Photo Friday-Post Dance Recital Pics

Padyn gratiously accepted her flowers on Saturday after her performance...

Everyone wanted to get their picture taken with the star of the show afterwards. I know there are more floating around on other cameras, but here's what I've got...

In other news, kitchen is just about finished, so I should have pictures by the beginning of next week. We'll see how long it takes me to get all my stuff back in.

Happy Friday.

Rainbow Girl

Saturday was Padyn's "Big Show." She's been waiting all year for it...her first dance recital. It's amazing how much 1 and a half minutes on stage can get us all excited, but it did.

Now, I don't mean to brag, but my daughter was a star. A STAR! She knew all the steps without looking to other children or into the wings for help. She smiled, she sang, she looked liked she was having a good time. Simply amazing seeing as how this was a HUGE auditorium packed full of proud parents, grandparents, aunts and siblings (and that was just our two rows.) I was so proud I was having to fight back the tears. Because, the other thing I forgot to tell you was, this is where my sisters and I had most of our dance recitals growing up. It was very bizarre to take Padyn backstage to the dressing room I spent many years getting ready in. Very very bizarre. I have no words to describe it.

Anyway, let's get back to Padyn. Here's a few shots of her dance.

And here is me with my girlies after the show!

More to come on Friday...

Ah-ha!

This week is VBS (Vacation Bible School) at our church and once again I am the preschool director. That also means that once again, the week is hectic, I'm tired, and I forget to post pictures for all the fans out there. (And never mind the fact that I still don't have a kitchen and my small small living room is slowly turning into a garage heap.) With that said, here's a few photos (and in the next post) that I have been trying to get up for a week.

I have no pictures of the new kitchen yet because it isn't quite finished. I'll wait until the floor is clean, the furniture is returned, and the contractors tools are removed before I show it. I did not take a before picture, but I pulled this one up from the archives. You can get a sense of what it was.

Here is my current "kitchen." What you don't see is the coffee maker in the bathroom and the dishes piling up in the sink in the garage. Nice.

And here is the kitchen after it was demoed. Suddenly it seemed much bigger!

Unfortunately, even when it's done, I'm going to be living with that two-toned paint for a while, but oh well. You can't have everything, right?

Thanks for the Pics, Auntie

Auntie Colleen emailed me these tonight. The first is from our trip to Grandma's in Oregon over Memorial weekend. The second is from Father's Day last weekend.

If I don't make Photo Friday tomorrow, then these so count for that. (I have no kitchen, remember? Give me a break.)

Aren't we good parents? We let our kids jump on trampolines in the rain-a possible hazard in more ways than one.

Kate always manages to smile in pictures with Auntie.

Happy Thursday...or Friday. It's Friday somewhere in the world.

Procrastination

Currently I'm sitting at my kitchen table in the midst of boxes and packing material. No...we aren't moving. That might be happening soon, but not this week. This week I am getting a new kitchen. Very exciting, yes, as I have been wanting a new kitchen since the day we put an offer in on this house. And now I'm getting it. Because eventually we will be moving and we have to make the house more attractive to potential buyers. Hopefully I'll get to enjoy it for a little while.

Kate is down for her nap and Padyn is asleep on the couch. She has a fever of 102. Funny thing...we didn't find out until we went to the doctor this morning for a follow up ear appointment. How embarrassing is that? I had NO IDEA she was sick until the nurse took her temperature. She was cranky this morning, but I thought it was because she didn't want to go to the doctor's. I felt like a very neglectful momma. I immediately starting treating her more nicely.

Anyway, back to my boxes. I'm almost done. I just have a few breakable things left, plus the stuff under the sink. So why am I sitting here typing instead of finishing?

Because I hate it.

Thank goodness it's just the kitchen. I can't even begin to think about packing up the rest of the house. UGH.

Kisses Kisses

Flower Power

Have you stopped to smell the flowers lately?

To Daddy

Happy Father's Day.

Love, Us

Photo Friday-Comparisons

I had thought about doing this, then I saw Connor photos, so I decided I definitely had to do this post.

Here's Padyn in September on her first day of preschool for the year... ...and here she is on her last day of preschool last week. I don't realize how much she's grown until I look at the pictures. I mean, she never would have done this last September.And just because it's fun, here's another picture from last September.
Happy Friday.

Party all the Time

I was just leaving a comment on Lulu's blog and I realized I should tell the story here, too.

So, Kate loves singing Happy Birthday. But it's when she starts singing it that cracks me up. Occasionally she'll just bust into it, but usually something triggers it for her. What might that be you ask?

A candle of course.

It can be ANY type of candle-votive, tapered, Yankee...whatever. It is never an actual birthday candle. It's always one that is in no way associated with being one year older.

This is how it goes down. She spies the candle, runs over and tries to grab it, spits all over it while pretending to blow it out, then sings as loudly as she can, "HAPPY BURFDAY TO MEEEEEEEE!"

Then she claps and says yeah.

I love this kid.

What's Up Doc?

Padyn has always had a decent relationship with carrots. She normally eats a few mini carrots a day, without complaint. But I wouldn't say she loves them. She doesn't ask for them by name or anything. She's happy to have them, but wouldn't invite to go to Tahoe for the weekend.

Until tonight.

We've been getting carrots in our farm box for the last couple weeks. Real carrots-like with the stems still on them and everything. So far, Padyn hasn't really been interested in them. She thinks they're fun looking, but she has preferred to keep eating her mini carrots. Then, for whatever reason, she asked for one yesterday. She specifically wanted it whole. So, I peeled it and gave it to her. She ate it up, no fuss.

Tonight, I put another one on her plate, along with her hot dog, avocado, and blueberries. The carrot was the first thing she ate, and then she asked for another. She ate that one, along with the rest of her dinner. Then she asked for ANOTHER one. And polished that off. She would have eaten more, but that was the last one.

Now, granted, these aren't huge carrots, but they probably total 5 mini ones at least. That's still a healthy dose of carotene.

Hopefully she won't turn orange or start tormenting little fat hunters with a lisp.

Points of Interest

I don't feel like there is anything really monumental about the girls to share these days, but I'll see what I can muster up for a few bullet points.



*The girls' babysitter brought them one of those Disney Princess Tea Sets from her grad trip to Disneyland (you know...the one that comes in the plastic Cinderella carriage?). You wanna know how excited they are about it? We've had a tea party everyday since then. Padyn keeps saying, "We're princesses!" and Kate keeps saying, "I be Cinderella!" I am always Jasmine.



*Grandma gave Katelyn a trampoline for her birthday. (Actually, she bought it for it for Christmas of last year, but that's when she had her broken leg, so we didn't give it to her until her birthday in April.) It's one of those little ones with a bar across the front that they kids hold onto while they are jumping. It's definitely a one-person-at-a-time jumpy. I currently have it placed behind the couch. The girls have figured out how to jump off the trampoline, over the back of the couch, and roll onto the floor. Super safe, I tell you.

*Padyn's all into "knock knock" jokes lately. The problem is, she only knows one real one, and it's the one that I taught her, which happens to be the only one I know, so we are rather limited in our inventory. The other problem is that Padyn really doesn't understand the word-play aspect of the knock knock joke. She thinks you can say anything after "Who's there?" and it will be funny. So, we end up with random, "Knock Knock/Who's there?/Apple/Apple who?/Apple in the bathtub!" jokes. Padyn's been saying them so much that Kate understands the dialogue structure and she will now respond with the appropriate responses. If you know any good knock knock jokes, please send them our way.

*At some point in the last month, one of their babysitters modeled for the girls the difference between drawings done with dry chalk and those done with wet chalk. Now, every inch of the backyard is covered in thick, bright chalk that was first wet down before being rubbed on items in need of decoration. Fortunately, wet chalk comes off clothes as easily as dry chalk does.

*Pool days are upon us and I have two very difference fish. Where Padyn is swimming back and forth between the step and me, Kate hardly wants to get her toes wet. Padyn jumps off the side and swims to the step. I have to force Kate in the pool where she refuses to let go of me, even to stand on the 1 foot deep step. Once she's in with me she enjoys herself, but she is certainly not willing initially. I'm hoping that changes over the course of the summer.

*Kate loves Padyn's computer. She wants it with her in the car, at the table and in her crib (the last two are not allowed.) She doesn't seem to know all the different things it can do, she just likes to push the buttons and hear it talk to her. She will even quote it..."Thanks for the email!"

*I mostly understand everything that comes out of Kate's mouth even when no one else can (foggy shoes = sparkly shoes) but I don't always understand why she says things. The most puzzling phrases that she so adamently spouts daily is, "I POMIS!" (I promise!). She puts her fists on her sides, sticks out her chin and declares this to whoever is listening. I no have any idea what exactly she is promising, but she clearly means it.

*My sister gave Padyn the DVD of Mary Poppins for Christmas and Padyn just recently decided she wanted to watch it. Now, both Kate and Padyn ask for it everyday. Interestly, we've probably been watching it for over a week, and we have yet to see the whole movie. It is so long! But the girls love it. Padyn wants me to put some of the songs from the movie on my i-Pod. Her favorites are "Spoon Full of Sugar" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

See...I told you there wasn't much exciting happening around here. Just lots of little things that keep us smiling.

Photo Friday-Graduation Day

Today was Padyn's preschool "graduation celebration." Now, first I need to tell you that I think making a big deal about kids "graduating" from preschool into kindergarten is a bit silly. There is no need for parties or presents and any of that. It's not based on their academic achievement as much as their age, so I don't think we should get all worked up about it.

With that said, I was very pleased with Padyn's little ceremony today. It was at a park, so there was no stage or decorations or anything. The kids lined up in front of the 40,000 cameras and sang a couple songs. Then, each student was called up by the director and given a certificate by their teachers. After receiving their "diploma," the student joined their family. That was it. No pomp and circumstance, no balloons or caps or other hoopla. Right up my alley.

Here's a few pictures from the morning. Enjoy!

Padyn and Kate with P's teacher, Mrs. Y. P with her other teacher, Miss M. Receiving her "diploma" Hugs from Miss M. (I love how Kate keeps trying to move in on the action. At least she didn't try to join the big kids up front.) The Pre-K's singing Kate's favorite "Hippo" song Lost in songPadyn and Natalie waiting to see what happens next. Happy Friday.

One more...

So right after I hit "Publish Post" I opened my email to find that another friend down in the San Diego area just had her first baby on Wednesday of last week. Sorry, there is no blog for me to take you to. But trust me...he's a cutie.

I'm just shocked that in 2 weeks time I know of 4 new babies-3 boys and 1 girl. Wow.

Congrats Aimee and Scott on little Kyle. I can't wait to meet him!

New Babies Galore!

I'm happy to announce that three of my friends have had babies in the last two weeks. Unfortunately, they all live on the East Coast, so I only get to bask in the cuteness via the internet.

First is Owen, aka "Sparky." Ella welcomed her baby brother into the world two Sundays ago. You can read all about it here if you haven't already.

Next, we have long awaited Emrys, whose Mommy refuses to blog. She entered the world on Wednesday the 27th. Her big brothers Owen and Cole were pretty excited to meet her. Unfortunately, her family moved to the Boston area a couple months ago and so we won't get to meet Emrys for quite a while.

And just this Friday, Aidan and Conor's baby brother was born. You can check out little Dylan here.

And this is why everyone should have a blog...