Long post, lots of pics!!

My poor computer needs some TLC because it took me 2 whole days to get this post up...SLOOOWWWW!! But, now it's up, so here we go! Let's see...well, surprise, surprise, Luci lost yet another tooth! My 6 year old has now lost more teeth naturally than her 9 year old sister!! The lone difference with this tooth is that she actually pulled it out herself, rather than let me yank it!

I'm wondering how she manages to eat with this many teeth missing!! Remind me to put some chapstick on this kid!

Well, Dean and I took some foster care/adoption classes 2 years ago in the hopes of adopting at least one more, but our journey had to wait until our house was done to pass the home inspection. The longer we waited, the less I really wanted another child! Dean would still love to go through with it, but I'm pretty sure I'm done. So, that back bedroom we had on reserve for kid #3 was now designated for Drew as she had been asking to have her own room for a while now. She is a neat freak and Luci, well, she's not! Drew was very annoyed that her room was never clean because she refused to pick up after her sister! Ahhhh, the joys of sisterhood! So, we got to work on finishing that back bedroom which has been sitting in its unfinished state for 3 years now. As it was a clean slate, Drew got to pick out colors and the theme. I don't know about moms of other 9 year olds, but apparently peace signs are all the rage!! So she got a bright, groovy peace room! Here's Dean mudding the sheet-rock.

We put the girls to work scraping sheet-rock mud off the floor with scrapers.

Finally! The painting can begin!!! Drew starts with the primer!

I got busy and made this headboard all by myself!! Lowes cut the sheet of plywood down to my dimensions, and I got out the jigsaw and cut this wavy design in it. The rest was easy stuff, fabric, foam, batting, staple gun......and voila! I think it turned out fantastic!!!

Here is the color Drew picked out for her walls! Warning:sunglasses required!! Drew and I made the artwork on the wall.

Window trim up, ready to be painted!

The floor is just a sub-floor as we intend to put hardwood in eventually, but that's low on the priority list, so we just painted it for now. Again, Drew chose the color!! Yikes! But it is now done!

The fish tank now resides under the artwork in this bare spot, but it hadn't been moved yet at the time of this picture.

Drew loves her new room!

Once we got Drew settled into her new room, we started right away re-doing Luci's. It is all but finished, but I haven't taken any pics yet because there are just a few last minute additions we're waiting for before I do. But here's a little hint...Luci made this sign for her door!

On Friday, May 20th, Drew turned 9 years old!!!! I cannot believe I have a 9 year old!!!!! We had a small family party for her on Friday evening and a friend slumber party on Saturday. Here is the cake for Friday. AGAIN with the peace signs!!! (Earlier that day, I sent 24 peace sign cupcakes to school!)

Papa had to get his "peace sign" in, too!!

The birthday hat!

Meema's gift of Orbeez was a big hit!!

Darcy giving out the kisses to Meema!

My dad has successfully turned my girls into Yankees fans!

Mazin' Hamsters, we got her 3 of them.

And a Webkinz Hippo with what else, a peace sign on it's butt!

Grandma and Grandpa filled a card with $$!

Ha ha!! I HAD to include this hilarious shot! She was having a really hard time breaking the tape on the gift from Dan, Tina and the kids.

When she finally managed to open it, inside she found a pair of cool peace sign earrings!

Saturday afternoon, the girls had their recital, but I'll post those after all the birthday pics. Moving right along, here are a few shots from the beginning of her slumber party Saturday evening.

One of her cards played the song Happy Birthday using barking dogs. Monty is definitely interested!

The next five pics are the girls' dance pictures. Drew and Luci had a ballet duet and were dressed in Chinese outfits.

Both groups. The older girls in white and the younger set in pink. Drew is on the left 2nd row, Luci is in front, standing in the middle, and my niece Sonja is in front on the left kneeling.

The girls wait in the auditorium before the recital.

This little cutie-pie is Brynn. She is here because her parents fell right in love with Drew when we brought her home! They decided to start the process and brought her home a couple years later! She is tiny, just like Drew. You'd never know she is 5! She looks 3 at most!

Here are the younger girls, minus one.

The older girls, again minus one.

Drew's group on stage during their first number.

I LOVE this shot of Drew! She is simply stunning!

This shot was taken by another audience member and posted on facebook. She tagged me in it, so I stole it for the blog! That beaming smile remained on her face the whole time she was on stage!

Luci in her first number. Her ballet teacher pulled me aside and absolutely insisted that I keep Luci in ballet. Apparently, not only does she have the perfect body type, the perfect feet and perfect timing, but she's got the heart for it as well! She told me that Luci has the potential to go very far in ballet if she sticks with it! Good thing she loves it so much!! Just wish I lived someplace closer to a decent ballet school! Though, at her age, she's fine in her current dance studio for now. If she sticks with it, we'll figure out our options when the time comes.

Luci doesn't smile nearly as much on stage, but it's because she takes it so seriously and is concentrating on perfecting her steps. (She's a bit of a perfectionist...just wish some of that perfectionism would transfer into keeping her room clean! Ha ha!)

Another of Luci's costumes. She danced to "A, You're Adorable" in this bunny outfit.

Part of the dance was shaking her cotton tail! Very cute!

Drew and Luci in their "Tea" number.

In other news, my scale informs me that I have now lost 62 pounds!!! My workout partner, Sue and I changed our gym time from after-school to 5:30am before school. I never thought I'd really enjoy it as I am NOT a morning person, but I'm surprised to find that I actually love it!! I go before the girls wake-up and when I arrive home, they are already dressed and doing their hair! The schedule is perfect! UNFORTUNATELY, last week Sue broke her ankle!!!! Oh no!!!! But, I still go to the gym all by myself as there is a selct group of the same people at the gym every morning that I talk to. One of those is actually a former physical education teacher of mine from high-school! She and her work-out partner give me every incentive to keep going by giving me shit if I don't show up! Ha ha!!! Love it!! This weekend is our first camping trip of the season!!!!! Yay!!!! I SOOOO love camping and this long, cold winter and long, wet spring have given me camping fever very badly!!!! Rain is forecasted for the entire weekend, what else is new, but that hasn't "dampened" my spirits!! I'll love it rain or shine!!

Today's Quotes:

Your birthday is a special time to celebrate the gift of 'you' to the world. ~unknown

I think most dancers would agree that the art of ballet chooses the dancer, not the other way around. ~Kevin Mckenzie

Bunny stuff, singing stuff and a very silly doggie!

Easter is nothing but a family holiday in this house. We don't go to church and we don't celebrate the rising of anything except the sun for another day. But we do the other usual Easter stuff that involves egss, candy and a very looked-forward-to bunny! Let's start with the eggs. The week before Easter was Spring Break, so the girls did some sleeping-over at friends', cousins' and grandparents's houses. They also hosted some of their own sleep-overs. In the shots below, we see the girls, my niece and nephew, Sonja and Max and my other "niece", Kaydence all decorating some eggs for the big day. I boiled three 18 packs of eggs and set the table up with newspaper and lots of dye....and let them have at it!

L to R: Drew, Luci, Sonja, Kay and Max with their creations!

When Easter finally arrived, here's what the bunny left them! Candy, of course, but also some make-up, toys, jewelry and a couple new ipods! The girls left the bunny some cookies, which were gobbled up by the time the morning arrived! The girls also each wrote the bunny a note wishing him a happy Easter! He wrote them back wishing them the same!

Checking out the loot!

Again this year, the weather cooperated enough to allow an outdoor egg hunt! They needed jackets, but at least there wasn't any snow!!

Last week was Drew's spring concert. Here, she models her new concert dress, shoes and jewelry! She is a stunner, as usual!

Waiting in the high-school auditorium for her turn on the risers!

Sonja and Luci wait patiently in their seats for Drew's turn!

Miss Shorty in the front row, as usual!

In this shot, she was turning a wheel on a stick. 3 others did as well to emulate a large vehicle as they sang Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang.

After the concert, the girls all posed together.

Drew will turn 9 in just a few short weeks, while Luci and Sonja are both 6. And yet, the 6 year olds are both taller than the 9 year old!

Dean hopped on the 4-wheeler to drag the harrow rake around the yard to pull up some thatch and Mr. Darcy chased after him. Dean was a little concerned that he'd hurt himself, so he reached down and scopped him up to the seat. After a little while, he decided riding was a much better deal than running!

What a goofy dog!

I arrived home today back from my chorus' regional competition in Syracuse. Our chorus nabbed the 2nd place win for the Small Chorus Category!!!!! It's not a 1st place win, but we're still very pleased as we raised our score about 20 points or so from last year's score!! The winning chorus (from Saratoga, NY)performed phenomenally well and deserved their victory!! Beating out all the rest of the small choruses (about 15 or so in our region) is not too shabby at all and we are deservedly proud of our achievement!

On the weight-loss front, when I last stepped on the scale, I found I have lost 57 pounds! Of course, I have yet to try it again after this past weekend of eating and drinking! Ha ha! Tomorrow, it's back to the grindstone when my work-out partner and I meet up at the gym again!

I'm skipping out on the quotes today, I am bushed from my mini-vaca from home and my bed is calling! Goodnight!

Poor Tooth Fairy!!!

Hmmm, am wondering about the wisdom of the trading of money for teeth...Luci did it again! The very next day after losing her other top baby tooth, she came to me and said, "Mommy, look how loose THIS tooth is!!" I peered in her mouth, grabbed the indicated tooth and gave it a little wiggle. It was by far the loosest tooth she has ever had! I checked all her teeth the night before and it was the wiggliest of her remaining choppers, but it was by no means as loose as it was now! She must have been reaming pretty good on it all morning! So, I tied the string around it (absolutely NO hemming and hawing this time!!! Ha ha!) and one little tug was all it took! I didn't even yank, just pulled a bit and out it popped!

Of course, she requested and received another $5 and now she is richer than I am!!! What a kid! Just waiting for her to come say, "I've got a loose tooth again!" any day now! Pretty soon she won't be able to eat!!!

The Tooth Fairy strikes again!

Luci has had a loose front tooth now for months. I always reminded her to wiggle, wiggle, wiggle...and she would for a few minutes and forget about it again. I wasn't in a hurry to get this thing out of her, I knew it would go EVENTUALLY even if she never touched it. But last night, I got a bug up my butt to finally get it gone and talked her into letting me give it a yank. She hemmed and hawed for quite a while doing what a 6 year old does best, but eventually she gave in and let me try it. I wrapped a double piece of dental floss around it THREE times...each time the floss broke when I pulled. So I broke out the big guns and tied a thin length of ribbon around it, not really thinking it would stay put. But it did and out popped that stubborn tooth! As usual, Luci shed not a tear and giggled at her reflection in the mirror even as the blood oozed out of the gaping hole left behind! The defensless victim was no match for the ribbon!

As usual, the Tooth Fairy received an explanatory note from Luci, telling her the date and time and how much money she would like in return. On the outside of the envelope, are Luci's decorations and greetings.

The Tooth Fairy indeed came last night and left Luci her $5 that she requested. The Tooth Fairy has gotten very generous in her old age...I used to get a dollar, and even THAT was a lot back then when most kids were getting just a quarter! The Tooth Fairy is also going broke! Ha ha!

Today's Quotes:

Losing baby teeth were a part and parcel of one's life - a symbol of growing up, and it is the tooth-fairy that makes this otherwise dreaded and painful process an exciting one - something to look forward to. ~Mansi Maheshwari

The tooth fairy teaches children that they can sell body parts for money. ~David Richerby

Updates

Well, not too much going on right now, which explains the lack of posting! And no pics in this post, just a quick update on life in our neck of the woods! The weather is SLOWLY starting to feel like spring around here. The days are creeping into the lower 50's which, though not terribly warm, is a much welcomed relief after this seemingly never-ending winter! I have appealed to anyone looking for some extra cash...I'll pay a small fortune to hire a hitman to "take care of" Old Man Winter! The old geezer is too stubborn to die!! I'm sure we'll see more snow before he finally relinquishes his hold on the North Country! Today is rainy, a sure sign of spring! And though I don't consider a cool, rainy day by any means wonderful, it is surely better than cold and snow! Luci's class held their annual class play, the same play Drew was a part of in her first grade year...The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Like her sister before her, Luci was chosen to help make the props and set for the play as opposed to acting a part. She wanted to play the Little Billy Goat, but they chose another kid. A good lesson in "you can't win 'em all!" Anyway, we went to see the short but sweet production and she didn't seem to be upset about not being able to act in it, so it was a success! Maybe in her 2nd grade class play she'll be able to play a part! We're looking forward to Spring Break starting this Friday. The girls' school gave them 2 unused snow days back, so they are off on Friday and they also get the Friday before Memorial Day weekend off as well. That'll be nice as we can add it to our already booked camping trip! Speaking of camping, we have booked Mem Day weekend at one of our fave campgrounds that's not too far a drive from home and we've also booked a weekend at Jellystone in Mexico, NY. As yet, we have plans but have not booked yet a trip to Enchanted Forest/Water Safari in Old Forge, NY and also a trip to Ausable Chasm in the Adirondacks this year. Here's a place I've always wanted to visit and never have, so that'll be exciting! As for Spring Break, we're not going anywhere exciting, as usual, but I DO look forward to shutting the alarm clock off for 10 days! My Sweet Adelines chorus is gearing up for our annual regional competition in Syracuse, NY at the end of this month. We've worked very hard, and are bringing 2 brand new songs to the stage, so I'm not sure how we'll finish. The odds are stacked against us for winning First Place with new songs, but we'll try our best and maybe surprise ourselves! My sister-in-law, Tina, has taken the plunge and decided to join the chorus! I'm happy to have a companion during my 40 minute commute to rehearsal and I hope she loves it as much as I do! She just joined, so it is too late for her to be able to compete with us this month, but she'll be coming along to see what our competitions are all about and to root for the home team!!! We'll be rooming together, so that ought to be lots of fun, even if we don't end up winning! I'll bring the wine and we can either celebrate or commiserate together! Ha ha! Update on the weight-loss front...my plateau has seemingly decided to end as I have now lost 53 pounds!! That's a 35 pound loss since joining the gym in October 2010!! Not too shabby for a 40 year old! It'll be interesting to see what weight my body decides I should be! I've already bought a bathing suit in a size too small in anticipation of summer, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if I never got to wear it because it ended up being too large by the time swimming weather arrives! :-) Ah, the tricks I play with myself!! It'll be money well-worth spent if that happens, if only for my self-confidence! Hopefully my next post will have pictures...maybe of day trips we decided to take during Spring Break??? We shall see! Until then..... (I'll skip the quotes today!)