A Whole New World!

We have entered the world of school!

M starts Pre-K in one week!

I am so excited for her! I think she will soak it up and LOVE it!

People look at me crazy when I tell them it's full time though. It's through the public school, so it's 7:40am-2:20pm Monday through Friday! We'll see how it goes. The beauty is that if it is a disaster, it's not required, and I can always pull her out.

But I don't think it will be.

Last week we registered for school. I took her with me. I don't think she has held my hand so tight in a long time. It became more real to her. We are going to a brand new, state of the art, HUGE public school (800+ kids, there are three PreK classes!) so we're excited to be in a new place where everyone's excited to be there.

Last night, we went to Larry's Pizza for a "get to know the teachers night". On the way there, M told me that her teacher is "blonde, with blue eyes and pink lips". I asked her, "what if she has brown hair?" And she said, "no, she is blonde with blue eyes and pink lips." I asked her if she meant her sweet primary teacher at church (who fits that description) and she said, no, her school teacher. I dropped the subject, all the while thinking, this could be interesting!

We walked in and it was a MADHOUSE! I was sure it was a mistake! There didn't seem to be any organization whatsoever and there was no way to tell who was a teacher and who was a parent. But one adult with two toddlers at Larry's is quite an economical dinner, so I decided we would just eat our pizza, enjoy it and go.

We lucked out, and as we ate dinner, it became very clear that several tables of teachers were just down the row from us. We waited for a lull in the crowd and then walked down. Luckily the teachers immediately looked up to see what grade we were looking for. We met two out of the three PreK teachers. The first totally met M's description of a "teacher". I told her about our conversation and the teacher said, "well, maybe I'll be your teacher then!" She was very sweet! (We won't know until next week who her teacher is)

Then we turned around and the other PreK teacher was a lovely young black woman. M was being very shy throughout this entire experience so we introduced ourselves and I pointed out that the teacher had pretty sparkles on her shirt. The teacher said, "anything that is pink. Pink is my favorite color!" M just giggled into my shoulder.

She's going to be just fine.

My big healthy smart girl!

We had lulu's two year checkup last week.

She turns 2 this month!! holy cow!!!!!!

She is 30 lbs. and 34 inches tall!

She loves to make us laugh!
She loves a good "nuggo"
She loves kisses and hugs and her num nummy!
These pictures are all courtesy of my budding photographer! (grandma Jan will be proud :)

SYTYCD Season 7

You might as well skip if you're not into So You Think You Can Dance.

I've been a fan since season 3. I've been an avid watcher since season 4.

My favorite dance is still Janette and Brandon in season 5, dancing to Ruby Blue.

So, not that anyone cares or that I have any authority, here's what I think.

-choreography? THUMBS DOWN! It's better this season than last but there aren't many "memorable" dances like the Butt Dance or the Garden that stand out. That being said, I love love love Nappy Tabs and Sonya Taiea's dances!!! Which leads me to...

-Mia Michaels as a judge? ONE THUMB UP and ONE THUMB DOWN! I value her opinion, but her eyes always being squinted shut are waaaaayyyy less annoying than Mary Murphy's laugh! However, I MISS her beautiful choreography! And I think she and Adam gang up on Nigel. For example, not voting anyone off that one week? It just delayed the inevitable so they could save face.

-"ALL STARS"? THUMBS WAY UP!!! I wasn't sure how this would go down but I love it! I remember from season's past how a dancer would end up in the bottom even though they had done brilliantly just because their partner hadn't held up their end of the bargain. No more of that! Once the judges got their gushing over the all stars out of their system, I think it's been great to evaluate the dancers on their merits alone, not just on their partners.

-The judging this season? THUMBS DOWN! I mentioned it earlier. I value their role and commentary, however I think they've been unfairly biased towards dancers (Jose and Adechike?) and make it adamantly clear how they feel while not really being able to find anything wrong with their dancing!

Luckily that's why it's America's Favorite dancer and not touting itself as America's BEST dancer!

Which is why I will continue to watch. Because I love dances like....

this one

and this one

and this one

And so yes, I will be glued to my couch this week for the finale!

My Pretty Pretty Princess

Dressing up in jewelry with TWO grandmas!

What could be better?

We're melting!!

my daughter and I deal with the heat very differently!

she puts on a fleece hat in July!

I chop my hair!

Hot Summer Sun in Georgia!

We just spent the weekend in Macon, Georgia with our daddy.

It was a much needed break, trip, and time with our daddy.

We didn't want to come home.

But we wanted to come home....

...we just wanted to bring our daddy home too!! (three weeks, we can do it!!!!)

There was lots of relaxing.

And eating.

And daddy time with Sonic happy hour!

And daddy time playing on the bed!

And cooling off by the air conditioner!

Branson Preview July 22-24

There was lounging!

There was swimming!
M discovered jumping in the pool (and Mommy was not talented to get it on film, even with several tries!)
and in the end, there was exhaustion!
And lots of sleeping!
...until the next weekend when we went on the road again!