Still trying to catch my blog up with real life. The weekend of May 15th and 16th was a busy one. For Mack, it marked 9 months or so worth of dance classes that she religiously attended. The big finale, the recital! Friday, was dress rehearsal, which was a huge success, and she even flattered me with a few pictures. Saturday was the recital but also Schuyler's last soccer game. This was a hard one for our family. Originally, I thought we could attend both but I had wrote down the act time incorrectly. Mack's performance was in the 2nd act, 3-4pm so she would perform approx at 3:30, which was when Schuyler's game started. I knew Mack would be heart broken if her mommy wasn't waiting for her backstage with flowers at the end of her act so this meant I wouldn't be able to attend and help coach Schuyler's game. Coincidentally, our head coach also had a daughter preforming in the same act so he wouldn't be able to attend either. This upset Schuyler so we decided Mark would leave right after Mack's performance. Problem solved. Unfortunately, when the kids out number the parents, there will be times when someone is going solo. As for the performance, I noticed Mack was a step off and was glancing at her teacher quite a bit, which is completely unlike her. She was spot on in the rehearsal. Well, when we got backstage, the room mother, who is Mark's co-worker, came up and said Mack had cut herself pretty bad just before they were to go on and almost didn't make it on the stage. They had to quickly scrounge up band-aids. Yes, plural. She bled through the first one and used a second one on top. We're still not sure what happened, she never fell and they can only guess that there was something sharp on the banister. The room mom said Mack cried a lot and she was going to tell Daddy how proud she was of her. I'm just so thankful that she made it on stage, she would have been so devastated and I would have been sad for her. It was a little while later when she asked, "Mom, could you hear my crying?" = )
Mack had been wanting her hair cut but we kept it long for the performance. So, Sunday we went and cut 3 inches off. It looks so much better! This would also be when Eli picked up a bottle of nail polish and dropped it on the floor, shattering in pieces in a heap or orange mess. Oops!
The girls had a dentist appt this week. Miss Mack will have to continue to wait for a loose tooth. Every other day, and in some instances every day, she says she has a loose tooth or is asking me to check and see. She is watching her friends loose teeth and so badly wants one of her own. Schuye was early to loose teeth and it looks like Mack will be on the opposite end of the spectrum. The dentist said maybe in a year or when she is 7 = ( She also has the very early beginnings of a cavity, due to how tight her teeth are. Nothing to worry about but we'll need to make sure she flosses. Schuyler has fantastic teeth but there are some concerns about tongue thrust and her tonsils. We worked with her school speech pathologist to correct the speech issues associated with tongue thrust. However, when she swallows, she continues to push her tongue forward instead of towards the roof of the mouth. Over time, this can cause dental problems. I'm not sure if we're going to address the issue now or continue to see how her mouth grows. Her tonsils continue to be enlarged and we were hoping her allergy medicine would have alleviated this. She also suffers from bad breath, which can be due to the tonsils. I've spoke with our pediatrician and were going to monitor this over the next few weeks. Sheesh, this raising kids thing is hard down to the very details.
Okay, I know I was going to elaborate on the Appletini. See, while Mark was golfing, I took the liberty of painting Eli's room. Well, the appletini was too yellow for him so we have spent many a day trying to figure out what the right color of green is. I really think green is one of the toughest colors to pick. There is yellow green, grey green, blue green, earth green, etc... Finding just the right hue has been time consuming to say the least. But, it was time for the nursery to go. No bear border and no more grey walls. I have pics so hopefully you'll see the before, the interim where we tested color after color, and the final. Well, the final isn't final yet b/c it's not done.
The day came. What day you wonder. The day where Schuyler asked her dad if he could just give her a kiss in the car before dropping her off at school. We've talked her out of it and are holding on a little longer = ) We know the days are numbered.
Decorations from the party, see previous post.
This post will be devoted entirely to Schuyler's bday and bday party and it's going to be a lengthy one!
Her birthday fell on Tuesday night, which is Mack's dance night and always a bit hectic. Schuyler wanted a picnic on the back porch so that's what the kiddos did. We had cheese steak philly's, with green beans and some kind of fruit. She was able to quickly open presents before we shuffled Mack off, MP3 player, ruffled buttercream tank top and for the finale, Mark and I signed her up for the Husker Soccer Camp. It's 4 solid days of camp down at the university with the head women's soccer coach, the assistants, and players. She is stoked! It also requires sign-off from the Dr. to attend. Had it not been for this, I would have never realized I missed her 7 year well child check-up! Sheesh. LPS was closed on Friday and by pure luck, I was able to get an appt from a cancellation. Yeah! Schuyler remains at the 90th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight. Had I been more attentive, I would have made her wash up her dirty knees and elbows. Oh well, I was more embarrassed when the resident Dr. asked what she had for breakfast and she said nothing. Seriously. Dad forget to give her something and Grandma must not have known. In Dad's defense, Schuyler is self-sufficient and usually makes her breakfast, cereal or oatmeal, as well as her siblings.
That afternoon we were able to finish cleaning and make decorations. Here theme was Rock Star and guess what we found... a karaoke machine!! More on that in a minute. For decorations we did pink and gold balloons. We made a glitter disco ball, which was hung in the middle of the stage, once our living room, 3 tissue balls, 2 pink and 1 silver. For thank you's we compiled some of Schuye's favorite songs onto CDs as well as some rock star sunglasses. Food consisted of Pizza Hut pizza and cheese sticks and some fruit kabobs we made along with lemonade to drink. Let's not forget the cake... a microphone. I used Martha Stewart's yellow cake recipe and my usual frosting. It was not my best piece of art but the kids loved it and I would highly recommend the recipe!!
The party itself went well. It took the kids time to warm up the karoake machine and some never did but that was okay b/c we also had soccer going in the backyard = ) The karoake machine had 2 microphones, hooked up to the TV so you could see the words nice and big and 2 speakers. The most popular songs were Girls Just Want to Have Fun and All Star (from Shrek). We also had colored hair spray going on... yellow, orange, black, silver and glitter. This year, Schuyler asked that in lieu of gifts her friends consider a donation to the new penguin exhibit at the Lincoln Zoo =)
All the family was able to attend her soccer game on Saturday and it was like having her own cheering section. Afterwards we grilled at our house and had ice cream cake.
I interviewed her the other night. I do this periodically and record it and then compare to previous years. It's fun.
Favorite Color: Yellow. I also like red, blue and white. (Her favorite color has never changed since her first interview at 2 1/2!!)
Favorite Food: pizza. (It used to be strawberries)
Favorite Sport: Soccer (that one is a no-brainer)
Favorite Book: Mia Hamm. (then I asked her series) Magic Treehouse series
Favorite Song: Boom Boom Pow (the Black Eyed Peas)
Favorite Team: Nebraska and Kansas (where did Kansas come from?)
Favorite Movie: Kick like a girl (don't ask)
Favorite Animal: Dog (used to be penguin)
What do you want to be when you grow up? - Soccer Coach or Soccer player (used to be teacher)
This next one is new and her response was hilarious
Where do you most want to go for vacation?: South Carolina (South Caroling? I ask) Oh wait, I mean North Carolina (me - what's in N. Carolina?) The Tarheels, where Mia Hamm lives. (me - oh honey, she just went to college there, I don't think she lives there any more) Well, I want to go where ever she lives now so I can meet her.
Schuyler, we are so proud to be your parents and we're in total shock that your 8! You're the first born, our leader, smart, sensitive, kind hearted, loving, giving, caring, talented and absolutely precious. You are, and will always be our little miss sunshine.
Just one more thing. Mrs Gourdie came over to me as I was waiting for the bell to ring to announce the end of your school day. She said, "I want you to know something that your daughter did. Today, during P.E. she helped the girls, showed them how to do things and was patient in teaching them. It meant everything to those girls. She could have been doing a number of other things or hanging out with her friends. I'm so proud of her and I told her that. I just wanted to pass it on to you". See, Mrs. Gourdie works with 2 girls in Schuyler's class who have Downs Syndrome, referred to as the girls above. I can't tell you how much this warms my heart.
Next week, who likes Appletini? I do, but it might not be in the way one would guess = )
Enjoying her new MP3 player.
I have come to realize that my kids can be extremely thoughtful when they want to be and I need to recount a few things from Mother's Day before I forget!
My girls created a Mother's Day song and even choreographed a dance to it! They sent me on a scavenger hunt in the basement to find the many cards they had created. There were handprints, cute little sayings and one where they each created lists of the things they were thankful for. They do see the little things I do, like make lunches for them every night before I go to bed and do the laundry, etc...
Schuyler went to the extra trouble of having members of her soccer team sign a poster for me at school. I wondered what she and her little friend were doing after school when I picked her up on Friday. They were huddled around a paper and I even asked if it was a Mother's Day present and they both quickly answered, one with a yes the other with a no. I knew they were up to something but wasn't going to press the issue!
And my husband, we'll, he's pretty thoughtful, too! I told him NOT to buy anything as my running shoes were a gift to myself. So, in my card I found coupons. Or, some might call them gift cards...
Husband makes the kids lunches (good for up to 5 punches)
Husband knocks off one of the honey do's.
Husband watches kids so mother get girls night out.
Husband cleans whole house.
You get the idea. Pretty awesome.
I still need to recount the bday and post pics. Honestly, I don't have a lot of pics. See, with 9 kids plus our 3 and only 2 adults, we had our hands full. I'm also learning a few things about myself. As much as I want to capture and record memories I would rather have my daughter remember me as participating in the activities and not constantly lurking with the camera. So, when I was summoned to play soccer in the backyard or come sing a little karaoke, that's what I did.
Speaking of soccer, Schuyler survived her back to back, double header this week. She's on a scoring streak. She scored the teams only goals this weekend (4 in total). Last week the score was 8 to something and she had 6 of the goals! Mack was a bit out of it at last weeks game but had a good showing this week and scored a goal herself.
Back to my to-do list!
