Growing WarriorsJust your typical family…

They are back this morning! Must have just been a practice run last night!

Less than a week after Meredith’s watch day in ballet, it was Lydia’s turn. She woke up so nervous about it. She had been excited about it in the weeks leading up to it, but that morning she was scared. But she got up, asked for her favorite piggy-tail hair-do, and took a deep breath, and went to class.

As you can see, she did great!

This evening, we noticed that the twins were out of the nest and walking around on the branches. We went off to help Eric practice for an upcoming softball game and when we returned, the nest, and the tree, were empty.

Our babies flew the coop.

A week or two ago, we found this baby bird in our front yard. He was tiny, could barely move, but was alive. He had fallen from this nest. When Eric got home, he pulled out the ladder, lifted the momma bird’s tail feathers up and unceremoniously slipped the baby bird under her. Since then we have been watching intently to make sure the momma didn’t push the baby out or reject the baby. No baby birds have been found on the ground since then. Just yesterday we saw the momma and two babies looking around. They have gotten so big! We assume one of these babies is the one we rescued, although they in no way resemble the tiny thing we tucked back in that nest. We’ve also seen the dad hanging out.

When Meredith is trying to be sneaky, but you catch her (or even if she gets to the implementation stage), she erupts in this maniacal giggling. So like if she is trying to sneak up on someone behind the couch, but I see her and say, “What are you doing?” She explodes in giggles (a very distinct giggle) and says, “nothing!”

Every single time it happens, it cracks me up. I love it.

Its one of my favorite things about being a mom.

Yes, I know she’s a mess..she had just eaten some oreos – not only that, but her hair is all matted up – it had been in pony tails but she pulled them out, and it is so long that if its not pulled back, it tangles instantly. And look at her finger nails…and she is wearing a ballet suit, with a flouncy skirt over it…she’s a complete and utter mess. But look at her. I took this photo and accidentally zoomed in on her face while I was dinking around with it, and was instantly mesmerized. I just had to crop it there. Just look at her eyes! You could get lost in those!

Do you remember the movie Bridget Jone’s Diary? When they show those home movies of little girl Bridget flouncing around at the birthday party, just being a mess? If Lydia weren’t so shy, she reminds me of that little girl.

As the school-year winds down, so does the ballet school. At the end of each semester, the parents get to go and watch their children in class. Last week I watched Meredith’s dance class. She is really quite the dancer, and very serious about it:

This week we went to see Lydia dance. I haven’t uploaded those pictures yet, but stay tuned!

To those of you who sent Allison money for her birthday, she is using it to pay her little sister to do her chores for her. So far Meredith has “earned” $4 from Allison.

About a month after Meredith’s day with ear piercing and mall shopping, Allison had her day. She opted for an exact replica of Meredith’s day.

Here’s a pictorial depiction of the ear piercing:

Ummm, I’m not so sure about this…..

I THINK I really want my ears pierced…..

Or do I???

I’m in my happy place – bunnies all around, big blue sky, oh look a beach….

happy place happy place happy place happyplacehappyplacehappyplace

MOTHER OF GOD AND ALL THINGS HOLY, WHAT HAVE YOU PEOPLE DONE??????? You WILL pay for this. Someday…..

Oh wait, I’m STUNNING!

And here she is later modeling her new hair do, her new outfit AND her newly mutilated earlobes:

Last night 7 other ladies from my neighborhood bookclub and I went to see the musical Wicked – it was amazing. The whole night was amazing. Dinner first, then the show. I had so much fun.

I wish I could write more….describe how much fun I had. Seriously, the best night I’ve had in a very very long time. I must do this again….and frequently.

Oh, and I got carded when I ordered a beer Although he wound up carding the whole table, but didn’t start until me and the 33 year old I was sitting next to ordered

And I’ve lost some weight, and had to buy new pants to wear to this thing, so in the spirit of bragging of my weight loss (I still have tons to lose though), here’s a picture of me in my new pants: