My ballerina

A's ballet teacher told them a few weeks ago that the Moscow Ballet was coming to Dallas to perform the Nutcracker. They were having open auditions last Saturday for kids to be in the show.

We had a typically busy Satuday and I didn't think twice about it until we ran into a friend who was going to audition on Sunday. A decided to try it too. She made call backs last week. She was up for 1 part and her friend was up for another which ruined the idea of carpooling.

We went yesterday at 2:30 for the try-out. I stood and waited and waited and waited. Finally at 3:25 she came out to tell me she was too short and had been pushed into the next round of auditions. Not good in terms of waiting but good because she was auditioning with her friend again.

Another 45 minutes of waiting (much better this time because I had the mom to talk to while we stood in the lobby) they came out and both had a part. They are going to be Russian Sentinels. We find out in a week or two what day they will dance.

She is so excited! We are so proud!

State Fair of Texas

Yesterday the State Fair of Texas opened. The kids had a half day for fair day so we headed down for the afternoon. We spent 5 hours and packed it all in. I think we did just about everything. Aside from tired feet, it was a glorious afternoon.









































P.S. to all those who are googling the Joovy Kooper. I love the stroller. The basket is big enough to our soft cooler full of waters. The (small) almost 8 year old and the 4 year old took turns riding the stroller. The 10 year old sat in it several times to rest while the boys were playing games & rock climbing. It is easy to push & maneuver in crowds. It was a very good investment.

Native American Project

The fifth grade social studies teacher is ancient. She just finished her 50th year at St. Monica's. She taught me 25 years ago. I know in A's class there are at least 5 other parents who she also taught. I had Mrs R during her short period of teaching 7th & 8th grade. For almost 20 years, she has taught 5th grade social studies. Her Native American project is famous.

Every 5th grader has to make something that has something to do with Native Americans. It can be anything. The projects (especially with boys) tends to be a competition to see who can build the biggest teepee/pueblo/totem pole.

Luckily A didn't want to go big. She decided to sew a dress for Kaya, her first American Girl doll.



Aside from me giving her advice on how to make the pattern and the design for her beading, she did this all by herself. Okay, I helped her tie those little beads on the dangling strips too, but it was after 9pm and she really needed to get to bed.

I am so proud of the work she has done. She really is good at using her sewing machine and executing her ideas. My mother is especially proud that she has another sewer in the family! I hope she is equally proud of herself.

gotta love a boy

I gave the boys a shower tonight. B was protesting, he didn't want to shower, he didn't want to go first, he didn't want anything.

I struggled to put him under the water, he suddenly stopped yelling and said, "Oh, a hole in the floor. I can pee in the hole!"

A shower is fun because he can pee into a hole in the ground. Aren't boys fun?

40 things

In honor of DH's 40th birthday, we decided to get him 40 things. After buying a few things he needed (new shirts), wanted (new speakers for the patio), things the kids thought he needed (zingers), we went still lacking. Luckily I found his stash of golf balls in the garage.

40 things



We ended up using 27 individually wrapped golf balls with lots of tape because the boys helped me wrap.



Everyone helped unwrap



The biggest surprise was the birthday book



The kids together came up with 40 things and A wrote & illustrated the book.



I think it was the best birthday present ever!

Happy Birthday Old Man

Last night we had the celebration. It turned out fabulously. I estimate we had 75 people come. DH is way too popular. The evening was perfect. At one point it did start to rain. Luckily we redid the porch in December and made great use of it. I didn't realize we could fit that many people out there. The temps also cooled after the rain so it was a bonus.

I brought my camera out but it was so humid out the lens immediately fogged over. I set it down and promptly forgot about it. I finally remembered at the very end. It was around 2am and the old grade school/high school crowd was still hanging in there.





I took pictures this morning of the aftermath. It didn't look too bad because at 1am, I changed my clothes & started cleaning up.

the remnants of the beer & cokes



the remnants of the moonshine



birthday water bottles featuring DH's senior photo & shot glasses brought all the way from Kazakhstan by S#2.



My candles were lovely. Unfortunately, the rain doused the flames but a friend Byron found the lighter and managed to light most of them again.



And the trash. There was a lot of trash!



A friend emailed this morning saying he had a great time at DH's 40th and we should make it an annual event. Despite it being a fun night, I think I'm done with parties for quite awhile. A long while!

Preparations #2

DH & I spent yesterday laboring to get ready for the party. He mowed & trimmed. I weeded & mulched. We hung lights and cleaned outdoor furniture. The outside is looking good.

We tested out the lighting with a cold beer at the end of a very long, hard day. I love my candles!!








Now to tackle the inside. I've got to vacuum, clean bathrooms and declutter. DH is taking on ice & music. I think I'm getting the raw end of this deal. He probably doesn't want to spend the evening listening to Van Morrison and Chick with Guitar music and it is his birthday party, so I'll let him get away with it!

First Soccer Game aka Brush with Greatness

B had his very first soccer game ever last night. Boy was he excited.

It was a Friday night game because the opposing coach was none other than Jerry Jones, Jr.



His dad wasn't there but he did get a Cowboys star painted on the field. Can you believe that? A star on the field for PreK soccer!! B was in awe.



B ran very well in his game. He's quick.



But he's got to learn to go for the ball. He kept running away from the action. I decided he was trying to get open for someone to pass to him. He stops and watches when the other team has the ball. He tried to get the ball away once.



He actually missed and ended up hip checking the other boy.

The best part of the whole game was that he came off the field elated. He is so excited to be playing soccer.

Preparations

Dh's big 4-0 party is on Saturday. He sort of freaked out this morning over it. It seems that pretty much everyone we invited is coming. That wasn't really planned. We figure 1/2-2/3 would come. We're looking at about 90%. It is his own fault. He's too darn popular.

Anyway, back to freak out. He started going off on how we are going to have 70+ people in our house in 48 hours and we hadn't done anything. I reminded him that it was 57 hours not 48 so we had plenty of time. Not the answer he wanted. So I pulled out my phone and showed him my detailed priority list, gave him his jobs to get done and told him it would be okay.

To make him feel better I tackled a few of the big things today.

Confirmed catering. Set up a time for delivery and gave them our address so they could actually deliver it. You think they would have asked for it. I'm glad I did.

Recovered the seats to the kitchen chairs.



The old seats were 13+ years old, covered in kid grime stains and frayed with cushion showing through. When we first planned the party, DH asked me to recover them. I got it done with plenty of time to spare.

Stuffed all outdoor toys in the toy shed



This was not an easy task. Plus I still have to get the wagon off the front porch and fit it on top.

Hid all toys that normally sit out in the open in the playroom.



We have way too many toys. I'm thinking we need to have another garage sale.

Finished crafting. I made these jars to hold candles and hang from the trees across the backyard.



We still have a lot to do tomorrow. I think it will all get done. If anything, I'll be sure to clean those toilets.

Another bug

We arrived home late last night. I was intent on unpacking the car and putting children to bed. I wasn't happy when A started yelling for me to come here and come here now. She was at the front door and I thought she was complaining that the stuff I gave her to carry was too heavy.

Finally she yelled for me to bring the camera. I dropped my stuff, grabbed the camera from my purse and ran to the front door.

This is what I saw.



A white-lined sphinx moth, the most common sphingid in Dallas County, per the Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society website.

Labor Day

Back in July our friends from Wimberley invited us to meet them down in Galveston for the weekend. Plans were sort of up in the air for awhile. Thursday they confirmed that, yes, they were going to the beach and, yes, they would love to have us come too. We packed up and after school on Friday we headed down.

It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend. The kids all meshed well. There was no hurry to the weekend. We made plans on the fly, we cooked some great food & we all had fun. Of course, I took hundreds of photos!