School's Out For Summer!

I can't help but think of the Alice Cooper's song, "School's Out" when typing my title.  Yes, Katie is finally out of school for Summer vacation.  It seems like yesterday, she just started Kindergarten and now she's prepped and ready for the 1st grade in just a few short months.  It's hard to imagine, my baby girl going into the first grade.  I've had my tissues close at hand all day today, but not for the reason that you're thinking.  It's allergy season.  Ah ha!  You thought I was crying because my little girl is growing up.  Honestly, I don't think it's hit me yet.  I think it's because Colton has kept me so busy that I haven't had a chance to just meditate on the situation. 

You know like all other vacations, weekends and holidays, these next few weeks are going to sail by without warning.  I have a fun and educational filled Summer planned.  I've posted about my schedule, so I won't go into all that again.  As we go along in our studies, experiments and crafts, I would like to bring you along and share with you, our experiences.  I think it should be fun!  I've actually found a few 1st grade teachers that blog and they have given me such great ideas to keep the interaction going throughout the Summer.  Yay!  Have you ever heard of "Teacher Pay Teacher"?  It's a great little website that I stumbled upon where educators create study material and post them on this site.  A lot of the material is for sale, not too expensive, but there are a few pieces that are for free printables.  I printed quite a bit of themed worksheets for Katie regarding literacy and math.  It's free to create an account, which you'll have to have one if you purchase a free download printable. If you're interested, CLICK HERE . 

We're Moving On Up
As you know, Colton is two years old and is out growing his baby bed.  My niece and her husband are expecting their first child in late September or early October. The baby bed that Colton is sleeping in actually belonged to Whitney's older brother, Ryan.  My sister, Maryann and her Kevin bought this baby furniture some 28 years ago, when they were expecting their first child, Ryan.  This furniture has gone through several other babies within our family.  I had a feeling that Whitney and Zayne would want it with Maryann's blessing.  Actually, it all worked out perfectly.  Colton has almost outgrown the bed because I've seen him straddle the side bed railing.  Instead of us purchasing a new toddler bed, Millard and Peggy are giving us theirs that they bought for Katie at that age.  Katie never slept in it because she knew she could sleep with her grandma.  So the bed is brandnew.  It couldn't have worked out any better.  The next big problem is our old desktop is located in Colton's room.  I've asked Doug to just get rid of it, but it's not that simple I'm told.  Katie has agreed to move into Colton's room and he in hers.  Voila! Katie has been begging me to paint her room for the past year.  I was hoping to make it to her 6th or 7th birthday before having to remodel.  I think it's when girls are 6 or 7 when they transition to a different taste.  You see, Katie is still into the whole princess, castles and fairies thing.  I don't want to decorate her room in these themes, if she turns around and asks me to change it in the next couple of years.  I tried to explain to her the other day that I want to put something on her wall that should last for the next 5 years.  She mentioned painting the walls pink or purple, but she really wants a Rapunzel theme on the wall as well.  Ugh!  So, I put on my thinking cap.  I'd be alright if I could find a Rapunzel wall decal that I could just stick on and rip off when I want.  I haven't found it yet, but we are still looking.  I also thought of picking up a Rapunzel coloring book and just look at the background - flowers, vines, birds, animal figures in the movie.  If I could maximize the character on my copy machine, trace and cut out the figures on blank stencil plastic, I might have something to work with.  Needless to say, these are just plans.   Katie and I plan to visit a few places, get some painting ideas and come up with a plan.  Doug mentioned painting the first week of July, but we may start a little earlier than that.  I'll keep ya posted. ;) 

Monday starts Katie kindergym.  She is so excited!  I think we are only going to try out the month of June for the Summer.  If she still loves it, then when August gets here, her daddy, herself and I will have to sit down and talk about dance and gymnastics.  You see, Katie still loves dance.  She was real interested in taking jazz.  I recently found out that if she takes jazz, she'll still be required to take ballet as well.  That's two different classes at two different times, two different outfits and two different recitals.  Ugh!  Plus, if she wants to stay with gymnastics.  Wait a minute, I'm feeling a little quizzy.  I don't want to wreck her dream, but that's a lot of dough that this mama doesn't have in my back pocket.  Before dance starts again this fall, I'll call and confirm what I've heard just to make sure that it's so.  Oh, let's not forget, if Katie is still interested in trying out for the Swim Team next Spring.  I have a feeling that my life is going to get very interesting in the next few months.  This stay-at-home momma may have to get herself a JOB. 

Katie's first spend the night party with her new friend, S. Soon after school ended today, S was knocking on our door wanting to know if Katie could come out to play. Next thing I know, S and Katie are wanting to play in the water. It was very hot again today, I guess in the mid 90s. I packed all of Katie's fairly new water toys in the shop, so I had to go see what we had available. I should open a water park for all the stuff we had. LOL! Katie received a water sprinkler type toy last year for her birthday. We have 2 different types of Slip and Slides. Let's not forget, Colton received a water sprinkler type. It looks like a beach ball with water spraying out of it. We chose to try the Ariel Slip 'n Slide and the crazy spraying sprinkler. The kids were having a good time outside. Poor Colton, I had to take him inside because he was so cool that his teeth began to chatter. He didn't like me drying him off and taking him in the house. Oh my goodness! He threw such a fit. It was getting late, so I decided that it would be best to get the big kids in the house as well.

It didn't take the girls long at all before they came to me and asked if S could stay the night. S's mom was alright with the idea, so the girls gathered up S's things that she needed to stay with us. I'm surprised that she hasn't been nervous about staying in a strange house with us yet. The night's not over, so we'll see how it goes.

I planned to take the girls to DQ tonight for some late night ice cream, but Doug thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and hook up the gaming systems, since we got our system fixed from the April 27th storm. Guess who needed to help him? I was glad to help because I figured the girls might want to play tomorrow. By the time we finished, it was close to 8:30PM. I made hot dogs and pasta salad for supper, something cool and nothing to keep the kitchen hot. Yuck! So, it ended up that S didn't have supper yet. Luckily, she likes hot dogs. She was alright with a hot dog instead of ice cream. I fixed the girls a nice big pallet on the floor to sleep on. S brought her sleeping bag and Katie has hers in the closet. Since Katie has a twin bed, I thought it would be best to have both girls in the floor together. It worked out great! I've got them all tucked in with a sheet and light blanket.

Katie's Ballet Rehearsal - Raymonda

The Ballet, "Raymonda" will be performed this weekend at WSCC. I would like to encourage you to come and see this performance, if you have a chance.

Katie and her ballet friend, E, pose for me

Yesterday was our last rehearsal before the big recital. YAY! Katie is so excited. In the video above, she is the second to the right. I can see improvements every recital year. Enjoy!

A few sneak peaks of the show . . .

Mrs. A getting all of the little girls in order

Katie practicing her curtsey

Katie Ballet 2011

Many Many Events This Past Weekend

Mrs. M told me today that her Teacher Appreciation gift basket came in handy. Her and her family hit the road Thursday and Friday because her son, Daniel, is the baseball team's pitcher and the team got to go to the playoffs. Unfortunately, our team lost both games. Mrs. M said that everyone enjoyed eating all the snacks on the road.

Katie is still enjoying her play time at school. Thursday was game day at school. Katie took her new "Trouble" board game and she said that the kids really liked playing it in class. Today was "Art Day".  All the students got to paint, color, draw, play with clay or play dough.  Katie brought home 3 creations, I will have to share you at another time.  They turned out so good.  Tomorrow, is "Outside Play Day".  Katie's taking her bean bag toss and horseshoes to play with the group. 

Friday was the big "Field Day". Oh my gosh! It was sooo HOT! The high was suppose to be in the mid 80's, but I think the humdity had to be 90%. I made the mistake of wearing my crop pants, instead of my shorts. Everyone was drenched in sweat. I HATE sweating! The upside to having a wet t-shirt, when the wind blows you have an instant air conditioner. LOL! Sorry, I had to say it eventhough it's probably uncouth to say. I believe the children thought they were in heaven. Coach B had all sorts of activities all over the soccer field. Katie couldn't believe her eyes, 4 inflatables. LOL! She loves those things. In fact, there were 2 bounce houses, 1 giant inflatable slide and 1 catepillar agility inflatable. On one side of the field, Coach B had races (running and sack racing). On the opposite side was the hula hoop contest and all the children learned the Cha-Cha Slide dance. It was so cute to watch them. The racing was precious! All the little kids ran straight to Coach B instead of the finish line. They would all end up in a ball that a few of the kids tripped upon each other. Katie did good. She ended up in the ball with the running. She received 3rd place out of 10 girls in the sack race. She was so excited. I was glad that Coach B gave every runner a ribbon. I'll have to post the hula hoop and Cha-Cha Slide dance videos at another time. It was priceless! I had no idea that Coach B taught the kids this dance or I would have tried to help her practice for Field Day. You'll see in the video that she wasn't dancing all that great. I asked her later, if she was embarrassed because I had the camera on her. "No", she answered. "Why didn't you dance?" I asked. "Because I couldn't really remember what to do." she answered. Later in the day, I think the heat was getting to Katie just a little. She drank her water and ate two ice pops, but she was actually asking me if we could leave yet. She never says that when it comes to school activities. In fact, she's always begging me to stay a little longer. We were both pretty exhausted as soon as we got back home. She hit her bed and I hit the couch for about an hour. Doug wanted to get some lawn mowing done, while Colton was sleeping. Thankfully, Colton slept his usual 2 hours. LOL!

Racing to the finish line

Placed 3rd in the Sack Race

"A" and Katie posing after coming out of the Catepillar

The gang chillin' in the shade.

Hula Hoop

Katie sporting her ribbons

Katie and ballet buddy, "J"

Saturday morning, we spent about 2 hours at the ballet studio for rehearsal. The girls got to wear their costumes and us parents got to watch the rehearsal. This is usually when I like to video tape Katie practicing. Unfortunately, right when I started to record, a group of older dancers stood up in front of stage and none of the parents could see, much less record our little ballerinas rehearsal. THANKS OLDER DANCERS! I'll have one more chance to record during this week's rehearsal at the performance stage before the recital.

Katie turn around so I can take your picture

Waiting to go on stage

We got home from ballet rehearsal just in enough time to get a breather and we headed out again.  Doug wanted to go to our local airport to see the Air Show that was advertised.  I believe the Army helped out a lot with the show because they had an Army helicopter giving rides, two other Army helicopters performing and a jet that was used in the Operation Desert Storm.  You'll have to forgive me, I forgot the name of this jet.   Doug told me, but I was too busy either watching the show or the kids fussing.

It's gettin' a little HOT at this point

Charlie Brown

Sunday afternoon, I attended Jodie's graduation. I still can't believe she's out of high school now. She plans to head to USA next Fall. Bless her heart, I felt so bad for her. She looked like she was crying the entire time. We wish her the best of luck with new adventures.

Congratulations Jodie!

Today, I got a lot of things accomplished that I've been putting off for a few days now. I don't know what it is, but we've been invaded with ants and spiders. I grabbed my good bug spray and commenced to killing those little bad boys. While I was at it, I cleaned up some of Doug's collection of stuff that has collected in our carport. Yay! It looks a little bit better.  

As you know, I've been working on our little Summer School for Katie.  I've got a few science experiments lined up.  I've got her projects lined up as well.  One of the projects, she is read a few books on my list and get a small journal as to what she thought about it and which ones was her favorite.  Since the tornadoes, she seems interested in the weather.  I don't think it's a issue of fear, but curiosity.  So, we will find out why we have the weather that we do; what time of the year each often occurs; experiment making a volcano, find out why warm air needs lots of room, make our own tornado.  Of course, we have to do some fun stuff like making fake snot, find out if oil and water mix, and bath salts.  I might even teach her to forecast the weather for us, we will see.  I hope to make it fun and hands on.  I've got my agenda and fun field trips planned.  We're hoping to make it to The McWane Science Center  this Summer. 

Katie was happy that she didn't have to bring her school books (different reading level books)home. Like any other typical kid, she hates homework. I tell you what though, that hard homework has paid off. Her DIBELS scores came back today. Our little girl is officially ready for the first grade. YAY! Just to remind you as to what DIBELS is, it stands for "Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills".

DIBELS Scores
Katie is suppose to know the following at the beginning of the First Grade Year in August:

• Letter Naming (37 entering 1st Grade) - Katie scored 65 this month! Letter Naming means: Student recognizes upper and lowercase letters out of order.
• Phoneme Segmentation (35 entering 1st Grade) - Katie scored 68 this month!  Phoneme Seg. means: Student tells all the sounds heard in spoken words.  For example, mop has 3 sounds . . . m-o-p.
• Nonsense Words (50 by January entering 1st Grade) - Katie scored 52 this month!  Nonsense Words means: Student blends sounds together that make nonsense words.  For example, p-o-c = poc, k-a-j = kaj, o-t = ot.

We are so proud of our little girl!!!  Eventhough, she will not have a graduation, I'm thinking about having the grandparents and us maybe go out to eat or something special like that.  The other day, Katie and I went to the jewelry store to get a new battery for my watch.  While we were waiting, Katie and I checked out all the beautiful jewelry.  I showed her the children's jewelry section.  They had some sweet slide charm bracelets with initial pieces.  She seemed to really like the bracelet and asked if she could have one with a "K" and two birthstones for her birthday.  I was sort of thinking about getting it for her for graduating Kindergarten.   I may go back and check them out a little better. 

 

My Children

Raymonda
Mrs. W likes to switch up the Spring Galas between one big production and the individual groups. This year is big production year and this ballet will be based on the Russian performance "Raymonda". Still being new to the whole ballet world as a future Prima Ballerina's momma, I have to do research on these productions.

According to Ballet Encyclopedia, the synopsis goes as follows:

Act I: Raymonda, who is betrothed to Jean de Brienne, is celebrating her birthday. Jean, who is expected to arrive the next day, has send some presents in advance. One of these presents is an embroidered portrait of himself. First, however, Abderman arrives and tries to court Raymonda. Raymonda then dreams that Jean comes down from his portrait to dance with her, however, when she wakes up she finds that Abderman is there again to "renew his amorous proposals." Act II: The festivities continue, and Abderman asks Raymonda to dance. Then, he and his accomplices attempt to abduct her. However, at that moment Jean arrives with his brother, the King of Hungary. There is a duel and Abderman is killed. Act III: There is a feast at the castle to celebrate the marriage of the two lovers, and much dancing.

Katie and her class will have the honor of being the Spanish guests in the performance and I L-O-V-E their costumes.  Mrs. W has changed costume companies.  She measured all the girls for their costumes a few weeks ago and several of the girls (groups) have already received their costumes.  Katie's group hasn't received theirs yet, but I can't wait to see them.  Mrs. W has a board displayed inside the studio with pictures of costume examples.  Here's a sneak peek of Katie's Spanish costume:

School Girl
Eventhough, Katie seems to be practicing with me on how she will be when she's 16 and wanting to stretch her wings, we are still proud of how well she's doing in school.  Her reading level started at "A" and now Mrs M feels she is ready for level "D".  It's a little more challenging, but I know with lots of practice Katie will succeed.  She continues to bring home more sight words to add with the others.  She took a test the other day.  I call it a spelling test because it was her list of sight words, which happens to be color names (purple, black, white, yellow, etc.).  She didn't miss a one.  YAY! 

We were suppose to receive Katie's Progress Report the week we had so much snow.  Well, I still haven't received it.  I asked Mrs. M about it and she had to make a few changes, but for me not to worry about Katie.  She added that she's doing great. 

Sickness is going around school, so I've been holding my breath on that one.  What is it with kids being so excited to tell you about the kid pitching their cookies during lunchtime into a girlfriend's lunch box and onto another girl's new shoes?  Everyday I ask her "what happened at school today?" and for some reason or other, she never can remember.  Who knew that it took someone to throw up for Katie to remember what happened that day. 

Colton Update
Colton's growing by leaps and bounds.  He'll be 2 in a couple of short months and I can tell it.  He's been wearing 24 month outfits and pants for the past couple of months, but he could still wear 18 month shirts.  Not anymore!  I finally had to pack up the 18 month shirts because they are a little short on the arms.  Haha! 

I've been s-l-o-w-l-y making Colton's birthday decorations.  Our theme this year will be "Trains".  I've created a general train from MS Publisher.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  What do you think?
Train Labels

I've also drafted out Colton's birthday party invites with the same label to go with it.  I'll post it when I'm satisfied. 

These labels are accessible to anyone who would appreciate them.  Just print and cut for cupcake picks, garland and banner accents.  Have fun!

I've been doing a lot of practicing and idea searching for his party. I liked the train idea this past Summer. At first, I didn't know how to go about it and I really didn't want to go with all of "Thomas the Tank Engine" designs. That's when I checked out Hostess with the Mostess blog and there it was.  The train party of the year!  Of course, I wanted to design my own and did a few exercises before I got it just right.  Here's a picture of the train party that I'm hoping to be Colton's party. 

I'm also making the paper dot garland from scrapbook paper as well. I'm making my garland 60", so I can swag them along my ceiling. I also made a couple of 30" garlands to just let them dangle. It being a boy birthday party, I chose all prime colors (blue, green, yellow, red).

Colton's vocabulary is growing all the time.  His new words are "oh, gosh" and "I cookie", which translates to "I want a cookie".  From time to time, we get confused with "gosh" and "cars" because they sound so much a like. 

Miss Y'all!

Painting Project
I know I've been away for a WHILE, but I couldn't help it.  I've been so busy.  We decided to paint the Kitchen before Christmas, so I had to get BUSY!  The painting project is well on it's way.  Here's proof:

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

As you can see, we've painted the cabinets "Cream Delight."  I love them.  It's like getting brand new cabinets.  It was a lot of hard work and 8 days later, we finished our cabinet project and think they turned out better than I first thought.  I've never done anything like this better, so I was extremely nervous.  I knew we had to do something and now I don't regret it at all.  If you are planning on painting your cabinets from a oil based varnish, I recommend "Zinsser Cover Stain Primer (Oil-based Interior/Exterior) Stain-Blocker/Bond Coat.  It works great!  I put a couple coats of primer and I'm ready for business.  The top coat paint is Valspar Semi-Gloss One Coat in Cream Delight.  We are planning on using the same color for all the trim in the Living Room and the rest of the Kitchen. 

The Kitchen cabinets are finished, now on to the Kitchen walls.  Like I said, we'll paint the trim in Cream Delight, but as of right now the main paint will be the color "Churchill Hotel Maple".  Our house is small and doesn't have much interior light, so I can't go too dark.  The maple color seems to be some neutral color without loosing all the light.  Plus, I plan to lime wash the top half of the wall.  The bottom will stay solid maple, which will be divided by a cream chair rail.

I've also picked out the tile.  Doug seems to like it as well.  My first choice was different colored slate on mesh sheets.  The more I looked at the slate, the more I feared it would be too dark and wouldn't match the maple color paint as well.  My new choice, I believe goes better with the maple.  It looks kind of marbley and I love the divider and floral decoration.  We plan to put the tile on our Kitchen wall for a backsplash.  If we do choose to use this particular tile, we won't be able to put it up until sometime next year.

Stay tuned to more home renovations!

Katie Update
Katie took her first "spelling" test right after the Thanksgiving holiday.  She did great!  Mrs. M said a word and Katie had to write it down on the paper.  She got every word written correctly on her test.  Lastly, Mrs. M told her a sentence and Katie had to write it down.  Mrs. M put a smiley face on her paper.  We are so proud of her.  She's worked very hard on her letter recognition and sounds.  Here's a picture of her test:

"The man ran"

I like for Katie to get involved in at least one project a year like "Operation Shoebox", "Adopt an Angel",  "Cozy Coats" and "Toys for Tots".  Last year, she did the "Operation Shoebox", where she filled up a big plastic shoebox full of things that would put a smile on a little girl's face overseas.  This year, she adopted a 2 year old angel by the name of Jasmine from our church's Christmas tree.  Of course, she had several questions.  The most important was "mom, why are we buying her presents?  Why doesn't Santa just give them to her on Christmas day?"  You talk about doing some fast thinking.  I can definitely tell she is in school now because she is coming home with questions galore.  "Mom, is the toothfairy real?  Mom, Savannah says that Santa's not real.  He's real, Right?"  (I just used the name Savannah, I really don't remember who told her what).  I've been talking to her for the past month the Christmas way.  How we celebrate Christmas because of Christ being born and he was given gifts, so we should give presents - to show our love.  How Santa Claus is a servant for Christ just like we are servants.  How Santa has helpers all over the world.  Her knowing all of this information, I added that Santa has asked us to help this little girl, so she might have a wonderful Christmas.  "But, Santa's real, Right?" she asked, wanting assurance.  I concurred and she was satisfied.  Giving her a budget, all she wanted to do was get Jasmine toys.  I had to sit her down and explain that we get the things she needs first and then we look at toys, if we still have enough money leftover.  You know, she did very good.  She was able to get her a jacket, shoes, jammies, 2 outfits, diapers, 2 toys (doll & stuffed kitten) and stayed under budget.  What a bargain shopper!

Katie has been so upset with me because we don't have our Christmas decorations out yet.  I told her that I'd like to wait until we get most of the painting done.  I've got a deadline of December 19th.  If I don't have the painting finished by then, I'll stop and decorate the house.  I have to decorate because my family (extended) is having Christmas this year at our house.  Yikes!  I can come up with the craziest ideas at the worst times.  For the past several days, Katie has come home from school with the same statement - "you've been painting - AGAIN!"  Or I get "when will you ever quit painting?"  You gotta love it. 

The Nutcracker Ballet
Mom, Peggy, Maryann, Natalie, Whitney, Katie and myself went to "The Nutcracker Ballet" on the 4th of December.  I've never seen the ballet live, but I have read the books and enjoyed the composed music from Tchaikovsky.  The Montgomery Ballet Company put on the ballet at WSCC with a few local actors and ballerinas taking part.  Us ladies met up at Dairy Queen for a quick bite before the ballet.  Katie was so antsy the whole time we were visiting at the restaurant. 

When we finally got the the theater, we ran into a few people that we knew.  Katie was so excited that Nia was there with her mom.  The girls hated the fact that they couldn't sit together. 

I really enjoyed the ballet, but I couldn't stop watching Katie's face.  Her eyes didn't leave the stage until it was close to being over.  Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw the BIG nutcracker fighting off the Mouse King.  When the snow fairies made their appearance, they had real snow blowing onto the front stage.  Katie couldn't believe that it was snowing.  During intermission, her and a few other children got up close to the stage and put their hands in the snow.  It was funny, watching Mother Ginger coming out.  Katie giggled and laughed, watching that crazy Mother watching after her children. 

We knew the girl playing "Clara," so I was hoping Katie would imagine herself up on stage one day.  She was pretty quiet, watching the ballet, the whole time.  We went to the 7:00 performance, so by 9:00 I could tell she was getting pretty tired.  I spoke to the parents of the girl playing Clara, he said that every performance (Friday-Sunday) were sold out, which is what we wanted to hear.  Katie said she really like the ballet.  I am hopeful The Montgomery Ballet Company will come back again soon for another performance. 

School Christmas Party
I agreed to head up Katie's class Christmas party.  What was I thinking?  I have to admit that it hasn't been all that bad.  I've had a few fantastic moms step up to the plate and we have the food all planned out.  Katie wanted to give some little something for all the kids in her class.  Here she is packing the gift bags with all kinds of goodies (pencils, game cards, and activity books):

Santa's Checking Up
Katie received a very important message from Santa.  I told her that I keep Santa informed on all she does.  I guess now she believes me.  Here's the message she received:
Santa's message

Colton Story
As you know I've been painting our Kitchen.  All of my used (good) rollers and brushes, I had soaking in a plastic bucket with some Brush Cleaner solution in it.  I stopped my painting for a while because it was getting close for me to pick up Katie from school.  I got Colton all ready to go out the door and I thought I had better go freshen up in the bathroom.  When I came back into the Kitchen, there was Colton with my roller that he got from my solution bucket, rolling the Kitchen floor.  I guess he thought he would help me out.  He had white paint all over him and the floor.  Here's the kicker, we had to leave as soon as possible to get Katie.  We were running late by this point.  All I could do was laugh because there was absolutely nothing I could do to make this situation any better.  Good news, we did get to school in time to pick her up at the pick up area and I didn't have to park, run in and get her. 

What The Weekend Holds

I hope to find that you have had a wonderful weekend. Ours has been busy of course. Friday, daddy insisted that we go to Martin's to view their mega supply of Bama football accessories, apparel and other stuff. Oh my gosh! If I had to guess, I would say that half of this store's inventory was Bama stuff. I would also add that it was all reasonably priced. I knocked out a couple Christmas gifts. Woo Hoo! You just can't imagine the stuff.

My children will not stop growing long enough for us to replenish our bank account. I had to pass down the new Levi jeans that I bought Katie for this Fall. I made a mistake buying slim, but they fit her in September. Last week, they were tight across the thighs. You talk about sick. Colton is in between sizes 18 and 24 months. One piece outfits like jon jons or overalls, he has to wear a 24 month. Separates, he could wear a 24 month, but he has a little waistline. I had to take in a couple of his pants around the waist, so he can wear them. Ugh!

As soon as Katie got out of school Friday, we headed for Belk. They have their girls Levi's 4-6x $18.99. I think this is a great deal because Levi's are normally $30 something and they fit so much better on Katie than other jeans. This time I had her try on the jeans before I bought them. The 6 regular fit fine, but thinking of next month I thought it would be best to go with the 6x regulars. Thank goodness for adjustable waistlines. The length looks great on her. Her other jeans size 5 made her look like she was wadding in water, if you know what I mean. Belk has so many pretty dresses for church and sweet Christmas outfits. Peggy picked up the pink and red corduroy snowgirl pants set for her. Sooo cute! While we were there, we had to check out the sea of Nutcrackers. That's one of many things Katie and I love is looking at all the different styles of Nutcrackers. She absolutely loves them. I've started her a small collection. When she's older and still loves them the way she does now, I'll have to get her a real Nutcracker from the German store here in town called "A Touch of German." I've started a tradition with Katie. Around Christmas time, we go to the store and just look at all the Nutcrackers. They are beautiful and to watch her eyes light up makes it much more special for me.

Ballet
Speaking of "The Nutcracker,"  Maryann, Katie and I went to Katie's Ballet School to pre-order our tickets for December.  Peggy, Mom, Whitney and Natalie are hopefully going with us.  This pre-order is suppose to guarantee us the best seat in the house.  While we were there, we got a sneak peek of some of our dancers practicing.  They've been hard at it, learning the performance since the beginning of the month.  I just hate it that Katie wasn't eligible to audition for a part.  One of her girlfriends from school was there practicing.  Katie wanted to know why she couldn't dance, if "A" got to dance.  Aww!  I felt bad for her, but had to explain that she had to be at least 6 years old to audition.  This wasn't Mrs. Elaine's rules it was the director of the Montgomery Ballet, which are the professionals that will be the main performers.  Us ballet moms and dads are hoping this performance will be a great success, so they will come back.  Maybe Katie will be able to audition for a spot then.  We are pretty excited to see it, especially because we know the young lady that will be playing "Clara."  If you live in the area and would be interested in purchasing tickets for this ballet, Ballet School will give you one more opportunity to pre-order tickets next Saturday, October 30th.

Halloween
As you know, I bought a gingerbread Haunted House kit for Katie and I to put together.  I figured we would put it together next Saturday, but she has been aggravating me since I got the thing.  "When are we going to put together the Haunted House mom?"  "Are you ready to put together the Haunted House?"  "Mom, you promised we'd put together the house today!"  Ugh!!!!  Katie is so much like me IT SCARY!  She is so impatient and when she wants something done, she wants it done yesterday.  I know, I'm paying for my raising.  Or that's what my mother loves to bring up from time to time.   After church today, I finally gave in.  I haven't seen Katie move that quick.  By the time I turned around, she had on her apron and wanted me to tie it.  I had to give her the dreaded "we've got to prep our area first" speech.  She absolutely hates prep work, but it's got to be done.  My prep work means, clear off our work space, clean our work space, get all the utensils we need ready and within hands reach, mix up the ingredients that we'll need and have it at hands reach, pull back the hair and lastly WASH YOUR HANDS! 

Once prep time was finished, I pulled out the gingerbread house and placed it on the cake dome.  Katie picked out a picture that she wanted her haunted house to look like.  Maryann told me yesterday how she had fun putting together a gingerbread house with Natalie last year for Christmas.   I told her how much fun I had putting this house together when I spoke to her on the phone.  Ugh!  All she could do was giggle at me and remind me that I was dealing with a 5 year old, while Natalie was 19 years old at the time.  It's not like it was difficult or anything, it's just that Katie wanted me to finish as soon as I started, so she would put on all the candies.  She lost interest quickly when I told her she couldn't eat the icing or more importantly the house right away.  Of course, Colton was right there in the middle of it all.  He tried a time or two to snatch a few candied M&Ms.  Thank goodness Peggy and Millard came by to visit.  They were able to hold him off of my project for awhile.  It wasn't long before everyone headed outside for a little bit and here I was, by myself, to finish the bless'd haunted house.  I didn't take any pictures tonight because I want to get some dyed coconut to put around it for appearances.  I must warn you, it looks like I was drunk putting this thing together.  Katie kept moving the table, while I was piping in the windows and door.  Yeah, it's one silly, wacked out haunted house.  LOL!  But Katie really likes it and more importantly she wants to EAT IT.  I'm hoping to get her to hold off until next Friday or Saturday before she eats the house.  I also told Katie and Colton that they had better enjoy this haunted house because it will probably be my last for a long time.

Movie Review
Letters to Juliet - starring Amanda Seyfried and Chris Egan. Rated PG
Wow!  I absolutely love movies like this one.  Sweet romance that blooms overnight.  I don't want to give any of it away.  I thought it was a really good movie and of course I enjoyed getting to see the Italian landscapes, so beautiful.  I would recommend it to all romantics at heart.   By the way, Chris Egan "Charlie" isn't too bad to look at. ;)  The British accent is an added bonus.



The Backup Plan - starring Jennifer Lopez.  Rated PG-13
This is a definite Chick Flick!  I loved this movie, so funny.  You've got to see it! 



Prayer Request
Doug and I ran into one of our former co-workers this weekend.  Since the last time I saw "MJ," I found out he changed jobs, he and his lovely wife had two more children and they built a house.  When we saw him this weekend, he told us that he has been layed off and is having a tough time finding a job.  Man!  It absolutely kills me how the economy is still down the stinker.  I really wish it would pick up and everyone has their many opinions on how it got this way and what we need to do in order to change it.  Bottomline, so many good, honest citizens are losing their only means of income.  Thank the dear Lord above that MJ's wife still has her job, but with three small children and a huge mortgage, it's got to be hard.  I just ask you to please remember them along with so many millions of other people that are having a rough time right now finding work. 

Getting Ready For A Life Change

Ballet Time
Katie's eyes were big when I told her last night that we have to go get signed up for ballet.  Bless her heart, she thought she had ballet class today.  She was so hoping to get to start, but I had to tell her that classes are still a few days out.  She gets to move up this Fall from the pink ballerinas to royal blue.  This tells me, I'm going to be out of some money because I can't just go to Academy, Walmart or Target to get Katie's leotards.  Getting her leotards at these places has saved me some money, but we'll have to buy them at the school this year.  We dropped off a few of Katie's leotards, from last year, at the school to sell.  While we were there, I priced the new royal blue leotards, to get an idea.  Ick!  The cheapest plain ones were still $15 a pop.  Ugh!  This doesn't include the skirts, which are a must.  Fortunately, she is allowed to have different colored skirts.  I might be able to buy them cheaper at the big retail stores.  Lets just hope Katie's old leotards sold, so we can use that money towards new ones.  Of course, I picked a day and time that no one else is signed up yet.  I do this every year.  So, more than likely I'll have to pick another time for Katie's lessons.  This year, the Ballet Theatre School is offering tap dance for Katie's age.  I was tempted, but she really wants to be able to take jazz next year. 

Mark it on your calendar, the Montgomery Ballet Company and CBS are coming together to bring the famous ballet performance of "The Nutcracker" to our hometown.  Yay!  Ballerinas ages 6-adult have the opportunity to audition for parts in the performance.  "The Nutcracker" will be performed at Wallace State College in Hanceville on December 3 & 4 at he Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre.  For more information, CLICK HERE.

Join the Gym
We stopped by the gym today, to pickup my paperwork and have a few of my questions answered.  To my disappointment, I didn't get what I really wanted.  Doug acted as if he didn't want to join the gym.  Well, in order for me to get daycare for the kids, he'll have to join.  Ugh!  I was so hoping to go as an individual and get the individual price just for the fitness and not pools.  Well, the lady informed me that I would have to get the family plan in order to get daycare that it's not offered with just an individual plan.  And who thought of this idea?  I started to ask what do they offer for a single parent, but I didn't go there.  I told Doug and he guesses he'll just have to go.  I think their open until 9:00 at night, I believe.  We'll work something out to get our monies worth.  I even asked the lady if I could put my dad or mom under the family plan and she shot me down again.  Let's just hope it's worth it!  I had better loose some major weight with this kind of commitment. 

Growing Deep in the Christian Life
Now, to add to my new life schedule for this Fall and Winter months, I plan to do a bible study (on my own).  I started this study once before when Katie was an infant and had to stop because that was about the time my mom got sick.  So, here we are again.  Instead of starting where I left off, I've decided to start over. I have no idea if I would remember what I did learn.  The study is from the book "Growing Deep in the Christian Life" by Charles R. Swindoll.  It's an intense study, so I plan on taking it slow.  This study may take me a year to finish that's how slow I'm going to take it.  I've got my notebook, reference books and bible on my nightstand ready to get started.  You'll probably get a glimpse from time to time from my readings.  So, hold on ladies, I might get fired up.  LOL!  

Great Belk Offers and Sweepstakes
August 10th - Civil Service Appreciation Day - 10AM-9PM - Belk is celebrating "Civil Service Day" by offering an exclusive 20% discount on regular and sale priced purchases (15% discount on home items and shoes) with very limited exclusions for local government, fire & police, city chamber and other civil service employees who present a valid work ID. For details, please contact your local Belk store.

August 13-22 - Chaps Gift with Purchase Event - 10AM-9PM - Receive a FREE "Chaps Denim True American Brand" tee shirt with any purchase of Chaps Denim jeans from August 13 - 22, 2010.* *Limited supplies available. Offer good while supplies last. Offer good only with purchases of qualifying Chaps Denim Jean. Offer available for "Chaps Denim True American Brand" tee shirt only and may not be applied to any other tee shirt.

August 14th - KidFest - 12PM-3PM - Celebrate the last days of summer with music, refreshments, a fashion show, games, prizes & more! Plus register for your chance to win a $500 children's department wardrobe and a trip to Great Wolf Lodge and Indoor Water Park! Contact your local Belk store for details or to find out how you can participate in our fashion show.

August 26th - Bridal Engagement Party - 6PM-9PM - Calling all brides and grooms for an evening of refreshments, wedding registry and prizes! Register to Win: $1,200 travel certificate for air or cruise travel, $1,000 in cash, $2,000 worth of Carolee jewelry, $1,000 Belk Gift Card, and more! Plus, create or add to a qualified registry and receive $25 off any regular or sale purchase of $75 or more. Visit your local Belk store's Home department for complete details.

For more information or to find a Belk closest to you, CLICK HERE.

Prayer Request
My cousin, Lissa, just informed me of her son's fiance, Elizabeth's illness.  Lissa's son, Abe, is to be wed to Elizabeth in the next couple of weeks.  She has bad Migranes occasionally lasting 2 weeks and sometimes shooting pain in her eyes.  She was diagnosed as having a mild case of MS.  I've heard how MS can make it difficult for some to function an everyday normal life.  Of course, we would love it if God would heal her body.  If it's not his well, I ask that he will relieve her pain and discomfort. 

Doug's aunt is doing better since the doctor adjusted her meds.  The hallucinations have gone away for right now.  Thank you for all the prayers. 

Normally, I don't list people on my prayer list from people whom go to our church.  I don't do this because there are SO many and it would take one very long post alone.  However, I do have exceptions.  I attend church with Tom and I'm sure he could really appreciate your prayers.  He is currently in the hospital.  At first he was diagnosed with shingles on his head and now I got a report from another class member that went to visit him.  He has meningitis now, caused from the shingles.  Tests have been run and the doctor hopes he will have the bacterial meningitis and not the viral.  Thank you for the prayers!

A Very Full Weekend

Katie's Ballet Recital

Katie's ballet recital was a hit! She did a great job and we are very proud of her. Here's a video of her rehearsal:

Zayne and Whitney's House Party
Katie was so excited to get to play with Nia. I love Whitney's colors in her Kitchen/Dining Room/Living Room area, it's chocolate and blue.  I like these colors, but I never would have thought it would look as good as it does in your Living Room.  Whitney has such good taste.  Maybe when I decide to re-decorate, I'll call her up. 

You can see the color scheme better in this picture

The kiddos enjoying their play time together.  Colton stayed right with them having a good time.

Sweet couple with baby boy

We had a fish fry with all the sides - notice it rained most of the morning

Whitney's Kitchen - June smiling for the camera before taking a bite of homemade chocolate ice cream

Zayne took Jon for a rock climbing adventure in his jeep

Memorial Day
We hung out by the pool today, celebrating Memorial Day. Did you get to watch "Band of Brothers" all day today on the Spike channel? Doug and I watched a little early this morning and a little more tonight, while the children were in bed. I can't begin to imagine what it was like over in Normandy.
I would like to say:

Thank you Veterans

those who fought and those who are still fighting

for mine and my families' freedoms!

Colton loved playing in the big tubby

I had the kids dressed up all Patriotic.  I wanted a picture of them together by the pool.  Unfortunately, as soon as we drove up into June & Pat's driveway, Katie noticed Jon was in the water and had to get in it immediately.  So there went my cute picture.

We were surprised how long Colton left his cap on his head

Our little mermaid! We had a terrible time getting her out of the pool

Katie and her swim buddy, Whitney