A Tiny Dancer

Actually, she isn't all that tiny anymore. Anne Marie has shot up, and has gone from being a little one to being tall for her age. But I digress...

From Anne Marie Dance Recital

Recently, Anne Marie had her first dance recital. I was totally surprised by two things. First, and I don't think I'm saying this just because I'm her mom, her class did SO MUCH better than the other classes, all from the same studio. I watched all 10 or so girls get up on stage with not even an ounce of stage fright. After her first piece, Anne Marie was beyond excited, jumping around and saying, "When can I go back on stage?" That part didn't surprise me. The girl was made to have an audience. :)

I knew I would be proud of her, but I was also really surprised by how proud I was. You couldn't wipe that smile off of my face if you tried. I'm not the dance-mom type, but I was happy to watch her.

From Anne Marie Dance Recital

She wore that medal for two days.

Baby Monkey

The writing prompt at Mama Kat's this week is 10 things about one of your favorite people. Here goes:




1. Your recent obsession with being called "baby monkey" just melts my heart. I love it when I'm in the kitchen cooking, and you run up just to say, "Hi mommy monkey," or "Whatcha cookin', mommy monkey?" So freaking cute.

2. Even though you have been known to show a temper, you are beyond sweet with babies and kitties.

3. Excited is not nearly a strong enough word for how you act when I suggest something you like. I hope I never lose that image of you screaming, "OK!" and running in circles. "Get a drink? OK!" "Go outside? OK!"

4. You have a heightened sense of right and wrong (sometimes it's only perceived wrongs, but you'll figure that out). This causes some tempery issues right now, but it will serve you well later.

5. You say "Hi" to everyone.

6. You aren't afraid to try new words, even if it takes you awhile to get them out.

7. You are always on the move.




8. You are always a bit disheveled. I think it makes you more real, and shows how fun you are.




9. You don't care how steep the hill is. You climb it.


10. You are totally willing to be along for the ride for most of your sister's wild games of pretend.

Camping

We had summer here for about a week. It's gone again, but I have dreams that it will come back. And when it does, I want to head out the door with a tent and some hot dogs. I need to go camping this summer.
Last summer, we had no camping trips. It's hard with Matt's and my schedules for us to have a day off at the same time. This year, we still don't have the same days off, but at least we have consecutive days off, so we're going to make another trip.

Another reason we skipped out is that camping with a 1 1/2 year old is HARD. I will never forget Anne Marie's first camping trip. It was Glacier National Park. Don't get me wrong — we had a good time. We always do. But there were some tough parts.

First, we got there in the afternoon, after having attended a wedding the day before. For a few minutes, Anne Marie "helped" put up the tent.

From Glacier trip

Then, she lost interest and wanted attention, but it really takes two people to set up a camp quickly. So soon she was wandering around, crying. By the time the tent was up, she was pretty well a mess.

So we decided to take a family portrait. She wasn't pumped.

From Glacier trip

Hoping to make the evening a bit better, we did the desperate move, and bought her this overpriced hat in the visitor's center. It helped a bit.

From Glacier trip

At Glacier, the Going to the Sun Highway is like Old Faithful is in Yellowstone. Everyone goes. This is as far as we got:

From Glacier trip

Then, Anne Marie started screaming. The rapid ascent was hurting her little ears. So, we turned around and went to the side of Glacier no one ever sees. It wasn't the beautiful gigantic mountains Glacier is known for, but it was nice and quiet.

The trip wasn't peaceful, but it was still fun. On that other side of Glacier, in the middle of absolute nowhere along a dirt road, we found a bakery with the most delicious scones and cookies. It was almost like a movie. We drove and drove, and, out of nowhere, this wooden building appeared with hippies playing guitars and ukeleles outside. Weird, but so was the whole trip.

We opted not to give Thomas the exhausting, emotional experience of being an 18-month old camper. This year, however, he is ready to go. Camping with a 4 and 2-year old is much more awesome, right?

Good friends

Over the years, I've been lucky enough to have a lot of good friends, most of whom care about me a lot more than they think I do. For today's Mama Kat Writer's Workshop, however, I'm going to talk about my wonderful friends, Greg and Denise, who just moved back to Pocatello after a few years away.

You know the type of friend that you can not be around, or even talk to for a long time, but when you do, you can pick up where you left off. They are those friends. I'll never forget our first time visiting them in New Mexico. We hadn't seen them in at least a year, but as soon as we arrived, we felt totally comfortable. It was one of the most comfortable feelings I've ever had with friends, to be honest. They've loved us, and they've loved our kids. Anne Marie has adored Denise since the beginning.

From albuquerque and snow

They are Thomas's Godparents, and I can't think of a better example he can have of God's love.

From Thomas baptism

Last year, their family grew by two, and I can already feel that our kids are going to be wonderful friends.

From Albuquerque

You just couldn't ask for anything more.

Late Start

I like to say that I don't live by the watch.

The truth is, I'm just always late. I was due to be born Feb. 2, and I wasn't born until March 11, and that was WITH prodding. I still haven't caught up. For some reason, I have a phobia of being early to things. I always worry that I'll be the first one there. Why would that matter? Who knows.

I make every effort to be on time for things that matter — I don't blow off friends, and I've always made job interviews on time. But on anything that's even a bit flexible, I'm hopeless.

Thankfully, for the children's sake, my husband is as obsessed with being on time as I am with being late. I don't think we've ever been late to church on his watch. I don't think we've ever been on time when he wasn't coming. I think we're on time for a movie if the previews aren't over. Matt thinks we're on time if we're 10 minutes early.

Being late has caused my poor children trouble. When Anne Marie was little, I used to sometimes take her to Book Babies, our story time for ages 0-2. I'm easily distracted, so it takes me forever to leave the house. Book Babies started right on time, every time, and the whole event is only 20 minutes. So if you're 10 minutes late, it's half over.

I worry that this dreamy little girl has my problem.

From Easter 2011

Last week, it took me 32 minutes to pick her up from daycare. She had too much "to do" before we could leave. I know exactly how long it was because on Wednesdays, we go straight from daycare to dance class. I pick her up at 5:10 or so, and we have to be at dance class across town at 5:30.

Needless to say, we were late.

Just Another Manic Monday

We started summer hours today at work. For two months, I've been waiting for this day, when I leave at 4 instead of 5,  pick up my kids and still have time for a short hike or some gardening.

It's snowing.

Reading Real Books

I have always loved to read. I'll grab anything that doesn't have weird names, which pretty much excludes fantasy novels.

For a long time, however, I never picked up a book that wasn't a cookbook. I didn't have any time. I blamed it on my kids, but really, it is my method of reading that killed me. I can't pick up a book and read it for 15 minutes. When I pick up a book, I finish it. If I can put it down after 15 minutes, chances are good that I won't pick it up again.

Recently in my house, we've entered a time of peace, where the kids seem to be able to play together and don't need me all the time. So I've started reading again.

Another thing that has got me reading is this little wonder:
I got a Kindle for my birthday, and I am in love with it. I didn't think I cared about how I read and that I liked real pages, but it turns out real pages aren't actually that important to me. Also, all the classics are free, so I read Little Women and Pride and Predjudice as soon as I got the thing.

 I was reading a book last week, and I actually thought to myself, "I wish this was on my Kindle. Then I wouldn't have to worry about this book." How lame is that? The Kindle has made me so lazy that I don't even want to pick up your average-sized mass market paperback. Uggh.


 

Peeps: One of the best parts of an Easter celebration

We cherish Peeps in our house.

Anne Marie savors them: 

From Easter 2011

From Easter 2011

From Easter 2011

From Easter 2011

From Easter 2011

From Easter 2011

From Easter 2011

Thomas stuffs:

From Easter 2011

From Easter 2011