Spring Showcase Time AND MORE

I forgot to post a couple of really cute beach pictures last week. LOOK AT THESE FACES.

We added Mr. Hudson and after many takes, I got one with all four looking sort of at me! Ha! Fun times with cousins.

And, one more, look at how incredibly happy this cat is to see her loving family. SO HAPPY.

Anyway, Autumn had her Spring Showcase and, as always, it was a great production. Autumn was only in the ballet portion and they did the Little Mermaid. Because she's one day a week, she was only in one dance. I really wish I could get her to do lyrical or jazz, though, because that's my favorite part of the Showcase. Tap is out of the question, though, because she hates the noise.

Before her dress rehearsal, Autumn did some dancing for me and I took about a zillion pictures because she's awesome and hilarious with her drama.

My mom and I are also jealous of her muscles. In a few of these she's looking kinda cut!

Gazing into the distance...

This one, I might have to frame. Too bad about the bag in the photo but I took this running into the program. I don't know why we were running behind but this is exactly why I take pictures before the dress rehearsal.

Afterward, we took our now-traditional photos with Lainey and Pd. I have no idea why I didn't get one with my mom, though. I really thought I did.

I don't usually get a photo of myself but this time I remembered! Check out her crazy dilated eyes.

On the way out, one of Autumn's little friends caught her. They used to be in the same class but Autumn is a little older and she ended up moving up and the friend moved to a younger class. Autumn misses her a lot so I'm glad they got to hang out a little.

I'm not sure what I'll be blogging about here next week BUT sometime this week I'm going to post photos from Autumn's very late birthday party at Passing Pinwheels! We had a special guest and some very happy folks:

Fun Times at the Beach! Mostly...

Oh, man. It's almost mid-June and I am still blogging May!! This is why we waited until June to do Autumn's birthday party. May is just such a crazy month. But fun! Check these guys out chillin' on the beach. Beach bums!

It wasn't all relaxation, though. Autumn loves to swim. Here she is practicing her back stroke in the ocean. Not too shabby! It's enough to alllllmost make me wish we had a pool at the house. Except no. Because I am way too lazy for that.

The littlest Colleys got in on the beach action, too. Hudson played in the sand...

And so did this little miss! It seriously seems like just yesterday we were taking pictures of Autumn in the sand being cute.

I just made the mistake of looking at old photos and now I am all nostalgic and sad because OMG WHAT THE HECK WHEN WAS SHE THIS SMALLLLLLLL. Autumn was only 17 months old here.

Siiiiigh. Well, Ellie took to the ocean more smoothly than Autumn did. Autumn wasn't a fan of the noise for a long time. Look at how cute Ellie and Kyle are here.

That face!!!

And look at these lovely ladies. It's so funny because when people see Autumn with me but they don't see Mike, they think she's my twin. But, I think it's only because they haven't seen her with the Colleys.

Oh, wait. The picture wasn't quite right. BAM! KIRI THE KIWI TIME.

We really had a great weekend at the beach. My only regret is that I didn't get a family photo this time around! Mike's eyelid was either sunburned or bitten so his poor eye swelled nearly shut. He, for obvious reasons, completely shunned the camera. Well, except for this. He crashed at the family reunion because he had to take a benadryl late in the day.

Keep an eye on Passing Pinwheels! I have some fun things coming up about Autumn's birthday and Tamara's wedding. Plus, Friday was, if you can believe it, what would have been Garrett's third birthday. Time flies, doesn't it? Anyway, next week here on Tales from Our Life, it's Autumn's dance recital!

School Year Wrap Up

Oh, my gosh, the last couple of weeks have been so crazy!! I wanted to wrap up May and then we've got the beach, Autumn's dance recital, AND her first oreos and milk experience!! For now, I finally found the pictures of Autumn blowing out her birthday candle!

Friday after her birthday, Autumn went to the doctor and did a great job. Usually the doctor is a traumatic event but not this time! The finger prick lady was a pro and gave her Frozen stickers. And, for the first time ever, Autumn talked to the doctor! She brought her Doc McStuffin kit. We always try to bring some kind of doctor kit with us. Seems to help some.

Afterward, we went to Sheridan's for ice cream which was a terrible idea. Between that and the cheese dip Friday, poor Autumn had tummy aches on Saturday. But she loved it at the time! Side note: Autumn has spent her entire life in the 3rd percentile for both height and weight. The doctor has never been concerned because Mike and I aren't giants. This time Autumn had a pretty significant growth spurt. 25th percentile! Man. I knew she'd been growing like crazy but I had no idea it was as drastic as all that!

Moving to the next week. before school was out, they had field day! It was supposed to be on Autumn's birthday but they got rained out. It worked out, though, because I think it's better for everything to be spread out a little more. Autumn loves field day. As evidence by some serious cheering. Or yelling. Both.

I got pictures of all the kids running and that was so fun. They ran their little legs and hearts out on this relay race.

Her class also played super hard at guard the castle. Last year, Autumn was a guard. Her team lost but hers was the only tower standing! This year she was an attacker. Her class lost their round but they did a great job! Do you like Autumn's flamingo socks? Her ponytail is pink, too, but it doesn't show up in the pictures very well.

Monday was Field Day. Wednesday I did the Accelerated Reader awards with their class and Friday was the LAST. DAY. WHAT. First day is on the left, last day is on the right. I have no idea why that first day photo is so terrible.

I have to go mope now. I love Autumn at this age just like I've loved every stage but stillllll sooooo saaaaaad she's growing up! Waaaah! Anyway, next week: the beach! recital! oreos! grumpy cat!

Birthday fun day!

It was BIRTHDAY WEEEEEK!!! So much fun!! Autumn turned seven on Wednesday which was CRAZY. She also had career day at school and a doctor appointment but we'll look at that fun stuff next week. I made Autumn put on the birthday hat and pose. She wasn't feeling it but I made her dance around anyway. I can see this scenario playing out when she's, like, 16. Moooooooommmmmm, noooo haaaaat.

Wednesday ended up being way, way colder than I expected so I am glad Autumn wore those long socks! Also, these are the first shorts she's worn to school this year. Autumn hates shorts, khaki pants, and jeans. I think it's the seams that bother her because leggings and soft pants aren't really an issue. I got her these pants because Wednesday would have been field day if it didn't rain all day. It's rescheduled for today so you can guess where I'll be this afternoon! Oh, those socks? FLAMINGO SOCKS. I love it.

Penny and I brought Autumn her favorite lunch: chicken nuggets from McDonald's! It was soooo wet and rainy that we got drenched even with rain jackets and umbrellas. Our food bag broke open in the parking lot, nooooo. But, we had a great time with Autumn. And, I have a funny story about the people we sat near but you'll have to ask me in person. :D

Penny is the best Aunt ever. In addition to picking up some Elsa shoes and a wig for me, she got Autumn presents, an Olaf balloon, and a cookie cake! I set everything up, including the Elsa dress, on the breakfast room table so she saw it as soon as she came in. It's been a rough year so I'm so glad we were able to make Wednesday really special for Autumn!

We told Autumn that we'd cook whatever she wanted or take her to any restaurant. I have no idea why, but I thought her choice of La Hacienda was hilarious. I just didn't expect her to pick Mexican! Autumn had a taco and cheese dip. I think cheese dip was the lure of Mexican food. And her teacher tells me that Autumn's been talking about wanting to go to La Hacienda since Cinco de Mayo. I like how Ellie is patiently tolerating Autumn's affection. Also, note that Autumn wore her Elsa dress out. I am so happy she likes it!

The happy birthday bags gave it away and Autumn got what might be her first restaurant happy birthday song and hat that's been on who knows how many heads!! She enjoyed it, I think, but wasn't so sure about the fried ice cream. I ate it so that's okay. Ha.

Wednesday was just an all around great day!! I thought i had a photo of Autumn blowing out her cookie cake candle but I don't. I have no idea what I was doing instead of taking a picture. So, I guess for now, comfy Autumn says goodbye!

Autumn's last days as a 6 year old...wah!

OMG, EVERYONE. Autumn is going to be SEVEN on WEDNESDAY. How can this beeeeee? I've been working on her present. Her birthday party, which won't be huge, will be in June. It's a frozen party and I've been looking for one of the nice Elsa dresses but they sell out quickly and only those pricey 3rd party sellers have them--for $200!!! Which, no. So, I'm making her a dress and I'll give it to her on her actual birthday. I finished the dress remarkably quickly (I still have to hem it but I'm going to do that after she tries it on) but the cape is giving me some trouble. I'm back on track after a consult with nanny so I'll put it on the other blog after I do my Tamara's wedding post.

In other news, we went to the Fair on the Square in Collierville. I worked the Collierville Arts Academy booth Saturday and did a short demo on Sunday. So far no new students but a sensei can hope. On the plus side, I got to play with lightsabers.

We met one of Autumn's friends from school there Sunday and we had a good time. I am terrible at playdates so the Fair was a super fun way to do something different.

We met the neighbors at the school park on Wednesday. I don't know why, but it never dawned on me to hang out after school on a day when I don't have to run off to work to let Autumn play. She had a good time.

And while we were there, they decided to meet again at the library on Friday. That went better than I expected. They had fun for about an hour, looking at books and playing on the pretend fire truck.  By the way, Autumn read her biggest chapter book yet! She read the junior novelization of the Frozen story--26 chapters! I'm going to have to direct her to different books now that I know she can handle that length.

Oh, and check it out, our roses are blooming! I need to prune them big time so I cut a whole swath and put it in Mike's office.

And, last thing for this week, Autumn and Mike went swimming at a friend's house. The water was super cold so I wasn't going near it! They were pretty cute, though. I swear Autumn is part fish! She splashed around and danced and practiced her swim strokes long after Mike wasn't able to take it anymore. Nice job 6.98 year old!

April Mobile Moments!

Greetings, all! I totally missed blogging last week. We had Tamara's wedding and I pretty much spent Sunday and Monday doing NOTHING, ha! But, now it's back to regular schedule, waaah. But, it's a good time to get caught up on our April doings. I'm about to write an adoption update (short version: nothing at all is happening) before I do all the wedding posts over on the pinwheel blog so be sure to go by there this week.

A couple weeks ago, Autumn got to hang out with Micah and Liana. They got dirty. Just a little. Heh. I am not sure if all of this is the result of Autumn pretending that the dirt was her ice powers but at least part of it is.

The big family garage sale happened in early April. Kyle and I love working the garage sale, mainly because of Pd's shenanigans. This year he sold the sofa. Lainey found out when she came home later that day. It was pretty amazing. She's been wanting to replace it so it wasn't out of the blue but I don't think she quite expected her sofa to be sitting outside that day!

One fun thing about Tamara's wedding was getting to see Cheri more often. We stopped by to get a tiara for the bachelorette party and were able to visit with her sweet dogs.

Less sweet, but almost as furry, Molly enjoyed exploring the bachelorette party items. She actually got stuck in that zebra bag at one point and I had to rescue her. Ha! Kitties are so silly.

In the midst of all this, Autumn, who is never sick, was sick. Poor thing! I think it must have been some kind of 24 hour bug because she was only down for the count for a morning and afternoon and then all was well.

So, you know Mike likes coffee, right? Well, part of his coffee obsession is this grinder. We bought it ages ago and it was a great investment but it's still pretty funny to see people's reactions to his industrial strength coffee grinder. It needs fairly routine maintenance. This time around, Mike got Autumn to help him out. I think here she's sweeping out old coffee while Mike lights the way.

Last thing! Autumn's ballet class has been doing ballet buddies. An older dancer leaves notes and little gifts for her ballet buddy secretly and then this week they revealed the ballet buddy's identity. Too cute! Someday if I ever have enough teens around, I should totally do this with my kids classes. Autumn loved it. On the big reveal day, parents were allowed to come watch and take photos. I have a class during Autumn's so I only peeked once in a while. When they did the class photo (the girls got to wear costumes), I snuck out and snapped one. 

That's it for this week!