Live From Texas, It's Saturday Night!

How did you spend last Saturday night?

Go to the movies?

Go to the pool?

Let your son run in the backyard with the tractor sprinkler?

Help your daughter with a super special surprise for her Dad's birthday?

Go to Kohl's with your bestest friend in the whole world?
I did 3 of those 5 things this past Saturday and had a blast!

Jason was watering the backyard and Mamu saw it and the inevitable happened. He wanted to go out and play in it. Since it was close to shower time for him, I stuck his shoes on him and sent him out! He had a good time, especially when he slid down the slide. It was partially wet and since Mamu was soaked, he went down really fast and loved it!

After I got him in the shower, I helped Bebe with her super secret surprise project for Jason's birthday. More on that another day.

Then, Auntie and I went to Kohl's. I had a gift card, coupons, and Kohl's cash to spend. I gave the Kohl's cash and coupons to Auntie for her to get something new too! We had the best time trying on different dresses and shirts and pants and shoes. Oh the shoes! We love to go to the shoe department and try on the super duper high heels. Then we decided we could make up a new tactic for Auntie to meet a doctor - breaking/spraining/and/or twisting our ankles when we fall out of said shoes. We even made up a sample script of what we would say when we were in the urgent care / ER with our said ankle injury. Here it is:

Doctor: "What happened?"

Us: "Well, you see, we were trying on super cute shoes."

Doctor: "And..."

Us: "Well, you see, umm.... Did you know that Auntie has a Master's degree?"

Doctor: "Oh! Is that true?"

Us: (making sure that Auntie's bare ring finger is front and center) "She's also in graduate school and likes photography. She also likes long walks on the beach and eating at fine dining." (That last part isn't really that true, but if he gets us to a beach, we'll like the walks!... He will need to know that we would like to travel together.)

We then joked the entire time we were trying on shoes that when someone (Not an Eligible Doctor) asked us what happened "Well, we were trying to find a way to meet an eligible doctor..."

We had a great time. She got a super cute jewel tone emerald/turquoise/greeny shirt and I got a new dress. (I also got new pajamas, but I'm taking them back because I don't like the way they fit.)

So that was our Saturday. On the way home from Kohl's, we stopped at Sonic and got some treats. Yummers!

How to Spoil Your Niece...

So, KK is in town right now on their cross-country trip moving back to Alaska :( ... but that means that I get to babysit her so her parents can go on a date! Here's the way to successfully spoil your almost 2 year old niece:

First, you feed her a yummy dinner of tacos sprinkled with a small fit from her cousin Mamu (which distracts her from missing mommy).

Second, you provide her with the Most Awesome Playroom Ever!

Then you provide her with the most awesome playmate / cousin ever! (She's really smiling, she was saying something right then...)

You give her a eucalyptus tree to climb whens she's pretending to be a koala.

You teach her all sorts of things like "My Auntie is the best!" and "I love you Auntie!" Of course her cousin Bebe threw in "Dolly? Do you like the dolly?" and "Achoo!" (You're welcome Didi!)

You let her conduct a puppy orchestra with a camero complete with backup singers.

You don't stifle her inner pop singer when she presses the "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" button seventeen million times.

You let her have a fabulous bath with her Bebe. And you notice that you REALLY need to scrub the kids bathtub...

You also let her and Bebe share your bed and listen to them giggle and Bebe teaching KK new words (all good things!). You also are a super great aunt and don't take a picture with the flash of the cuteness in the bed. You also have your brother-in-law (her dad) take a picture with his iphone and forget to remind him to email it to you. :)
I will miss the times I get to spend with my KK , but we'll at least see each other over skype and possibly at holidays.

Recital and Talent Show

So, Bebe had her dance recital over Memorial Day weekend and it was the first year that she performed in two dances. This year since she is in two different classes, she was in two different dances - jazz and ballet. (She takes a ballet/tap combo class and her teacher chooses whether they will perform a ballet or tap dance.)

I got over 200 shots during dress rehearsal (thanks to my new lens!) and had such a hard time choosing my most favorite one!

She also received her 5 year award. Her studio gives students who have completed five years their own dance bag with patch. I believe each year they get another patch for the bag, but I'm not sure yet. :) She was so excited about getting her bag! We were super proud. It was Auntie's first time to see her dance and was super lucky because I won the raffle for 4 second row seats. Grandaddy, MG, Auntie, Aunt Didi and KK had seats in the second row. Jason sat a little bit in the back with Matthew in case of the need for a quick exit. I always volunteer to be one of the dance class moms. We take care of the dancers and get them where they need to be and we get to watch them dance from one of the front rows. I done this every recital and don't think I would know how to sit in the audience! I also had to change Bebe into her ballet costume backstage - she had 2 acts between hers! It was crazy, but we are a great team and she was dressed and ready with ballet bun in 1 act! (I was quite sweaty and probably smelled lovely after the quick change...maybe that's why the other class moms gave me a wide berth...) After recital, we stopped by Sonic for happy hour and then came back to the house for some cousin play time. KK loves the different toys we have at our house! Then we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and had some yummy food!

So here's what you've been waiting for! After 1.5 hours of hair prep (curling, spraying, etc.), 10 minutes of makeup application, 5 bobby pins, 3 pairs of tights, 30 minutes of driving, 1 hour of waiting in the green room, 5 minute wait backstage I present Bebe doing the Hand Jive for her jazz dance!

And now... after removing 2 pairs of tights, switching shoes, 1 costume change, hair twisted into a bun, a bow switch, and a kiss for good luck, I present to you Bebe doing her ballet dance to "I Could Sing of Your Love"...

The week after the recital, Bebe tried out for her school talent show and made it! Over 50 acts tried out and only 20 were chosen. She was one of three 2nd graders! MG, Aunt Didi, KK, and Jason came to the early morning show (Jason's boss was so understanding and let him come in late) and we were so proud of her! She did her jazz dance "Hand Jive" and rocked it!

We are so lucky to have such a talented girl!

You Know It's the End of the School Year When...

You consider it an accomplishment to have cooked twice this week.

You have to count to 20 to collect yourself instead of the usual 10.

You let your (own) kids watch a video at 4:30 pm on a Friday.

You begin to regret your decision to tell your husband that "It's okay if you do a show during the last month of school."

You wander around in a smoke-filled/peasoup fog/thundercloud and wonder why in the world you were walking around with a yearbook, donut, and 3 purple pens.

Your house looks like a 3 year old just dumped the entire bucket of mega-block legos all over.

You have four piles of laundry and NO idea which one is clean.

Your husband knows the most reliable place to find said clean clothes is in the dryer... and doesn't even have to ask.

You try to put the kids down to bed at 6:00 pm. (note to self...they don't buy it)

You think that you can control the amount of calories you intake each day (and then you realize you've eaten 5 mini 3 Musketeers in the past 5 minutes).

You can't even try to think about anything past the last day of school because it seems so.far.away.

Complete sentences you cannot form (and you start to sound like Yoda)

You consider Jell-O, 2 slices of swiss cheese, and a coke Lunch.

Simple decisions (such as, "Mom, when are we going to eat?") seem like you're back in college alegbra and your professor has just asked you about the homework you haven't done.

You type a blog in all bold face.

School ends in 4 days. I might be able to start blogging regularly again... and Jason's show is over in 9 days (and yes, I just had to count on my fingers because that was too much mental processing).

To tide you over, we had recital this past weekend... and talent show this coming week. Definitely some fabulous posts about that!