March Madness

I've gotten behind on my blogging efforts and so I bring you our family fun for March all stuffed into one big post. Things like to stay busy around here!

The girls celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday at school. 

Thanks to Target for the cute dress!

I got to go to a 70's themed fundraiser with (most of) my kindergarten team!

Nicer weather means we get to spontaneously go to the park after school!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This was all we did right here.

Play dates with friends.

Dragon baseball game!

Helping Mommy make dinner!

Janie and I had a little date night while Daddy took Nora to Sur la Table.

Steel City Pops!

Taking a cooking class together. What fun!

(Not our house)

Had an EF0 tornado come through our neighborhood & near my school, too.

Homes were damaged but I don't believe anyone got seriously injured.

In like a lion!

Poor tree!

Surely there will be more April showers to come! Hoping I can get caught up on here sometime soon but with the end of the year around the corner (yes, it's May actually) it's highly unlikely! Talk to you again soon!

Disney on Ice

I'm pretty sure Disney on Ice comes through Dallas every year, offering different shows, but we have not ever taken the girls to see it. Whether it be the time of day the shows were offered not coordinating with our schedule, Justin's traveling, the price of the experience, or the travel time to get there - for some reason, we just haven't taken the plunge. This year, since the show fell over the week of Spring Break and with the girls' current obsession {like all three & four year old girls, I imagine...} with Disney & princesses, I felt it more appropriate.

The plan was that my sister was going to come along with us, but she had to unexpectedly go out of town. Since my parents were also out of town, Justin was wrangled into coming to experience the wonderful world of Disney with us girls. It would have helped tremendously if either of the girls had taken a nap that afternoon, but as it turned out, neither of them did. Nora doesn't usually nap in the afternoons at home. She could really benefit from a nap, but she doesn't always take one. Janie, on the other hand, is not usually one to skip naps so this was an unexpected and much less desirable turn of events.

Before we went, I researched some tips for taking young kids to see Disney on Ice or other shows of that nature. I found some things to be quite helpful. There were a few things that I had read about but probably didn't carry out as much as I could have. And there was a thing or two that I learned that I had not read about. I'll share with you my version of what to keep in mind when going to Disney on Ice:

Tip #1: Know what show you're walking into & prepare everyone for it.

The show that came around to Dallas was called "Worlds of Enchantment" and it featured Toy Story, The Little Mermaid, Cars and Frozen. It is about two hours long from start to finish. I knew all of that before we went and didn't mind at all. What I didn't know was that two of the storylines were going to be much longer than the other two. Toy Story and Frozen each had about 20 minutes of ice time while the others were much shorter. My girls had never seen Cars or Toy Story. They knew the main characters, probably from other kids' shirts and toys at school, but otherwise... no idea. If I had known, I might have at least watched the Toy Story movie ahead of time. The Cars portion, on the other hand, was so short that it wouldn't have been worth the ticket price for just a Cars fan. Also, this may be obvious to everyone who has seen the shows before but it somehow slipped by me: They tell the story of the movie {to an extent} with talking and movement on the ice. I guess I thought it would be performing to the music, which it also was, but thought that might be helpful to share! Anyways, the point is - to know what you're going to see and prepare your kids {and even yourself} for what the show will be like. This will help you avoid your three year old asking when Anna & Elsa are going to come on while you're sitting through thirty minutes of Toy Story.

Tip #2: Choose your seats carefully and according to foot traffic.

The layout of the show does have a "front" to it. For our stadium {hockey} it was behind one of the goals. You could have seen just fine from the sides, but I chose the front angle since it was available and essentially the same cost. I had thought that buying seats by the aisle would give us the flexibility to get up and down whenever we needed to take someone to the restroom. As it turned out, our kids didn't need to go the whole time we were there. And additionally, because we were right by the aisle, the constant flow of people who walk up and down the aisle were right in your line of vision. It would be some of my biggest advice to NOT buy tickets by the aisle. The hundreds of people who are late in addition to the hundreds of people who are taking their kids back and forth for whatever reason will be in your way the entire time. Seriously, choose the middle of the section for the best view.

Tip #3: Dress for the occasion.

They allow the kids to dress up like characters. Get into the fun! We let the girls each pick a princess dress to wear, but it was far too hot to be dragging them to and from the car in the unbreathable dress up clothes. We brought the outfits with us and put them over their clothes when we got there. Also, it's an ice show. We brought a big blanket to drape over our legs during the show. It wasn't super cold in our arena, but if you were dressing for hot weather outside with shorts and tees it might get chilly on the inside. Bring a light jacket, layer up if it's not too hot, or bring a blanket.

Tip #4: Keep the in-show purchases to a minimum.

Okay, this is our personal preference. If you want to go crazy on the food & concessions, that is totally up to you. It is super easy to spend a fortune once you get into the show on toys, shirts, food, drink, treats, etc. You cannot buy just cotton candy or just a snow cone. Everything that they sell down the aisles comes with some sort of addition {Olaf hat, Olaf cup, etc.} so instead of paying $6 for cotton candy you are paying $12. And $15 for a snow cone. And that will add up quickly if you have multiple kiddos. The people in the row in front of us purchased cotton candy and snow cones for every kiddo that was with them - I think four or five? That's easily $100 - YIKES! Since our show started at 5:00 pm and we would be there over our usual dinner time, we got some protein to eat in the car on the way there so that everyone would be a little less cranky. I brought in a few snack items that we have around the house but I knew that I would purchase a couple things there, too. The cheaper food is at the stadium concession stands as opposed to the themed-character food items. You can get popcorn, drinks, and candy there - not cheap - but for normal stadium prices. There are also lots and lots of souvenirs to purchase. I ended up letting the kids pick out something that was $15 or less. I tried to find something that I could purchase ahead of time to give the girls before we left, but I looked at was going to cost just as much as what was there. By purchasing there, it gave them a sense of control. That being said, I'm not sure they care a whole lot about what I let them pick out. If you can find a $5 Mickey somewhere, it would probably be worth it as there is nothing more frustrating than buying your kid a toy while out somewhere and them not giving it a second glance after that day. And really, I can't say there's ever a time when our kids get to pick out a toy somewhere unless we are at one of these type of things. And it happens pretty much every time!

Tip #5: Try really hard not to stress & enjoy the show.

This was hard for me. The girls both not having a nap that day and then both of them being pretty argumentative all the way there {and it's not a short drive...} had me already a bit stressed by the time we got there. Then, they wouldn't sit still for anything before the show started... ARG. Everyone wants their kids to behave in public and in these situations where there are masses of people, it's very easy to get worked up about what your kids are doing and what other people are thinking. But, the show really is magical. There were beautiful sets and props and music and the girls especially loved seeing the princess portions of the show. Really focus on why you're there and enjoying the magical moment with your kids. And then, learn from your experience for the next go-around.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast was one of my sister and I's favorite movies growing up. When we found out they were doing a remake of the classic Disney film, we could not wait!

I've heard two sides of the argument on these live action films that Disney has been doing over the last 5+ years. Some people think that they shouldn't be touched, especially the ones that were so great to begin with, since they worry the film will be ruined or redone in the wrong way.

I happen to agree with the opposite side of this argument. I love the live action movies. In fact, the more I loved the original, the more I love the live action remake. I personally think that they give more opportunity for people of various ages, but especially older viewers, to enjoy stories that were originally meant for young children. And for people like me who enjoyed the originals as a child, it gives a new perspective and feel to those movies that we loved so long ago.

I must admit that although I adored the live action Cinderella, (I may actually like it more than the original...) I was a bit disappointed in the musical direction it took. It was the first live action that was redone that really had a few staple songs that people correlate to the movie; for example, "Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo" and "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes." Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty didn't quite have that piece to weave into the new versions. The Jungle Book, on the other hand, did have those musical numbers. Maybe someone complained {it wasn't me...}. So when they announced the Beauty and the Beast remake, one of my first thoughts was, "please, oh please let there be music!" I waited to hear the news: knew Emma Watson was playing Belle but had no idea if she could sing, saw Luke Evans {Gaston} have a sing off with Hugh Jackman {also played the part in an Australian showing of the show} and had a huge glimmer of hope! But it wasn't until I saw the clip of the song "Belle" with Emma Watson singing that I knew they'd be doing all the musical numbers. And maybe I was behind the news... but either way I was thrilled since I think the music is crucial to this one.

My mom, sister, and I pre-purchased tickets to see Beauty and the Beast on the day it came to theaters. I worried about taking the girls, as many were, because of the nature of the live action films. I didn't know how they might react to real wolves and a real beast and the actual live action in the fighting scenes. I decided to see it myself and decide to take them {or not} later. Well, something came up for Krista and she couldn't make it. Now I had an extra ticket. After a ton of research online about whether the movie would be appropriate or not for them, I decided to go ahead and try taking at least Nora. I asked the girls if they wanted to see the movie, we discussed how it could be a little scary at parts and also how we knew what would happen at the end; it would all be okay. After talking through it, they still expressed interest in going.

While we were watching the movie, both girls had moments where they were a little scared. They both handled it the way we talked about - covering our eyes or ears and not yelping in the theater. It was scariest at the beginning and then at the end but they were no more scared in this movie than any other movie they have seen. If I'm being honest, Trolls scared them more, for some reason. There's typically a villain in children's movies which tend to scare them no matter how real or dark it is. Both girls also really liked the singing and dancing. They enjoyed the costumes. And since there was so much hype around it I'll go ahead and say... no, they did not pick up on anything even remotely sexual in the movie, which I felt was a non-issue anyways.

Nora's Snapchat-style review of Beauty and the Beast.

Janie's Snapchat-style review of Beauty and the Beast.

I loved it. Like Cinderella, I probably loved it more than the original. My only {tiny} complaint would be that Belle's singing was sweet, but not spectacular. Otherwise, I felt the cast, music, theatrics... were brilliant. I cannot wait to own our own copy and see it again!

I keep hearing that Disney is making more and more of these live action films... and I will look forward to seeing every single one!

Spring Break

It was a lot of work to get here, but spring break has finally come!

We celebrated with a Sonic stop!

All my non-teacher friends might be thinking about how silly it is that a grown person gets to have a spring break. I have heard a few times this year alone people saying, "It would be nice to be a teacher..." referring specifically to the breaks. Yes, the breaks are really nice. But let me tell you... teaching can be really hard sometimes. Teachers do not sign up for the job because they want to have spring break and summer vacation and a whole week off at Thanksgiving. But it is a necessity for teachers to have these breaks because of the stress of the job. Don't get me wrong - it's a lot of fun, too! It's just that we don't have regular jobs where we work with "grown up" people. We work with children... and lots of them. In my case (kindergarten) they cannot tie their shoes. They go to the restroom a lot. They get boo-boos often. They need ice packs and band aids. They cannot solve their own problems when working with other people. They cannot even read, at least at first. We work with them when they don't feel their best. We work with them when they are tired because the storm woke them up in the middle of the night. We work with them when their mommy or daddy is sick and couldn't keep a regular routine at home. We work with the kids who have specialized academic needs or challenging behaviors or dietary restrictions or physical limitations. Sometimes we have all of these things to work around within one small group of children.

We work with them all day and every day and when they need a break, we do too.

So, on top of it just being spring and the typical brother/sister-type relationships that happen in the classroom beginning to peak (we do spend all day, every day together after all), spring break marks the end of a grading period. That means, on top of my regular instructional material to cover, I have to assess all my students in all the content areas (and behavior) for not just this grading period but all the ones prior to this one. In kindergarten, this looks like a lot of one on one interaction between the students and teacher. If you know anything about five year olds and their level of independence, that means it takes me a long time. On top of that, we have Open House the week before spring break. So now I am teaching what I need to teach, pulling students back for assessments, and making sure my classroom is clean and the halls and room are filled with wonderful, happy, colorful student work for parents to come and check out. Oh, and I have to keep up with the normal routine of meetings and conferences and communication with parents and staff. This would probably be the equivalent of doing your normal day's work with e-mails and meetings while having a major presentation to make, while giving annual reviews to all of the members of your team, while trying to keep the entire office cleaned up and that includes the fridge in the break room. And I won't elaborate as to how many teacher friends I have that spent at least some of their spring break doing something for their classrooms either... because like I said earlier - we don't get into teaching for the breaks!

When Kroger sells cute and affordable Adirondack chairs for kids, you grab a couple!

So, let spring break officially begin! I am looking forward so much to not worrying about getting the kids out the door by 7:00 am and being able to run errands and getting things done around the house that I don't have the energy for on a normal weekday. I hope all my friends that have earned their spring break enjoy their time off... you deserve it!

Four and a Half

To celebrate Nora's half birthday, I bring you... six months of captioned pictures to document how she's grown!

Still attached to her baby Jo. In this picture, accessorized!

Grandparents Day from school.

Sweet Nora is beginning to write lots of different words!

She loves to be the teacher's helper!

Just about every day a note or picture comes home in her backpack. 

Most every single one says "Pops" on it somewhere!

Pretty girl with some face paint after a birthday party.

Playing with sweet friends at school

Nora loves her school & friends!

We are looking forward to Auntie K's wedding this fall.

Nora thinks this will be what she wears to the big celebration!

She can DRAW things!!

Making art is one of her favorite past times at home, too!

Spelling up a storm. She has even begun reading a bit!

(Top line: the a I go is to - with the o falling down to the next line)

Nora is our cautious and careful little girl. She likes to know what she's getting into. She is a rule follower like her mama and is very kind to her friends, though she needs to work on it with her sister some days! She loves to learn and go to school and I swear she remembers everything. She really doesn't like to watch movies that she's unsure of what might happen and the only food she has verbalized not liking is pineapple. We love everything about her!