Where'd February go?

February is almost over. Where'd the month go?

Oh wait. I remember.

I got ready to go to Texas.

I went to Texas.

I got back from Texas and immediately got overwhelmed with life. Dance is ongoing with competitions starting soon. Softball has started. Schedule changes are starting at church and I got elected as team lead for kids (that's what I get for being out of town when leaders were chosen). I need to get to work on VBS. I have deaconess duties to do. I have catch-up work for Science Olympiad. Standardized testing is happening next Friday. Schoolwork must be gotten back on track. Major bedroom changes are happening for the girls - K's room is getting updated to double as a guest room. L's birthday party is Saturday. My house is a wreck and the laundry is piling up.

I make myself tired.

BUT

Mr. at Home and I just got back home from the travel agency and we booked a cruise for early June. I think I'm going to need it.

In a day or two maybe I'll actually upload some pictures and post a little bit about our trip, but right now I've got to disassemble a loft bed and move it across the hall.

T-shirt and Jeans: An Evolution

There's not a more basic wardrobe staple than a t-shirt and jeans. They're comfortable and easy. They can be dressed up or dressed down. They're just something everyone needs.

Yesterday, I took L to dance and K and I went shopping. We wandered into Ross and headed to the juniors department. Which made me wonder when the child got big enough to wear juniors? We flipped through the racks and found a couple of t-shirts she liked and then we found a pair of jeans. When she walked out of the dressing room, I was shocked to see how grown-up my little girl looked.

Today I offer you a series of photos. Photos that show her evolution in jeans and a t-shirt.

1:

She got this set for her first birthday. I love this age as you can dress them however you want.

2-years:

Overalls. She liked overalls and the pink flowered t-shirt. Look at those chubby little arms!

3.

I remember thinking how much older she looked in this picture.

4.

Overalls again. And she still let me put frilly, colorful bows in her hair. Doesn't she look sassy? I love her little dimpled knuckles.

5.

Okay, so she was actually 6 here. She went through a phase where she wore mostly track pants and shorts and it was hard to find good pictures of her in jeans.

6.

And the overalls make another appearance. Comfy, warm, great for coloring at the campsite. And she was still excited that Lydia wanted to be just like her. See?

7.

Jeans and t-shirt make a good Halloween costume.

8.

Now clothes are becoming a little more important. The jeans are *glittery* and the shirt is High School Musical, but still relaxed and sporty-looking.

9.

Yep, we're growing up and looking a little more put-together even with baggy jeans and denim jacket.

10.

Oh, look. A complete outfit. Comfy baggy jeans and a preppy shirt with a hat thrown on to complete the casual look.

11.

This is her look today. Fashionable dark-rimmed glasses, slim-cut jeans with requisite fading and heavily-detailed back packets, fitted t-shirt with a low round neck layered over a white tank with a bright scarf to finish off the ensemble.

Where did this mature, slim, tall, young woman come from? When did she start caring more about style and less about comfort? When did the track pants and overalls get replaced? We were even discussing flat irons for her hair today!

She's still just 10 and she still often wanders around in ripped jeans and an old hoodie, but the elegant girl pictured above is showing up a little more often these days.

Homeschool is awesome

Did you ever see the movie "Horton Hears a Who"? We did. I was a bit worried since I'd heard that the movie made some anti-homeschooling references, but it turned out to be kinda funny. The "pouch-schooled" kid was sequestered inside all the time with the same teacher and the same ideas. The "regular school" kids wandered through the forest exploring the things they saw and touched, learning from their teacher, each other, and the world around them.

I think the Horton writers had it backwards. The regular school kids are generally the ones stuck inside all day listening to the teacher lecture while homeschoolers are out in the world learning through experience.

Like right now we're studying the Civil War. Sure, we're doing all the reading and research at home that are pretty normal school activities. We've got a timeline started and we'll be looking up photos. But we also have more freedom. We can discuss sensitive topics like slavery without fear of saying something politically incorrect that might possibly offend someone. If the weather cooperates, I'm planning to do the walking tour uptown here in Charlotte to see where Confederate President Davis stayed and had his office after fleeing Richmond. We watched Gone With the Wind. Next week we're heading to Texas to visit family and on the way back, we'll be stopping in Vicksburg and Natchez to tour a battle field and some antebellum plantations.

Yep, there are times that I really love homeschooling.

L's Dance Show

Yesterday's dance debut show went off beautifully. I love how organized the shows are for our dance studio. Workers in the wings to make sure everyone was in their right place. Parents in the dressing rooms for the little ones to make sure all the costume pieces are on right. A well-dressed emcee announcing all the pieces.

I spent the pre-show time sewing snaps on the girls' ribbon chokers for their "Pirate" costume. I didn't realize that basic sewing is such a lost art, but I really enjoy being able to help. I like the other moms in our group. We're all new to the competitive dancing thing so we're all learning together what has to be done - like altering costumes, sharing make-up skills and double-sided tape, tying double-knots, and doing a frantic last minute repair for an anxious mama by sewing on a feather-thingy that popped off a hat.

The petites team's first dance was a tap routine to Jump, Shout. I brought my good camera, but I didn't have a spare minute to pull it out of my bag and, you know, use it. I snapped a quick shot in the dark backstage before the show began with my cell phone camera. So it's not a great shot, but it does show a little of the costume for those who are curious.

They did a great job, especially for their very first performance and they are so very cute.

The moms raced out of the audience and back to the dressing room to strip off the pouffy pink dresses and switch to a colorful pirate costume. (Well, actually a few are doing duets and they had an extra costume change, but I decided that L needed to ease into the whole competition thing, so, no duet this year.) I did a *little* better and remembered to get a picture in the well-lit dressing room, but it was still a quick thing with the cell phone.

She's a tough angry pirate. The petites (8 girls, 1 boy) did a very cute jazz routine to "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" and they played the part of grumpy pirates to the hilt. They stalked on stage, elbowed each other, glowered at the audience, one threw a fit, and just generally had so much fun. They were hilarious! At the end, they all whirled off stage and then, all alone, L skipped back to stage center, struck a pose, shook her finger at the laughing audience, and skipped back off. It was the perfect dance for a group of fun-loving, high-energy little kids.

We have a little over a month until our first competition. As smoothly as everything went Saturday, I think it'll be a good experience this year. And L had so much fun with the whole thing. She spent the last 2 weeks declaring that she couldn't wait for the Debut Show. Saturday morning, she was incredibly anxious to get to the auditorium, and she spent every minute before and after the show doing tap steps out of excitement. She tapped through the store, tapped down the halls, tapped up and down the sidewalk, tapped while waiting for the pizza. She's going to be sad to have to wait a whole month and more until the next performance. Oh well, she still has 5 classes a week to keep her toes busy and I'm sure they'll be tweaking the dances between now and then, so they'll be even better at the next show.

Asian Eyes

You know how my youngest daughter is adopted from China?

Yeah, sometimes I forget. Mostly she's just my daughter. Just L. A blur of energy and enthusiasm. A girly-girl who gravitates toward anything colorful and sparkly. But every once in awhile, I'll catch a glimpse of her and think, "Dang! That girl looks Chinese today!"

Which is funny.

Because she *is* Chinese.

I just usually forget to notice.

Today I noticed. Lots. Today was her first dress rehearsal for her first dance show for her first time on the competition team. And those competition girls are serious about the whole dance thing and how you look on stage thing. The costumes are more complicated, there are very specific rules about the hairstyle, and the make-up. Oh. my. word. THE MAKE-UP.

When we got the list of things to have in the dance bag, I knew we were in trouble. She needed foundation and powder in a shade to match their skin tone. Well, that would be dark. But not too dark, but maybe darker than that one, but that other one seems way too dark, but her skin is dark, but she's too little for that dark color. The color I eventually got went on a bit pink and a bit too light for her skin tone, but it works well for the stage.

So we move on to the eyes and my confusion gets worse. 3 colors of eye shadow - one over the whole lid (check), one under the brow (check), and one in the crease (wait, she has no crease). We faked it and moved on to the black eyeliner. It's supposed to go right under the bottom lashes. Well, it turns out that asian eyes sit way back in there and you can't *get* to the lashes and there's a large "shelf" under the outer part of her eye. The construction of the eye and the fact that she's *6* made it very difficult to draw a line anywhere near her eye. It turned out really heavy and dramatic until I cleared away some of it with a q-tip.

BUT THEN came the fake eyelashes. (I told you those girls are serious about stage appearance.) I have never had occasion to use fake eyelashes before and all us new moms were kinda freaking out about it. False eyelashes? On our babies?!? But you know, they were a cinch. I think the flat eyelid made it that part a bit easier. It was harder to get enough cooperation to put on the mascara. Not that she didn't *want* to look fancy, she was just a bit scared of the wand and kept backing away.

But we finished even to a bright shade of pink lipstick and she looked fabulous. She's amazingly beautiful and the make-up just accented everything. We made it through tonight's dress rehearsal and tomorrow morning, we'll get up and do it all again. And maybe I'll remember to bring my camera and take pictures so you can see L and her beautiful asian eyes.

A chance for all you crafty people out there to win something neat

I love to craft.

Yeah, I know, that comes as such a shock.

So this morning when the library was closed, and then the other library was also closed, and we found ourselves across town with time to kill, I decided to wander around the craft store. I discovered a treasure trove at Michael's - a whole aisle devoted to awesome fabrics and craft kits!! It was like the sun shone and angels sang when I discovered the great colors and whimsical patterns on the fabric and the crafty kits and ideas. I'm getting excited again just thinking about it.

I restrained myself and didn't immediately purchase the pattern and fabric for the adorable ruffled backpack. I can't think of a *need* for yet another bag in this house, so I resolved to wait until I thought of a really great project.

AND THEN

I came home to read a blog post by my friend about a quilting DVD she got. Y'all. Those fabrics would make the absolute cutest, most whimsical quilts ever. And she's giving away 2 of those DVDs on her blog. Go. Enter. And then when you win a copy, go to Michael's and buy some of that awesome fabric for your own fun little quilting project. We can even get together and learn at the same time. I've long wanted to learn to quilt and I figure if my friend can teach her little girls using this DVD, it's got to work for me, right?

So go check out the blog at http://broadhorizonsschool.blogspot.com/2011/01/review-giveaway-homestead-blessings-art.html so you can leave a comment and enter the contest.

Getting a good deal

Last November, we went to Florida to bring Cindy Jae back to her guide dog school and then we stopped back in Orlando for a little family vacation. When I was looking for somewhere to stay, I remembered that a friend had highly recommended vrbo.com, Vacation Rentals by Owner. We found a great condo in a great community and had a fabulous experience.

This July will find us *back* in Orlando (well, Kissimmee) for L's dance nationals. We have to be there for over a week, Mr. at Home will be working remotely, there will be lots of downtime between dance commitments - all things that mean a condo would be waaaay more comfortable than a hotel room, but potentially waaaay more expensive.

So I started researching both. Hotels could be very cheap, but there were lot of extra costs to think about. Extra charges for wifi. Having to go out for every meal. Living in one room for a week resulting in cabin fever/letting Dad work that would mean we'd have to go find something to do. Small pools. Less security. That "cheap" hotel room becomes expensive. I checked the same company we used back in November for the condo, but their rates put them out of our budget and they weren't really that expensive.

I hated to let go of the condo idea as it would be so much more convenient and I really liked the community we stayed in with it's huge pool with slides and fountains. I liked the nice play areas. I liked the idea of having more room (and rooms!), including a kitchen to cook our own meals and space for Mr. at Home to do his work in peace. So I found a website for the community where I could request info on rentals available. http://www.windsorhillsrent.com/

After I submitted the request, my email went NUTS. Emails from property owners and managers with tons of available condos and townhomes for our dates. Prices were all over the board, but everything looked very nice and everyone was trying to outdo the others. We finally settled on a 3-bedroom, 2 bath, 2-story townhome with it's own "south-facing" splash pool. (I'm not sure what the appeal is of "south-facing" but several places were boasting of it.) The price is cheaper than most hotels, and in fact, was even cheaper than the rates they advertised on their website.

So because I asked, I got exactly the deal I wanted and I can stop worrying about securing a place to stay during the super-busy July 4th week. It's always a good idea to ask.