Pride, vol. II & III

My firstborn's very first dance recital was last week. More about that below. Before the recital, however, I got to experience another landmark occasion in my life. I got to take my daughter to "my" dance store. She needed a black leotard and pink tights for her recital, which I couldn't find anywhere in her size. So I bit the bullet and took her where I knew it would be way more expensive. But I also knew that we'd find exactly what we needed and in much better quality.

And it would also be the first chance I'd ever have at taking one of my offspring to "my" dance store. :0)

AND...I did not have my camera.

Don't think I didn't almost burst into tears when we pulled in to the parking lot and I realized that!

So, M's first experience at June's Dancewear. This is the place my mother took me to buy all of my dance gear in high school. It's been around for 30+ years now, and three generations of ladies from the same family have worked there. It's a little piece of history, and taking M there was absolutely spiritual for this mom.

She had a ball! She ran from rack to rack looking at all of the gorgeous dance costumes and ridiculously big tutus that pack the store. I was scolding her at first for touching everything, but the owner was so gracious and actually encouraged M to look around and touch whatever she wanted. (She's a smart lady...she knew M would be hooked on dance once she feasted her eyes on all of the beautiful clothes! A new generation of loyal customer in the making.)

She found several leos for M to try on, and we found "the one". M was in heaven in the dressing room...prancing around, showing off some of her ballet moves, staring at her darling self in the mirror. Getting lost in the photos and posters of all the pretty dance costumes around her. The salesladies came in to check on her, and they oohed and ahhed over her tiny little dancer frame. (A perfect ballet body, if I do say so myself!) M ate it up. The owner said she recognized me, but I'm not so sure...it's been almost 20 years since I've been there!

It took a miracle and some serious bribery to get the leotard off of her and her street clothes back on. :0) And we headed home with our loot:
What M didn't know was that I'd slipped this into our order at the check-out desk while she went back to look at more costumes:

It's a little ballerina purse she'd fallen in love with in the dressing room. I told her we weren't buying it that day, but I decided I'd buy it and let Daddy surprise her with it as a gift after her recital rather than flowers (which he'd given her after her first class already).

What M didn't know also was that Mama was dying (well, I felt like it at least!). I don't recall it from when I was a customer in high school, but June's has a resident cat that was absolutely killing my allergies! I was just to the point of getting over my cold, and that dang cat set me back several more days. Thank God for my inhaler! If M does have a future in dance, it may have to be J who takes her to do her shopping. :0)

The day of her recital came. I didn't make a big deal out of it; I didn't want her to get nervous or scared. I just told her that for her last class she was able to invite family to come watch and that all the girls would be dressed alike to show off all that they had learned.

We had as normal a day as possible leading up to show time, and during naps Mama Landa and Uncle Eric arrived to spend some time with the girls before it was time to go. It was a rainy, cold, yucky day. Through the whole class session, we only had two rainy days, recital day having to be one of them. But we persevered.

We arrived early, and M had the chance to play with some of the other early-arriving girls. They ran and ran around the lobby area. I don't normally let her do that, but she had so much pent-up energy that I relented for that one day. :0)

Here's M and one of her dancer friends checking out the recital room before their rehearsal:




We were allowed to go in and save seats before the rehearsal started, and this is what I saw when I walked in the door:

Rows of tulle confection. And here began Mama's waterworks.

Soon the rest of the gang arrived: Grandma & Steve, and then Grandpa. (Thanks to everyone for coming out on such a gloomy night!)

I had to giggle at the herd of parents stampeding in to save seats and then after rehearsal to claim them before the show started. Hell hath no fury like a parent trying to find a good seat to video their little ballerina! :0)

Before the recital, M ran to me briefly, grabbed my leg, and said she was scared and wanted to leave. Then she saw one of her teachers and ran off to give her a hug, and I didn't hear from her again until afterward!

I stayed in my seat with my video camera for the first few minutes, then a lady came and sat in front of me so I had to get up and finish taping in the back of the room. Which was fine, because I was back there crying like a baby! I don't even remember how the performance went. All I was focused on was my precious firstborn trying her hardest and having the time of her life!

The first dance was to "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast. When I first learned they'd be doing a routine to this song when the class started, I laughed out loud. My high school dance team did a tap routine to that song for one of our Spring Shows, so it brought back so many fun memories.







This face is quintessesntial M. This will be forever one of my favorites:

Should she choose to go the dance team route in high school like her mama (which I really hope she does!), I'll have so much material for all of the slide shows and programs. :0)




I replay this move in my head over and over again. It brings me so much joy! J did a marvelous job with the still photography:

The hoop routine is to "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend".





Another favorite shot:

And probably THE favorite one of all:

J was sitting almost directly in front of where M was positioned, and she had her eyes locked on him for most of the performance. Blowing a kiss was part of the routine at this point, but there's no question WHO this kiss was for!

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J remarked later that night that this was his proudest moment as a daddy so far. No wonder! I love their deep daddy-daughter connection. I'm so thankful that they're so close. He said they exchanged lots of smiles and giggles all through the performance.

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Right before the performance started, the girls were placed in their lines and the teachers were giving their introductory remarks. M busted out, "Can I go sit with my mommy and daddy now?" :0)

After the show, a hug for her little sister. (Who wasn't feeling so hot that night!)

Afterward, we headed to Chili's for dinner with J, Mama Landa, and Uncle Eric.

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For the last couple of weeks, J and I have been asking M whether or not she wants to take another session of ballet this spring. She's had different answers every time--one day she wants to, the next day she wants to try something else. The day after the recital I asked her again, and her answer was "Umm, yeah!" Spoken as if her hands were on her hips, headed cocked to the side, with a "Duh, Mom!" tone.

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So that afternoon, that's exactly what we did.

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Recital #2, here we come!

Pride, volume I

So this post is about two months late, and I really don't have a good explanation for it. It's one of those "pondering these things in my heart" matters, just like God's Word says about Mary, the mother of Jesus. I've just been pondering it for some time now, and it's one of those things that's hard for some reason to express in concrete words.

I'm also a big-time perfectionist, and I oftentimes let it paralyze me from doing things because I'm scared they won't turn out "perfect". This is so true when it comes to documenting my childrens' lives. And it haunts me. I don't journal for them consistently, and I know there are so many precious things in their lives that I've already forgotten. And the moments are gone forever. They'll never be aware of the beauty either, all because Mommy was too gripped by perfectionism to record it. And for what? Because I was scared that I wouldn't accurately capture the emotion and the true beauty of the moment.

See? Already I don't feel like I've accurately expressed what I'm feeling in that area. So I'll just press on with the story...

In mid-January, I took M to buy her a pair of these:
because she decided she wanted to take a ballet class.

We opted for a "Princess Ballerina" class offered by our local city activity center because it's a fraction of the cost of a private studio. The girls are taught ballet basics, it's a weekly class given for about three months, and the girls can wear whatever they want--they can even dress like princesses each week! And the girls learn routines to present to parents at a recital at the end of the session. We figured it'd be a great way for us to "kick the tires", as it were. M could try it out for a session, and if she wanted to continue, great, and if she decides she wants to keep pursuing it, at that point we'll look into a private studio.

And most importantly for J and I, the girls do not have to wear make-up and there are no costumes involved (which can lean toward the inappropriate side even in preschool-age classes).

Unfortunately, I found out about the winter session a week late. I made some calls on the way to our Bible Study that morning and was delighted to find that there were openings left. (Praise God! I'd always heard that this program fills up immediately each session.) And it was in fact not too late to join. So M missed the initial week of instruction, but I figured she'd manage.

My, oh my...the trip to Bible Study was full of energy when M heard the news! She was so disappointed that she'd have to wait all day for her class to begin. She kept telling me she didn't want to go to church; she wanted to go to ballet class! Poor baby...I should have withheld the news!

After Bible Study, we made our way to the mall to shop for ballet shoes. M was insistent the whole way there that they be sparkly shoes. I tried to tell her that ballet shoes are typically pretty unassuming, but she would have none of it. I'm pretty sure she yelled at me that they must. be. sparkly. Needless to say, I was a tad nervous about how things would go at the shoe store.

The sales guy brought out their only pair of little girls' ballet shoes that they happened to have in stock at that moment--and they just happened to be M's size. He presented her with the box, opened the lid for her, and the shoes just happened to be pink, too.

M gasped ever so subtly. And then she breathed, "Pink".

I'll never forget the sweetness of that moment.

And from that moment, the fact that they weren't sparkly didn't matter. :0)

Of course, she wanted to wear them out of the store and home, but mean me wouldn't let her. When we got home, I did let her wear them around the house for a bit.

Naptime came, and of course there was little napping. I think someone was too excited! They did sleep for a bit, and I ended up having to wake them up to get them ready to go. I woke M and said, "Are you ready to go to ballet?" Of course, the answer was unflinchingly yes.

I've never seen the girl get ready so quickly! We couldn't leave the house without a quick photo:


I took several, and all of them are about this same pose. I treasure these photos--she was ecstatic. And her cute costume? It was a birthday gift from J's grandmother. So not only did I not have to shop for something for her to wear in addition to shoes, but she chose this special outfit to wear (each and every week of the class!) that was given to her by her Mamaw.

I'd hoped to be able to email J one of these photos, but we simply didn't have time before we left. During naptime I'd emailed him the photo of the shoes at the top of this post. The message read, "You've made a certain little girl very happy today".

We weren't certain he'd make it to her class due to his work schedule, but I was praying silently that he would.

M was so excited the whole way there. Once we arrived, she was raring to go. Check her out taking charge and running her sister into the building:



My sweet ballerina.

Because I'd not signed her up for the class yet, I had to fill out some paperwork when we initially arrived. M was not thrilled--she was ready to get into her class! There were a few little ballerinas already there, filing into the classroom, and M was begging to follow them. I was so sad that I had to keep her with me while I filled out the papers. When I was done and turned to allow her to go on in, she was already halfway to the classroom! She didn't even look back to see where I was.

This is what I saw when I finally made it to the door:


M had made herself at home, and she'd even hugged her teachers (to her right in this photo) and introduced herself.

This was the "kicker" for me. It was at that moment I knew this was OK. And I've never felt prouder of her in her three-year life.

And this is where it gets personal for me. I certainly don't want to be one of "those parents" who lives vicariously through their child. I don't want to pressure her to be "mini me" or do anything just because I want her to do it. So I'm really having to protect myself in this area, because I'm a dancer at heart. And I'll be honest...I really do want her to love it and dance her whole life!

I was instantly taken back to the time when my mother took me to enroll in dance. I don't know how old I was. My guess is maybe somewhere around M's age. I'd begged and begged to take dance as a little girl--my parents never pushed me into doing anything, and they were always supportive of the million things I tried and quit. I distinctly remember being terrified in the backseat of the car the whole way to the local studio. And when we arrived in the parking lot, I remember curling up into a ball in the floorboard of the car and crying that I wanted to go home. So my mother took me home. And she never brought it up again. (Which I love about my parents! I love that they let me make my own decisions.)

I did end up dancing for a few years, but not until high school. In case you were wondering! HA!

I was so proud of my precious daughter. I love her spirit. I love that she's so different from me at that age. She is everything I wasn't--she's so social, so brave, so spunky. And it's that brave spirit that I'm most proud of. I was so proud that she went bounding into that classroom without a second thought about me and my whereabouts. I love that she hugged her teachers on the spot. I love that she's fearless.

She teaches me so much, and she has no idea. :0) I've grown so much as a person because of her and her unique personality, but at age three she can't understand that.

I can't wait to tell her when she's old enough to grasp it!

So the class started, and the door closed. There was a tiny window in the door that moms could peek into every now and then, and we were like popcorn getting up and down taking turns looking in. I'm not scared to admit that I totally cried a little.

Some girls had to leave the class because they were scared and crying and needed comfort from Mommy, but never my M.

God heard my prayers, and about halfway into class J arrived. He got to peek in on her too, and he was as delighted as me! M was thrilled to see him when class dismissed. He greeted her with lovely pink carnations. (My daddy always brought me flowers to every one of my performances, too! So this was a special memory for me, too.)

It was fun to discover that a few of my mom friends' girls were enrolled in the class, so I got to hang out with them while class was going on. And I met some new mom friends, too. I knew this semester would be fun for both me and M! And the extra one-on-one time with Rosie is a nice perk, too. She and I shared snacks and drinks each week.

We discovered quickly that M would need the bows on her shoes double-knotted. Apparently she spent some time untying them in class:

She told us she had a great time! We were so glad. We loaded up our sweet girls and headed to a special dinner out:

Another nice touch for me! I recall so many times after performances my parents would take me to Braum's or Dairy Queen for ice cream.

Rosie enjoyed herself too and was so proud of M:

She was in rare form!

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The next day, M was still talking about her ballet class. And she wanted to wear her shoes in the house to keep her feet "warm and cozy". I let her.

And so goes the story of M's first ballet class. Hence "volume I" in my title. Fast forward to this week--she completed her class and has her very first recital under her belt--er, tutu waistband! Another very emotional occasion for me, and it deserves its own post. Volume II to come!

Yes, I'm quirky, but I know a good cake when I eat one...

I think I've probably mentioned before that I love routines, cycles and predictability. That's one of the reasons that I love weekends so much! They come along once a week, and my weekend routines give me a special measure of comfort.

I like to plan special menus for our weekend breakfasts and dinners. If J's home, that affords me a little more time on my own to cook something new that I've been wanting to try. I love new recipes! Although to be honest, a lot of the time we end up eating out most of the weekend, so those plans go out the window. But it's fun to dream!

I like to do our weekend grocery shopping on Thursday or Friday before the weekend so we don't have to mess with going to the busy stores. The same goes for Costco. If we have a Costco list, I really try to get it done before the weekend because that store is crazy on Saturday and Sunday!

My goal is to have our laundry done before the weekend. If I can knock out a load or two a day during the week, it's totally feasible!

I always try to have all of our towels and sheets replaced on Fridays. It's fun to treat ourselves to clean linens while we relax and recoup on those two blessed days!

The hardest part, but what feels the best, is getting the whole house cleaned before the weekend, too. What a relief to not have to worry about it on Saturday or Sunday, and what a pleasant atmosphere to enjoy! Between this and the linens, it's like creating our own free B&B. :0) If I don't end up getting the house clean, I at least make it a point to have everything tidy on Thursday so cleaning is easier.

I'm feeling especially warm and fuzzy today, on the threshold of this particular weekend. A cold front's moving in as I type at this very moment, which makes me giddy. We don't have anything on our calendar this weekend. (Well, at least nothing that we're committed to!) And the best part is that J just called, he's on his way home early, and he's NOT going in to his office at all this weekend!

Something else I love to do in preparation for the weekend? Bake. Whether it's a new recipe or an old favorite, there's nothing better than having something freshly baked onhand to munch on all weekend.

And you can bet with this cold weather afoot and my whole little family home for two lovely days, I'll surely be doing that! Yeah, it may be a batch of ready-to-bake Nestle Tollhouse cookies, but so what!

One of our family's favorite breakfast breads is my Aunt Sandra's Cinnamon Breakfast Cake. (Don't let the name fool you...we eat it any time of the day! It's fabulous with coffee or hot chocolate, too.) And it starts with a boxed cake mix! That's my favorite kind of baking!

Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Duncan Hines plain yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. vanilla instant pudding
3/4 c. oil
3/4 c. water
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Directions:

Mix cinnamon & sugar together. Set aside in bowl. Mix cake mix, pudding mix, oil, water, eggs & vanilla in large mixing bowl. Blend with mixer. Mix until thick & smooth.

Pour 1/3 batter into Bundt pan. Sprinkle part of cinnamon sugar over batter. Sprinkle nuts next. Pour another 1/3 of batter & sprinkle on cinnamon/sugar & pecans again. Pour remaining filling. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon & sugar on top. Swirl batter once with a knife. Bake at 350 for 50-60 min.

This is so yummy! I've made this cake for Sunday School and other functions numerous times, and it always gets rave reviews.

I made it a few weeks ago for Sunday School, and in the process I made an amusing personal discovery. I have distinct preferences in my baking ingredients! Who would've thought. It makes me feel so grown-up and experienced, yet just plain "old" at the same time...

For instance, my brown sugar. I realized that I'll forever buy C&H now, and I always used to be an Imperial girl. For some reason, C&H is so much finer and less clumpy! (And for our day-to-day, it melts much quicker in oatmeal.)

And in the cinnamon department, I've recently become a loyal Costco brand buyer.


This is a huge container of cinnamon I bought there, and it was right around $5! You would pay $5 for a fraction of this size at the grocery store.

I bought this specifically to make the breakfast cake the other week, and it was the first time I'd used it. Oh my word...as soon as you peel off the plastic safety wrap on the outside, you'll smell the difference. You don't even have to open it to know! It smells like a cinnamon candy or a quality highly scented cinnamon candle. And the flavor is amazing, too. I've made this cake several times in the past, and this was by far the best one ever. And I attribute it completely to the cinnamon.

So yes, call me a geezer. I love predictability, cleaning the house and baking.

But from our family to yours, here's to a cozy weekend!

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun...

This wet weather's got me down! And all four of us have had some degree of a cold for about a week now, and we seem to just continue to pass it around to one another. Needless to say, there's not been much going on here. Rosie's nose is running pretty green, so I don't want to take her out anywhere. And my allergies and sinuses are off-the-charts irritated, so going outside doesn't sound too fun to me anyway. But my thoughts are finding their way back to the warmer, prettier days of Spring Break last week! So my recap continues...

On our Spring Break Wednesday, J was...you guessed it...busy with his motorcycle. On his ride the day before he'd incurred a little bit of tire damage, so he took it in to get repaired on Wednesday. What was supposed to take an hour ended up taking most of the day, naturally. (You can always count on a dealership to take much longer than they quote you!)



The girls and I headed outside to enjoy the beautiful day. (Lordy, please do forgive the current state of my yard. Just keepin' it real here...no photo editing touch-ups! I'm happy to report that I have a brand-new gardening tool to use to pull those unsightly weeds, which I fully intend to do once this lingering cold of mine goes away. I really do love to pull weeds, even though you probably don't believe me! Gardening gadgets make me giddy, too. It's just finding the time and allowing myself the pleasure of doing it.)

M has a newfound hobby...picking "flowers" out of our ill-kept yard! I don't have the heart to tell her they're really weeds. I even let her bring them inside and I put them into little bud vases for her to "decorate" with.

One day my allergies will suffer enough and then I'll put a stop to this new practice. :0) It just reminds me of when I used to bring little bundles of those tiny purple flower-weeds inside for my mother, and she'd let me put them in water too.



Rose started out in her umbrella stroller, which I knew deep down wouldn't last long. I knew she'd want out as soon as she figured out she was getting the short end of the stick being confined in it!

She chose her tiny pink tennis shoes to wear that day, and she spent most of her time "walking" around and around our little stool.

Sometimes she'd crawl around on the driveway, too. I was surprised that it wasn't too uncomfortable on her knees! But she didn't seem to mind. What really bugged me was the Bradford Pear debris all over the driveway that she was collecting on her pants! We had a major mess in our garage entryway when we want back in. Can you say v-a-c-u-u-m?!

Here's Rosie, mocking that umbrella stroller her silly mama tried to make her stay confined in. She's showing it who's boss!

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What I think is really funny about this photo is the sticker on the right handle of the stroller--it says something like: "Warning--never leave child unattended."

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No kidding. Said child will take it over completely!

St. Pat's Mall Rats

On Tuesday of our Spring Break last week, we had another OB check-up in the morning. I'm down to my every-two-week appointment schedule! My, how time has flown. I was glad that we were able to finagle the appointment to fall on J's Spring Break week so he could be there too. Baby Boy's looking great and is on schedule to arrive in early May.

After our appointment, the Dees Girls lost out to J's motorcycle again. He ended up out all day with his mom and stepdad on a ride. But we cooked up some fun of our own and met some dear friends at the nearby mall for a playdate!

I was so captivated watching Rosie enjoy herself among all the kids. (It was crowded!) I realized that day that she hasn't had as much play area exposure as her big sister. I don't know why that is--maybe the increased difficulty in getting two vs. one child out the door, maybe the increased anxiety of keeping track of two vs. one child in a sea of other kids, maybe my heightened germophobia now that I'm responsible for the health of two children?

I fully expected her to come back to where I was stationed to regularly "check in" the way M used to at that age. It was crowded, so I expected her to be a little anxious about the fray. And it's not her usual territory! But she didn't come back to me. She caught my glance every now and then, but that was it! I was so proud of my brave girl among all the older-kid chaos. Perhaps I don't give her enough credit--I think she's more confident and independent than I let myself believe!

She had so much fun, and I had equally as much fun watching her sweet excited expressions and hearing her squeal and giggle with enthusiasm.



She was really amused by trying to climb up the side of this "plate" in front of me, and then letting herself slide down it. She spent a good bit of her time here!

The trio of friends: Rosie, Hud and M. (This photo makes me giggle...it reminds me of the classic evolution "from-ape-to-human" diagram! Which I don't believe in at all, just for the record...)

Nik and I decided to stay at the mall and shop past the play area cleaning time since neither of us had anywhere to be. (She's preg-o with her second and has been sick as a dog for weeks until now, so she's rarin' to get out of the house all she can!) Above, here we are taking a pretzel break. (I crave mall pretzels all the time now.) Our creative children made a new play area of their own. :0) We can always count on Hud to have his car collection with him! I don't let the girls travel with toys really, so they're always excited to be at the mall with him to share his collection. And it's good practice for assimilating to big brother's world!

Hud's "green" for St. Pat's was his green balloon. Check out Rosie ever-so-slyly trying to nab it!

Speaking of nabbing things, my little klepto was successful at securing her big sister's drink, too! I think this is the first time she's held her own "straw" drink. (Not that you care...just documenting for myself!)

So proud of her conquest. (I live for this face!)

This is my absolute favorite shot from that day. Actually, I'm embarrassed at how many photos I took of her drinking from this cup! But I'll spare you the montage and leave it at these.

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I don't know why I love this so. I just think she looks like such a big girl!

I'd not heard from J all day, so I ended up sticking around for dinner with Nik, her husby and our kids too. We ate at Los Cucos, a new-to-me Mexican place. Yum! And kid-friendly. The waitstaff was great with us!

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Obviously, Rosie enjoyed her enchiladas.

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And they serve French fries along with beans and rice on their kids' plates. How cool is that?! For the kids, I mean... (wink!)

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So you might wonder why this post is so Rosie-intensive? It's not that I favor her. It's just that she's the only one of my girls who will pose for my camera these days! When I get the camera out lately, M runs. Or tells me she doesn't want her photo taken. Or she tells me "that's enough for now"...

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Say it ain't so! Though I've never experienced it (yet), I imagine that's right up there with hearing your child tell you "I hate you"! (OK, maybe not that bad...)

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Hopefully this is just a short phase. A day without photographing my girls is like a day without breathing!

Rosie, meet Play-Doh...

On Monday J had an evening meeting at school to attend, and he decided to leave a little early so he could get some work done in his office (Though I suspect he mostly left early to ride his motorcycle "the long way" to school for recreation. I'm no dummy!).

I, in a moment of Spring Break excitement and uncharacteristic caution-to-the-wind "fun mom"-ness, decided to let the girls bust out the Play-Doh.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Play-Doh is not my favorite activity. :0)

It was Rosie's first experience with it, and I know she's a tad young for it, but I decided to let her run with it anyway. It's hard to keep the girls occupied with separate age-appropriate activities. (One of my constant motherhood struggles and sources of stress!) So occasionally I have to force them to stretch and do an activity that's just age-appropriate for one of them.

Turns out it wasn't just Rosie who did some stretching that day. I even--get this--let M MIX the colors!!! I usually can't bring myself to do that because one can never "fix" mixed Play-Doh. But again, I was "Carefree Mom"!

M has a propensity to just stack blobs of different colors and call it a castle. I love that about her!

I also discovered that I love pictures of my girls' hands making things. Here's M's creation:
Rosie wasn't sure what to think about it. She giggled and squealed at it at first, though she wouldn't touch it much. I rolled a piece into a ball and played "ball" with her at the table. She liked that and got such a kick out of it rolling to her.

Here's one of the rare instances she actually touched it:


She's definitely my girl. :0) See how gingerly she's approaching it? The girl doesn't like squishy stuff, just like me! But again with the hands...I love photographing my babies' hands!

Turns out, she was way more interested in the containers.

That's how she spent the rest of our Play-Doh time: stacking cups, playing the "drums" with them, playing with the lids, and occasionally trying to sneak a taste of the stuff. She made the cutest pucker faces! Hopefully we'll keep it that way...I don't want a Play-Doh addict on my hands! I confess...I did eat it when I was a kid. :0)

Oh...hey there!

This photo has no relevance to our Spring Break this week, but since I've not been posting much lately, I figured y'all were due to see a cute photo of one of our babies. :0)

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This was M the evening of the 12th. We were waiting for Daddy to get home, Rosie was already in bed, and M was next in line to go down. I decided to prolong bedtime a little bit to give Daddy a chance to get home and put M down himself as is customary (he had a school board meeting). She's fresh out of the tub, into her snuggly soft princess robe as the routine goes, but for some reason this particular night she decided she needed to wear her snazzy pink cowboy hat and set up a lovely evening picnic for us on the coffee table. (Thanks, Teubners, for this great gift! She loves her picnic set!) Note the menu: toy motorcycles Daddy put in her stocking for Christmas! Interesting...

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We had a ball. She wheeled her doll stroller over next to her and fed her as if the three of us were on a lunch date where she was a mommy, and I was the grandma! It was a fun glimpse into the future.

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Anyway, this is Spring Break week for us, and we're excited to have Daddy home. It's been quiet and pretty uneventful, actually. It seems that everyone here but me has some degree of a cold at this point, though luckily no one's downright "sick"-sick. Just lots of sniffles and a symphony of sneezing. :0) And M and J's voices give their stuffy heads away! So I'm trying to do what I can to keep them from getting worse--making sure everyone's sleep schedule is on track, bleach-cleaning everything in sight, and I'm drinking all the orange juice I can to keep my pregnant self from catching anything. (I'm sniffling and sneezing too, but nothing more. And mostly just in the morning.)

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I'd hoped for more hard-core baby prep this week since it's J's last good chunk of time home before Little Mr. Dees arrives in early May, but we didn't see J as much as I anticipated earlier this week, and now that he's a tad under the weather I'm tucking my long to-do list away for another time. He always ends up getting off the hook where his honey-do list is concerned! HA!

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Just a quick sum-up of what we're up to these days. We hope you're having a great week!

Tea & Treasures

About this time last week, I was totally in my element. If you've got an event that requires sponsoring a table (as in decoratively, not financially!), then you'll see my little name signed up right at the top! Our MOPS chapter's annual "Tea and Treasures" event was last week, and for the second year in a row I decorated my table like this:
Since I don't have a "complete" set (by which I mean 8 place settings) of most of my five sets of dishes, I opted to mix two sets. The first one is our wedding china with our silver:

And the second one is my mother's mother's Depression Glass which my mom gave me sometime in the last couple of years, along with our everyday silver which is my daddy's mother's On*ida stainless:

I think it looks so cute together! The centerpiece is a tea service my daddy bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago, and the fabric underneath it is a tablecloth I fell in love with at M*cy's that I got for a few dollars on clearance.

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I seriously live to decorate and host, so this event is something I always look forward to! It's designed to be an outreach event for our MOPS moms--we're encouraged to invite special women in our lives for a fun, semi-fancy brunch to enjoy. The best part is that we get to hear from three of our member moms who speak about their lives, specifically events or trials they may have experienced where they really saw God at work. It's a great time to bring friends who may have never heard the Gospel message, either; it's presented as part of the program. There's usually not a dry eye in the house (hence the pocket tissue packs on the table!), and everyone leaves changed in their own unique way.

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One of the other reasons it was so fun for me this year is that I had the honor of serving as emcee. If you know me, you know I've never met a microphone or a stage I didn't love! HA!

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I'm usually not one to cry easily, but this year I was moved to the point of the "ugly cry"! Not good when you're the one who has to get up and address the audience multiple times. But good for the humility factor! :0)

Dees Girls' Book Review

An interesting week this has shaped up to be! It was supposed to be busy with playdates, but it seems the girls' pals are dropping like flies to colds, strep, bugs and all that. Our weather all week is forecasted to be cold and rainy, too, which I love, but it brings with it its own host of mothering challenges.

Yesterday I almost made the uncharacteristic decision to blow off naps all day and go to a mall to play (and sneak in some shopping!), but my "mom instincts" put that idea to an abrupt rest...why on earth, when my girls have remained WELL despite all the illnesses swirling around them, would I expose them to an indoor play area??

Oh, and did I mention my man's been working late almost every evening this week due to meetings and such? So yeah, it's been challenging all around!

We're turning to books a lot to keep us entertained. Luckily we've made more trips to our local libraries lately, so we have lots of supplemental reading material onhand. I thought I'd share a few of my personal favorites!

Baby Day, O'Keefe

If you could see my library record, you'd giggle at how many times this one is found in my rotation. It's such a lovely, simple book. The text is only a few words per page, so my youngest stays interested. But my three-year-old loves it too! The illustrations are beautfiul...I've always been a sucker for fuzzy animals! I think what I like best about it is that it captures the simple beauty of the infant care routine. So much monotony, but so much to love in all of the daily things that have to be done over and over again with a little one.

My favorite line? "Baby work is never done. Good thing baby work is fun!" This book is such a nice, calming, reassuring source for me in this phase where I'm doing much of the child-rearing on my own as my husband's career is on the rise.

The Cat's Vacation, Schoch

I'm not at all a fan of cats, in fact I'm crazy-allergic to them, but my oldest loves them. This book is a humorous take on what life might be like for a cat while his family goes on vacation!

On a personal note, I love this book for its color schemes. It's mostly bright, primary colors and mutliple patterns, all of which I love to decorate in.

I love all things hospitality, and the story is fun to read from that standpoint as the cat entertains his animal friends. It's a fun book for me--it lets me daydream about having a bigger home with room to entertain and take care of guests!

Night Ride to Nanna's, Koralek

The prose is soothing and pleasing in this one! Can't really pinpoint why. And it brings back so many memories of roadtrips to my grandparents' house in Michigan. A lot of those trips were made in the night for sure! And the little girl's observations mirrored many of mine when we took those trips. It also allows me to daydream about what a traditional grandparent situation for my girls might have been like. This book just plain makes me happy! :0)

Baby Cakes, Wilson

This book is just plain fun! Easy, simple rhymes. There's no way it won't make you smile!

When we do go to the library, I'm careful to always allow M to pick books that appeal to her. Many of these selections are ones that she chose. I'm so impressed! I make a few selections myself, in fact many times I already have books in mind when we walk in the door. But my childrens' excitement about going to the library and reading really makes me happy!

This week has been fun even though our activities are limited. I'm enjoying curling up with my little girls in our "reading corner" by the patio window and digging in to some of our old and new favorite books.

(And any of these books mentioned above would be welcome additions to our personal collection if any of our family is looking for gift ideas!)

We hope you're finding your own special ways to stay warm, cozy and entertained this week, too!

Wordless Wednesday