Dance Recital Time!

Alyson just recently had her dance recital. She did so great and had so much fun. This year she wanted to take a hip hop class and she absolutely loved it!

Of course I had to take plenty of pics of her the day of her recital. I wish you could have seen her face when she was on stage at the recital - she was just all smiles and it was obvious she was having fun and was thoroughly enjoying herself. I think part of what made her recital so special for her too was that Steve took part in the Father Daughter dance with her. She was absolutely thrilled about that and I have to thank Aunt Rachelle for getting the video of that for me! (just scroll down a couple of posts and you can see it!)

Alyson had quite a little cheering section with Steve and I as well as her big brother. Aunt Rachelle and Dan came and brought her a huge bouquet of flowers which she was absolutely thrilled to receive! Aunt Tink and Uncle Christopher were there, and Nana, as well as Miss Pat...she had quite a little cheering section! We are already looking forward to next year.

Alyson doesn't "Mess Around"

This is the video I took during the dress hearsal the day before the recital - she was just so cute! I wish I would have taken one during the actual recital because she did even better and had a smile on her face that just lit up her face. We are so proud of her!

Some pictures of Alyson and Steve during their dancing debut as well as afterwards...they were so proud of themselves -- as well they should be! ;)

The Father Daughter Dance

Alyson was thrilled to have Steve participate in the Father Daughter dance during her recital. I wasn't allowed even a glimpse of what was to come so I was so anxious to see them dance...and I was not disappointed! They were both beaming from ear to ear the entire dance and at one point during the dance when Alyson is supposed to hug Steve, she whispered in his ear "I love you, Daddy." I just don't think it gets much better than that!

Challenge Complete!

I can actually see the top of my desk! There is finally room for me to sit down and work on a layout or 2! The whole space could still use a little more work but in all honesty, I have to admit, I really just have too much stuff! LOL! But I LOVE it! Now that I can see it all better I can hopefully use some of it up...that way I have room to put all the new stuff I *NEED!*

And of course I have my favorite pirate hanging out with me on the computer!

I love to keep some of the handmade items that friends have made for me close at hand...make me happy! (OH and look, there's my favorite Captain again!)

I got my credenza cleaned off and organized a bit better as well...

And last but not least I got my closet cleaned up too...although I think I actually forgot to post a before picture of that one. I have all my stamps, inks and paints organized in the bins on the big rack. I have all of my ribbon in the closet and lots of stuff in the drawers organized by theme(s) and such.


My space is not as fancy as some but at least it works...and right now my corner looks much prettier than my hubby's! ;)

I don't wanna!

So my day started out with a visit to a new doctor in order to get a second opinion on my wrist. I left in tears. I love this guy that I met today and so wish I could have had him right from the start. He actually genuinely seemed to care, which in this day and age seems pretty rare. Not that my original dr was a jerk, but I felt like he just wanted to get me and out as soon as possible.

Anyway, this guy has some concerns about where at least one the pins in my wrist is at...it is pretty close to my joint and could be part of what is causing me so much pain?! Still remains to be seen but he wants me to take some pretty hefty ant-inflammatory and go back in a month. I actually have 5 pins holding the metal plate in place and depending on how things go I may have to have to surgery to take them all out. I can't do any thing until after October since he says the hardware needs to stay in for at least a year before any doctor would consider taking them out.

So, once again I am in the "wait and see" mode and neither outcome is all that appealing to me. I will have to have surgery...again and hopefully have less pain or everything stays as it is and I learn to live with pain...which would you hope for?

I am taking the challenge!

One of the gals over at The House of Paper posted a challenge to get our scraprooms cleaned up after the month of scrapping challenges we had going on at The House in honor of National Scrapbooking Day...we celebrated the whole month long! SO, since my space is definitely full of "crap" (and you'll know what I mean if you saw my video previously posted!) I decided to take the challenge! I am posting my shameful before pictures here...

At least I have a path to my desk...

Of course once you get to the desk, well obviously that is a whole other story! Guess I better get busy! Wish me luck, I am going to need it! LOL!

Going on our walk tonight...

We took a walk last night after dinner and came across quite a bit of wildlife and I was wishing I had had my camera. So tonight we went for our walk...camera in hand. We spotted the little bunnies first - so cute! Then we found the 3 baby gators we had come across last night along with 2 more! No sign of mama or papa thankfully!We have 3 sandhill cranes that we see alot around our neighborhood but tonight only 2 of them came to grace up with their presence. On the way back to our house we took a peek in one of the other ponds and we spotted 2 more baby gators! Wowzers, that makes 7! Surely there must at least be a mama around here somewhere...maybe even two?! We will just have to make sure we are extra careful on our walks. It was fun taking pictures though!

It's the last day of school.

Stevie and Alyson have their last day of school today...I know they are super excited! I, however, am a little bit sad -- mostly though because rather than spending the summer with them like I always have, I will have to work. Both kids were rather surprised when they realized that I do not get the summer off of work. This has moved me to tears on more than one occasion. I feel like I am going to be missing out on so much with them this summer.

I can not even fathom how mother's who have no choice but to go back to work shortly after their children are born manage?! I know that not every mom is "made" (for lack of a better word) to be a SAHM and I know it was not part of my original plan - I was kind of forced into it. And even though I had my fair share of rough days and spent more than a few "time outs" on the front porch, I have never regretted staying home with my kids. I know that I am doing what is best for my family right now by working but I can't believe how much I miss being with my kiddos. I think the novelty of being a "working girl" again has definetely worn off -- and I am barely at the 90 day mark!

I have talked to Steve recently about how I am feeling and I am happy to say that he has been really sympathetic and supportive. He is even talking about the possibility of me being able to quit where I am at and help him focus more on our businesses and being able to make up the difference of my salary if we can reach a few goals with them -- we will have to wait and see on that one...so for now I will just have to continue what I am doing and enjoy the time I do have with them -- they are still young enough that they still like me (most of the time! LOL!) Steve is bringing them out to meet me for lunch after he picks them up for school so I am counting down until my lunch hour so I can hear all about their last day.