RIP Mouse

Our beloved cat, Mouse, passed away a couple weeks ago.  He was the first pet that Jess and I got as a couple.  He made the move from Massachusetts to Arkansas with us, and came along before either of the girls were born.  He also made three more moves with us and went from being an indoor cat to an outdoor cat.  He was over 13 years old.

It was difficult, because the girls found him.  He lived in our front yard and refused to come in the house, even on the wettest and coldest days.  Every morning, he would greet us on our way to school/work.  Layne fed him and he was always there to get some loving from us.  

That morning, the girls went out to the car before me.  As I came out of the house, Layne said to me, "Momma, why is he laying weird like that?"  I took one look and I knew - I just KNEW.  I told the girls to get in the car and I called Jess (she was on overnight call at the hospital).  I told her about the situation and we both started to cry.  At this point, both of the girls were hysterically crying.  I wrapped him up and brought him in the house.  Between the time that I left for school/work with the girls and the time that Jess got home from work was about 30 minutes.  She took him to the vet and arranged to have him cremated.  

I always imagined that he would just go off somewhere and we would have to assume that he ran away to die.  I'd also thought, however, after seeing him lounging so many mornings in the carport, what might happen if we came out one morning and he was dead.  It did not happen the way I thought it would. 

It was much sadder that I thought it would be, and I felt much sadder that I thought I would.  He was loved, and he will be missed.

RIP, Mouse.  We love you.

2013 Competition Begins

This weekend was the beginning of our dance competition season.  This season, Sydney is in eight dances - four tap, two hip-hop, one lyrical, one jazz.  [Layne is in one tap, but her group didn't compete in this competition because the coach felt that they weren't ready.]

We were up bright and early for the large group hip-hop (average age 8), For the DJ.  It was high energy and a lot of fun.  They received the highest points for the large group category of that age group, first place.  Yeah!!  Here are four of the 14 in the group (Sydney on the far left).

Next up, was Bobble Head, a small group jazz (average age 9).  It was an adorable routine.  This was their first jazz routine.  Here are all six girls in the group (Sydney, again, on the far left).  

After that, was Hit Me Up, a small group tap (average age 10).  The four girls (same as in the first pic) work well together and did a great job. [No pic.]

Next was Let It Be, a small group lyrical (average age 9).  Same girls as in Bobble Head.  They did a great job and it was their first lyrical routine.  [No pic.]

Closing out the day, was Rock This Town, a large group tap (average age 9).  There were 11 girls tapping their hearts out.  They had a great time.  [No pic.]

At the awards ceremony for "Junior" group (ages 9-11) intermediate division, the girls placed as follows:  Bobble Head was 5th, Hit Me Up was 3rd, and Let It Be was 2nd.  For our girls to have three places in the top five overall was a great showing.  And considering this is only the second year of dancing for most of the girls and first year of jazz and lyrical, it makes it even sweeter. 

The large group placed 3rd overall, another great showing.

All routines are judged and adjudicated on a point scale.  And there is are adjudication awards given based on the points earned.  Based on a range, each routine earns a "Platinum", "High Gold", "Gold", "High Silver" on a score out of 300.  All five routines from the day received the highest score, Platinum.  

Today, Sydney danced her solo, a tap routine to Blue Jeans, and her trio, a tap routine to Tightrope.  Both, yes BOTH! got first place (and Platinums)!  Sydney received the highest points for all the junior solos in her age group (9-11) intermediate division (and $50).  And also earned an "All-Star" position for the competition company.  So cool!

Here is her trio (she's again on the far left):

She danced one last routine, a large group hip-hop to It's Going Up, with the Teen group (average age 13).  She was thrilled to be asked to dance with the older girls, and they had a great time with this one.  They didn't place in the top 5 overall, and received a High Gold.  There are 17 girls in the group and I guess they have to clean up the routine.  But it was adorable and you could tell the girls were having fun.  [No pic.]

Taking pictures or videos during the competition is prohibited.  They offer both for purchase online when the competition is over.  We will likely get some.  And when we do, I will post them.  

It was a good opening to our competition season, and Sydney had a blast.  Can't wait for the next one when Layne is competing too.  Should be in two weeks.

I'm so proud of my girl!

Hot Mess

The last time I posted a pic of this guy, he was an itty bitty baby.  We learned pretty early on that he loved to sleep like this:

He has to have his feet tucked (no pun intended LOL!) up against the wall.

He looks like he's saying, "Whaaaaat?" (Love this pic!)

Sometimes a door jam will do.

Here he is with big sister, Cali.

I often times walk into the living room and find this:  

Or into the bedroom and find this:

But one thing's for sure, they both love to go out for a walk ... on a beautiful day ... with their beautiful human sisters.  :D

P.S. Jess is doing pretty well.  Still has headaches because of that new medication, so it will be a few weeks before we know if the surgery was a success.  But surgery-wise, she is doing great - she finds it hard to refrain from over-doing it.  She needs constant reminding.  However, she tires very easily, so that's the excuse I use - "Go rest before you fall asleep standing up."  LOL!

Mistletoe

It was a couple years ago, that we were first visited by our Elf on the Shelf.  We named him Mistle Toe.  It took him those couple years to get to know us and show us his naughty side.  Last year and the year before, he found fun, yet boring places to sit and watch the girls.  This year, he showed us that he is a little less nice than we thought and surprised us each morning with his mischievous nature.  One day, he even made Layne cry.  (Oooops!)  Here is a photo journal of some of his adventures.  [Again, after looking at these sorry excuses for photos, I'm inspired to get out my big camera and take good pics.  Next year, Mistle Toe better bring it, because I'll have the camera ready.]

His first few days of this year were pretty innocent.  But then he got his hands on these colored pencils and decided to draw a picture of his friend ON THE WALL!  So naughty!  Fortunately, these were erasable pencils.  So the next morning, we'd realized that he cleaned up his mess and erased (without a trace, really!) his masterpiece.

But then soon realized that he'd made another mess - making angels in the sprinkles.  We decorated cookies the night before and all the embellishments were still out on the counter.  That'll teach us to not put things away!  Layne giggled when she saw this one.  Hee hee!

But again, he cleaned up his mess.  Then we found that he'd pulled this ornament off the tree, discovered a tutu just his size, and decided to show Layne that he loves lyrical dancing as much as she does.

With the dance shoes ornament back on the tree (by Mistle Toe himself), the elf decided to indulge himself on some of the cookies I'd made.  He even went so far as to grab a cup from Layne's play kitchen and pour himself some milk.  Guess he needed a snack.  

The next morning, he washed his cup and cleaned up his crumbs.  And promptly found himself some Lalaloopsies with which to flirt.  Layne found this particularly amusing.

Here, Mistle Toe got a little playful, lounging in one of the girls' spinner/shooters.

Obviously, the spinner/shooter wasn't fun enough for him, because the next day, we found him with the Nerf shooter showing off his target practice.

This is the one that made Layne cry.  She'd received this candy package from a friend at school.  Naughty Mistle Toe opened the package and actually ate some of it!  How dare he!  Layne was so upset.  I had to promise to buy her another one (despite the fact that, really, there was no candy missing.  LOL!).

This was by far, Mistle Toe's biggest mess.  He teepee'd the vanity (which is where we dry our sweaters LOL!).  Just look at him up there with that roll of toilet paper. 

He even wrote, in lipstick, his name on the mirror.  Mischievous, for sure!

He also left this note with a bowl of the candy of Layne's he'd open.  "Layne, I'm sorry.  I was just being naughty.  Here is all your candy.  I only ate a few.  -Mistle Toe"  That made her very happy (and the bowl is STILL sitting in the kitchen, untouched).

I think Mistle Toe felt bad for making Layne cry, so he came up with this fun activity for the girls.  The note reads, "Good Morning! Plant these stars in the sugar and see what happens in the morning tomorrow.  =)  -Mistle Toe"  So Layne went right to work burying the sprinkle stars.

The next morning, these sprouted from where they planted the stars.  Layne was amazed!

The next morning, Mistle Toe, the cookie lover, decided that he liked my cookies much better than he liked his own.  ;)  [On these cookies is a heart with one of Cinderella's glass slippers in front of it.  The stars were pink, purple, and blue - guess that's where the color came from.  =) Don't mind the paint all over the craft table.]

Mistle Toe hitched a ride with the Wise Men to meet the baby Jesus.  He didn't have a gift as expensive as the kings', that's why he is looking embarrassed.

He must know how much Layne loves her stuffed animals.  Because he gathered some of them in one place and read them the book that he brings with him when he shows up at the beginning of the season - the story of the Elf on the Shelf.

On his last night at our house, he became a dare devil, zip-lining down to his get-away car.  He wrote a note for the girls, "Dear Sydney & Layne, I have enjoyed visiting again this year.  Today is my last for the this season.  I will be counting the days until I return.  Do you think your dolls will mind if I borrow their car?  I'm to tired to fly.  I'll make sure Santa returns it when he brings your toys.  You have both been good - on the nice list, for sure!  I'll miss you!  ♡ Love, Mistle Toe"

The car belongs to Layne's mini Lalaloopies, and with all his antics this season, he got too lazy to fly home. So he drove instead.

Remember this picture from Christmas day?  Notice the little car?  The dollhouse is for the big dolls, the car for the mini's - hence the discrepancy in size.

He left a note: "Dear Sydney & Layne, Thank you for letting me borrow your car.  As a thank you, you'll find a new downloaded movie on your Apple TV.  Be good! ♡ Mistle Toe"  When we looked, it was the Elf on the Shelf movie.  Layne had seen it at school (a fellow student brought it in during a rainy day) and she had been asking and asking if we could get it.  Mistle Toe was the one who came through for her on this one (not Momma or Mommy LOL!).  She squealed when I read the note to her.  She was so happy!!

It was so much fun helping Mistle Toe look like a funny, naughty elf this year.  Do you know that there are actually tons of pins on Pinterest and dozens of blogs devoted to this guy and what you can do with him to excite your children?  I'm amazed.  And I have to say that almost all of these are ideas that came from those places; I cannot take credit for them.  Although, I did come up with a few myself (the borrowing of the car and paying back with the movie is my most proud one LOL!).  

Sydney became a non-believer at the end of last year, so she had a lot of fun helping me arrange Mistle Toe for her sister.  She even came up with ideas too.  And really, if it wasn't for her, there would probably have been a few mornings that Layne would have woken up to Mistle Toe in the same place as he was the morning before.  Syd reminded me every night after Layne went to bed.  Obviously, not every morning is recorded here.  But I have high hopes for next year.  I want to make a whole little photo book, chronicling Mistle Toe's adventures each year.  Jess reminded me that we don't have many more years left to do this.  So I want to start doing it big.  

I know, it's a lot of work.  And I'm the one that is cleaning up the mess, not Mistle Toe's magic.  But it's so worth it to see the happiness on Layne's face each morning.  So until next year, peace out Mistle Toe!

I interrupt this streak of blogging ...

... to bring you an update on everyone's favorite leaker.  

Late Sunday afternoon, she was able to angle the head of the bed up to about 45° and then an hour later, she was able to get out of bed.  The nurse helped her to the bathroom and she looked and felt well.  After all the other surgeries, she was wobbly and weak.  But after this one, she got right up.  Today, she was up with the physical therapist walking the halls.  She even showered.  She's still tires easily, but as far as surgery goes, she's doing great.  

We won't know if she is leaking again - this one or another - for a few weeks.  Doc put her on a medicine that purposefully decreases the CSF (cerebral spinal fluid - I'm digging deep to my anatomy days LOL!) and hence the pressure - practically mimicking a leak.  So she will definitely have headaches.  The idea is that doc will wean her off this medication, allowing her body to gradually increase the fluid (and subsequent pressure) in her spinal column.  This is new to the protocol.  The laying-flat for 48 hours post surgery is new to the protocol as well.  I don't know what he is thinking, but I'm glad to see that he is doing things differently in the hopes of ultimate success.  

Fingers crossed!

We ... er, she - because I stay in the hospital with her, it seems like it is a "we" thing LOL! - will be discharged today.  Doc would like us to stay an additional night in LA (another "new to the protocol"), so we will stay in a hotel tonight and fly home on tomorrow.  We are so excited!  

My parents have been so awesome.  We FaceTime every night, they took our dogs to the groomer, they buy crickets for the bearded dragon, and when I got a frantic call from Syd's cheerleading coach yesterday morning because Syd didn't wear her cheering uniform to school (for pictures), I called them and they drove her uniform to school, in time for pictures.  They are fantastic, they are wonderful, and they are life-savers.  I know they are taking great care of our children, and I know our children are loving the visit.  Thank you Mom and Dad!  I love you!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

12

And yes, this post is all about December events, but mostly pictures.  Not much other than Christmas, happened this month, so lots of pics. (And looking at these terrible pictures are incentive enough to get out my big camera - I'm pretty embarrassed to show some, but will all in the name of documenting our life.  LOL!  I'm definitely inspired to take better pictures in 2013!)

Of course, the baking - I've tried in years past to not do the holiday baking, and I just can't bring myself.  It makes me happy ... it gets me excited.  Sure, I eat my fair share of what I bake, but it's not what I'm eating.  It's what I'm doing - I absolutely love baking.  And I do it well.  :D

This is something you don't see everyday - a pic of me on my own blog.  Jess insisted.  LOL! (Thank you mom for the homemade apron - that's what she does well ... sewing!)

I made fudge, but not as much as I wanted to.  This one is my favorite - Nutter Butter fudge.  I like to make something different every year, and this year it was chocolate covered pretzels.  I made them last year, but I took it up a notch this year (no pics, but they were pretty amazing).  

This is the prize though - cookies!  I experimented with some recipes  - some flopped, some totally rocked!  I can't wait until next year.  :D

Both girls had a Christmas program where they learned a whole bunch of songs and sang them for an audience full of parents.  Jess took the ones of Layne's program, so I don't have they yet, and I took the ones at Sydney's.  I can't help it, every time I hear this many kids sing, I tear up.  It's just so amazing.  

Sydney in her new pink dress singing her heart out.

During one song, the 5th graders got to throw confetti.  Look how excited they are!  :D

Back to singing, but look at all the confetti.  LOL! 

(The blond on the left and the red head next to her are Sydney's dancing buddies, Abby Grace and Jozlyne.  They are the ones tapping with Sydney in the video from the school fundraiser.)

Then came the church pageant.  Sydney played a shepherd (in the pink striped hat - or whatever shepherds wear on their heads - and grey top, to the left of the candle) ...

... and a cow.  LOL!  She sang her heart out.  Seriously ... she was the one you could hear over all the other kids.  Sing it, Girl!!

Layne was a star!

Literally.  LOL!

The entire ensemble.  It was a fabulous show!

Christmas Eve. 

Christmas morning.

This little (HUGE! it's taller than Layne) gem was the reason we were up until 1am on Christmas Eve.  All the gifts were wrapped three days before.  We thought we would have a nice early night. But nooooooo ... then we opened the box for this.  What a pain in the ass!!!

But it was worth it, she absolutely loves it.  (BTW, it is a doll house for the full size Lalaloopsies. She got a couple dolls to add to her collection and also got some furniture for the house too.)

We spent the day in our matching pjs.

One of Sydney's gifts to Jess and me was this poem.  ♡

Christmas afternoon, it started to precipitate.  It wasn't yet snow, it was freezing rain.  But as the evening wore on, it turned to snow.  We donned our winter garb and went outside.

We pulled out our sleds and climbed the hill at the end of our street.  Wheeeee!

And the girls made snow angels.

After several runs down the hill and several climbs back up, we called it a night.  We went inside and realized the cable had gone out - no more tv or internet.  So we pulled out one of the games the girls got from Santa - Fibber - and played.  Love this pic of Sydney!  :D

And then the lights went out.  So we kept playing Fibber by candlelight.  Sydney again (yes, she changed her pjs. LOL!).

And Jess ... in the dark.  LOL!

The electricity had not been restored by the time we went to bed.  When we woke in the morning, we realized we still had no power.  I built a fire - boy it got cold overnight - and we spent the day trying to get Sydney's bearded dragon Runner (her Christmas gift from last year) warmed up.  We took a break to go outside and enjoy the scenery.  It was definitely a winter wonderland.  It was beautiful.

Looks like I put out my snowman flag just in time. :D

My poor crepe myrtle!  It is usually taller than the house.  It is probably permanently damaged. :(

This is crazy!

But perfect for more sledding!

Look at that blue sky!  Hard to believe that less than 12 hours ago it was still snowing.

This is something I haven't done in over a decade - shovel the driveway.  Fortunately, my neighbor lent me his - I don't own a snow shovel.  The snow was so wet and heavy, it was quite a workout.  :D

While I shoveled, Syd rolled snowballs.  Then I helped her finish her snowman.  Cute, eh?  
♡

Oh and the snowman is cute too. 

There were fallen trees and broken branches all over the streets.

Yes, that is my crepe myrtle.  Poor thing - broken branches all over.

Out to lunch one day - at least the restaurant had power (couldn't resist photographing those beautiful curls).

Sydney's first time as acolyte at church.

This lone apple was on the tree as the snow melted away.  But when we came back to the house (after staying with a friend that had power), the apple was gone.  I'm sure one lucky squirrel or bird got it.

Layne wanted a picture of the apple with Clarisse (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer's friend in his clay-mation special, circa 1964, recreated in cloth from Build-a-Bear.  LOL!)

Every year, each student at the girls' school make a special ornament (each class is different).  It must have a picture of the child and the year.  Here is the one that Syd's class made (they made their own).

This is the one Layne's class made (mostly done by the teachers) ... see the pic inside?

This is Layne's from last year.  No, it didn't not come home "assembly required".  Read on, an explanation is forthcoming.

This is Syd's from 3rd grade.  Neither did this one come "assembly required".  

Add one rambunctious 7-month old puppy, alone in the house (save for his big sister who usually stays out of all-things-destruction) and you get about 4-5 destroyed homemade school ornaments.  When Layne saw the devastation, she cried.  You see, Syd's ornament, above, actually came home with green pretzels encircling her picture.  The students painted the pretzels green and arranged and glued them to look like a wreath.  The ribbon (as seen in the photo) was woven through the pretzels.  What we have been able to figure out is that Tuck found this ornament hanging on the tree and somehow realized it was food.  He ate the painted pretzels (and nothing else) and went looking for more snacks.  I don't know why he only targeted the school ornaments.  But to his credit, Layne's ornament above, does have pieces that look like real candy.

I collected all the victim ornaments and assessed what needed to be done in order to restore them to their pre-snacking glory.  Fortunately, Syd's 3rd grade teacher offered to reassemble Syd's.  And all I really need to repair Layne's is a few popsicle sticks painted red and green and a glue gun.  The others (not pictured here) will require some strong tape and a glue gun or super glue.  If nothing else, it will be a good story to tell their kids.  LOL!

That's pretty much how December went for us.  Despite Jess's headaches, I'd say it was a good month - even if we did lose power for five days (two days longer than our neighbor's across the street!).  We start January and the New Year off with hope and gratitude.  Hope for good health.  Gratitude because, despite our obstacles, we are very blessed.  Hope your New Year is filled with much of the same.  :D