Zoo Day

It has been raining a lot this month, but the temperatures have been more mild than they usually are in May. We decided to try and take a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo as a family on a weekend when the weather cooperated and this weekend was it!

We went first thing in the morning and were able to see most of the zoo before nap time. I know they open an hour early some days in June and I will look forward to going then to try to get even more time in before the girls reach their limit for the morning.

The girls loved seeing the animals and we even became zoo members so that we could come back whenever we wanted! Janie still gets in free until she turns three, which I cannot believe are even words coming out of my mouth...

We only saw "sleepy cats"

They were impossible to get a picture of today...

Elephants... Nora's favorite!

Janie's spirit animal.

"Mommy, why aren't they paying attention to me?" -Nora

...hmmm

The little navigators! They liked looking at the maps while we rode along.

It was a fun day! We're looking forward to using our membership to return soon.

Mom's Retirement

My mom has been teaching my whole life... plus some. She has been in a teaching capacity since she graduated from Illinois State about 35 years ago. Mom is a special education teacher, so she doesn't have the typical classroom of 30 kids each year to instruct, she usually has an impact on a much larger number of kids each year, and follows them throughout the course of their schooling. She also works with high school aged kids, so you factor hormones into it all and I think you could consider the number of kids multiplied by at least two times. But the point of it all is, there are countless kids from the various places she has taught that she has helped over those 35 years.

After all that time in education, mom has decided to take her forever break and begin retirement. Her school held a little retirement party that we were able to take the girls to and celebrate her time as an educator.

Little girls in their dragon dresses! 

We are so proud of all the time and work mom has put into helping kids over the years. The reality is, that just because you retire from education, it doesn't mean you retire from helping kids. Although mom may not have to get up and head into a school every day, she will surely still find opportunities to help people. It's a part of what makes her the great person and mother that she is. We love you, Mom & Mimi, and wish you the best as you begin your newest life adventure!

Happy Birthday Pops

May is busy with end of the year/season activities, but it is also a busy time for holidays in our family! We celebrated my dad's birthday this month with pizza & ice cream... and REAL ice cream, too... not just the usual frozen yogurt!

We weren't brave enough to get Janie a cone...

We are so thankful for you, Pops! We hope you had a great birthday!

First Dance Recital

Nora started dance last summer. She took a mini-session in the summer in a two-year old class. She liked it, so we began dance classes in the fall in the official 3-4 class with both ballet and tap instruction. She was a young three when she began. There may have been a little struggle with drop off at the beginning, but she has looked forward to going each week this whole year.

Our beautiful ballerina baby!

We started to notice little things like her talking about the positions of dance at random times, most often after dance class, and also opening and closing "curtains" when playing. We started looking forward to her first dance recital early this spring when we signed up to participate. I'm sure they had been practicing for a long time their little routines for ballet and tap both. We were anxious to see her perform her dances on the stage with that big curtain!

Nora practicing her positions, and Janie doing all kinds of other crazy things...

Their personality differences are really apparent in this video!

We had rehearsal with full makeup and costume the week before the recital. It was my first experience with putting makeup on a toddler and I think it went... okay. The lipstick was the hardest to apply and also the hardest to stay put. Nora kept smacking her lips and it started to spread, but I think you could only tell when you looked real close up. I ended up getting a foam doughnut bun maker since Nora's hair is so fine. I found the smallest size and ordered it in the lightest color. I think it really helped make her bun look nice! They did professional pictures, which I am still anxious to see, and the girls did their little routines for us as a practice run. I should have done a better job with pictures and video at the dress rehearsal, but I thought I had the recital to get more...

Ready for pictures!

Kind of a blur, but look at the pretty lines!

Happy girl ready to tap...

Again blurry, but it is all I have of her performing. 

Recital day came and we spent the whole morning getting everyone ready. I had a whole schedule planned out for hair, makeup, etc. We had to drop off Nora at 11:30 and my plan was to run out to grab flowers before the recital began. I wasn't sure how Nora was going to handle the recital, but I really wasn't prepared for the level of anxiety that she actually had...

On the way & happy!

Nora has always been nervous in new situations and a little unsure of what will come. I tried to prepare her as well as possible for what was going to happen at the recital without over-worrying her with details. I went in to drop her off and she began to get quite upset about me leaving. The lipstick became the least of my worries as she started crying and rubbing at her face. Long story short, I ended up having to stay back stage for the whole recital instead of sitting with Justin and Janie and watching all the girls dance. I was actually looking forward to seeing the dance recital in it's entirety! But, back stage it was.

We waited for our turn and kept the girls happy & entertained. When it was time to go for our ballet number, the girls got in line, but the closer we got to taking our turn, the more upset Nora got. I was able to escape to try & watch with the other stage moms. Her sweet dance teacher carried her on the stage crying and placed her on the mark. Nora did stand there for a bit, with her little hands in her mouth {what she does when she is nervous or crying} and she just cried until about half way through, when she decided to walk off the stage. It was heartbreaking yet still a little funny at the same time.

Cutie pie ballerinas!

The one and only picture of her on stage! 

It's a blur, but Justin was filming so what do you expect!

{xoxo}

We calmed down & changed clothes to get ready for the tap routine. When it was time to go again, the same thing happened except this time, her teacher couldn't even get her to go on the stage. The funny thing is that after both routines, we came back and Nora's first question was, "When is the next dance?" almost like she was looking forward to it, but then just couldn't handle it when the time actually came. I was really hoping that when the daddy daughter dance happened, she would participate since Justin would be on the stage with her, but when the curtain opened and Justin was no where to be found I knew that it was a no-go.

I'm trying to tell myself that this happens. That is is normal for a three-year-old to get "stage fright" at her first dance recital. I actually know that it happens and that it's normal... I was just so wishing that it wasn't our little girl. Man, I wanted to see her dance!! We are really proud of her for trying. We have told her that a bunch. And after the recital was over, she was all smiles! We went for ice cream and her favorite spot, Yogurtland, and she got a little ballerina bunny & Angelina Ballerina book. {P.S. Bribing for treats and gifts for going on stage was not any more successful.}

We had a talk after the recital was way over. I wanted her to try to communicate her feelings about what happened at the recital. From what I can understand with the way she worded things, I believe it was the "big stage" that she was fearful of. She must have known about it before hand, which I think it what caused the anxiety before it even started. It was a new situation and she was apprehensive of what was to come. I think she was the only one at the recital to have this feeling, so I'm not sure what this says about her personality, but she did say that she likes to go to dance class. She specified the "little dance stage with the numbers on the door" as being where she likes to dance {which is the studio} and "not the big stage." Nora has chosen to take dance class again and we told her we can talk about the "big stage" later. We are hoping that another year and previous knowledge will help to improve her recital experience for next year.

Twirling after rehearsal!

We are so thankful for her dance teacher for being very patient with Nora all year, but especially at the recital. We hope that she understands that Nora's fears on this one day overshadowed her love for dance and that it is in no way a reflection of how much she loves to dance every other day or how much she has taught her this year. We will continue to practice our positions, open & close the curtain, & driveway dance {our new pastime} as often as we can!

Mothers Day

It is impossible to define the importance of a mother. It is such an influential position to be in and being a mother requires carrying a great load of responsibility yet every mom that I know would not change that experience for the world. 

It's not easy being a mother. In the first year, you sleep so few hours that you forget what it is like to actually get a decent amount of sleep. You clean up after so many diapers and spit ups that you truly forget the last time you yourself have taken a shower. You have to set an alarm to remind you to eat because you spend your very little "free" time trying to catch up on laundry or, if you actually listen to all those people who try to give you the advice, sleep. You essentially go without taking care of your own basic needs to tend to those of your baby. You have given the ultimate sacrifice!

But that is just the beginning...

In the toddler years, your child only seems to speak in questions and by the end of just one day, you've answered at least 400, in addition to each and every decision you've had to make about what to eat, what to do, and how to discipline your child. It's exhausting to make that many decisions in one day and you do it every day! You use circus tricks and acrobatics to convince your child to use the toilet instead of a diaper for their potty breaks. You experience tantrums & tears because the graham cracker you just gave them in two pieces they actually wanted in one. You try to calm them down when they are having a melt down because they have become deathly afraid of the wind or the vacuum or a tiny speck of dust that they have convinced themselves is a bug. Every ounce of mental and physical energy is spent tending to their new and developing personalities. 

I can only speculate on the emotions and experiences that come with having school-age children or {gasp!} teenagers because we haven't gotten there ourselves yet. But... I've been one! I know the crazy antics that my sister and I put my own mother through. Yet, she is still my best friend. I can talk to her about anything and everything. She gives me the most sound advice and knows me better than anyone else. She has taught me everything that I know about being a mother myself. She has taught me that despite all of the physically & mentally exhausting things that our children can do throughout the years, we love them still. We love them through it all.

I truly believe that love is the most powerful & influential tool that exists within us. Thank you to all of the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and mother-type figures that I know for expressing love to those around you! You are truly loved in return. Happy Mothers Day!

Muffins with Mom at the girls' school!

Mother's Day brunch!

Our annual Mother's Day tradition is shoe shopping... Nora picked these.

{SPOILER ALERT: I did NOT buy them!}

First of May

The first week of May was full of fun!

It started with mom & I taking Nora to see the Junie B. Jones musical at the senior high school that she works at. We purposefully had to skip a nap to take her. She liked it a lot and the music and sets were fun & colorful. I even splurged and bought her the $5 kids pack complete with a book and her very own Junie B. Jones purple glasses!

Nora got to have a splash day at her school this week! She was beach ready and hula dancing {which I later realized she learned from her tap routine} by 7:00 am. I think she had fun, but didn't really enjoy the "splashing" water, which was of no surprise to me.

It was also Teacher Appreciation Week! Our school PTO did a phenomenal job and provided lunch every day this week. They have all the kids bring a flower in and then arrange the flowers in our vases for us. My classroom smelled wonderful & all the flowers were so beautiful! Plus I was never hungry. It was a great week!

We took our first dip into an actual pool at a friends' house! Both girls had a lot of fun but also both went under water and got a little nervous. We have a lot of learning to do since we will have our own pool in at our new house!

To round out the weekend, Justin and I celebrated our 7TH wedding anniversary! We were not able to get to the winery we got married at... We heard that it closed but truthfully didn't go investigate ourselves. We did go to a nice dinner, bought some new copper mugs, and sat on a patio to enjoy drinks & snacks. A lot has happened in seven years!! We have so much to celebrate.

So much more to look forward to this May!

May Flowers

May is here! And it is so so wonderful!

But as history would prove, it is going to fly by... The end of the school year brings a whole new kind of crazy to our lives and we've got extracurricular activities and the closing of a new house to top it all off.

So to celebrate the beginning of the end of the school year & spring, here are the girls ready for the umbrella parade at their school!

April Showers bring May Flowers!

How sweet!!

And since it's appropriate...

My dad really likes to garden and plant things and since we're living with him, he lets the girls tag along when he does something they can help with. They have really liked to help him water and plant flowers and pick up around the yard. They are excited to have their own little garden at our new house!

Helping Pops plant some new flowers.

Nora got to help pick them out at the store...

And Janie thought they were just the cutest!!

She traded in her little shovel...

Sweet little garden helpers!

P.S. If you have advice or tips on planting vegetables for the fall and how to get started, please let me know! We really do have a garden along the side of the new house and I'm thinking fall vegetables is where I'd like to start...

Happy MAY!