Attack of the Red Crayon

This week Courtney will be recapping SYTYCD -she has a tough job ahead of her with two nights of auditions (four hours total) to review for us! Look for her to have a post up sometime tomorrow.

I am working on getting pictures up from our monumental event of last week - preschool graduation (two in one day!)! I am so proud of my girls - I hope I can share it soon!

I also have some yummy recipes to share. I was making a strawberry pie and actually thought about getting out the camera and providing some step by step shots...bu as usual the camera was MIA and the pie would not wait! Maybe another time :(

This weekend we kicked off the summer with a swim and it was incredibly rewarding to see Ella, in her final weeks of swim lessons, swimming ten feet or so in the pool with no flotation devices. I felt like this summer we were primed for a breakthrough and I think it's here! Catherine was doing really well too, in her arm bands of course, after the initial shock of the cold water. It helped that she could jump in and out of the hot tub to warm up!

We've loved having Renee and family back in the same state (so much easier to talk on the phone) and look forward to having them ten minutes down the road. The kids got to spend some time together for the first time since they've been back and it was fun to see them all interact. Ella is in love with Mia and I think I will be volunteering her services as a mother's helper this summer! It was so adorable to hear Mia say her name "El-LA". Nolan and Catherine alternated between playing together and doing their own thing. At one point they were carrying something into the other room and I heard Catherine tell Nolan "I'm stronger than you." Oh man, she cracks me up!

Well I'm nearing the end of two hours of SYTYCD auditions. I really love when we get the top 20 and they start the real competition. But I have to say that I am always highly entertained by the auditions, often times just by the reactions of the judges. They take it seriously, but unlike AI, their ego doesn't take over the show and they seem to have more fun. I loved that Adam Shankman got up there and danced. Ok, enough - check out Courtney's recap tomorrow and make sure you chime in.

You won't hear from me until later on because I am taking the kids to meet Shannon, Jack and Cade at the Crayola Factory. Please pray for us that there is no one there dressed as a giant red crayon. When I was online getting directions Ella spotted him on a small tiny picture on the website. I shamelessly lied and told her it/he wasn't real and I know so because Shannon told me so! So there. If I even let her have an inkling of doubt I don't know if I could get her in the car tomorrow. We do better with surprise than anticipation. I hope I'm not eating my words tomorrow!

And now you know the meaning behind the title of this post.