Beauty and the Beast...at a quick glance

I have a great group of friends from work that get together here and there with our kids. We have play dates in the summers and have gone to a few events this school year together. My friend Ellen planned and organized for all of us to see Beauty and the Beast at one of the high schools. I LOVE high school plays! I was so excited. I decided that Aubrin would not sit through a play and it would be in her best interest to stay home with daddy. I thought Jackson would love it. He loves the movie, so I thought this would be a great first play for him to see.

I didn't tell him until today after I put Aubrin down for her nap what I had planned. Aubrin would have been devastated knowing we were going to see Belle without her and I'm sure Jackson would not have kept it a secret. He was so excited when I told him. I THOUGHT it was going to be perfect.

As we were driving there, Jackson starting asking questions about the play, the music and the costumes. He really seemed as if he couldn't wait. Once we got there and inside he was a bit tired and just wanted it to start. I also found out when we got there that the play was 3 hours long. I didn't know if Jackson would last 3 hours, but we would stay as long as he would last.

Well, it didn't last long. As the play started Jackson said that he liked the music, was clapping between scenes... then the Beast came on stage. Jackson was sitting on my lap so he could see better. My arms were wrapped around him and all of the sudden I could feel his heart pounding so hard and fast. I didn't say anything, but I could feel that he was uncomfortable. He turned to me and said, " Can we please leave these seats right now?" I asked him what was wrong as big tears were in his eyes. He said, "I really don't like the Beast. He is really scary and I just need to leave right now." Is little heart was still pounding so hard and so fast. So we quietly got our coats on and left the theater. Once we got to the car he said, "Mom, I am so sorry if you are disappointed we had to leave. I just really didn't like him at all. He was so different from the movie." I told him it was nothing to be sorry about and it wasn't a big deal at all. On the way home we decided to stop of at the store and do a little grocery shopping and then head home. When we got home Aubrin met us at the door, very excited to show off her new pink toes that daddy painted for her. She thought they were pretty fancy and loved that daddy did them.

Once we were in the house and settled I pulled the program out of my purse and showed Jackson the picture of the boy that was playing the Beast and what he looked like under the costume. Then I dropped it and didn't talk about it the rest of the night.

Going to bed tonight was hard for Jackson. He said that he didn't want to go to bed because he was scared that he might have a dream. Poor guy. He snuggled with me on the couch for a bit and then Todd carried him up to bed. I sure hope he has a peaceful sleep.

Wedding Shower

Today after spending time at school with Jackson I raced to my soon to be sister in laws wedding shower. The shower started at 11:00am, and kindergarten round up ended at 11:15ish. I ran home, changed my clothes and out the door I went. It was a fun afternoon spent with my mother in law and all of my sister in laws. Kyle and Colleen got a lot of great things today. It feels like we just did all of this with Scott and Katie and now it's Kyle and Colleens turn. The big day will be here before we know it. The bachelortte party in Chicago is coming in a few weeks and I am really looking forward to a night away with the ladies.

Todd is excited as he is the Bestman and both kids will be walking down the isle with all of their cousins. It will be a wonderful celebration.

Kindergarten Round Up

About a month ago I was opening the mail when I opened one envelope and my heart stopped for a few seconds...it was an invitation to Kindergarten Round Up...for Jackson. What? How did this happen? Of course we have been talking about going to kindergarten with Jackson for a long time, but the fact that I saw it in writing and the fact that someone was inviting us to a school to make it real was seeming to be impossible to me that this day has arrived already.

Sure enough at 5am this morning Jackson was up and ready to get his day started in kindergarten. Todd and I just laughed, because we knew he would be up early. I'm in love with his excitement about life. Jackson was very particular about getting ready this morning. He picked out his clothes, not what I had in mind, but went with it. He spent a lot of time in the bathroom doing his hair and flossing his teeth and finally he was ready. Aubrin was disappointed she wasn't coming with us, but was very excited that she got Kalynn all to herself.

Jackson was quiet in the car on the way to the school. When we got there and Todd opened the door, Jackson said, "I'm ready to go home dad." Todd reassured Jackson that it would be fine and many of his friends would be there. As we were walking up to the school I looked down at Jackson and he had a quivery lip and his eyes were tearing up. He was feeling so nervous. Todd scooped him up, gave him a little love and then...we saw one of his buddies. The tears were gone and my confident little guy was back. When we walked in all of the teachers were lined up behind a table and were handing parents names tags to write their child's name on. Jackson took the pen and said he could write his own name~ good job big guy. All of the kids were then split into groups. They were going to all three kindergarten rooms to spend time with each teacher, and then ride the school bus.

We stayed back in the gym to listen to the principal and the PTA talk. I know how Kindergarten Round Up works, I do it every year on the other side of it. I know that all three of those kindergarten teachers were doing some type of assessment to see ability level and with only meeting Jackson for a short time would make some type of judgement on what type of student he is. I felt nervous for Jackson and hoped that he felt comfortable and was loving every minute of it.

We sat and listened to the principal talk and the PTA about the school, the first week of kindergarten and all of questions and answers. I must say I was very impressed with the school and I am very excited about becoming part of the school community.

A bit later all of the students started to come back into the gym to find their parents. Jackson came in with a smile on his face and said he had a lot of fun. On the way home Jackson said he loved riding the bus and he liked the story one of the teachers read to them.

I'm so glad that Jackson's experience went well and he is so excited to go back in the fall. Now I just have to prepare myself for him to go....

Dressing Up

This past weekend looked beautiful out, but it was still very chilly. We spent some time outside, but for most of the weekend Jackson and Aubrin played in the playroom. Over the past month or so they have been playing great together. (I'm probably putting a jinx on it since I am writing about it!) This weekend they spent a lot of time dressing up. Jackson loves wearing his policeman and fireman uniforms, and often will sneak on a princess dress before Aubrin quickly lets him know they are only for girls! Aubrin LOVES to get ready at her vanity.

She straightens her hair or as she would call it "getting her hair hot." She loves putting her tutu's on and twirling. I love listening to their conversations as they play. Jackson acting very concerned reminded Aubrin to be careful and not burn herself on the straightener. After the little princess was ready, Jackson explained to her that he would be her protector from any dragons. So fun to listen to and watch!

Aubrin LOVES to pose for the camera!

This is an interesting choice of dress for Jackson. He explained it as Buzz Lightyear needing to fix something, so he put on the Home Depot apron, but he also needed his fireman helmet to protect his eyes with the shield. I totally love pretend play at this age!

Toy Story

Since December I have been talking about taking the kids to see Toy Story 3 on Ice. It was one of those things that I talked about, forgot about and then remembered about it a few weeks before the date. Once my busy mind remembered it was coming to town the only tickets left were ones really high or ones that were really expensive. So Todd called got tickets that were a bit higher than we wanted, but that's all that was left.
It was an 11:30am show, so we left our house Sunday morning only telling the kids that we were going on an adventure. Jackson guessed the possibilities the whole way there. Once we pulled into the Palace he said, "Are we seeing the Wiggles?" We have been to the Palace a couple times to see the Wiggles. We told him no. Then he said, "Are we here to see a basketball game?" We told him that wasn't it either. We went inside and got in line to get our tickets from will call. Both kids noticed that there were posters of all the Toy Story characters every where and little kids were dressed up. Jackson said, "Is Buzz and Woody here?" Todd and I both smiled and the kids got so excited. When Todd got our tickets he asked if by chance there were any better seats and the lady checked and sure enough there were~PERFECT!!!! When we got to our seats I couldn't of asked for better ones. We had a perfect view and were really close. Once the show started Jackson and Aubrin couldn't take their eyes off the characters. Aubrin danced and waved to the characters during the whole show. Jackson laughed and danced a bit in his seat himself. Once we got back in the car after the show the kids were both out before we got out of the parking lot. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

The basement...a sneak peek

When we first moved in our house five years ago we prioritized things we wanted to do to or get for the house. Finishing the basement was on the list, but no where near the top. Over the past couple years we have completed many things on our list and finally the basement sprang to the top.





We had MANY people come and give us quotes before deciding to move forward. Construction started in mid September and moved rather quickly. We decided to have a storage area made, bathroom put in, bar, living area and a craft room for me. Once construction got to a certain point Todd and I looked for counters, cabinets, brick, slate...wow it was a lot of choices. We worked with some great people that helped us put it all together. Todd and my dad istalled the cabinets in the bar and Todd worked with his dad to do the tile, slate and brick work. Aubrin and Jackson have been hard workers, painting inside of closets and doing some of the handy work. At this point the basement is completely painted, the bar is done and the rest of the ceiling and flooring will be installed in the net couple of weeks. Here are a few before pictures of the basement and a picture of the bar. We are still waiting for a wine rack to be installed, but it is well on its way to be complete. More pictures to come as things are completed!!!!

Family Hockey Night

Earlier in the week Michele sent out an e-mail to let us know that they were heading to the Whalers game on Friday night and extended the invitation. We've been trying to get together with the Racka's for a while now, so we thought this would be perfect. We ended up having a few extra tickets so Ron, Brett and Logan joined us as well. We met for dinner at 5:30 at CJ's, the brewery connected to the ice arena. When we got there, Jackson and Aubrin were excited to see their cousins and eat dinner with them. Aubrin stayed busy giving Violet and Stephen water through a straw and Jackson was busy chatting with the boys. We were at dinner for about an hour and a half and was more than pleased that all of the kids were on their best behavior. As we were leaving dinner and walking into the arena Aubrin was pretty sure that WE were the ones playing hockey and she seemed a bit nervous. I reassured her that we were watching the game and there would be no hockey playing for us. She said, "I'm so happy the hockey boys are playing and not me." When we walked in the arena Jackson was so excited to be there. We were walking to our seats and he just stopped and starred at the ice to see the mascot skating around. It was so fun watching his little eyes light up. Once we got to our seats the boys were already cheering. Todd and I were both happy that it wasn't a packed game. This gave all of the kids a bit more room to move around. Aubrin was a bit "busy" saying hi to all of the boys that were sitting behind us. There was a group of young boys, maybe fifth grade, sitting behind us with their hockey jerseys on. She just kept saying, "Hi hockey boys." Then she got side tracked and was entertained with Violet and Stephen...thank you babies!!!!! By the time we left the game and got home it was 10:30. The kids were wide awake on the way home, but they both fell asleep before their little heads hit the pillow. The Whalers lost, but it was great night out with family and friends.