Thursday and beyond

Yesterday was Tate's dress rehearsal. It is so fun to watch them get excited about a big stage and see the awe in their faces when they watch the big girls dance.

Today I help in Tate's class and clean for my parents arrival tomorrow night. When will Jackson stop shedding so my vacuum with not blow up from use?

Two days until Tate's recital and my first go as a class mom backstage.

Four more days of school for Paige until she is done for the summer.

A week until Tate's Me party at school...sounds fun. Scott is going since I have to work.

Six days before I head to Wilmington for a girls weekend with Courtney.

Six more days of work for me and then I'm unemployed until further notice by the school system.

Five more weeks of 2nd grade for Tate.

Five more weeks until we head to the Outer Banks for July 4th week.

Seven weeks until Scott and I have been married 10 years! We are headed to Tybee Island, GA to celebrate. Just made reservations. Nana and B will babysit.

Two months a a week until Tate is eight! Say it ain't so.

Three months and two weeks until Paige is 5! I know it can't be so!

Three months and three weeks and Carmen will turn.....the computer has stopped working.

And if we really want to think ahead....8 months until we take the girls to Disney again! This time we will do Sea World.

Thata a girl!

Why am I so excited that Tate got her first hole in a pair of jeans? Crazy I know, but it is like a right of passage during your childhood. She thought I would be mad, and I just smiled. Poor girl was so confused.

Went almost two months without a microwave, but we have the new one in after calling in Dave and Darren to help us realize we had not taken the bracket off. Duh!

Got a haircut! It is surely a thata girl day!

Paige's First Recital

Another first has come...Paige had her first dance recital on Saturday. She danced (yes, in the neon green costume that had no connection to the beautiful song) to "Barbie Bandaids," a sweet sentimental song about your little girl growing up. Can I say tears? Whew! I got her out of school early for dress rehearsal on Friday. She was excited, and I was nervous to see what she would do when the curtain opened. She danced...that is what she did. She was even smiling. Afterward, she told me her teacher promised them a treat if they smiled the whole time. At school, she doesn't really participate when the class sings to the parents, so I wondered how an auditorium of parents would make her feel. She was awesome!

Here she is right before the recital...

On the way there, she asked me if more than Mommies would be there this time. I told her yes...that Moms, Dads, Grannies, and Granddaddies would be there. She didn't say anything more so again I waited with baited breath to see what she would do with the auditorium full. She twirled, pointed, and so graceful! On the way to lunch, she said "Mommy, I didn't even have to take their clothes off." At first I was thinking What? Then I remembered that I had told her if her belly felt a little funny and she was nervous to think of the audience in their underwear and that she would think that was so silly her funny feelings would go away. I loved it! I won't forget that one!

Chalk family

The girls are obsessed with drawing pictures on the driveway with chalk right now. They are getting quite good at it. Tate has a house, girl and garden with watering can going right now. Good cheap fun!

Yesterday, Paige wanted to trace us all to have a family in her picture. I humored her and laid down on the cement while she traced me...even each finger. What an eyeopener when I got up. I'm a pretty small person but you should see the hips on the chalk me. Ha! It was hilarious. Now there is a chalk Tate, Paige and Mom greeting our neighbors as they walk by. We are even holding hands. OK, rain come help me out!

Tate tracks back in today....5 more weeks and I'll have a 3rd grader. Can that be right? Paige is done at her school on June 5. We'll have the summer together and she will start at her new school in September for Transitional Kindergarten.

Crazy Dog

It has been two weeks since Scout passed away, and Jackson is now full blown spoiled by all of us. She loves the air condition, so we have to fight her to go out. She just wants to relax and shed her winter fur all over the hardwood. When she sees us coming to let her out for the bathroom, she hides under chairs or behind the couch. I guess she is scared the good life will be taken away again just like it was when the kids arrived and she and Scout started staying outside more. The last two nights she has for some reason decided that after it cools off outside she enjoys laying on the patio and does not want to come in for the night when Scott and I are ready for bed. When we call her in, she goes under the porch. We left her out Saturday night, and she did fine. Last night, I gave up and left her out again but at 3:30 in the morning she decided she was ready to come in. A rhythmic bark persisted until I woke up and let her in. That just can't happen. I guess we are going to have to take our spoiled almost 12 year old dog into our fenced in backyard on a leash each night so that she will come in without a scene.

Trophies and more trophies

Great news! Tate received two trophies this week. She is creating quite the collection on her dresser. I think she is up to five. On Monday, we had a pizza night with her soccer team. Her coach is amazing. Great guy! He spoke about each of the ten kids as he presented their trophy and what he said really showed that he took the time to get to know them. Tate was his smiler. Nothing gets that girl down. He could always look to her for a strong kick (2 goals this season) and a smile even if the team was down. We are aging up next season so after 3 seasons with many of the same kids she will be on an all girls team in the fall. No more co-ed. I don't know how I feel about that. The boys are fun and they challenge the girls to be more aggressive.

Trophy two came on Thursday night at the PTA meeting. Tate participated in the annual Reflections art contest. This year the theme was WOW! We had just returned from Disney when this project was due so her WOW interpretation was the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. It turned out great. Instead of drawing it, she cut out different shapes to create the castle, trees, etc. out of construction paper. Here it is...

She got first place for the K-2 age category. We are so proud of her! It was so cute to watch her getting nervous before they called her name to go get her trophy and shake hands with the principal. She was rubbing her hands together and moving her legs. Nerves!

Now my Paigey is a trooper. She watches her sister do this with a smile and clap. She loves it and never complains about not having a trophy of her own yet. Scott and I are the ones that feel bad. Tate has five trophies and has had visits from the tooth fairy six times and Paige takes it in stride. Her day will come and I can't wait. I think I will find a trophy for her for her Pre-K graduation in June.

Week in Pictures

This week was great! We deserved it! Monday Tate went to her first day of gymnastics track out camp and loved it. This was the first time she has gone somewhere where she didn't know anyone. She did great. Her last soccer practice rounded out the day. Parents played kids and the kids won.

Tuesday was picture day. Emily and I took the kids to the Rose Garden and had great shots taken. The scenery was great! I almost died when the photographer asked the girls if they had a dog but they both handled it great.

We left the Rose Garden and went to Pullen Park. The girls went on the carousel (sleigh for Paige, horse for Tate) and the train. We had lunch and I even got interviewed by the local news and we were on the 6 o'clock news that night. The girls loved seeing themselves on TV.

Wednesday Tate was back at gymnastics camp. She had Abbie stay over for a sleepover. They had a blast. This was only her second sleepover at our house. It went so nicely. I ended up bribing Paige with a new Fancy Nancy book to leave them alone for a while. It worked.

Thursday was just as busy. After the girls did some "shows" for me in the morning, we headed to JumpZone for 2 hours where they jumped and jumped and jumped that energy out. In the afternoon we went to Porter's and picked strawberries and had homemade ice cream with friends. Yummy!

Friday Tate went to see a movie with her friend Caitlyn while I worked and Paige was at school. We had dinner with Stacey, Matt, Abbie, and Jamison. We had to get to bed early for Tate's last soccer game.

Saturday morning eating her bagel, Tate lost her sixth tooth. After a mishap with Scott almost rinsing it down the kitchen sink, it made it to her pillow. Tate continued her great day by making her second goal of the season at her last soccer game and the only goal of the game for her team. You gotta love to see a girl fist pump with all the boys watching. Go girl!

This coming week should be less busy but hopefully just as fun! Recitals are coming and Tate will track back in after Mother's Day.