Screech Owl Strikes Again

First Day of Summer Vacation pt 2

My youngest daughter has been participating in a dance class all year. She loves ballet and tap. She was the oldest in the class, which really built her confidence. Today was her "Show Week" which is sort of like a recital, only no costumes or stressful performance. The Little Gym has some pretty good methods for teaching children coordination and appreciation for dance without a lot of competition. I enjoyed seeing her follow the routines so closely and so accurately.

After watching her dance, we headed for our summer vacation celebration food destination (of Mom's choice -- make point of that, hey, I really deserve something for making it through another year).

On the way, I picked up some cupcakes from a fancy shmancy shop for which my coupon was going to expire any day. I let the girls buy some cute little sixlet candies: pink, white, and brown. I'm telling you, this cupcake shop has "little girl" written all over it. The girls brought their little containers of sixlets into the pizza shop that I wanted to try out for lunch.

The three kids were sitting (and I thought settled) across the room while I finished ordering. All of the sudden, I hear - wait, the whole shopping center, hears a blood-curdling scream. Apparently, the big brother taunted his little sister just a bit, ("Who me?"), about eating her little candies. The whole place was at a stand-still while I tried to discreetly (ha ha) calm the situation down.

I'm ready for one of the cupcakes . . .

Take It!

Another post dedicated to my little sweetheart child, the third :-).

She got a little upset this week for some injustice. Life just isn't fair. I must say that a hundred times a day. So, this is what happened when she got mad earlier in the week:

She ripped the drawer right out of its home - I am thankful she didn't smash a toe

She really is just five years old, but has the strength and furor of the Incredible Hulk.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=incredible+hulk&id=8F9C8CAE9AA8A49FC37885219653EE36BB9F21D8&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=8F9C8CAE9AA8A49FC37885219653EE36BB9F21D8&selectedIndex=0

 

Tonight I accidentally came upon a photo of her from three years ago, which really cracks me up. Her personality has been that of the Incredible Hulk since the get-go. Just look at the book she was reading and insisted join our family picture photo op.

Name of the book, "The Teeny Tiny Women"

She is a cute little bugger - I must admit :-)

 

Funny story behind the fact that the baby of the family wouldn't part ways with this slightly scary book is that her older sister wouldn't sit through the story - just too frightening.



It's All Fun and Games Until . . .

Today is the first day of summer vacation. What a great day to look forward and sleep in and not pack a lunch.

I woke up extra early, headed off to exercise and came home to find my 9 yo practically giddy to "do the next thing" (which is chores or music). He accomplished all of his morning responsibilities before 8:00 and headed out the trampoline. Although the girls weren't quite as efficient with their time, they were outside with him.

It was raining.

No matter right? They started out their day, their summer with a bang.

It rained all day.

Needless to say, we had some fun today. We celebrated by having pizza at a new place that now tops my list:   Mod Pizza. I may go off on it a bit -- everything made fresh right before my eyes and all done super fast. The pizza isn't too crusty, which I love. It was delicious and affordable. They have mini-pizzas just the right size for my children to individually order what they wanted (of course they ended up all wanting the same kind, but at least they got their own same kind).  I just realized I will be needing to do a separate post about our experience there. Oh my! Children sure know how to make life interesting, that's all I will say about that.

We also bought some really fancy cupcakes, from a cute little pink cupcake store.

It was still raining this evening. The kids (mine plus a friend) ran outside because who wouldn't want to jump on the trampoline, in the pouring rain.

We won't get hurt - promise

I was just a tad nervous about the liability. I could just picture the children slipping off while climbing off (cement pad underneath). Anyway, they had a great time. At some point in the play, they migrated to the front yard and then the friend had to go home.

The next thing I know, I hear the outside water turn on and screaming.

Yup - you guessed it, big brother got an idea. Soaking wet sister - who is now also dripping wet -- didn't want to be wet anymore.

Look. Mom

Cousins Crack Me UP

I meant to post this awhile back. I LOVE having a cousin nearby. We see each other every four or five or six months. Having grown up with family gatherings galore, I relish the time I get to spend with cousins.

The last time I saw this family was for a missionary meeting prior to departure (Sadie is going to Milan Italy to preach the gospel -- exciting huh?).  Sadie has three sisters and one brother. While at their beautiful home, after the meeting, the older sisters showed me a book they made for their parents for Christmas. I laughed till I cried at the pictures in the book.

According to Chelsea, the idea for the book is "all over pinterest", however, since I am not an aficionado of pinterest (yet), I'd never seen or thought of the idea. Hilarious.

Here's the rundown, well, study these two pictures and see if you can figure it out before I tell you:

the bangs just kill me - wait, Chelsea, where are your bangs?

They had made an entire book of these types of pictures. I was laughing so hard, I had tears running down my face. These girls are not, wait, these women are not rag-a-muffin, sloppy, oops-I-forgot-to-do-my hair ladies. These are well-read, super-trendy, well-mannered people here. I loved seeing these memories and their re-creation. What a fun time, they must have had reliving these relics.

 

Getting to know Cousins is the best and definitely something that makes me smile.

Dad and his boots

This picture has to make you smile:

Not only do I love the people in the picture (my dad and his dad), I mean, just look at Grandpa's smile. He is content. I love it. Dearly.

This was taken July 4th, 1969 so my dad was  married and really getting into responsibilities of life. He probably had one or two kids (my family members can verify) thus his more somber expression (I also learn he never really had a tendency to smile in pictures).

Later, while jogging, I figured out that my oldest brother was born in 1969, July of 1969 in fact. So, my dad's serious expression might be due to the fact that his wife was ready to pop down below. He must have been worrying about her :-).

Ha ha -- do you like how I am putting my own spin on it? I will have to ask my dad about this picture, but in the meantime it is his boots that made me smile. He's wearing those big work boots. Those boots will be a part of my dad's legacy for sure. He always wears those type of boots to do his outside work: gardening, mowing, pipe-moving. Those are the big boots that showed me how to plant corn and potatoes (don't "cut and cover"). Those are the boots that I pictured stomping a hole through our living room floor when the Boston Red Sox lost a game, and finally those are the boots that I would see my dad lace up, all the way to the top to go on motorcycle rides or hunting.

And Grandpa Fuller can just keep smiling - he probably wore the same thing :-).

Another editor's update - my oldest brother was born before 1969, it was my second oldest brother who was born in 1969, and his birthday is August, so my mom was hugely pregnant and wrangling a toddler down below.