Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pole Dancing

So, Julia just asked me if she could take Pole Dancing lessons.

She's 10.

Let's just say that my mouth couldn't have opened any wider if I was getting a cavity filled.

After I collected myself, I asked her what the heck she was talking about (OMGHOWDOESSHEKNOWWHATTHATEVENIS????).

Turns out she saw a Groupon coupon for 1/2 off Pole Dancing lessons when looking over my shoulder at my email. She thought it sounded great, because pole dancing is like the jig right? Like Polish people do?

Let's just say it took me about ten minutes before I could breathe between fits of laughter.

sigh...

Monday, March 28, 2011

New arrivals

So, I'd like to introduce the new arrivals to the Dough fam.

Yes, this is indeed a post about laundry. If you know me well, you know I have laundry stuffed in every room in our house. Since we left Arizona we've had a string of small/ineffective washer-dryer combos. With three little girls, we just never were able to keep up with it. Ever.

Our dryer was taking 4 cycles to dry a small load, and this is after we had it cleaned out. So a load of laundry took about 3-4 hours - and that's if I remembered to restart the dryer.

Now - we got a smoking deal on this set and whoa Nelly (yeah, I said whoa Nelly... what's your point?) what an upgrade. We went from a small top loader (about 10 years old with a broken control panel) that we bought off a friend that was moving for $25 (she threw in the dryer for free - which will tell you what the dryer is worth) to a large capacity front loading washing machine. I can't even tell you how much more laundry we can do in each load. About three times as much laundry - that's how much.

The new dryer - it dries! It is an energy saver model, so we can choose for it to run longer on a lower setting which adds to the drying time, but still - it takes about an hour to dry a full (really big!!) load versus 2-3 hours.

The best part - I can't believe how clean the clothes are. I didn't realize how ineffective our old washer was until we started seeing what this new one can do. Stains are disappearing and Anna's sleeves are CLEAN! That's huge.

This weekend we reached the end of the laundry pile. The END. As in - we cleaned out all the laundry from the dark crevices of baskets long forgotten. The laundry is caught up. We are only washing now what we take off of our bodies. That's huge. We haven't had that in five years.

I was able to fill two big garbage bags full of donate-able clothes. I also filled a bin of clothes that Julia and Anna had grown out of and are ready to be passed down. With all the clothes clean and in the drawer, it also makes it easy to plan for their summer wardrobes as I can see what the girls clearly need and what they don't now.

Sigh... I'm in love.

Well, if you managed to get this far, thanks. I know reading about laundry is about as much fun as doing laundry. Although, right now, doing laundry just isn't all that bad.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Emma

Things I love that she says:

Bal-a-lay = ballet

Pad-a-wan = pattern

I need a reset = when she's having a meltdown, she presses her heart against mine to reset her heart.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Spring songs

Yay ayayayay.

Here's the thing. (oh hai, how have you been? miss ya lots, love ya'll) I still like winter, don't get me wrong. I love the slower pace, the big fluffy snowflakes, watching the girls ice skate... all good.

This year though- I'm dancing with joy for Spring's arrival. We had four glorious spring like days here this week. The girls and I played outside and enjoyed the sun and warm air. Flip flops were dragged out of the closet and toes were freshly painted.

Today we have gone back to cold temps and possible snow, but I know what can be, what will be, soon enough.

I love that live where we can enjoy all four seasons. The long winter makes me truly appreciate those teeny tiny buds of spring even more.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Kidlets

Julia is playing lots of softball, she's become quite the pitcher and really enjoys the positive attention she's getting for it. She had her LL evaluations last week, and we're just waiting to find out if they are moving her to the majors this year.

Julia and Emma have been added to the family members that wear glasses. Both will need them for just school work for now. Julia was so excited about the possibility of glasses until they became a reality. Gotta love these little life lessons.

Anna continues to blow us away with her improvements at school. She went from a struggling level 1-2 reader at the beginning of the year to reaching level 15 (the top level before chapter books) this month. She's very proud of herself, and can read just about whatever we put in front of her. She's definitely ready for 2nd grade now!

Emma just had her 5th birthday - which means that she's heading of to the big K in the Fall. I'm excited for her, as I know she will adore it - but oh my. This momma's not ready to send her off on that big yellow bus yet. I'm glad I have 5 months to prepare.