The past couple days...

On Tuesday Riley had her "class day". What this consisted of, mainly, was her class going outside and screaming and running around in no sort of order whatsoever. I was lucky enough to be wrangled into "volunteering" for being a helper to their teacher. I have a great respect for elementary school teachers. I know that most days Riley overwhelms me; her energy, her questions, her constant talking, etc. And she's not even one of those annoying kids. Cole is...and he's enough to do me in each and every day. I don't know what kind of Hell I would find myself in, if I had to deal with an entire class full of them. They are cute, though, and I don't think many people realize how many lives that saves, each and every year. Cole came with me, but didn't want to participate in any of the activities. He basically graced us with his presence solely for the snow cone everyone got afterwards. I have to say I ruined one pair of cute canvas shoes because I volunteered to help make the 35 snow cones needed. This is the kind of stuff that happens when I try to be nice...also, the same reason I'm a raunch most of the time. (So, see, I try to be nice). From there I went to Mcdonald's to get lunch. Riley's been begging me to eat with her in the cafeteria...(that wasn't easy on the morning sickness, let me tell you), so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. Of course, Mcdonald's wasn't the best choice meal-wise. Both Riley and Cole were so obsessed with the Speed Racer toys inside, and the whole time I had to threaten to take them away, just to get them finish. Ah, it was just as enjoyable as I had imagined it would be. At least Riley scored some massive points with her friends, she shared her fries and everyone was happy. When I picked her up after school, her friend Olivia, and Cole's friend, Henry came over for a couple hours. While I tried to ignore Riley and Olivia's "fairy speak", Cole kept yelling at Henry that he couldn't play with his new Speed Racer car, cause it was his "best one". But if Henry would like to play with one of his old cars, that would be okay--just don't take it home. Tuesday was LONG.

Wednesday one of my fantasies, as a PARENT, you dirty dogs, came to pass. It happened quite surprisingly. We were actually getting ready to take Riley to her dance recital, that her Aunt Amy had prepared her for, and I really got a look at my daughter. When I was young, I had imagined motherhood as taking my little girl to a dance lesson or recital, and she'd was dressed in an outfit just like this...the little skinny blond girl in a black leotard and sweats, hair in a bun, getting ready to do her thing. It was...nice. I never got to do that kind of stuff as a kid, so I'm thinking that was one of the reasons it was something I'd imagined myself doing. A bit surreal, in a very good way. Also, I was grateful that Riley had this opportunity, she's always been interested in this kind of stuff, even as a tiny thing. So my thanks to Amy, for giving of her time and talents to let this come to pass. For those of you that would like to see, I also included the video of her dance recital. (I noticed that Amy's blog has it, too...however, it is that good, so I'm sure no one will object to seeing it twice. (Unless you aren't attached to your hair...because any rude comments, and I swear, I will rip it all out). Anyhoo, Amy did a great job picking out their outfits and coaching them through the moves.





Riley's last day of school was today. I'm pretty stoked about this, as now I won't have to pick her up at 3:00pm each day, or even have to remember what day it is. No homework...I am already feeling the absence of stress and it's lovely. I know, it doesn't sound like school takes that much work on my part, but public school is amazingly involved. I think that because these days, there are so many kids and so little teachers, that parents are depended on to do a buttload of stuff. Some ways this is good, but other ways, it makes a lazy person's life harder. Believe me, that's no fun. I'm always skeptical of this so-called last week of school. It involves the "class day, the "field day", and then a half day. It's also only three days long, as they insist you come back after Labor Day...lame. Just let the kids go, already. By mid-may, they have all checked out...and so have the parents, really. However, I don't have to complain, anymore, do I? Nope. So maybe that's where I will end this post. Bring on the summer! (Just lay off the heat....I'm so not looking forward to sweltering in my constant state of fatness).

ps. Check out my virtual baby...it's actually looking more human/monkeyish rather than reptilian. This makes me feel less creeped out. However, I'm sure my baby isn't that skinny. Anyway, I hope not. That means all the eating for two hasn't been for the baby as much as it's been for me...anyway, I wanted to point that out for Kory, because I know that he really notices those things.