You Make Me Smile

Life here in Weaselville has been plugging along like an old jalopy for a few years months now.  I'm still recovering from surgery, going to physical therapy, etc.  There are good days and bad days.  Money is tight, I won't be able to work for a long time to come, but time with my family is precious.  I have a great family and a great dog.   You could say that life in Weaselville is like a badly written country music song.

Eldest Weasel will be celebrating her 18th birthday and her graduation from high school in just a few short weeks.  Boy Weasel is past due ready to start drivers ed.  Middle Weasel is graduating from eighth grade the same weekend as Eldest and making her Confirmation the same weekend that Smallest Weasel is making her First Communion.  Just this morning, Middle Weasel brought front and center to the attention of myself and Mr. Weasel, that she will be 15 years old by the end of summer.  Monkey Weasel will be slipping off into the 7th grade by fall, with what strikes me as a slight of hand move worthy of David Copperfield I have to give Monkey Weasel props for a much better sense of style though.  When did this happen???????

So, onto the good stuff......

Eldest Weasel, my fantabulous bargain hunter grabbed a coupon out of the mail for JC Penney portrait studio.      Free 8x10 and no sitting fee.  They must hate when families the size of mine jump on those things.  I am really bad at remembering to take pictures let alone making sure everyone is dressed right, hair brushed, etc. to take a really great one.  So Eldest went ahead and made an appointment when she got tired of her mother's procrastinating.  The only appointment that she could get before her coupon expired was at a time that Mr. Weasel would be at work and I would be at physical therapy.  So,.............My amazing, first born, type A, over achieving daughter took it upon herself to dress all the Weasels, fix their hair and take them to the photo shoot herself!

Here is a link to see a slideshow of the magic that all of my Weasels made happen and Eldest facilitated.

I was thrilled to see how well they all turned out, how well their personalities shined through and that I will now have this moment set in time to  treasure forever.

Thank you Eldest Weasel, for this and for the incredible young woman you are growing to be.  I will cherish this gift always.  You, and your siblings, make me smile.

Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

~ Don't forget to tune into Suburban Wow this morning at 10 am est/ 9 cst/ 7 Pacific for a really fun episode! ~  Here's the direct link for show time.

Image via JuniorTheatre.com

I just got home from the annual school Christmas Pageant and thought I would share with you a few highlights of the evening.  Unfortunately lucky for him, Mr. Weasel was unable to attend this year due to a previous commitment.  That left me to feed, dress, supervise homework and get 4 out of 5 Weasels back to school by 6 pm.  Yay Me!

Surprisingly, we made it out of the door and arrived at school right on time without too much ado.  I walked Smallest Weasel to her classroom and headed to the the gym to find a seat in the sea of parents, most of whom had obviously never gone home after school dismissal in favor of ensuring themselves seating in the same time zone as the pageant was to take place.  I on the other hand may as well have been in the Presidential Inaugural crowd of Uncle Barry.

I took a single seat approximately 4 miles from the stage, right next to a joyous little 4 year old by the name of Julio (Julie-O).  Right away, I was welcomed with a great big and friendly "Hi!".  I still had half of an hour to kill before showtime and my mind started to wander as I contemplated the enjoyment that I would extract from the upcoming performance.  I thought to myself, "Ya know, with this seating, I could really sneak out the back door and have time to grab a couple of drinks and something to snack on, be back in time for the finale and the Weasels would never be the wiser".  Then I realized that I had not said that in my head, but out loud!  I'm one point closer to that Mother of the Year Award.

The show started with one of the 7th grade classes clanking trash cans playing the bells and I was reminded that these are indeed grade school children and I should not expect them to be of a caliber to play The Carol of The Bells.  uh wait, maybe that was The Carol of The Bells they were playing.  Nah, it sounded much closer to the Jingle Cats.

The kids really did do a great job and I love to see the Weasels perform.  The only real problem I have with these events is having to sit through watching 275 other parents children sing in order to see mine.  The one benefit though is that with a family of our size, 1/2 the performances (the better 1/2, of course) feature a Weasel.

Just as I was longing for the Herdman's to come barging down the center aisle, little Julio blurted loudly, "Would baby Jesus just get born already!".  My sentiments exactly kid.  I snickered to myself as wished I could take that kid home with me.

Boy Weasel was a Wiseman and when he was up on stage I told Julio that he was my boy.  Julio was impressed at how grown up Boy Weasel was, "That's your kid?  He has a beard!". 

The Pageant ended and I was glad that I opted to stay and had not to make a break for the back door.  I had a smile on my face as I waded through the herd and into the hallway to reunite with my Weasels and head home to tuck them snugly into their beds a little later than usual and wish for them some sugar plum dreams.