You spin me right round, baby, right round like a record baby right round, round, round

This past weekend, we went to an 80's themed wedding reception for our beloved Auntie T. We had a great time hanging out with family friends, Daryle and Jennifer, as well as their uber cute daughter, Breonna. I took more pictures than this but my crappy camera only got a bunch of fuzzy shots. I think it's time for a new camera.

Auntie T just happened to have a bunch of Mardi Gras type masks for the reception. Genius!
"So uh, Mr M., I have noticed that your daughter is exceptionally darling. I would like to trade this trinket for her. The trinket is unacceptable? How about some nice furs or a first round pick during the next draft?"

Aron in his 80's attire.
Luke in his 80's gear

Outta my face with the camera, Ma.

My friend, Daryle, his lovely wife, Jennifer, their cutie pie, Breonna, and the lady of the hour, Tori. I'm very sad that I did not get a picture of the groom. Bad guest! Bad!

Quick craft: Fun ballerina skirt edition

Your supplies: a rotary cutter and mat (you could use scissors, too, but a rotary cutter is easier), 3 yards or more of tulle (the pink and black materials), a measuring thing (not shown), and 1" elastic.

Fold your tulle a few times on top of your mat. You could also cut the layers one by one but this way is faster.

Measure over a couple inches with your measuring thing (can't remember what this thing is called.)

Use your rotary cutter to cut 2 inch strips of all the tulle.

Go into your daughter's bedroom and secretly measure her waist with the elastic while she's sleeping.

Cut the elastic an inch or so smaller than what you just measured (it stays up better that way) and then sew it together. You'll probably want to go back and forth a couple times to make sure it is super secured.

Tie the 2" strips of tulle around the elastic band.

More and more tied strips around and around.

Finished skirt. You could put more tulle on it if you want--just depends on how full you want it.

Total time on project: Less than one hour

Total cost of project: Around $7 (elastic was around a dollar, tulle was $6, plus the cost of thread). I used a shiny tulle which was 50 cents more a yard than the regular stuff. Using the regular stuff cuts $1.50 out of your price making this around a $5 project. Too fun!!

Monday School

He looks a little nervous...
...but he came running out of the car...
...grabbed his rolling Diego backpack...

...ran toward the door...

...and into the frog classroom. Yes, I realize he looks crabby. At this point, he told me to "put the camera away and walk out of the room now."

Long time blog readers may recall Ella participating in Monday school the year before she started kindergarten. It's at a local church that's right around the corner from our house. The program is 3 hours long every Monday and costs a dollar. A DOLLAR! Even aside from it's rock bottom prices, this program is so great. The kids are divided into 2 classrooms: The butterflies and the frogs. He's a frog and he's so excited about it because Ella and Myles were frogs, too.

I went to pick him up after his first day. The teacher told me that he said "I kinda miss my Mom...................but you guys are pretty nice." I asked him how it went and the only thing I could get out of him was "AWESOME." I'd say that's a pretty good endorsement. If any of my local friends want more information on Monday school, just let me know.

The best part of Monday school is that it just happens to be down the street from Ella's school. Her recess is from 11:45 to 12:15. When I walk by her school to get Luke, I get to see her and when Luke and I are walking home, we get to see her again. I love it, she loves it, Luke loves it...it's a win, win, win.

Vintage Sunday...er, Monday

True story...

Came home from somewhere the other day. This is what I came home to...

Sleeping...
Still sleeping...

Waking up a little and scratching the back of my head...

Rotating a little...

Flopping back down to sleep some more...

Aaaaaand now I'm sleeping with my face in Daddy's feet...

Yep, I'm even hugging them a little...you take what you can get.

Grow Where You Are Planted

A couple weeks ago I noticed this little guy had sprung up from my indoor/outdoor carpeting on our front step (yes, I hate the covering, too. Soon, it will be gone). A couple days ago, he decided to bloom.

Not sure where he came from. I think I may have used this type of flower in my hanging baskets directly above him last year. Must've been one tiny little seed with a whole heck of a lot of determination.

Vintage Sunday!

Ella and Myles...

Advice

When should I start letting Ella walk home from school by herself? We live about a block away from school and she would have to cross one street to get to our house. I never walked to school myself so I have no reference.

What do you think? Vote now.

Negative Nellie

Ella's been in school roughly a month at this point. I would like to take a moment to complain about a few things that bug me so far.

~They have a weird new drop off system. School starts at 7:55. If you drop your kid off between 7:35 and 7:45 they are to enter through a set of side doors and report to the gym where they will be divided up by class to wait to disperse to their classrooms. Once 7:45 hits, the side doors are locked and your child will be unable to enter there. Instead, they should go to the main entrance where a teacher will have them wait outside while the kids that were formerly in the gym are now walking to their classrooms. At around 7:50 or whenever the gym kids are out of the hallway, the main entrance doors will be unlocked and the kids waiting outside with the teacher can then enter the building and go to their room. Confused? Yup. Me, too. Just wait until it's winter and the kids have to wait outside in 15 degree weather.

~Ella has homework every single night with the exception of Friday. Usually it's a couple worksheets and a book to read to me.

~I have to sign every single piece of homework she does. Seriously. Every sheet. If I don't sign it, she gets no credit for it. Oh and homework doesn't count toward her grade. It's just a bonus.

~I feel like I know nothing about what she's doing. I'm not allowed to walk her to her classroom this year as part of a tightening on security at the school. I've met her main teacher once and the other teacher (she's in an inclusion classroom that has another additional teacher) I met once in passing.

Ella's complaints about first grade:
~Only one recess

~No snacks.

Got to

Help! I've been feeling overbooked lately. More importantly, I feel like I'm overbooking my children which in turn overbooks me.

We want the kids to try whatever comes their way in an effort to make them well-rounded future adults. They might try soccer and decide that it is the love of their life but they never would have known this if they didn't sign up. This means we've signed up for ballet, soccer, softball, basketball, story hours, bible schools, pre-schools, etc. With all the signing up and participation, comes a full schedule of practices, games, recitals, and so on. Not to mention all the opportunities to "camp" in the future--cheer camp, basketball camp, volleyball camp. Even with all the things they are doing now, I continue to get pressure from some people that I've just GOT TO sign them up for this group or GOT TO sign them up for this type of lesson. Everyone thinks that the kids just GOT TO participate in the things that they enjoy but why do I GOT TO do any of it?

At what point does it become too much?

At what point does it become just dragging them from event to event without the time to enjoy what they're doing?

At what point does it erode just hanging out and developing close family ties?

I don't want to become that parent that lives through their children's activities (I've seen plenty of those in the events my kid does). I feel so sad for the children who don't realize that Mommy or Daddy are pushing their dream on them until it becomes their own dream. Long time blog readers know that I have wrestled with this issue before.

I feel like I'm a better, more well-rounded adult because I was allowed to participate in whatever activities I wanted while in school. However, when I was small there weren't as many opportunities to try things. There wasn't a new sport to try every season. I did other fun things when I was little like going to Ohio State football or basketball games but this was done as a family and only sporadically.

Ack! Why don't they clearly outline what to do in some sort of pamphlet when you have a kid? You know, like ballet + softball =ok but ballet +soccer +piano lessons =excessive.

Life would be so much easier.

If you give a Chase some ice cream...

Sometimes...just sometimes...

...you gotta work extra hard...

...to make it to the...

...very last drop.

Slide, slide, slippity slide (I do what I do just to survive)*

*(yeah, I just Coolio'd that title. What of it?)

Luke on the left, Ella's buddy Reagan in the middle, and Ella on the right.

Kids say the darndest things: The trifecta (Luke again)

Luke came up to me the other day and said "Hey, can you hang this back here?" I looked and he was holding one of those car air fresheners that you can clip on your visor and pointing his rear in my face. I asked him what he wanted me to do with it. He told me to clip it on the back of his shorts because Ella told him that he smelled a little funky.

Some days I look at this kid and question if he's truly my kid. Some days, I just know.

Kids say the darndest things: Luke edition #2

In the car, Luke asks me to turn down the radio. I turned it down and he said "Can you buy some Kool-aid the next time you go to the store." I said "We'll see, sweetie. I'm not going to promise but maybe." He said "Hey--did you know that Koolaid has 25% less sugar than soda and additionally, has vitamin c?" I said "Now I do."

Kids say the darndest things...Luke edition

Aron was in the shower. As he was walking out, Luke went walking into the bathroom to use the facilities. Luke turned to Aron and said "Hey. What the hell are you doing?"

Let's just say it was not received well by Aron.

Little Miss First Grade

Breakfast of champions: a cream cheese bagel
Mommy's little first grader

The obligatory sibling hug

Standing in front of the school getting ready to go in.

Bubbles...tiiiiiny bubbles...

This whirlpool tub and the hot tub outside were by far the kids' favorite activity of vacation. Are they the cutest or what.