Sucess at the Minnesota Feis!!!

We're a Feising Family
Fauna and Me
Awards!
School picture
CD cover!!


WOW! It's been a really long time since I've blogged! Since last post, we've had Auntie Liz from CA, an adventure right before MN feis, and a lot of room changing-around. I'll start with
Thursday, the 25th of Sep.: I wake up in the morning feeling sick. I was in bed with some kind of flu and tummyache for the whole day.
Friday, the 26th: My stomach didn't feel much better. I was really worried I wouldn't be able to dance. Also Grandma and Grandpa (and Rooky the Big Brown Dog) came to stay overnight and see a little bit of the dancing next day. (Rooky did not come. He stayed in the car.)
Saturday, the 27th: DAY OF THE FEIS!!! I felt a little better but still pretty rotten! I didn't put on my wig, I just got dressed. Mama said that I didn't have to go if I really didn't want to, but I did want to so I did. We got there and seeing friends and being around people perked me up a lot. After a while I lost my dizziness and most of my 'ache, so mom put my wig on. Reel and Slip Jig (softshoe) felt too jiggly-joggly, but I did Light Jig for a warm up, and rested...then Daddy told me I got 1st in Jig so I went and collected my trophy (they had trophies for Prizewinner at this feis), and kept resting until Treble Jig. So I did that...and rested...and when I was dressed and ready for Hornpipe (the one I needed to qualify in!), Daddy told me I got 1st in Treble Jig! So that encouraged me a little to do well in my next dance. I got some last minute advice from my teacher...and then I was up! I was one of the first two to dance (I went with an O'Shea girl, Meghan), and I did everything Fauna (teacher) told me to! I turned out and was so 'mad at the floor'/loud, after I was done my legs just felt like rubber, and my mouth was all dry!! It was kind of strange because when you were on the stage, the sounds were kind of shriller than a ways away, so I was a little surprised when my other teacher (Cassie) said that it was amazingly loud (louder than I had ever been--'loud' is one of my weaknesses in Hardshoe. =))! Well, I got out of my dress, and went to collect my Treble Jig trophy. I hadn't checked Hornpipe yet because it was the very end of the day and practically everyone was at the results. But as I was nearing the line to get medals/trophies, Sese (who I guess is very small and can fit into tight places-you had to be to fit in that crowd) came running. "YOU QUALIFIED! YOU QUALIFIED!!" I was jumping up and down!! Those were some of the best most exciting words I had ever heard! I ran to Fauna and Cassie, they were so happy!! So we are officially going. Sese has been officially invited, and I have officially qualified. So we are officially going to dance at the Oireachtas (A-rock-tus) this Thanksgiving weekend! I can't wait!
Here's all the results:
Me:
Light Jig 1st
Treble Jig 1st
Hornpipe 2nd (Meghan beat me! She's really good at Hornpipe.)
(sat out of Reel and Slip Jig)
Sese:
Reel 1st
Light Jig 2nd
Slip Jig 2nd
Treble Jig 2nd
Hornpipe 2nd
Izzy:
Reel 1st
Light Jig 1st
Slip Jig 1st
Hornpipe 2nd
Miranda:
Reel 2nd
Light Jig 3rd
Slip Jig 3rd
Hornpipe 1st

Mama took our pictures at the park by our house about a week ago. The one of all of us is the 'cd cover'!
Whoever has been to our house, we've been seriously moving around! Sese and me (who had shared a room) wanted to have our own bedrooms, so I went downstairs to the 'office', Sese has Izzy & Meema's room, and they have our old room. I'll take some pictures and post them...
All for now! ~Sonja

Iowa State Feis and other things...

Felicity and me
County Courthouse
Windmills
Placements

Sandy Kitty

We've been really busy lately! I'll start with the Iowa State Feis report:
We drove down Friday morning and stopped twice. It was a 6 hour drive. It took soooooooooo long! It was awful! Well, when we FINALLY got there, we went swimming. It was the tiniest pool imaginable! And the hot tub was teeny-tiny! We ate at the hotel restaurant. I had so much food, I was feeling sick when we left, but when we went out for a quick walk, my stomach really started acting up. I felt really icky so we had to go back to our room, where we watched a home designer show. After a while, we went to register; unfourtunately, they didn't let you in to see the place. Oh well. There were a lot of weird things at that hotel, when we went to bed there was a smell of smoke coming up through our bathroom air vent. (G-pop: It isn't a pleasant smell when trying to sleep, no matter what else it may be at other times!) Well: the next morning, we got up, ate breakfast at the restaurant, got wigs on (thankfully Mom only had to do two--Izzy and Miranda didn't dance at this one.), and walked across the street to the Ice arena.
After warming up, I got dressed, went to my stage, and found my friend Madi, who is in my age and level. First was Reel. I thought I didn't do it very well! I almost bumped into a girl and Madi fell down! And we were all crowded. The judge made us dance 3 at a time, but thankfully only for this!

I did the best Slip Jig I ever did in my life!! We got to go two at a time for this (thankfully!). I was very pleased with my dancing.

Treble Jig: Very good! I had my favorite judge ever.

Hornpipe: Just as well, but my favorite judge switched places with someone else right before my dance!!!!!

I made a lot of new friends waiting in line! We talked about dresses and schools a lot.

We went over to Sese's stage just in time to see her Slip Jig. After she danced, Mom went to look at Results with me:
Reel: 4th
Slip Jig: Nothing. And I did it so good! I guess there were more good Slip Jiggers than Reelers etc
Treble Jig: 1st!!!!!!!!!!! And they had little trophies (see picture)!!
Hornpipe: 4th. Rats! one more higher placement and I would be qualified for Oireachtas (regionals). For those of you who don't know, in my level you have to qualify for the Oireachtas by getting a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in every dance. I'm working really hard for my last feis (in a few weeks) so that I can qualify!

Sese did very well- she had a little mistake in her Treble Jig but got right back on. She got:
1st: Jig
2nd: Reel
2nd: Treble Jig (She would have got 1st if it wouldn't have been for her break!)
3rd: Slip Jig
4th: Hornpipe

Dad, Izzy and Miranda had packed everything besides feis stuff before we left, so we went to the car, took off our wigs, and got driving. We stopped twice along the way- for McD's and Gas.
You might know from Dad's blog that he got food poisoning. He had to stay home the next two days because he felt so yuck.
I had a little bit of what Daddy did, but definately not that bad!

Well, it was a very long trip. It seemed MUCH longer coming home...I wonder why it seems to not take that long when you're going somewhere but then when you come back it takes way longer? Maybe because on the way back it's not as exciting, you're familiar with where you are.

The last picture of Sandy Mama took a few days ago. Isn't she an adorable baby!!?
Coming soon....Auntie Liz's trip to MN

Broadwater Days 5-8

Me & Lucette- Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart
Anyone know why her skirt's so weirdly shaped?
Swimming through the weeds to get from the AquaJump to the shore!! Blech!
On the boat with Granny
Slumber Party night!!!!!!!

Day 5, Wednesday, August 27:
-We look for the medallion in the morning- the clue is 'I live in a circle.' We look with G-Pop in ALL of the little rock circles, Garden circles, EVERY CIRCLE! Grandpa even dug through the plants!! And we didn't find anything!!
-We went to Seclusion (one of the cabins a little ways away then the rest--we get to stay there next year!!)
-Uncle Howard comes back from town with bows and arrows for our Indian playing!!
-The Stetzlers (very old family friends) come and immediately go fishing.
-They come back and we have news that Mr.Munson/Daddy/Uncle Reed has caught a 23 inch Northern but got the hook stuck in his his finger!!! Mama had to take him to the clinic in town where he had it removed.
-We sat around, ate laffy taffy, and read some very old Mickey Mouse comic books.
-After this, a (seemingly) peaceful afternoon turned into a horror movie as we (Mathias, Sese, Izzy, Miranda, Sophie and me) were chased ALL OVER CREATION by the bully and his brother! They were beating up Mathias (at least they THOUGHT they were-what can five and four year olds do to a kid who's two heads taller than them?) at the main lodge, but Sese went and got Mama and she told them to leave us alone. Thankfully, that was the end of them!!!!
-Nothing else really happened...
Day 6, Thursday, August 28:
-We go to the lodge first thing (Georgie, Sese, Izzy, Miranda and me), but this other girl and her sister came at the same time. The guy put out the clue, it was: "I can see Northern Lights."
That's the name of one of the cabins. I had to think a moment to remember that, but the other girl LIVED at Northern Lights, so she was running there before I was. It was like a race!! I was three feet behind her! But she got there first. It was in a hosta plant in a circle (clue #3- I live in a circle) under a pole (clue #2- Am like a tree) that had a birdhouse on it (clue #1-Hanger is somewhat like I am). And Gpop had looked through all the circles!! Dug through all the plants! (He and Mathias are convinced that the guy who owns the place must hide it the third night, but I don't think we should expect it-even though it's probable.)
-Dance practice and go to town!! We ate at the Sweets Cafe in Hackensack, played at the huge playground in the city park, got laundry done, and got souvies.
Day 7, Friday, August 29:
-Pretty regular day...
-SLUMBER PARTY NIGHT!!! We ate Root beer barrels, Lemon Drops, Licorice, Pink mints and lots of popcorn AS WE HAD Sody-pop and watched the movies. The shorts were two Little Rascals (Divot Diggers and Spanky) and the feature presentation was Abbot & Costello's Jack and the Beanstalk!! It's so funny!! Well after it was done and we were tucked in, we only told two stories and then were to tired to go on!
Day 8, Saturday, August 30:
-Daddy made pancakes for breakfast
-We had the Munson Family Circus!! Stay tuned for more, at the moment I'm not at liberty to tell all of the acts.
-We get packed-this process always takes a long time!!
-Everyone comes into town for lunch again at the Sweets Cafe!
-We have the big farewell (but also see-you-in-two-weeks...I'll explain later.) at the big city park!

We got home at about 7pm. The cats were so glad to see us! The see-you-in-two-weeks business was because my Aunt Liz came up from California for a business conference! She arrived last night, and on Sunday we're having another family gathering at Aunt Em's house. Posts about that will come soon! Next post: Iowa Feis!!!!

Broadwater Days 1-4

"Picture Rock"
Making 'Softy-grungy' (invented by Sophie)
Sonja & Sophie

The One fish I caught (12 inches!)
Okay, here goes on the Broadwater Reports:
Day 1, Saturday, August 23:
-We arrive, greet family, get used to our surroundings, and dance. We stayed in the cabin 'The Chalet.'
-We eat supper and play Indians on the large wooded hill next to the cabin with 6 year old Sophie and identical twin brothers Hankie and Georgie, almost 4 years old.
-S'Mores!!
Day 2, Sunday, August 24:
-Breakfast.
-We leave for church an hour and a half early, so we go back to the cabin.
-We leave for church at the right time!!
-We have a good time at church!
-Dancing, lunch, starting our art lessons in painting 'treasure boxes' that Granny got for us-she taught the lessons too
-BEACH TIME!!!!!! Kayaking, playing in sand, swimming...
-Supper of steaks made by experienced cook, Uncle Howard Jr. ... YUM!!
Day 3, Monday, August 25:
-The search for the gold medallion begins (a fun thing for kids to do-you get a new clue every day and whoever finds it gets $15 worth of merchandise from the main lodge store.
-Clue #1 was: 'Hanger is something like I am.' Sophie suggested a clothesline, but we (Sophie, 10 year old Mathias and me) looked around all of them and didn't find anything.
-Cousin Henning (age 12) rather foolishly goes kayaking all the way across the bay of where our lodge was WITHOUT A LIFE JACKET!!!! Yikes!
-Uneventful afternoon- lots of walks and playing at the playground...well, it was uneventful until a bratty, bullying boy starting being rude and mean to us girls (Sophie, Isabel, Sese, and I) and little Georgie. We went home after that.
-Supper and then a nice boat ride.
-Fishing-catching nothing.
Day 4, Tuesday, August 26:
-Clue of the Day: 'Am somewhat like a tree.' G-Pop'/Grandpa Howard thinks of a basketball hoop, as it's like a tree and has a net hanging from it. I also thought it might be the playground, as it has a sign on it that says 'the Treehouse' and has swings hanging from it. No luck finding it though.
-Just when I had finished dancing, everyone (who had been on a walk) came screaming up to the cabin, they had found a little gold coin thing on a post by a wood pile. Uncle Howard thought all the clues went, but when we went to get our candy, the owner said, "nope, that's not the right one." Rats! So disappointing!!
-We didn't go kayaking that day, it was much to windy and some other people had got stranded really far away!!!

That was all for the first four days. Next post coming soon!

What I've been up to...

Emma and I with all her six babies, stroller, 'high seat', bouncy seat, and bike stroller.
Emma close-up
Baby sister, Lydia
THE SCARF

Lately I've been going over to our Pastor's house, his wife just had a baby. (Her name is Lydia Grace.) Their toddler, Emma, is the same age I was when Selena was born! I went over twice this past week to help keep 'Em' entertained. We mainly play with babies and all their food. She has: 1. New baby- 2. 'No' baby- 3. Other baby- 4. Emma's baby- 5. another Emma's baby- 6. Funny eyes baby (it has those blinking eyes.) We have a lot of fun! Her baby sister adorable, isn't she? She was born August 11.

Also, do you remember that knitting I had started a long time ago? It had been sitting in my closet until recently when I picked it up again and finished it in almost a week, I think. Yes, it is rather long... but that's going to be handy for when it's really cold, I'll be able to wrap it all around my face!! (Almost, at least.)

Tomorrow we are leaving for Broadwater Lodge- we're going Up North with my dad's side of the family for a week. Last year we went for my Grandparent's 50th, and it was so much fun we wanted to do it again this year! There's limited internet access up there, so I won't be able to blog. :( Unlike my father who is in getting-ready-to-relax gear, I wanted to blog every day with pictures, but I can't. So just know why I haven't blogged for a week.
I'll be sure to blog at least two posts about our trip after. We'll be having a great time up there, no doubt about that! See you in about a week!

Irish Fair 2008!!

talking before the show... Izzy and Miranda before their tv spot
the corda mor dancers take over the football field
After the Friday night show with Aunt Jan
Q: why does teacher have the football? A: the boys were being distracted with it so she took it away.

We had a great time at Irish fair! We did one full show Friday night and our school did two numbers in the showcase later that night. We were only in one of the numbers. It was me & Sese's first time wearing out solo dresses for a show! It was so fun! We did three shows on Saturday, but Izzy & Miranda did four counting their TV Spot. Lots of family came. (Thank you all for coming!) It was terribly hot in Solo dresses but there was a lot of shade in the tent where the dance stage was thankfully! We had a great time hanging out with friends in between shows. It was a great weekend!! Check the corda mor website gallery soon for more pictures!!

Nordic Fest

Main Street of Decorah
At the chick hatchery
Sese and a chick
Norwegian folding chair ( I didn't make that up! there was a sign!)
After the performance


We had a great time at Nordic Fest! My cousin Elliot was one of the Nordic dancers, this was his last year doing it so we came to see his last performance! He's been doing it for 10 years.
It was terribly hot until some clouds came, that was really nice. We bought some stuff at the Decorah shops, and had fun looking at the chicks in the Decorah chick hatchery! There was a lot of good music and a LOT of GOOD lefse!! Uffda!
(P.S.: inappropriately, Selena wore an 'Irish' shirt! Good Grief!!)