Swinging

We did a little swinging after dinner tonight!

The weather was perfect… Not hot at all. I taught Taelyn how to do a back flip holding on to the rings on her swing set.

Okay, this show I’ve been more than obsessed with in the past week, Dance Academy… You need to watch it. Seasons 1 & 2 are on Netflix. It is about these students (15ish when season 1 starts) who are starting their first year at a ballet school in Australia. The episodes are about 20-23 minutes each so you can get through the seasons fairly quickly. The finale of season 2 is really unbelievable. I’ve watched it 3 times and have cried every time… But I haven’t cried because of certain events. It is the dancing that has gotten me. During the episode, Tara (one of the main characters. Since the show is Australian it is pronounced more like Tyra) dances The Red Shoes and it is amazing. Then at the end all of the main characters do a contemporary routine that I cannot help but tear up during. Watch it.

No Italian lesson tonight. I’m trying to learn grammar at the moment and it is so confusing. I need a little break. Buonanotte.

Birthday Intensive

We had a birthday party intensive yesterday! Kaelyn Thames’ birthday party was in the morning and Bella Gibson’s birthday party was that afternoon. In between birthday party 1 and 2, Taelyn let out a big sigh and said, “This is the most perfect day ever.”

Want to know a major difference between Taelyn and Lillian? Lillian is fearless. Taelyn is … fearful. Taelyn was afraid of bounce houses until about 6 months ago. When we got to Kaelyn’s birthday party, I put Lillian down and she immediately went straight to the bounce house. She was trying her hardest to climb up that little slide to get in. Fearless.

Carrie did a Minnie Mouse birthday party that was amazing. She had this candy bar set up and Taelyn couldn’t keep her hands out of it. I finally had to threaten a spanking after she had eaten her weight in candy.

Taelyn and Halle enjoying some cotton candy.

Lillian loved the balls.

Kelsey informed me that Elizabeth, who is 2, has NEVER had a doughnut. I just couldn’t let that go on any longer. I became her best friend after that. I think the final tally was 3.

Lillian has had plenty of doughnuts!

Lillian and her BFF, Emily. Sweet Emily sat quietly in her chair all morning. Lillian did not.

Taelyn wanted to do a little dancing when we got home. Her new ballet shoes have inspired her. She kept saying, “Teach me more, Momma. Teach me something else.” She wanted 2 tutus on. Because one isn’t enough.

After naps, we headed to Bella’s birthday at the Reunion beach! This party was precious, as well. Heather buried “treasure” in the sand and all of the kids got a treasure box and got to dig for treasure. Taelyn has played with her “jewels” constantly since we got home. Last night she spent all kinds of time washing each “jewel” before putting it back in her treasure box.

Lillian enjoyed the water!

At one point, I was holding her hands and walked her out a little deeper into the water. She would scrunch up her face and then dunk her whole face in the water and come up laughing. She probably did it 12 times. Taelyn didn’t want her face wet at all when she was little. Fearless. I guess it helps when she is watching her older sister swim and put her head under. She is learning a lot more quickly what you are supposed to do.

Taelyn swimming with her friends! She is the one on the right with just her head sticking up.

Both were wonderful birthdays and we had a great time celebrating with these sweet girls and their families!

The best thing happened this morning. Taelyn was in my bathroom while I was getting ready for church. I came out with 2 different black sandals on and asked her which she thought looked the best. You could see it in her face that she was thinking hard about this, and finally pointed to the shoe on my right foot and said, “That one is perfect for you, momma.” That was the shoe that I was leaning towards anyway. And her answer was so thoughtful. She has now replaced Scott as my shoe picker outer. I LOVE having daughters.

After church we headed to Bebe and Papa’s for lunch. After lunch we played in the sprinkler!

Then Bebe sprayed Taelyn with the water hose while she hid behind an umbrella!

Fun day! We were (are) all exhausted by the end of it. Both girls went straight to sleep tonight.

Devo andare a imparare un po ‘italiano e poi andare a letto. Buonanotte.

Monumental

Taelyn’s first pair of ballet shoes came in the mail today. I’m going to try not to be psycho ballet mom, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little giddy opening them!

Mamie took the girls to the science museum and Backyard Burger for lunch today. I was able to get a nap while they were gone!

They came home with large suckers… One for each of them!

Lillian loved her sucker and was very sticky. I only let her have it for a few minutes and then put it up. At that point Taelyn shared her sucker with her sister. I’ll bet she wishes she had an older sister that would have shared a sucker with her. Taelyn didn’t get to eat a sucker until she was TWO! Everything is different with the 2nd one!

I stumbled across an Australian tv show called Dance Academy while I was stuck in my bed with the flu last weekend. I can’t stop watching it. It is seriously good in a Centre Stage, poor acting kind of way. You should give it a shot!!

Graduation

Last night was Northwest’s graduation. This class. I am sitting here thinking of how to express my love of this year’s graduating class. As I was watching those students walk across the stage, I realized what a huge percentage of them I actually taught, most in their 10th grade year. Then I had a lot of them again the next year in homeroom or Broadcast Journalism. Three of my Public Speaking students spoke at graduation last night and they all did an unbelievable job. I was overwhelmed with pride. I’m not sure how I will feel when my own children walk across that stage to graduate, but I got a glimpse of it last night.

After graduation, we all got changed and headed to Grad Night. It was amazing. The parent’s did an incredible job planning this. It was great to get to spend some time with some former students and my teacher friends as well. I knew that I would be exhausted today, but it was well worth the exhaustion to get to share in this night with this special group of people.

My girls. If they go to college and forget about me I’m going to hurt someone. I expect visits every college break.

Theresa. I miss this lady so much. I almost had her talked into going to grad night with me, but alas, she had to be at school today. And I did not.

The first stop was the castle in Raymond. We had dinner here and then they had a casino room set up. The kids got to play casino games for tickets, which they could use to enter drawings for some amazing prizes (ipad, playstation, tvs, etc). There was also a candy bar set up. Oh, and a photo booth that printed out these 4×6 photos that had “graduation 2012″ and all that printed on them. They were super cute!

Terrible picture, but this is the castle. It is a castle. In Raymond.

Jabriel. This kid has a piece of my heart. I couldn’t have been any prouder of him as he received his diploma last night. That’s a great grin, but he still can’t use it to get away with anything with me. He continues to try.

Anna Kristen and Victoria… hitting the tables!

Parker, Scotty and Tracy. They think I’m no longer “techie” because I had a little trouble getting my camera turned around. I think it was just 2 hours past my bedtime!

Robby. God gave me a special patience for this boy. I have loved watching him grow up from that small teenage boy who gave a speech on CPR. He is definitely no longer small. God’s going to do great things with Robby.

There were so many more students that I should have taken pictures of. Makes me sad.

Stop #2 was at The South and it was AWESOME! They had a dj and a dance floor. There was also this amazing dessert bar set up.

Beautiful.

I’m not sure how I escaped the entire night without a picture of Caroline and Madison. Poor Caroline. At The South when all of the kids were dancing she walked past and said, “Please take me home.” We joked that she would much rather be babysitting kids or reading a book than be at a big dance party. Love those girls.

I bailed on them at this location. I know my own limitations.

For the 3rd stop they went to the Cotton Market. They watched their senior slideshow. There was a bonfire and fireworks. They watched the sunrise. I think it was a really special night for this crew. I am going to miss them so much. I hope they know how much they impacted my life while I was teaching at NW.

Mamie just got here to take the girls to the park so I’m going back to bed. Happy Graduation!!

More Snoozing Pics

I love taking pictures of Lillian when she is sleeping. Today I went in to wake her up from her nap and I found her like this:

She was sound asleep and that leg was completely outside of her crib.

She’s my wild one!

Some pics

Sleepy Lillian right after waking up from her nap.

The girls sharing an ice cream cone.

Thankful for my hubby

I’m thankful for my husband this weekend… As he took over all of my motherly duties all weekend so I could lounge around being sick. He took care of the girls all by himself, kept everyone fed, and even did a load of dishes in the dishwasher. I think he will be happy to go back to work tomorrow to get some rest!! Make sure you wish him a Happy Mother’s Day if you talk to him!

Mother’s Day Depression

It’s Mother’s Day Weekend and I’m quarantined to my bed with the flu. I haven’t had one peek at my babies all day long. I’ve barely seen my husband. Not my favorite mother’s day.

Doughnut was a trooper for a long time, but she finally gave up on me to join the more upbeat, well part of the family. She stayed curled up by my legs napping for most of the day, though.

I’ve slept most of the day, waking briefly to catch up with the outside world via Facebook and twitter. I read a chapter in my book earlier, but a chapter at a time is about all I can manage in this depressing book.

I did cry my way through “A walk to remember” earlier this afternoon. That left me feeling tired so I went back to sleep.

Now I’m listening to my girls playing in the living room and I’m aching to hug on them. Lillian is yelling at everyone, as usual, and it is making me smile. I wish I could lay eyes on her. It isn’t worth the risk of her getting the flu, though.

My greasy hair is stuck to one side of my head. I brushed my teeth earlier in the day, but they are feeling fuzzy again, with all of this sleeping I have been doing. I’m sure I smell of sickness and laziness- maybe that is why Doughnut finally gave up on me.

And if you weren’t depressed before reading this post… You are now. My apologies.

Yucky.

I’m sitting at the doctor’s office right now. I may be here until 9pm, so I thought I’d do some blogging since it has been a few nights. And since I’m pretty sure that I’m going straight to bed as soon as I get home. It is really crummy to be sick on mothers day weekend.

Yesterday was Taelyn’s last day of school for the year. She was quite excited about the bug party that they had. She is enrolled in the summer program at her school, and I’m sure she will be more than ready for that to begin!

Last night I had a girl’s night. We went to eat for Kelsey’s birthday and Diane’s moving away. We ate at Papitos and went for frozen yogurt after dinner. Fun night. I was starting to feel a little congested last night but nothing like I feel right now.

This morning I took the girls to the children’s museum because I promised Tae yesterday that I would. I was starting to feel a little yucky this morning, but I wanted to make good on my promise. This is the fist time we have been to the museum since Lillian can walk and she had the best time! She just laughed and you could tell she felt so big. I couldn’t keep her in one place while Taelyn was playing though. I kept having to corral her back to us.

Tracy and Anna Kristen visited once we got home. I can’t believe that they are about to graduate. They were so little when I first had them in class. And now they have grown into these mature, young adults. I’m going to miss them next year when they are away at college.

We all took good naps this afternoon and that is when the achy chills started. I probably would have toughed it out if I didn’t have a 12 month old, but I don’t want to give her anything. I’m praying she doesn’t already have whatever I have. Mommies sure can’t afford to get sick. Ever. Hopefully it isn’t anything serious.

Sprinklers and Shrimp

Yesterday morning when I got the girls up, I noticed a slight rash on Lillian’s back. I got everyone ready and took Taelyn to school and then Lillian and I went to Wal-mart. While we were there, I started noticing that Lil’s rash was spreading all up her arms and legs and turning into welts. She was having another allergic reaction. I called the doctor and we decided that I would give her some benedryl and then watch her closely. If it didn’t get any worse, I wasn’t going to take her to the doctor. We got home and I gave her benedryl and it immediately started clearing up. I put her down for a nap and racked my brain for what she had eaten the past few days that she may be having a reaction to. My mother-in-law and I were chatting about all of the possibilities when all of a sudden it hit me – I had given her a few bites of my shrimp on Friday night. I have no doubt that is what the culprit is. She is still very speckled today, but I am continuing with the benedryl and hoping that by tomorrow she will clear up. Penicillin and shellfish. Geez.

Lillian napping after our traumatic morning.

Last night after dinner, the girls and I took a walk. Taelyn pulled Lillian in the wagon around the neighborhood twice… all by herself! I know that she must have been worn out. Her favorite part was when people had their sprinklers on and she could run the wagon through the sprinkler. I think Lillian enjoyed it as well.

My wet girls!

 

Today was a good day. We just stayed around the house all day. We played outside for a while this morning and the temperature was fabulous! I made some cute, little buggy cupcakes for Taelyn’s end of school party tomorrow while the girls were napping today.

Alright, I’m got to go do an Italian lesson and read a little. I’m reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close at the moment. It is a little difficult for me to really get in to. I’ll let you know how it turns out.