Hello 2012!

So... I am not one to stay up until midnight.  Those days are looooong over.

However, I couldn't let Lulu ring in the new year by herself so we got all dolled up and celebrated in style!  I was surprisingly awake the whole time! {{and I didn't even get a nap today}}

My favorite quote of the night?

Ahem...

As we helped ourselves to sparkling cider Lulu ran to get a "cocktail ring."  She announced, "Always accentuate your large drink with a cocktail ring."  I almost fell over when she said it.  She told me that she got the tip from Style Network.  Yikes!  

What is your favorite quote thus far???

Happy 2012 everyone!

Sanity Update: Week 1 of 4

My moms group met on Wednesday for our last get together of the year. 
boo hoo hoo.  {{please pass the tissues}}

I skipped the mom's group, for the first time ever, because there was a last minute email sent out (well, it came through on Monday) saying that the plans had been changed and the next meeting would include (1) a white elephant gift exchange and (2) snack to share.  Since I got the email after the weekend had passed and I worked late on Wednesday, I was not appropriately prepared for the moms group meeting.

What did we do instead?  We sat at the couch with a big ol' bag of popcorn and watched Survivor - one of our favorite shows.  Some of us (ahem... me) have watched all 23 seasons.  Yes indeed!

Are you keeping track of my week?
So far, we took out the moms group meeting but added in a tv night with the family.  Sanity is still in tact.

Here's a list of other things that were working against me this week (don't worry - I will get to some good stuff):

Driving:  This past week was especially packed because my oldest daughter (who spends two weeks with me and then two weeks with her dad) was with me this week.  Cheerleading practice started up as well.  I estimate that I spend an extra 560 minutes driving her to and from school and practices on the weeks that she is with me.  I am not complaining.  I am just stating where my time goes.

Volunteering:  Each parent at church volunteers in Sunday School twice a year.  This week was my week to volunteer.  They needed help... in the baby room of all places.  Um... I not real keen on holding my own babies much less someone else's baby.  Babies are a lot of w-o-r-k.  This experience was as pleasant as it could be.  The facility is more than equipped to handle these babies... plenty of bouncy seats and swings and such to keep the babies happy.  But, babies still eat and cry and poop and stuff.  So, it was a very busy morning.  Since Sunday School takes place during church service, I did not get to go to church.  Yes, I could have stayed for the late service, but there was no time for that.  No time.

So, we added in 560 minutes on the road and took out church and added in babysitting.  You with me?  Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you ask me.

School party:  My youngest two had their school party last week.  For 13 years, I have been making creative, fun, and special treats for school parties.  I RACE to the sign-up sheet so I can sign up for something fun (cupcakes) and don't get stuck with something totally boring (juiceboxes).  This year I looked at the list of things to bring and called Bro over to the list to see what he wanted for his party.  Guess what?  He picked CHIPS - Doritos in fact! SCORE!!!!!

So, we took out spending hours of time detailing cupcakes for preschoolers and added in one-bag-of Doritos!  He was totally proud and excited about his chips!  Chips = happy child with no effort.

Reading:  I am reading a book for my book club, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand, but NOT a parenting book that I had hoped to read.  Either way, I enjoy reading and I am enjoying the book very much. 

The highlight of the week was when we added in gingerbread house decorating at my mom's house.  She totally did all of the work.  There was candy everywhere when we left.  The kids had a fabulous time!  This is an annual tradition and the first time that Bro participated.

I love looking at the pictures of Bro squeezing out the icing...

... compared to the pics of Lulu squirting out the icing.  Clearly, there is a difference.

Then we have Lulu's roof...

... compared to bro's roof.  It just cracks me up!

One of my favorite parts might be the before shot and after shot of Bro's front door.

Here is the "before."

And, here is the after.  He kept insisting that Santa belonged in the house.  Since none of the adults would help him get Santa in the house, he did it himself. 

I adore Lulu's sweet cottage of pink and green in her winter wonderland.

These houses are so festive and I know that Christmas is almost here when I see gingerbread houses displayed at home.

Sanity Week 2 Schedule:

Moms group:  Nope.

Family event:  Lights on the Bay on Wednesday

Reading:  Still in my book club book – need to move to a parenting book.

Cheerleading has been cancelled for the week.  DOUBLE YAY!

I need to wrap the teacher gifts.  Easy enough.

There are a few things purposely missing here because I don't want to stress myself out. 

make nativity ornaments for each child

make a stocking for Bro and Bri

set up Bro's leappad so it is ready to play with when he opens it

Our gingerbread houses are so sweet.

What holiday event in your life

signals that Christmas is nearly here?

Paper Hornets

Lulu is learning the art of creating and shooting paper hornets.  We have hornets and targets all over the house.  It's best to both hit the target and leave, gaping hole, and make a loud noise. 

Here is a small paper hornet and rubber band launcher.

She informed me that you can make 14-20 paper hornets from one piece of notebook paper.

She learned this technique during school on Friday.  The kids who take Spanish were on a field trip and this left the few French and Chinese language students in school for the day.  The science teacher let them make and shoot paper hornets... including setting up barricades in the classroom.  She says it was a great day!

She's teaching every member of the family to shoot paper hornets.

What wholesome activities are you enjoying with your family? 

 

Do It All. Who me?

Wow!  What a night! 

First, Lulu and I went to the movies together and saw Footloose.  It was the bomb!!!! That is, I really liked it!  I couldn't stop smiling almost all night long.  The dancing and music were great.  I think I never saw the original Footloose, but the music from tonight's movie seemed like remakes from the first movie.  I'm not really that into music, but I'm sure I would love to have the soundtrack to listen to.  It really was great!

What was my favorite line from the movie?  "A parent's job is to worry."  {{Geez.  Isn't that the truth?}}

After the movie, we stopped into Barnes and Noble... one of my all-time favorite stores.  I saw this Do It All Mom calendar for sale. 

I had to immediately walk away.  I've taken a Zen-like approach to life lately.  Well, I'm trying to be calmer, okay?  This calmness doesn't come easy for me.  Chill. 

Is it just me or does this Do It All Mom calendar make you feel pressure to be perfect?  Admittedly, the calendar was cool; but the title is awful.  I'm sure they will sell tons of these calendars because every mom wants to feel like she can do it all.  Here's a tip:  You don't have to do it all.  mkay?  You will feel tons better if you stop trying to do it all.  mkay?  I promise.

Next Lulu and I buzzed through the beauty supply store.  We found Justin Bieber's perfume set – front and center in the middle of the store.  Did you know he has his own perfume now?

Apparently Taylor Swift has her own perfume too.  Who knew?

To top of the night, when we got home we opened a letter saying that Lulu was accepted into National Junior Honor Society.  Everyone else most of her friends got their letter on Friday.  So, we were starting to assume that Lulu didn't get accepted.  Seeing the acceptance letter was a nice surprise and a great topper to a wonderful mother/daughter night out.

Finally, I need to take care of a little blog update.  So, here goes.

Speaking of the do-it-all motto.  I was attempting to be a do-it-all blogger for the month of November.  I'm sure that on November 1, as on previoues November 1s, I promised to blog every day for the month of November.  I don't think that I have ever made this goal and it looks like this year will be no different.  However, you might notice that I am on track to blog on more days in November than any other month in 2011.  So, I think that's a bit of an accomplishment... only a few more blog posts left to go.  I think I can do it.

Do you feel like you need a Do It All calendar or

does it create too much pressure?

To be honest, I probably would have bought the calendar if I had seen it 6 months ago. No offense to you if you have one.  I'm learning to set boundaries.  One of my boundaries is that I don't have to be perfect.  Is this starting to sound like my own online therapy session?  I apologize.

Halloween Part 1 and Vanilla Extract

We made it through Halloween.  Someone was going to be Taylor Swift... but at the last minute opted for Shufflebot instead.  Why does she always do this to me?  Can't we just go out and buy a costume like the rest of the world???  The Shufflebot is the mascot of a hot teen pop group right now.  It is a person who dances in a robot costume.  She informed me that she needed a "rock star" shirt with the words "Excuse me for Party Rocking" (in a certain font) on it, and she also needed the robot head.

Luckily, I read more than my share of craft blogs.  I decided to use the "freezer paper stencil" technique to stencil the correct text and font onto the shirt.  There are tons of freezer paper stencil tutorials online.  Basically, freezer paper is paper on one side and plastic on the other side.  You draw your stencil onto the freezer paper and cut out the center as necessary.  Then, iron the freezer paper stencil to your shirt.  Color in the letters (or picture) and then peel the paper off.  It works like magic! 

So, here we are with the freezer paper stencil on a black shirt and Lulu is spraying silver glitter paint onto it.

While we waited for the stencil to dry, I dove into the Madagascar vanilla beans I ordered on the Internet.  Yes, this is Dear Husband and I splitting vanilla beans while the Halloween shirt dries on the ironing board.  I made him take a picture of my hands covered in vanilla. I was really touching the insides of the beans from Madagascar for crying out loud.  It was uber-cool! 

So, back to the vanilla beans...  I am making my own vanilla extract. Why?  Because I can.  Ok - well, it is a fraction of the cost of store-bought vanilla extract and I am also going to give it away as gifts this Christmas.  It is important to start now because it takes two months for it to finish.  After that, the vanilla extract supposedly just gets better and better with age and makes your home-baked goodies taste extremely yummy! 

Next time, I am going to make the extract from rum, not vodka. 

Stay tuned as we show off our Halloween creations tomorrow.

Summer Bucket List

Lulu made a summer bucket list.  We completed many of the things on the list, such as make our own frappucchinos, for example.

By the very last day of summer we had crossed everything off of our list except for "go to Alexandria."  Luckily, the stars were aligned and I woke her up on the very last day of summer and asked, "Hey, do you wanna go to Alexandria today?"  She jumped out of bed and raced to get ready!  She confessed to me later that she assumed we weren't going to get to go at all.

I very much want to be my teens best friend.  It is hard for me to see her laughing and giggling with her friends while I play the role of "homework enforcer."  I know that I am not here to be her friend... but to be her parent. I mean, let's face it, parents can be friends too but it's not the same thing.

However, the day we went to Alexandria was a day that we got to hang out and talk and relax... as friends.  It was chicken soup for this mom's soul to be honest.

She had a blast and she loved strolling down the streets of Alexandria.  Most of all, she loved sitting by this fountain with her Starbucks drink. 

Really -- it was a fabulous day!

We just chilled, and strolled, and talked... and hung out.  Can you see how happy she looks?  I will forever cherish this spontaneous trip with Lulu.  Moments like this cannot be planned.  They just happen!   

It was the perfect ending to an almost perfect summer!

I read that parents cannot create bonding moments with teens.

We can only make ourselves available ALL OF THE TIME

and wait for them to come to you. 

Do you agree?

A Visit to a Famous Landmark

As many of you know, I live in the DC metropolitan area.

Recently, my mom, Lulu, and I took advantage of some down time to visit a famous DC landmark.

We didn't visit the type of famous DC landmark national monument that you might be envisioning.

We went to Georgetown Cupcake of TLC's DC Cupcake fame! 

You know???  The cupcake show from the tv station TLC. {{Work with me here folks!}}

We had such a great time!

Here is my list of what you should know before you visit Georgetown Cupcake:

1. Know where you are going. Navigating in and out of DC can be tricky. Luckily, my mom went with me and she knows her way around DC. You can also visit their Bethesda, MD location, however, I really wanted to go to the site that is actually on TV... just this once.

2. Dress for the weather and be prepared to wait in line outside of the bakery. This is not a bad thing. Everyone in line is super fun and super excited to be at Georgetown Cupcakes. For me, waiting with all of the fans and locals was part of the experience. Nonetheless, bring an umbrella or bring your coat if you need to because you will be waiting outside.

3. Check out their website and be aware of which cupcake flavors will be available during your visit. Seriously, this line moves fast. If you happen to arrive at a time that there is a short line, you need to know what you want.

Also, some cupcake flavors are available every day, but only by special order. You need to check the flavors menu, available online, to see which flavors need to be preordered.

You can find a complete list of Georgetown Cupcake flavors as well as their flavor schedule on their online menu.

4. Know the "secret flavor of the day." The "secret flavor of the day" is announced daily on Georgetown Cupcake's facebook page. It is a FREE (ahem... FREE) cupcake, one per customer, for the first 100 customers who ask for it by name. It is not a flavor that will be on the menu for the day. If you do not have access to facebook while you are standing in line, then ask an employee about it and they will probably tell you what the day's "secret flavor of the day" is.

5.  You can preorder your cupcakes and skip the line if you are in a hurry.  Check their website for details.

OK... and now for the highlights of the bakery.

After entering the bakery, we waited in line next to all of this yummy goodness.

Someone took our order. {{Yes, I did just take that picture right in front of her. Obvious???}}

And these guys filled our cupcake boxes.

We totally acted like tourists...

... as we checked out the proper way to ice a cupcake.

Best of all, we walked away with one dozen delicious cupcakes.

 Yummy!!!!

Item # 28 on my bucket list reads:

28.  Taste the food of a television food celebrity (either visit a restaurant or go to a show taping). 

I'm crossing off my bucket list items. 

How about you?

13 Revisited

We did it!

We survived a 13th birthday party!

Guess what?  I didn't cry!

I don't have too many pics to share because most of the pictures involved kids, other than mine, and in bathing suits.

There is some stuff I can share.

That is:

The Justin Bieber decor rocked!

We had lots of food... um... and Bro insisted that he eat in his regular spot, which was a tad bit crowded -- ya think?

Someone made these cute mini-burgers cookies. 

We kept the presents out of reach of Brielle.

We went crazy about the cake that Lulu designed!  (ahem... not made by me)

And Lulu blew out her candles.

Even better... the girls were in their sleeping bags and asleep by 11:30.  By all accounts, it was a very busy day.  Perhaps Friday-night sleepovers are the best -- the kids are so tired from being at school all week. 

Have you had successful Friday-night sleepovers?

13

You can run but you can't hide... from 13, that is.

Someone we all know and love will be 13 tomorrow.

She wore this gorgeous outfit to school today. Yes, that is a tiara on her head.

Let's take bets here...

What are the chances that I will start sobbing

when we sing Happy Birthday?

I'm serious folks!  Hopefully we will be outside and I will have sunglasses on.

Glasses!

Fashion Update

Lulu has dropped the hair bows in exchange for:

Photo taken in Florida while vacationing with her dad.

Glasses... but not just any glasses.  These are 3-D glasses with the lenses taken out. 

Yes.  She wears them to school.

Technology

What was the world like before computers?

Computers are such an integral part of school now.  Here are some changes that I have noticed over the past few years.

Homework - all homework is online now.  Parents needn't wonder what their students have to do for homework... it's all available on the net.

Grades - ALL of the grades are uploaded onto the computer several times a week.  I always know if Lulu is handing in assignments and sometimes I know her quiz grades before she does.

Textbooks - All of the textbooks are available online.

And now... for the latest and most shocking evolution of all... Lulu's latest science homework will be handed in via you tube.  Can you believe it?  You tube?

That's right.  She had to do a project on the vocabulary works in this week's lesson.  She chose to do a "news report" about photosynthesis.  The teacher said that Lulu could just hand in the link to the video.  SHOCKING!

Here it is for your viewing pleasure.



Does anyone else find this shocking?????  I never got to do cool stuff like this when I was a kid.

Pop Quiz Revisited

You all remember the pop quiz, right?

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? - POP QUIZ
You go to back-to-school night. You are sitting in 7th grade French. The teacher tells you that the students are going to have a surprise/pop quiz tomorrow. Do you tell your child about the quiz? Yes or no.

Let me tally the votes.

No.  Do not tell her that she has a quiz.  (0 votes)
Giver her a hint that she should study.  (5 votes - 1 vote came in via facebook... ahem)
Yes, of course.  Definitely tell her that she has a quiz.  (1 vote - that's MY vote)

Really?  You wouldn't tell her that she has a pop quiz? 

I only find this so interesting because I CLEARLY remember going to my 7th grade Spanish Class the night after back-to-school night.  EVERYONE {{well, it seemed like EVERYONE}} in the class knew there was a pop quiz, except for me.  When I asked my parents why they didn't tell me about the quiz they said, "The teacher told us not to tell." 

I was shocked to be faced with the same dilemma for my own daughter.  And... for 24 LONG YEARS I have known OF COURSE I WILL TELL HER!!!!!!!

Conclusion:  I did not tell Lulu about the quiz because she had already taken the quiz.  As it turns out, the French class is divided into A-Day and B-Day.  A-Day students had already been to school the day of back-to-school night.  B-Day students would be coming to school the next day.  Lulu takes French on A-Day... thus, she took the pop quiz before I even knew about it.

My apologies if you think less of me now.  :-)

Speaking of Lulu... she is having a hard time deciding if she is a Ravens fan or a Redskins fan (as we have both fans in our family).  Her dad got her front row seats to the nail-biter Redskins game on Sunday... and she wore this shirt to school on Monday.

She did suggest cutting up both team jerseys and sewing them together.  What a sweetie... always a people pleaser.

Who are you cheering for this season?

Back-to-School

In honor of back-to-school night, I have a polling question for you at the end of this post. It's a little survey I am doing. I can't wait to read your responses. You can read about boring back-to-school if you want to... or just skip straight to the poll.

Recently, I attended back-to-school night for Lulu's school. She is now in 7th grade. Here were my observations.

Language Arts Teacher - Very nice. Very interested in seeing the students succeed and love reading. {{great}} Explained that this is an advance class. The students will be moving at a very fast pace. Has 36 students in the class {{a very large class}} due to budget cuts.

Math Teacher - Very nice. It is her goal that every student get a "B" or higher.

After many years of struggling {{not mild struggling but c-r-a-z-y struggling}} in math, only to be told that Lulu is "advanced," she was finally placed in the nonadvanced class. {{sheesh... what took so long}} Yes. This is more our style. Nonadvanced students get to do something I have never heard of before... it's called "re-dos." Yeah - they get to re-do any and all assignments, except for tests, to get a better grade if they don't like the original grade. {{Whoo-oo... bowl me over with a feather... this is what I'm talking about... sign us up!}}  This class only has 21 students.  {{Let me hear you shouting YEAH... I can't hear you!!!!}} 

French Teacher - French teacher seems cool enough.  There is a trip to Canada for students who take french in the 8th grade.  {{Lovely.  I can't wait to go back to Canada.}} 

Science Teacher - Science teacher is young and bubbly.  She says that she is "on a cart."  {{What?  Did I hear that correctly?  You are on a cart?}}  Oh, she doesn't have a regular classroom so she wheels her cart from room to room.  Thanks you budget cuts!  {{snicker}}  The kids will be doing some dissecting this year.

Social Studies Teacher - Loved this lady but the kids are gonna walk all over her.  Her class is located outside of the school building in a portable {{portable = fancy name for trailer}}.  Another very large class.

Overall it was a successful night.  I can see why Lulu is optimistic about the school year - I am optimistic too.

Now for the fun part...


WHAT WOULD YOU DO? - POP QUIZ

You go to back-to-school night.  You are sitting in 7th grade French.  The teacher tells you that the students are going to have a surprise/pop quiz tomorrow.  Do you tell your child about the quiz?  Yes or no.

You Learn Something New Every Day

Lesson #1:  Where we learn the purpose of the dangling portion of a pin cushion.

You know those tomato pin cushions that people use to put their pins in?  And you know that little decorative thingy that hangs off of the end {{it's called a strawberry}}? 

Lulu was standing in line waiting to be dismissed from sewing class.  She mentioned that the purpose of the strawberry part of a tomato pin cushion is to sharpen your pins.  The teacher said that Lulu was wrong and that the strawberry is decoration only.  Lulu insisted that during her fashion design class this summer she was told that the filling in the strawberry sharpens your pins.  The teacher insisted that it did not but that IF Lulu could proved that it did then the teacher would give Lulu a "public apology"  {{whatever that means}}.

Answer:  Typically the strawberry is filled with emery to help keep the pins sharp and free of burrs that could snag your fabric.  {{Amazing.  I had NO idea.}} You can read it for yourself on Amazon.


Lesson #2:  Where we learn one way to feed Buzz Lightyear.

While I was making dinner, Bro was tending to baby Buzz Lightyear.  He said, "Look at me Mom.  I'm feeding Buzz!"  I rounded the corner and found this sight.  Ok... well... that's one way to do it... maybe. 

What have you learned today... besides what you read just now.

I Survived

I survived... the Justin Bieber concert, that is.

{{sigh}} oh what we do for our children.

With tickets already in hand, we headed to the fairgrounds first thing in the morning... to wait in line...

This is the actual line that we waited in... for TWO hours. 

... to get an early-entry wristband, which would hopefully get us as close to the stage as possible for the 7:00 p.m. concert.

It was a crazy long day... but we finally found a space among the crowd of 12,000 screaming Justin Bieber fans...

... and eventually wiggled our way closer to the stage.

I cannot tell you how miserable I thought I was going to be, but how much fun we really had.  These girls had a blast.  There was so much energy at the concert... it was like nothing I have ever experienced.  Before I began my Bieber adventure, I had wished that Lulu's dad would take her to the concert.  Now, I think that there is no where I would rather have been but standing there with a sore back and sore knees listening to the girls sing.  It was fabulous.  As a bonus, Lulu told me that I was "the best mom ever" AT LEAST 2 dozen times... but that didn't matter.  Folks... when you live with Lulu you live a drama-queen life with so many highs and lows... I have never seen her this excited EVER!  My day started at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 1:00 that night... something I haven't done.... ever... probably.  But I would do it all over again in a heart beat. 

Moms - if you ever get the chance to stand in line to get your daughter into a concert... and then you get to STAND all night at the concert... just do it... totally just do it... you will be so happy that you did.  This was such a bonding experience for us.  Just do it!

Oh, and I made a toddler-size pillowcase for litte Bro-man.  He took it to daycare today.  I hope it made him feel special when he went to take his nap. 

What's your most memorable mother-daughter bonding experience?

Dear Edwina

It's that time of year again... the performance of the summer camp play which marks the end of summer camp.

This year's play is Dear Edwina, "a children's one-hour musical; it concerns a young girl who gives her neighborhood friends and family advice through singing in a musical show."

Lulu plays the part of a ballerina who is one of Edwina's friends.

Here is a picture that the director sent to my facebook account.

   
This is kinda a sad moment for us since this is the last year that Lulu can attend this summer camp... she's getting too old!  :-(  On the bright side, we have had to work her entire summer schedule around the play and it will be nice for her to have more free time to spend with friends and family next summer.

Birthday Week

Do you celebrate your birthday for a whole week?  We do.

Lulu's birthday is this Friday.

Yesterday we used her Rita's birthday coupon for a free Rita's icee.  Cotton Candy flavor is her favorite... and mine too.

Today I sent her to school with a note from a fairy in her lunch box that I found on Yummy Mom's blog.  I can't wait to hear what her reaction was.

And, she went to school wearing these zebra flip flops {{Thanks Fairy Grandmother.}}.  Look closely... there is a black bow and peace sign charm on the strap.

I might put some of the shaped rubber bands in her lunch box on Thursday.

She has asked to wear this firecracker headband to school on Friday.

How many more head pieces do you think she can fit on her head?

Birthday Plans

Lulu has a birthday coming up.  We are gonna be low-key this year and invite 3 of her friends to dinner as well as my parents and her dad's parents... and her dad, of course.

So, I have to totally get ready for this party during this upcoming week.  This also means that I need Dear Husband to put together the trampoline that we got her for her birthday.  I also ordered her an insane amount of shaped rubberband bracelets.  While the rubberband-bracelet craze started over a year ago out West (I think), Lulu thinks that she started the craze here because she was the first person she knows to have them.  I accidentally stumbled upon the bands online one day and ordered them for her.  Next thing I knew... everyone had them... although I am sure that the craze was here before she got her bands.  Even one of the Survivor contestants (Tyson) was actually wearing one during the Survivor finale show.  I hope she likes the sets that I picked out for her.  Some of them came from her rubberband-bracelet wish list... a few were some new ones that that I found online.

Here is her rubberband theme wish list.  Note the few little items on the side... yes, it actually says, "nook/ipad."  Yeah right!  She's not getting a ipad for goodness sake.

The birthday and hipster sets are brand new.  Em LOVES peace signs so I know that she will love the hipster set. 

This birthday set picture is not that good.  I think that these bands are actually clear with glitter.

Her birthday cake request this year is... drum roll please... zebra hair bow.  I bet ya didn't see THAT one coming, did ya?  She loves zebra prints right now.  You can see her hair bows (some with bits of zebra print) here and her zebra pants in the last picture of this post.  She also has a zebra jacket and shorts, just to name a few.  So, yes, I have to make a zebra hair bow cake.  You can stop laughing now.  :-)

I'm also half-tempted to make some cupcakes with these printable toppers from an Etsy seller.  Actually, I'd prefer to just make the cupcakes but I know that Lulu will never let me get away with that.  :-)  Maybe I could serve cookies-n-cream ice-cream to go along with the zebra/black and white theme.  Huh?

Anyone here ever made a zebra print cake?  Do you have any other easy/inexpensive cheap ideas for the zebra theme?  

"C" is still for cheering

Another weekend passed... another day at a cheer competition.

This time, the cheer competition was in Ocean City.  Ocean City is a few hours from our house and Lulu had to be on site at 6:30 a.m.

So we stayed at a hotel on the beach... {{like, middle-of-the-winter is the ONLY time I could afford a hotel on the beach in Ocean City}}.

I tried to capture some cool sunrise, silhouette pics... but it didn't work out to well.

I did capture this pic of a TOTALLY EMPTY boardwalk.  When do you ever see the OC boardwalk TOTALLY EMPTY?  Never!

They had a Volkswagon bug beetle car in the show lobby and all of the girls had to get their picture taken in the car.  {{What is the real name of this car?}}

 
Below is a very blurry picture of how crowded this place was.  Does anyone know what I was thinking at this moment?????  Anyone??? 

Allow me to elaborate... this was a small glimpse of the spectator space.  It was STANDING ROOM ONLY at this point... and so sweaty... and I was wondering...

if there was a fire now... how the heck are all of these people gonna get out of here?  What is the maximum capacity per the fire code?  I am sure that we have exceeded it.  This "conference center" was NOT designed to hold this many people.  This is a fire hazard... how will I get out... where will I go?

I took a few moments away from planning my escape to watch Lulu's performance... all 2.5 minutes of the performance.  Lulu is the far left person in this next series of pictures.

Before the jump.

Prepping the jump.

The jump.

And another jump.  It's called a 'herkie' jump.  Now that I see it in still motion... it's much better than I thought it was.

So, now you see what I do with all of my free time.... I wait... and wait... and wait... and plan my escape... and wait some more.  But, she loves it... and so I do it... with a smile... so that I can see her smile!

Parents - what do you do that is pure torture for you... but really makes your kids smile?