Parade Ready

Yesterday, Issa helped me practice our Handmade Parade idea! The studio asked me to organize the crafting piece of our participation, and while I had a great idea, I'm always nervous those ideas won't actually work. The Handmade Parade originated as a puppet parade, and so we wanted to keep that spirit and incorporate butterflies. It also had to be something our littlest caterpillars could make! Enter butterfly "marionettes."

We started with the good old preschool coffee filter butterflies: 

I added the industrial sized coffee filters to make some bigger butterflies! Use washable markers, mist, fold, repeat. The end product is super cute:

They look even better flying! I love when an idea actually works!
 

Our Littlest

The kids are on break, and Issa sent me this picture yesterday:

Jet is coming out more and more, and she is so funny! She is all kitten, and she is the best snuggler. She is also a complete nut job for a few hours every day. If she sleeps all day, that tends to be about 4am. It was, in fact, a long night.
 

First Competition of the Season

Issa had her first competition of the season this weekend in Raleigh, and I absolutely couldn't be more proud of her:

She earned her first platinum ever on her solo, and she placed tenth out of 22, which is awesome! It was also her first time jumping full out in a long time, and you would have never known it! I am so, so grateful to Ms. Stephanie and all of the work and love she has poured into her this year:

It was awesome to watch Issa really shine and look like she was enjoying every moment on stage.

It was also fun to watch her be the big dancer, giving pep talks to those coming up behind her:

Everyone did so well Friday night:

And she is just a little proud of her bling:

We woke up really early Saturday morning so she could go watch the little compete. That also meant getting ready in the dressing room:

The best dad made the drive back to watch her compete:

And these four high school girls crushed their modern dance:

And the musical theatre group also did so well:

They even recreated their ending pose:

We were both exhausted by Saturday night, but there was no stress. It is so good to watch her do what she loves with a team she loves and teachers who love her.
 

Good People

 This week has been brutal at work. I can't write a lot about it, but I'll be glad to close this particular chapter. What I am so grateful for is my support system. My team has rallied. I called my mentor and once she stopped laughing she talked me of the ledge. Brad stepped in big time to hold me together when I fell apart. Mom let me vent. 

This too shall pass, and I know I did what was best for kids. At the end of the day, that's what matters.

And I am so glad the weekend is coming...

A Lot to Celebrate

We have had a long weekend of celebrating! We started with St. Patrick's Day with new mugs and fun:

I made Irish stew and soda bread:

We listened to Irish pub music and generally enjoyed the day. It's a little extra special to me since Brad proposed on St. Patrick's Day.

Saturday, Aly, Issa, Mom, and I went to Art in Bloom at the NC Art Museum, and it was hands down one of my favorite art exhibits of all time. Florists apply to participate, and then they are randomly assigned an artwork to serve as inspiration of a floral arrangement. I tried to capture the flowers with their artwork, and these are some of my favorites:

These are Audubon's ducks:

This still-life was just so cool. Even the rind of the watermelon was captured:

This arrangement captured Monet:

And this Egyptian boat was the last and one of the coolest:

We have decided to make this an annual event!

Yesterday, Mom, Issa, and I went to premiere of the ballet Snow White:

It was a beautiful ballet, and we are so excited to see their new rendition of The Nutcracker by the same choreographer! We ended the weekend with the boys at Burger Bach, which is always a favorite.

It finally feels like spring, and I am loving celebrating all things floral and warm!
 

Happy Kitties

With the addition of Jet, we decided we needed a second kitty tower. We also decided it should go in our bedroom to give them a space without dogs in there! Issa worked her shopping magic and found a really cute one on Etsy, and Evan and I put it together this week:

And look at that:

I would say they love it! It's the first time all three of them were in one place!
 

Biltmore Birthdays

We had a great girls' weekend away! Shannon came into town last week, and Aunt Carol flew in to surprise Shannon on Thursday. Friday, all we girls--Issa was excited to be deemed big enough--took off to Biltmore to celebrate Mom and Shannon's birthdays!

When we arrived on Friday, the weather was gorgeous and perfect for checking out the farmyard:

There were so many baby goats, including these cuties who were less than 24 hours old:

We spent Friday introducing Carol to the Village, and we were very excited to take a picture in this Monet painting:

Their special exhibition right now is about the Impressionists, and it was fun to see those inspirations throughout the estate all weekend.

We started Saturday with a hearty breakfast before braving the 14-degree temperature and 40 miles per hour wind:

We were very glad to get into the house:

The floral arrangements were just gorgeous, and it was fun to see so many fires in the hearths and hear the organ playing:

We went from the house to the exhibit and then went back to the hotel for some bubbles:

Issa's was a Shirley Temple!

We had an amazing dinner at the Bistro, completed with birthday truffles:

Sunday morning, we had a slow start and ended our stay in the Conservatory:

All of the spring blooms were just beautiful:

It was a fun weekend with a lot of laughter, and we came home to an Italian birthday dinner prepared by Chef Brad:

I'm always grateful for these little weekends away, and it's so fun that Issa is big enough to come along now!
 

First Application

Yesterday, I sat with Issa while she filled out her first college application:

I truly just was moral support. She will be doing some dual enrollment next year, so she had to apply to Durham Tech. 

It won't be long before we are filling out four-year college applications, and I can't wait to see where she ends up!

 

Settling In!

Little Jet is settling in nicely! We were thrilled when she ate her entire bowl of food last night:

She is also getting used to all of us and is quite a snuggler:

Bizarrely, the first animal she is bonding with is Neela:

Right after this picture, she actually licked Neela's nose!

We gated the dogs upstairs last night, and I slept down on the couch to be closer to her. She is definitely reverse cycling so we were up playing last night. She is all kitten, so I got lots of pounces before she would just crash out and nap for a while. When I woke up, we also discovered our first Jet casuality:

 She is fine but my phone charger is definitely not.

We are so, so glad she has joined our family, and I'm sure we will have many more Jet adventures.

Welcome to the family, Jet!

We brought home a new baby:

I have been wanting a black kitten, and this little baby caught Brad's eye on a rescue site last week.

I met her in her foster home Saturday, but we had to wait until today because she was having a little tummy trouble. She is settling in incredibly well! She is a curious little four-month old love:

She has spent a lot of time under the couch, but she is also out and about:

She has met the other furry friends, and there have been no incidents! And we are all a little smitten: