Emma and Rosie came to our house after school to play. These girls play so stinkin’ well together. It’s almost unbelievable. There is no bickering with these four girls. They are all kind to each, share toys, no whining or crying. I’m not writing this to brag…I’m writing in awe and pure bliss. If you’ve never hosted a playdate at your house this may not mean much to you. If you have, please consider four little girls ages 5, 5, 4, and 3. And not one complaint, not one bit of bickering, not one girl feeling left out. Just smiles and love and purely sweet playing with baby dolls, dress up, barbies, and squinkies. I’ll just let that sink in for a bit and then you’ll understand my bliss….

Kristen and Darron have a brand new baby girl, Sophie and I had the pleasure to go over and visit her the other day while my girls where at school. Since we hosted the playdate, they insisted we come to their house for dinner. Even with a brand new baby at home Kristen put together a delicious pasta and sausage dish along with fresh, homemade bread. Oh yeah, and peanut butter chocolate bars for dessert. And she makes it all look effortless. If I didn’t like her so much, she would definitely be one of those got-it-all-together-looks-great-phenomal-baker-moms that I avoid, but instead I’m just envious and hold out hope for more of her desserts. 

The girls put on their pjs and crashed while the adults played cards. Kristen and I blew the guys away and regained our title of cards champs after our poor showing last month. I’m not a very good loser, so all is right in the world again…

The girls were so excited to meet Sophie. They were in baby heaven!

Miss Gwyneth was invited to an end of summer swim party today, but unfortunately it was just a bit too late. It was raining and freezing!! Ok, ok, perhaps freezing is a bit of an exaggeration. It was rainy and 50 degrees so the pool party got move inside to an indoor playdate. Afterwards we took advantage of a kids eat free coupon I had at Chili’s. 

The girls are loving their gymnastics class. There were two classes at the same time, but now they are down to one with five kids. They have the gym to themselves — which means they get the pit to themselves. Their favorite! 

After gymnastics, we had swimming and then I let them play at the indoor playground until dinner time. Let’s say these girls were exhausted at bedtime. We read one book and they fell right to asleep! Gwyneth is our little chatterbox at night and will lay awake for hours reading her books and playing with her dolls.  Not tonight! Heads on the pillows, lights out, goodnight, sleep tight! 

B and I both picked up Annabelle from the bus stop today. The walk home is so entertaining, both of us hate to miss it. She fills us in on her day, her friends, the bus ride, what the big kids are doing. Apparently all the big kids carry their backpacks with just one strap. C’mon, all the cool kids are doing it….

Each week they get to pick out a new book from the library. She LOVES library day and picked out this comedy about a kid who is constantly in trouble. It’s a good one. He ends up with a bar of soap in his mouth and has to go to bed without any dinner. He’s relate-able. 

Our neighbor, Miley came over for a change of scenery this afternoon. She has her new cast and won’t be able to walk for at least 6 weeks. Poor girl. Her mom carried her over and my girls were happy to give her crayons, coloring books, Barbie dolls…whatever she wanted! I was proud of how sweet they were to her and she is a great little kiddo. They all play really well together.

Annabelle was not eager to go back to dancing. Not at all. Then her sister started taking classes. Without her. And Gwyneth started talking about princess dances and beautiful ribbons and funny teachers. And then Annabelle couldn’t hold out anymore. She NEEDED to go to dancing class too. 

Annabelle signed up for the 5 year old class and was all smiles. I watched her through the window and she twirled and giggled her way through the entire class. She absolutely loves the new studio and her new teacher. Makes my heart happy. 

We were out of food and milk and rather than going to the grocery store to pick up the essentials I decided to swing by the library to pick up my latest picks that were on hold. I couldn’t miss out on my new books! I couldn’t have them reshelved and risk not getting them again for 6 weeks! 

Oh wait, yeah I probably could. I probably should have got food for my family. I probably shouldn’t be going through my book stash like they are crack and I’m a suburban housewife junkie. I probably should cancel my goodreads account and someone should probably do an intervention. 

Until then, you know where you can find me…..

Poor B just wants someone to watch football with….there are so many girls in this house! Not just girls, girlie girls! We told the girls to get dressed, we’re heading out for lunch and to watch some football. This is the football ensemble Gwyneth came up with…..

And B thought this one was going to be his tomboy. Hmmmm…..

B got me tickets to see Avenue Q for my birthday. We headed for dinner and the show with Gus and Missi at the Boulder Dinner Theater. I was so excited to see this show — I’m not even really sure how to describe it. It exceeded my expectations and left me in shock really. The things they made puppets do and say… my, oh my. It really was quite hilarious!

Thanks for a great birthday gift!

This walk is bittersweet. It’s good to see such a great group of people come together for an important cause. The kids love to see their friends. It’s very touching to see all the tributes to family and friends that have been lost to suicide. I miss Jess. 

I miss her everyday. I take note of her birthday, her anniversary to Don, her kid’s birthdays, the anniversary of the day that she died. But there’s an extra twinge in my heart and kick to the stomach when we walk for her. I guess it just feels like we’re admitting she’s gone, and we have to admit it again every year. We will continue to do it every year. I don’t like, but we’ll do it. Because we miss her and we loved her. 

Our new dance studio is working out fabulously. I feel like we’ve been struggling to find a place since Annabelle’s first lesson – almost 3 1/2 years ago! Our new studio is a perfect fit for us and we couldn’t be happier. Gwyneth loves, loves, loves dancing school and I can’t get enough of her little twirls.

I get some massive migraines. Not often…more often as I get older (getting old sucks)….if I don’t drink enough water….if I have fountain diet soda….if I don’t eat every few hours…if I have bright lights in my eyes (that’s the weirdest – I have an aversion to bright lights)…. Anyway, today I picked the girls up from school and we headed to the park. The weather wasn’t beautiful but we were going to hang out and burn off some energy until dinner time. Then it hit….my vision started getting blurry, my head started pounding, and I knew I had to get the girls home quick. I can’t drive when this happens…well, I can but it’s probably best not to drive especially with the children in the car and I can’t see clearly. 

They had fun while it lasted.