CALL ME RANGERETTE

This past Saturday, after a busy morning of ballet pictures, Kate and I took a road trip to Kilgore to see Rangerette Revels. We were meeting my Kilgore roommate, Colleen, and her six year old daughter, Madalyn, and one of my Kilgore suite-mates, Melissa, and her five year old daughter, Karson, for the 1:30 matinee show. We finished ballet pictures at around 10:30ish, and after a very quick wardrobe change, we hit the open road -- Kilgore or BUST! Well, the weather was a downer...it rained pretty hard the entire way there...but we finally made it, with a few minutes to spare. It was still raining when we got there so I crawled in the back seat to change Kate into her special "Revels" dress (three ballerinas on the front) and then we treked under our umbrella and through the mud puddles to the auditorium (of all days to wear white pants!!!). Kate was so excited for the show to start and kept asking "Where are the Rangerettes?" Finally, the show began, and from start to finish, she was mesmorized. There were two small intermissions (not sure why?), but even through those, she sat still. I don't think she moved at all during Production Number, which is the last number and the high kick portion of the show. And, she especially liked the fight song. She's asked me to sing it several times since we've been back.

After the show we were all planning to meet Jana, our fourth suite-mate, in Longview for dinner. Jana just had her third little boy, Lane, three weeks ago, so while she couldn't make the show, we couldn't miss the opportunity to see her and her new little bundle of joy (and he was adorable!). When we got to our car, I realized that my key fob wouldn't open the door -- strange -- but when I got inside, I learned the my battery was dead. Aaahhh!!! Luckily I had jumper cables, Colleen had a running car, and Melissa knew how to use the jumper cables! We successfully jumped my car and I learned how to use jumper cables.

We finally made it to dinner and enjoyed some wonderful together time. The girls all got along great and it was sooo nice to spend some time with my precious friends. I love them and miss them so much!

Sadly, it came time to go home. Kate was exhausted from skipping a nap so she was asleep within minutes of being on the road. But, before she fell asleep, I asked her what her favorite part of the show was -- was it the high kicks? Her response: "Yes, I liked the kicking, but Mommy, it's not nice to kick." How funny! I assured her that it was ok to kick while dancing, but not to kick someone. She seemed satisfied with this answer. It was a peaceful, and dry, drive back.

And, can you believe that we did not take ONE picture the whole day?

A FEW MORE EASTER PICTURES

Kate with Daddy, before church

The Easter Bunny knew Kate "needed" some princess dress-up clothes

Cousin time @ Tim & Melissa's

As you might imagine, I have LOTS more pictures from Easter week. If you'd like to see them all, let me know and I'll forward them to you. :)

EASTER, A WEEK LATE

Kate loved the petting zoo!

Play time at the park, after egg hunt #2

A budding Picasso

Waiting for Rockin' with Mother Goose at Casa Manana

I had every intention of posting about our Easter weekend on Easter night, but time ran away from me. So, here I am on Friday night, almost a week later, finally posting about Easter.

We had a WONDERFUL and full Easter weekend. Well, really Easter week. Here's a brief run down:
> Wednesday: LECPTA (Lakewood Early Childhood PTA) egg hunt - there was a petting zoo that Kate LOVED, in fact, she could have cared less about the egg hunt after seeing the cute baby chicks and bunnies

> Friday: MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) egg hunt - who knew it would be so chilly that morning! I'm really bad about seeing the "high" temp and assuming it will be that from start to finish that day. Good thing we had a jacket in the care b/c it was 58!

> Saturday: Children's Art Day @ the FW Community Arts Center - which CiCi put together for the LLS, Rockin' with Mother Goose at Casa Manana (Kate's first theater experience -she loved it!), and a cookout and egg hunt at CiCi & Rossy's house with Memommy & Granddaddy E.
> Sunday: Church, where we had a wonderful egg hunt inside, home to see what the Easter Bunny brought Kate, followed by a much-needed NAP for the whole family!, and then to Uncle Timmy & Aunt Melissa's for dinner and egg hunt

Yes, you read that right, Kate participated in FIVE egg hunts over the course of five days. Whew. We were all "over it" by Sunday.

It was so wonderful to celebrate Christ's Resurrection with family & friends this year. We are so blessed!

NO COMMENTS, REALLY?

Dress up is the FAVORITE activity these days...

Ok, I admit that my writing is not really all that entertaining, but I might get better if I had a little encouragement. C'mon people, leave me some comments (but only nice ones!)! I mean, really, how can you not comment on how cute Katie Bug is these days? Just kidding -- you don't have to comment if you don't want -- I just thought it would be nice to see some writing other than mine. :)

On another note, I was wrong about Kate's recital date. It is actually on Thursday, May 21st instead of the 28th. I realize that since it is still on a Thursday, the change makes no difference to many of you, but if you can come, please do. She is soooo excited. Also, let me know if you are coming because we'll plan a fun celebration afterwards.