This day. And this girl.

The boys headed to St. Paul today to go to a MN Wild game, and when I asked Morgan what she wanted to do, she asked for some pictures.  UM, OK!  I realize I'm 100% biased, but she makes it pretty easy to practice taking pictures.  And this bright sunny day?  Couldn't have been better.

Dang the crooked horizon line!  Grr.

Any time girl.  You just ask.

XOXOX

NH

A Random Friday List

1.  I'm tired of working downtown.  There are a lot of creepy people (not that I work with, but those I encounter on my 0.5 mile trek through the skywalk getting to/from work every day.) and though at first I thought I'd enjoy the exercise of being forced to make that walk every day, it's doing nothing for my weight issues, and is very annoying when you have to carry anything other than the Purse of Unusual Proportions with you.  I can't run a quick errand on my lunch break because I'd be spending 85% of it walking to and from my car.  Poo.

2.  Cell phone insurance is seriously for the birds.  I have paid $7/month for the past three years to "insure" a certain cell phone in our family.  Last night, said cell phone hit a cement floor.  No chance for that screen.  Probably even if it had been wearing the case that I bought it less than a month ago.  Now, to take advantage of that $252 that I've put into that insurance, I have to pay $125 deductible to get a new phone.  Or take it to the repair shop and pay $60 to have it fixed.  Something is wrong with this picture.

3.  My knitting projects are coming along nicely, I just haven't taken any pictures of them in a long, long time.  Remember that blue and white sweater that I ripped all the way out? It's almost done again.  It's a cardigan now, and I only have the button bands left and then sewing in all the ends.  It's still not perfect, but I like it better than I did when I made it the first time.  I've finished a few scarves, hats, and a sweater for Morgan.  I should really get some pictures of my finished stuff, huh?

4.  I'm addicted to watching Bones and The Walking Dead on Netflix.  This is doing nothing for the growing pile of laundry in my closet or the cleanliness of my house, but it's doing great things for progress on knitting projects.

5.  It is very frustrating how expensive it can be to throw things away.  We've cleared a lot of things from mom's house, and I have things at my house that just need to go to the dump.  I get that it's not good for the environment, etc to fill up our landfills, but sometimes you just can't donate stuff for someone else to re-use.

6.  Today is March 21st.  Yesterday was the first day of spring.  Today it is snowing.  Hard.  Tomorrow's wind chills are supposed to be below zero.  Mom?  Are you doing this to us?  Please stop it.  I really want to see my grass some time this year.

7.  TGIF.  Seriously.

XOXOX

NH

A Weekend Full of Dance!

'Member how I said I was gonna spend the weekend at a dance competition?  Well, I did.

(Sorry if you've seen all of these on Facebook or Instagram already.)

This is Maddi, Megan, and Morgan getting ready to perform their trio, Golden Age.  Yep, those are the costumes I got to bling out for them!  I love how the red feathers added just the right amount of pop!

Of course when you have 12 year olds picking out their own fun hairstyle for their dance, you get tasked with doing this.

Morgan and Hannah.  LOVING those smiles!

Morgan and Carly - Carly taught the girls their trio!

Never enough eyeliner and red lipstick, right girls???

This one was their hip-hop group.  I think there were about 10 other girls in this dance, but we lost them when it was time for a picture!  I'll get you all next time!

I couldn't be a more proud dance mom right now.  Morgan danced in 4 different dances.  Her trio and tap numbers each earned a High Gold placement, and hip-hop and lyrical each earned a Platinum, which is the highest placement!  Hip-hop earned the highest point award, and lyrical earned 1st runner up in their category.  I think they scored AMAZINGLY well considering costumes were still arriving on SATURDAY, and this was really the first time performing some of these dances in full costume in front of people.

They had approximately 12 minutes to change out of their lyrical costumes and into their tap costumes and change their hair, (which is NOT easy when you are going on the third hairstyle of the day, and each requires 10 pounds of cement-like hairspray) but they ALL pulled it off, and did AMAZING!  

We are so lucky to be a part of such a talented, wonderful, fun group of dance families.  Some of the interaction I witnessed this weekend between these girls was so touching, it brought me to tears.  Some of these girls have been dancing together for 10+ years.  For others, it was their first competition experience.  You couldn't tell which was which in that dressing room.  They are truly ALL sisters in a dance family.  When someone comes off the stage in tears for fear they jeopardized a score for their team, they will always have 15 pairs of arms waiting to hug them and give them encouragement.  

Once it was all over and we were on our drive home, Morgan was practically giggling with excitement the entire way.  She kept saying, "THAT was SO fun."  That's why I do this for her.  She is having the time of her life.  She's learning so much about being an athlete, a team member, a friend, and a confident performer.  I am SO lucky and thank my stars every night that I'm fortunate enough to be able to give that to her.

And then at the end of the night when she was going to bed, she thanked me for the entire weekend.  Which made every penny, car ride, red feather, and lost tube of eyeshadow 100% worth it.

I love you, Morgie Pie.  Thank YOU for making me so proud!

XOXOX

NH

A Month of Pictures

I hope I don't shock you all by actually writing a blog post today.  I know it's been a month since my last post.  Just when I thought I didn't really have anything to write about, I went through the pictures on my phone, and whaddya know, I found some stuff that pretty much sums up the last month and what we've been up to!

So I now present my last month, as told by my crappy cell phone pictures.

Yes, we've attended a few hockey games.  I can't even tell you who the opponent was here, but I know it was a shutout for my boy. :)

Snuggle time with this one has been high on the list.  She snores.  Not nearly as loud as the hubs, but yes, she snores.

One day I watched The View, and felt the need to take this picture and sent it to my sister.  Because that's what we do.  I told her that BaBa WaWa was looking an awful lot like Harry Carey.  She couldn't disagree.

I got to go to a Bulldogs game and drink wine.  This is very noteworthy.  Trust me.

Andy's team won first place in our home tournament!  Yay!

This sign was on the outside of the Two Harbors rink at one of the several games we attended there.  I don't remember seeing a more literal sign in a long, long time.  Hockey is very cool.  And cold.  And freezing. And arctic.

Our dance studio moved into it's new home!  So very very exciting.

This is a photo of the very first time attendance was taken in the very first class at the new studio.

I got to see a sun dog on one of the days that the wind chill hit -40.  Yes, there were multiple days that the wind chill hit -40 here.  That is just not right for crying out loud.

See what I mean?  Snuggle sesh #490467098.  She sleeps in your arms like a baby.

My silly boy and his silly hockey team advanced to regions.  What do you do when you advance to regions?  You and your entire team bleach your hair, of course.  Why not?

They ended up taking third place at regions, and only the top two qualified for state, so there won't be a state trip for us this year.  Probably a good thing because Lord knows what they would have wanted to do to their  hair if they advanced another level.

I think he looks kinda good. :)

Ahem.  Yeah.

My sissy and her daughter came to town to go see The Band Perry with us!  It was a great concert.

Third row tickets don't suck.  

Lindsay Ell was the opener, and she has some serious guitar skills. She was super friendly and we found her at the merch table after the show, so the girls got to pose for a pic with her!

And then I blinked and my baby turned TWELVE.  Ugggggh.  She asked for waffles for dinner.  I like to accommodate.  Even with a birthday candle!

I finally took the princess in for a haircut.  I miss her shag though.  I don't think we'll go as short next time.

Our high school team made it to state this year again, so as has become tradition, we packed up the fam and headed south to cheer them on.

Emily's silly boyfriend and his mustache made it with honorable mention to the annual "All Hocky Hair Team" video.  We are so proud. :)

I got to do some knitting by the hotel pool.  I have been working on this (*$#%*$#(ing sweater for about 2 years. I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON IT!  Little by little, I'll find the end.  It's got to be here somewhere.

We made a trip to the Mall of America, and someone was in heaven surrounded by all things Little Mermaid.

I finally got to meet this angel!  She's my new niece, Bailey, and she's perfect in every way.

We got to have one quick meal with her at Khan's, a Mongolian BBQ restaurant.  The food was AWESOME, but our visit was too quick.

We will hopefully get to spend more time with them at Easter, just around the corner!

Back for the championship game, in which we lost again.  Next year boys!  We'll be back to cheer you on!

So now as hockey season is over, we transition into dance competition season.  I have been busy blinging out costumes with feathers, crystals, and really smelly glue, but it's one of my very favorite parts of being a dance mom.  Our second competition of the season is this weekend at the Marshall School Auditorium.  You will find me there most of the weekend, probably sitting near the greatest light source in the room, with my knitting, cheering on my baby.  No place I'd rather be!

XOXOX

NH