Picture Perfect

As I went through the pictures of prince's awards banquet last week, I was hit with just how much he is growing up. How did I miss it before?

The picture on the left was taken in the summer of 2009. Ignore the "have you taken enough pictures yet mom?" look in the picture on the below (taken in January 2010). Seven months difference!

I also have rare footage of what might be the last time he snuggles in my arms in public. We were watching the presentations and he just cuddled up. Five seconds later he popped up and asked if he could go sit with his friends. Well at least I captured the moment before it was gone.

Oh! He made honor roll and perfect attendance for the first semester.

Birthday Wishes

I was about to walk out the door to take the kids to daycare and go to work and the kids presented these letters to me with the promise that they were going to be EXTRA good AND not fight so I would have an especially good day.

I love that the card isn't to "mom" but to Stephanie Embrey.

Truth. They make everyday special. They really do.

This post proves I am a masochist.

To celebrate my birthday today, I thought I would break out some old photographs. You know, laugh at all of the horrible pictures. Enjoy the walk down memory lane.














Almost 2 years old. I so look like my father's child.
















My sister, Alex, and my rabbit, Thumper. I was 2.



















My kindergarten picture.




















First grade. My mother knitted that sweater.





















Ah, fourth grade. I refuse to believe that I dressed myself in that.




















Fifth grade. Another outfit my mother made. And that is one smoking hot belt! This is also the beginning of the longest lasting perm in recorded history.



















Sixth grade.




















Seventh grade. Girl mullet and a perm!




















Wowsers.




















And always a goodie, eleventh grade and the beginning of my blond phase. Just look at the forehead. I could have sold that as billboard space.

That is about as many bad pictures as I can put in one blog entry. Have to wait till next year for the rest.

I need a tooth fairy STAT.

Last week, the princess's canine tooth was a little wiggly, and by that I mean that if you looked at it in the right light while she pulled as hard as she could you thought you saw it wiggle. Since then, she has worked that tooth over until yesterday she yanked it out as daycare.

Here she is showing off.

Thank goodness Tom reminded me after I put the kids to bed. One hour later. And again just as my eyes were closing for the night. I jumped out of bed and searched high and low for the stupid "tooth fairy money" (those gold dollar coins that I usually keep on hand for just such an emergency) but couldn't find a single one. Last time princess lost a tooth, it took the tooth fairy a week to get her act together. So our little angel got a dollar bill. Not as exciting, but at least she wasn't forgotten.

When it's your money, you can buy whatever you want.

Tom and I let the kids spend their money pretty much on whatever they want. It is usually on a toy or on DSi points so they can download a game or two. Well the princess managed to sell her brother on some Girl Scout cookies.

She showed him her cookie sheet and talked with him about what she wanted to earn for her prize. Prince asked her to give him "the speech" she rehearsed for going door to door. She did... and he bought three boxes.

Like a good salesperson, no stone left unturned. And like a good brother, he realized how important it was to his sister and supported her.

Kung Fu Kids

Prince's karate school had "bring a friend night" and he choose his sister. These are pictures of them trying to break boards. Bear with me, it was hard to capture this because it went really fast.

Princess practices her side kick. It goes without saying, she was really into it!

Prince shows off with his roundhouse kick.

And finally... she broke it on her third try.

Just another day in the park.

January 18, 2010 and it is 61 degrees. What to do on a beautiful vacation day? Go to the park!

There is a little park over by the library with a huge walking course. I took my cellulite busters out for a 30minute workout and let the kids blow off some steam.
































































Ok, maybe I should have insisted that they brush their hair first, but it was a vacation day.

Holey Terrier

Like many working couples, Tom and I keep our cute little 10lb dogs in a 36" kennel complete with towels and toys. And just for extra security, we keep the kennel in the laundry room. Sound unnecessary you say? Well the little escape artist have gotten out of their kennel on more than one occasion. Keeping them locked away in the laundry room just buys us time to come home before they figure a way out of there and set off the alarm too.

While in her kennel during the day, Callie managed to sneak her little paws through the bar and somehow paw a few items from the laundry hamper into the kennel and release her fury on them. The victims were: a brand new towel and one of Deacon's socks. Just so I will never forget this moment, I have captured it on film.

The NEW Playhouse on the Square

The kids attend the Rollercoasters program at the Exchange Club in Midtown on a regular basis. For about 3 years now they have been working on building a new theater on the corner next to the Exchange Club. Last week we drove by and low and behold, it looked like they were having a party inside.

Sure enough, Tom tells me that they are having an open house for the public that weekend. It also happened to be our friend, Robin's, birthday weekend and she is all about Midtown. How perfect! We started the day with brunch at Eclectic Cafe.

Princess and Bayleigh had the roasted red pepper soup and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Oh la la....

Prince dug into the pancakes. How... predictable.

I didn't snap any shots of the outside of the building, but there are some pretty great pictures on their web page (PlayHouse on the Square). I must say that it is very different than any other building on the block. I am very excited about the rooftop garden. It was too cold (and they weren't finished with the construction) during the open house, but I hope to go back one day and check it out.

So we ate brownies while we listened to the harp.

As the tour kicked off, we got to add our names to the sign in sheet.

The artist.

The realist.

And Bayleigh would like to take this opportunity to let you know she likes hot dogs.

I was a little disappointed that they were not further along with the construction. It made it hard to envision what the final product would look like. My biggest complaint is that there is no grandeur to this new facility. No great entranceway, no majestic hall, no big space for people to gather. No drama!

There seems to be only one entrance into the theater (unless you are an actor). The hallways are narrow. The ceilings are low. Every aspect of theater has it's own room (staging, costumes, dance hall, practice areas, etc). It was overall... very compartmentalized. You will definitely need a guide if you intend to get back to the offices. But hey, what do I care? I don't work there and I can't foresee any reason I would need to go into any of those offices.

The best part of the building though, is the new theater. Seats 350 people with no one more than 30 feet from the stage.

We loved the third floor where you could look out and see everything.

This is the view from stage right out into the audience. Brand new everything. As you can see they haven't finished the stage or the sound paneling, but they still have two weeks until the first show.

From the front of the stage looking back you can see the work they have put into the lights and pulley system. This is HUGE compared to the facility that they are moving from.

They also have the addition of a trap door that they will finish building. I can't get over the size of the stage. Like I said, I can't wait to see it finished. There is so much potential and I know they have worked hard and it is SO close.

Our parting thoughts? Robin said it best (in Memphian), Break a leg!

Your on the clock.

We came up with some new chores for the kids to do to help us out around the house. I made charts for both kids and listed each chore with check boxes when they needed to be completed.

I then printed one sheet for each week, padded them and put magnets so they hang on the refrigerator just waiting to be checked off. They tear off the completed sheet each Saturday and turn it into me to get paid. Reminds me of time cards.

I wonder if we can write off the allowances on our taxes?

What we are working on in 2010

We asked the kids to list 10 things that they wanted to do this year. I have to give them, they were pretty creative.

Deacon:

1. Become a blue belt
2. Get all A’s and B’s
3. Gain 15 lbs
4. Ride the bus home and stay by myself 3 times before June
5. Finish the crocodile painting
6. Volunteer to walk animals at the animal shelter 5 times
7. Ask the Principle to allow a recycling container in the teacher's lounge and help take cans to the Human Society
8. Help deliver Girl Scout Cookies with Rena
9. Play football
10. Read 5 books that are at least 150 pages

Rena:

1. Get all A’s and B’s
2. Take a reading quiz until higher than grade level
3. Bake cookies for neighbors
4. Read 5 books over the summer
5. Read Bayla to family
6. Finish quarter collection
7. Go camping
8. Sell 320 boxes of Girl Scout cookies
9. Earn 5 Girl Scout badges at home
10. Replace the sticker decorations in her room

Like everything else, Tom and I had to put some marketing around accomplishing these goals. We are giving away $50 GameStop Gift Cards for each 5 goals they reach. Since the kids have DSi's, Wii's and laptops, we are banking on them burning through those gift cards pretty fast.

Here is the poster that will hang on the refrigerator to help the kids measure the progress they're making.

Don't worry, we didn't put all the goal setting off on the kids. This year I want to:

1. Lose 10 lbs.
2. Exercise 3 times a week.
3. Launch the AIGA K-12 Education Program in Memphis City Schools.
4. Get all birthday and holiday cards, presents mailed out on time this year.
5. Have one play date a month for each child with the choice of his/her friends.
6. Reevaluate career goals and options.
7. Sell all attic items on Ebay or craigslist.
8. Complete painting for Rena's room.
9. Pay off one credit card.
10. Change the visitation order.

Tom also wants to:

1. Loose 10 lbs.
2. Get the paperwork in order (insurance and documentation) and set up a safety deposit box.
3. Finish the office space in the spare room.

Do these shoes make my butt look smaller?

I went to the shoes store looking for one pair of grey boots, one pair of black boots with a rounded toes, a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of black dress shoes that I could wear socks with. You have to trust me on this, I was just out of shoes.

So I went into the shoe store and there it was in all of its glory. Like a shining beacon of hope for all out of shape women on it's halogen alter, I mean end cap... the new Sketchers Shape Ups.

Although I had managed to not jump in my car and run to the store when I saw the commercials, right here IN the store, I could not resist it's pull. Of course they had my size, of course they were on sale. I could practically feel the promise of a tighter rear end and strong legs as I carried the box the counter.

In the twenty minute wait at the check out counter I had the opportunity to throughly inspect the product, it's optional colored laces, the coupon and low and behold it comes with a cd! It took everything I had to not put the shoes on in the store, pay for them and just walk out with them on my feet.

So now I am the proud owner of a pair of cellulite busters. The big question... do they work? Well not in the first twenty four hours, but I will keep you posted.

Hard Work Pays Off

The princess recieved all A's and B's for her second quarter report card. As a reward she got to get her ears pierced. Doesn't sounds like a reward? Just look at her as she shows off her new earrings. She picked out her birthstone, Topaz, in a citrine color.