Just bein’ Annabelle:

I took this picture to illustrate what a fabulous mess Gwyneth is when she comes from school. I don’t have the before picture to prove it, but I send her off to school with a fancy little braid or ponytail or a bow or something to hold back those wild tresses. I don’t know what hard labor she is assigned to during the day but this is how she returns to me:

 

She’s adorable for sure, I’m just not sure what the heck happens to her hair? Does she wrestle? And what happens to the bows and headbands that leave our house? And why do I have to spend time in the morning fixing her hair? I’m setting the alarm back 10 minutes and let this mane fly…

 

Tonight was Gwyneth’s 2nd guitar class:

She was delivered two slightly tragic bits of news. Her fancy purple guitar is too big. She can get started with this beauty while she grows into it.

 

Bad news #2: She can not wear dresses to her lessons! What?????

This one struck deep. I saw a little twitch of the lip and a tear in her eye.

Gwyneth does not wear pants. She wears dresses and the fancier the better.

 

Her instructor told her it is much easier for her to hold her guitar properly in pants/shorts so she should skip the dresses until she moves up to the neck strap (which is probably years away). He clearly didn’t know the impact of this request and when her sadness he quickly tried to backtrack. She accepted the dress ban and is determined to play that guitar.

Annabelle had dance tonight, Gwyneth had guitar and guess who didn’t go to the grocery store. ME! Me, me, me, and I am only slightly sorry. I didn’t care about going out for dinner, but it was kind of late on a school night and the meal wasn’t really great. We are so spoiled with B making meals for us.

 

There was an epic tic tac toe battle between Annabelle and B.

I got to sit and write stories with this fabulous face.

We spent a nice relaxing morning at Poppy and Melissa’s house. They made the girls breakfast while I packed up. They suggested a trip to the Peak 8 Fun Park or an outing to the park, but the girls were so content to play bean bags on the deck. 

Annabelle and Poppy make a great team. They were undefeated. Gwyneth and Melissa are….well, they try really hard. 

We had a fabulously relaxing time! It was so great to get away if only for the night. The girls were not ready to leave and could have spent several more days on that wonderful patio being spoiled by Poppy and Melissa. Thanks for the great time! 

Yahoo for Friday! 

We had planned on heading up Breck after Annabelle’s dance classes, but it got very cold and there were even flurries earlier in the day. What the what?!?! Oh crazy Colorado weather! We decided to lay low tonight and head out tomorrow morning. 

Gwyneth was not pleased. She had Breck on the mind and was super impatient. She was packed and ready to go and waiting another night, especially with Annabelle off at dance for three hours, was just pure torture. 

Finally Annabelle got home. We had dinner and relaxed and had a quiet Friday night and promised to leave early the next morning. 

But we all know I’m going to keep doing it. I like swinging by at lunch and hanging with the girls and their friends. I’ll probably keep complaining that I don’t have enough time to get everything done, but we all know that I secretly like it because I get to see this: 

Gwyneth and Jenna are not in the same class this year, so they don’t sit at the same lunch table. They are clever,  (not sly or sneaky) yes, clever. They sit back to back and then just keep turning around to talk. I’m sure it doesn’t get tiring for their lunch aids to keep reminding them to turn around — the entire lunch period. Oh these girls.

And this is what a typical lunch with 2nd graders looks like: 

We had a shrimp catastrophe this evening. We planned to make shrimp tacos, bought some shrimp, put them in the fridge and then our house started to smell like…well, the worst flippin’, rotting, nasty shrimp. I think the fridge life of shrimp should be more than about 6 hours, but hey I’m not the chef in the family. 

B offered to replace it and stick to our pre-planned dinner. That was not gonna happen. I couldn’t shake the smell and I was grossed out. So, I decided we should go out and I agreed to let the girls pick where we go. Red Robin. So off we went. 

During the dinner the girls decided to make some bows. The bows are quite splendid. They discussed a business plan and decided $50 a bow. Reasonable, totally reasonable. I admire their entrepreneurial spirit. 

Tonight was the Butterfly meeting for Daisy’s…otherwise known as the “Craft Meeting From Hell”. I have no idea what I was thinking. I planned a lot for these girls and it was too much! 

We learned about caterpillars and made little pom pom caterpillars. We learned about butterflies and attempted to make cute little yarn butterflies. Holy cow! That did not work out so well. String + pipe cleaners + a few popsicles = easy, fun craft, right? No! No, No, NOOOO! It just wasn’t happening and there was frustration and some tears (Gwyneth’s tears were understandable….mine and Amy’s might not be the best example!). 

We gave the girls treats and a sent them home with the last craft for our outing next week. They are making kitty toys for our trip to to the animal adoption center. I’m optimistic our next meeting will be much, much, much better….oh wait, I’m allergic to cats. CRAP!

Tonight was Gwyneth’s first guitar lesson.  I didn’t take any pictures, because….well, I’m suppose to be learning with her and not monkeying around with my camera. 

My heavens, she is cute. Seriously cute. She looks little and sweet and she’s inquisitive and eager. 

And I have to be completely honest…..she looks a little BAD ASS! She is ready to rock. She wants to learn every song she has ever heard. She wants to write her own songs. She wants to start her own band. (She has decided after much deliberation Annabelle can be a back up dancer for her band. Tune in later for more on that, because I’m sure that will end splendidly well between them.)

It’s fun and all new and I hope she sticks with it and just keeps on rockin’. Yeah, she’s learning “Mary had a Little Lamb” right now, but I think “Stairway to Heaven” is right around the corner. I just need her to stop yelling out “Free Bird” randomly at her lesson. 

This is what happens to a poor dad on football Sunday with two little girls who haven’t quite learned yet to love watching football. He doesn’t seem to mind terribly. At this point, he’s use to at least one of them crawling on him, trying to get his attention. Comes with the territory. 

My first attempt at gluten free cupcakes for Mrs. Amy. Let’s just say they were…..buttery. They were pretty and Bronco colors, but they were….buttery. Very, very buttery. They were my first try and they will get better. 

We had dinner and watched the 1st half of the Bronco game at the Conley’s house. Sunday night games + school nights are just the worse. We didn’t want to leave early but everyone had to get tired kids to bed for school tomorrow. Ugh!!! It was a really fun night and as usual love our time with the Conley Crew. 

My friend Shennon needed to have surgery this week and after a few days in the hospital she returned home this morning. She needed some rest and relaxation, so Jenna and Ruby came over to spend the day with us.

 

I have been a bit sad lately about my lack of sewing. There’s just not enough time. I packed up most of my sewing stuff and put it in the back of the closet and figured some day, maybe when the kids go off to college, I would be able to sew again.

 

I had a huge bag of fabric and told the girls they could play with it. They were amazing! I showed them  how to use the sewing machine (with help) and they designed and created their own dresses.

 

I am beyond impressed with them! It made my heart so happy to see them sewing and being creative and to be spending the day with them making something unique and special. I loved it and my energy for sewing has been renewed. I just had to remind myself to make time for the things that are important and this is one of them.

 

Oh, and on a very happy note, Shennon is recovering well!

 

We are still in the process of figuring out our weekly schedules. Dancing classes are being shuffled around, girl scout meetings are being set, I’m attempting to figure out how to be in two or three different places at once….and oh yeah, we’re set to open a brand new business on November 1st so all of this is going to get a lot more exciting and a lot more crazy.  I love the hustle and bustle of it all and I love all the activity. Once we stop moving, that’s when I start getting worried.

 

Annabelle switched dance classes from Tuesdays and now has three hours of dance on Friday nights. Wow! I think it’s a bit much, but it’s a nice end to the week and she is very excited to go. It’s hard to give up the Friday night but it’s much, much better with homework and eliminates the conflict with Gwyneth’s girl scouts on Tuesdays.  We’re figuring it out — slowly but surely, we are getting it all figured out.

 

While Annabelle was at dance, Gwyneth filled out her journal. I love how she describes the way we feel about her. She absolutely nailed it!