Aspirations

Macy wants to be when she grows up:
A nurse
A vet
A fashion designer

Kaylin wants to be when she grows up:
A doctor
A vet
A fashion designer
A hat designer
A shoe designer

Champions!

Macy's basketball team, the Purple Star Shooters (no idea what that means or how that name came to be) won their league championship today. They worked hard and learned so much this year. Bobby coached with 2 other dads, and they seemed to really have a good time also. Macy has been kinda off and on about basketball, but as the season progressed, she seemed more "on" in terms of liking it. She's not much of a shooter, more of a defense person, but she has a great shot.

Here she is, Miss Champion! So proud of you, Macy!

Snow Day 8

Craziness. Never had 8 snow days in one school year before.

Cousins Tea Party

I'm the youngest grandchild (#25!) on my dad's side. The nearest cousin to me is about 9-10 years older. Thus, there were not a lot of cousins my age. My first cousins were older and already having kids, so most of the time I played with my younger second cousins. I hated not having cousins my own age. The girls are lucky to have cousins their own age, and I want them to know them and have fun with them.

We planned a Valentine's Day tea party a couple weeks ago. It was at my mom's house, and she went all out. The girls got dressed up and had a great time.  Here are the girls with their first cousin, Hannah.

The kitchen table Mom decorated...

My mom has a boatload of jewelry, and the girls tried it all on. She even still has the bracelet she wore when she graduated from high school!

Macy has been begging for big dangly earrings. I think she was surprised at how heavy they were!

My dad has this saying: "What do blue-eyed people have to do?" And Kaylin and Hannah say: "Stick together!"  He's also told Kaylin she has to marry someone with blue eyes. He's the reason my Kaylin has her beautiful blue eyes.  Here is Dad with the blue-eyed cousins.

And here's the only brown-eyed ones in the family--my mom, me and Macy.

Here's the girls with their--well, I'm not really sure what cousins they are. They are my cousin Jeff's daughters, which I guess makes them my second cousins, and maybe the girls third cousins? Anyway, Ellie is on the top next to Hannah-Ellie is almost 10, just 9 months older than Macy. Katie is next to Kaylin, and she's just a couple months younger than Kaylin.

It was a fun afternoon, and hopefully one the girls will remember!

20 Questions

I stole this from Carmen, because it's been a couple days since I've blogged and I'm TIRED and can't put together much of a thought otherwise. I was the sole person in charge of 5 kids today, and while they were all WONDERFUL, I'm tired. So, here you go.

1. Do you have any scars? If so, pick one and explain how you got it.
One on my leg from a mole that was removed and required a couple stitches. The nurse told me later the doctor did a terrible job. Great, thanks.

2.  What is on the walls of your bedroom? Several pen and ink drawings of Jewell and the Plaza, and some family pictures.

3.  Do you snore, grind your teeth, or talk in your sleep?
None, really. Only one in my family who doesn't talk in my sleep.  I do clench my teeth together and wake up with a headache sometimes.

4.  What type of music do you listen to?
A wide range. I love country, modern country --not the twangy old stuff. I love pop/rock too--Katy Perry, hatetoadmitthisbut Lady Gaga's music, Black Eyed Peas. I also love Christian contemporary as well.

5.  What time were you born?
I think about 5:45 am. Not entirely sure.


6.  What do you want more than anything right now?
Stealing Carmen's exact answer: To be able to pay all my bills and have cash left over.

7.  What do you miss?
My care-free college days. Those were the best.

8.  What is/are your most prized possession(s)?
Carmen's right up my alley again: My iPhone. My computer.

9.  How tall are you?
I've always thought I was 5'2". About a year ago I measured 5' 1 1/2". I wasn't happy. Either way, my 9-year-old is about 4 inches shorter than me and will be passing me SOON.

10.  Do you get claustrophobic?
Yes.  I had to do deep breaths both times I was at the top of the St. Louis arch. If I am in bed and my legs get twisted in the sheets, watch out.

11.  Do you get scared in the dark?
I used to. I'm pretty proud to say I've overcome this fear. When Bobby first started at the fire station, I could hardly sleep the nights he was gone. Getting the barky dog Gabe helped a lot. Now, I still have moments. When we are camping, I HATE getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

12.  Who was the last person to make you cry?
Yesterday, in Sunday School. A couple admitted she had filed for divorce, which led to an hour-long discussion about the trials of marriage, and trying to help that couple.  It was intense.

13.  What’s your worst fear?
Not living to see my children's children.

14.  What kind of hair/eye color do you like on people who you’re attracted to?
Dark hair. Love Bobby's green eyes, especially when he wears a green shirt.

15.  Where can you see yourself proposing?
What? Odd question.

16.  Do you like coffee or energy drinks?
Neither.

17.  What is your favorite pizza topping?
Plain Jane--Hamburger, pepperoni or Canadian Bacon.

18.  If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?
Craving seafood--some crab legs, or shrimp fettuccine.

19.  What is your favorite color?
I like most. Not sure of a favorite?

20.  Have you ever eaten a goldfish?
What kind of question is that? Who in their right mind has eaten a goldfish?

There are more, but I'm stopping at 20. That's all the brainpower I have for tonight. So glad I'm not teaching tomorrow...I can just hang out and let the student teacher handle them.

Arm wrestling

Last night Macy challenged me to an arm-wrestling contest. Apparently they that's what did in PE yesterday. She immediately made my arm slip off the kitchen counter, so we moved over to the kitchen table.

I lost.

twice.

to my 9-year-old.

who is freakishly strong.

Bobby said, "are you serious?" as he watched. Yes, I was serious. She kicked my butt. Twice. After church, however, she wanted to do it again, and I used my right arm instead. My left arm must be just a wimpy thing, because I kicked her butt twice using my right arm.

So, moral of this story is she is 9. Almost as tall as me, and apparently very strong. Great.

In honor of Valentine's Day

In Honor of Valentine's Day, a list (in no particular order) of some of my favorite things:

1. 75 degree weather
2. When my girls press their feet up against my legs when cuddling in bed
3. New socks. Oh, I love new socks.
4. My iPhone
5. Watching my kids with their grandparents
6. Traveling
7. Watching my husband coach basketball. He's a born teacher and leader.
8. My Mac Laptop
9. Our Sunday School class.
10. Sleeping in hotels. I sleep so much better for some reason.

What's on your list?

Bieber Fever

Took the girls to see the new Justin Bieber movie this afternoon. Meet two friends and their daughters there, and we had an entire row full. I expected more singing, screaming or sighing from the girls, but they were mesmerized with their 3D glasses, reaching out to "touch" him.

I wasn't sure what to expect; I mean, the kid is only 16. What can they say about his life so far? But really it turned out to be a cute little movie. A go-for-your-dreams kind of thing, anything is possible, movie. He was discovered from YouTube videos, crazy as that sounds, just about two/three years ago. Now he's selling out Madison Square Gardens in 22 seconds. Crazy. Cameos from some big name people too, including one of my fave's--Usher.

Macy's friend Jessica spent the night, and they made video after video about him. I was upstairs putting away laundry, and I could hear, "Justin Bieber is so hot" or "Bieber Fever!" etc. over and over.

Both my girls are full of Bieber Fever, that's for sure. Reminds me a great deal of my obsession with New Kids on the Block, and reminds me to let kids be kids. They're only young for a short time!

Funniest Video Ever

You know I love concerts. The girls have started asking to go to concerts, mainly because they were jealous of how cool I am, but it just hadn't happened. No one was coming that was appropriate or that we could afford. I heard last year that Taylor Swift (who the girls totally LOVE) was coming this September to Arrowhead. I started making plans to take the girls, arranging some friends to go with us and saving my money from my free-lancing gig.

Yesterday those tickets went on sale and I got the tickets. Tickets went on sale at 10, and I had them by 10:10. I knew I couldn't wait to tell the girls, so I printed fake tickets and put them in an envelope to give to them that night.

Here's the video. No words are necessary. Just watch and laugh.

Taylor Swift video

Purple star shooters

Haven't said much about basketball this year. Macy's team is comprised of 1st-3rd graders, and there have been some learning curves due to the difference of ages and height. Macy is not the fastest, the best shooter, the best hustler, or the team star, but regardless, she has made a contribution on the team and plays hard.

Here she is shooting...can't see the ball in this picture, but it went in!

And here she is dribbling.

She continues to like basketball, not sure I would say she loves it, but she likes it well enough. Her team has only one game, and in the car after the loss, she told me, "My dream has been crushed. My dream was to make it the whole season without losing." Ahhhhh.....

We might put her in a couple basketball camps this summer. She's definitely going to have the height for basketball, and has a nice shot.

Back to reality...again

Looks like school will be back in session tomorrow. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my kids, I LOVE the time we've spent together over the last 3 days, but I CRAVE structure, routine, adult talk. Summer I can deal with no structure, because it's the lazy hazy days of summer, but now? My brain knows it should be in school, and doesn't like not being able to leave the house for days on end because of cold, snow, and ice.

Today we did fly the coop...picked up Mom and went to Zona Rosa for some yogurt and shopping, girl style. Did everybody good!

So, after early release Monday, no school Tues-Thurs, Friday will be the only full day of school this week! Crazy!

Snow Day #7

In the last three weeks. You've GOT to be kidding me. I am not a stay at home mom for a reason.

That is all.

Snow Days. Again.

What a storm we had, bringing us Snow Days 5 and 6, and cutting into my week-long spring break.

The girls and I had a nice day. They were soooooo good all day, few problems. Macy has been battling some bad headaches, and had two today, but Kaylin's ear is all better. We made cookies, made snow ice cream, played the Wii, made Valentine's, and made tortilla snowflakes (cut a tortilla like you would a snowflake, then cook at 400 for 10 minutes, then dust with powered sugar or cinnamon. Yum!)

Bobby was working today, and I'm praying he has a restful night and doesn't have to run a bunch of calls all nights. Makes me nervous, and I'm not a nervous person.

Took these two through the kitchen window and the back door, then put filters through Instagram on them. Thought they turned out pretty good!