Danceline extravaganza

Our 11th  year of participating ....beginning in 2002 with beckie on the team for three years and then Casssndra's three years and then continuing after that with Yahaira and rosie and now this year Reyna joined in as a mini saintette she is missing from tonights picture she was home with a temp.

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Yahaira and Rosie dancing

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Reyna Dancing

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sick day...

well she isn't home sick...

but she certainly was enjoying that her big sister was home sick yesterday,
they spent much of the day curled up in the chair watching movies or reading books

magazines...

that come in the mail generally end up recycled, rarely do I browse through them
(hey I can't find time to read a book well you get the idea)
but this catalog caught my eye and so I peeked inside only to discover that page after page
had a most wonderful surprise...

if you rub inside that little circle you can enjoy the scent of the candle....brilliant.
how many times have i wondered when seeing an item that is scented online or in a magazine
wonder what it smells like, well this magazine answered that in a most delightful way.

ice sculptures

 
a bowl of water...

add pom poms, plastic butterflies, colored pasta and glitter

add  a piece of yarn

and set outdoors to freeze

the next day remove from bowl and hang from a tree...
little bits of sparkly, colorful ice masterpieces to enjoy
and with our temps hovering at zero...we have been enjoying these for days.

this...

has provided many happy moments in the past week...

There are moments

When I forget the why and sink into the overwhelmed.  Too often these days it would seem

As I walked through the almost quiet house, having just gave one something for her cough and another joins us always reluctant to go to bed and I'm feeling impatient and tired  and I send them back to bed and walk through my room tripping over the towel on the floor, irritation joining the mix and upon entering the bathroom that is still in its afterbath explosion glancing at the still full tub of now dirty water and angry now that it is just one more thing to take care of  I pause and breathe in and out and remember the giggles as they bathed a few hours earlier....realizing that too often I focus on the clean up and miss the moment  

Trying to be in the moment ...to be present now.  Sometimes it takes a bath tub full of water to remind me of that

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washi tape...

a new trend (to me) in scrapbooking
one I have wanted to give a try, sadly finding the tape is a bit difficult
or perhaps it is the lack of my shopping ventures.
yesterday's shopping trip corrected that, and I stocked up on several patterns and colors
I see a lot of fun happening with this product....

-6

this is what -6 looks like

frosted windows abound

and so little movement out there...it's just too cold
the windchill hovered at -24 to -30 today
ouch...so very grateful that my job comes to me on days like this
a day off from school for Martin Luther King day had all of us settled in
for the day, watching movies, or reading. Layers, and sweaters, blankets and cozy socks were worn by most, blankets were wrapped around staying warm the main goal of most of us today. Some baking happened this afternoon, while a pot of chili simmered on the stove.  a rather quiet, lazy start to our week.

and more shopping

next up a stop at Archivers for  even more scrapbook shopping, do you see that Doodlebug display, be still my heart I love Doodlebug...a trip to Target, every shopping trip needs a trip to Target :)
and on the way home Shirley suggested a stop for ice cream, i glanced at the temp 10 degrees and wondered if she was nuts...We stopped At Mom and Pop's ice cream shop, oh my stars pure, amazing, ice cream eating experience.  She isn't nuts, she is amazing!  On the ride home all I could think of is going back for more ice cream, pretty remarkable for this non ice cream eating girl.


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Scrapbook shopping...

A day spent with friends, Shirley and Val, visiting a newly reopened Scrapbooks Too....loved the display stands, especially the chicken coop nests (seriously wishing they had been for sale) a stop at Potbelly's for lunch and that last picture was a bathroom stall at the mall.  I know random photo but it was huge I could fit my kids in there and do you see that three hooks plus a seat for smaller children.
seriously where has this bathroom been all my parenting life???

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what's this....

she asked one night pointing to the bone in her ankle...it's a bone I answered
"do you have one" she wondered "yes" I said and pulled up my pant leg so she could see it
"well what is this?" she asked pointing to my tattoo  "a star" I answered
"can I have one too?" she asked   "sure" I said and pulled out the ink pen
so not the momma I was 20 years ago....then I would have frowned on tattoo's
but that little dare when I turned 44 which resulted in that star tattoo on my ankle
(the dare was with myself it seemed time to do something so out of the box for this girl)
I imagine now saying no would have rung a bit hypocritical would it not, especially when I now sport one.   Of course we won't be making an appointment at the local tattoo parlor for that 3 year old or the 7 year old for that matter.  That kind of permancy can wait until they are much older.
Rosie walked by as we finished up Reyna's star and said "cool can i have one too!"  "well hop up here"
I said "let's give you one too" 

winter thaw....

 

january temps in the 40's are so welcomed (even when winter has been mild)

Splurge Party

Beckie won a splurge party at maurices ....after the store closed we joined her for two hours of shopping, door prizes, laughter, and snacks. Several of her friends and family were able to attend. What a great experience, shopping after hours, each of us received a discount and a thank you bag.  

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reading

we do read a lot in our house,
with AR reading goals for almost every child in the house,
a momma who love's to read...bookshelfs (yes plural) full of books
it is safe to say we are a reading household...
apparently jackjack decided to join in...rosie just giggled as she took this
photo the other night of Jack "reading" her book

New library card

Today was rosie's turn to get her own library card ....she was very excited.  Her first book were Franklin and a book on penguins



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Las Vegas!

departing new years day...
my dad had never been to vegas, beckie decided it was time to fix that and so she along with her friend sara planned a trip to vegas in january including sara's parents and my dad.
I don't know if he actually believed she was serious when she first told him "we're going to vegas grandpa!" 

 

they stayed at the excalaber,

 

of course they gambled  although I don't know that this would be the slot machines my dad usually
plays :)

 

how could my flamingo girl not visit the casino thus named?

 

she made sure they took in some of the shows at the different casinos
they also did the bellagio fountains
my dad just couldn't get over how big each casino was, or how decorated and extravagant they were

she was 8 months old the first time she saw Prince at the airport in minneapolis

 

 

 

 

it sounded like a fun, busy time spent in the dessert...
so proud of this kid of mine who made it happen and gave her grandpa a one in
a million trip...she rocks like that.