Sunrise, Sunset

Averson's last day of preschool was on Friday, and it was about the cutest thing ever. This one loves school so much. She is really pissed that summer is so long because she can't wait to start kindergarten. I finally got her to calm down when I promised her that I'd try to teach her to read over the summer so that she can hit the ground running in August.

She wore her very favorite dress and her fancy high heels we won't let her wear to school. When I went to take this "Look how much I've grown" picture I realized that she was wearing the same dress she wore to the first day of school. Guess she hasn't grown that much...

I thought I'd be sad to see her graduate. I kept telling myself, "This is my very last preschool graduation!" trying to will the sentimentality to the surface. But really, I'm in a place where I'm loving the ease of having bigger kids. Averson learned to tie her shoes last week (in about three seconds). Next year, all three of my kids will be in school full-time. I have loved this preschool and I adore the teachers, but I wasn't sobbing on our way out.  

Really making a name for myself

One of my office mates is that person who has several personal calls, loudly, in the shared office area. I've been live-tweeting the on-going saga of her life to C, so I'm inappropriately familiar with the stomach bug that's been making the rounds of her house. This is important because on Friday I noticed that someone had left a bottle of "Poopouri" in the bathroom stall. I thought, "Wow. She totally doesn't mind everyone here overhearing all her personal business, but at least she's conscientious about the bathroom!"  My first thought was that I needed to tell C. Even better, I could send him a picture, since I can have my phone with me now in my non-prisony office! So after I was done with what I was doing, I snapped a picture of the bottle resting daintily on the toilet seat cover dispenser. BUT, I didn't have my phone on silent, which would typically be NBD except I came out only to see another co-worker in the bathroom looking at me quizzically. It took about a millionth of a second to realize that I just got busted taking a picture in the bathroom stall. And there's no way that trying to explain was going to make it any better. My only option was to avoid eye contact and run out as fast as possible.

So now I'm the new girl in the office who takes her phone into the bathroom with her. And who takes pictures of her toilet business. And doesn't wash her hands. If you need me, I'll be hiding under my desk...

Life Lately

I have a whole post marinating in my head about how grief has turned me into a evil monster, and another one about how half-assedly I'm committed to not weighing 500 pounds (I tried intermittent fasting! And there are two bags of chocolate in my nightstand!) But both of those feel like they'll require more energy than I have right now, between work and grading and not selling any of my children or dogs. So instead, a random sample of life. 

Cheerleader hair for the talent show! 

 I have been full-fledged Dance-Mom-ing Syd and her friend, who decided to do a hula hoop routine in their talent show. Then I realized that they couldn't hula hoop. SMH. But, after some tense rehearsals and several creative choreography edits, they had a pretty solid routine. They performed today and did great! Also, I super over-anxioused it, as evidenced by the other acts that were designed and performed by seven year olds.

We're so cool at the Talent Show, we were shades. Inside. At 8:00 in the morning. 

I've had these two cute planters on this wall forever, and the plants in them were not doing so hot (read: I forgot about them but they hadn't quite died all the way.) My cousin sent out a picture of her porch, which had fake flowers in honor of my grandmother, who loved all things plastic. I jumped on the bandwagon and I kind of love it a lot. C said it was especially great how I left the old crappy, moldy dirt in there for realism. 

Averson is kind of obsessed with my Orangetheory, so I'm working on her form. Never too young for a solid shoulder press! 

And in "My kid might be a sociopath" news...

This is Averson's favorite Barbie. "She's happiest when she has both of her arms up like this." I keep finding her in weird spots. And I just realized that we got her right about the same time that Manson died...

We're planting real flowers too! I'm going for an urban farm vibe, so we added a lemon tree and a blueberry shrub ($15 at Costco!), plus some ridiculously colorful daisies. Eli said that it smells like a greenhouse when he walks out the door. Just the way I like it...

We're late to the show, but the kids and I have started watching the Netflix version of A Series of Unfortunate Events. OMG. It's SO GOOD. Like, good enough that I look forward to watching it with them and even C is watching it now. And bonus, I've convinced the girls that I'm "allowing" them to play with my hair during the show. #winning. 

We're headed to LA next week to visit my brother and we're taking the kids to Universal Studios. We realized though that maybe they hadn't actually seen Harry Potter, one of the main reasons we chose Universal over Disney this time. So tonight we're going to binge on at least the first two. I REALLY hope they like it! 

OMG. I just got this text message from C and almost screamed out loud. If this were a horror movie, she'd be creeping up my ankle right now.

My little artist

Last week Sydney off-handedly mentioned that her art was selected for display in a local kids art festival. She seemed kind of surprised we'd want to see it, which is the most middle-child-y thing ever. Eli was out of town with scouts so we took the girls. I love this art festival. It's all messy and frenetic energy.

Averson surprised us all at this watercolor station by thoughtfully painting a still life (and not her usual macabre subject matter, thank God)

Pretty thrilled with her bracelet

Ribbon wand dancing (that's Syd in the beanie and knee socks)

"Purple Koi Fish"

Once we got to the exhibit, we realized that hers was the ONLY second graders to be displayed. My sweet, humble girl. I'm so proud of her! 

Take Your Kid to Work Day (FIRST TIME EVER!)

Now that I don't work inside a prison (much) my kids can actually participate in Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day! 

Cubicle selfie!

My key card was a big hit, as were the empty cubicles that they commandeered and the copy machine. 

The department put on a career fair for the kids, with everything from IT to Telemedicine. 

Learning how to take off soiled gloves. A very universal skill

Telemedicine. Syd is still a little traumatized after seeing the inside of her ear. Eli notsomuch.

 The Fire Department and the K-9 unit were there and let the kids practice. No pictures of the drug sniffing dogs, but it was really, really cool.

Because it was a special occasion, we went out to lunch. I learned that there is a place that sells homemade ice cream within walking distance of my office. I will likely regret knowing this, but OMG. 

Afterwards the kids said that it would have been cool to actually watch me work. I hated to tell them that all that time I spent looking at my computer WAS my work. Adulting is glamorous. 

I *heart* school pictures

Tiny Dancer

Averson has been talking for awhile about wanting to "dance ballet." In true me fashion, I put her off assuming that at some point she'd change focus, hopefully to something cheaper or with a more comfortable waiting area. But then last week I was besieged by a particularly strong bout of retail therapy contrasted with an aversion to cluttering my house any further. God bless Groupon, which netted me two months of combination ballet/tap classes at a local dance school. 

Averson was THRILLED. Like, Christmas excited. So excited that it was catching, and by Wednesday morning I was squee-ing right along with her. She went with me to get her shoes (ballet slippers AND tap shoes!) and her leotard and tiny pink tights. She carefully packed all her things in an old Vera Bradley bag I had in the closet. Yesterday she was waiting for me, by the door, bag in hand, when I got home from work and she didn't complain even once when I pulled her hair back, as requested by her dance teacher. On the way there, she asked if I'd sit where she could see me, so that if she got shy she'd feel brave. See? Total squee!

We pulled up to the teeny little dance school and it was everything I'd hoped for. She was gifted with a tiny little tutu (leopard print). The whole row of little dancers was so sweet, but Averson was the most earnest. She studied the teacher's footwork and worked so hard to emulate it. And this school does actual dance, so she was plie-ing and doing arm work and the tap session was a din of bunny hops and heel taps. It's amazing.

So excited!

She was so upset that today wasn't a dance class day, but brightened up when I told her she could practice anytime. Seriously, cutest thing ever.