Bachelor Party, Birthday Parties, and the "B" Word

You may wonder what these things have to do with each other...well, they all happened within the last 24 hours.
First, Randy was invited to a Bachelor Party for his good friend, Joe, whose wedding he happens to be in on Memorial Day weekend. Oh, and did I mention that is Caitlin's dance recital?! Anyway, he felt as if he should go since he is a member of the wedding party. He told me this morning that it was a low-key Bachelor Party. Now is he telling me that just to ease my mind?????
Then today we had two Birthday Parties to attend. These were very special friends whose birthdays we wouldn't miss for the world! The first party was Alex's. His party was at the Madison Bowling Center (fun, fun!) where we celebrated him turning five years old. He got lots of cool boy toys!

Look at the concentration in those eyes!

Look at that form!

"What's in this one?" Notice Harrison is wearing his new fish shirt we purchased at Target yesterday.

The second party was Annie's Birthday at the Ice Complex. We got to celebrate her 8th birthday with some cool ice skating!

Caitlin started out a little bit shaky, but after she went around a few times with the "walker" she was skating like a pro! She wants to go back next Saturday.

Happy Birthday Annie!

And I know you are wanting to know about the "B" word. Well after we finished partying, we had to run by the grocery store to pick up a few things for supper. Caitlin said that her legs were hurting from ice skating, so she rode in the buggy. As we were waiting in the long checkout line, she was reading all the headlines on the magazines. Luckily I spotted one before her. It had the "B" word boldly written on the front cover!! I was able to quickly place another magazine over this offensive magazine so that she didn't see it. After we paid for our groceries, I walked over to the Customer Servicer counter and asked to see a manager. I took the Assistant Manager over to one of the offensive magazines and pointed it out to her (very nicely of course). I told her that I knew it wasn't her or her store's fault that this magazine chose to print that word on their cover, but I wanted them to be aware that it was being shown at eye level to children so that they could do something about it. I told her that I am not a prude or a naive person, and I know that my daughter will one day read that word and may very well one day say that word out loud. But I choose to stay away from movies and literature (and grocery stores) that have cuss words in them right now so that she is not exposed to it.

So now I am curious if other stores have that magazine out for little eyes to see?! It think I will investigate further.....

Living Room Tour

As you know by now, I am following along with Kelly's Korner blog and inviting you into my home for part of her "Show Us Where You Live" series. Today is Living Rooms, and here is a glimpse into my well-loved space. We spend a lot of time in this room. It opens into the eating area and kitchen, so a lot of activities happen here.

This is the view from the eating area. I collect lighthouses, and my in-laws gave us this entertainment center one Christmas so that I could have a place to display my collection.

This is the view from the entryway. This couch is so wonderful because it has recliners on both ends. It was a fantastic place to recover after my hysterectomy last Spring. We use our fireplace almost every night in the wintertime. It makes the house so cozy, plus Caitlin and Harrison love making s'mores! The little end table was my Grandmother's. It has a match sitting on the side of the rocker. That has been a well-used rocker for both of my babies!

A view of the fireplace from the eating area. I really don't know what to do with the mantel. I love displaying family photographs on the table. The ones out right now include my babies' 6 week portraits, our very first Christmas together picture, and the grandkids' Christmas portrait.

Our very favorite chair and a half with my 2 babies loving on each other on it. The ottoman is great because it opens up for lots of extra storage space.
Thanks for visiting!!

The Fish Shirt

Well, we had to make our weekly Target run today. It was a very uneventful trip until we got home. While there, I saw some cute, cute, cute shirts and matching shorts for Harrison. He picked out a fish shirt with green shorts to match. I told him that he was going to look so cute wearing his new outfit to his buddy Alex's birthday party tomorrow. He wholeheartedly agreed! Fast forward a few hours to when we arrived home:

"I want to wear my new fish shirt NOW!!!"

Dancing Queen

Caitlin has been our little "Dancing Queen" ever since she was old enough to move her little feet to the music, and I knew that I had a future dancer on my hands. Sure enough, that has been what she has gravitated towards. She has given soccer and gymnastics a try, but dance is IT!! She is in her fifth year of ballet and tap and her second year of jazz. She loves them all! We got the pictures back today of her in her recital costumes, and I couldn't wait to post them. I think she looks like an absolute doll, but I am a little biased...

This close-up is my favorite!

This is her ballet costume. They are dancing to "Tomorrow" from Annie.

She is a horse in "Barnyard Boogie" in her tap costume. There are also pigs, cows, farmers, and chicks in this number. I think we lucked out on being a horse!

The jazz number is "Glamorous," and I think every one of the girls loves it the best! They look so cute up there together with their huge glasses on!

So now we are ready for the big recital on Memorial Day weekend!

A Hard Day

I had a really hard day yesterday which turned into a sleepless, yet crowded night in our bedroom with the thunderstorms, and then a rough day at school with 18 terrified first-graders crammed into a narrow hallway during the tornado warnings!! Wow! I'm glad it's all over for now!
The bad part of yesterday stems from a conference I had with the principal at Caitlin's school. I haven't written anything so far about Caitlin's dyslexia because she has had the very best tutor who taught her how to cope with her learning problem, but some things have happenend lately that just made me want to cry. Thus the conference. Let me give you a little history: Caitlin was diagnosed in 1st grade with dyslexia thanks to her wonderful teacher who spotted the symptoms. She started working with this great tutor at my school who really turned things around for her. Caitlin had a superb 2nd grade teacher who I cannot even begin to describe for you. It was like God knew just exactly what she and I needed and placed her right in our path. Well, after that summer her tutor said that Caitlin should be fine in 3rd grade. But just to be sure that she would be well taken care of, Randy and I had an instructional plan drawn up for her 3rd grade teacher to follow. (These are called BBSST plans, by the way, and by law, it is a requirement for the teacher to follow it.) Well, 3rd grade ain't so easy!! It's down-right hard if you want to know the hard truth, and we have been having to help Caitlin A LOT every single night. Now don't get me wrong...I love working with my daughter and I know that is my job as a her parent. But I don't think it is fair to an eight-year-old to have to sit through 7 hours of school only to have to come home to 2-3 hours of work! So after everything had finally built up this entire school year, I met with the principal yesterday after school. It was a great meeting, but it took a lot out of me! I just don't like those kinds of meetings AT ALL!
So...I think I need to be pampered:) Good thing this weekend is Mother's Day!!

Kitchen Tour

I have been following a great blog, Kelly's Korner, and she recently started a "Show Us Where You Live" series. Every week she will pick a new room in the house to showcase. I am a few days behind (as it is supposed to be a Friday thing), but we have been trying to keep Caitlin and Harrison busy since we have been quarantined due to this Swine Flu business. Anyway, the theme this week is Kitchens. So I thought I would show you mine.

This is the view from the Dining Room. You can't really see it, but the dish towel on the oven says "Roll Tide." It usually changes with the seasons, but that one is our favorite!

I never thought I would have so much on my refrigerator, but with young children it is a necessity! I really don't like my countertops, so we are saving to get granite.

I collect Arthur Court, and here are a few of my pieces proudly displayed.

This is the baker's rack Randy's parents gave us when we moved into our house. I love keeping family pictures out on it. I try very, very hard to keep it clutter-free, but as you can see...it is a losing battle! The door leads into our laundry/pantry.

This is our eating area. We eat more than breakfast here, so I don't call it a breakfast nook! It's a very busy place as you can see. The picnic table in the corner is for the kids' crafts and Play-doh activities--helps with the mess. I absolutely LOVE the tile on the floor! That was one of the main things I pushed for when we built the house.
So that's my kitchen--a place where me and my little chefs are every single day of our lives!

Saturday Scenes

On Saturday (our third day off from school), it was STILL raining. We decided to break quarantine and venture out of the boring house. We went to breakfast, and then it was off to Wal-Mart! Caitlin and Harrison each had money to spend. Whew! That took awhile. After picking out the perfect ball and candy, Harrison was overjoyed. Caitlin spent hers on goggles and a shorts outfit--a girl after my own heart! We then came home, and Randy spent a good part of the day performing science experiments with them. Here they are making a homemade lava lamp...

This one shows how fast air is released from a balloon. It has a technical name, but I don't know it!
After all this science fun, we shipped them off to my parents (Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa's house) so that we could go see a movie. (We needed a little adult quiet time by this time!) And we ended up running into our friends, Heather and Jason and their family. Jason has been in California working for the past 3 weeks, so it was nice to see him. After the movie, Randy and I met my parents and kids at Rosie's for a delicious Mexican meal. Yum! There we saw some more friends, Kim and her two girls. I think everyone was getting a little stir crazy over the Swine Flu Quarantine and just had to get out!

When we got home, Randy and I put up the tent in the living room so that Caitlin and Harrison could go "camping." They have been wanting to go camping for some time, but this was the best we could do with the rainy weather! They also got to watch a movie while laying inside their tent.

Don't they look like the cutest little campers in there?!

So it ended up being a fun Saturday after all!!!