Medieval Day

Our Middle School does a big Medieval Day celebration every year for the 7th grade. Today was the day. I made Emma's costume a few weeks ago and have been anticipating this fun day possibly as much as (okay, maybe more than) her. I just think she looks so adorable in this costume. There's a little story about the costume. I didn't want to spend a bunch on it, so I borrowed a pattern (thank you, Sara) and soon realized that I didn't have enough of the fabric I thought I'd use for it. So, at last I had a brilliant idea. Why not just use my old wedding dress? I could probably dye it and it would be perfect. So, after discussing it with the girls and finding out that noone wanted to keep it for anything, but finding also that they thought it was improper to cut up a wedding dress (I have no idea why) I chopped it to pieces and used it for the dress. But guess what? The fabric was synthetic and wouldn't take the dye. It just kinda barely tinted it so that it looked kinda greenish, grey. Oh well, it will still do. So there she is wearing a new version of my old wedding dress and looking lovely in it.
Emma participated in the Medieval Chant. She's been going to after-school practices for it for weeks. I really wanted to go, but was getting the feeling from calling the school and from talking with Emma that it just wasn't done. Bummer. I decided to save her the embarassment and forgo it. There is a costume contest and Emma got 2nd place. She lost only to the Plague. Yes, someone dressed up AS the Plague. Wierd, but I guess you just can't deny that kind of creative thinking. She's still #1 to me. And you know what? She really did WANT me to go after all. Sometimes you just can't win.

Mother's Day

This was a fun Mother's Day. At our school the 3rd grade does a big Mother's Day celebration. So I spent the day with Lauren while she pampered me, served me, played a game with me and then participated in a skit and performed a few great songs. She was so adorable because you could just see in her face how seriously she was trying to do her very best. She made me a couple of cute projects. Apparently a phrase that I use a lot is, "Clean your room" and my favorite show is Oprah. Well, since I haven't watched Oprah in years I think we can safely say that her other observation is a bit off too. Right? I mean, surely I'm saying other things more frequently than "clean your room". Let's just say I am, Okay?
Then Ellie made this cute picture. The written part said that she likes it when I sing because I do it well. Thank you, Ellie, for this observation. It beats the heck out of Lauren's "You looked funny the day you stayed in bed all day." I don't even remember that happening. Seriously, does this child even live with me?

Field Trip Season

I had so much fun with my kids a couple of weeks ago. I was able to chaperone for 3 different field trips. On Thursday I went with Lauren to the children's museum where they have a mystery set up for kids to use all kinds of clues to solve the mystery. We were detectives figuring out secret codes, using process of elimination, fingerprinting, and more. And there was still plenty of free play time. I think we only saw about 1/4 of the place. Lauren was loving it.
On Friday, I went with Emma to the Science Center. First we learned all about Darwin. Then, we got to watch an IMAX movie about Kilimanjaro. It was so great. Then we had to waste a bunch of time waiting to leave. I really wished they would have let us explore the museum for that hour instead of stand around waiting for the bus outside, but guess what? I wasn't in charge. So, oh well.
Then, on Saturday it was Choir Competition day. We traveled to a high school about 35 min. away and I watched the choirs perform for their competition and by 10:00 we were on our way to Six Flags. It was a perfect day. The weather was perfect, the crowd was light and the company was delightful. Emma and her friend Kassidi were cute and funny all day. We rode every good ride in the park. That's why I love amusement parks with Emma. She's the only one in my family that likes to go on thrill rides. One right after the other all day. I am finding though, that I must be getting old because I really can't do anything that spins anymore. I used to love that stuff, but now it just makes me want to vomit. (Sorry, I just had to say it like it is. There's just no sugar-coating puke.)
The icing on the cake is that Emma's choir got a Superior rating on their competition and got a trophy. Yay for them! AND. . .I finally met Wonder Woman. I've been waiting my whole life for that. I got a picture, but nothing makes you feel short and SQUATTY like standing next to a 6 foot amazon woman wearing high-heeled boots and a red and blue body suit. The contrast was just too drastic. Couldn't do it. Sorry folks. But if you ever get your hands on this photo I guarantee you will be able to blackmail me into just about anything. Also, if you are a really tall woman and have been wondering what to do with your career, I've got an idea for you. Six Flags has a black wig that will probably look great on you.
Anyway, while we were gone our ducks came waddling out of their nest and there was drama at home. This is a future post.

Happy Birthday (cont.)

It seems to happen at our house that birthdays last for several days. First there's party day and then the real birthday. Well, real birthday just happened to fall on our busiest day, so we had to squeeze party stuff in between regular stuff. So, here's what we did:
For lunch I took pizza and rainbow cupcakes to school to share with her friends. It was great and the cupcakes were a hit at the middle school. I was so glad they tasted as good as they looked.
After school we did all of our regular running around and finally at 9:00 that night (after art club, dance, YW at two different locations, and something else that I can't even remember anymore) we were able to do some at-home birthday stuff. Maddie made a fun birthday banner for her, we ate the left-over cupcakes, and opened a few gifts. I gave her the "birthday ball" which is a fun idea I got from a friend in CA. I've used it a few times now. It's basically a bunch of gifts all wrapped up in crepe paper streamers that form a ball. It's fun to unwrap because you just can't believe how many things are tucked inside. Emma's ball was smaller than a football and included a T-shirt, 2 packs of gum, 3 sets of 3 pair earrings, a pack of pens, cash, nail polish, coupons for future dates with Mom, and a couple other things that I can't remember. Everyone watching enjoys this gift as much as the recipient. There's just so much anticipation.
We all love her!!

Another Birthday

Emma's birthday party was very teenagey--appropriate because she is now a teen!
It started at the movie theater because it just happened to be our orthodontist's patient appreciation party that day that we were planning to attend. (Who wouldn't want to see Iron Man 2 for free?) So we just incorporated that into the birthday party and invited all her friends to come as guests. It was great. (I ended up watching How To Train Your Dragon with Ellie.)
Then we headed to the mall for a mall scavenger hunt and pizza. We ate our fill and then sat around while the girls left in teams to find all the stuff. They had fun, I had a relaxing time--win, win for all. Then they returned for "cookie" cake. Emma would rather have cookies than cake any day so that was her special request. I made it myself and she is certain that a "real" one from the store would be better, but I thought it was pretty darn good. The winners of the scavenger hunt won a HUGE prize. They got to pick their party favor bag first. The bags were made by me from fabric I had on hand. I found the pattern online and thought it was so cute. This was the most economical and easy party I have ever done. A great time was had by all=SUCCESS!
P.S.-notice that all the girls are wearing blue eye shadow. It was part of the scavenger hunt. I thought they all looked quite cute.
P.P.S.-Dillards will not let you have a shopping bag. Don't even bother asking for one.
P.P.P.S.-Foot Locker has too many blue shoes to count.
P.P.P.P.S.-the people that work at Sbarro are really nice :)
P.P.P.P.P.S.-I have a gorgeous 13 year old.