We're in the home stretch and yet somehow, instead of a finish line, I feel like I'm headed towards the edge of a cliff.A week from tomorrow is the official last day of school and we still have LOTS to do before then.
Monday was Beanie's birthday. She wanted to go to Chili's and who are we to tell her no. Here's the birthday girl:
And her freeloading siblings:
Ah...a rare picture when they aren't snarking at each other for having "borrowed" something.
And of course the boy to prove that he still exists.
I would have taken a picture of the giant brownie sundae they brought her at the end of the meal but I leaned over to get my new mother's day camera and it was as if a school of piranhas had devoured it...in a heartbeat. There was nothing left but a little smudge of chocolate on the edge of the plate.
From Chili's we headed to the ball field to drop off middle daughter for softball practice. Tuesday we went and watched the middle daughter's "pop" choir concert. Then raced to the softball field for Beanie's practice.
Today, I decided to cook. I made Sunny Anderson's Cider-Brined Fried Chicken and macaroni salad. Holy Hannah the chicken was PHENOMENAL! Seriously. Make it. One word of caution...do not brine it longer than an hour. I also was feeling ambitious so I made Sunny's Patriotic Trifle. The only thing I did different was instead of using one lb of cream cheese I used 8 oz of cream cheese and 8 oz of mascapone cheese. The rest of the way, I followed the recipe. It was WONDERFUL. See?
I used a small angel food cake and I think it was too small. Next time I'll either use 2 or a bigger cake. It was still YUMMY.
Then we raced off to middle daughter's first softball game (are you seeing a theme here?). We made it just as she was coming up to her first at bat. Before I could get the camera ready, the ball was pitched and she nailed it into center field. Sigh...But I did get some interesting shots of the rest of the game. It went alot like this:
No...no ball. None were hit to her. Heck...I'm not sure the ball was hit more than 7-9 times in the entire game. But they won. 10-8. And is it wrong of me to thank GOD for the 5 run rule (ESPECIALLY as it applies to batters being walked around the bases)? Yeah, I thought so. On the agenda for the rest of the week: Beanie has a band meeting tomorrow right after school. She'll be playing the flute next year at school and this is to get all the info. Then she has her first softball game. Friday she has a field trip on a Mississippi Riverboat and a birthday slumber party.
And this is a slow week. Once school officially lets out, multiply this by 4 and this will be my life. Yay me.
*silly...actually, I think crazy fits better, but silly are the lyrics, so I went with it.
I seem to look at this time of year as a mixed blessing. CRAZY busy. My younger two started softball last week, each on a different night of the week which means my Mon-Thurs evenings are shot (and really only the bars will suffer). My oldest daughter's Dance Line has been in major fundraising mode and as secretary of the booster club (no, I hadn't been to the afore mentioned bars before I volunteered for that role)I am duty bound to participate. Choir concerts, Track and Field days, and of course those end of the year field trips where no one volunteers to chaperone and you feel guilty and do it even though you've chaperoned countless times before.
Then we have the check issue. HOLY CRAP have I written a lot of checks. It's funny because I always think once the dance recital is over with, I can breathe a little easier on the 'writing check' front. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA. Checks thus far: Drivers ed? Check. YMCA Sleep away camp? Check. Swim Camp? Check. Babysitting training? Check (hoping that one comes back to me in kind). 3 Day Dance Team Camp in Brainerd? Check (ok...that's only half a check...still waiting on the final numbers from the fundraisers). Dance Team workshop? Check. Checks left to write? Dance class registration, workshop and camp for potentially all 3 girls again as the middle is debating going back.FROG (church) camp for Beanie.
I'm sure you've noted the absence of anything related to the boy. Oh, PUH-LEEZ...he's the one who is going to break the bank. Between senior pictures this summer (no...don't tell me what those will cost, let me have a heart attack when I get the bill), school tours (headed to Purdue in Aug for a campus tour and north west to UND/NDSU in June), testing fees (although we might be done with those given he did really well on his last ACT), college application fees..no wonder kids can't afford college anymore. That doesn't even include the eventual deposits followed by the actual payment of tuition.
I remember the good old days, back when they were in diapers and formula. I can recall thinking "I can't WAIT til we are done with these, oh the money we'll save." I think God has a really odd sense of humor because undoubtedly, I'll go broke paying for these kids and their activities and have no money left for my own diapers (Depends) and formula(Ensure) for my Golden Years. I guess that's why we put out all this money for our kids right? So they can complete the Circle of Life.
And nothing explains this as well as ABBA. (note to self...must get me a fringe dress)
Aside from being exhausted from the day before, Mother's Day here was a fairly quiet affair. We went to early church service (where I got a couple yummy chocolates) and heard yet another awesome sermon. Came home and had breakfast burritos.
Then it was present time. :-) My children got me a new point and shoot camera. Specifically a Canon PowerShot ELPH 100HS. Most of my pictures I take are from the Nikon D50 my husband gave me for Christmas several years ago. And I LOVE it. Especially for action pictures. But it is the size of a 35mm camera and so can be bothersome carrying it to events where I just want to do a point and shoot. I will occasionally use the girls' point and shoot cameras but usually when I need them the batteries are run down or the memory card is full (do you know how many pictures teenage girls take of themselves? YES they can in fact fill a memory card). I just wanted something small I could keep in my purse for when I needed it and it fits the bill. No bells and whistles but it takes pretty sharp pictures.
Here are my rhododendrons in full bloom yesterday with the new camera:
Then we got a call to have burgers with friends. Burgers turned into a side of steak and I offered to bring my pasta salad. Again with the camera:
Isn't that gorgeous? 3 different colored peppers, purple onions, asparagus, broccoli, toasted sesame seeds and almonds and a yummy asian dressing. This is our summer staple. Nice camera. I think I'll keep it. First I may have to hide it though.
First time ever (and not that it matters since this was the first time any COULD go) dance recital day fell on the same day as the Jr/Sr Prom. And since most of the family would be at the recital, the husband decided to just throw in an early Mother's Day for his mom as well. So, to say that today has been a bit hectic...-hecticer (yes, I'm calling that a word) than the AVERAGE dance recital day (which, those of you who know me, know that it's unbelievably hectic) is a bit of an understatement. We had corsages to pick up that weren't ready. Yes, today is prom. Yes, they opened at 8am but apparently the workers who took the order did not inform me that they prefer for them to be picked up AFTER 1030am. So my 830am arrival seemed to throw them a little. So, along with painting the orchid rim purple, there were supposed to be small purple flowers surrounding it. There weren't.
Ah...nothing gets the heart started on a hectic morning than Murphy putting in an early appearance. Headed back home as I had to have the oldest daughter on the bus to the recital at 10 and the youngest at 1030. When I left for the florist, she had decided that she did not in fact like the rag curls that we produced in an attempt to create big bouncy curls in her thick stick straight hair, so she was just going to "fix a few that seemed flat". I came home to her hair completely redone with a curling iron. Note to self: rag curls=EPIC FAIL. Still all in all they were both ready and I was able to get pictures of them in their first dance costumes before they left. Beanie danced tap to Rock Star (Prima J) and the oldest daughter danced to Move Shake Drop (DJ Laz and Flo Rida) they also had funky hats they made themself...very gangsta.
Some may note the absence in my middle daughter. She decided to forgo dance (with a little $$ incentive from Daddy). Then at the end, the girls looked like this (with Beanie having already changed from her jazz costume to her tap...grrrr). The older daughter's Jazz dance was to My First Kiss. Beanie's jazz was to Something's Got a Hold on Me. After the first show:
From the recital, I raced back to our humble little hamlet so that I could get pictures of the boy before he headed off to the Grand March for prom. They could not have had a more perfect day for prom...a nice sunny 70 degrees!
His date was stunning!
I will say that those girls shopped with all the precision of a military strike...making sure that no one had the same color/style of dress.
And of course the guys were well matched with their ties. These three were the ones in the group that went with the black shirt with coordinating ties.
The vests look white but they were silver. When I took all the pictures I needed, I headed home to await the family. Dinner consisted of several racks of baby back ribs that were falling off the bone tender, thanks to BIL, cheesy potatoes, cole slaw, baked beans, fresh fruit and apple and peach pies. I believe I am beyond stuffed. All in all, hecticness (yes, I'm calling that a word too) and Murphy's appearance notwithstanding, a good day was had by all. Well...we're still awaiting word on the specifics from the prom. That will have to wait for tomorrow.
I took myself to the movies as a sorta pre-Mother's Day treat to see Something Borrowed. I don't usually go to the movies by myself but I really wanted to see this. I wanted to see it without dealing with children having to get up during the movie to go to the bathroom, I didn't want to drag my husband to it as I knew he would not care for it, and to a small degree, I just wanted to enjoy a movie without distractions.
So, first let me state...my boy, I feel your pain. It was JUST me at a matinee movie and I got a junior popcorn and a junior pop and it cost me $16.44. Yes, you read that right. Now, I know, mostly because I do it all the time, that the better deal is to get the super combo that includes a large pop and popcorn, but I had NO desire to eat that much popcorn (although, I was a little nervous that my small popcorn wouldn't last til the movie started...it lasted well into it), but what if you are by yourself and don't want that much junk? (YES, I could and NO I should NOT). There is no combo for smaller items and I think that sucks. So, broken down, matinee movie ticket $6.50, junior popcorn and pop $9.94. No candy, no other treats. My question is...how the heck can a 16 year old boy take a date to the movies and not go broke (or his parents go broke)?
I love people watching and unfortunately this was not the movie to do it. Besides me, there was an older pair of women who I think had volume control issues with their intermittent comments, but were far from disruptive. And another two single, older people sat behind me, separately. That was it. All 5 of us. WEEEEeeeeee.
I happen to love previews and today's did not disappoint. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I believe I may break down and see that in IMAX 3D. Next preview was for Friends with Benefits. The older two ladies in front of me informed the theater that they would NOT be watching it. The final movie was Crazy Stupid Love which also looked good. Mostly because I have become a big fan of Emma Stone and even though she doesn't have a huge part, it'll be worth it just to see her.
So, Something Borrowed. I read the book years ago (and if you want to, read the second in the series, Something Blue) and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Eh...no, I take that back, the scene with Rachel and Darcy dancing with Marcus (where Rachel pulls something) was a little awkward, but all in all, good movie.
BUT...here's the thing. I couldn't stop staring at Dex...Colin Egglesfield. He reminded me of...someone. My first thought was a co-worker back in California (from my MUCH younger days), Dan. But then, every now and then there would be a flash of someone else and it wasn't long before I pegged it as a very young (and WAY better looking Tom Cruise). Mostly Dan though. A little Tom. Having figured it out, I thought I could concentrate more on the movie. I couldn't. He was too cute not to ogle. So ogle I did.
My oldest daughter went to the same movie later this afternoon. And she concurred. About everything.
So, the boy picked up his tux tonight as prom is Saturday. He DID go with my suggestion of a black shirt. The rest...well that was all him. And IMO, he done good!
I am a divorced (after 24 years of marriage) , older than dirt (ok, it just feels that way) of 4 who now has the opportunity to reinvent myself. Never thought I'd be here but sometimes God gives us blessings in unconventional ways. BUT...I still call myself a conservative and make no apologies for it. THAT hasn't changed.
