Preschool Graduation

Paige is all smiles!

Navy, Paige, and Will

Paige and I

Annikka and Paige

Singing songs

So, I can't actually believe that I will have two children in elementary school! I have known it was coming, but it seems crazy. I am extremely excited about Paige going to Kindergarten, because she is a child who needs things to do. She is always asking me what we are going to do next, and the things she wants to do always seem to take the most prep time! Love you, Paige!

Still, it will seem a little lonely next year with only Emma here to keep me company. But, even she will be in preschool for 6 hours a week. Wow, what will I do with myself?? Watch a movie, eat bon bons, get a pedicure??? Actually, I will probably be at the grocery store in peace or folding up some laundry, let's be honest. But still, it's 6 hours that I've never had to myself and I'm excited for myself and for my kids. They are growing up so fast.

Performances

Paige went from white to yellow belt in karate

Zachary sang his heart out in his 1st grade assembly

Ok, so here are some of the things we have been up to. As you all know, the end of the school year brings so many performances!! First, Paige had her karate expose. She actually levelled up a belt, which sort of surprised me. At first she was very chatty in class, and would sit next to other girls she could talk to. She would even turn circles on her bum while the sensai was talking! After a whole semester, she started listening more and even picking a spot away from her friends. She really did well! She initially wanted to do karate because her brother was doing it. Then, when he quit second semester, she kept going. I don't think she will want to do it again, but I think it was good for her. Gave her some discipline. Maybe that will translate to Kindergarten. Or, maybe I will get lots of calls from her teacher!!

Next, Zachary had a 1st grade singing performance at his school. It was so cute. And, for anyone who knows Zachary, you would think he just sort of hid in the back and didn't sing. But you would be wrong! He got so into the performance. It was so cute! It was just a couple of days after Mother's Day, so they made us pots and a flower pen to go inside. It was the best present I could ask for! Thanks for making me a mother, Zachary. I love you!

Beauty Parlor

Wow...look at the precision

Princess Emma

Princess Paige striking a pose, as usual

Strike a pose, girls!

What a fun day!

Ok, so when Zachary is at school, what else are a bunch of girls supposed to do, but beauty parlor? We busted out the foot spas, the polish, the make-up, and even the body glitter. There is nothing off-limits in beauty parlor.

Actually, I would prefer to polish the girls' toes myself, but after coming home from a friend's house one time, Paige wouldn't let me do her's anymore. Thanks, Leslie! So, I cleaned up the bathroom while the girls beautified! It's a win-win situation!

You know you're a bad housekeeper when....

1. you're blogging when you should be cleaning up something....mountain of laundry, dishes piling up in the sink, etc.
2. you leave your house just so you don't have to look at the mess
3. you decide to take a nap during your kids naptime, or just read a book in the middle of the mess. Naptime is my time!
4. you use your port-a-crib to pile the clean laundry into instead of folding it
5. you're too lazy to put the port-a-crib away from the last time that you watched a baby (Jack) because he will just be back sometime and where would you put the laundry???
6. you make a pile downstairs of all the stuff that needs to go upstairs and you get around to emptying it sometime......that's when you find all of the stuff you thought you lost (earrings, kids clothes, socks, etc)

This list is in no way comprehensive to all of the stuff I put off doing. And, since this is Mother's Day Weekend, I might just take it off!! To all of you who do some of these things I am not saying you are bad housekeepers. I just thought I might get a giggle out of a few of you who might know what I am talking about. Most of the time my house is somewhat presentable, at least downstairs. Upstairs is another story! Well, to all of you mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day. Sit down, put your feet up, eat a bon bon and don't worry if your house is a mess. There is always another day to clean it all up.....or just take the kids out....'cause if you can't see it, it's noth there, right????

The Dark Side

Ok, so I have finally made the switch to the dark side....Diet soda!! I said I would never switch. That if it was a choice between diet and nothing, I would choose nothing. I know it is horrible for you (so is regular--I'm not that deluded) and it doesn't taste as good, but let me tell you something else....being over 30 sucks!
What ever happened to the good old days of eating whatever you wanted and it didn't matter? Well, getting married, then having kids, and then your metabolism does a huge nosedive! I just finally realized that you can't count calories and still drink regular soda. There is just no room in there for them if you want to eat!!!! So I switched. At first it was terrible. I hated it. But after about a week I started to get used to it. I would still rather drink a regular one right now, but I am hoping that in a couple more weeks I won't be able to notice as much.
For all of you fellow Dark Siders out there, write me a line and tell me how it was for you. As for me, I'm just going to keep on exercising, trying to eat right (the weekends kill me) and hope I don't die on one of our runs....thanks Brook for making me do something good for me!

More Disney World....

Emma roasting a marshmallow

Brooklyn and Paige watching "Enchanted" on the beach

All the girls watching the movie

Brooklyn, Paige, Zachary, Emma, and Abby striking a pose in their fabulous shirts!

Paige and Cinderella....don't look at Paige's tennies!!

Ok, so here are some more photos of Disney World. The top pics were some of my favorites. The hotel had a different movie every night on the "beach". It was a white sand beach right on the water, only you couldn't get in the lake because of the alligators. I guess they had nets and stuff up, but crazy! Anyway, you could get a smores kit and roast marshmallows. It was so much fun! I stopped counting how many marshmallows Emma consumed!

I just have to add that my camera was lost/stolen, so we lost our first 3 days of pictures. I hate to say it was stolen, but one minute it was with our stuff, and the next thing we knew it was gone. Luckily, Cherie let me use her camera for the remainder of our trip or I don't know what I would have done. Anyway, if it was stolen........I hope you jerks needed it more than I did......and you could have at least left me the memory card! Sorry, I'm still bitter.

Disney World....finally!

Emma and Cinderella

Paige and dad waiting in line for the dinosaur ride at Epcot

Rachele and the kids on the ride in DinoLand

After all day at Disney World, the kids still weren't done with rides! This little train was a big hit!

Zachary, Brent and Emma on the Magic Kingdom train

Ok, so finally I have updated my blog and put some Disney pictures up. We had so much fun. After thinking March would never come, it did....and it was so much fun! How can you not have fun in a group of 24 people....13 kids and 11 adults!! And you want to know the crazy part....it wasn't crazy! The kids got along super well, the adults still love (and like) each other even after 8 days of togetherness! It was the most fabulous trip ever!

Zachary's favorite ride was the barnstormer in toon town--this was a stretch for him. He's not huge on the rides. Paige's favorite ride was Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. NOT The Tower of Terror. She wanted to go on that one because the big kids were talking about it so much. She is a thrill-seeker, but apparently that one was too much! Emma's favorite ride is Snow White's Scary Adventure. If you ask her, she will tell you she is not scared of the witch when she turns around, but the first time she went on this ride she cried the entire time!

This truly was a trip of a lifetime, and our kids still talk about it every day! Thank you so much Cami and Jeff!! It was the best time, and coming home was so sad. We are still sad that we can't live at DisneyWorld everyday!! We love you!