I have no excuse for not posting in so long, but once again I think I will try again.  Summer has been wonderful to us so far.  We just returned from the family beach vacation.  I think I might be suffering from too much togetherness.  Yesterday, I was in a terrible mood.  I felt myself approaching my tipping point!  Several projects are almost done, but hubby and the children were insisting we have a cookout and company.  It was all I could do to just be nice.  Please, let me finish my projects.  Not to mention I was exhausted.  It was definitely a "Calgon take me away" moment.  

It is getting bad at my house when we resort to eating Klondikes for dinner. I have the best hubby in the world. He is an awesome dad and one of the funniest people I know. He would do anything for anyone. Hubby is one if the nicest people you will ever meet, but he CANNOT cook a meal unless it is pancakes and bacon. The last two Sunday evenings, I have been swamped with projects. Instead of cooking pancakes and bacon, hubby decided he would #1- go to the store without a list and #2- purchase something he had no clue how to cook. After two major disasters and trips to Dairy Queen and McDonalds, he has given up on cooking. Hopefully, by the end of the week I will finish all of my projects and resume my place in the kitchen. As for now, the children and I will gladly eat Klondikes for dinner.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of how our attitudes set the tone for an entire situation. I plan to print a copy of the text below and put it in a place so I will be reminded daily. I really appreciate these word from Charles Swindoll- “I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.”

Six years ago when my daughter started dance, I was a hit mess when it came to styling hair. My favorite style is a slicked back ponytail. I could roll hair on hot rollers I have had since the late 80s. Thank goodness my sister taught me a few tricks. Over the last few years I have gotten better and better. This year my daughter's solo ensemble needed son exaggerated pin curl hairdo. What does anyone do when they need to learn to do something these days-watch YouTube videos on the topic. After styling the hair several times, I am really getting the hang of it.

Not only have I learned to style hair, but we are also experimenting with painting blue jeans. Who know, we might open our our Etsy store! Most of all the moms and sometimes dads have a great time learning an laughing together.

This weekend when my daughter and I approached out dance competition destination, I asked what she wanted to eat. I encourage her to eat some protein. My itty bitty screams out STEAK! The closest thing we found was a Japanese restaurant. We settled in for hibachi steak. I was also glad apache was getting veggies even though they were coated in tomes of sodium. The highlight of the meal was watching her use he chopsticks. Even our server got a kick out of how good she was at using them.

There was a large studio our our competition with tons of props. The group had a great group of prop dads and even a little brother helping unload props as our girls were stretching. The little brother was your typical backstage little man. I asked if I could take a photo of his shirt. Dance competitions can be very long! Brothers big and small are troopers to sit through so much and tag along.

What a whirlwind of a weekend! Hubby and I had to split up to get the kids to all of the events. Since hubby can't do hair or make-up and he has a part he took play duty as well as math competition for our son. I spent another weekend at a dance competition. Thank goodness my parents and sister were able to help me out. Their support was AWESOME since I was feeling under the weather.

The guys had a great opening weekend with great crowds. The crowd can make a huge difference. Evidently, the play, Father Knows Best has quite a bit of dry humor. Hubby has not been the photographer I would be so pictures will appear next weekend.

Ev, my son participated in his first math competition. He absolutely LOVES math. I am not sure where he gets it, but we are so PROUD of him. My hubby joked that it wasn't' a real good idea to have all the smart kids on one bus together-kind of like not letting the Pres and V.P. fly together. Anyway, his team did pretty good for the first comp. Ev scored in the top third of the group. We always tell our kids to go to a comp for the first time to see what it is like, get the lay of the land and then make a goal for the next comp.

The Fusion Dance Competition was great! It is a new competition our teacher wanted to try out. Moms and dancers really liked the venue and the overall organization of the event. We only took solos so it was stress free and very relaxing. The prop dads did a great job of getting us on and of stage in good time.

Yesterday, we celebrated out three year old niece's third birthday. To get the season started off we had a cousin's egg hunt.

Another busy week ahead-Bunco, baseball, more baseball, costume prep, dance, play and work!

Finally, after a month if heavy rain and lots of cancelled practices baseball has begun! My son is in his second year as pitcher for his middle school team. I am so proud of how hard he works to improve. It was extremely cold and windy the first game. Hoping for sunshine and warmth at the two games this week.

The last two weeks have been non stop at our house. My daughter has competed in back to back dance competitions. It takes a lot of practice on her part, lots of taxi driving on my part, as well as lots of preparations. I spend a few days during the week making sure every piece of costumes, accessories, and shoes are packed. Not to mention the hair and make-up stuff as well as other stuff we might need. I am glad to have what I call a relaxing week of just playing taxi driver. My son should start baseball this week if we get a break in the rain.

Sunday afternoon I enjoyed working on this project for my daughter's competition team. They have been using a simple black chair. Simple will never be good enough for the six sassiest little girls I know. This treasure spent two years in my garage. Just a week ago it had no seat and no back. Friends secure new seat and back. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon making it as sassy as possible. After the dance season we will actually use this prop. The chair has a cushion ai will recover in the same bright fabric, but for dance purposes we need a flat surface.

You will not see the ladies on Dance Moms painting and sanding in their dresses and heals. Look what we do early on Saturday morning in the Ville. Anyone need a giant Mad Hatter prop in August-I am sure it will bring a big price.

Our favorite dance teacher got a new prop trailer last year. I think she has reached her ambitious goal of filling it up. We have tons of props this year. For several months I have lugged this monster back and forth between my garage and the studio. Thank goodness it has taken up temporary residence at the studio. When it is in my SUV, I only have room for three people-the driver and two passengers. Not to mention this lovely weighs a lot. Who knew nine months ago I would be the proud owner of a giant blue suede shoe. What will we do with this treasure once we begin a new year of dance? I am considering asking to put it on display at the art gallery. Maybe it would be a great bench, but most of all a conversation piece.

Dance season is in full swing. Unlike Dance Moms, we are not allowed to watch or step foot in the practice room. After watching Dance Moms, I completely understand why parents are not allowed. Too much work and practice have gone into parents getting out of sorts at such a crucial time in the season. We are just a little more than twenty days until show time. My time is best spent working on sewing and stoning costumes.

It is officially dance season. We have spent more hours at dance in the past few weeks than we have been at home. My hubby and son are in a play in March plus my son begins baseball season next month. We have lost our minds. I will be blogging from the studio, baseball field or theater for the next few months.