It's a 4 Ring Circus!

eww

Finally figured out what the icky smell was in the kids' bathroom.

I DO NOT GET PAID ENOUGH TO DO THIS JOB!!!

Carry on.

feelin' patchy

The test has begun -- in 48 hours I'll know if I have an allergy to one of my beauty potions.  (Please please please not hair dye!)

not ready for prime time

Delaney and I started taking piano lessons a few weeks ago.  The first day that we managed a duet together, we were so excited that I took a little video of it.  :-)

happy birthday to me

My new Fuze is charging up as we speak!

On a side note, I had a follow-up at the dermatologist today.  Of course my eyelids are perfectly healed now, but he noticed my zitty chin and gave me some Rx for that.  I go back next week for the patch test to see if I have any allergies.  He basically said I am free to put whatever on my face again in the meantime, but I am rather nervous.  If you had seen the eyelids in their 3rd-degree-burn looking glory, you'd understand why, but I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of it.  :-D  I also REALLY need to get my hair done, but am a bit nervous to do that before I find out if it's hair dye that I'm allergic to.  Can I last one more week?  We'll see.  I'll probably have to cave and at least use some eyeliner/mascara because I am not a big fan of the au natural look.  As most "G.R.I.T.S." girls understand, God gave us makeup for a reason!

whole lotta tights

Sadly, this is actually only a portion of the tights/leotards/etc that my girls' require.  I just had to document it.

working vacation?

So far the summer has been what I would call a "working vacation."   We've had various obligations, all good, mind you, culminating in my attending Cub Scout day camp as a den leader every day this week.  Let me tell ya, that will take it out of you!  I am at least heartened that it will be my last year of Scout camp (then Ryan gets to be the one to take Josh to summer camp!), until I realize that I have many years of girls' camp ahead of me . . . sigh.

What can I say, these kids are worth it!

After this week, we'll be getting back to home projects and summer chillin'.  Stay tuned for pictures of the girls' bedroom makeover!

hub-bub

Well -- never a dull moment here, as you already know!  The last couple of weeks have been busy.  Ryan coming home with all of our CA belongings was a mess, the girls' dance recital was a laborious yet worthwhile event, my van has had ongoing but finally resolved issues, and I've been having some strange stress & allergy-related medical issues that have resulted in my being banned from putting anything cosmetic on my face or hair for three weeks til I (1) get allergic reactions under control and (2) get back in for a patch test to see what I'm allergic to.  At least my tension headaches seem to be gone for now.

Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

SO NOT THRILLED about going make-up-less and hair-dye-less.  I feel like an old lady hag.  But, it's better than my eyelids looking like they had third-degree burns!  (Did you know that regardless of what kind of product you're allergic to, even shampoo, etc, it is most likely to show up on your eyelids?)

The good news of course is that Ryan started his new job last Monday and that seems to be going well.  It is strange but nice to have him around and the kids are a bit confused.  Ava can't figure out where he is and what he's doing and if we're getting in the car to pick him up at the airport, or what.  :)

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My girlies in their stage make-up, ready to head out for the recital!

Ava trying out one of Sadie's costumes the next day:

In my old hag glory:

My attempt to get the queen bed frame from my bedroom to the new guest bedroom without taking it apart hit a bit of a snag:
(This one's for Misty!)

Upcoming projects:  painting girls' bedroom, putting girls' beds together and rearranging/organizing their bedroom, getting the fence up in the backyard, and getting Ava's birthday present built -- a backyard playhouse!  Many projects to follow all of that, but that'll keep me busy for now.  :-D

another school year done!

Things have been a wee bit nuts around here the last couple of weeks.  I know, but I mean even MORE than usual!  The good news is that Ryan is driving home today and starts work back here in The Great State on Monday.  Then I won't have to keep the crazy all to myself!

We were geared up to attend a LEGO robotics competition in Houston mid-May, but due to some scheduling conflicts we weren't able to go.  Instead, we hosted our own competition from the comfort of my living room.  Frankly, I think watching from the couch might be the way to go!

Josh and Sadie were on a team together (and another sibling pair made up the other team).  Josh was in charge of driving the robot, and Sadie was in charge of moving the robotic arm up and down on his command.  There were a series of "carriers" that contained Scrabble tiles that they needed to get into various scoring zones.  The funny thing is that in our practices, Josh & Sadie had been having a LOT of issues, but the day of our "competition," they managed to do really well!  It was fun for all.  Of course we had to finish the day off with some Settlers of Catan (the disease is spreading, hee, hee).

I put the other mom in charge of scoring (I did the 2 minute timer).  That way the kids can plead their case to her, as was happening here!  I'm smart like that.  :-)

These particular friends and another family we've known for a long time decided to join together last Friday night to have a year-end medieval feast.  All of our older kids happened to be studying medieval history this last year, so it was perfect.   Misty (my judge friend above) also happens to have a gazebo in her backyard that would be perfect for our "knighting" ceremony, so she hosted the dinner at her house.  Yep, I'm smart like that.  :-D

My kids as we went in -- Josh & Delaney decided to be peasants, and Sadie & Ava were princesses.  (Due to aforementioned craziness of my life, the kids threw together these costumes in the last 30 minutes before we were supposed to leave!)

We had a medieval dinner, so of course you weren't allowed to use utensils!

Our medieval students each gave a short presentation on a significant historical figure of their choice from their studies.  Josh chose Tariq bin Ziyad.

My two littles decided to show off some of their schoolwork from this year.  It was an impromptu decision, so their big brother helped them.

At the end we held a knighting ceremony, wherein each kid was knighted by their father to advance to the next grade and get bragged on a little bit.  Since Ryan wasn't able to go, Josh knighted his sisters and then I knighted him.  It was actually choking me up a bit.  They have been so blessed to have good friends to grow up together with (some of whom happen to be their siblings).

That marked the end of our 2008-09 school year, woohoo!!
We'll take off two or three weeks to play and get our house ready for the arrival of Denny & all of our extra CA furniture, etc and then we'll start back up for some summer school projects.

taking a deep breath

{McKinney Falls, March '09}

The last few days have been a real joyride.  Nothing super major, but lots of gut-churning decisions back and forth and lots of overcoming various obstacles.  Ya know, the joys of life.

I did have an epiphany today, though, and I figured I better write it down, since I'm sure to need to remember this again soon.

I am not perfect.  I am a work in progress.  So is everyone else, and thereby so is everything else.  It is OK to let go of things and enjoy the moment, even when it is not perfect or ideal.  The happiest people in life didn't get there because they worked harder than you did to make everything perfect.  They got there because they let the idea of "perfect" go and are good with the idea of "the best I can do under the circumstances."

As the Nester would say, "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."

Happy Friday.

you may not want a ride in my van anytime soon, and other assorted topics

In order to make my niece's piano recital yesterday, we had to head straight out from our 2 hour block of dance classes over to Sonic, and then hurry over to the recital.  Of COURSE we got a trainee at Sonic who, no lie, after the 5th attempt at taking my order passed me off to a supervisor after a LONG, comical pause.  I later got the privilege of listening to him screw up EVERY single order he took at any car anywhere near me!  (I was of course missing Delaney's drink when all was said and done.)

When we got home from the recital, I reminded the kids to make sure that all of the Sonic trash was cleaned out of the car before going in the house.  They quickly got distracted by various things in the yard and I wound up cleaning up instead (in the dark).

On the way home from a friend's house this morning, I hear the kids squealing about how there is still a container of Sonic milk underneath the back bench of the van.  A detailed conversation then occurs about the dangers of leaving milk in the car during hot summer days . . . la, la, la.

A few minutes later I hear Josh starting to laugh and he asks Ava, "Ava, is that your GRILLED CHEESE from last night under your seat? (also the back bench of the van)"

Ava, in her very calm, serious baby voice:  "Yes.  I am full of it."

Yes, indeed.

Another fun tidbit:
I bought Delaney some new shoes right before Easter this year, since she had just outgrown her other shoes.  I was able to get a "buy one, get one free" deal, so it was 2 new pair.  Also hit a Gymboree sale, so she actually had 3 new pairs of shoes.  This was about one month ago.

In the meantime, I have noticed that Sadie and Delaney both suddenly have voracious appetites, and I knew that I was in trouble, we were on the cusp of yet another growth spurt.  Sure enough, Sadie's little spider legs are now too long for those 6 slims I hunted down awhile ago.  Mind you, her waist hasn't seemed to grow at all so now I'll be looking for 7 extra slims, I guess??  Then on Sunday I happened to notice Delaney's toes hanging off the ends of her sandals.  I gasped and checked to make sure she had them buckled right.  She did.  [insert eyeroll]

Just got around to measuring her feet a minute ago.  After triple checking, it has been discovered that her foot has grown a size and a half in the last month.

Let me just add here, that not only does that mean that she'll need new sandals, etc, but that I will have to go through her dance bag to figure out if her three different types of necessary dance shoes still fit.

I am now looking for any corporate sponsors who'd like to help me continue to outfit these children of mine who refuse to stop eating or growing!

And on that note, I'll finish off with the great news that Ryan just accepted a new job at AMD, and will start June 1.  He is still out in CA trying to get things packed up at the old office (as well as our apartment) and might have it all finished up by next weekend.  We won't know what to do when he's actually here at our house all the time!