Beth's dance recital 2009

Saturday was Beth's dance recital. My parent came in for the weekend. Kevin's folks made a 3 hour drive, stayed for 45 minutes, drove 3 hours back to watch Gracie (another of their granddaughters) in her recital. That's love!

Dress rehersal Friday night then recital on Saturday. This is a huge studio! They have 2 studios and a total of 4 recitals (2 kid, 2 adult). Thankfully, both Beth's dances were before intermission and then we could get on with our day! I was a "stage mom", allowed backstage to help keep up/carry props and keep the girls together and quiet waiting their turn. Note to other stage moms- don't wear cute little heels, they're not quiet onstage. Haha! Being backstage also allowed me to take pictures of the girls dancing.

Tap- Home on the Range/Deep in the Heart of Texas with "range animal" large stuffed animal prop

I can't believe these costumes have made it another year! A friend and I made them a year ago, for their San Antonio trip with the the old dance studio. Of the girls who came to Frances Lea, they still had the overalls. Then, the other girls in the class were able to borrow or make enough.

Ballet- Me and My Teddy with matching teddy bear plus a chair and bag for props. This is where my stage mom moment really came in handy- that's a lot to carry quickly for those girls.

This may be Beth's last recital. While at Disney, she declared her love of dancing and the dream of dancing one day at Disney. Then, after her birthday party at Tumble Club, she declared she wanted to try gymnastics instead. So, we're taking a break for the summer, then will look at starting her in gymnastics. Regardless of what she ends up doing, we're so proud of our little dancer.

Awanas award

Our church has the Awana program for kids. Since Beth was 4 when we joined, she started going to the Cubbies class. She loved her teachers- Mrs. Kelly, Ms. Whitney and Ms. Mandy. Every week, we worked in her lesson book about a Bible story or Bible truth, and she memorized a Bible verse. Now, since our church teaches from the KJV, some of the verses were tough to read or understand the words, but we'd talk about it. In the short time (since March) she was part of the program, she learned 13 verses! I am so proud that she's hiding God's Word in her heart! She was so proud to earn patches for her vest through attendance and completing the lessons. Early May marked the end of Awanas for the year, and the church held a ceremony. Beth earned a certificate, a new patch for her vest and a cubbie bear for her vest. She was so proud up there with her class! Wow, she's tall!

I got her new stuff on pretty quick, and she let me take a picture.

Next year, she'll be in the Sparks class, and she can't wait!

Randomness

So, I've been busy and not posting lately. Can you imagine, a stay at home mom, busy? And you just thought I sat around eating diet bon-bons! My precious friend Jeri does these random posts of 5 random thoughts in her head. I thought I'd give it a try.

1. Why do my inner thighs hurt after painting Beth's room? And why are my arms not sore? Maybe going up and down the ladder- which looks like a 90s paint splatter shirt after being used to paint every room ever painted in our homes over the last 9 years. See, my thoughts are totally going random here.

2. Who writes those stupid exercise commercials "in only 20 minutes a day"? Ok, let's think about this. 5 minutes to get dressed, 5 minutes to get set up, 20 minutes to to the dvd or whatever, 30 minutes for a shower and getting dressed again. That's an hour! Do you know how hard it is to find that hour of time in a day? Sure, my kids nap, but I also have to use that nap time for my quiet Bible study time, chores, phone calls that can't be made with noisy children in the room, picking up the morning round of toys... You get the idea. Anyway, point is, it's not just a simple 20 minute time slot!

3. Am I wrong to declare I don't actually like eating M&Ms? Don't get me wrong, I'll eat them. But, if I'm going to pick a chocolate treat, I don't even consider them. I prefer dark choc Milky Way, or Caramello, or Turtles, or chocolate covered cherries. Gee, I could really go for some chocolate right now.

4. If I had more than 24 hours in a day, would it be enough? I swear I make a list every day of the things I need to accomplish- events, errands, chores, various at-home tasks that I tend to forget. Really, I do make the list. I'm that anal-retentive organized. Then, inevitably, something doesn't get done. I don't know if I need an extra hour. I don't know if I need better time management. Oh, who cares! I can add it to tomorrow's list!

5. How does one little girl manage to go through so many outfits a day, some matching, some not. Then, what ends up in the laundry is the non-matching stuff, rendering the correct outfits useless for at least a week or so until all matching pieces have been worn, washed and make it back into the drawer/closet at the same time. So, um, I know we're halfway through May, but I'm finally getting around to these pics requested in early April. Sorry.

Beth showing off her birthday outfits from Aunt Casey. And then one of her dresses that Yaya sent, with a matching dress for the doll (which has also been worn by the duck, a bear and I think a puppy. She'd probably put it on her brother, too, if it fit.)

I *heart* sparkly awards!

My precious friend Jeri awarded me with a fun, sparkly award. Who can say no to a sparkly award?! Not this girl! Of course, she nominated me last week, and I just noticed today. How un-awesome is that. If she weren't such a great friend, she'd probably take back the award.

Now, I have to fulfill my obligation and share 7 things that make me awesome, and if I cannot fulfill those obligations, I will have to let the first runner-up take the loot. OK...there is no such first runner up (or loot for that matter) so I shall continue with my duties.

___________________________________________

1. I am a stay at home mom. I clean poop and barf, then wash the poop/barf laundry, all without barfing myself. Can you tell what kind of day it's been?

2. I lost the baby weight, twice. Thank you weight wathchers!

3. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am a child of the King. I am saved and going to heaven one day. Are you?

4. I can speak 3 (partial) languages- sign language, toddler-ese, Spanish. I speak fluent English.

5. I have the best groups of friends a girl could ask for. My moms club friends keep me busy and my kids active. My BKM online friends are the best support and truest friends I've ever had. If only we lived close...Oh, that could be trouble.

6. I am not high-maintenance. I don't need designer clothes. I'm happy to shop at Target and Kohls. I can be showered, shaved, dressed and ready to go out the door in 30 minutes, if I really have to be.

7. I've been married almost 9 years to the same man. Our first date was in July, we were engaged in February, married a year later. More about all this is a future post.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day weekend. I'm so glad I got to enjoy it. I was just coming out of my "near death" week of illness. I was enjoying the 6+ pounds of rapid weight loss (that has since come back, of course).

I got to start celebrating on Friday. We all went to dinner at Jason's Deli- yummm. Then, we went to the Christian book store where I got to pick out my new Bible and cover. Bonus- the store location was closing, so everything was on clearance! I got a KJV study Bible. I'm really enjoying all the notes and study materials in the margins. Sadly, with KJV, you can either get a thinline plain Bible or a large print study Bible. Yup, at almost 32, I got the large print. Haha!

Saturday morning, just Beth and I went to the Mother/Daughter brunch at church. It was fun to get dressed nice and go somewhere just the two of us. Beth loved the breakfast but was bored with the skits. However, she was super excited that her ticket was drawn for a prize. According to her (and I don't blame her, at 5), the prize was boring- a reed difuser. I'm enjoying it though. My request for dinner was steaks and potatoes grilled by Kevin. Let me tell you, after a week of plain or hardly eating, this was fabulous! Ok, so it usually is anyway, but you get the idea. Then, he cleaned the kitchen too. Woohoo!

Sunday morning, Kevin got up with the kids. What a treat! Then, they all came downstairs, each holding a card for me. Precious! The kids gave me a pedicure gift certificate. I can't wait to use it!!!! A quick breakfast and ready for church. Home for naps, up for dinner and ready for church again. But, I made sure to stop long enough for a picture with my kiddos, the reason I get to be celebrated on Mother's Day.

At church, Preacher talked about a good mother, using the example of Timothy's mother and grandmother. It's a mother's job to teach her children about God and His love and to saturate them with scriptures. I made sure to call my mom to tell her how grateful I am that she was a great mother, who took the time to teach me about God. I'm so glad that my mom was an example of God's love. Even when it drove me nutty, my mom saturated me with scripture, reminding me of the choices before me and how God teaches us to handle them. I'm so grateful for a mom who disciplined me in love, who guarded my mind and heart against things of the world- even though I thought she must be the meanest, strictest mom in the world. I can only hope and pray to be as good a mom to my kids. Then, something that meant more than anything, my mom told me I am a good mom, that I am attentive to my children's needs, both physical and emotional. Thank you, Mom, you'll never know what that meant to hear it from you. You'll get your Mother's Day gifts when you come up here!

I also checked in on Nanny, my 89 year old grandmother. She was in the hospital with heart problems (she's home now). When she was diagnosed with stomach cancer last year, she'd hoped to make it to the end of the year. Now, she says her plan is to make it to her 90th birthday. I can't help but think her heart will give out before the cancer gets her. I told her she at least has to wait until the kids and I come for a visit in June. I really enjoy my chats with her. She is an amazing lady. She was a great mom to her 5 kids. She's a fabulous grandma for her 9 grandkids, 8 great grandkids and 2 great-great grandkids. The highlight of her mother's day was having her 4 available children visit her at the same time at the hospital (which, let me just say, is miraculous- hahaha).

Here's to all the great mothers!

Reward, sweet reward

I was SOOOOOOOO sick last week. A week ago, it was Jacob, but he recovered quickly. I guess it took a while for me to catch the germs. Anyway, it hit Sunday, and I was down for the count, in my room-cave, for the week. Thursday, I rejoined the family. I'd missed them! Kevin did a great job keeping the kids alive, fed and clothed (though not always matching or even out of jommies), all while still doing his regular job from home. I'm so grateful! Turns out, he had quite a helper. Beth had been so good about helping with Jacob and taking care of things. So, Kevin rewarded Beth with a trip Walmart's toy section and some spending money. One of her treasures she selected is the Wacky Wildflower. After a torturous wait until AFTER dinner, Kevin set it up, and it was time to play. They had a blast!

Not sure what stickin her hiney in first would do. Then she holds her breath. Oh my!

Jacob took a bit longer to warm up to the idea of playing in the "rain"

One sprinkle of water, and off he went!

Brave now, until the water hits his face (click to enlarge the 2nd pic- it's so worth it!)

I think we'll be playing with this again soon!

Then they played on the trampoline long enough to get the grass off and not be drippy-wet

Crazy Eights

So, this has been going around, and I thought why not jump on that bandwagon. But, the nerd I am, I need to do 8 lists of 8 (8 squared).


8 Things I look forward to
1. visiting my family and "home" in June
2. nap/bed time for the kids
3. learning how to really use my camera
4. catching up all my scrapbooks
5. our 10th anniversary cruise/trip (next year)
6. going to the pool this summer
7. Christmas
8. going to church, where my kids are loved and I feel welcome, not to mention getting to learn more about my amazing God


8 Things I love
1. my children
2. my husband
3. the rest of my family
4. reading, when I get a chance
5. scrapbooking, when I get a chance
6. my church
7. taking pictures with my fancy camera
8. Texas "spring" weather- sunny, light breeze, 70s or 80s temp- we only get this about 2 weeks a year


8 Shows I watch
1. CSI- all of them
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Biggest Loser
5. Private Practice
6. Army Wives
7. ER (though now it's over)
8. Brothers and Sisters- but I've about had enough


8 Things I did today

1. went to mother/daughter brunch
2. went to Walmart and Target
3. dealt with meltdowns
4. played outside with the kids
5. watched Kevin mow the yard :)
6. changed diapers
7. laundry
8. picked up other people's messes



8 Things that get on my nerves

1. my sister
2. misbehaving children (mine or not)
3. bad manners
4. women who don't dress their size or age
5. bad spelling and grammar (though I'm not perfect)
6. grown adults who only seem to talk about getting/being drunk
7. Houston traffic
8. when Kevin leaves gum trash in the candy bowl



8 Favorite Books
1. anything by Mary Higgins Clark
2. The Shack by Wm. Paul Young
3. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
4. Agatha Christie's Sleeping Murder
5. Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
6. Among the Hidden series- it's a young adult set (my students and I loved them)
7. The Uglies series- another young adult set
8. Holes (yes, I read the book before the movie came out)



Nevermind. I only got 6 lists. My brain hurts. Your turn!

Expelled

A week or two ago, we watched a movie that some church friends told us about:

Can I just tell you that it is one of the most interesting, heart wrenching, fascinating things I have ever spent my time watching?!

Why, you ask? The movie/film is about the neverending debate of evolution vs intelligent design (which doesn't necessarily mean creation- though that's what I personally believe). More importantly, the film is about the lack of our nation's colleges, not to mention public schools, allowing professors and students the right to examine both sides. Scientists from all over the world, on both sides of the argument, give their opinion (which of course they believe is fact). Such great intelligent minds, it's a shame they can't be more open and willing to consider things. Look at how much science has changed in the last, heck, 10 years! Re-examining Darwin's theories (and they are just theories) with our new found scientific knowledge would be amazing, but they're not willing. It breaks my heart that students will miss out on seeing many sides of this debate because of the few in "power" in the scientific world.

For more information http://www.expelledthemovie.com/aboutthemovie.php

We rented ours from Netflix, though I'm thinking about buying it.

I'd love to hear what you think about the movie. I'm even willing to listen to where you stand on the actual debate.

By the way, I once heard that late in his life, Darwin became a Christian and recounted his theories of evolution. Isn't that just something, of course left out of the textbooks.

And the winner is.....

These are some pics Christie took for me on a visit "home" a year ago. Too bad the ones from a couple months ago are right-click protected on her site (and I haven't ordered them yet)

So, our winner:

True Random Number Generator Result: 5

Courtney! I'm so excited that you will have a chance to have pictures taken with your biological family. Now, I guess you need to get that trip scheduled! I'll give you the certificate when I see you next. Congrats!

For the other 4 who entered, sorry you didn't win. I hope you will give Christie a chance next time you need photography. Don't forget to tell her I sent you! www.christiemcgrathphotography.com