The Summers Family

What’s the most common question in your house right now? In ours it’s “When is spring going to get here?”. I’m with them! But then the next minute, they scrounge up a Christmas CD and belt out “Twelve Days of Christmas”. You just can’t win!

But you know spring is getting close when the Bedford Trade Fair comes around. The Bedford Business Association is a group of over 300 area businesses keeping each other in line and every year they put on the fair to raise community awareness of what actually available. It’s really fun and have all kinds of stuff for the kids to do. AND then there’s the opportunity to dance on stage! Miss Lori does a wonderful job throughout the year of getting the girls out there more than just once a year and they all love it! And this year was Audra’s first time on stage and Claire’s fourth, I think. But they were so excited! Claire had 2 dances, tap and ballet, while Audra just had tap.

Claire was up first for her tap class dancing to a little song about her “Old Straw Hat”. She did a great job! The only issue was that the hat didn’t have any type of tie (for safety reasons) and really didn’t stay on their heads very well. But it was too cute! She did a great job and remembered most of the words to the song. I had to rush Claire off the stage after her dance, take off the jeans and shirt which was hiding the ballet leotard and then get her in line for her next routine.

Up next was Audra and her class of 3-yr old tappers! How is it possible to be cuter! The costumes for all three classes had not come in, so this time we just had to make due. I was a little disappointed, but they were all still cute. Audra’s class was tapping to “Good Ship Lollipop” and it was adorable! Audra was a little apprehensive and she kept looking around, but did a great job for her first time and she is only 3.5 yr old! It really made me appreciate all the hard work Shirley Temple did for all of her movies!

After her performance, she got to go into the audience to watch Claire, who was up next. The cutest little ballerinas! She was dancing to “In My Ballet Shoes” which was also too cute. She remembered all her steps and had great form! I hope she sticks with this for a while, because she could be really good! The funny thing is that there are so many girls in the class that they crowd the stage and don’t have enough room to spread their arms. They do the same thing in the practice room as well. They have the whole room and they all just clump together!  But they were fabulous!

Later that evening we had a little celebration for our friend Sarah’s birthday. The girls got to try out a new babysitter that we got from Sittercity and she was fabulous! Audra asked me again this morning when she could come again!

But anyway, we went out with the Clark’s, Falzone’s and the Schafer’s to the Funny Bone comedy club that’s part of Fat Fish Blue restaurant. The headliner was Collin Moulton, who was actually really funny! I definitely enjoyed the show and would recommend him again! Amazingly, there wasn’t one joke about disgusting bodily functions or anything gross. It was refreshing! Dinner was served with the show and was pretty good. And of course the company was fabulous! Unfortunately, none of the pictures from the night turned out, which I bet Sarah is thankful for. Even if her crown was spectacular!

Love is in the air! Just when you thought the candy was out of the house from Chirstmas, you get more candy!

My love is like a cabbage

Divided into two

The leaves I give to others

The heart I give to you!

Hmmm, maybe I should keep my day job?!

The weekend was pretty busy. Claire had a playdate with her future “husband”, Drew. He’s such a cutie and Claire just loves him! We did playdo, made cookies, and then played in the snow for a long time. Then it was the parents turn to go out and play. We met a bunch for friends for dinner at the Easy Street Cafe. It was definitely more for the company than the food. Needless to say after the forgotten fries, chipped glasses, margarita sans the mix and the spoiled tomato juice we decided to call it a night.

But the girls got to experience a new baby sitter and they loved her! We gave her money to order pizza for dinner. I didn’t occur to me that the girls had never experienced delivery pizza before. They couldn’t believe someone came to the door with a pizza and we just gave them money! So now that is their favorite game, playing pizza delivery guy. Go figure.

For Valentine’s Day, we decided to keep it simple with breakfast at home and just enjoying each other. Oh yeah, and the candy. Claire and Audra got us some boxes of candy from Christie’s Candy and Mints, which were so tasty!

And the girls couldn’t wait to get to their stuff. We had to take some time to explain that every holiday is not just about candy, but sometimes those things take precedence! The girls really enjoyed their cards from Nana and Papa and the package from Grandma and Grandpa Summers.

And then there were the stuff in their bags. Crazy! But Daddy decided to get even crazier and get the family a new computer! He got us a new iMac, which is an all-in-one computer. It has a 21.5” screen (the 27” was too big for the kitchen) and LED backlighting. It has 1920×1080 HD resolution and so quiet! It has a super-cool wireless mouse and keyboard and is super-fast. The graphics are seriously amazing.

And that’s how you do a holiday! Forget the candy and go with electronics! Much less calories and easier on the hips! Your dentist will thank you!

I think this is the reason I had girls! Just to think, this is the first of many nights that I get to help Claire get ready and go on a date. The good thing is that it’s with Steve and not with another boy. Many years until that even happens (I hope!).

I found the most beautiful dress for Claire on Ebay and it was perfect! I showed Claire several days prior to the dance and that was the first step into the ultra-excitement that built up! The next step was that I took Claire to get her first mani/pedi! She didn’t have any idea what to expect. The only thing thing she had been exposed to is me painting their nails at the kitchen table. So sheltered! I look Claire to a lovely little shop that had stuff just for kids and it was too cute! They had a little pedicure chair just her size! The only bad part was is that they had TV’s there, so she paid more attention to those instead of what was going on. But it was still fun!

I was sitting just beside her getting my own mani/pedi. I just had to share in the experience! Claire picked red for her toes and silver for her nails. Perfect choice! And she didn’t mess them up one bit! It was so fun!

Then to get ready for the dance. Claire requested a bun on the top of her head along with the little silver tiara that she wore when we were at Disney in the spring. I did my best and it turned out cute! Steve also looked very handsome in his sportcoat. They were a stunning pair!

They went to the dance with the Clark’s. Lexi, of course, is her best buddy and they were so cute together!

A local paper said that there we 1,000 Daddy’s & Daughters in attendance this year! When they arrived, they got a corsage and a hand-made necklace. There were cookies and punch for everyone to enjoy and lots of music with dancing. Claire had a blast!

After the dance, the group came back tot he Clark’s house where the Mommies, Jack and Audra were eating and doing crafts. Then it was time for some Rockband! So we rocked it out for a while.

Then Claire got to experience another milestone – her first overnight at a friends house! Claire stayed the night with Lexi. I couldn’t believe that she made it through the entire night! Audra was very disappointed, but I thought that it’s just a bit too early for her to do that kind of thing.

Oh they grow up way to fast! The prom will be here before you know it. Ack!!!!

For those that missed the invite, on Friday I had a Silpada jewelry party! I’ve purchased some of my most favorite items that I wear every day at other parties (my silver earrings, chunky silver ring). So I decided to have my own. Lisa Rosen is the Silpada consultant and she is terrific. Check out her website at: http://mysilpada.com/lisa.rosen

All of the Silpada stuff is handcrafted jewelry out of the finest .925 Sterling Silver, no painted or plated fashion or costume jewelry. The stunning Sterling Silver is complimented by colorful semi-precious gemstones and natural materials including Freshwater Pearls, Coral, tooled Leather, and so much more. So there really is something for every taste and style. I wear my silver ring every day, at home playing with the kids or out on business (below). It’s goes with everything and very cute! For some reason, I always get compliments at the airport when I travel. Go figure?!

I also have this really amazing belt. I admit, I did pay more for it but when I got it I threw away the 4 belts I bought from Target that were falling apart and were just junky. So really, it paid for itself because this one is made so well it will be years before I even fathom of getting another.

(I’m totally obsessed with the silver cuff bracelet in the picture above.)

What’s also really nice, when you order something from Lisa, it comes directly to your house. You don’t have to wait until I get my act together to drop stuff off or the next time I’m in town.

The party is till open until THURSDAY, JANUARY 28th. If your interested in ordering, just go to http://mysilpada.com/lisa.rosen and you can take a gander at the catalog and then email Lisa at lrosen@buckeye-express.com to place the order. Just let her know it’s under my party name.

Enjoy!

Or weekend started out on a really fun note. After a long, but rewarding day at work, I decided that Claire (and me) deserved a treat! So I corralled Karen into knocking off a bit early and going ice skating with our girls!

How fun! Audra didn’t go since she’s a bit too little to take on the ice, but Claire  did a great job! We actually met one of her school chums there, Chianna, and we all had a blast!

Mary is a pro and Anna did a great job! Anna was so good and really got herself out there and skated on her own. Claire was a little apprehensive about falling, so the rink offers walkers for the beginners to use. NO! It was not for me! I did pretty well and didn’t fall once!

But Claire loved going fast on her skates with the walker. Claire went a week ago with Tammy and she had double blades, which she was more comfortable with. This time they didn’t have the double blades in her size, so we had to go with the traditional skates. So the walker helped her feel a bit more stable. Next time it’s no walkers!

Claire did have a play-date on Saturday with her buddy, Drew, whom she is now going to marry. It’s so cute! But after being over at his house, she’s wondering why she doesn’t have a TV in her room and blah blah blah. Keep dreaming!

We did watch the Jungle Book movie for the first time this weekend. Interestingly, the movie was originally released in 1967! Can you believe that! Timeless classic! At least in this one, both parents die and not just the mom. Claire was really apprehensive of the Shere Kahn fight scene at the end, but when she realized that Mowgli was brave, she got over it and even laughed! Audra did NOT like Kaa, the python, at all. Can you really blame her?! Freaky!