Dancing queen of hearts

Sydney had fun. And that's all that matters, right?

Never mind that after paying for lessons all year long, and then shelling out a ridiculous amount of money for a dance recital costume, we had to pay $10 each, including for AJ, to sit in the back of a sweltering hot gymnasium for more than an hour. All to get a glimpse of our little princess who appeared on stage for approximately three minutes.

At least the safety pins I used to properly criss cross the straps on her costume (because merely tying them behind her neck apparently isn't good enough) held strong.

If the audio system in the gym was any good, I suspect I would have heard them instruct us to not use video cameras or flash photography. But considering the woman on stage sounded more like Charlie Brown's teacher (Wha-WHA-wha-wah...) I couldn't be sure, and so I recorded it just in case. I suppose coming soon will be another opportunity for me to spend money on an overpriced DVD of the performance.

Unfortunately, I'm once again unable to upload the video to this site. But I've got it saved for anyone who wants to share in the magic of little girls colliding with each other while staring at the wings for guidance from their teacher of what to do next.

I will say that of the three classes of 3-5 year olds, Sydney's was the best. Based on all of the performances, her teacher clearly was the best instructor and choreographer.

AJ was not too thrilled to have to sit through the long performance. I told him it was payback for the many, many hockey, baseball and soccer games that Sydney has endured for him. He did seem somewhat inspired by a few of the performances and even suggested he'd like to take tap dance lessons next year. Jeff agreed, if AJ was willing to give up hockey.

I'm pretty sure skates will win out over tap shoes.

When it was all over and I was able to retrieve Sydney, we were presented a "Certificate of Achievement in Dance for _____". Yup. Consistent with the big league nature of everything that went with this performance, they didn't bother filling in any of the students' names.

But at least Sydney had fun. And her costume didn't fall apart. And we're done for the year.

And really, that's all that matters, right?

Breakfast of champions. And seven-year-old Twins fans.

We went to Sammy's Pizza for supper last night. So guess what AJ immediately thought of for breakfast this morning?

I suggested my increasingly capable boy should try to heat it up himself. I told him to stick the pizza in the microwave for :25 seconds. He did so, but then decided there were still to many cold pieces.

"I think I'll do :35 seconds this time," said the suddenly expert pizza reheater.

"I'd say :15 seconds," I advised. "Or do :20. We'll compromise."

"Like Pawn Stars," AJ nodded.

Thinking he misheard me, I corrected, "No, I said compromise. Pick a time that's in the middle of what you and I each said."

"Yeah," AJ repeated. "Compromise. That's what they do on Pawn Stars."

Clearly he's joined Jeff in watching that show far more than I have.

It's actually pretty rare these days for us to have left-overs from Sammy's. Growing appetites means we generally can polish off the largest size pizza before leaving the restaurant. But Sydney and I had eaten a late lunch yesterday, and so a few of the glorious little squares remained to be boxed up for another meal.

Or maybe it was AJ's desire to watch the Twins game last night that distracted him from eating his normal fill.

There was a TV directly over our booth that was tuned to some stupid Brendan Frasier movie. I hadn't been paying close attention, but could hear Jeff instructing AJ that he should politely ask, "Excuse me, but could you change the channel to the Twins game?" Normally I would have told AJ he could wait until we got home to watch the game, but right about that moment the movie involved a disgusting bloody tissue-covered creature terrorizing people, and so I really wanted the channel changed anyway.

I figured AJ would flag down a waitress.

I should have figured my son wouldn't possibly have thought of something so simple.

No. He quickly scooted from the table and ran up to the front counter where he politely asked his question. Of the owner. I happen to know Mike through work, and he knows AJ is my son, so he grinned and came over. He not only showed AJ where the remote is located for future reference, he told him he could use it anytime he wants.

"Wouldn't that be stealing?" AJ asked.

"Only if you take it with you." Mike teased. "You're not going to put it in your pocket are you? I don't think it'd fit."

"No!"AJ assured him.

We talked a bit more. Mike noted to me how not shy AJ is. I could only nod. He then went back to work and we went back to eating. And watching the Twins game.

As we were leaving, Mike called out to AJ, "So what's the score?"

Mr. future play-by-play couldn't give a short answer. "We're losing one to nothing, but we've got guys on first and third (I think he provided player names as well) and only one out.

I realize this post kind of rambles from one story to another. Kind of like AJ.

The making of a diva

After approximately 10 months of dance lessons, Sydney's moment of glory is just about here. Her dance recital - her chance to shine (i.e. show off) - is Saturday. In preparation for this exciting event, her class held a final rehearsal and had pictures taken yesterday. That meant it was time for more than a little primping. And since Mommy readily admits that styling hair for prima ballerinas is not one of her strong points, it was time to call in an expert.  Grandma Jo, was happy to put her hair styling experience to good use.

Sydney loved the attention. For about 90 seconds. After that she simply had to take a phone call. (Never mind that phone hasn't been activated for at least two years.)

Grandma continued to curl and pin Sydney's hair into an adorable style. And at last she was ready.

Unfortunately, Sydney's ultra-fine hair, combined with the humidity, meant the curls didn't last long. But the bows and clips did, as did Sydney's smile, especially after we let her put on her costume and I added some shiny lip gloss. I was quite relieved to see that most of the girls' make-up was limited to lip gloss and a little blush. I've seen pictures of girls Sydney's age who go to other dance studios in the area, and they're covered in more make up than what I typically wear.

Once photos were done, the girls ran through their routine one last time. Here they are dancing to Queen of Hearts.

I'd say they're as ready as they'll ever be. (Read: they're not ready at all, but when you're dealing with kids that age, they're as good as they're going to get.) And really, when you're this young and adorable, it's all about the costumes. And if someone falls down because they slipped or forgot their moves, it's all the cuter.

End-of-school blues. Or greens.

It's day one of summer vacation. AJ, the child I struggle to wake at 6:45 each morning of the school year, is already awake at 6:30 claiming he's "not so tired". And that's after letting him stay up late last night.

Doesn't it figure?

If I still scrapbooked, I'd probably be upset that I didn't get a photo of him yesterday on his last day of school. But, as mentioned, he normally moves quite slowly in the morning, and at the point I left for work, he was hardly ready for a close up. He did wear a nice outfit yesterday. His choice. he wanted "something nice, like for graduation."

Meanwhile, Sydney came home from her final day at Cool Kids with a very exciting souvenir: a small paper cup from which grass was growing. And she could not wait to plant it.



The challenge then became figuring out a location. There are plenty of spots in the backyard that could use some patching, thanks to Gus. But planting anything within the same fenced in confines of a dog that likes to dig would basically be a death sentence for Sydney's precious grouping of grass. And so we turned to the front yard. But as much as the kids run around playing baseball there, the grass' odds of success would not be good.

At last, we looked to the end of the driveway in an area of thin/dead grass cover. Perfect.

Under Sydney's watchful eyes, I dug a hole into what turned out to be mostly sand on top of clay. (Probably the reason for the existing ground cover's dismal showing.) We added garden soil and then replanted the precious bit of green.

But we couldn't stop there. Sydney faced quite the dilemma. She didn't want to get her hands dirty, but still insisted she wanted to help. And so we located the watering can and let her go to work.

It's now time for me to leave for work. AJ's in the top half of the second inning playing baseball on Xbox. I think his favorite moment of summer vacation so far came last night at bedtime. He asked me, "Do you have to work tomorrow?"

"Yup, I do," I answered.

In a highly sarcastic tone, no doubt fueled by all the Fridays when he had to go to school knowing I was at home with Sydney, he responded, "Oh. Isn't that too bad?"

As Jeff suggested, I think it's time we come up with a version of a honey-do list. We'll call it the AJ-do list.

Seasons change. Or maybe just overlap.

Ssshhhh... I kind of feel like I should whisper this for fear of jinxing something. We're done with hockey. (For six weeks, anyway.)

 It's a bit weird to be dressed for 80 degree weather, and then have to sit inside a chilly ice arena for an hour and a half. At least AJ ended the season on a high note. "Two hat tricks and a goal" (seven goals total) is how he summed it up.

And then the next day he at last played his first baseball game. It should have been his third, but the two games last week were rained out. Flooded out would have been a more accurate term, because as Monday's game demonstrated, they don't call games for mere rain. Even if it's a down pour.

It may not be evident in the above photo, but it was raining really hard. I was standing under an umbrella to take this picture.

And then by the top half of the next inning, the sun came out, blazingly bright. Though drenched, AJ was happy to ham it up when he saw me with camera in hand.

Then the sun went behind some clouds and it got chilly. And still the game dragged on. The game on the adjoining field somehow miraculously wrapped up, and still our game continued... into the third inning.

Suddenly all those hockey games in sub-zero temperatures didn't seem so bad. At least there's a time limit on those. Here we were at the mercy of a bunch of seven and eight year olds who couldn't make an out no matter how hard we parents prayed. 

Thank goodness for smart phones. One of the moms looked up the little league website and discovered the games are four innings long or a maximum of 90 minutes. And no new inning can start within 15 minutes of the 90 minute limit. Hallelujah! We were almost done.

Here's a shot of what turned out to be AJ's final at bat (he's #7): 

And here's the hit:

AJ almost got to be up one last time, but the kid who batted in front of him got called out at first in a play that I would have called safe based on the "tie goes to the runner" rule. But none of the parents complained.

AJ griped to me, "That was so unfair. Who are the umps?"

I responded, "A couple of dads who wanted to go home just as bad as the rest of us."

He'll get another chance tomorrow when he has another game. I don't want to say it too loudly for fear of jinxing something, but I think the weather is supposed to be half-way decent.

Someone had a birthday

Guess who celebrated a birthday today! (Besides my older sister, who I'm pretty sure appreciates this public recognition of her special day.)

It's Gus' first birthday! Which I guess in dog years makes it his seventh birthday.

Smile pretty, birthday boy.

And I guess that means I now have, at least for the next few weeks, TWO seven-year-old males in my house. How lucky!

Since we weren't able to join Auntie Lisa for a birthday party this evening, the kids thought we should have a party for Gus. Sydney made him a card at daycare and wanted to tape it to his kennel. I tried to warn her that he'd probably try to eat it. I'm really not sure what the design has to do with Gus or his birthday, but if you look closely, you'll see that Sydney wrote her name at the top. (Kadie is the helper at daycare who apparently assisted on this art project.

The kids instinctively seemed to know that Gus, like any seven year old, would also want presents. And so we improvised with what we had on hand: Rawhide, watermelon rinds, table scraps and... the best treat of all... a can of... (drum roll, please)... cat food.

I'm sure Spike won't mind. Well, actually, she probably minds a lot because she's an ornery old cat who hates the dog. So she'll just have to deal with our decision to share. We left enough for her.

I wish I could say that Gus is showing signs of calming down, is chewing on fewer things and behaving better. But alas, about the only recent improvement is when I order him to go to his kennel. We've reached a certain understanding. I tell him to kennel up and give him room to run in the opposite direction around the couch. He runs a lap, avoiding me, and then heads into the kennel and plops down with a loud sigh.

I asked the kids tonight what they love about Gus, and then typed their answers as they spoke.

Sydney: What I love about Gus? Well, okay, I'll tell you what I love about Gus. The best thing I love about Gus is when he licks me. And I love him because he loves me, too. And he likes me, too. That's all I love about him.

Me: What don't you like?

Sydney: When he chews up toys. When he chews everything of ours.

Me: AJ, what do you love about Gus?

AJ: That he's always a little tired sometimes and I like to snuggle with him. And he's furry. And (by this time he was staring over my shoulder)... write 'and'... (he paused, waiting for me to catch up to his dictation.)... and he's soft as a blanket.

AJ's correct. Gus is a good snuggler at bedtime. There have been several nights when Jeff's working that I've let him sleep on the bed with me until Jeff gets home. That's our special one-on-one time together, without the distraction of the kids wanting him to play and then wanting him to leave them alone.

I'd be lying if I didn't say he's been a challenging addition to the family. He's destroyed more Barbie dolls, Lincoln Logs, balls and other kids' toys than I can count, not to mention shoes, gloves, towels and just about anything else he can get ahold of. Despite that, the only regret I have is that I don't have more time to focus solely on him. Gus still shows potential of being a great dog. He just needs the attention and patience to become it. After all, he is only one. Or seven.

All's well

At the risk of writing too often on the same subject, yet another blog post about the new Children's Museum...

Friday night was the Museum's monthly "First Friday" event. The theme was Be Well and there were all sorts of health-themed activities. I thought AJ would enjoy running on the indoor track upstairs, but it was a different child of mine who chose to run lap after lap.

Sydney was happy to run on her own until she happened to see another child running with a parent. And then, of course, she wanted to race me.

AJ, meanwhile, had headed to the opposite end of the room with friends Ethan and Carver. There, they turned the new Dream Machine into a viking ship, using upside down hobby horses as swords.

We at last dragged them downstairs to one of the evening's other special events. A teddy bear clinic. The boys had the medical staff laughing as they made up and described their toys' various ailments. Carver's teddy bear had mono and lice. AJ's Minnesota Twins teddy bear, who he decided was named Kirby Puckett, was just old, he told the nurse. But Kirby also had to be treated for lice since he'd been playing with Carver's teddy.

When it was at last Sydney's turn with her doll, she explained that Aurora had a fever. Sydney carefully watched as the nurse examined the doll, and even got to help give her medicine.

And then it was back to exploring the new exhibits. The boys loved digging in the sand for fossils.

While Sydney dragged my friend Crystal over to look at "fly parts" (as the slide was labeled) through the microscope.

As much fun as they've been having at the new Museum, Friday proved it's even more fun when you can play there with friends.