While I'm waiting for them to upload, my Mother's Day has been very nice and calm. When I got up, the kids pounced on me like they hadn't seen me for years, and Korben told me to close my eyes because they had a present for me. I closed my eyes, and Sophie said, "That's right mom, we have a flower suprise for you!" Korben admonished her that she was not supposed to tell me, and then he said "Open your.... oops." He'd tipped the pot over and spilled the flower and soil onto the carpet. heh. They all gave me cute cards, including Ryan, and we went out for a nice lunch at a local place. Now the kids are napping and I've been working on organizing my digital photos.
First, something artsy.
The kids like to come in and wrestle and play on my inflatable bed in my office while I'm on my computer.
They played a game where Sophie would tackle Korben and pull him off the bed for about 25 minutes that day...
We have mini-recitals at the studio every other month to give the students a chance to practice performing before a small audience. Korben was in one last Saturday. He was a complete Ham, and this was the first time I've seen him realize that the applause was for him, so he played to the larger audience, instead of simply performing for me as if no one else's opinion mattered. Interesting...
Then we went to Caleb's Birthday party at the bounce playground down the road from the studio. Caleb is my neighbor and friend Star's son, who just was diagnosed with Autisum a week before his birthday. Their family lives 4 houses down the street from us, and she's a really great gal.
Sophie seems to always be slightly blurry these days, as she doesn't want to hold still for pictures.
"Who Wants Pizza?"
It's spring again, which means the annual frog orgy season has begun. This year, we have Southern Leopard Frogs, Gulf Coast Toads, and some kind of tree frog I haven't identified. I went out to see if I could ID the tree frog, and this toad was SLEEPING in the middle of the pond with his eyes wide open. He was so deeply asleep that I literally just reached in and scooped him out of the water. He is the biggest Gulf Coast toad I've ever caught. He was literally the size of my palm.
Sophie's school did a little "Spring Sing" program for the parents last Thursday. Here Sophie does the Hokey Pokey and turns herself about.
Do you like my caterpillar hat?
Presenting me with my Mother's Day present early...
Sophie with her teachers, Ms. Lily, and Ms. Jackie.
Breakfast of champions... We had the oil changed in the van on Friday, and walked across the street for breakfast and playtime while they did their thing at Jiffy Lube.
After that was done, we ran by the studio to pick up my paycheck and then went to the bank. At my bank, they give lollipops to the kids in the drive through, and both my kids know this routine by heart. However, I've been working on some new techniques to cut down on the whining around here, so I told Sophie, who was getting tired, that if she whined after I gave her her lollipop, I was going to take it away. So of course, before we even got out of the bank parking lot, she started whining. I pulled over, got out, took the sucker away, and then Korben and I endured and tried to ignore 45 minutes of solid, top-of-your-lungs, howl-until-you-gag screaming. Shortly before we got home, she quieted down to heartwrenching whimpers and then drifted into an exhausted sleep.
She hasn't whined more than once or twice since. :D
