Ready for a CHANGE...

A change of SCENERY that is... Lilley-Kate and I will be heading off tomorrow to visit DEAR FRIENDS (has it REALLY been 5 years since our last visit???)!!!

The guys will be staying behind... Michael will be working... and he and Nick have a "Project List" to work through too... and I'm SURE they'll fit PLENTY of golf in between projects!!!

I hope everyone is having a great Summer so far!!!

Thought...

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats... Iris Murdoch

Let's DANCE!!!

Well... another recital under our belts... Lilley-Kate did a GREAT JOB! She stayed on her "mark" and kept a constant smile... ALL the kids did a wonderful job!




Her BALLET rountine "Someday My Prince Will Come" (Ashley Tisdale from HSM) was first... Lilley-Kate is second from the left in the front row)... right at the end of the routine she spotted my Mother in the front row... as soon as she came off stage she said to me "Mommy, I saw Grandma and she waved at me!"

Her TAP routine came second... "Ladies Choice" (Zac Efron in the movie HAIRSPRAY)... it was SUPER CUTE... It was a bit harder for Lilley-Kate to keep her eyes in the audience since she had spotted my Mother earlier... LOL

In between routines we kept the girls busy downstairs with costume changes, coloring, and snack... Lilley-Kate LOVED walking around and seein the other costumes and they had a monitor set up so we could watch the recital (and the chaperones could keep track of the routine line up) LIVE! (We ordered the DVD too... so we'll be able to watch it OVER and OVER!)

Our Dance Studio "splits the recital... the Younger Dancers "first"... then a 30 minute intermission and then the "older dancers"... the YDs are able to leave after the frist half (which is nice!) so we were out of the auditorium by 4:30pm

No dancing through the Summer (at least not in a studio setting)... although I DO wish they would offer "CAMPS" for the kids... but we'll be ready for registration in August!!!

GREAT JOB Lilley-Kate!!! YOU are our DANCING PRINCESS!!!

Molly... Monty... and Puffy

It seems we have been "overtaken" with little visitors... they have burrowed under our neighbors patio... there are several "holes" in the mulch... and it's been fun watching them scurry in and out... back and forth...

I have been waiting with camera at the ready to see if I could get a quick shot of ANY of them... Lilley-Kate has sat still (for 20 minutes yesterday evening) waiting... and waiting for them to peek out... as soon as she sees one they are IMMEDIATELY given a name...

This is MOLLY...


This is MONTY... (at first he was DELMONTY... LOL... but she shortened it to just MONTY)


And THIS is PUFFY... we caught "him" (I definitely think it's a "HE"... what GIRL would be caught with her cheeks crammed full of food like that in "public"???) spending quite a bit of time at our neighbors birdfeeder the other evening... making the evening birds that visit quite angry since "PUFFY" ate all the birdseed!!!

The neighbor mentioned filling the holes... I'm guessing they don't think Molly, Monty, and Puffy are quite as cute as WE think they are!!!

Lilley-Kate said to the neighbor "Well... tell the chipmunks my Dad said they can come live in our woodpile if you don't like them living at your house"... LOL...

Onward and Upward...

Yesterday was the LAST DAY of school... Our FIRST-GRADER is now a SECOND-GRADER (WHERE did the time go???)... The kids had a fun last day... a movie and popcorn... autographing yearbooks... visiting their second grade classes...

Lilley-Kate LOVED her teacher Mrs. Pfeiffer... next year will be her last year teaching (she will retire in 2010 with 35 years of teaching!!!)... We felt VERY FORTUNATE to have been in her class! (Funny little something... Mrs. Pfeiffer's DAUGHTER was Lilley-Kate's Pre-School teacher!)


Lilley-Kate is VERY EXCITED about SECOND-GRADE... her classroom will be UPSTAIRS next year (that's a "biggie" among the kids)... we'll work during the Summer on Reading Comprehension, Telling Time (on an ANALOG CLOCK) and MONEY...

Each class had a little "Award" Program before being dismissed... Lilley-Kate got the EXCELLENT WORK, ATTENDANCE and BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING Awards...

Congrats Lilley-Kate for a GREAT year in FIRST GRADE!!! We are SO PROUD of you!!!

HOW Do I Learn???...

How do I learn to ACCEPT the fact that "The RULES" really DON'T apply to everyone???

How do I learn to be "ALRIGHT" with "Rule BREAKERS"???

How do I become "OK" with the idea that MOST PEOPLE subscribe to the attage "Rules ARE Made to be BROKEN"???

How... HOW... do you teach your child to FOLLOW THE RULES (which SHOULD be the RIGHT thing to do) when it seems that EVERYONE ELSE doesn't???

Carnival Fun...

The PTA in Lilley-Kate's school has an End of Year CARNIVAL for all the students... games... bouncy thingies (WHAT exactly are they called??? Not sure but the kids LOVED them!)... there were 16 "stations" to visit... Lilley-Kate and her classmates had a great day! Not sure if they were more excited about the carnival... or the DRESS DOWN (no uniform) day!


Lilley-Kate tried the "Strong Man Test"... she DID ring the bell once... LOL... that mallet was HEAVY (of course all the parents gave it a go when we were setting up the carnival)...

This had to be the kids FAVORITE station... one of 5 "bouncy thingies"... but the only one that had a GIANT SLIDE at the end...

A game of beanbag toss...

And more bouncy fun... (the teachers were SUPER SMART and only let 5 kids at a time into the bouncys)

What's a CARNIVAL without a temporary tattoo? Lilley-Kate picked a "Rock n Roll" Rose...

The weather was iffy all day... peeks of sun and periods of clouds... it DID sprinkle a bit but thankfully the kids were inside having PIZZA for lunch!!!

It was a fun day for the kids and a nice way to celebrate the end of a great school year!

Daddy's Girl...

Do What Works...

I have ALWAYS been a "List Maker"... in a way I find it oddly "soothing" to have a list... follow it... and be able to mark off "Things to Do" as "Done"...


We are geared up for full "RECITAL MODE" which starts FRIDAY... goes through the weekend... and every evening next week leading up to Recital Day on June 14th... soooooooo...

To calm my "manic mind" (I am frantic that I will forget a practice, prescribed dress for said practice, TIME... or God forbid LOCATION) I am currently using my kitchen cabinets as constant reminders... planning to remove the reminders as they are accomplished... (nothing "new"... I did this last year too and it kept us ON TIME and ON TASK for recital prep)

Hey... it may not be "pretty"... but it works... for me anyway!