And now.....I finally did it.

Our kids have entirely too many toys. They have a hard time keeping things picked up and being responsible for their messes. Especially the girls.

Today I told the girls several times to pick their room up. You couldn't walk in there. They hadn't picked up one single toy. Instead.....they did this.....





Three big sections of artwork all over the walls in crayon and ink. An elephant, I think a tre frog and a vibrant red Elmo. In total disgust, their behavior lead me to do this.....

That's their room almost totally empty of toys. They have a handfull of things left purely because I'm running out of places to put stuff. I hope this leaves a lasting impression because I am sick of the lack of responsibility and the destructive "creativity" being taken out on the walls.

It finally happened.

It seems like everyone else I know has a child who has tried to cut his/her own hair at some point. Thankfully, this was something my kids had never attempted. Until today.

About a week ago someone cut the hair on Kaylee's "My Generation" doll. Since no one has confessed, both the girls nice dolls have been put away in my closet with all their clothes for now.

Today Kaylee wore her hair down to school. Afterwards we went to the grocery. I was in the kitchen putting away the food. I came out to find Kaylee sitting in the recliner with a pair of scissors in her hand. There was just something about how she was sitting there that sent up a red flag for me. I asked what she was cutting and she kept saying, "I'm thinking about what to cut." Then after a couple of minutes she reaches around the side of the chair and says, "I think I found some more of my doll's hair."

I promptly told her that I knew it was HER hair and not doll hair. Evidently she had a little food in her hair and tried to cut it out. Thankfully it wasn't a big chunk of hair. I asked her if she could think of any other way to get the sticky stuff out of her hair and she said no. I asked if it ever occured to her that we could wash it out. Silly girl. No scissors for the rest of the day for her.

NEW Harry Potter OoTP trailer released!

Only 78 more days until July 13th.

http://www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com/

And the movie is coming in IMAX-3D!!!!!

Big girl!

Ruby was proud to announce to Keithen yesterday that, "I'm a BIG girl now and I play on a TEAM."

She started soccer last night and this season she is able to be on a team and play games. She is so excited! She really did a great job listening last night and trying hard to control the ball when she was dribbling and passing.

Her division won't use goalies and there will only be 4 players from each team on the field at a time.....so she'll probably only get to play 2 quarters per game based on her team size.

Keithen will start later this week.

Roasted Peeps?!

I forgot to post these pictures before. We bought some Peeps on clearance after Easter and tried roasting them outside. The sugar kind of carmelizes on the outside of them and they are pretty good!

Spring ballet

Ruby finished up her latest round of ballet classes this week. Here are the pictures from her recital. It's very evident now that she's been in the class for a long time. (Something like 15 months now.) She knows what comes next and anticipates it. She knows all her French vocabulary. She is often called on to go first or be the line leader. She hurries to be the first one to the barre and stands there in first position waiting for her teacher while all the other girls wiggle and worm around and swing like monkeys. She's scheduled for another preschool ballet class this spring. She'll take the summer off for swimming, but might doa hip-hop class since she's finally old enough now. Then, after that, I'm trying to decide if I'll move her to the intermediate ballet class in the fall.

Cinderella?????

Ruby had been saving her money to buy a crown and earings. She finally got them this week. After she got home she wanted to pretend to be Cinderella. She told me I had to be the Stepmother and I had to give her jobs to do. Get this.....the girl happily scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom floors all by herself?! She took a little bucket with some water and a rag and did it all by herself. This seems like a game to encourage! LOL!

Women civil servants in India required to share details of menstrual cycles?!

This is simply outrageous. LINK

Under the new nationwide requirements, female civil servants in India must reveal details of their menstrual cycles and say when they last sought maternity leave. The questions at the root of the controversy are on page 58 of the new appraisal forms for the current year issued by the federal Ministry for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Women officers must write down their "detailed menstrual history and history of LMP [last menstrual period] including date of last confinement [maternity leave]," the form says.

Sounds like some pretty personal information Big Brother wants. Really, how many people do you share your cycles with ladies? And what does that have to do with your ability to do any job? What will they want to know next? How many times they use the bathroom each day and if it was #1 or #2? Or maybe they'll be errecting a red tent for the menstruating ladies at the office place?

Ever made a $88,000 mistake?

Fundraisers for the Two Moors Festival saved for two years to raise the cash needed to buy the Bosendorfer piano - considered to be the Rolls-Royce of the piano world.

The festival’s artistic director Penny Adie was so excited about the delivery of the expensive instrument that she went out to photograph the arrival. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't turn out quite the way she hoped.

Movers drop $88,000 Bosendorfer piano.
(Please tell me these guys were movers and not stagehands.)

And to top it all off, the festival had only insured the piano for approximately $50,000. After all, who thinks someone is gonna drop their grand piano? The instrument may end up a write off for the festival.

Kaylee's birthday party

We delayed having Kaylee's birthday party until Spring Break in hopes that we could have at least part of the party outside. She had a unicorn party last weekend with a few of her Kindergarten friends. They had unicorn races, had an oat eating contest, played pin-the-tail on the unicorn and beat the tar out of a unicorn pinata. And of course they danced to some of their favorite songs that their teacher plays at school, including "Tooty-Ta" which brought them all running to dance! I made her a pink and white unicorn cake too.

Children's Museum

We made 2 trips to the Children's Museum over break. Grandma Dollar went with us the second time so that Keithen and I could have some time alone in the Spykids area. We didn't get a chance to see James & the Giant Peach yet. I hope we can go back before it closes.

Dance Kaleidoscope

We all went to see Dance Kaleidoscope's Beatles show last week. I think they all three really enjoyed it. (Keithen wouldn't let me take his picutre all dressed up.) Ruby was better behaved than the group of middle school kids sitting behind us. I eventually turned around to tell them, "You know, my 4 year old knows to be quiet now" and they finally shut up. The show was amazing, as always. I think "Yesterday" was my favorite piece.

Growing bigger!

We're not at all surprised to see that Ruby is picking up riding a bike quicker than Keithen and Kaylee.

Suncatchers

The kids spent one of the nicer afternoons outside painting suncatchers. Ruby gave away her ballet slipper one to her ballet teacher. I think Kaylee is going to take her Kindergarten teacher the tree frog that she made.

Marshmallows!

We've been roasting marshmallows in the chimenea that we bought last summer. Mmmmmm. Someone told me that after Easter we should try roasting Peeps. Apparently the sugar on them caramelizes if you roast them slowly. Mmmmmmm. Not to mention, it might be fun to roast some little chicks and bunnies...LOL!

Winter Soccer

Keithen finished up Winter soccer and brought home trophy number nine. He and Ruby are both looking forward to Spring soccer starting in about a week. This will be Ruby's first time to play on a team and play actual games instead of just doing skill work. I'm anxious to see how she does on her own with her team. I'm also excited to see Keithen get back in the goalie box. He didn't get to play goalie all through the Winter season, but he usually gets to play goalie a lot at the YMCA.

Spring Break

Since Keithen and Kaylee go to year round school, this weekend is the end of their 3 week Spring Break. We've been so busy that I haven't been posting, but I have a lot of pictures to share now that things are winding down!


Fist we have some pictures from the Wellness Fair that the school district had right before break. Keithen's class helped his gym teacher with a scooterboard demonstration. I was surprised that Ruby got right out there with them. Kaylee seemed frustrated at first, but once she figured it out she was right in there with the older kids.