Louise’s first sleepover

One of the “presents” Mike and I decided to give Louise for her birthday was a sleepover with a friend. She’s been pestering us about it nonstop, and although we were apprehensive because she’s still pretty young for something like that, we relented. This past Saturday, our friends the Ederas came over and we visited and ate dinner, and then Lily’s parents and baby brother went back to their house for the night and she stayed over!

We told my parents about the sleepover and they asked if we wanted to ship Celine off to their house for the evening to make it easier on us. This worked out perfectly – Celine loved the one-on-one time with Grandma and Papa (and the animals), and allowed us to focus our time and energy on Louise and Lily.

Because Lily’s family was over until about 7pm, there wasn’t a ton of time we needed to fill with activities. Besides, Lily and Louise raced off to Louise’s room and played by themselves for over an hour. It was nice to have two kids playing with minimal fighting – unlike when Louise and Celine play!

Once Lily’s family left, we put the girls in their pajamas. I was a little excited about the sleepover and brought Louise to Old Navy to pick out matching pj’s for them both (and Celine too). Look at these two cuties!

We set up some blankets for movie watching and let Lily pick what she wanted to watch. She selected Frozen. I thought Louise might get bored since we’ve moved on from Frozen (all Moana, all the time), but they watched Frozen like it was the first time, giggling their way through it. I popped some popcorn for them to enjoy while watching even though we just had dinner.

There was a slight scuffle over who got to have the Elsa part of the blanket directly over their body. Understandable…Mike and I have that disagreement all the time. 🙂

It was about 9:15 after the movie was over, so we had them brush their teeth and Mike read them a story.

They giggled in bed for a bit, but they were asleep by around 10:15pm. I’d call that a success!

The next morning we had donuts and played for a couple of hours before we dropped Lily off at her house on our way to pick up Celine. All in all it was a wonderful experience…looking forward to when Louise has a sleepover at someone else’s house! 🙂

DIS 2016-2017: TPS (Celine) and MS (Louise)

Louise had a great year in Pre-K, and Celine did a great job adapting to a new school this past year. We’re loving DIS!

Of course I took the obligatory first day/last day photos. There is a torrential downpour happening today so the photos are a bit different, but what are you going to do.

Their teachers post pictures occasionally throughout the year…here are some highlights.

Celine first:

And Louise!

Not the greatest picture since she’s hidden, but this is her class!

Louise’s circus performance

One of Louise’s after-school activities for the past two years has been circus, facilitated by Lone Star Circus. They put on a concert at the end of each year but last year she was too little to perform. This was her first performance and we are so proud of her!

Monday was the dress rehearsal day, and I can categorically say that it was a nightmare for all Haydel women. The “Little Tots” (her age group) were slated to do their run-through from 4-4:45, but the woman with their costumes didn’t even show up until 5pm, so there was a lot of sitting and standing around.

Oh – did I mention I had Celine with me?

I called Mike to complain about the insanity of the situation, and he offered to come pick up Celine. Since I was in Garland, I didn’t think that would work, and at this point I was still optimistic about our ability to get out at a reasonable time and with minimal issues.

Once the costume person arrived, there was mayhem trying to figure out who got their costumes first to put on. Louise was waiting patiently while the other kids in her group got their costumes…and then, all of a sudden, she was sobbing next to me, wailing that they didn’t have a costume for her. I was confused (it was very chaotic and loud backstage), so I said “of COURSE they have a costume for you!”

And then I realized that they didn’t have a costume for her.

I was given a backup costume that was way too big, which caused Louise to start crying again. After waiting for about 5-10 more minutes, we finally acquired an appropriately-sized costume and retreated to the tiny bathroom to put it on. As Louise was slipping into the costume, a girl flung open the bathroom door, hitting Louise in the head and causing her to fall over, hitting her head again on the bathroom wall on her way down. I jumped up to grab her as she started crying in earnest, and my phone dropped from my lap and smacked the tile ground flat on its back, shattering the screen.

It was at this point that Celine decided she was done being a patient little sister and wanted to go home.

Sigh.

I called Mike back, trying (and failing) to hold back tears. He could hear my frustration and told me he was on the way to pick up Celine. I bribed Louise to go out there and practice with her costume on (she was still upset about the costume snafu + the head injury) by promising that she could open three presents from her birthday party when we got home. Begrudgingly, she sauntered to the floor to go through her routine.

Mike arrived to relieve me from the girls, and thanks to him, I made it through the evening.

Friday was concert day! Mike and I picked up the girls from school and headed to the venue, stopping briefly for dinner on the way. Mike and Celine dropped off Louise and me and headed to a restaurant to wait until the start time with my parents. Louise and I headed in for hair and makeup. The hair women were busy, so I plunked her in a chair and did her hair myself!

Then it was time for makeup! First time she’s worn eyeshadow and mascara…

She and her silks partner were ready!

We waited around for about 45 minutes, popping out briefly to say hello to Grandma, Papa, dad, and Celine. Finally it was go time and they asked the parents to head to their seats. Louise panicked a little bit but she was brave and let me go. Then it was showtime!

Her age group was the first to go, and then they let the kids sit with their parents in the audience. Mike and I both teared up with pride when she did her act – it was her first big show and we are so proud of her!!

 

Louise: 5 years

I was going to say “I can’t believe I have a five year old!” – but…honestly, I can. Louise has grown into such a KID that it would be weird to me to NOT have a five year old. She surprises us every day with her words and actions, with her thoughtfulness and her intelligence. She can still throw a fit (let’s be real) but overall, her composure is impressive. Although I enjoyed Louise as a baby and loved watching her grow, I can confidently say that this phase – the kid phase – seems like it’s going to be amazing.

I’ve also decided that the five year mark is the end of the monthly updates. I’ve really enjoyed doing them for Louise, and I look back on them all the time to remind myself of her development. But as she moves into kindergarten and has fewer big milestones on a frequent basis, I think it’s time to switch to ad-hoc updates and let the official monthly photos and blog post go.

DIS Fairy Tea

Following Louise’s birthday party this past Sunday was a school-sponsored “fairy tea” for mothers and daughters. I have the perfect dresses for the girls – my mom bought them both lavender frilly dresses that were made for a fairy tea – but I forgot about them, and they were already in outfits from Louise’s party so I just went with it.

I was expecting a shindig that had face painting and other activities, but it was pretty much just tables set up with snacks and drinks. We stayed for about an hour and then headed back home. I was glad we went, though – it was extra outside fun for the girls on a beautiful day, and I got to chat with a couple of DIS mom friends.

Louise’s 5th birthday party

The Sunday before Louise’s birthday was her art-themed birthday party! When I first asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted another princess party. I said nope – been there, done that. So then she suggested an art party, which worked for me because it was gender-neutral and activity-focused (and NOT at Pump It Up!!!). I did some research and settled on Kid Art in Snider Plaza. Kid Art recommended a drop-off party since their space was pretty tight, so that’s what we did. There were a few minutes of chaos as kids watched their parents walk away, but overall everyone did a great job and the parents loved a little bit of free time!

The kids all put on their smocks and got to work. They painted wooden picture frames and then applied jewels to it.

Celine was a little clingy in the beginning, so Mike and I took turns holding her. She was also the only child that was initially pro-beret.

She finally warmed up to the space, but did not have any interest in crafting. So she did her own thing, stylishly of course.

Once everyone was done with their picture frame, they drew an owl to fit into it. By then the kids were getting a little antsy, so we busted out the food. We had hot dogs, rainbow Goldfish, and fruit for them to eat, and I made some “paintbrush” Rice Krispie treats along with SusieCakes mini cupcakes and cake for dessert.

Celine…Ms. Hot Mess Haydel. 🙂

I REALLY wanted a picture of all of the kids in their berets, but there was zero interest in putting them on. Before we passed out the desserts, I said they had to put on their berets in order to get a cupcake. Worked like a charm.

Then we all sang happy birthday to Louise!

Louise had a wonderful time and the party was quite the success!

 

Sleep Olympics

Is sleeping a sport? I see a future for my girls…

Notice Louise left Celine a handwritten note on her bed: