That Feeling

You know that feeling you get when you lose something?  I totally have that feeling. 

I have spent the last 3 days sewing dresses for Kylie and Megan.  My sister and I decided that we needed to make matching dresses for my brother's wedding and we found this pattern that is pretty simple and super cute.  The top looks like it is smocked but is so easy to do.  I sewed a practice dress for Megan first and struggled with the sleeves for an ENTIRE day.  It was extremely taxing and very frustrating.  Finally, the dress was finished.

And here it is...following this picture I tweaked Meg's right sleeve again and it looked better.  I was so proud of myself!

Then, having finally finished one dress I started on Kylie's.  This dress came together MUCH faster and I sewed her sleeves on the following morning after checking where to place them before she headed off to school.

This dress was even better than the first and made of a super cute blue and turquoise material.  I would love to post a picture here but I have none.

I decided to go to play group at the park yesterday and take my dresses to show a friend that initially gave me the pattern.  I was so proud how they turned out and wanted to boast of my success.  I was prideful and have been humbled.  We attended play group and left...without my bag of dresses.  I discovered that I left them and rushed back about an hour later but they were nowhere to be found.  I searched the trash cans, under everything, on top of everything, and questioned any person in that park.

My dresses are gone.  My girls are sad.  I had a good cry but decided to look at it positively and think that the replacements I make for them will be even better than the first.  I put my blood, sweat and tears into those dresses.  What can you do?

I just have that feeling...

Fiesta Float Parade

The kinder classes of Kylie's school put on a float parade in celebration of Fiesta.  Each child was asked to create a shoebox sized float that could be pulled through the hallways of the school.  The theme was the joy of being a child...or something like that.  Kylie chose to make a soccer float and it turned out really cute.  She came home telling us of all the different designs that other kids brought.  What a fun project!

Dance Competition

Kylie and Megan are in a dance class that meets weekly with a final recital in June.  They have been learning a dance to the song "Tutti Frutti" and their class was chosen to be one of the few younger classes to join the dance company at a local dance competition, Starbound.  I had originally turned down the option of having the girls do the competition as it cost more money and and there was a chance they would dance on Sunday.  The girls and their teacher coerced me into agreeing to let them participate and they miraculously were assigned a dance time on Saturday...thank goodness.

Not only did this mean attending a dance competition but I had to face my fears and take all three of my girls downtown all by myself (Matt had to work).  Now, that may sound silly but I truly was terrified that I would never get back to where I parked my car or worse, lose a child!  Of course it also happened to be Fiesta weekend which means downtown was filled to the max with people and the competition was a couple blocks from it all.  I am happy to report that I found the place, made it to the right building, found my vehicle after the girls danced, and we arrived home with all 4 of us!

The dance competition itself was very interesting and very different than what I expected.  The dances were performed in rapid succession and after waiting an hour and a half the girls got their 2 minutes of stardom.  They looked rather cute up there on stage and performed very well.  Kylie is the oldest and biggest in her class and was in the front center so her fellow dancers could look to her for help if they forgot their steps.  The tap dance was soooo cute with shuffle steps, twirls, booty shakes and all.  The dance was over way too soon and of course teary-eyed mom (I get so emotional over everything!) jumped up after the dance to go get her perfect little dancers.

Part of me thinks the competition was very over-rated for those little girls but the other part of me couldn't help but love their faces as they danced and then were able to watch the other more experienced dancers.  With our new baby due just 3 days after the recital date I am glad I was able to see their dance in person just in case our little girl decides to make her debut early.

All in all the day was lovely and they even won a trophy which will be kept at the dance studio.  Kylie and Megan did receive a blue ribbon they were able to bring home.

Here we are right as we arrived at the building where the competiton took place.  The girls were very excited and anxious to get in and find their teacher but I had to snap a picture or two before things got crazy.

 

This was after their dance while we were waiting for the awards.

Megan was totally funny while we were waiting for their turn to dance.  She was sitting in the back and dancing and rolling all over the place.  When I asked if I could take a picture of her she started doing all sorts of poses...this was my favorite...a dancer for sure!

Practicing before they had to go on stage.

Kylie

One day (several weeks ago) on our way to church, Kylie was making a list and kept asking me how to spell words.  She concluded the page right before sacrament started.  In the Family Home Evening lesson Meg was in charge of that week, we talked about things we do that make Heavenly Father and Jesus happy.  I think this is where Kylie's list came from as we had discussed all of these things.  She then told me that she was going to take it to her primary class and have everyone sign it.  She did just that and even her teachers signed the page.  What a girl!

Easter 2010

Easter weekend was absolutley divine.  It was relaxing with Friday off of school and babysitting and then no soccer games on Saturday, all topped off with a weekend of General Conference sessions.  It was wonderful.  We waited for Matt to be home with us to dye easter eggs and so we didn't do that until Sunday morning.  But, as usual, that was a fun time.  Even Molly wanted to get into it this year and dye eggs.  They got a load of stuff from the Easter Bunny after leaving notes for him that said how much they like him and of course they left him carrots (with ranch) and a cup of ice water.  We then spent Sunday afternoon at Matt's Aunt Debbie's house.  We got to see family, eat a ton of good food and have an easter egg hunt for the kids.  The afternoon ended with a rousing game of baseball that involved a handful of kids and a several dads.  Celeste even jumped in at 28 weeks pregnant to play in the outfield...though they kept threatening to trade me...what a lovely day!

Is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen???

Megan wanted to do a dual color egg that was half and half.  It actually worked and she was patient enough to let it take color.  Go Meg!

What beautiful colors!  We ended up with lots of greens and blues.  We also got a glitter kit that failed us a couple years ago but this year it worked...maybe we didn't read the instructions last time???  :)

This is her 6th easter and I can't believe that!  I wonder how many years of egg hunting we have left with her.

The girls were running around and playing all afternoon and their little faces were all red.

Love our girls!!!!

Matt is 30!!!

Matt's birthday is the 2nd of April and he celebrated his 30th birthday this year.  The best part is that the big girls get so excited about celebrating anything and Dad's birthday was no exception.  They had a ball choosing gifts for him, wrapping presents, even sticking candles in the little cupcake.  Matt had to work on his birthday but the girls waited up for him until he got home at 8:30.  It was late for them but they insisted he open his presents on his birthday.  It was a fun time and the girls were absolutely bubbling with excitement the whole time.

The girls stacked these presents over and over, so excited to see dad open them.

Disclaimer...no I am not a horrible wife that doesn't make a cake for her husband.  Matt wanted to have cake with his family so we opted for cupcakes on his birthday and then I made a cookies and cream ice cream cake to share with his family a couple days later...which I failed to get pictures of...go figure.

Anyway, happy birthday to Matt.  May we have many, many more years to celebrate!

Meg's Take-home Project

In preparation for Fiesta, Megan's pre-k class has been talking about cultures and heritage.  Meg brought home a piece of cardstock with a little person drawn on it and we had to decorate the person to represent our heritage.  I told Megan we could do a farmer girl (since my Grandpa farmed) or Red Grandma (Matt's mom) has some Native American heritage.  Megan immediately chose to do an Indian girl and I loved how her little lady turned out.  I let Megan do most of the decorating and I just cut out the key big parts.  She was so excited to make this fun project and it turned out great.  Unfortunately she drew her face on with crayon so it is difficult to see.

She was so proud of her beautiful indian girl.  Her class displayed them outside their classroom on the bulletin board.