Thursday, April 28, 2011

Like a Hunting Dog


Sometimes I feel like a hunting dog. 

Particularly an off-season-neglected hunting dog.

I'm kept in my home and yard most days out of the year.  So much so, that when I get to go do something, everyone (including me) is happy for me that I "got out".  Like my owners let me out of the mundane boundaries of the yard and took me to the dog park.

And then hunting season, or in my case theater season, comes and I'm so excited and end up overworking myself into a heap on the floor in front of the fireplace hearth.  Except I don't have a fireplace or a hearth, so really it's the rocking chair I collapse onto.

I go go go working hard for the family who "owns" me and love it, but get pretty worn out at the same time, and then "hunting" season ends and I rarely leave the yard.

So, though it's a bit stressful and very tiring, it is also really fun.  So I will enjoy this time out in the field until my family puts me back in my kennel.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter Day!

Easter re-cap in pictures!

There was:
Easter basket hunting and finding...



 Mom's taking pictures with a flash in a completely dark room seconds after Little Man woke up... sorry buddy.


 Easter egg eating
 Jump-roping
 Bubble blowing


 Bubble chasing

 and food eating
 I made the cream cheese frosting myself and decorated them with jelly beans :o)
I didn't even attempt a picture of the three of my kids together dressed up... just stresses me out.  It was a wonderful day full of fun, family, food, and a celebration of everlasting life!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Wishful Wednesday

I wish stage managing wasn't so freaking stressfull.

I wish I could dream about something other than stage managing.

I wish we had more people backstage to help move things.

There are over 70 kids all with parents, why do we not have more backstage help?

I wish the weather would be nice again. Yesterday was almost 70 and sunny. Today is low 40's and raining.

blah.

I hope you have something better.  What are you wishing for?

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter Preparations and My Little Troublemaker

I've got enough Easter pictures for two posts, so this first one is dedicated to the preparation part.

Last Thursday I planned an Easter egg hunt for the daycare kids.  Our neighborhood does a huge one every Good Friday morning but one of my daycare kids (besides the babies) lives outside our neighborhood and I knew she'd love hunting for and collecting eggs, so we had one in our backyard!!

First I set out fun springtime foam stickers, plastic cups with two holes punched in the tops, one on each side, sparkly chenille sticks, and Easter grass.  By the way, I hate plastic Easter grass. Go paper, it's way less messy!
 And I set them to work making little baskets to put their goodies in!
 Since Sweet Pea was home from school that day for spring break I asked her if she wanted to hide the eggs, or find them.  She chose to hide them.  Once they were all hidden, and cup/baskets were made, they were off!
 This was Little Man's first egg hunt that he could participate in.  Last year he was still just a crawler.
 I gave the toddlers a little head start, and when they each had a few eggs I reminded the bigger kids what their egg limit was and let them loose.

After the big neighborhood hunt on Friday morning Spencer, the kids, and I decorated our Easter eggs! 
 Little Man wasn't too impressed with the process, he really just wanted to play with the bowls of dye.  Not gonna fly with this Momma!  So he took off to play while the rest of us did the eggs and played with Easter egg-shaped playdough.

 
Oh did I say play? 

Hey... where's the little guy?  I don't hear him anywhere?

.
.
.
His door is closed.
.
.
.

 Busted!!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

It Fits!

I recently tried Little Man's swimwear from last summer on him to see if by any chance they still fit.

I was delighted to find that they still fit great!  One less suit to buy!

Now if the weather would just cooperate and warm up he might just get to use it!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Wishful Wednesday

It's April 20th.  

Need I say more?

edited to add: this wish was brought to you by sucky weather, not by a day dedicated to an illegal green plant... never touched the stuff.  I'm glad that coincidence was pointed out to me!

What are you wishing for today?

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sleeping Beauty is Coming Up!

Forgive my lack of steady posting, I've been busy.  I've been busy running Sweet Pea and her friend back and forth to the theater for Sleeping Beauty rehearsal!  She has been busy rehearsing her roles (yep, she has 3!) as the Enchanted Bucket (I throw the "enchanted" part in because it makes her feel all the more special), a member of the King's Court, and one of the thorns that attacks Prince Phillip when he tries to rescue the sleeping princess.

The kids are really doing a great job getting ready for this show to open. They've been off book all week and for the most part are remembering their lines.  At this point, from what I can tell back stage, they are working on smoothing things out and getting into and staying in character.  I think once they start wearing their costumes next week the character development will improve.  Again though, I'm backstage and can't really tell what's happening in front of the curtain, but it seems to be going very well, considering they've only been working on it for a month!

We don't really have a set yet, which has me a little worried, but from what veteran youth theatre workshop parents have told me it isn't uncommon for the set to get done at the last minute. 

This is a fun show and it is super cute!  The cast is talented and are really enjoying themselves!  I'm really excited to see all the kids in their costumes, because the one's I have seen are adorable!

If you live nearby you should come see Disney's Sleeping Beauty at one of the many showtimes:

Friday, April 29, 7:00 pm

Saturday, April 30, 2:00 pm
Saturday, April 30, 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 1, 2:00 pm
Thursday, May 5, 7:00 pm
Friday, May 6, 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 7, 2:00 pm
Saturday, May 7, 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 8, 2:00 pm
Sunday, May 8, 6:00 pm

Click HERE to order tickets!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Wishful Wednesday

I wish my new daycare baby could realize that she can trust me and get settled in.

I wish I had a housekeeper.  any takers? Oh, you'd have to work for free.  No?  bummer.

I wish the rest of this week's weather would be like tuesday's was. 

I wish I had more time.

Your turn! What are you wishing for today?

Monday, April 11, 2011

Anything for a Gummy Worm

Please excuse the mess, it was the weekend.


We are awesome parents.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Beautiful Spring Day

SO THANKFUL FOR SPRING!

It's been a long, hard, snowy winter here in Minnesota and there's only so much a girl can take of snow and ice.  Also, I'm a big ol' wimp when it comes to cold.  I don't like being cold one little bit, so it says a lot that I was outdoors with no coat/jacket/hoody this afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day, I believe it was almost 60 degrees today?

The funny thing about this time of year though is that I still need to bundle up the kids during morning outdoor time because it was only about 30-40 degrees, but this afternoon we were playing coatless!

First of all, during naptime I opened the front door to hook the dog up outside and what was standing across the street, on the grass?  a bald eagle!  I've never seen one so close in the wild!  Right away it flew away and I was able to really get a good look at those magnificent feathers and that huge regal body!  I watched it fly to a tall tree down the street where it perched for a minute and then flew off.  I really wish this had happened when the kids were awake so they may have caught a glimpse of it before it was gone.  They would have loved that since we've been following two bald eagle families via Eagle Cams online. Links to those cameras can be found here and here.

This afternoon we played outside from 3:00 - 4:00, playing in the sandbox, hitting the wiffle ball off the tee, driving little cars around the yard, hopscotch on the patio, pulling some buckets and balls out of the shed, swinging, running, and enjoying the warmth.  Little Man had a great time running up and down the hill, especially since the last time there was no snow on the ground he was much less steady on his feet.  My daycare girl returned to her love of collecting things outdoors such as rocks, sticks, and now pinecones.  Babydoll and my daycare boy built an amazing sandcastle and re-learned how to hold a bat. 

I woke the baby up from her nap shortly before Sweet Pea got home from school and we all went on a walk down the nature trail.  We were able to get pretty close to the geese who were particularly fun to watch in the ponds today.  Because all the wetland plants and trees haven't sprouted up yet the kids could see all the geese and ducks in the ponds!  We found old cattails and played with those on our walk and after we got back home.

When we got home we played in the front yard collecting pinecones and turning eachother into geese with our magic wands until the daycare kids were picked up and my kids and I went in to start dinner.  After dinner SP went to play practice, LM went outside in the backyard to play, BD started a movie, and I bounced between the two of them. 

It was a wonderful day, I am so excited that Spring has finally arrived (for now anyway ;o) !

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Wishful Wednesday

I'm not really in the mood for wishful or whining right now, so I'm changing it up today.

I'm thankful for the grass, brown as it is, it's snow-free!

I'm thankful for sandboxes.

I'm thankful we're able to go out in the afternoon with just a spring jacket, shoes, and no hats!

I'm thankful for hugs from the tiny people in my life.

I'm thankful for hugs from the bigger people in my life.

I'm thankful for my amazing, supportive family.

I'm thankful for my church and the opportunities my kids have there.

I'm thankful for great colleagues. 

I'm thankful for coffee.

I'm thankful for warm blankets and soft pillows.

I'm thankful for Spring!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Ocean Adventure

Last week and the week before we went on an ocean adventure, learning about fish, salt water, whales, dolphins, sharks, crabs, sea stars, where the oceans are, and more!  Here's a very small sampling of what we did for those two weeks.

We went "fishing" for our snack one day.  We dipped pretzel sticks in strawberry cream cheese, bating our fishing pole.
 Then used our fishing poles to catch some fish!
 We learned that sometimes we had to gobble them up quickly or they could fall off!

Ship portholes

the toddlers' crabs



Preschoolers' crabs, currently keeping watch from the top of the tv.


Sea Star home

Jelly fish (these were really cool)

Current theme is Spring Sparkles, and I'm loving all the new springy supplies!!
Related Posts with Thumbnails