Cribbage

James is really, really good at math. He understands how math works (like when he came home from first grade in October and explained multiplication very clearly and when I complimented his teacher, she was confused since she hadn't ever even mentioned multiplication--he had just figured it out on his own.) So a few weeks ago, when he asked what the cribbage board was, I showed him how to play. As I would expect with him, he immediately picked up the game and was able to teach someone else how to play after playing it only once.

Lots of kids are good at cribbage, but James has, as usual, amazed me. He can pick out the combinations of 15 (even the really complicated ones), add the cards in his head and very successfully plan what to put in the "crib." He is getting really good at counting up his own score (15-2, 15-4, a run of three is 7, and a pair is 9.) If you've never played cribbage, you have no idea what any of that means, but trust me when I say that it's impressive! I am going to teach how to play chess next, but I'll have to find someone else to play him since I am a terrible at chess!

James's Birthday Party

I really thought this post had published, but it has just been sitting in my drafts. Grrrrrr.

For his birthday party this year, James had a very definite plan in mind. He knew just who he wanted to invite, just what he wanted to do, just what he wanted to eat. And I was happy to oblige. We went to one of those family fun centers, where, for the bargain price of 9 dollars per kid, we had pizza, pop, decorations, a party host who served and wrote down gifts for me, unlimited use of the indoor play structure, unlimited rides on the "Froghopper," and tokens for arcade games. It was great. I literally did nothing except show up. Well, I did have to ride in the van with four almost second graders singing camp songs, but since they are my favorite almost second graders in the world, it was a small price to pay. James was thrilled with his party and his guests and his gifts. He had a big smile on his face all night (all the better to spy that cute gap where front teeth should be) and all the guests were super sweet to each other and well behaved.

Two moms of party guests (thanks CB and Aimee) and my parents were there to help us herd the kids (and figure out where they all were!) so it was a very enjoyable evening. James is very reserved, and usually, it can be tough to tell if he is enjoying himself. That was definitely NOT the case here. It was a great, easy seventh birthday celebration!

This was all set up and ready for us. Couldn't be easier!

Everybody got a bracelet to get them in the play structure and on the Froghopper. Isn't he so incredibly cute? I am biased, but still!

James requested birthday cookies because several of the party guests don't like cake, but we had to have candles!

The guests, very specifically chosen by James. Garrett, Grayson and Isaac, obviously. Isaac's older brother Zac, so Josh would have a friend. Dallas, his great buddy who lives by my parents, and his sister Brooklyn, whom Abby loves SO MUCH. That way, he told me, everyone would have fun.

Lifelong friends--love these boys! James met these three two weeks after he was born. That playgroup at Sarri's house was one of the first places that I drove after my C-section. It amazes me that they are all toothless, lanky, awesome seven year olds now!

They are so lucky to have such great friends when we go to visit my parents! Dallas and Brooklyn are almost the exact same ages as James and Abby, and they all just love each other!

The girls.

This is a dark picture, but you can make out the rope pulley thing that the boys spent nearly all their time on!

All the boys on the Frog Hopper, getting ready to go.

Lift off! They LOVED this ride so much. A few guests (ahem, Isaac) went on it 8 or 9 times!

James's favorite game. It's that rip-off carnival game where if you can drop the quarter just right, you make some quarters fall off the edge. In this case, you get tickets for each quarter that falls, and James is addicted.

Medford

We took our annual trip to "Southern Oregon" last week. As weird as it may seem to other people, it is one of our favorite times of the year! People always ask what we do when we are there, and the truth is that we do what other people do when they go on vacation: we shop, we swim, we see movies, we hang out with our family, some people play golf or fish or hike, some people (me) sleep in every day. We just do it all in a pretty weird location!

When I was little, when we were still going another few hours past Medford to Redding (also known as "Shasta Lake" to outsiders even though we never went to the lake), it was THE BEST time of the year. My sister and cousins and I would spend every waking minute together, spending our hard earned money, swimming, and hanging out. So, this year, I was thrilled to see the new generation of cousins keep up the tradition. They just enjoyed each other so much and were so nice to each other; it was just like being transported back in time to my own childhood.

My week was wonderful too. I read four books.* I saw 8 movies.** I shopped. I had Starbucks. Sometimes twice a day (you can't let those treat receipts go unused!) I sat up and talked to my sister and cousins every night. My aunt made the kids a snack every night, someone watched them any time I wanted to do anything, and all 20+ of us had dinner together every night.

*In case you care, I read April and Oliver (mediocre), Best Friends (only OK), The Next Thing on My List (loved it!), and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (very good ending to Millennium Trilogy.)

**I'm confident you don't care about this either, but I saw Knight and Day (very cute, very fun, very predictable), Salt (not at all predictable, very exciting), Despicable Me (loved, loved, loved this one), Toy Story 3 (I liked it but strongly disagree that it is better than the others), Karate Kid (cute but too many subtitles for James to really enjoy!), Inception (CRAZY, but I liked it), Ramona and Beezus (very slow, but it was a cute movie), and Grown-Ups (bleh, a few funny lines, but overall a waste of admission.)


One night we took all the kids to one of those arcade/go-kart/bumper boat/ mini golf/ indoor play structure places and let them get the all day/do whatever you want pass. They had a great time, and we had a great time watching them! They've never done something like that before, and watching how excited they were made it worth the (slightly ridiculous) price.

I know that most people think that our Medford trip is odd. And it is. A whole family caravaning together to stay at a cheap hotel in a random, regular city is.....unusual. But, honestly, some of my happiest family memories revolve around this tradition. That my grandparents have been able to take this yearly trip with their own kids, then their grandkids, and now their great-grandkids is pretty special. And that my kids get to have the fun of this trip just like I did is amazing. I can't wait for next year!

I only took pictures one day before the camera battery died and I was far too busy doing nothing to remember to recharge it. My mom took some too, so I may post those later.

Some pictures......

My sister and I took just the littlest two cousins to a place called The Farm. Which was, not surprisingly, a farm. The animals were VERY tame. The deer and goats ran up to us and tried to eat our clothes and nuzzle us. Abby wasn't a fan. But this stand-offish donkey? Loved it. My camera died right after I took this picture, which is too bad because it was really fun. Henry tried to pick up goats, they petted pigs and ducks and goats and sheep and a big llama, and they took a pony ride. It was a pretty great way to spend six dollars!

I love Animoto so much. If I could marry it, I totally would.

Pets

Warning: If parentheses bug you, please read no further. (Suddenly, I can't remember how to spell that word. Weird.)

When Mocha left our house (no, I still don't want to talk about it,) I was so sad for the kids that I would have done almost anything to make them feel better. It is all better now, and although we miss her, and my guilt over the whole thing is huge, we all know that it was for the best.

Still, though, that enormous guilt is there. First, I let our stupid pees-on-things-for-no-reason-cat start coming in the house again for short periods of time. (So far, no pee and a gleeful Abby.) Then, my "do anything to make them feel better" attitude kicked into overdrive. When James asked to get a different, calmer dog, I was tempted. (Don't worry. That is so NOT going to happen.) When Abby asked to have the aforementioned cat sleep with her, I almost caved. (Also NOT going to happen.) But my willpower in the area of pets was officially broken this last weekend.

We are the proud owners of two frogs-in-a-box (perhaps the best pets ever invented since you don't have to do anything with them at all) named Toby and Mocha (ooomph--knife to my heart, James.) We also got....wait for it....a baby guinea pig. A female named Frankie. Because I actually have lost my mind.

I now have three very happy children at my house. When pet day at school comes around, we'll have a pet to share. (Plus a couple of spares if any of their friends need one.) Abby spends hours dragging the very patient cat around the house, talking to her like she can talk back. James made a cardboard frog condo, which he had John help him decorate. There is a rug, a table, a lamp, wall artwork, and a TV (with a show on the screen, of course) all drawn into the inside of the box. He carries the box-o-frogs around the house and insists that they have a favorite TV show. (Wipeout, if you're wondering.) And Josh is in love. His pet may need gender reassignment surgery because we all insist that she is a he, but she is a sweet little thing. For a rodent. She purrs and sits on his shoulder for hours, licking his neck. Which, although gross in my opinion, makes Josh really happy.

It's like a pet store in here, people.

Happy 4th of July....11 days late.

We went to stay with the very fun Aunt Lori and Uncle Nevin again for the fourth again this year. And just like every visit to their house, we had a great time. There was a lot of hot tubbing, staying up very late and sleeping in even later, eating of huge breakfasts, pizza partying, arcade visiting, baseball game enjoying, fireworks viewing, Wii tournamenting, and being told "yes" to their every request. (And for the grown-ups, there was a lot of cosmo glass refilling!) This fourth of July tradition is one that I think we'll keep around!

Hey look! It's a nerdy fourth of July sibling picture! With props!

Camp Tilikum

I've written a million times about our "village" of friends. One of the things the village likes to do is to do things in herds. Swimming lessons? Even better with fifteen of your closest friends! Disneyland? Why not go with 30 people your kids have known since birth? Art class? Let's fill the class! Dance classes? We'll fill up five rows in the auditorium at the recital. So, it's only natural that my kids' first experience with summer camp would be with, you guessed it, a bunch of kids they've grown up with. James has one of his best buddies in his group, Josh has four girls he has known for years in his group and there are another four kids from our village there.

Heading into camp on the first day was so fun! It is really pretty up there, and the kids were nervous and excited and enjoying each other. We had to walk a little ways to get to the check-in, and since we all caravaned up there together (of course), we walked in together. Our crew of kids were just as comfortable as could be together, and they were all thrilled to be in groups together.

This camp is run by a local Christian university, and it is just a day camp for one week. The perfect summer camp introduction. I was a little nervous about sending my kids to a church camp because I had a not-so-great experience with one. (Maybe someday I'll blog about it because now that twenty-some years have passed by, it is kind of funny.) Plus, we are so Unitarian-ish in our religious views that I was worried that my kids would feel uncomfortable. I didn't need to worry. Josh liked the "trail talk" time and loved writing in his journal about the spiritual lesson of the day. And James came home the second day proudly declaring "I read from the Bible today!" Neither felt uncomfortable in the slightest, and they were welcomed just as they are. Plus, they loved the other six hours of the day where they went rafting, canoeing, swimming the lake, hiking, swinging on the big swing, doing archery, and exploring; they did arts and crafts and had face painting; and they, of course, LOVED their counselors (who, as usual, had ridiculous names--Snort and Footie) more than life itself! There were skits and silly songs and pretending and slimy animals and mud, mud, mud. They came home tired and dirty and pretty pleased with themselves.

I was in charge of pick-up at the end of the day for my boys and the Denney girls. I quickly discovered that I needed to turn down the radio and just let talk, talk, talk. I heard more words from my boys in one twenty minute trip home than I normally hear from them in a week and with all six of them (Abby had to tell everyone about swimming lessons, obviously) talking, it sounded like a middle school cafeteria in my car!

The boys already have plans to go to camp next year, and my homebody Josh even uttered something about trying an overnight camp. I'm glad they had such a fun introduction to a classic summer tradition.

Excited for their first day!

The herd is off! (Full credit to Sarri, who took this picture and is probably not that thrilled that I am posting them before her. Sorry, Sarri!)

I love this picture! (Sarri took this one too, and as always, I am impressed at her photography skill. She says this was an accident. My pictures never "accidently" look like this!)

You guessed it, Sarri again. We were almost to the drop off point in this picture.

I took this one! Your clue is that it's blurry and badly lit. But you can see the remnants of the days face painting. A couple of days later, he came home with charcoal all over his face--apparently, the counselors charcoal their faces, commando-style, and then run screaming through the older kids bunk houses. It may have been James's favorite moment of camp!

Milestones

James hit two more big kid milestones yesterday!



First of all, he learned to for-real-not-just-dog-paddling-for-his-life swim. He has taken several sets of lessons and was just so close, but every time I tried to finish the job, he would panic and just sink like a stone. We were both frustrated, so I decided to try lessons one more time. We leave for Southern Oregon next week, and he'll be in the pool all week, so this week seemed perfect. He was very skeptical that he would ever learn to swim, but within ten minutes of the first lesson of the week, he started swimming! It was so cute because he spend the whole 30 minutes checking to see if I was watching, with a big proud smile on his face.

And second, one of my favorite milestones OF ALL TIME:

No front teeth! One tooth has already broken through, so I won't get to enjoy this look (and the sweet lisp that comes with it) for long. Soon we'll move onto one of my least favorite looks....the "gigantic adult front tooth in the little tiny mouth" look.

Eagle Crest (from June 20)

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to take a road trip. I planned and planned, and then re-planned and re-planned. I used one of those road trip planner programs and endlessly discussed the merits of Yellowstone or Glacier National Park or maybe a city--San Francisco? Seattle?

But every time we got in the car a little hint of doubt would creep into my mind. It happened any time we drove more than twenty minutes....Abby would start to ask questions. "How many minutes?" "What town is this? Still?" "Now what town is this? But you said that town last time!" And then the boys would start making fake punching noises. And then they'd actually punch each other. "Jooooooossssshhhhh!!!" "Ahhhhhh! Jaaaaaammmmeeesssss." And I would start to think that a road trip didn't sound so great. But still I asked John to take the time off and I forged ahead with my plans. I looked closer to home. Is there anywhere we can take a road trip and not have to be in the car for more than twenty minutes? No? Huh.

In May, I heard that my second cousins had purchased a house at Eagle Crest and were planning to rent it for a VERY reasonable price. I decided that this was the closest to a road trip I was going to get. We did have to be on a road to get there, so.....it was a road trip. Kind of. (I have fulfilled this resolution about as well as all the others, apparently.)

We had the best time. The house was gorgeous, there were multiple pools--both big pools and kiddie pools--and hot tubs and bike trails and hiking trails and sports centers (all of which we visited many, many times), there was a coffee shop and a pool within walking distance, and we went through bottle of sunscreen and still came home with a little color. At first, I kind of made fun of the little resort activities, but then I saw Family Bingo on the schedule. Jackpot! We won candy and ice cream and soda, and the kids thought it was about the best thing ever. We even made tie dye t-shirts. I had the classic Dirty Dancing line in my head the whole time: "Hmmm. Quite the little joiner, aren't we?" We ate breakfast in every morning, enjoying our view of the mountains from the dining room window. There was this little poolside cafe where we ate lunch every day, where they made everything from scratch, even the chips. Yum! We only left the resort to eat dinner in the closest town. It was a perfect break from real life, especially since we left less than 48 hours after school ended and 12 hours after the dance recital. We went from rush, rush, rush to wearing our swimsuits most of the day and sleeping in until 9. Heaven!

I didn't take too many pictures because it is really hard to take many pictures in the pool or playing tennis or riding my bike, but here are a few.......

Riding to the pool. What I should have taken a picture of was John--he a backpack with towels, suits, sunscreen, drinks, etc AND two kickboards and a lifejacket strapped on his back as he rode.

Decisions, decisions. Into the pool or over to the spray park or to the hot tub?

Enjoying the kiddie pool--he and Abby enjoyed the 1 foot depth more than the big pool.

Josh in one of the huge hot tubs. It was my favorite thing, and the kids liked going down in the cool evenings to enjoy it.

At the spray park.......Abby thought this was HYSTERICAL!

Breakfast. We had chocolate chip pancakes and a huge plate of fruit every single day.

We hiked up to the top of a bluff near our house. This was the view from the top.

On the way down, we discovered that we had a pretty good view of the rec center and pool.

Snow cones from the coffee stand (now, that's my kind of coffee stand!). We swam and then sat in the shade to enjoy the view of the creek and eat our treats.

The view from the snow cones spot.

We may make this trip an annual event. And since the kids complained mightily about even driving ten miles to eat dinner, I am soooooo glad that we didn't go with the originally planned road trip!

A Post with No Pictures

I am notoriously bad at taking pictures. The pictures I take are usually OK, but I rarely actually take the pictures. In fact, a good portion of the pictures on this blog come from my mom. If I had my camera at the ready this weekend, here are some things that I would NOT have taken a picture of:

• The scene at our house when Mocha left for her new home. (This is the last time I will be mentioning this event. Mostly because it makes me cry--the ugly cry as my friend Sarri calls it. I feel equal parts relief that she will have the home she deserves, embarrassment about my epic fail as a dog owner, and extreme guilt that the big people in this house caused heartache for the little people. This was a case of "if you love something, let it go," but she will not be coming back to us. The end.)
• The front of Abby's white T-shirt when she turned to our remaining pet, the BLACK SHEDDING cat.
• My house right now, which despite me having all the time in the world, is a mess.
• Abby's first sunburn, which she got because I sunscreened her in her clothes, forgetting that she was wearing a swimsuit underneath and that she would shed her clothes the minute we hit the beach. (See also: pictures I would have taken.) I am so mad at myself--they NEVER go out without sunscreen and then I let her be on the beach for nearly 3 hours with her little shoulders and upper legs bare. Grrr.

But I would have taken pictures of these things, and they would have been AMAZING pictures:

• The little smile on James's face when I told him he was having a birthday re-do. (The dog left on his birthday--the new perfect home is a long way away, and the new perfect owners could only pick her up that day. But still. STILL. Oh my god, the therapy bills this will probably bring with it.) Anyway, Saturday morning, I told him, Groundhog Day-style, that it was July 9 again. He has a great sense of humor, and was amused by this. And after snowcones and sprinklers under the trampoline and a pinata and an unlimited supply of candy, he declared the new July 9th to be a great success. Except he said with way less enthusiasm than that. It is James, after all.
• I wouldn't have posted it, but I would have needed a picture of my gleeful, underwear clad children on the wet trampoline. This is the new favorite past time at our house, and it is really funny to see.
• The perfect weather at Pacific City when we made a soul soothing trip to the beach on a whim this afternoon. It was gorgeous and sunny and the water was sparkly "like diamonds" according to Abby.
• Abby's face when she made it to the top of the sand dune in Pacific City for the first time. (Locals will know what an accomplishment this is for a five year old. For an out of shape 35 year old for that matter.)
• James and Abby sitting in their natural "kiddie pool" on the beach. We somehow sat right next to one of those weird spots that fill up with water that doesn't sink into the sand even though the tide is way out. The water was relatively warm, and they spent nearly two solid hours playing in it.
• Josh's face when he totally biffed it on his second run down the dune. He had sand in his mouth, his ears, his eyebrows, everywhere. It was hilarious!
• My lemonade smoothie, which may have been the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. I might drive to Pacific City just to get one again soon.
• James's face as he carefully kept the secret of who won the World Cup from his brother who had DVRed the game. He was just bursting, but he managed to keep it in!
• Josh, ripping off his from-Spain Spain soccer jersey and twirling it around his head when Spain made their all important winning goal.

Maybe next time, there will be pictures, but don't count on it.

Seven

Seven years ago today, our life changed. When James made his (terrifying) entrance into the world, he brought hope and happiness to our slightly beaten down family. He was a delightful baby. He slept and ate like a champ, and he started genuinely smiling weeks before he should have. Everyone commented that he was such a happy baby. He didn't make our life more difficult, he made it infinitely better.

Today, at seven, he is just.....James. He is one of my favorite people in the world. Sometimes, a seven year old hasn't really developed a strong personality yet. James is not one of those seven year olds. He can be stubborn and difficult to please, and he frankly isn't very interested in what other people think of him. And somehow that makes him so unbelievably endearing that everyone who meets him likes him. He is a beautiful child, even through the awkwardness that is the age of seven. Even with his loose, snaggle tooth of a front tooth, even with his chronically messy hair, even with his often dirty face and body, he is beautiful. He, like all seven year olds, can be unbearably goofy, amused by bodily functions and telling jokes that don't even make sense. And yet, there is a seriousness to James that is beyond his years. His has a strong sense of justice, and though he rarely gets his feelings hurt, when he does, it will just break your heart. He works so hard at school, works hard at everything he does actually. He is usually quiet and likes to be alone, but he adores his friends and his brother and sister are his whole world.

He loved first grade, but he'd never tell you that. Whenever you ask him about something, he will give a non-committal "Fine" or "It was OK." And yet, when he went to pick out a card for his first grade teacher, he chose the one that said "I love you from the bottom of my heart." And he really, really meant it.

I love him so much that it makes me cry to even try to put it into words. I am so proud of him that it makes my heart just about burst. I think that I can see just what he will be like in another seven years, but he will probably surprise me. He often does.

I love you, James!

I love everything about this picture. Those eyes. The drool, the awesome union thermal union suit. I have no idea when it was taken....I am guessing about five months since he was army crawling at that time?

Growing up.

Portrait of a Summer Night

Summer has arrived. With a vengeance. After a spring and early summer of cool, rainy weather, yesterday we hit 94 degrees. I prefer around 80, but I was not about to complain! But when the kids asked to go down to the fields (the preferred name for the greenspace paths a block from our house) after dinner, I kept stalling and distracting. Hey! How about the sprinkler under the trampoline? Popsicles? Don't you want to watch a movie?? TV? Video games? No? Really?


They were not about to be deterred. I finally gave them a time of 7:30 (at which time I am surprised that Josh's eyes didn't roll right out of his head in his perpetual pre-teen annoyance.) And when 7:30 rolled around, I was bound by childhood law to go. It was still warm (hot, actually) but sitting in the shade watching them play was nice. Really, really nice.


Abby brought her bike. In her eternal quest for independence, she spent the nearly the entire time gleefully riding just out of my line of sight. Polka dots about to fly right off her skirt, she rode with complete abandon. The pink tennis shoes, the red helmet, the sparkly girly bike all went speeding by me over and over again, and I could hear the skidding of the tires each time she stopped. I can just hardly stand how adorable she is. See?

The boys brought soccer balls and a pop up goal. Of course. They took turns playing goalie and knocked the goal down over and over and over. They cheerfully set it back up each and every time. All we could hear was laughter and shouts and the umph of active boys hitting the ground.

After a while, Abby fell off her bike and the bike riding came to an abrupt halt.

Sad girl.

Feeling better.

She convinced me to do a photo shoot. She chose her poses and everything. She really is a funny girl. Here is my favorite:

The boys wanted nothing to with the photo shoot, but I did convince them to sit still long enough to get a shot of each one:

Look at that red face! And the nearly falling out front tooth. And the sparkly eyes. So sweet.

Everything about this picture screams fifth grade boy.

We walked home after nearly an hour and went to get ice cream. It was a warm, beautiful memory-making night. Thank goodness I didn't say no.

Dancing Girl

This is embarrassing to admit, but during a fitness kick a while back, I bought a "Dancing with the Stars Cardio Workout DVD." Even more embarrassing, I discovered that it made my calves too sore. So, I abandoned it, to be lost forever in the depths of the DVD graveyard (also known as the mostly broken drawer of our entertainment center.) (Also, it is apparently 1990 since our decidedly NOT flat screen TV is housed in an old-school entertainment center.)

Anyway, Abby discovered the DVD couple of months ago.

Abby: Mommy! What's this? It's not scratched! (Children who fish in the depths of the DVD graveyard are well schooled in figuring out just how scratched a DVD can be and still play.)

Me: Oh, it's just an exercise DVD.

Abby: But it has those dancers on the front! (I have no idea how she knows the dancers from that show. Not because I would never let my four year old watch reality TV--I totally would-- but because I don't even like Dancing with the Stars.)

Me: It's a dance exercise DVD. You wouldn't like it.

Telling a highly opinionated four-going-on-fourteen-year-old that she won't like something is a sure way to make sure that she DOES TOO LIKE IT.

Abby: Yes, I would too like it. Can I watch it?

Me: I guess, but it isn't a show.....



Fast forward to a few months later. She has seen the DVD over and over and over and loves to dance along.



She asked to watch it the other day. Abby has this style of talking that you will be familiar with if you have ever spent time around a teenage girl. It is sort of bossy but also kind of endearing at the same time--kind of "too cool for the world."So imagine that here....

Abby: OK, Mommy. Here's the plan. I want the Cha-Cha first. Then the Samba.
Me: Ummmmm. OK.
Abby: It has to be Cha-cha first.
Me: OK.
Abby: Then Samba next.
Me: Yes, you've made that perfectly clear. Relax.
Abby: Well, I like the Quick step too, but today I want the cha-cha and the samba ONLY. The Cha-Cha is my favorite because I can move my hips. (Um, what?)

So, I put on the cha-cha and the samba ONLY and watched as my daughter who only sort of followed simple chereography at her recital replicated a pretty darn good cha-cha and samba. She cracks me up.

I might die. Really.

So, James had tutoring today, and I had the brilliant plan that we'd go to the grocery store while he was there. This was met with complaining of epic proportions from Josh and the "delight" of a bratty little sister trying to make her brother look bad. (If you have had or been a little sister, you know how this goes: "Oh, I love the grocery store, Momma!" "I wish we could go to the grocery store every day!") James in the meantime was so busy gloating that he got to go to Nana Pam's house instead of grocery shopping that he forgot to do what I had asked and freakin' get dressed already.

After finally snapping at all three of them to "GET ON SOME CLOTHES AND SHOES! I DON'T CARE WHICH ONES! I'LL BE IN THE CAR WAITING!" we were our way. James took me at my word and put on the following embarrassing outfit: a hand me down gold and red Michael Jordan tank top-jersey thing from at least 10 years ago, light blue dressy shorts, black socks and his gross camp shoes. I was embarrassed, but I figured that Nana Pam would get a kick out of it. She did. She asked him if it was a new outfit, which made me snicker--yep, we actually purchased that atrocity. Insert sarcasm symbol here. He also ran into her house, opened up a crystal candy dish and started offering candy to his siblings. So. Embarrassing.

We then headed to the grocery store, where Abby asked to ride in the cart and then proceeded to do acrobatics, moving her legs this way and that, lying back, etc. We did get the groceries purchased and went back to get James. While the kids were putting their shoes back on, Pam looked down and got this look of amused horror on her face. (That is a real look--I saw it myself.) I glanced down and saw Abby sitting in her skirt, legs spread open wide. I was just about to think to myself, "Oh, Pam, you are so modest. She is always showing her underwear to world" when she turned a bit more to display.....no underwear at all. I really thought I might die. Pam was laughing, and I was laughing, but all I could think about was the number of people who had gotten a Britney Spears/ Miley Cyrus/ Lindsay Lohan shot of my FOUR YEAR OLD AT THE GROCERY STORE!!

Seeing how embarrassed I already was, Pam said, "Well, I probably shouldn't tell you the other thing I was going to tell you." I told her to go ahead. There is this swing at the boys' camp last week, and you get all harnessed up and take off from a platform in a regular playground swing that literally sails out over a ravine through the trees. James told Pam about it, and she admitted that in the 20+ years she had been to the camp, she had never been on the swing.

James: Well, do you weigh as much as a full-grown elephant?
Pam: What?!?
James: Do you weigh as much as a full-grown elephant?
Pam: Well, slightly less.
James: Well, then you can go on the swing!!

Pam told me that I may have some work to do before he begins dating.

If you never see me again, it's because I died of mortification.

Dance Recital

On June 19th, James and Abby showed their stuff at their dance recital. "Their stuff" was hilarious and adorable and didn't resemble ballet or tap or hip-hop all that much. But it is a really big deal to get up on that stage in front of all those people. We were really proud of them!

The dress rehearsal and pictures were during the day, and I have to be honest: I LOVE being a dance mom. All the rushing and the planning and the packing of costumes and shoes and tights and hair accessories just makes me happy. I only wished that I could join my friends who have older dancers and "had" to be there all day. Sure, I would have complained about being hungry/tired/etc, but I would have done it with secret bit of happiness. I hope that one or both of my dancers will be in it for the long haul and that I have years of dress rehearsals ahead of me!! And I was jealous of the dancers themselves in a BIG way. I really enjoyed dance, and the end-of-the-year recital was the best thing ever. There was this musical theater number, and that particular class has a few (brave!) adults in it. I was pointing out how fun it looked and how there were in fact adults up there when John leaned over and looked me right in the eye and just said, "No." Ha! He could see where I was going with that one. I would love to take some adult dance classes, and I just might, BUT I am pretty sure I'll be really sick next June. Or have a broken ankle. Yep, I can surely see some horrible calamity in the future.

Abby had two dances this year: ballet and tap. It was still pretty much chaos up there, but I was really pleased to see pointed toes and a little bit of technique peeking through in my girl. She knew the dances way better this year and was just beautiful on stage. The costumes really irritated me again this year, but she just couldn't have looked cuter up there, and more importantly, she LOVED being on stage even more than last year. I just might get my years of dress rehearsals out of her.

James decided to take hip-hop this year, much to the surprise of, well, everyone. He enjoyed it and took it really seriously. REALLY SERIOUSLY, people. His face was all intense concentration up on stage, with a furrowed brow and his tongue hanging out. That concentration and drive really paid off in the first half of the dance. The second half was a little rougher. But, he got up there and danced, not at all caring about what anyone thought. That is one of the many reasons that I adore him! I asked him if he wanted to take hip-hop again, and I wasn't at all surprised to hear him say he didn't. I was surprised, however, when he immediately added, "I think I'll take tap next year." Um....OK. Tap it is.

After the recital, which I thoroughly enjoyed watching now that I know someone in every single number, we headed to get ice cream Because that is what you do after a dance recital. And even though we have the GROSSEST Dairy Queen in the world, I was still a little thrilled that they picked it because that is where my dance friends and I always went after my dance recitals. (The circle of life, and all that jazz.) Abby had invited several people to join us, and she was delighted when friends showed up. (And again, I was delighted to carry on the tradition of my dance years!) Even though I did my fair share of complaining about costs (of everything!) and have some studio concerns, it was just so fun to see their year of hard work come to fruition!

Some pictures......

Ballet costume. I don't want to harp on this (actually, I clearly do want to harp on this since I can't seem to just LET IT GO), but that costume was 45 DOLLARS!! Seriously, people. For 45 dollars, I expect a sequin or a tutu or lace or something. She loved it though, and I suppose that is all that matters. And in the spirit of a bridesmaid dress, she can wear it for class next year too. Still. 45 dollars. Gah.

Backstage. So exciting! Look carefully, and you can see the happy dance mom gleam in my eyes. Love it, love it, love it!

These girls just adore each other.

After the recital. There was a last minute costume problem (no costumes ever arrived) so my 55 DOLLARS (I'm done, I promise) went towards this dress from a department store. But again, she can wear this over and over again (she already wore it to the Lion King.) It does make me laugh, though, to look at the difference in length of these dresses. I am guessing Miss Molly will get a litte more wear out of hers!

My pretty little tapper!

James and his good buddy Garrett after the recital. Nana Pam convinced them that there is a manly way to hold flowers and a picture crisis was averted.

I love this picture so much. He is so adorable! I bet your wondering how much that costume/fine quality T-shirt cost, right? You know you are.....25 dollars. Nope, not kidding. Now he has a (pretty funny--it says Hello, I'm Famous) T-shirt to wear.

In January, these two beauties joined Abby in her dance classes, and her life became complete. Aren't they seriously the cutest things you have ever seen? Kaylee, on the right, is 5, and thus the coolest person in the WORLD.

Look at this awesome crew! Grandparents and parents and friends galore! So fun.