This and That

We are so busy right now (like everyone else). School ends for most of my crew Friday and the others only have a few days past that. I just can't even believe it! This school year started with Richard and I in China and it never really gained a sense of "calm". I am just happy we all survived it and made decent grades. I feel like I should be striving for more, but at this moment...that's all I can muster. Next year, Braden and Cade will be at the same jr. high and Bryce will be driving (YIKES!). Maybe we'll strive for more "calm" then. Hey...a girl can dream, can't she? Just let me live in my delusional state!

Here are some random pics of today. I took the girls for their first mani/pedi today. I'm thinking it will be their last for a LONG time! Wesleigh is totally still and calm, but Gracie is lucky she left there with any color at all :) The ONLY reason I brought them was because Gracie had stepped on my big toe yesterday and totally messed up my pretty purple toes.

 I love the look on both the girls' faces here. They were in awe. They had no idea that there was a place full of a million different polish colors :) Wesleigh has a big "wish list" now.



Kelly is super sweet, but I have a feeling she was probably cussing Gracie in Vietnamese ;) She had to re-do those fingers and toes multiple times. It is just impossible for Gracie to be still...even when there's a good reason.


 Bryce was home early today after an exam and pulled "his" truck out to clean it out. Truth is...he just likes to sit in it :) This is Richard's old truck. It has over 200,000 miles on it and is the perfect first car for Bryce. He is so excited. He doesn't turn 16 until Aug. 7...it's going to be a long summer for Bryce :)

 And some random cuteness:



She was dancing to the music


Cute "teeny tiny" feet (Wesleigh's)




I'm not sure why I love this shot.  Maybe because it shows a side of her that never gets captured.  She has a bite of a peanut butter sandwich in her mouth, which she hates!  She does not eat bread...ever.  Which has been fine, but I would be really happy if she'd eat a quick sandwich every once in a while :)  I also don't take many pics with her hair down.  She pulled her pony out and I just left it alone.



These are my favorites.  They only have one tricycle (I know....I should buy another), but why...when they look so stinkin' cute riding it like this??  They take turns driving each other around.  Gracie is much better at it, but she's patient with Wesleigh and helps her out.






The girls have been in swim lessons the past 2 weeks, and have loved every minute of them.  We get to go in and watch them tonight, so I'm anxious to try to get some cute pics of them.  Our pool opens tomorrow and they we cannot wait.  I'm ready to sit by the pool and do nothing!

Happy Mother's Day

Today was a different kind of Mother's Day. Richard and Braden were gone all weekend for an out-of-town tournament, but he did arrange for this amazing arrangement to come to the door Saturday.

 

The girls came home from school with flowers of a different kind. Sorry, Richard...they trump yours :) I have never seen anything like these before and think they are amazing. They are made from the girls handprints. 


The boys were scattered, but I did get a picture with the girls today.  This is what I wanted them to wear to our afternoon activity, but you will see that I decided to let them have a total princess day :)


A couple of weeks ago I bought 4 tickets to Disney's Princess on Ice show.  I had no idea I had bought them on Mother's Day.  It could not have been better though because my mom went with us.




These two were so excited they could hardly stand it!  Just to be able to wear those dresses was enough to put them over the moon.  Wesleigh thought we were going to Disney World and kept saying, "I so essited to go to Disney World!"  lol...Truth is, she loved it so much there was no disappointment.  In fact, I never told her it wasn't Disney World :)


I love this picture even though Gracie is a little out of focus.



When Wesleigh wasn't jumping up and down saying "wow!" or "this is awesome", this is what she looked like.  Seriously...so cute!  Gracie was just as excited, but was sitting too close for me to get a shot.  Gracie was  interested in all the backstage things.  She noticed the American flag hanging and details like Cinderella's necklace and the lights on the ice.  It is so fun to see their differences.


Just a couple of shots from the show.  It was so fun and very entertaining.  I hope there's another one soon!  So worth the small fortune it cost!


At the very end, all the princesses came out, and we were able to see our beloved Mulan.  It was the perfect ending to a fun afternoon.



I don't have a picture but Gracie was asleep by the time we were out of the parking garage.  After spending most Mother's Days at the ballpark, it was fun to enjoy a girly day with my girls and my mom :)

BTW...church was totally for me today!  The title "Calm Down and Carry On".  I'm going to try to live by those words each day :)

Time Goes Too Fast

Bryce is finishing his sophomore year right now.  His 16th birthday is in August and he will officially be a driver...Yikes!  If I'm honest, Bryce is probably the child who gets the shaft most often.  His primary activities are band and Sea Cadets.  I love watching him, but have not been involved at all.  (Granted, we got home from China with Gracie right as football season started, so I do give myself some grace for that one.)  This is about to change, though!

I attended Bryce's end of the year band banquet Monday.  He plays the French horn, and there are 6 total French horns.  Two of them are graduating this year and Bryce is so sad about it.  David and Alicia date and have been great friends to Bryce.  He is going to miss them so much!  I have been super sad about them leaving too.  I was in such a tissy trying to get to the banquet (actually had to bring the girls to swim lessons in formal wear!) that I forgot my camera!!  For this mom, that is the cardinal sin!  I am still so disappointed about it.  Thankfully, Alicia's mom sent me these pics :)  Alicia has been the "mom" of the group.  I'm not quite sure these boys are going to survive without her!!!









This one makes me tear up just looking at it.


This night made me realize that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and it's going to be Bryce graduating!  I am making a commitment to be more present in Bryce's activities and really enjoy these last 2 years of high school with him.  I have already talked to a few babysitters about helping with the girls, and I intend to use them.  They would much rather be at home playing with a new "friend" than being drug from event to event with me.  And I will be a much happier mom if I know I've been able to focus on each child a little more instead of spreading myself so thin.  Some of you might disagree with that.  That's ok, but for my family, I need these boys to know that I was truly interested in their lives, even after the girls got home.  They have happily sacrificed alot for us to go to China twice.  I never want them to feel second best.

So here's to Bryce's blur of a sophomore year...and here's to his junior year that his mom didn't miss!!  :)

The Great Sock Dilema

We have an ongoing problem in our house:  What in the world to do with all the socks???  I have 4 "men" in this house that all wear the same size socks.  I figure we average, with sports, that they wear an average of 6 pair of socks a day (collectively).  Times 7 days equals 42 pair of socks each week!!!!  42!!  That means 84 socks (assuming they all make it to the wash :)

I have tried many different systems, but for the past year, this is my system:



Let me give you another view:
 

I wash clothes for 7 people!! I do not have the time or energy to sort through socks...even if I could tell them apart! I have tried buying different brands for each person, but that doesn't work because they steal each others ;) To be honest, this system doesn't bother me a bit. I don't spend my time turning socks the right way or matching them up. I throw them in the basket and let the boys fight it out themselves. The other day, Bryce was digging in the basket looked at me and said, "This sock system isn't really working for me". Makes me laugh just thinking about it :)  Richard said the same thing :)  He even resorted to buying himself more socks (that are now in the basket) lol...  I think I'll make the boys sort socks this weekend, but unless one of you has a better idea...I'm pretty sure they're stuck with the sock basket :)

And the Winner Is....

Every year, the 4th and 5th grades put on a show called "Putting on the Hits".  It's a lip syncing contest and, quite honestly, I have hated it!  I love seeing the kids, but in the past, the parents have started to go way overboard.  I can't stand that...just let the kids do their thing! This was my 6th year of putting on the hits! Cade is, by far, my most animated boy and is all into it.  He asked me to help them put it together, but quite honestly, I just didn't have the time.  He and a 3 other boys put this number together completely by themselves and it is hysterical!  (so much better than I could have done!)  Not to mention...they won 1st place!!!!

You will not be able to watch this without laughing out loud :) (Cade is in the white jeans.)

My Little Dancers

Holy Moly!  Can I say that dance pics yesterday totally kicked my butt!!!  I don't know that I've ever experienced anything like that before.  Thankfully, I was able to get some shots of my own that I am in LOVE with.  By the time we left the studio, I felt as if I had been hit by a truck.  As we were leaving the dressing room filled with other moms and girls getting ready, I stood up and announced "I just want you to know...baseball is much easier than this!!!"...and boy is it!!

Anyway, the end result was so worth it!  These are their tap costumes and they are adorable!!  There are alot of pics here because frankly, I couldn't narrow them down (actually, this IS narrowed down)!





















Love this one, but Gracie looks so much bigger than Wesleigh.  Do you know that I just took them for check-ups and Gracie is only 1 1/2 pounds heavier than Wesleigh now and only one inch taller!  Still hard for me to believe!
















This one is 100% classic Gracie! I am so glad I caught it!! This is one of the moves in their dance. You have seen it on her before because she LOVES it! When they are practicing their dance and she's not sure what to do next, this is her go-to...funny thing is, everyone follows her so they all end up doing this! So funny!



I can only imagine what a zoo the actually recital will be.  I'm going to need to rest up for that!

My Big Girl

Things are nuts here! Everyone has a million things going on for the end of the year. Bryce had his band concert last night, Cade has a track meet today, Braden has a play coming up, Richard, my dad and the girls have a tough rehearsal schedule for the recital "daddy dance" (more on that later...it deserves its own post!), dance pics, recital, awards, conferences, etc, etc, etc... I am exhausted! I have tons I want to blog, but no time. Even now, there are dishes in the sink, clothes that need to be washed, blah, blah, blah.... So, I'm going to just turn my computer away from all of that and tell you about my big girl :)

 Boy has she come a long way in a few short months! It was only 8 months ago that we rocked her world bringing home a sister. She was not happy with me at all for a little while, but we got through that and now she constantly tells Gracie "you my bess frwend". Melt a mama's heart, why don't you! When the girls started school in Sept, Wesleigh was very shy and quiet. Her speech wasn't the greatest and she seemed very much a "baby" still. Can I just say, this chick is a baby no more! In the past couple of months, her speech has exploded. Her articulation has improved 100%. She still has cute ways of saying some sounds (which I love), but she is easily understood. The amount she is talking has exploded also. She tells us all kinds of things, and she talks to everyone. Anyone who walks past her, gets a wave and a big, "Hello!".  CUTE!

She is my love and such a blessing to us :)