest knife!

There's no time to waste and measurements were taken tonight for costumes!

Spa Day

For Christmas, the girls each received a gift card for a Pedicure from Uncle Robbie and Auntie. What fun it was to learn that their cousins, McKenzie and Haylee, received gift cards in their stockings as well! So a spa day for the girlies was planned!

Auntie made the appointment and we showed up. The women working in the salon that day were so helpful and happy to see such four cute girlies having a spa day.At first, Hannah looked pretty uncomfortable. I told her to sit back and just relax and enjoy getting her feet worked on. Eventually she did, and she said she did like it after it was all done. This was her first professional pedicure. It was a fun day and a great Christmas present to get and then do with their cousins!

The Month of December

After months of after school rehearsals, Hannah's Choir performance was the second week of December. All the kids did a great job and the performance was amazing! The week after Hannah's choir performance, our school started auditions for the upcoming production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Our school has done major productions for the last four years, whereas you have to audition, etc. Hannah has never wanted to try out because of the fear of being rejected. A week or two prior to the auditions, a few Mom Friends from school convinced Hannah to come the week of auditions. Not going to get a part, but going to learn the dance and the song and to just have fun. And with that, Hannah agreed to audition. Upon coming home after the first day of auditions, Hannah was hooked and she WANTED a part. She began rehearsing the dance, etc. The kids were sent home a letter on Friday afternoon letting them know whether or not they'd made it. Hannah was very excited upon opening her letter to learn that she indeed did make the production!!! The show dates are April 12, 13, and 14th. Her birthday: April 15th!! She is one very excited girl (as excited as Hannah gets) and rehearsals will begin the week we return to school, January 9th.

There were 225 kids auditioning, only 85 were accepted.Auditions were ran very professionally, each kid had a number.We got a part!!!!!
The week of auditions was a very week for Hannah. Not only were there auditions everyday afterschool, but she received Student of the Month and was honored at the assembly. She had been working REALLY hard to achieve it this month. She was very proud, as were we. The very same day as the Student of the Month assembly was a 6th grade field trip to Medieval Times! I went as a parent chaperone for Hannah's class. My group was lucky enough to get the first row of seats for our school! So we had prime vision of all that was going on. Hannah loves Medieval Times and this time was no exception!When school let out on Friday, December 16th, it meant three weeks of Christmas vacation!! The next week leading up to Christmas found the girls spending two different nights with Gramma and Papa, as Mommy and Daddy had places to go to that required Papa and Gramma's overnight services with the girls. The week also included an all afternoon, into the evening trip to Disneyland with good friends whom we've been going to Disneyland with since the girls (my Hannah, and her Katie) were months old. On this particular day, we knew the parks were going to be crowded, but we dressed our kids in festive shirts and took advantage of the Christmas decor all about the Disneyland resort. This is just one of the many pictures we took that day and I love it!! We stayed late into the night, enjoyed the snow and the holiday fireworks and all the pretties of the season. Our Christmas was a good one. With Christmas falling on a Sunday, we had our usual Sunday morning church service, as well as a Christmas Eve service. The girls were so excited for Christmas this year they were practically bouncing off the walls the few days leading up to Christmas. Both girls got Green Machines.This picture is blurry of Hannah, but it shows her true expression of happiness, as she received a Special Edition Lord of the Rings PEZ Candy set and the movies on Blu Ray. The girl is obsessed with LOTR and Orlando Bloom. On Friday, December 30th, we took the girls into Hollywood to enter the lottery for discounted seats for WICKED at The Pantages. Steven and I had seen it the week before, and for months, Hannah has been subjected to listening to my soundtrack over and over and over again. And with the girls getting ready to embark of their own broadway-like production, we wanted them to see something big and spectacular. Long story short, we did see WICKED and Hannah LOVED it as much as I did the first time I saw it! She now has the soundtrack on her own iPod!On New Years Eve Day, because we had free tickets that expired that day, we went to the Long Beach Aquarium. It was a fun day and we enjoyed being able to go and see all of the beautiful sea creatures. Hannah loves the ocean and has officially decided she wants to do something with animals when she gets older. There's lots to look forward to as we start back to school next week...afterschool rehearsals will begin for Beauty and the Beast, Science Camp for four days in April, and then ultimately, it all ending with a 6th grade promotion ceremony and Hannah moving on to the next thing...JR HIGH!!!

The Month of November

The first week of November, both the girls classes were part of our schools "Revue" program whereas several classes perform, some joining together, to form about a 60 minute performance of dance and moving routines. This is the third year our school has done such a program and it just gets better and better each year. Here is Hannah's class performance. About 2/3 of the way through the video, Hannah's teacher jumps in and dances with her class!!The month of November seemed to fly by between everyday afterschool Choir rehearsals for Hannah, and then ending the month with a two week break from school and then Thanksgiving.

Back at the Campground

A couple of weekends ago, our dear friends were camping at our favorite beach campground for the weekend. Steven was out of town for the night, so the girls and I packed our bags and went to the beach for the night. I scored an amazing rate at a motel just down the street from the campground and we were able to spend Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday at the place we all love so dearly...the beach!!

It was absolutely beautiful weather! I took some cute pictures of my girls. Here's one of Hannah that I love...And here's another....I made her lay down in the street in the exact same location of where her accident happened in July. LOL. Needless to say, Gramma didn't think the texted picture was too funny. :X