Indulge Me

Since I haven't posted regularly in a while, I thought it would be good to do a little update from the home front. While I wasn't posting here, the children, as children are wont to do, continued to grow and age. 

Michael is now 7 1/2 and in second grade. On the list of new things he is trying this fall - bowling in a league and playing tennis. According to him he is pretty fantastic at both. His feet are still larger than Harper's and I think by this time next year he has a decent chance of being taller than her as well.

Harper is now almost 11, gulp, and in fifth grade; which makes this her last year of elementary school. She is enjoying queen of the campus status - it's fun to be a fifth grader. One of this year's fifth grade perks was a spirit week just for fifth graders. Below was Harper's self-assembled outfit for Wacky Wednesday:

The picture was actually taken after she wore that outfit to school all day. I don't know if the confidence I see is evident to everyone, but it is such a part of who Harper is. I am fairly certain I wouldn't have felt comfortable sporting that get-up to school in fifth grade, or maybe ever. Harper's still dancing up a storm and excited to be part of the school Orff Ensemble, another privilege reserved for fifth graders only.

In case anyone is wondering, I still haven't found Michael's DS.

Roller Coaster

This past year and some change has been a whirlwind. The current school year is shaping up to be more of the same. Matt and I are both working full-time and the children are both involved in lots of activities. Just like so many other families. We have times where we're all happy and enjoying each other's company and then we have days where we're all yelling and 3/4 of us are in tears. I keep feeling like someday I'll catch up, while at the same time I don't even know what that really means.

Once again, there's no breaking news here. I think we are in a particularly difficult stage of life right now. One of these days it might stop feeling so difficult and we'll coast for a while and then one day later things will feel just this side of impossible again. Sometimes I think that means we're doing something wrong. Other times I think it is just the way things are - that the truth is that life is difficult. And usually the trick to feeling some happiness is recognizing the moments of peace and contentment when they come, not hoping for it to be like that all of the time. I know that Glennon has already covered the whole, "Life is brutiful," statement, but I am really feeling it right now.

My life is good. So, so good. And it's hard, too.

I think what I'm really looking for is to know that this isn't just hard for us. Anyone?

It's Not Exactly Breaking News

After a six-month blog hiatus, I'm sure no one is suffering the delusion that we've got it all together over here. However, just in case you need some convincing, it's confession time...

Several months ago I confiscated Michael's Nintendo DS, most likely because he refused to put it away (for the thousandth time). I put it somewhere he would not find it. I've now been actively looking for it for at least two weeks and have no earthly idea where it could be.

In The Closet

When my children were born my grandmother sent them lovely Vermont Teddy Bears. At some point Harper's bear lost its stuffing, but I believe it is possible to send them to the Teddy Bear Hospital, or some such place, for repair. It's a mystery to this day, how that bear lost his stuffing; however, he is no longer the only bear with a story.

Tonight, as I was putting Michael's clean clothes in his closet I found his bear... wearing a pull up. Upon closer inspection, I realized the pull up was wet. What? I totally thought that bear was house trained!

A quick sniff-test revealed that the pull up was wet with relatively harmless water. I also discovered a bean bag stuffed in the back of the pull up... teddy bear poo?

Said bear is now airing out (along with the wet bean bag). I'm going to try to get some answers from him tomorrow. I have a sneaking suspicion that if the bear can't tell his story, Michael may be able to clear things up for me.

Seven!

Seven years old. First grade. Time flies.

Photos by Danielle of Chocolate Pudding Moments

Title With a Clever Dance Phrase if I Knew More Dance Phrases

So the dance competition season is in full swing again. When Harper started this thing last year I had completely mixed feelings, but I've come to really enjoy our dance studio family. At the beginning of the month the studio put on a showcase for friends and family to preview the girls' dances before the first competition. I adore both of Harper's group dances this year - a sassy, fun jazz number and a beautiful contemporary piece. 

I was able to grab some wonderful photos from Facebook and play with them a little. The first two are edited so I'm not sharing anyone else's children's faces online. The third one is just for fun:

Some of the girls are also in a large production number called, "Fly Girls." It's dancers from each of the competitive levels, wearing late 80's/early 90's garb and dancing to songs like, "Too Legit to Quit." I am not sure I've ever watched anything that makes me smile as much as that dance.

Dance requires a commitment that is moderately insane - and we're at the light end of it, I know. This past weekend Harper and I drove to a competition on rural roads, through several inches of snow. I cannot think of many things that would have convinced me to go out on that kind of day; but the show, as they say, must go on. With Michael becoming more involved in his own activities, Harper and I will probably head out to dance on our own more often this year than we did last year. Having a little one-on-one time with her is a nice bonus. 

You never know what your children will end up loving, obsessing over. I think you will know when they've found something that truly makes them happy.

Interrupted

It's a snow day!

Last winter was crazy cold and snowy - I don't remember the exact break down but I believe we had several weeks without a full week of school. Things have generally been a little more calm this year. A nice thing about working in the district where my children go to school is that snow days cause me exactly zero job-related stress.

We've had a couple of days off this year. The first or second week in January we only went to school Monday, Wednesday, Friday. The one for today came as kind of a surprise, but we'll take it. Monday we were off for Presidents' Day. Tuesday we had a two-hour delay, and today's two-hour delay turned into no school. Who knows what Thursday and Friday will bring, but we are supposed to have crazy cold temperatures, so maybe some more sleeping in?

Today we finished a game of Disney Monopoly that was a hold-over from our last snow day. We just put everyone's money and properties into labeled baggies, and took pictures of where our pieces were on the board...

(Technology is quite awesome at times.)

This afternoon I took a nap while Harper taught Michael about Terabithia ("But not the sad parts, Mom.") and they built Terabithia in our family room. Then they fought over having to clean it up, as per usual. Oh - are you still stuck on that part where I took a nap? Parents of babies - life gets easier in so many ways. Harder in others, of course, but don't worry about that now. 

I know things fell apart about mid-way through the daily blogging in November. I'm certainly not trying to blog daily, at this point, but I've been itching to get back to this space. Having our regular routine interrupted by a snow day was helpful.

What are you doing with your day, snow or otherwise?