Tiptoeing through the tulips

We don’t have a season pass to the Biltmore Estate, but my friend Jen does. So when she offered to sneak the me and the kids in her car to tour the beautiful gardens one Sunday afternoon, we jumped at the chance. And it was very much worth laying in the backseat of her minivan with a blanket over my legs. 

Taylor and Luke’s Spring Birthday Bash

Just like the four years previous, we were blessed with perfect weather for the kids’ birthday party day. Probably because the Universe loves watching the Masters as much as letting us have a stress-free sunshiny day, because Taylor and Luke’s birthdays always fall on the same weekend as the historic golf tournament. Sorry, Chris. We’ll have to making family trips to Augusta.

Taylor didn’t give us any real direction for a party, other than she wanted all of her classmates and friends there. And since we now live in a house that can host lots of little people, we invited everyone she knew. I had a table for decorating flower pots for the kids to take home, and then other outside toys available.

Luke had just woken up from his nap as the guests started arriving, and while the party was technically half his, he was just mad that all of these people were all up in his space.

But then we did cupcakes and sang songs, which surely perked him up.

Instead of decorating the little cakes myself, I just let the kids load them up with as much candy as they pleased. 

The birthday girl put so much on hers that is exploded.

And when it was done and the kids had all left and the presents were all opened, I looked around my totally trashed house and breathed a big sigh of relief. Success! I had never planned on having two kids with birthdays within days of one another, and while it will always prove to be a hectic week, it was great to be able to knock off both parties at once. Cheers to another awesome birthday week in the books! And thank goodness for leftover cupcakes!

Rah rah rah

A couple weeks ago Chris scored four tickets to a weekend UNCA men’s basketball game. We didn’t have anything going on, and decided going to watch some Bulldog basketball would be a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We had to wake Luke up early from his nap to make tip-off, and to supplement the extra sleep he was used to, we just gave him a few sips of Sprite, resulting in Chris and I taking turns following him as he ran hotlaps around the concourse.

And while alternating Luke-duty, we were able to see the Bulldogs pull off a victory, and watch Taylor keep all focus on the cheerleaders. Our favorite babysitter, Becca, is on the cheer and dance team, and was sweet enough to come up to our seats a couple of times before and during the game to give Taylor a big hug and let her hold her poms. My daughter was in heaven.

So when Becca let me know that the cheerleaders were holding their first ever Cheer and Dance Clinic for little people last Saturday, I knew that Taylor would explode with excitement to participate. And all I had to say was, Hey Taylor, would you like to learn how to be a cheerleader like Becca? and she started bouncing around the room squealing, I’M GOING TO CHEER SCHOOL! It was like popping a balloon filled with confetti. It was everywhere, and all we could talk about until the big day.

She was so wound up that she didn’t even flinch when I told her that in order to take part in it she would have to wear a black t-shirt and black cheer shorts. Which to most people would be no biggie, but Miss T hasn’t worn shorts or an outfit without the color pink on it since she was Luke’s age. And after we got home from buying her new uniform the day before the clinic, she immediately put on her new threads and strutted her stuff around the house until bedtime.

And because Cheer and Dance Clinic rivals Christmas Day for a small girly-girl such as Taylor, it only made sense that we also bring along her BFF, Elliot.

Best. Day. Ever.

There were about forty little girls between the ages of five and eleven participating, with Taylor and Elliot being two of the youngest. And I was so proud of both of them, as they both stepped up and blended in with the older girls.

First they got into a big circle and stretched.

And then they went around that circle, telling everyone their name and why they liked cheerleading. Taylor liked the pom poms.

Everyone moved into the practice courts and learned a few chants, and then broke into age appropriate groups to individually learn cheers.

Of course we had snack breaks.

And then back to learning the routine that all the girls would be performing at halftime of the women’s basketball game that afternoon.

They even did a short tumbling section, where the itty’s practiced their somersaults and jazz hands.

At the end of the clinic, the whole group assembled to practice the entire routine. And they passed out pink pom poms. And Taylor and Elliot’s heads almost exploded.

We then went home to eat lunch and take a short break, after which we met everyone back at the game to cheer on the women’s team and get geeked up for the big performance.

Making her way onto the court.

The big show.

How adorable was that? I can’t even explain how proud I am of Taylor and Elliot and all of those precious girls.

It was definitely a day we will never forget, and I’m pretty sure we have a future cheerleader in our house now. 

Working some sillies out in the sun

We have been blessed with some fantastic weather lately, and to be able to play at the park in the first week of February is yet another reason why I love where I live. So when I sent an email out to some of the other parents of kids in Taylor’s preschool class suggesting an after-school park playdate to make use of the 65-degree wonderfulness, almost all of them jumped all over it. And who wouldn’t? Vitamin D and exhausted kiddos are a great combo.