whew!

You know how sometimes you put things off. You say to yourself that you'll have a minute to do it tomorrow. And then tomorrow comes and a few more things happen. And a few more things get pushed to the next day's agenda, but hey, guess what?! That day's agenda is already full! And before you know it, weeks have gone by and you finally have a minute to yourself and you think, "Now, what was that thing I was going to do?" Well, that's how things have been around here lately. Sorry posting has been light for the past 6 weeks. Boy, do I have lots to tell you...

Birthday Celebrations!

Doug turned 38, Jack turned 5 and Ainsley turned 2! You can see pictures of their cakes here, here and here. Jack had a great birthday celebration at school and then got to spend the afternoon Uptown with Dad while Ryan was at OnStage rehearsal (and so Mom could frantically try to finish decorating his cake!) Jack chose tacos (again!) for his "cake dinner" and then we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. He also got a very cool Cars balloon, which is still floating above his chair in the kitchen. Really, it is. Ainsley had a fun day too...she opened presents, ate lunch, had cake, played outside, went to Emily's last soccer game of the season, and then played with Big Hannah (as opposed to Little Hannah, her cousin) because her parents ditched her to go to a concert. In two days, we will be celebrating Emily's first double digit birthday...I cannot believe she is going to be 10!! She has asked for an iPod Nano and a cake shaped like an iPod Nano. Only one of which she is actually going to get...

OnStage - Ryan's Theatrical Debut!

Wow! What a great experience this was for Ryan! It was a lot of hard work, as rehearsals were 2 1/2 - 3 hours a day, 5 days a week for 5 weeks! I really am so proud of the dedication he showed, both in learning his lines and dances and for keeping up with his school work. I do think he has found his calling! And I was able to take quite a few pictures of the weekend. Except Ryan isn't in any of them! We were not able to take photos or video of the show due to "copyright laws" and he was dressed in street clothes to go backstage (for security reasons, no one other than cast members are allowed backstage.) and then was back in street clothes after the show. There was a professional photographer that took pictures at the dress rehearsal (oh, did I mention that parents were not allowed in ANY of the rehearsals?) but we have not heard whether or not those photos will be made available to us. Of course I'll post them if I get them! The show far exceeded our expectations and Ryan has already asked if he can participate in the OnStage program next year. (So you should start clearing your calendars for the weekend of May 21-23, 2010!) I would tell you about the show, but I'm going to let him do that in one of his guest blogs.

Baby, it's HOT inside!

About 4 weeks ago, it started to get pretty warm here. In the 80's, which is not too terrible, but is still pretty warm for this time of year. So we decided we would have the air conditioners serviced. It never really feels cool in the house in the summer, but we attributed that to the fact that the house faces the sun and so much heat and light comes through the front windows. But no, the reason our house never really felt cool is that our air conditioners were kaput! Yes, air conditioners, plural. So we had a couple of companies come out to give us estimates, and guess what?! They don't just give them away! Seriously...we asked. More like begged. Oh, and the heat exchangers in our heaters have small cracks that will leak CO if our heaters are turned on. Fabulous, right? So we finally had the new A/C units installed on Monday, which ironically, was the chilliest day we've had in quite awhile. And it just about killed me to write the giant check for air conditioning while I was shivering in my jeans and long-sleeved shirt. But, if you'll allow me to be Pollyanna for a moment...It is a very good thing we had the units replaced, because in the process, we discovered we had a gas leak in the attic, which has now been fixed! So, the house isn't going to explode, we have new air conditioning units that are under warranty for the next 10 years and we didn't even have to sell one of the children in order to pay for it. Life is good.

Goooooaaaaalllll!!

Boy, what a difference a couple of months makes! In the fall, Emily's soccer team only won one game and that was a game in a tournament. This spring, I think they only lost one game! Emily has found her groove as a forward and she scored goals in several games this season. She's really having a lot of fun! Tryouts for next year were this past Monday and Tuesday and she made the team again! So, she'll have practice once a week this summer and will start 3 times a week in August. We are playing in two tournaments this fall - a pre-season tournament on August 22nd & 23rd and our tournament in Columbia is October 3rd & 4th.

School's Out! Well, not really, but we're almost there!!

As you may have been able to tell by my previous posts today, Jackson has graduated from Preschool! Yahoo! The ceremony today was precious...we have had such a great experience with this school and are bummed that Ainsley will have to wait another year before she can go. Ryan and Emily are taking their EOG's (End of Grade exams) this week. This is the one week a year I get up extra early to make sure they get a great breakfast instead of their usual cereal or toast. And they are totally milking it! Ryan got fresh, warm blueberry muffins yesterday and Emily has had omelettes with turkey bacon every day! The EOG's also mark the end of new instruction for the year...which means, I think, that they will be watching a lot of movies from now until June 10th. Which is why I don't feel bad about keeping them home on Monday. (Yes, they are supposed to go to school on MEMORIAL DAY to make up one of our snow days! Don't even get me started...)

Anyway, I'm not sure if you know that Ryan, Emily and Jackson will all be going to new schools next year. Jack and Emily will be attending a brand new elementary school that is still under construction and is a little closer to our house. Emily has been certified for the honors program also, so she will start that curriculum in the fall. And Ryan will be attending the middle school that is also very close to our house. We've learned that the magnet schools here don't exactly live up to the hype and it's going to be so nice having Ryan 5 minutes away instead of 45 minutes away! Plus, he is able to take Drama as an elective...and also a Musical Theater enrichment class, so he's pretty excited! Not so excited about having to go back to a uniform school, but that's fodder for a different post!

Fun in the Summertime!

School is out on June 10th and on June 11th, we will be heading out for our big summer vacation! The kids are so excited to go to Kansas and then to Indiana. And Doug and I will be heading to LA for our first real trip together since Emily was Ainsley's age. Well, except Doug will be working most of the time. And I'll be spending most of the week with Kate. But we will have a couple of days together and may even check out Disneyland! (Shhh! Don't tell the kids!) The best part about this summer?? No surgeries to plan around!!

So, that's what's been going on around here. What's up with you? Have you made my guacamole yet??