Shimmers After Hours

We got a nice surprise last night.  Our sweet friend Debbie and her girls Amanda and Emily came to visit!  I had been noticing her Facebook status updates and knew she was in a different town than the one she lives in, but didn't know where.  When I got a text asking if I wanted to go to Shimmers, I knew they had to be in our town!  They were close enough to buy a few things to help with dinner, and far enough away that I had time to pick up our cluttered house!  After a dinner of grilled pork quesadillas we sat down to talk but soon knew we had to head to Shimmers.  It's a tradition. 

Shawn had somewhere else to be, and McKinley and Kennedy were both gone for the night, so Reagan and I took Amanda and Emily in the Eos and Debbie followed in their car. I don't remember what time we got there...but we didn't leave until it had been closed for about 2 hours. After sitting at a table and eating we slowly walked to our cars...and talked for the next 2 and a half hours. And the three girls? They played.

In the car.

In the grass.

In the storm drain.


In the parking lot.

And when the sprinklers started, they played in the galoons and gallons of water that poured out of the broken sprinklers.
 Um, gallons.

Right next to the little building that Shimmers is in there is a small grassy area with tables. There are probably 4 sprinklers there. 3 don't do anything, and 1 pours water over the curb and down the hill of the parking lot. It was a river of excitement for the 3 girls. They did pretty well in staying dry, mainly just got their feet wet. That was good since they had an hour and a half trip home. But then it happened...the fountain.

I really think they need to check the sprinkler system in this shopping area. 

Know what happens when 3 girls who have been playing nicely in a river of water see a fountain?  They instantly get wet. 

Soaked.

To the bone.

And had an absolute blast doing it.  How could we stop them?

Debbie had blankets in the car for her girls but I didn't know what to do.  We don't keep anything in the Eos for these situations.  But when I opened the trunk I saw Shawn's emergency scrubs.  Since he's always on call he put those in their to ward off call-ins while we were out breaking in the new car.  So Reagan got wrapped up in those.  And looks pretty stinking cute!

And another interesting tidbit about Shimmers...I received an exciting comment on a post about Shimmers.  You can read it here.  Yep, I consider her a celebrity and love that she found my blog!  Maybe she'll find this one and know to have the sprinklers checked!

This should help get the info passed on to the right people:c)

How My Blog Got It's Name

I woke up yesterday with a sore throat.  And this morning?  Even worse.  But my crazy day doesn't care.  I did send the girls to school and then crawl back in bed for 2 hours.  I do believe that's the only way I got through the day. 

My schedule?

11:30-Take caramel sauce (that I forgot to buy this weekend) to Reagan's Sundae Party.
3:15-6-Reagan's Accelerated Reading party at a downtown bowling alley.
5:30-Get the girls ready for their voice recital.
6-Head to the church for warm-ups.
6:30-Kennedy's Middle School awards assembly at the school.
7-Voice recital starts at church.

And did I mention I didn't feel good?  I was trying to figure out how to go on Reagan's field trip and get her sister's home from school, fed, ready for voice recital, and get them to church.  I can almost guarantee that Shawn will have to work late if I am about to lose my mind.  And then my phone rang.  It was my sweet mother-in-law saying they were coming to the recital.  And when I told her how insane the day was getting, she said they'd come at 3 and take care of McKinley and Kennedy for me.  I.  Am.  So.  Blessed to have them. 

So I got to go bowling with no worries.  My spinning mind finally relaxed.  I packed up my camera, an entire box of Kleenex, and headed out.

We went to a really swanky bowling alley that is in Bricktown.  After 10 pm it becomes a 21 and older place.  I know that because I tried to go in and see some friends at exactly 9:59 with McKinley in tow two years ago.  So I'd never actually been in.  I have to say, once I got in, I was impressed. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the party.

And here they are.  The highest A.R. achievers and their fabulous teacher:c)

And even though we left downtown right in the middle of rush hour, we made it home in time to get Reagan dressed, fed, and to the recital on time.  And all three of my girls did a fabulous job with their solos. 

So here I sit on the couch with my box of Kleenex looking at tomorrow's schedule. 

Oh boy.

Send help.

Gold Medal Winner

I headed to Reagan's last Round Up this morning because she was going to be getting a math award.  During the school year the students are given tests called Math Tracks.  After you pass the preliminary tests in your class, you get to go to the Principal's Test.  If you pass that, you move up to the next harder one.  At the end of the school year students get medals based on how many they've passed.  Bronze, Silver, or Gold.  In first grade Reagan was one of two who got a gold.  A Math Whiz t-shirt was thrown in and it's still one of her favorite things.  In second grade her teacher saw that she was doing so well and moved her up a level.  Reagan panicked and was so worried she didn't end up passing it.  She was crushed when she got a silver medal.  But this year she was back on top!

I'm sure she gets her math skills from me:c)

Speedy

Reagan is definitely my sporty child.  Musical, yes, but more sporty than her sisters.  She plays soccer every year for our church and started gymnastics recently to very happy results. 

So when she asked to go for a run with me recently I of course said yes. 

Karreen and I are back to running after a much needed break and healing time....but we're not back to where we were.  We certainly can't go out and run 13.1 miles again!  The day Reagan joined us we were running 27 minutes straight.  I knew my little 9 year old would be able to do that easily.  I really thought the struggle would be getting her up at 5:20 in the morning!  I was surprised to see her waiting for me, ready to go.  We walk to the halfway point, stretch, walk 5 minutes to warm up, and then run.  Reagan was so antsy to run during all of the warming up stuff.  She was thrilled when we finally started running. 

We run around our local college and our church which is 4 sets of 4 block lengths.  We do that twice.  By the 3rd set Reagan was slowing down.  When we started our second time around she would walk for a bit, run ahead of us, and walk until we caught up.  She was thrilled when we finished and did our 5 minute cool down walk.  By the time we were headed home she was saying that she'd never do that again. 

I have to admit...I was thrilled.  After all, I'm a...(like I'm going to tell you my age!)...mom of three, slow runner, and certainly not in and kind of good shape...but my 9 year old couldn't keep up!  I was on a natural high for the whole day.

But after my breaking and entering I headed to her track meet.  Dirty jeans and all.  After I got this picture I figured something out.

That girl right there??  She's a sprinter.  She tied for 1st in the 50m, came in a very close 2nd in the 100m, and helped her class relay team take 1st by almost a minute over the other teams.

So that runners high I was on for outdoing my 9 year old??  Yep, that's gone.  Completely gone.  Never to return I'm sure.

But I'm also incredibly proud. 

That's my girl!!

Valentine Love

When I got to Reagan's classroom for the Valentine's party she was bubbling over. She said she needed to show me what Evan had given her. I think we've established here before that he is the sweetest boy in the world.

And this proves it.It's a Love Pup.

Only I knew that she'd been wanting a pillow pet. But when he spotted it one Saturday he wanted to get it for her. The next Saturday he took all his money and a small loan from his mom, and bought it. His mom told me the story with the biggest smile on her face.

When McKinley saw it after school she said, "I want one of those!" When we asked her if it was a Pillow Pet or a boyfriend she wanted, she said, "Either!"

My Valentine and I hardly saw each other thanks to an emergency case that kept him late at the hospital, gymnastics, a soccer game, and a huge project that swamped me. But when we all made it home he'd bought each of his girls a single red rose. Years ago my grandmother said that she never needed a dozen roses, a single one was plenty. I agree one hundred percent. One is plenty.

Two hours after bedtime we were all gathered around the table eating Red Velvet cake with two recipes of ruined Fly Paper Icing. But that's another story for another day.

I hope you all spent your Valentine's day feeling loved:c) And I hope you had better icing than me.

Is It Wrong...

...That I find this so entertaining?I was always glad when they sat up smiling:c)

For The Birds

Shawn brought home a blank canvas a few nights ago. A bird house. For a fundraiser at work they were asking people to decorate bird houses that would then be auctioned off. He knew Reagan would love the challenge. She instantly started planning it. She even gave up going to see a magician to work on it. In under an hour she had it all sketched out. Over the next week she painted it all in. It was all she thought about. All she could talk about. And it turned out pretty good for a little 9 year old artist.

It was hard to see it go. I might have to go to an auction....

My Baby

My baby is 9 today. How did that happen?

Anyway, Happy Birthday Reagan!!

I love many things about her but here are 9 of my favorites.

1. She is still betrothed to the most adorable boy. They told us when they were two. Just tonight at football game he asked her if she was still his girlfriend. She of course answered yes.

2. She says the funniest things. Tonight we all put on three or four layers and headed to the football game. It was 37 degrees when we left. Kennedy was whining under her breath and finally said, "I'm hot." Reagan instantly said, "And I'm sexy."

She volunteered to pray one night at dinner right after McKinley also volunteered. McKinley prayed first and instead of starting as soon as her sister was done, Reagan said, "My prayer is going to be way better than that." She then asked God to bless the food to the 'nurses' of our bodies. A few days later she tried again. This time we got 'nurseries'.

One night while we were all sitting around watching tv she just out of the blue said, "If you put Funyuns on the grill, do they turn into onion rings?"

But one of my favorites? She came home early from school one day for a sudden all over rash. Weirdest thing. I let her stay here while I ran to school to pick up her sisters when they got out. As we walked back in the door she said, "Oh man! Next time I'm home alone I'm going to eat all the whipping cream!" This was brought up last night when Shawn applied a lot of spray whipping cream to his three slices of pie. It lead to this. Today as she unwrapped her presents at her family party guess what she got?? Her very own bottle of spray whipping cream. Thanks Juju! She's already had several hits tonight:c) 3. This is something I love about all my girls, but especially today and for Reagan. When it's their birthday I ask them what they want for every meal of the day. We'll take them anywhere for anything. They all ask for my cooking. That is an amazing compliment.

Reagan's menu for today:

Breakfast:Biscuits and Cocoa Gravy and Scrambled Eggs
Lunch:Baked Potato Soup and Homemade Breadsticks with Parmesan/Garlic Butter
Dinner:Crock Pot Lasagna and Gogo's Green Beans
Dessert:Heavenly Bars 4. She not only plays the piano and takes voice but she's also quite a little artist. She puts my stick figures to shame. I love to find her drawing.
5. She just proclaimed her love and devotion to God by asking to be baptized. It was one of the proudest moments of my life. Kennedy was baptized right before her. It was what we gave Gigi for her 89th birthday. She said it was a wonderful gift. 6. She begged and begged at age 4 to take voice like her sisters. She hasn't always loved it, but she has the sweetest little voice and delightful motions when she sings. This year she's sung a trio with her sisters for almost 1,000 people, been asked to sing for Wednesday night Prayer Meeting, and asked to sing for ARMM (Academy of Retired Ministers and Missionaries). She did each with a sweet smile and warm heart. 7. She played soccer again for our church with her amazing Daddy as her coach again. Because of my trip and McKinley having auditions I couldn't go to many games. But when I was there that girl scored! And scored plenty:c) 8. She is soooo adventurous! I always thought the baby of the family was reserved and shy and quiet. Not this one! She's up for just about anything. Zip lining? Sure. She did it twice! 9. She's a sweet friend, sister, daughter, student, neighbor, and cousin. She is so compassionate to everyone. Again I thought the baby of the family wouldn't like to be around younger cousins. But she has proven me wrong once again by being sweet and loving to her little cousins.So my baby is 9. I still can't come to terms with it, but I'm so happy we've had 9 wonderful years with her. I can't wait to see what her future holds. We love you Reagan Teal!!