School's out!

I'm in desperate need of a blog-a-thon to get caught up but somehow it's not hitting the priority list. I need the relaxation from blogging more than you need to hear about our life so I'll try to snatch it in little snippets and catch up in bits and pieces--maybe in no particular order!


School got out almost 3 weeks ago! We're so excited to have Hayley around more during the summer and she sure is ready for the break! But before we get too carried away with summer fun...here's a quick catch up on a few school related events that happened April-June.

The Book Parade. I thought this was a really fun idea! The kids came dressed as their favorite character from a book then carried the book as they paraded around the school grounds.

Maya and Alice helped me cheer our little princess along! (I must confess that when I first talked to Hayley about who she could be I had high hopes of a more classic and literate character...but I had to admit...we had a book that had Cinderella in it and we had the costume so I guess she qualifies! Someday we will dress up as something besides princesses, right?!?!)





The School Arts Festival. Hayley tried out to be in the annual arts festival and made it. She recited two poems about mice...so dressed the part too! I forgot to take a cute picture outside so this is what I got in the school gym.

They set out the mats and we brought picnic lunches to watch the show. It was a cute program and good experience. It surprised me that my little confident actress actually got a little scared up there. But with mom prompting from the wings she did great and loved the lime light!

As a child I attended British school. At one point I took diction lessons with one other girl. We would memorize poetry and learn to present it "properly". I guess because of that experience I like to teach the kids fun poems. Hayley has a talent for learning them faster than me! Here's the two she performed...maybe you can try teaching your kids if it sounds fun. (Hint: We tape them up in the kitchen and practice while we eat meals). A favorite poetry book that we check out from the library from time to time is "Read Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young" selected by Jack Prelutsky.

Mice
by Rose Fileman

I think mice are rather nice.

Their tails are long,
Their faces small,
They haven't any
Chins at all.
Their ears are pink,
Their teeth are white,
They run about
The house at night.
They nibble things
They shouldn't touch
And no one seems
To like them much.

But I think mice
Are nice.

Good Neighbors
by May Justus

A little old woman
And a little old mouse
Live in the very same
little old house
She rocks in a corner,
He scampers in the wall,
And they never, never get
in each other's way at all.




Eating lunch with Hayley. This isn't really a one time event but I did remember to take pictures one time. We love going to eat lunch with Hayley. The school lets us come any time we want. I tried to make it once a week--helps me keep up to date with current friends and chat with teachers. Maya and Alice love carrying their lunch boxes in and eating with the big kids.





"Around the World" Fashion Show. Another cute event that the school held. Hayley wore my old school uniform and represented England. It was a fun and well organized event with cute kids dressed up, a few classes learned some ethnic dances, and the MC spouted out interesting and funny facts about the various countries throughout the show.

My Mini-Me

Before...

During...

After...

We're twinners!

How many more times is my little girl really going to tell me that she wants her hair the same as mine?!? And that she'll let me cut it even though I tell her I don't know what I'm doing! Brave kid. It turned out darling (if you don't look too close!)...but then she'd be a cutie no matter what!

It's a Girl!

Millie Messick

(a.k.a. "Silly Millie" when she's in trouble!)

60 lbs

3 years old

Yellow Labrador/Golden Retreiver Mix

Our first family picture with Millie. This was at the foster family's home when we picked her up on Thursday, June 4th.

On the way to her new home...

Now this is what life now looks life in our house!

Kids playing happily, (Alice climbing on the table--always climbing on something), dog quietly chewing her bone, Dad and Mom kicking their feet up while listening to happy giggles from the basement!

Really?!? Well, Millie is a pretty great dog. She's really mellow and more patient with Alice than I am! Nothing seems to phase her and it's amazing that Alice hasn't gotten her hand nipped or worse. She has definitely deserved it! I'm grateful that we don't have to worry about the kids with her! She knows several commands already and seems really teachable.

But...it is definitely an adjustment for all...especially me! I really like her and am learning to enjoy rubbing her tummy. But I admit that it is just one more body to trip over and clean up after. It rained non-stop the first two days that we had her and she had a day or so of struggling with house training (yuck!) so we were taking her out a lot. The house smelled like wet-dog and potty accidents and I couldn't stop sweeping up hair (they say she's shedding a lot right now for summer...hope it's true and it slows down). So if I burn candles all the time and vacuum even more than normal I can just about handle it. Luckily we picked her up on Thursday so Ryan's been home a lot to help with the adjustment period.

Nothing we didn't expect...I think we're going to make it. I just can't imagine doing this if the dog was any less perfect than Millie is!

Hayley is in heaven! She has such a natural knack with animals and is doing really well helping play with and train Millie. She has thanked us over and over for getting a dog!

Maya has warmed up to Millie really quickly and loves combing her hair. I'm sure it won't be long before she has bows and barettes in her hair! At least she's a girl!

This was the best shot I got with Alice...that kid just doesn't hold still! Alice loves to grab Millie's face, honk her nose, put her hand in her mouth, feed her any food Alice has and who knows what else?!?! At times Alice seems jealous of Millie which is kind of funny. She's had to do a couple time outs for hurting Millie. Hopefully she'll learn soon! Millie on the other hand didn't take long to figure out who to go stand next to during meal times. Alice just hand feeds her everything on her plate if we're not watching. So, for now, Millie gets gated out of the kitchen when we're eating. What an adventure!

Out kitchen work space area is about 5 feet by 5 feet. Perfect when it's just me in there. But today we had to laugh! Ryan was making cookies with the 3 girls. I walked in to get food for Alice. Millie followed and before we knew it no one could move. Imagine Ryan in the little space on the left. And that's before you open the dishwasher to do dishes. One of her favorite spots to lay so far is right in front of the fridge which causes all sorts of problems when we're trying to get food made and on the table! We're still figuring out how to work in the kitchen with a dog. For now the gate is my friend!

All in all....welcome home Millie! We're so glad that you seem so happy to just watch our chaos and hope we all get to make lots of fun memories together!