Coming Out of Her Shell

Once upon a time, Taylor was the girl who used to hide behind other kids or turn bright red when forced to stand up in front of an audience. Over the past year, I have been amazed by the huge transformation in her self confidence. Last year, we enrolled Taylor in the Hollywood Kids Academy which teaches children to sing, dance and perform in front of an audience. Taylor has always loved singing and putting on shows at home, but NEVER did I think she would be able to do it in front of other people. She was assigned the part of Meg from "Hercules" in her first play which involved singing a solo. This caused a few tears at first (some of the tears were due to the fact the song was about being in love), but she eventually built up enough courage to perform and did great. During the second season of Hollywood Kids, she was assigned the part of Mrs. Potts in "Beauty and the Beast" which involved memorizing a ton of parts in an English accent and singing 3 solos. She literally brought tears to my eyes during her performance, especially since I know how hard she has worked to overcome her stage fright.

Last week, I received a call from Taylor during school hours. She has just got a flyer about the school dance team holding auditions that day and asked her teacher if she could call me to get permission to stay and try out. My supportive, mother-of-the-year response was, "Uhm, why are you just getting the flyer if it's today, you have never taken a dance class, and do you even have an audition ready?" Her nonchalant response was, "Mom, I'll just figure out a dance while I am up there." WHAT?!! Immediately, I freaked while flashes of Napoleon Dynamite's dance scene popped into my head. Although every fiber of my being wanted to tell her "no", I went to the school and signed the permission slip. The good news is that she made the dance team and loves it! The team had their first performance this morning for the "Hats Off to the Community Day" at her school.

Sheldon did NOT like the costumes, did NOT like her makeup and was shaking his head after watching his baby girl shake her booty. However, he found a smile somewhere deep down for her and cheered her on. I am so proud of Taylor and her newly found self confidence.

Here we go again

It seems like I am always doing a quick recap of long periods of time because I am such a slacker when it comes to updating my blog. Interesting....I did the same thing with my journal growing up. Also, I've had to muster up some energy to rebuild my blog template since I accidentally deleted all of my friends' blog addresses while changing my expired template. (Please tell me if I don't have your blog on the sidebar so I can add it!) Anyway, here is a quick recap of events over the past month or two.

Sydney has always wanted bunk beds. Since we moved last year, she has had to share a room with Taylor, then with Avery because of a few too many battles with Taylor, and then with Taylor again when Avery kept her up or woke her up at least 3 times a night.

Our friend, Cathy, was getting rid of her son's bunk beds last month so I decided Sydney finally deserved to get what she wanted....the top bunk. We picked them up and Sydney and I spent 2 days in the BLAZING, HOT garage painting them white.

Taylor and Sydney went back to public school this fall. We were all set to do K12 again until about August when Taylor suddenly decided that she wanted to spend her last yr of elementary at a public school. They were really nervous to go back, but they got great teachers and love it so far. I do not love the homework.
Taylor- 5th grade

Sydney- 2nd grade

Avery - wannabe Preschooler......She insisted on packing a lunch with the girls and ended up eating it by 9:30 am. Actually, I had planned to keep Avery home with me for one more year before signing her up for preschool since she barely makes the age cut off. However, after I dropped off my two oldest girls, Avery kept asking, "When do I go to preschool?", "Can I color?" , "Can I have a snack?", "What's my teacher's name?", etc. Two torturous hours later, I called a friend to beg her to let Avery take her last preschool opening. Avery loves Ms. Trina!

Avery also turned 3 last week and was very insistent on having a Disney Princess party. Taylor saved her money and bought Avery a Princess Tiana dress for her bday which she would wear 24/7 if I'd let her. She also got a really cute tea cart that she loves (so do her older sisters) and is constantly taking my order. "Do you want a Dr. Pepper, Mom?" "That's 10 hundred dollars."



Uncle Niels being served a nice spot of tea.

She did get her Princess party with family and then spent the night by herself at her Grandma and Grandpa Orme's house to stretch out the birthday spoiling.