Boards, Ballet, & Big Girls

It's only February & I am enjoying this year immensely.  Year 2013 is full of anticipated events & changes that will be bringing Chase closer to his occupational goal of becoming an optometrist!  We are incredibly happy that he has fallen in love with his field of choice, which will be such a blessing in his life as he will be doing this for-ev-er.  BUT...and this is one BIG "but,"
he has to pass a series of 3 tests aka 'boards' that will enable him to practice after he has graduated, and this first test is coming up mid-March.  This tests take immense preparation, costs lots of dinero, & brings on the stress levels that no one wants to take on.  We don't see much of Chase these days.  He studys for his classes and weekly tests, spends long days in the campus clinic doing optometry work, he works a late night or two a week, & then has to continue to study for boards throughout it all. Even though he copes with stressful situations very well (like 100 times better than I do), we can tell he is feeling the pressure and there's not much we can do but pray for him and pick up the slack around the house.

The below pictures are Chase comforting Seryn after a nightmare or something that caused her to wake up and cry in such a way that broke our hearts.   She feel asleep in his arms and he thoroughly enjoyed it- I sat close by with a little envy in my eyes.

We luckily have a little bit of a busier schedule now, which saves my sanity.  Sailor is attending a ballet class as well as a creative movement class.  I am so glad we signed her up for this inexpensive (gotta love livingsocial coupons), great opportunity.

 As children, Chase & I were the epitome of "shy,"  like most children I'd assume but we were both on the EXTREMELY shy side.  Because I want to do all that I can to keep my children from being THAT shy, I decided a dance class with a bunch of strangers would be a great start for Sai.

--OK, we did join the class with Sailor's little friend Addie.  I didn't want to throw her in shark infested waters without the little support of a life preserver. :)

It's been a few weeks in attendance and so far so good!  She listens to the teacher and sits with the class without tears.  She still gets a little nervous before the class and tells me she wants to "stay home with Daddy because I'm shy,"  but once we have our little "it's ok- you will have fun- mommy will watch you through the window- we need to practice not being shy" talk she goes in and participates well.   She also just transitioned into primary this January, which has be a fun, successful change for her.  She thoroughly enjoys singing songs in primary & comes home singing a new one each week.

Non-related quick story:

Where we live we are able to step outside this time of year and witness several hot air balloon flights on a daily basis.  They are distant but the girls never fail to spot them in the sky.  Sailor gets excited about them whenever she sees them and asked me one day if she could ride one.  I started by telling her we don't have any money- which is semi-true but I thought ok that doesn't mean anything to her young brain. So then I proceeded to tell her it costs lots of money and so she might have to save up for that.  A few hours after that she was playing up on the counter next to me in the kitchen and she burst out with, "Mom! We have some money!  Now we can go on the hot balloon ride!"

So sweet and innocent......this is the "money" she found:

I let her put that in her little piggy bank and told her, "that we better keep finding more." ;)



Speaking of Seryn, (just kidding, I wasn't just talking about Seryn, but onto the next child)...

Almost 19 months old! This girl won't stop growing on me!  She just started nursery a several weeks ago & she didn't flinch or look back once when we brought her into the room.  This girl likes everyone & isn't afraid to be away from mom or dad for a second......tear.  No, I actually really enjoy this time. Church is my sanctuary now! I can listen and participate and learn sooo much.  And I love it!  Seryn also really enjoys her princesses.  She doesn't say more than about 7 audible words, but she will tell you what Ariel sings if you asked her.  Her response is a sweet little song, "aahh, ahhh, ahhh,"
mimicking Ariel's singing voice of course.  She likes her nap times and always needs to be accompanied with the same 5 little friends: her Ariel doll (naturally), Elmo, her white cat, her black cat, and "Mango" her orange cat.................................she loves cats. 

The girls & I just recently made their very own "rice bags" for their sleeping pleasure.  We went to a fabric store to pick out the fabric they wanted, threw some rice into the little pillow shaped bags, and viola!  Now they love to microwave them and sleep with those warm bundles.  I often find Seryn hugging hers through out the night.  The picture below is Ser holding the two rice bags.  Sailor's is the orange and black one which is "Halloween" print and Seryn's is the one plastered with rainbows and "Abbys"- from Sesame Street.  I think the fabric choices are very appropriate and fitting for the individual.

As for me, I try to stay in a routine of some sort with the things I need to do and the things I want to do. The things that entertain me lately are the shows I watch while I exercise, the schedule for house maintenance, the meal planning, photography, my educational endeavors (aka trying to indulge myself into educational reads aka trying to learn something since becoming a mom has made me feel like I am losing all the intelligence I ever possessed), and currently playing the part of "Tiana's mom" which entails talking to Sailor (aka Tiana) in a New Orleans' southern accent.  Sailor really enjoys role playing right now and I think it's sweet. Sailor and Ser are also currently into playing "doctor."  Usually what that means is they get to their band-aids and fix all their little princesses' "hurts." See picture below.

I love that Cinderella and Aurora both lost their eyes.......what a terrible accident they must have endured.  Snow White was the only one untainted by this madness.

 As for the near future, some of my family members are coming down for a week to enjoy some Spring Training and pool time!  Two thumbs WAY up for family and visitor time!