the seussical moosical...

Tonight was Alyssa's 2nd grade music concert, "Seussical Moosical".  I took a handful of photos but this one of her face expression is priceless.

She is so passionate about singing and performing even when she is mixed in with all of her other classmates. Dennis, Jaiden and I joked that we were concerned she may fall off the bleacher with her passionate singing and dancing but boy do I love to watch her enthusiasm!

the quest for garam masala...

... became an inspiration for a photo challenge! 

Garam masala is a blend of spices used in Indian cooking, and on this particular day I discovered I was out of my much beloved blend I had created at least over a year ago.  I did spend more time that I'd like to admit trying to remember where I had put my original recipe but alas, started searching the internet. I learned all sorts of interesting facts about garam masala... for example, it varies dramatically from area to area in India and I finally settled on a combination of a few recipes. When I mixed all the spices together in a bowl, just before I was going to lightly toast them in the pan I was amazed by the beautifully subtle textures and color. It was an inspiration that I couldn't let go. I ran upstairs and grabbed my macro lens and as I played with various compositions and apertures, I realized how long it had been when I took my camera out for fun. for the simple creative impulse and the sense of thrill it gives me. to capture something different. to capture the light that filters through the window. I should have backed up and showed you exactly what the space really looked like but I didn't. I didn't even think of it until now that I type this because honestly, anyone who saw the space would think I was beyond help but for me, this was a fantastic 10 minute break from working on salary surveys, excel spreadsheets and getting things done while the kids were in school.

the painting legacy badge

Okay, I am going to catch March up today! ... well, maybe (insert smile emoticon). Actually, I have a bit of time this morning and since I need to stay put I figured I should do it - aim high and finish March!

One thing I haven't done much of is take photos of our Girl Scout meetings. As the leader, I am normally leading the meetings so there really isn't an opportunity to photograph what we do but to my surprise, my Assistant Leader took on the job of organizing and leading the meetings related to the girls earning their Painting badge. And boy, did she really do it up!

This particular meeting was awesome - actually she did it over 3 meetings and each one was just as good - but this meeting the girls spent the entire time painting this amazing mural that Kristen drew and got ready for them. The girls chose various fish, coral, animals, seaweed and other amazing details to paint so I grabbed a few photos while I could.

This photo shows the entire mural.

While this one, just shows a detail of the mural.

Alyssa painted the octopus and I loved that the girls used multiple colors to create their vision. The mural is almost finished. We pulled it out at last meeting in May so a few of the girls who were missing could have an opportunity to paint on it as well. Then Kristen was going to draw back in any details that might have been painted over. I can't wait to see what it looks like come this Fall! We plan to use it as part of cookie booth decoration, our court of awards ceremonies and any other troop celebration we might have!

oh, sweet 8...

Yes, final birthday post... I promise! But I couldn't resist adding these in as well. She was just so darn cute when they arrived even if they were a few days past her birthday, it reminded her she was 8 years old and what a super fun surprise after a long day at school!

 plus who can resist her cute smile?

Just to make sure she can see through it! 

They were definitely beautifully decorated and certainly quite yummy!!

a special birthday treat...

This year for Alyssa's birthday, I had a little surprise for her but it involved not having a birthday party and whether she was trusting enough to do a day with Mommy doing something special or was having a birthday party more important. She trusted me and I was so glad she did. 

As it turns out, the American Girl store was having a special Isabella cupcake party the day after her birthday! In order to participate, girls must be 8 years old and being that she turned 8 on Friday, I signed us up. It turned out to be more of a girl event rather than a mom and me event but the experience was delightful and so sweet to watch her be surprised and excited all at once. I think she kind of new something was up because the drive is over an hour long and she certainly knows the way!

Getting set up! They decorated a sugar ballet slipper cookie with some fun glittery sugar and little decorative sugar flowers.

She piped her own frosting onto her ballet slipper.

 And then onto her cupcake.

 The cupcake has a sugar cookie of a pink ballet leotard top with the base of the cupcake to look like the tutu! So very cute!

And then it was off to fix Alyssa (her doll) up. She is very well loved and was in need of some cleaning up so she sat in the spa while we shopped around!

 Alyssa spent quite a bit of time looking but she knew what she wanted and we were super lucky that both items were on a super great sale. She also received some spending money from family and surprisingly, she wanted to save some of it for another trip at a later time.

This photo had to be one of my favorites. I had to use the restroom and when I came out, she was sitting on the floor already admiring and opening her purchases. I wasn't prepared for how cute this was so I had to grab the photo with my phone but I guess why I thought it was so sweet was because when she was ready to go, she was ready and what I realized was she was ready to play with her new things.

Luckily I convinced to have lunch before we headed home and the restaurants nearby were "doll friendly" and had special seats for them!

I swear Alyssa was in 8th heaven! Sweet birthday girl!

are you 8?

just where did 8 years go?

My sweet little baby turned 8 and she woke (I am quite certain) with butterflies in her tummy and 8 balloons at the foot of her bed and tiptoed to my room at 7 am with excited whispers and ear to ear grins...

 we quietly tiptoed down stairs and sat on the bottom step staring at her new bike... new BIG bike when she finally decided to touch it, she whispered  "it's beautiful"

She was so excited and hardly ate her breakfast and was out the door in time to ride her new bike to school!

a little shaky but all on her own she went!

my favorite memory of Mrs. Murphy's class is how she puts the birthday child in her rocking chair and the kids circle around and sing happy birthday... then at the end they ask "are you 1?" shake of the head no "are you 2?" still a no shake "are you 3?"... all the way to 

"are you 8?" 

and she grins big and says "YES!"

yes, this cutie turned 8! 

And we had a sweet birthday celebration with just the family

happy sweet 8th birthday!

a rockin' swim party

Saturday morning. sigh. I love Saturday mornings when we don't have to rush off to any activity and this Saturday was perfect. Jaiden and Alyssa had found a contest in their new Lego magazine. They were busy. They were talking. They were laughing and giggling. And then they asked me to come take photos.

They had created the most coolest Lego pool party I have ever seen!

The whole pool scene - diving board, changing room, hot tub, life guard, snack bar with a giant screen TV to watch while in line... so very clever and creative!

close up of the snack bar with tables, vegetables, and even a leprechaun was in line to order!

Girl in the hot tub.

Love the giant screen TV at the snack bar, and the lifeguard with an umbrella? Totally cute. I also loved how the Lego people in the pool actually look like they are in the pool!

Too darn cute!

amazing race

Every year, an older girl scout troop sponsors a "Me and My Guy" dance for the daughters and dads to attend. This year, things were slightly shaken up and a new troop took it on. Instead of a dance, they changed it to the Me and My Guy Amazing Race. 

At the very last minute, we came up with a daughter and dad team name - Thing 1 and Thing 2. Literally Friday night, we went in search of red shirts and some type of blue wig or hat, then Saturday morning, Alyssa worked on these...

Circles with their names for me to sew onto their shirts...

Making sure it will fit!

I was a little surprised to find out that buried in Dennis' phone was photos of them before and during the event. 

This one is before they left! Too cute!

The Amazing Race theme apparently was super cool. There was all sorts of crazy games, relays such as this one where the girls had to push their dads in shopping carts. The video clip is hilarious.

There was even a bucking bronco! But only the girls could ride it - no dad's... much to their disappointment. 

While Dennis and Alyssa were out for that, Jaiden and I had a night of our own. I asked if he'd like a Me and My Girl dance with his mom for cub scouts and yep, you guessed it "NO WAY!" but he did request we go out for sushi and then home to play games.

When Dennis and Alyssa got home, they both were pretty wound up and talking a mile a minute. Alyssa had a super HUGE stuffed dog and I finally worked out that they won the costume contest! She is still smitten about that!