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elliott

Messy Bun

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Yesterday was one of those moments as a parent that I will never forget…

I had to take Holden to LA and sat in traffic on a Friday afternoon for nearly 3 hours. Meanwhile Elliott had an on stage dress rehearsal…fortunately Jay had the day off and my mother-in-law is here so the two of them got her in full costume, make-up and a “messy bun” on the left side. Apparently there were lots of tears when doing the bun ~ it wasn’t messy enough. Miss Mechelle said it had to be messy, so that is how it needed to be!

We got to the high school auditorium just minutes before they went on stage to rehearse. Needless to say my nerves were frazzled and I was stressed out.

But, she looked ADORABLE. Better than any hair or make-up I would have done.

She has been relentless in practicing this dance at home. We downloaded the song to our iTunes library, I videoed her in class and she has been perfecting her moves for weeks now. I love that she loves dance. This will be her first hip hop/jazz routine as she just this year transitioned over from 2 years of ballet, tap and jazz. She is very sassy and enjoys the upbeat tempo of the music more in this genre. I admire her for wanting to try different styles of dance to find her comfort zone, although she isn’t quite ready to try my favorite, lyrical. “The music makes me sad”, she says. I know the more she dances she will understand the beauty of these {sad songs} and may want to tryout this style, but for now I am more than thrilled, over the moon, ecstatic the she is attacking hip hop and jazz and owning the stage. I could NOT be more proud and she hasn’t even performed yet!

Today is her big recital and I cannot wait to be screaming for her out in the audience…yes, I am one of {those} mamas!

You take your messy bun and go get ’em, Elliott!

We love you, sequins and all!

XO

Ruled Paper & Scotch Tape

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Look out HGTV ~ we have a way of covering walls with good old-fashioned school/office supplies.

Just get yourself some ruled notebook paper and some tape leftover from Christmas wrapping and you can customize any room to your liking.

Peace signs & hearts if you’re a first grader.

Elliott recently semi took over our guest room as her room. I hate that it cannot BE her room, but we need to have somewhere for our {most welcome} guests to lay their heads when they do come…

We are still in the process of removing things and finding a new home for them…like the side rail to their old crib, Jay’s and my old skool CD collection which is now pretty much obsolete, the vintage fruit prints that I adopted from my Mom when she downsized that I just couldn’t allow her to get rid of and the vacuum cleaner.

She knew that she had to immediately add some color to the white walls {my daughter!} so with that she started drawing peace signs and hearts, cutting them out, coloring them and taping them to the walls.

She wanted me to write “Shake It Up” {her new fav} in bubble letters and color them in rainbow for her…believe me, it’s the least I can do!

Since this is a temporary fix, I have been on the lookout for an inexpensive comforter and some new sheets.

We have a date to go to Home Depot on Tuesday morning when Holden is in school to get some pink & purple paint chips to make a bunting and will also see if we can’t still find some little white lights in the 75% off Christmas crap still on the shelves somewhere ~ I thought those would be cute outlining the plantation shutters.

Looking forward to making it her own for the time being on the CHEAP! I have found ideas for her {forever} room on Pinerest, but now I need to search for some quick fixes without putting a million holes in the walls.

Here is some {pin}spiration eye candy for her {hopefully in the not too distant future} dream room:

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*****

I’m afraid for now ruled paper & scotch tape will have to do.

I wonder if CeCe & Rocky would approve…..

Confidence

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We officially have a first grader…

She confidently stood in line, marched into class, found her seat and welcomed her first day of the 2011-2012 school year.

Thanks to Lolo & Lola for the new school duds ~ she looked adorable!

*****

One down, one to go…Holden starts tomorrow.

First

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This little one is starting FIRST grade tomorrow…

These pics were taken almost exactly SIX years ago.

It was an impromptu photo shoot at Pottery Barn Kids that we were pressured into unable to say no to and ended up costing me a huge chunk of my last disability check….but in hind sight was worth every penny.

I can never get back those {3 month old} days.

Those little arm rolls. Those chubby cheeks. That teeny tiny hair clip holding down that ornery hair.

Yesterday afternoon I took her to see who her teacher is. I picked her up, pointed to her name, ran my finger along the page to the {teacher} column and asked her to tell me what it said. She read it, seemed a little puzzled and then realized that she has the same teacher this year as she did for kindergarten. She was thrilled. WE are thrilled.

I got choked up as I explained to her how special it is that she gets the same, wonderful teacher this year. I told her that I was so proud of her and for all she learned, the friends she made and the person she became in kindergarten. She told me she was happy that she had Mrs. H again and that there were some familiar faces in her class. “I’m not scared anymore”, she said. That makes this mama so happy.

She’s in a combo class this year with second graders which is obviously new to us, but I am confident that everything will be fine since we adored Mrs. H last year.

Here’s to another year of 7am wake up calls, early morning walks to school, scratching my head for some {new} lunch box ideas, homework, volunteering, spelling tests, field trips, etc.

She has a fresh new haircut. Her outfit all picked out for tomorrow. School supplies tucked into her backpack. New lunch box ready to carry all the wonderfully creative and never duplicated {ha!} snacks and lunches.

Last year FLEW by and I am certain this one will too.

My FIRSTborn is now a FIRST grader….

Today, this official last day of her summer, is a reminder to relish these days because in the same time from when she was only in a diaper on that fuzzy white blanket to now, she will be 12 years old and going into 7th grade. Gah!

*****

“I am not a perfect mother and I will never be. You are not a perfect daughter and you will never be. But put us together and we will be the best mother and daughter we would ever be.” ~ Zoraida Pesante

Fork In The Road

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It’s been an emotional week.

Coming off a {party high} with family visiting last weekend and then {celebrating the life} of a dear, dear family friend on Wednesday.

I’ve looked forward to this long Memorial Day weekend with absolutely NO plans. Usually we celebrate Elliott’s birthday, but decided to do it a week early this year.

Although there have been ideas tossed around of what we’re going to do, nothing is set in stone.

We’re at a fork in the road and we can decide which path we’ll take.

{taken about a year ago at Placerita Canyon}

So far we’ve taken the path with silver dollar pancakes for breakfast.

An impromptu trip to our park for lunch where we unexpectedly met up with several other fellow kindergartners.

And an Easy Bake brownie making session before dance class.

We may continue down this path or decide to double back and discover what lies ahead on another path.

Of course, there are a couple more birthday goodies along the way on Sunday.

*****

If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one ~ Dolly Parton

Here’s to the 3-day weekend…may the path you choose leave a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

 

Traveling Fast

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Packing up the car with lots of fun stuff this morning.

Off to celebrate {a week early} this girly girl…..

How can she be {almost} SIX?

We just celebrated her turning ONE with a jungle-themed party what seems like a year ago!

Caution: This girl goes from ONE to SIX in 60 seconds.

{Sad face.}

But I know there will be LOTS of happy faces today as she kicks off another year…sure to be filled with many new milestones, lots of new friends, giggles, cartwheels and LOVE.

We love you, Elliott!

Have fun with your friends today!

Red Blanket

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My little one is back to being wrapped up in the soft, red blanket.

With a Rascal on the side.

She went to school yesterday, but came down with another fever last night. Plus, she is still complaining of her neck hurting for the 5th day in a row now.

We need to get to the bottom of it….hate not seeing her usual spunky self.

Looks like more lollipops and stickers are in her future.

And possibly some of that {bubblegum} pink medicine?

Hoping whatever is it skedaddles SOON.

Windy But Calm

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Man it’s been windy up in these parts last night and today…

branches litter the ground and the power went out in the middle of the night. I awoke at 5:37am to find the Bose blinking 12:01 and the printer restarting so I immediately knew we’d lost power sometime during the night.

I woke little missy up at 7:00am and she was tearful and complaining of her neck hurting again. Ugh! We took a trip to Dr. Y yesterday and all was fine ~ no temp, tonsils were a bit red and inflamed and her right lymph node was a little enlarged, but no antibiotic was prescribed or anything. She even wanted to go to school on the way home….I made the mistake of letting her ride her new pink Razor in the backyard for a bit yesterday afternoon when she SHOULD have been resting….”I’m all better now, Mama!” How many times have we heard that? Shame on me.

So she stayed home again today.

We’re laying low.

Being calm.

No scooter.

School tomorrow.

*****

Wanted to share this recipe with you…

Tomato & Basil Quiche

We had this for Easter Brunch and it was yummy. I substituted fresh basil and used mozzarella instead of the colby-jack. The frozen pie crusts at Trader Joe’s are great ~ super duper light & flaky. Highly, highly recommend.

We also had this.

And fresh pineapple that had me thinking I was in Hawaii.

You really must make the creme brulee french toast. This time I made it with TJ’s challah….yup….delish!

Because of the aforementioned recipes, I will be starting Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.

Soon.

*****

Hope your Tuesday has been nice to you!

XOXO

{Write} On

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Elliott received her kindergarten award yesterday…

Looks like she inherited the love for writing & drawing.

Her award was for {Journal Writing}.

Possibly a future high school newspaper staffer like her mama?

Or, if it’s not already passé, maybe even a blogger!

We’re so proud and thrilled that her {creative gene} is sprouting.

{Write} on, Elliott!

Keep those joural entries coming.

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