Prima

WARNING:  This blog post may contain a certain amount of gushiness because I'm just in one of those moods. 

 

Reina has been taking a pre-dance class from a local studio since January.  As you might remember, I finally relented on a Saturday in December when she marched off of the indoor soccer field and announced that someone had punched in the arm.  She hadn't actually been punched, she just happened to be in the same vicinity as the ball and was jostled by other kids who were going for the ball (she was not).  I thought, "why am I making her play soccer when she's been bugging me for months to take a dance class?"  So we signed up and we've been faithfully attending every Wednesday night since then.  The class is pretty great.  The teachers manage to keep twelve (give or take) 4 and 5-yr olds moving in one direction.  They keep it organized but not militaristic and Reina bounces around the house practicing her moves.  Last Friday night, it all came together for one giant recital.   

Guess who came to the ballet recital?  Baby cousin and a hiding Aunt Vicky.  Both sets of grandparents were in attendance, too.  The Reina Pauley fan club. 

Baby Cousin was fascinated with the glitter and glam of Reina's costume.  She was all business as she tried in vain to get the blue taffeta/sequined/tulle-d concoction it in her mouth. 

Probably my favorite picture of my favorite ballerina.  Pop-pop is the official photographer of this page of the blog.  Isn't that a great picture? 

 

Reina's class was the second dance of the night and they brought the house down with pure cuteness.  Her class had one little boy dancer in it and as part of the routine, he went down the line of girls and 'lifted' them all up while they jumped.  It was delightful. I actually cried through the whole routine because I'm my mom's daughter and happy or sad, we cry. Reina was so cute and so brave on that big stage. 

 

Watch out Blog, I've figured out how to write on the pictures.    

We stayed for the first half of the program and saw dances of all different kinds, modern, tap, ballet and Irish step dancing.  The Irish group danced a long number to the theme music from Pirates of the Caribbean.  Will, who'd been watching with more interest than I thought he'd have, sat straight up and was hooked.  The dancers even had swords and the look on his face was priceless.  When the song was over, he turned to me and whispered, "I might want to do that sometime."  Stay tuned..... 
 

My sweet ballerina and the flowers from her daddy.  What a special night. 

The day after Mother's Day

The day after Mother's Day was a snow day.  Let's let that sink in for a moment.  The only day that schools have closed for this school year is May 12.  May 12.  Let's move on.  For historical purposes, this storm dropped close to a foot of snow at our house. I didn't measure it and the wind picked up to move snow around so it was hard to tell, but based on official readings in our county, I'd say we have about 12 inches.  I woke up to the phone ringing at 4:52 a.m. to announce that school was closed.  The state didn't shut down so I took the day off and Glenn went to work. I've spent the day with delightful, helpful, entertaining kids who are pretty excited to be home on a Monday.  I'm sure all of these feelings of goodwill will evaporate by 4:00 or so but we'll enjoy it while it lasts

To get my workout in today, I shoveled our walk so some of this snow is from the sidewalk.  But still, waist deep on a 7 yr old.  In May.  Good times.   

I had some help cleaning out the hall closet.  In an act of defiance, I packed away all of the hats, gloves and scarves.  If it snows again, we just won't leave the house.  Look at Will's feet. 

I took this picture of Reina last Monday, when the sun was shining. Her flower was in honor of Cinco De Mayo. 

. 

Mother's Day and other musings

I'll get to Mother's Day shortly, but a few things to capture about May.  We've had weird weather - rain, snow, sunshine, wind - sometimes all in one Day.  Work has been very busy for Glenn and slightly busy for me.  The school year is winding down for Will, which means book reports, field trips and class parties.  Reina is entering her last summer at Montessori, a thought that makes me momentarily teary-eyed.  We have a great summer ahead of us, if it ever arrives. We already have a few little vacations planned, we've signed up for some races and we have lots and lots of baseball to watch.

I was washing dishes and looked out to see Tootsie perched on the edge of the deck.  She usually keeps watch from the top of the picnic table but there must've been something super interesting to spy on and hence the balancing act. She's a unique little dog and I'm glad she's part of our family. 

On Friday, I took the day off to hang out with Baby Cousin.  I had such a nice time.  It's been a while since I've carried a baby on my hip while I do laundry and clean up the house.  Okay, I mostly just sat with her and made her giggle but we did get a few chores accomplished and she was very helpful. 

After school, big cousins got to spend time with baby cousins.  They both remain infatuated with her.  She likes them but also finds other things interesting - like monkeys. 

And Tootsie's....  but look at the expression on Reina's face.  After fussing about it and reminding us for months, she finally got to hold baby cousin.  She wanted to carry her around the house but I put the kibosh on that fun activity. 

Selfie time!   I love that little face. 

Will had his first baseball game of the season on Saturday.  It was chilly and there was a good wind coming from the west but nothing could deter him from wearing shortsleeves.  This is his first year playing baseball and what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in enthusiasm. He has a good coach and I think it will be a fun season for everyone involved.  Will's team won their game on Saturday and Will got a single.  I was overjoyed.  The teams play with a pitching machine and it's a little intimidating when the ball is coming at you at 55 mph. He's a trooper. 

I only had once chance to get this picture because someone was itching to get on the field.  We'll try for a smiling, eyes-wide-open shot next week. 

So it's Mother's Day.  May 11.  And we have just about a foot of snow on the ground.  True story. I've lived in Wyoming long enough to know that you'll often see a little snow in May.  A weird blizzard here, some skiffs of snow there.  But today we have a winter storm warning, interstates and roads in and out of town shut down and lots and lots of wet, white stuff. I'm a little unhinged.  We planted a bunch of different things in the community garden last week that will probably need to be replanted and my little chokecherries and lilac bushes are bent over under the weight of the snow. 

I know, I know.  Yeah for moisture!  Spring will be so green when it finally arrives. 

Reina wanted to build a snowman.  She lasted about 3 minutes.  Zipping up her jacket might've helped but what can you do.  That's waist high snow. I know she's not the tallest member of the family but that's a lot of snow. 

Despite the crazy weather, I've had a nice Mother's Day.  Will gave me a coupon book with coupons for "1 room cleaning with no complaining," "lunch at a restaurant of my choice," and "a day with no arguing."  I can't wait to use that one!  He also wrote that if he could buy me anything it would be a "nice hotel."  Now, I don't think he wants to get into the hospitality business, I think he's just heard me wish for a night of uninterrupted sleep all by myself a few times.  Reina drew me beautiful flowers and Glenn gave me a bird feeder and a few of his own coupons. 

I don't remember a time growing up when I didn't think I'd have children. Is that too many negatives in one sentence?  As I grew older,  I wasn't necessarily counting down the days until I could be a mom, but it was something that I figured would always happen.  Many of my summer jobs in high school and college involved kids - rec camp counselor, guest ranch kid wrangler... I even made a little bit of money in college babysitting at the Lutheran Church.  As my thirties approached and I was still single, I did have pangs of doubt but I also had Canyon and she was a great companion, plus I could leave her alone in the backyard for hours, which was something I understood was frowned upon with children.  Then I met Glenn and I just had a feeling that it would all work out.  Glenn and I took a trip to Florida after we'd been dating for a little over a year and I have a picture of us at St. Augustine.  The date on the picture is March 19, 2005.  I didn't know it at the time, but we'd be married before the year was out and on that exact date in two years, I'd become a mom.   Today, when I'm picking up the house and move that photo to get to the dust and junk behind it, I'm always reminded that for all of your planning, you just never know how things will turn out. 

In many ways, motherhood has surpassed my expectations.  For all of the sleepless nights, numerous times getting barfed on, arguments about clothes and room cleanings, and the fact that I NEVER get to use the bathroom without someone walking in with an emergency or a quick conversation about body parts, I'm just so thankful that I get to be the mom to Will and Reina.  I'm aware of how fast time seems to be moving - next year I'll have two kids in elementary school but I'm afraid if I blink, I'll be planning a high school graduation party.  So for now, I'm going to try to enjoy the little moments, even the barfing ones. 

Photo Overload

I finally cleaned off my camera and downloaded the rest of the pictures from our Florida trip.  It's only a month ago but it feels like so much longer than that.  April flew by and here we are in May already.  We've had snow and cold, busy weekends and the daily grind, but we still have tan lines and I found a handful of sand when I was pulling out one of the suitcases for my work trip last week.  We're ready for Spring Break again! 

 

A peaceful Reina on Day 1.  I think she looks so grown up. 

So, we got to pat a manatee, which may or may not be legal  We were at one of the state parks that has a hot spring and the water stays 72 degrees or something like that all year long.  The manatees come in when the other water gets too chilly.  So, we got to pat a manatee. In our defense, the manatees were sitting right up against the dock and they had plenty of other places to go to if they didn't want to be bothered by the humans.  But these two hung out for quite a while and seemed to enjoy the attention. Nobody was feeding them - (what would you feed a manatee, anyway?  Lettuce?  Swiss chard?) and they genuinely seemed to like the attention.  I knelt down and patted the back of one and he (yep, I could tell), rolled over onto his back and looked up at me and I swear he smiled.  Truly!  It was a neat moment and we all talked about the manatees for the rest of the trip. 

Reina may have the reputation in the family as the animal lover, but Will is often just as interested to.  He marched right to the edge and leaned down to check out the manatee. 

Reina naturally had a turn.  We had to peel her out of there.

We didn't get to pat any alligators but we saw a lot of them on the boat ride. 

A photo download is not complete without a Will photobomb. 

Three generations of Pauley.

Crazy Wyoming-ites swimming in 72 degree water when the air temperature wasn't much warmer. 

Hey - it's a Bronco Baby Mom sighting! 

I always try to capture how big the live oaks are, and I can never get it just right. 

Our first fishing trip of the week.  It would be hard to lose Will in that outfit. 

A proud Reina and her fish.  And her proud Dad.

Eating fish for breakfast. Yum? 

We love the beach! 

On the way to the beach, Will told me he didn't really like the sand and he didn't want to get all sandy.  Huh. 

Selfies on the beach should be outlawed.

They may look like they were arguing, but they were actually trying to figure out how to catch some seagulls. 

The day after the beach was Disney day.  Star Wars! 

A family picture outside of the Muppet fountain. 

Two yr old Will would've freaked out at this moment.  7-yr old Will was a bit more stoic. 

A copy of the barbecue dress from Gone with the Wind.  16-yr old Lucy would've freaked out at this moment. 

We stayed at the Art of Animation that night and it was so cute!  What a great hotel.  I couldn't stop taking pictures. 

Clone Troopers!  Will might've found his career. 

Jedi training is a very, very serious business. 

Reina and Grandpa Pauley and glasses.

One of the highlights of the trip for me - even though I'm not the biggest fan of canoe's, and Glenn never lets me steer - was a tour one a river who's name escapes me right now.  We saw birds of all shapes and sizes, alligators, a snake and probably a few other species I've forgotten. 

Again with all of the grown-up-ness! 

Last day at the beach.  I even tried out the water.  Wyoming really needs a beach. 

Wyoming needs live oaks, too.