Garage Sale Bargain

Brad and Jilian went to a garage sale this morning in our neighborhood, and Jilian struck GOLD! She bought 50 yards of PINK, yes pink, ribbon for $.50. She was SO excited!

Only Jilian....

....could get salsa in her eye at dinner at Mi Cocina. She screamed bloody murder and rightfully so. That hurts! Even the EMT seated next to us was asking if he could help out after we ran into the bathroom. She finally recovered, and we got to finish our dinner.

Another crazy week for the Donovans....

If it’s not one thing then it’s another! :)

I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday. Just a quick check, no big deal, getting antibiotics for an infection. Sure enough….the nurse takes my blood pressure. Then, she takes it again, and that thing is getting really tight around my harm – tighter than ever. Here it comes….wait for it…. “Your blood pressure is really high.” “WHAT?! I’m only 31.” She asks if I’m unusually stressed out. “Of course I am; I have a 3 year old, a demanding job and a husband.” But, that stuff doesn’t affect my blood pressure. After 10 years and 2 births with this doc, it wasn’t a coincidence that my blood pressure was perfect, and now it’s high. UGH! He asked if my mom or dad had high blood pressure, and my dad does. Then, he told me that if it runs in the family, then it’s genetic. Thanks, Dad, for kidney stones and now high blood pressure. :)

Miss Sarah, Jilian’s care giver, is pregnant and expecting a girl in September. This is all Jilian talks about now. And, not only does she talk about it, she “fretends” (this is how she says pretend) that she is pregnant, too. She “gives birth” to her security toy, Marvin, all the time, and he always comes out a girl. She also “fretends” she is going to be a big sister. It’s so funny to see her learn about this sort of stuff that’s totally foreign to her. Well, she’ll be ready to go if I can talk Brad into another one…..

The highly anticipated tap and ballet recital was this weekend. Umm….it did not go well. She was excited to go that morning, and Mimi was going to be there, too. When we got there, she was fine....

she was even practicing....

She played with some of her friends in the class…. (by the way, this girl was a hoot!)
She was playing around and having a good time….
when IT happened…. She fell down right before the show. She balled her eyes out, which probably means she got hurt, because Jilian is the clumsiest kid I know and she hardly ever cries when she falls. Miss Patty (the instructor) convinced her to go up on stage finally, and put her on her marker.

It looked like things were going okay....

Then, she started balling. Again. (look at the girl on the right.... her face says 'What in the world is her problem?') HILARIOUS!!

Neither myself, Miss Sarah nor Mimi could convince her to stay up there. Through the entire tap routine, she balled. Then, it was time for ballet. She seemed okay for a little while. She did dance a little with her partner, but as soon as she made eye contact with the camera and video camera, she bolted. I think we have a case of stage fright. Her and I finally went outside and tried to calm down but to no avail. She wanted to go back in and dance with her friends, but it was too late. She just couldn’t recover. I have to say, that was the most stressed out I’ve ever been as a mother….not good for my recent discovery of high blood pressure. I didn’t know how to help her; I’ve never seen her as hysterical as she was. And, we couldn’t get her to form words to tell us what EXACTLY was the matter because even SHE didn’t know. So, we just sat outside and talked a little and hugged, and I tried to comfort her. I really think she got sad because she did miss the dance and she didn’t get to say goodbye to her friends. I wanted to cry for her and because I didn’t get to see my little girls first dance recital that I know she has been working so hard at for the past 5 months. We told her that we would save her tutu, and when she’s ready to perform her dance for us, she could. I have to say, we are done with tap and ballet for a while!

On to less traumatizing events during the weekend.....

We headed to Austin for our neice, Ella's, birthday. She turned 4. After the blood, sweat and tears from the morning, we needed a little relaxing time, and Dale's Restaurant in Whalburg, Texas is just the place to do it! We ate good food, and drank some ice cold cervezas - maybe even a little too much! :)

Jilian and Ella had the biggest corndogs we have ever seen! Dale's has a "backyard" area where the band plays. We got to listen to some cover songs of some of our favorite bands. Tim, my brother-in-law, and I had a picture taking contest. Boy, it was a close race, but I think he won. I was having too much fun doing other stuff!

Got a good pic of my sister, my dad and me....

A good one of Brad and I....

We all danced A LOT!

On to the birthday party, where I think the adults had more fun than the kids! It was at Ella's gymnastics gym, and it was just free play. You could run down the trampoline and jump, or flip if you prefer, into this big pit of foam.

My nephew, Seth....look at that cute face!

And of course, we had cake and ice cream, too. (But, the gym was more fun!) All the adults were sweaty after we got done. It was just like being a kid again! We all need that once in a while! :)

What a week!

The Donovans had a crazy week! First, our A/C went out - you know? The one we have to fix EVERY YEAR since we moved into our house EXACTLY 6 years ago?! Well, luckily, I know somebody, who knows somebody, who knows somebody that can fix air conditioners (it's the one perk of working in property management!) $200 later - good to go! Good news - it just needed freon. Bad news - it needed freon because there is a leak in the coil that we replaced EXACTLY 6 years ago! By the way, the waranty on the upstairs coil was 5 years - missed it by a year. Ugh. So, the temporary fix was $200, but the permanent fix is $3,400 - new outside unit and upstairs coil. If my purse strings weren't already tight, they just got tighter - darn budget! Sorry folks - you won't see the Donovans galavanting around town for the next, I don't know, YEAR!



Then, on that same night, Brad's check engine light in his truck came on. After several auto store trips, several days and 6 hours of labor, the nice next door neighbor helped (and by helped, I mean fixed) and she runs as good as new....well almost! **fingers crossed**



Bad things come in 3's, right? Just waiting for the third thing.....


I hope this doesn't put me in the "Bad Mommy" category, but I couldn't help but laugh! Jilian has this HUGE box of crafts that usually sits on her craft table by the garage door. It's too tall for her, so she has to stand on one of the chairs to get to it. Well, you can imagine where this led to.....That thing fell right on top of her, and everything dumped out! It was so funny! She didn't cry; she just stuttered a bit because it only scared her and not hurt her. Brad and I laughed out loud!


On to more activities that don't get CPS knocking on our door.....



I got a manicure......
A pedicure....
And a facial......I recommend this girl; she's really good and REALLY cheap. She'll even fix your hair really pretty.....
So, we also learned about tap and ballet recitals. Um, the girls, all under age 5, have to wear make-up. Yup. Make-up. There are very strict procedures at tap and ballet recitals, and, I have to tell ya', I'm a little scared. I'm not a very good "North Dallas" Mom, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to pull this one off. Her hair has to be in a certain style. WHAT?! Jilian is the one who does her hair, and by the looks of the pictures above, I think we're in REAL trouble. It has to be securely fastened or the child my get upset if it falls out. Um...again, REAL trouble - I don't think the hair style above will make it through 30 minutes of "dancing." I only do her hair when we do professional pictures - that's it - I don't ever do her hair (you wouldn't know it by the number of hair bows she has in her hair). But that's not the point - luckily, Jilian's hair stylist, Miss Sarah, will be there, and hopefully she can "securely" fasten her hair. Now, about the make-up - anyone have any blush we can borrow?
I love this girl!

More Jilian

So, I went to go check on her during her afternoon nap yesterday, and this is what I found....

Yup, she's under there alright. Maybe we should turn up the a/c a little...

And, Jilian did her own hair this morning...Isn't it beautiful?

Some Things You May Not Know About Annie....

....through Jilian's eyes.

1. What is something Mom always says to you?
Yes, Ma'am

2. What makes Mom happy?
Love

3. What makes Mom sad?
When I don't love you (will this every really happen? not a chance!)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
(fingers in mouth, making a funny face)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A baby

6. How old is your mom?
3 (I wish!) :)

7. How tall is your mom?
this tall (her arms are showing about 3 feet tall)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play on the computer

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Cook for me (yeah, right!)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A vacuum cleaner

11. What is your mom really good at?
Cleaning the floor with the vacuum cleaner

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Putting pants on (hmm...?)

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Working

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Linguini

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A Mommy dinosaur

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play dolls

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We don't match

19. How are you and your mom different?
I don't know

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Hugs me

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Cristina's (a Mexican food restaurant)

It's fun to hear what they think happens and goes on in our adult lives. Things are so simple for kids; I wish it was like that for adults! :)

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms out there!

Daily Ramblings

The cops came to the neighbor’s house (again). The neighbors who, by the way, never cut their lawn and are worse gardeners than Brad and I, have the cops come once a month to split up their domestic disputes. We (all the gossip-y neighbors) gossip about them every time this happens – will they ever get that?

When I asked Jilian what she wanted to be when she grows up, she said “A butterfly.” When I asked her if she had a back up plan in case that one fell through, she said “A ladybug.”

She finally taught me another dance move from tap and ballet class. It’s called “ring the dishrag.” Hmm….. I can NOT wait to see this recital!

For those of you that know I lost the feeling in my left big toe, I regained the feeling in it! Yay! It’s the source of all my powers!

I discovered a new game tonight – throw the chapstick in the air and make it hit the ceiling. Then, it shoots back down really fast and hits you in the face. You should try it – it’s really fun….. (can I get an ice pack, please?)

Okay, so Brad hasn’t been able to do anything right these days (typical husband, right?). Poor guy….but this weekend, he has a chance. He asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day (we don’t really surprise each other anymore, we just ask). I told him just to sleep in and go eat at my favorite restaurant – Spoons. But, I circled the charm in the James Avery catalog that I want and gave it to him for reading material. He’s better at getting hints than just guessing. Hope he gets it, *fingers crossed*

I counted the dresses in Jilian’s closet, and she has 62. This is just HALF!

On Saturday, the tornado sirens went off. Boy, that will jolt you right out of a nap, which I was really enjoying. We were so intrigued by the straight line winds and the fact that our dinky little tree looked like it was going to blow out of the ground, we sat in front of the windows and watched, like good parents do with their 3 year olds.

I’m addicted to Chick-fil-a. I can NOT get enough of it. I need an intervention – good thing I have a hook up. It’s nice having a best friend who owns one.


I feel like I do laundry every other day.....



My little butterfly.....OR ladybug!










Photos courtesy of Miss Sarah!

The Untold Story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Betcha' never heard this version before!

Kickball

OMG! We started a kickball class today at the YMCA in McKinney. It was so fun! Basically, the coach had all the kids stretch and warm up. Then, they got to line up and practice kicking the ball and running to the bases (with the parents.) And, man, did we get involved. I couldn't tell if this class was more for the parents or the kids! :) Jilian did so good, and she loved it!

Here is Jilian ready to got to kickball...not so sure about the pose, but don't those shoes look fast?

Here they are stretching...And, look at that form!
She made it to first base.......

and, second base, too!

At the end, the coach told us that the mose important thing that we do at the Y is cheer for EVERYBODY! This is exactly why we joined kickball. So, we all learned how to cheer for everyone. Even though the weather was bad, the morning turned out to be so great!