Great Weekend

Usually after a busy weekend I am ready to get everyone out of the house on Monday and back to school and work but I am sad to see this one go. We had a great traditional meal on Thursday, went sailing on Friday and Saturday (Friday was just David and I and Saturday was the whole family), got tons of household chores done, braved Toys R Us on Black Friday (at 5 pm...not am) ate more than I care to write about and drove to the North Shore for our annual Christmas card shoot. Although that photo opp is usually my least favorite part about Christmas we had fun and maybe even got some usable shots. I've shared a few below but you will have to wait for your card to see the winners!

Here is a medley of random images from the weekend and a few more I hadn't shared yet (including my new kitchen cabinets!)

One good spa day deserves another right? I thought so, so I treated Emily to a real pedicure last week. She got purple toes with a pink butterfly on the big toe with a diamond gem in the middle. Emily is NOT easy to please but I think this may have hit the mark!

Olivia's class has had the awesome opportunity to go to "Starbase Atlantis" this past week. It's a 5 day program offered by NASA that I believe they offer to most of the 5th graders in the area. They learn about principals of flight, conduct all kinds of scientific experiments, work on computer flight simulators and each build their own rocket to launch on graduation day.

I was asked to accompany them last Thursday and all I can say is WOW! What a neat experience. The instructors were full of zest and it was so fun to see them teaching in such a hands-on way. The day I was there we learned about lift, drag, thrust, G-forces, created a mini space module on a CAD imaging system and continued working on the rockets.

The class completed 3 of their 5 days and will finish up in December. I wish all of our schools had the budget to teach every subject this way - learning is so fun when you do it right! Olivia is just loving it and came home each night so excited to tell us everything!

The rest of our week/weekend was filled with the usual shenanigans! Emily was off on Friday due to conferences (straight A pre-schooler might I add. Ahem, this is serious stuff you know) but ended up with such a fever by the end of the day that I took her to the ER on Saturday. Strep and an ear infection. Double bonus! She is already much better but Olivia woke up today complaining of a sore throat. I am figuring I will wake up on Thanksgiving Day with the whole mess!

Happy Thanksgiving from my two turkeys!

Major Meltdown

Normally I post the positive side of things on the blog - who wants to hear about every door slam from Olivia or whine from Emily? Although we have our share of those moments, they are certainly not the parts I care to look back and reflect upon (plus I would be too busy typing to do anything else some days.) This particular meltdown was just too good to pass up, so right in the middle of it I grabbed my camera.

Act 1, Scene 1: Emily went home from school with a friend to play. She was supposed to come home at 3 but the mom called and said they were having too good a time and was keeping her until 5! When she got home the mom informed me they had some lunch and about 3 pieces of candy each and played mostly outside on the playground. Emily went straight out to our playground for a while and came home and grabbed a piece of candy. This was her reaction to me telling her "no more candy."

A day at the SPA!

Today I was treated to a royal makeover Emily style! Here I am at the "Salon" receiving the very finest in Hello Kitty and Princess makeup. You can be sure I smelled like cotton candy and strawberries!

To think I usually pay over $100 for this kind of day - pshaw!

I wonder if there is a waiting list for the finer cosmotology schools in the country? We probably still have time.

Mrs. Lathrop

This is a photo of my old dance teacher who just passed away at the age of 94. A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I was shocked - I had assumed she left us long ago as she was an "old lady" when I was in first grade! Ginny Lathrop was a spunky, beautiful, former Broadway dancer who taught just about every single little girl in my hometown to tap dance for 58 years! I just love this photo of her - she was glam until the end. Rest in peace Mrs. Lathrop and thanks for the memories.

Best laid plans...or not

So on Saturday I had a plan. I needed a plan, it was yet another busy day and the only person who could possibly pull it off was a super human, detail oriented, one-of-a-kind organizer. (Applause here) That would (of course) be me. I present you the plan:

10:15 head to commissary to buy grapes for Emily's after soccer party

10:45 arrive home, change into soccer gear, prepare grapes and cut up pineapple

11:15 leave for game, stopping first at the registration table for next seasons soccer (with both girls applications in hand, in triplicate) which goes from 10 - 12

11:30 arrive at registration, do my thing

11:40 head nearby to soccer field (thus allowing for set-up and warm up time)

12- 1:00 enjoy last game of the fall season (hallelujah)

1 - 1:45 enjoy end of season pot luck

1:50 change in car and head across the street to birthday party at gym which goes from 2- 4

Whew. Can I plan it or what. Imagine my surprise when we pulled into the soccer field at exactly 11:40 to hear my friend yell "are you just getting here?" (Um, yes...why would you ask that) "The game was at 10! We are just all leaving! We wondered what happened to you!"

At least we caught the coaches so they could give her the trophy and take a rushed iPhone shot! Anyone want some grapes and pineapple...I've got lots left over! A crew then rushed in stripping me of my title and handed it promptly to the "miss organization" runner up because clearly I am unable to fulfill my duties. (sniff, sniff, good-bye crown)

Sunday was another new day and we decided last minute to head out on a sail with a twist. Now that Olivia completed her course and got her sailing card (did I mention that last week) she decided to take out her own boat and sail along side us. How cool is that?

That's her way in the background on the left!

She was awesome!

Halloween!!

We officially survived the weekend! Emily's school party was big fun. They decorated pumpkins, cookies, got tattoos, made ghosts, had goblin treats and read Halloween stories. 4 year olds are just cute and sweet (until they are tired and loaded up on sugar then look out!)

Olivia's Fall Festival at school was awesome too. I think there had to be about 2000 people there to eat, play, and hang out as families. Her school did a great job and it was fun to see her running around with her peeps all night!

Saturday night Olivia kind of wondered off with her friends but David and I enjoyed taking Emily around. She was so happy to be dressed like a princess (excuse me...secret musketeer) and had such fun telling everyone that she was a musketeer in disguise. If you'll notice I added some gems in loops at the bottom of her crown so when she pulled it down they went around her eyes like a mask. Big hit! The wonderment in a child's eyes when someone drops free candy in your bag at bedtime and your parents say "let's go get more!" is priceless. A real dream come true or should I say we were living happily ever after....

Oh yeah, we managed to stick in a semi real dinner and a cake before dark - Happy Birthday to our wonderful Daddy and Husband. You provide us many, many good things both material and emotional and we love you very much (for an old guy).