The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men . . .

So, we thought we had it all planned out. Instead of doing the big birthday party for Ian, we'd get 7 tickets to the minor league baseball game here and take Ian and 4 friends to the game. We got the tickets, we got good seats. . . then we tried to invite kids. All his best school friends were out of town, all his church friends went to church camp, all his fairly good school friends, out of town. ::sigh:: NO ONE was available for a game last Thursday night except the five of us and his Aunt Brooke and Uncle Chris. So off we went, with a promise for a rescheduled party for another time. We had a good time, but it was not the night we had planned. Here's a photo college of the evening (double click on collage to see pics bigger). . .I need to learn how to do a real collage! The kids love Deuce as much (well, for the girls, more) than the game. . .. and they love all the crowd participation stuff. . . the Hokey Pokey, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", etc. Me. . . I just hope the next time we go, the van's battery doesn't die in the parking lot!

I Love Mail!

So I drove past the house this afternoon and noticed a priority mail box sitting on the front porch. I was thinking it was the Gameboy games I'd ordered to replace the ones we've apparently given to the resale shop. ::sigh:: .. . nothing like giving your kid's big Christmas gift away within 3 months of her receiving it, then having to replace it, huh?

Sent Ian out to get it, and he came in with a box from Scrapbooks 'N More in North Carolina. I'm now the proud owner of these:



I was expecting these, as the owners let people call in and preorder them, but didn't expect them to show up so soon! And they even included materials for a project they did with Donna. Cool!

I had Ian take the picture. First time I've let him use the DRebel. He took about 15 shots until he took the one that he said was "the best one yet". ROFL . . .I think I'm training him to be like me.

I've gotta speed clean now, get the bottom half of the house looking decent, then I'm having a LONG sitdown with Donna! I can't wait! Wonder if I can keep Alaina occupied during Allie's jazz class so I can catch 30 minutes then? Hmmmmm . . .. I'm so looking forward to looking through/reading these books. I can't wait to get started on some projects!

Recital time

Well, the girls actually had recital on June 3, but I had several camera issues. . . .on rehearsal day, when you can actually TAKE pictures, my CF card flaked on me, and I didn't get pictures at all of Alaina's routine. ::sigh:: My SIL took pictures of Allie and my niece's routines, and I've yet to see them. So today, I took the girls to JCPenneys for pictures, then came home and took more (to the tune of 126. . a little obsessed are we???). Here's a few:











And for Connie, a picture of Allie boogie-ing:

Karaoke

Now, some of you may know that I love to sing. . . have for a long, long time!

My girls. . .they're obsessed with Karaoke. Mom and Dad got Allie a Memorex Karaoke machine for Christmas last year, and it stays plugged in up in her room. And I hear endless renditions of "The Ants Go Marching In", "Backpack, Backpack", a ton of assorted Disney tunes, and their absolute favorite. . . "Little Bunny Foo Foo". Now I love a good tune too, and I'll admit, I sang it a lot in my time, but isn't there something wrong with bopping off the heads of field mice?? It's hard finding music I'll let them sing to. We haven't gotten into the teenie-bopper music with any of the kids. . . last thing I want the girls singing is "Oops, I did it again!" And they just don't have the love for the broadway tunes that I had when I was 6-8 (heck, that I STILL have!).

What I wouldn't give for the setup they have. When I was Allie's age, I was singing into a hairbrush, or, for some wierd reason, a porcelain bird statue. You make do I guess.

You can so see their personality differences here. Allie's so much more serious than Alaina. She's quieter, approaches life a bit more gently. She doesn't break a smile, it's serious stuff, this singing. She takes the microphone and puts it up to her mouth so that someone will hear her. Alaina. . . she's the total ham, she jumps around and it's hard to even get a shot of her. She giggles, she smiles. She grabs that microphone and tries her best to eat it, let it record her entire essence that makes her who she is.

Thank goodness, the singing session is over for today, and they've moved onto outside activities.. . . a few minutes of quiet for mom. At least until there's a fight over something out there.

Soccer and Lobsters

A couple of pictures from Ian's day yesterday . . . .

Ian at soccer camp:



















Ian at Red Lobster in the midst of getting all his lobster necklaces. Such pure joy from a boy . . .ROFL. . .of course, it comes with catsup smudges.

Happy Birthday, Ian!

Wow! What an amazing guy you've turned out to be. My hopes and dreams for you were just a glimmer of what I thought could be possible when you were born 9 years ago. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. We woke up early and headed over to the hospital, knowing that it was finally the day you were going to be born (after 2 failed prepadil treatments). I was so ready for you to come. I'd spent the previous day (your due date) walking the Galleria in hopes that you'd decide to get things started on your own rather than us having to induce, but you needed your own invitation into the world.

We knew you were a big baby. At my appointment a couple of days earlier, the doctor guessed 8, 3/4 lbs. We knew you were stubborn. . . you hadn't rotated to heads down until about 37 weeks. EEK! After 13 hours of labor, there you were. .. my gorgeous boy. You know the story . .. I wasn't committed to calling you Ian until I saw if you looked like an Ian. There was concern whether you were okay because the cord had been wrapped around your neck and you were rushed to your little bed unit with doctors to look at you. And your dad proclaimed you were definately Ian. He was right though. (And the doctor was almost exactly right! You were 8 lbs, 14 oz, and 22 1/2 inches long! Big baby!) Here's a picture of you at about 16 hours (If all works right on my first blog photo attempt!) I wasn't a scrapbooker back then and the photos aren't nearly as good as I wish they were, but this shows what I remember most about you. Those long legs that you refused to let us swaddle up in a blanket, even from day 1.



Now, you're 9. You just finished the 3rd grade. You made all A honor roll for the year. You were commended on the TAKS this year. You love to read (you little speed reader you!). You can't wait for the 6th book of Harry Potter to come out on July 16th. I don't think there's a subject at school you don't like (unless coloring is a subject. . .and well, PE's not your favorite!). Your teachers all talk about what a sweet, sweet kid you are. And you're working on soccer. Hoping this week, a little soccer camp will help improve your skills.

Tonight, we took you to Red Lobster for dinner. You wanted the Popcorn Shrimp for your birthday meal. We met with with your local Allison relatives (well, the old and new Uncle Chrises were out of town on business trips, but everyone else came). Took us a while, but we finally figured out a boy of your age might like to bring a friend along, so your best friend Grant came too. Didn't take the folks at RL long to figure out it was your birthday and soon they were draping you with Lobster necklaces. You got such a kick out of it, especially when the manager came over and handed you his business card and asked you to come by and apply next week for a job. You quickly replied "Uh, no thanks!" and handed it back. Here's a picture of you back in February. I took a series of pictures of you and the girls for your dad's Valentine's gift and this was one I liked of you. I'll have to get a Lobster one up of you, but haven't had time to download them yet.



So, my sweet, sweet first born. . . my first blog entry is dedicated to you.

Thanks for teaching me how to be a mom. Thanks for helping me out on the learning curve, and making it easy for me. Thanks for being such a loveable kid. Thanks for being someone who's so easy to be proud of. Thanks for being you.

I love you Ian . . . to the moon and back, no matter what you do, you'll always be my E.

Mom