Dance Recital, Update, and So Long for a While

Ahhhh....I'm actually sitting down on this Sunday afternoon since my husband took my older kids to a baseball game and my youngest is napping upstairs.  After the pre-K graduation Friday morning, dance recital excitement took hold of our house.  Friday night was the rehearsal and Saturday night was the actual performance.  My girl loved it everything about it, from the bright lights, to getting "glam" for the event, to the flowers her brothers & dad gave her after her performance.

Below my older two at the restaurant after rehearsal...

...my daughter and her dance teacher pre-recital...

...little dancers hanging out before their performance...

...and finally the lollipop dancers!

As an update on our family, we're all looking forward to the summer.  My kids are swimming on a pre swim team this summer and I am looking forward to being a swimming mom for the first time.  I have sunscreen, a huge cooler, and a recipe for swimmers ear drops ready to go!  As for me, I have a couple of sprint tri's in the future along with the olympic distance one in the fall.  Sprinkled throughout the summer are various trips, a trip to Hawaii for my husband and I (we celebrate our 13th anniversary in a week!), a family trip to TN, a couple of work trips for my husband, and a work trip for me where I was invited to give a podium presentation.  Having said that, I'm signing off for a while.  Have a wonderful summer!

Pre-K Graduation

My son's pre-k class had a graduation ceremony at the zoo on Friday.  My husband and I were both able to attend and it was such a treat to be able to spend some time with our oldest by himself!  When you have 3 kids with only three and a half year between the oldest and youngest, individual time with one of them is rare and therefore very special.

While my son is looking forward to kindergarten it was so much fun to celebrate with the families we have been at pre-school with for a few years.  The wonderful teachers and kids at his school have been such a blessing.  

Acrobatic Temper Tantrums

My youngest is quickly approaching the "terrible two's" and is already exhibiting some feisty behavior.  He can throw some spectacular temper tantrums.  We took the below pictures over the span of a minute while he was protesting me taking away the remote control from him.  We were impressed with the acrobatic feats he accomplished in his anger.  ;)

Solar System Party, Mother's Day, & a Triathlon

We had a great weekend!  Some dear friends of ours from Colorado came down.  We had my son's 5th "solar system" themed birthday party which was so much fun!  Lastly, we celebrated Mother's Day by a great triathlon in the AM, and brunch/movie in the afternoon.  What an awesome weekend!

My son's solar system party was a blast.  We had a solar system cake, hunting for fallen "asteroids" (balls of aluminum foil hidden in the yard), rocket shooting (water, alka seltzer & film canisters - amazing and so fun!  Those "rockets" shot up to 15-25 feet in the air.  Many are still on our roof), and a rocket pinata.

Sunday morning started bright and early for the first triathlon of the season.  Here we are pre-race!

We had a great cheering section!

Overall I was content with my performance.  I had a rough start to my run b/c my stomach didn't feel great, but was able to deliver an 8:14 paced 3 miler, my bike leg went well except for a glitch clicking into my pedals when starting that leg (I tried something new where I had the pedals in place and then tried to get my feet in while already biking - not smart!  I almost fell twice and lost a couple of minutes b/c I to come to a complete stop & fix the problem).  So, my bike pace was 17:25, which was a little disappointing.  Swim time was adequate and I came in around 1:20 which is 2 minutes faster than my race time fro 2008.  At least I'm getting faster, not slower! :)

 We finished up Mother's Day with brunch at our country club and a movie.  Then we spent the evening playing with our kids and hanging out.  What an awesome weekend!

Immunizations Video

As a "perk" of being on faculty, I'm often asked to help students on their projects.  One afternoon I was working in my office when some students knocked on the door and asked if I would help them with a video on immunizations for a project in another class.  Below is the link to their final project - apparently, this video won a little award amongst their classmates & the faculty.  I laughed pretty hard watching it - it's pretty entertaining!  Thankfully, they got most of the information correct. ;)  My participation was minimal, but I always enjoy helping out the students.  Another reason why I absolutely love what I do for a living - it's a lot of fun!

P.S.  If you need information on immunizations, pay attention to the video.  Remember that when you receive an immunization, you're not only benefiting yourself but are positively affecting the health of the general public. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_bVxSWvb_0&feature=share

Snow in May & Update

The weather here took a crazy turn yesterday when the temperature dropped and a front moved into the area.  What did we get....SNOW!  Not only did it snow yesterday but is snowing again this morning.  What a crazy start to the month of May!

As an update on us, the busy month of April has tapered off into a much slower paced but event filled May.  May is a festive month for us because it contains 2 birthdays and our wedding anniversary.  In addition, as a faculty member May is full of final grades & graduation activities, and for those who participate in triathlons (for some reason, I can't seem to call myself a triathlete - that would indicate that I'm good rather than merely a survivor), May kicks off the tri season!

As I mentioned before my oldest's birthday party is this weekend (solar system themed) and I still have plenty on my to-do list to prepare.  In addition, this Sunday is also my first tri of the season.  Our friends from Denver are coming down for the weekend and my friend K is doing the tri as well!  We love them so much and can't wait to see them!

As far as the tri goes, I am not nearly as well prepared as I would like to be.  I haven't been in the pool in about a month and most of my bike training has been indoors on a trainer.  While that's par for the course for the first race of the season, I hope that I'm prepared enough to enjoy it.  Thankfully, the weather is supposed to be a warm sunny 80 by the weekend.  Please no more snow!  :)

Birthday Tea Party

My middle child turns 4 this week and wanted a very girlie "tea" for her birthday party, and girly it was!  Her older brother took one look at all the pink and flowers covering the downstairs and fled to the backyard (he was not opposed to eating the pink cupcakes though).   The party was fun to throw and also fun to plan.  Since it was a tea, but four year olds don't really like tea, I found a punch recipe that resembled iced tea.  My friend who decorates cakes made the cupcakes while I handled the rest of the food.  Everything was in the miniature: mini ham & cheese sandwiches, pigs in a blanket, frozen fruit cups, PB&J sandwiches & cream cheese & jelly sandwiches shaped like flowers, grapes, cheese & crackers.

For activities, the little girls decorated foam sun visors with flowers (I wanted to decorate straw hats, but the only ones I found were a bit more expensive than my budget would allow), and made fruit loop necklaces.   For tableware, I borrowed some crystal/glass tea cups and plates from church.  The girls were adorable and acted like grown ups with their fancy tea cups and plates.  They were extra careful with the breakable items and I'm happy to report that all borrowed items remained intact and will be returned on Wednesday. :)

It was a wonderful party and my girl was thankful enough afterwards to pose for a picture with her mom.  This was the first of 2 back-to-back birthday parties for us.  My oldest son turns 5 exactly a week after his sister turns 4 and we're having his "solar system" birthday bash next weekend. :)