April Fools!

April Fools Day always catches me off guard and I usually don't have anything planned in advance. Sometimes I totally forget but this year, I was gently reminded by a Facebook post to my wall by a friend (thanks Bram!). Since Arabella isn't too into the day just yet and Max still wouldn't get it, I decided to go low key for a little silliness...

Yes, you are seeing correct, I glued googly eyes to a bunch of food in the fridge.  Arabella wasn't sure she was actually seeing correctly when I opened the door at breakfast.  When she figured it out, she laughed and thought it was funny to see the eyes on everything!  It was a bit silly, but when you are last minute like me, you need to take the easy road!

3rd Cheer Competition

For the past 2 or so months, Arabella and her Diamonds teammates have been working so very hard on their competition routine. Never once, has she complained about going to practice or tumbling. She loves it that much. She has 2 great coaches who have patience and dedication to the sport and it shows. So yesterday, we hopped in the car and headed back to Gardner Webb University for a cheer competition. The girls were super excited and were ready to compete! And when it was their turn, they ROCKED IT!!! The whole team did great. (The judging was a mess and even though they did much better than at least 2 teams in their division, they still came in 6th. I think us moms are more upset about it than the girls - they don't fully understand the scoring and are just happy to have been having fun and doing what they love. It just hurts to see how hard they work, how far they have come and to see them "hit" all the moves and score like they did.) Anyway, Arabella was so happy and proud of herself, and that is what matters. In 2 weeks, the big National Competition will be taking place in Wilmington, NC...until then, Arabella and her team will be back in the gym practicing and having fun.

Spirit Wear Friday...College T-Shirt Day

Arabella's school spirit wear Friday was a bit different yesterday - instead of wearing school spirit wear, the kids were asked to wear shirts from their favorite college. Arabella had a few shirts to choose from in her closet, but decided to support UCONN! That's my girl, supporting my university! Maybe her wearing their shirt was good luck since UCONN advance to the Elite 8 last night during March Madness!

Wordless Wednesday

(I know there are not supposed to be any words...but...the first picture is Mike and I at the beach house in Westbrook, I am guessing around the Summer of 1985. Obviously, the second is Arabella and Max. Funny, how some pictures look so similar.)

Mellow March

March has been a pretty mellow month for us...hence the simple title of this entry. I can't believe it is already the 25th...time flies when you are single parenting for most of the month...Jay will be out of town 21 of 31 days this month! We have been keeping busy with homework, cheerleading and tumbling, and just every day things...

The silly Leprechaun's made our milk green on St. Patrick's day! Arabella couldn't believe it! We might not be Irish, but it was fun to be silly!

Max doesn't always want to be in his high chair...so we tried out the booster seat at the table. He is getting so big and was so proud of himself when he was sitting at the table.! The booster seat doesn't always work and neither does the high chair but it is nice to have both options.

International Fair

Last Thursday evening, we took a family outing to the International Fair. (It was a rare occasion that Jay was in town!) The International Fair is put on by the schools in Arabella's school cluster. I am not sure how schools are included, but at the Fair, 2 elementary, a middle and a high school, we represented. Arabella was very, very excited to go and couldn't wait to show us the presentation that her class put together. Each class, I believe, learned about a different country and then had to present information about the country. I reminded me of what science fairs are like, but just with different cultures and not science. I was surprised at how many countries were represented - France, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, United Kingdom, Scotland, Peru, China, Japan - and many others. Arabella's class did their presentation on India...it was nice to see the art work and to hear her tell us about what she learned.

When we visited the other presentations, some had hands on learning.  She tried to make Stonehenge, she made origami and tried writing in Chinese! Along the way, she had her "passport" stamped and brought it into school to earn a trip to the "treat box".

She was very happy to see two of her classmates and they had fun running around for a bit!

First Bike Ride

A few weekends back, the weather was just perfect. I wanted to get out and enjoy the sun and warm weather before it turned rainy and cool. Jay and Arabella wanted to roller blade/roller skate while I put Max in the bike seat. He was excited to put on his helmet, although it took me awhile before he would actually let me tighten the chin strap. At first, he wasn't sure what to make of the ride...you can see how unsure he is in this picture...

But once we started going, he was into it.  He loved checking everything out and had a blast riding with me and following Arabella once she switched over to riding her bike.  I am sure we will be doing a bunch more riding this year.  Especially now that he likes the bike - Jay told me the other day, Max wanted into the garage so he opened the door.  When he walked out, he was babbling and then pointed up towards my bike, I guess he was telling Jay that he wanted to take a ride!