Life...

Here's a lovely quote from my calendar today:

At the moment you are most in awe of all there is about life that you don't understand, you are closer to understanding it all than at any other time.

 ~Jane Wagner

I had an experience of this type when I was at a conference for work last week.  I realized that, on one hand, I do know a lot and should have confidence in myself, but on the other, there's so much more I need to learn! 

I've been terrible about updating the blog lately, I apologize for that.  Life has been very very busy with a visit from my mom and then a week away for a bit of vacation and then the conference.  Being back on-island hasn't made life feel any less hectic as I am looking at three separate week-or-longer-long holidays over the next few months.  It's all good stuff, all holidays I am looking forward to, but it sure does make life busy!

AK is amazing, as always.  We have been butting heads a little bit lately though...  the other night when I was nagging her to eat her dinner, she put her head into her hands and said "Mommy, you're giving me a headache!".  Ha!  I told her she wasn't the only one who felt that way! 

My favorite part of the day is right when I put AK to bed, I turn out the lights in her room and she turns on her new glow-ladybug.  The ladybug has a moon and stars cut out so the different colored lights inside shine the moon and stars onto the ceiling.  We talk about the different colors and which one is our favorite (purple/blue is the clear winner) and we always look for the big Dipper.  Apparently more constellations are there, I just need to learn what they look like so I can identify them!

I hope to blog some stories and pictures from my mom's visit soon.  We missed Dad terribly but I think Mom enjoyed her time here and it sounds like Dad had fun with Chris and his family as well! 

See you soon...  I hope!  xo

Abby's birthday!

Getting ready to jump puddles!!!

Getting her toes wet...  a bit chilly!

All in!  Thanks to Ethan for lending AK some Crocs!

AK enjoyed her cupcake with "melon" icing (I think she got the word "lemon" jumbled up)

Storytime with Cindy

Beautiful birthday girl with her momma!

Right after AK's ballet exam, we headed over to the Brosnihans' for beautiful Abby's first birthday party!  What a happy little girl she is, can't believe it's been a year already!

Shame that the swimming plans were thwarted by rain but we had something even better... puddle jumping!  The kids had a lot of fun and ended up soaking wet!  

Hunter's birthday!

Hunter's birthday party this year was a smash!  Literally...  he had a bowling party!  

First there was pizza... 

 Not sure what was going on here!!!

Taking a break after all the hard work of throwing balls!!!  

Scary ant or alien - I'm not sure which!  

What a fun party that was.  As tough as it was to corral ~10 kiddies between nearly 1yo and just over 4yo, I think we managed to not get any broken toes or fingers.  Let me tell you, that is a miracle!  There were many balls dropped and most of the kids didn't have shoes as the bowling alley simply was not stocked with their sizes. Check out the video... 

We absolutely love celebrating birthdays with friends.  I am actually holding AK's birthday party in just under two weeks' time - my mom is coming for a visit so we'll hold the party while she's here.  Fingers crossed for beautiful weather as it's not going to be much fun to sit inside and watch it rain on a princess bouncy castle!  xo

My wee ballerina

After weeks and weeks of secret preparations, it was finally time for AK's first ballet exam last Saturday!

Of course the day dawned gloomy and rainy...  we both slept in a little bit, which was great for me, because as soon as I woke up, I started to stress about how to get a little girl dressed in light pink tights to the studio while keeping her in pristine condition!!!  

Good thing AK had a princess raincoat to keep her dry and a strong Mommy to carry her everywhere!  I was not taking any chances with her getting even a splash of rainwater on her!  

Immediately after the exam...  doesn't she look happy? 

Showing off the pink ribbon in her hair.  Notice the half-can of hairspray keeping those bangs down!!!  

 

One last photo...  hair ribbon is already out and you can see the magic of the hairspray is starting to wear off.  

 We will get the results of the exam in about 3-4 weeks time...  they must be shipping them over from the UK by boat, ha! 

AK really loves her ballet lessons.  If you ask her nicely, she'll show off a move or two.  The next session starts this weekend, just 10 more weeks til summer break.  Fun times!  xo