It’s been a while

I cannot believe I stumbled upon my old blog and managed to successfully log into it! SO much has happened since 2009, I will add a brief recap soon!

I googled her teacher and found that not only is she active in her church and community, but she received the Golden Apple award last year too.

Tonight I found out her friends Chase & Cassie will be in her class as well. So cool! What a great way to start her school years.

I'm so excited for Alex! Last night I received her kindergarten teacher assignment.

LAUREN'S FIRST HAIRCUT!

My baby finally got her first trim...once I told her it wouldn't hurt she was all ready to go first. Uncle Robert came over on short notice and cut all of our hair before our big trip. Thanks Robert!

I think these photos of Lauren came out great, I just love those baby blues!

ALEX'S BIG SURPRISE

Today when Alex got home she was surprised with a new home for her Barbies!! She was jumping up and down she was so excited. I am so happy for her and hopes there are several years of Barbie playing before the new townhouse becomes her bookcase.

Just leaving Robbie & Jacki's wedding reception...the girls are thoroughly wasted from a good time & a whole lot of candy. Here's hoping they sleep in tomorrow!

MOMMY/DAUGHTER & DADDY/DAUGHTER DATE NIGHT

Tonight we each spent some one-on-one time with the girls.

Derek and Alex spent the evening out and Lauren and I spent the evening in.

I can't believe how different they are when they are not competing for attention. Lauren helped me cook dinner, we celebrated another successful day of pottying with popsicles, then cuddled while we sang songs and played a little with her babies. She really wanted to go shopping, because that's what she likes to do...however, it was getting late, so after bath, we decided to shoe shop online. She had a blast. She was in love with every pair she saw and had a new adjective for each one...I think she is addicted at 2!

She's changing so much, I can see some crazy traits coming out in her. But we had a good time together alone and she wasn't ready to stop cuddling with me. It was a nice evening.

SILLY SILLY LAUREN

I am going through my photos getting ready for a crop and I came across this one I took a couple of Saturdays ago.


I am on the Reward & Recognition Committee at work, and one of my responsibilities is to order our monthly award. As a result, I get to keep the mega bubble wrap that the award is packed in. The girls LOVE jumping on the big bubbles. It drives Derek crazy because it sounds like a major shooting going on in our house...but I'll take giggles and glee over whining and fighting any day.

Anyway...after we finished popping every last bubble, Lauren climbed into the box and I pushed her around (something she also likes to do with the laundry basket). Her smile made me smile and of course I had to capture it!

BLOOD DRIVE

I gave blood again today. I am always excited to go and do something that could save lives. I had my 2nd fastest time for emptying a pint: 4 minutes 38 seconds.

The theme for today's blood drive was 'And The Beat Goes On.' I got a cool shirt with the Music & Life design, which is about as cool as my 'I Rock' shirt.

The Red Cross trademark is "The need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give Blood."

I hope you will consider joining me in donating your blood as well.

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Here are some interesting facts about donating blood:

One donation can help save the lives of up to 3 people

The average adult has about 10 to 12 pints of blood in his body. Roughly 1 pint is given during a donation

Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood

More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day

One out of every 10 people admitted in a hospital needs blood

Total blood transfusions in a given year: 14 million (2001)

The average red blood cell transfusion is approximately 3 pints

The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O

The blood used in an emergency is already on the shelves before the event occurs

Sickle cell disease affects more than 80,000 people in the U.S., 98% of whom are African American. Sickle cell patients can require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lives

More than 1 million new people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.

A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.

TEST

This is a test... I think I figured out how to blog from my phone! Cool huh?

WE ARE IN!

Today we received our letter from the district that Alex got into Maize Central. I am so relieved. I can't wait for her first day of kindergarten to arrive now. I know it will be here sooner than I think.

ALEX FUNNY

Alex just told me "it would be really sad if you couldn't sing or dance." She said this while showing me how she "shakes her bootie." I'm still giggling. That's my girl.

GETTING THERE

Almost caught up with the blog. Still have several drafts out there for April and May events. Need to get all the photos uploaded first. A lot of updates will be coming in the next week. We have had a month of several firsts and I want to make sure I get them all recorded for my faithful readers.

ALMOST JUNE??

I can't believe it is almost June and I haven't updated the blog in a couple of months. Looking back at the calendar, there aren't many days where something wasn't going on...in May alone, there are only four days on my calendar that aren't filled. Not that I am making excuses, but there just hasn't been a lot of computer time. I can count on one hand how many times I have logged on in the last couple of months, and it was to pay bills, clear email or chat.

So...I will start updating slowly, going through the drafts and adding photos...and try to get caught up before I get even further behind with the busy summer coming up!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

We had a great anniversary...Saturday we went to see the U2 Cyberdome show and then to Yia Yia's for dinner where we were given the royal treatment...white linens and flowers on the table, wine...a very nice time. Afterward we took advantage of the free time to spend about 4 hours shopping. Didn't buy much, but went all around town dressed up and spent some alone time together.

DAY TRIP AND PICNIC

Today we packed a picnic and loaded up the car to go to Anthony. We visited the Burchfiel Cemetary where my grandparents and great grandparents, and so on are buried. Then we had a picnic in the gazebo.

The girls enjoyed reading the headstones and looking at the years.

We were all exhausted when we got home so we took a nap. It was a really good day together as a family.

T-BALL FUNNY

So Alex came home from her 1st t-ball practice today. Derek was telling me about it since Lauren needed to stay home and take a nap. He told me she has some talent, she picked up the general concepts quickly, and can throw really well over handed.

I said to Alex, "I heard you did really well at practice today, that's awesome."

She replied, "Yeah, I just said in my head: 'Game On!' "

I chuckled for quite a while about that.

TAP & TUMBLE RECITAL

Tonight was the Tap and Tumble Recital at Park Place.

Both girls were in it this time and it was quite the show!

This time Alex's skirt stayed up, which is a good thing, because she was pretty concerned about that. At the time, it provided comic relief to the audience adoring their cuties. But she still has a vivid memory of the event. Since then, we have been encouraging her to eat so that maybe it wouldn't fall off of her again!

We also saw Lauren for the first time on stage. She is quite the entertainer.

When it was her turn, Lauren did the things she wanted to do, not necessarily the program that the teacher wanted her to perform. And when it was time for her to sit and watch her classmates...well, she performed then too! Making silly faces for the audience, eliciting giggles and stealing the limelight from other children. Yep, that's our goofy little girl. It reminded me of Alex's Thanksgiving Program when she was 2. She was convinced she had a solo and made sure everyone noticed her.

We had the largest group by far, and it just goes to show you that we have the greatest family and friends! We appreciate everyone who took the time to share this night with us and to come support the girls. They were ecstatic to see everyone there for them as well.

Sadly, the lighting wasn't the best, and even though I was in the front row, my little point and shoot did not capture any good photos. Thank goodness for video! In the meantime, a couple of moms are going to send me their photos for scrapbooking, but I have none to post on the blog for now.

TIGER TREK!

Today we went to see the highly anticipated opening of the Tiger Trek exhibit at the zoo. I have been waiting all my life for the zoo to get tigers, so I am pretty sure I was more excited about it than the kids.




We had a plan, get up early and go! We got there shortly after the exhibit opened during the members-only preview weekend. We got right in, spent as long as we wanted watching the tigers and got to see them up close and personal as they came right up to the glass and didn't disappoint.

Then we headed to the gorilla exhibit, where we also got right in and out. It was fabulous!

As we were exiting the Asian area, the line to see the tigers was at least half a mile long. We heard later that some people waited an hour and a half or more to get in. Thank goodness for getting up early!