Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Down on Skid Row (and other places)

Warning:  There is a crazy amount of pictures in this post.  In fact, I am not really going to write much, only comment on things I want to remember about this crazy, busy, weekend we had.  

Thursday night -

We went to opening night of Trent's show Little Shop of Horrors.  The kids love to hang out back stage and Hailey loves to dress up and put on makeup with the big girls, but I told them that for the first show they were going to sit in the audience and watch the whole thing. 


After the show Spencer practices a little dental hygiene on his little brother.


All three hanging out in the dentist's office.  As you can see, Hailey got some time with the big girls.


Hanging out with Audrey II.  I think they were still just a little bit creeped out by her at this point.



Friday night - 

The kids got home from school on Friday and were just exhausted.  Spencer went up to lay in his bed and play games on his itouch.  Hailey was stretched out on the couch with her yummy fingers and could have probably slept the night away.  But alas, there was no time for sleeping.   Spencer and Hailey were going back to the school to hang out during the play and Evan and I were going to Mother Son night at the hockey game.  Spencer decided he would rather be at the show then the hockey game which was fine with me.  Evan was into the game for the first period and then was pretty much ready to go.

The game ended about 9:30 or so than we had to drive the twenty minutes out to the school to pick up H and S since there was a cast party that night.  By the time we got home we were all beyond beat.


Evan and I at the game.  The only picture I have of Mother Son night.

Saturday afternoon -

A day of rest was thwarted by the Pinewood Derby.   We all headed to the VFW to watch the cars race down the track.


Evan and his Steve (the guy from Minecraft) car.


Spencer and his Creeper.  (The bad guy in Minecraft?)

We knew the boys' cars were going to be pretty slow.  I told Evan on the way over that the only chance he really had at coming home with a trophy was if the boys voted that his car was the coolest or had the best paint job.  Then I said that was even a long shot since some kids might not even know what Minecraft was.  To which Evan replied to me "Mom, every kid my age knows what Minecraft is!"  OK.  Maybe it is just the mom's that don't.


Evan ready to race Steve. 


Hailey entertained herself during the LONG event by coloring pictures. 


And taking silly pictures with my phone.



Spencer watching one of his races.


The boys each race four times.  Once in each lane of the track.  I was so happy that I had my camera out at this moment.  I caught Evan just as his car crossed the finish line in first place.  It was the only race of the day where one of the boys finished first.


Running back to his buddies so excited!


Celebrating a first place run!


Both boys came home with trophies.  Evan won for coolest car and Spencer won for best paint job which is funny since his car is not even painted, we just Modpodged printed paper to it.   They might not be fast, but they are CREATIVE!

Saturday night -

Back to the show.  All three of the kids decided they wanted to be hobos.


All of them at curtain call, it is hard to see Hailey in the dark shadows, but she is there - with a big girl.


Our hobo children. 



 A hobo goes to the dentist.  Spencer looks up to these actors so much. 

Sunday afternoon -

The boys left early in their hobo attire to go to the school and get made up.  I convinced Hailey to stay with me and sit in the audience since I knew that some of her friends would be in attendance.


Before we left we curled up her hair and painted her fingernails green and purple to match with Audrey II.
She told me that she thought she looked like part techie and part DooWop girl.



 Hanging out by the director and his gift from the cast.  I am sure she was begging to go into the girls dressing room as well.  

I didn't even notice when the show began that Evan was one of the bums laying on the stage.  Trent told me and I whipped out the camera just in time. 





Evan came out during the show quite a bit.  I saw him dancing in the aisles at one point.  I know Spencer was around, but I never saw him until curtain call.



I just had to laugh that one minute Spencer was way off to the side and the next he is front and center next to the leads of the show.   The boy was born for the spotlight.  I just wish he would embrace it a little more.



The boys tried to scare little kids with the Audrey II puppets after the show. 





Our family - ready to be home from Skid Row and ready to enjoy a little bit of downtime.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Out of the backpack

If there was any question about whether or not Hailey was excited about the father and daughter dance, I will put it to rest right now.

I found two pictures that she drew before the event.  They both include a disco ball.  I am so glad that there actually was a disco ball.  Dreams come true.


Actually, she drew the first one at the restaurant before they went to the dance.  You will notice that her hair is quite curly in that one due to the hot rollers we used on her head for the first time.   In the picture she drew at school, she didn't know the magic of the hot rollers and just envisioned herself with flippy hair.


They have been practicing writing at school lately.  The teacher gives them a prompt and they finish the sentence.  This day the prompt was My Grandma...


You can see Hailey finished it with "lets me sleep over".  Pretty good sounding out and stretching of the words.  I love the picture as well.  Hailey and Grama in Grama's bed and Toby and Bonnie doll in their own little bed.

Evan has been crazy into drawing comic books lately and he does a pretty amazing job with them.  I found this drawing in his back pack and it made me laugh.


Never shop alone in an abandoned store.  Good advice.  And I love the little guy in the corner yelling RUN!


I found this one on the back of the other drawing.  I don't know why they were talking about fire safety in March, but I liked how he put the cat in the kitchen with him. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Fairies and Leprechauns

On Saturday morning Hailey told me that she had another wiggly tooth.   She wiggled with her tongue and twisted with her fingers all day on Saturday trying to get that thing out.   When it got to be close to bedtime and she still hadn't had any luck, she asked me if I could just yank it for her.  I told her that I didn't want to do that because it might hurt her and that she should just give it a little more time - it obviously wasn't quite ready to come out and it would most likely come out the next day.  That wasn't a good enough answer for her.  She wanted the tooth fairy and the leprechaun to be at our house on the same night.  So she took matters into her own hands (literally) and yanked the little tooth out all by herself. 




Then she happened to find a pirate hook that was laying around and started calling herself "Tooth Ripper".
It was pretty funny.  Lucky for me I was on top of things and managed to get a video of her doing it for future posterity.

Then the kids set up their Leprechaun trap and went to bed anxious to wake up and see if they were successful this year at catching one of the little mischief makers.

They woke up to find no Leprechaun in the trap, but green footprints and a moved ladder and some mysterious green fluid in the potty.  And of course there were some golden chocolate coins.  I was still in bed when Hailey discovered all the mayhem, but Trent was down stairs and said that she ran to the trap and immediately started saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh" over and over again.  That might have made breaking my back scrubbing away all those Leprechaun tracks worth it.



I know there has been a blog post that has gone viral over the last few days about the holidays being out of control and that mothers have to dial it back.  I agree with that in some instances.  I don't know when the 100th day of school became a big thing - we never celebrated it when I was in school back in the dark ages.  It is fine that they celebrate it, but it seems to always fall right before Valentines Day so there is a week of craftapalooza around here.  It can be a bit overwhelming.   Although this year all the 100 day activities seemed to take place at school alone.  All I had to do was send in a couple spools of curling ribbon.  Done. I agree that children don't need more candy and goody bags full of crap from each holiday party.  The stuff is one thing, but I feel like the motives behind the "stuff" is pure.  I think we are just trying to make everyday special, but maybe going about it in the wrong way.

I get it.  I see how people can feel like they have to do so much to keep up, but I don't think they have to feel that way.  I am a mother who actually LIKES to do stuff like that.   It it rewarding for me to see my kids get excited about a few green footprints on the floor.  I don't do it to look like a great mother.  I don't do it to judge mothers that don't want to do that.  I do it because my kids love it and I want to do it.  I don't think it makes me better than anyone else.  So please don't condemn mothers who go a little crafty crazy at times. What is wrong with turning an ordinary day a little magical?  Doesn't childhood go by fast enough? If we want our kids to believe in fairies that give money for teeth and little men that leave green footprints and coins for a little longer, what is the harm in that?

Besides you might just open your son's back pack and find something like this inside...


Who is worth more to you than gold?

My mom is worth more than gold to me because she is helpful, nice and fun. 

                                                                               -Evan

I vow to keep their childhood magical for as long as I possibly can.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Princess and her Daddy

Get out your tissues.


She spins and she sways 
To whatever song plays
Without a care in the world


And I'm sitting here wearing 
the weight of the world
on my shoulders



It's been a long day
And there's still work to do
She's pulling at me
Saying "Dad, I need you


There's a ball at the castle
And I've been invited
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"


So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew


Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight 
And she'll be gone...


She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress




She says, "Dad, the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy. please?"





So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew




Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...





Well, she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned
She says, "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
But I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"


So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew


Oh, I will dance with Cinderella 
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone. 




Lyrics from the song Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

I warned you.  Try to keep going when that song comes on your ipod when you are trying to workout.  Just try to catch your breath through the sobbing.