Winter Dance Recital 2011

Mia is now in her second year of dance at Dance Alliance/Stars and totally loves it. She especially loves when she gets to dress up and dance in recitals. Stars always does a Winter recital where they dance to Christmas type music. It was a lot of fun. Ellie started taking hip hop in September 2011 so this was her first recital. She was pretty nervous but did great and really enjoyed herself :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Ariel, Witch, Bubba and M&M

Happy Halloween!!! We had kind of an uncreative Halloween but still lots of fun. Mia wanted to be Ariel. Karren had bought her an Ariel costume for her birthday so she was good to go. That day, she had a preschool Halloween party and had another party at her dance class, so the costume had a lot of wear :) On Halloween, we went to a Trunk or Treat at our church. We made an awesome giant black spider for the roof of our car (which of course I did not take a picture of, but trust me, it was awesome). After the Trunk or Treat we went Trick or Treating with Troy and Janae and the girls; Kazi, Saori and Tiffany. The kids got lots of candy, which of course I helped them eat (such a good momma...)

Mia's 5th Birthday Party

Mia with one of many Rapunzel gifts :)

Alyssa, Gavin and Kyelan eating cake. Gavin laughed A LOT :)

 Mia's 5th birthday was a lot of fun (as well as crazy, stressful and insane). She wanted a Rapunzel theme. We braided a giant golden braid out of yellow yarn and put that on the front door. When the kids arrived we decorated crowns. I was worried about the boys doing this activity but they totally got in to it!

Mia, Presley, Kamber, Liah, Arie, Taylor, Alyssa...getting in line for the Piñata bashing...

Liah painting, dressed in her garbage bag...

Kyelan

After we made crowns, we went outside and painted (I have NO IDEA what I was thinking!!!) Rod got them all dressed in garbage bags and we gave each kid a plate of paints and a paintbrush then set them free outside. They each had a sheet of paper either hanging on the wall or on the ground. Some of the kids got super creative. Tiffany spent a long time on hers and it was amazing!!! (see below) The kids had pizza and cake and ice cream. Then we opened presents. Mia got a bunch of cute things, including lots of Rapunzel presents, which she loved!

Arianna, Mia's buddy from church

The kids pretty much all looked like this by the end :)

Tiffany's painting. Think she has a future in this...

Mia and Gavin painting

Presley decorating her crown

Mia turns 5

These photographs are really bad but Mia's birthday was really fun! She has been counting down to this birthday since her last birthday so she was pretty excited...We decorated her room with balloons and then she opened up gifts before Rod and I headed off to work. We made her wait until the evening to open up her big gift-a Princess bike. She was stoked :)

Mommy Makeover

 Ellie and Mia had been reading a Fancy Nancy book where the kids gave their Mom a makeover. So, of course, they decided to experiment on me. They brought in a CD player and played soothing music. It was actually church music, which is the most soothing music we have :) Then I got my feet soaked in bubbly water. Mia thought this looked like a lot of fun, so stuck her feet in there too. They gave me a manicure and rubbed lotion on my hands and feet. And then, the creme de la creme, I got a home-made facial. They made a "mask" out of bananas and honey. It was super cold (think it spent some time in the fridge) and quite sticky but my skin actually felt really smooth afterwards. Awesome! We had a lot of fun and I felt really pampered. I love my girls :)

Mia had to get in there too :)

Yummy face mask-bananas and honey

How can anyone get any sleep around here?

When Rod and I were buying a bed, we settled on a Queen size bed. We tend to sleep right next to each other, so there was no point in getting anything bigger. However, we did not calculate into that equation 2 kids, 2 cats and 1 Minnie Mouse. 


2 HUMANS+2 KIDS+2 CATS+1 MINNIE MOUSE=No room in our bed.


We always start out with just the two of us. And then Charlie hops on up. He gets sick of sleeping at around 3 a.m. so then starts mewing to be let out. Rod of course, is oblivious to this, so up I get to boot him out the door. Usually, Lola does sleep with her buddy, Ellie, but as you can see (above) she sometimes prefers our bed (lucky us). Mia usually comes in sometime in the middle of the night, armed with her Minnie. She likes to sleep with "one leg in one leg out" so the blankets usually get pushed down and some people (me) end up FREEZING!!! And on this night, Ellie had a bad dream so clambered in too. She has been crowned Champion Kicker and Elbower, so when she gets in, I get out. Explaining a black eye when you work with a bunch of social workers is not ever a good idea. Yes, it truly is a miracle that anyone ever gets any sleep in this house.


(I feel like I need to clarify that Rod's wrist bandage is the result of a work injury. Although the sleeping situation in this house is enough to make anyone grab a razor!!!)

5th Grade (Already...how did THAT happen?!)

Ellie went back to George Washington Academy for 5th Grade. Seems like only yesterday she was in kindergarten. Actually, seems like only yesterday she was a baby. Crudd, I'm getting old... Anyhoo, she was way excited to go back to school. We did all the usual back to school shopping, uniforms, shoes, backpack, supplies, etc. Her teacher this year is Mrs. Winder, which, as I am writing this in April not August, I am happy to report is a GREAT teacher. Ellie loves her. They share a great love of reading (yes, she certainly is my daughter) so talk about books and what to read next. 

Back to Preschool (again...)

Well...it's now April 13th, and although my intentions were good in doing this blog, I am obviously full of it... Oh well. Mia went back for her 3rd year of preschool in August 2011. She started preschool at an early age because a bunch of the other kids at her babysitter's were going to school. And she went back for the 3rd year because she missed the cutoff for kindergarten. She was more than happy to go back to Miss. Mary's though. She LOVES Miss Mary. Miss Mary is the bomb-diggedy of preschool teachers. She is fun but firm and has long "gold and sunshine" hair which makes her a winner in Mia's eyes. 
Check out Mia's face in this photo. This is pretty much as good as it gets. Whenever Mia gets in front of a camera, her eyes get all scrunchy like she's worried about getting blinded by the flash :)

You know you live in the desert when...

 Yeah...This was the temperature my car was registering when I got into it this afternoon. Why oh why do we live here?? The thing that is really hard is that I still think like a Welsh girl. The kids are back in school, which to me translates to wearing jeans and sweeping up leaves. I am wearing jeans today because I am sick to death of Summer clothes so am rebelling... Gotta cool down at some point, right?

Woke up to this UFB (Unidentified Flying Bug) on the outside (thank goodness) of my bathroom window the other day. Ick... Pretty sure they don't have these in Wales.

Back to School

 Ellie went back to school a couple of weeks ago. She was pretty ready after the summer holidays but isn't quite so sure now that we're back into the routine of getting up early, wearing a school uniform and doing homework every night. She has a great teacher, Mrs. Winder and is excited and happy to go to class every day. We pulled her out of karate after 4 years because she wanted a break and was just tired of doing it. Instead, she's doing Hip Hop and Jazz and so far is loving it :) I love it too, because the studio if 5 minutes from the house and right next to Costco. Super convenient! Can't believe Ellie is in 5th grade already. I already have to Google things if she needs help with her homework. Methinks I am in trouble :)