Dance Recital 2010

It's that time again, dance recital. This year Bridget was in three dances and Becca in two. So if you know how much the poorly made costumes run, add those numbers up and feel the pain I did when I paid for them. Of course they look adorable in them, so it is worth it in the end.

Both girls were in a tumbling act done to music from Aladdin. Becca was the "mid-west farmer's daughter" in her tap dance to California Girls. Bridget was in a hip-hop dance and a pom/jazz act. Becca likes it all, but doesn't love it like Bridget does. Last summer Bridget took just a tumbling class and really took to it. She practices her moves ALL the time. I find myself telling her to spend some time right-side-up.

Later this week, after we get haircuts :-) I am going to take some still shots of them in the costumes, but here they are from last night (and some from dress rehearsal ).

Hot Air Balloons

Yesterday we went to Gardner to see this hot air balloon festival. I wasn't sure what this would be about. It could be a total waste of time or really cool. It was somewhere in the middle. Not super exciting, but cool to see so many hot air balloons at once. Of course, we didn't go into the main part of the crowds and things for the kids to play on. We stayed over on the far side of this pond which turned out great for pictures. It made a nice reflection of the balloons.

Finally, the end of the year is here!

Honestly, I started this school year with dread. I didn't want to work it, but I know most people don't want to work a job. So poor me right?

I am done working at the Montessori school. At least full-time work-- I told them I would be glad to substitute. It is just the five day a week obligation without any way of having time off that was just too much. I feel some sadness with this. I will be leaving a friend that I enjoyed going to work with everyday. We had some good laughs over the past two years.

This year started out rough with Bridget's teacher and the testing that went on. Things worked out by the end of the year though. Bridget gained confidence thru this year. I think, sadly, that it partly due to her not liking her teacher and partly due to maturing a bit.

Becca is an official Kindergarten graduate! She is ready to move on to the elementary school. I will miss the montessori setting so much. Bridget did well in it, but Becca really flourished in it!

So now I am the mother to a third and first grader. Yikes!

Since I was not able to leave work these past few weeks, I don't have pics of Bridget. I do have pics of Becca's last days and graduation ceremony.

Growing up

Look at this big girl! In a previous post I said that Life touch photos sucked. I have to eat that statement for these pictures. They turned out very nice.

We are winding down this school year. I will be happy to see it go for the most part. I will be sad to see Becca move on to the elementary school.

In a couple weeks the school has a Kindergarten graduation ceremony that is very exciting for the kids. She looks sooooo cute in her cap and gown!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2010

Today was a busy day. This morning was "morning with mom" at Bridget's school. I was able to arrange going to work a bit late so I could go this year. Last year I missed this and Bridget was really disappointed. Then this evening was the Daddy Daughter Dance at her school. It was all about Bridget today. She found this dress some weeks ago and was so excited about it. It is the same color that she wore to the dance last year, but she decided it was a good color on her and it would match the tie we bought Schaun last year. Smart girl. This girl is a ham for the camera!

The fun never ends

When we got home from dance tonight, I sent the girls up to change their clothes. Becca comes yelling out of her room that the lid to the gerbil cage is closed but the gerbils are gone! What? That doesn't make sense. I go look and sure enough, they are gone. They chewed a hole thru the plastic tube and took off on a vacation. Luckily, we found them both in her room before Daisy did.

This is the second time the gerbils have escaped recently. I think they had a taste of freedom and liked it too much.

The following are a few things the girls have said that I don't want to forget. They make me laugh.

A friend of the girls developed an ear infection. I was passing that news along to them and Bridget asked how you get an ear infection--is it from earrings. I said that it was on the inside of her ear. That is when Becca piped in, shooting Bridget the "you are so stupid" look and said that she got the infection from all the listening she does. Of course!

We went to Sonic and got the girls a slushy drink. Bridget got watermelon and Becca got cherry. They are drinking and Becca of course has to take the lid off and make a big mess out of the thing. That was when she discovered and announced that she had a real cherry in hers. Bridget proceeded to rip her lid off--you see where this is going? I did and started laughing even before she said the words. She looked in her cup and asked why there wasn't a watermelon in hers.

Spring Breaking

First let me begin with acknowledge that I'm aware that pictures from Bridget's birthday have not been posted. I will in the next post. Promise.

We are on Spring Break this week. The weather has not been great. Cloudy, dreary, and damp. I'd rather be in England if this is the weather I have to live with. We are trying to make the most of the time off though. Schaun took off a few days early in the week to join in the fun, but he went back today, with some story about things falling apart without him there, blah, blah, blah.

Monday we took the girls to Bump City. It was VERY crowded. Bridget seemed to enjoy this a lot more than Becca. I think crowds bother Becca more than Bridget. We left, went home for a bit, then went to enjoy some Applebee's (Monday kids eat for .99).

Tuesday was not a lot of fun. We tried to go roller skating, but it was so crowded we couldn't even get in the door. Plan B was bowling. We walked out without playing when they told us that it would be $55 to play two games! Since when did bowling start to cost that much. On to Plan C...that was going to Target and buying the girls each an item. I figure, if we are going to spend money on entertainment, might as well be something that they keep rather that pricey bowling.

Later that evening we went to eat dinner at Cinzetti's (kids eat free on Monday and Tuesdays)

My plan is to not cook and feed the kids almost for nothing.

Wed started with everybody sleeping in late and not being motivated to do anything really. I told the girls we could go swimming. I got the hours mixed up and they only got to be in the pool for about 45 mins when they closed. Luckily, they opened again in the evening, so we went back later and swam for another 2 hours. After swimming, we dropped by to see Papa and Gramma, where Papa fed the girls dinner. Thanks for that meal!

Today is actually beautiful out! Almost 60 and sunny! Wendy gave us some discount ticket passes to see Disney on Ice, but the tickets must be purchased direct from the Sprint Center box office. So that is where we traveled to this morning. Got our our wonderfully priced tickets and then headed to the Plaza for a little walking and some picture taking. The girls were super cooperative (a little ice cream bribe goes a long way) and I got a some good shots.

After the Plaza, my neighbor Lynne was having a tea party. We headed to her house for some tasty treats. Thanks Lynne!

I am looking forward to summer soooo much! I am enjoying this time off.

I'm still around

Dang! It's been a loooooooong time since I updated here. Let me review what's happened. We celebrated Valentine's Day (over and over and over). First we had the annual Date with Dad at the Montessori school. These events were more fun as a parent than they are now as an employee. Becca enjoyed it a lot and she got to wear her fancy dress. Bridget had to come along as a worker. She was the limbo stick manager for the evening. There was another celebration at Bridget's school. (Valentine's Day is exhausting for me!) It was a good school party. Bridget was super sweet to Becca in her room by sharing her chair and table space and was just an awesome big sister. At home, we surprised the girls by setting up a chocolate fountain with lots of goodies to drizzle chocolate on. They might not look super happy in this picture, but believe me, they really were! By the time they finished with it, it looked like a chocolate massacre on the table. It was fairly messy, but totally worth it.

Party Clothes

I got the girls these clothes the other day and they were excited to wear them to Sawyer's birthday party today. Both the girls have these pink sequined hats, but it looked super cute with Bridget's dress today. Still working with the lighting situation and my backdrop. Just snapped these quick before we left today.

Chico the cockatoo

Over Christmas break we bird sat a cockatoo for a lady my mom works with. Those who know me well, know my fascination with birds. A cockatoo was not on my short list of birds to own and now a cockatoo will never be on the list at all. While it is fun to play with and look at, this bird is so loud. How loud can one bird be you might wonder. Well, while my house was totally closed up (recall the blizzard we are living in) neighbors both behind and in front of my house could hear the bird when they were outside their homes. LOUD! She was pretty though. Here are a few pics of her.