Graduation season

Tis the season! 

Not only for my little man who is now ready to enter kindergarten but for other family members as well!

This weekend we had two graduation parties; a cousin and my best friend's daughter.  I feel old.  I remember when she was born, I was just starting out in life; and now it is her turn.  I wish her the best of luck. 

Now my little guy was the coolest guy in green.  A once shy little boy has begun to come out of his shell.  He will do just fine next year. 

Dylan and his teacher
 

 

 

Naked Jasper

So one of the things on Eva's wish list was another male Barbie doll.  Okay.  Not an unreasonable request.

I try to find one online, (mostly because I am just unable to get to a store without Dyleva in tow).
And the dolls I found....well, let's just say they didn't look very masculine.

Eventually, I came across the Twilight dolls.  So I ended up getting her a Jasper doll.

Funky hair.  Cool clothes. I did good.

Fast forward a few days, Eva is in the bathtub.  And if it doesn't have batteries, its allowed to come in.

Imagine my surprise when I came face to face with Naked Jasper.  He's so white!  I started cracking up! I have never seen a doll so white...I guess to be expected but so funny looking!

"What Mommy?"  Eva asks confused.  She has no idea he's a vampire. 

"Oh, nothing honey.  He's just really pale."

"Yeah, they are all swimming together in the water."  And she went about playing with them, not even noticing the difference.

 

Here is studly Jasper by comparison with his other manly swimmers.

 
 

Eva's birthweek

Let's face it.
When your seven and spoiled, you don't really have a birthday.  You have a birthweek.  The celebration doesn't end with the actual day. 
 
The four days leading up to her birthday, every day, I reminded Eva.

"Hey Eva.  Do you know what Mommy was doing seven years ago today?  I was in LABOR!"

She just says "Whatever Mommy."

So Eva had the classroom celebration, the Doodlebug celebration, and then of course she wanted to go to her favorite restaurant for her birthday. 

She didn't pick McDonalds.  Or Pizza Hut.

When we got home, it was so late we didn't have time to cut her cake or sing to her.  : (

So we did it the next day. 

Then the following day, we all did party preparations.  Eva and Dylan actually pulled their own weight.  I warned them-"after school, we are cleaning!"

And they did.  They were in charge of the chairs.  Eva scrubbed them, Dylan rinsed them.

After that, they decided to paint them. 

And that kept them nice and busy so Mommy and Daddy could get work done. 

It's been a long week! 
 

Globos on the Waterfront

We decided to go see the thing on the waterfront.  I don't know what you call it.  It looked like a giant bounce house, but you couldn't bounce in it.  It had just came here from Europe, and was on its way back.  So we did.

We were patient.

Waiting in line
 

It was fun.












It was cool.













It was different.










 

Thrifty

As a mother of two with a full-time job, I get two days a year. Without children at home.  Voting day, and Friday before Memorial Day. 

So of course Eva comes down with a fever the night before one of these days. 

Fifth's disease just went through her classroom.  And suddenly she wakes up with fever, headache, and cold symptoms.

So I drug her.  Every doctor's advice.  And she's totally fine.  So we went shopping.  Thrift store shopping, the very best kind. 

Eva and I got pretty much a whole new wardrobe.  And the cutest little rocking chair! 

I have converted my daughter!  Thrifty is nifty! 

Performer extraordinaire

My shy little boy has certainly been busy.  In addition to his upcoming PreK graduation, where he will be singing the National Anthem, he has had two additional performances this week.




Tuesday, he showed his stuff as he moved and danced and sang (not really) for his Doodle Dance finale.  The "Dinosaur Stomp" was a hit!






Today, my little ninja was counting and yelling stuff in Korean as he highlighted all the skills he learned from Tae Kwon Doh all year long. 

 

My Little Bush Deer

"It's so hot!  It's so hot!     Hot in the jungle, in ju-ly!!!"

We have listened to this song for five months now.

Eva came home after Christmas break with a cd and a list of lines that she had to learn for a play....in May!

They were to perform Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock.  This is a really cute play adapted from a book, that ends with teaching a lesson.  It is an African folktale.  The stinky spider finds a magic rock and uses it to steal all the animals food.  But retribution occurs before its over. 

The play is filled with animals.  Eva's character is one of the Bush deer.  She told her teacher she didn't want a singing part.  But her teacher knows her as well as we do and said, "No.  You're doing it."

Her part is cool, because she is actually one of the animals that seeks revenge on Anansi.

Eva learned all her lines (and her singing part) right away.    And then we, as a family, all kind of lost interest.  For about two months.  But then a great resurgence occurred right before the week of the performance. 

She was awesome.  She coughed through the entire play, how lovely.  But when it was her turn, she wasn't shy at all (surprise).   She belted out those lyrics. 

We are so proud of our little bush deer!