Time for a break

May has been a busy month (does that justify my negligence in blogging?), but now that it's almost over, it's time for me to catch up on other stuff, like this blog. So, here is the month in review.

Collin decided to celebrate his 9th birthday at the Arizona Science Center with a few friends (which is appropriate since Collin frequently insists that he will be a scientist when he grows up). They had a good time.

One of the things that has been keeping me really busy this year has been the music classes I have been teaching.... 2 preschool classes (Jack), and a musical theatre performance group for school age children (Collin and Mary). I only agreed to do it because my own children would be involved. The preschool classes are fun and pretty low-stress. However, the performing group has been a lot of work, and quite stressful. But fun too! We did a performance in December, and did our second one a couple of weeks ago. It was called "Broadway Dreams" and I think it turned out pretty good. I was really worried that it wouldn't come together in the end, but the kids worked hard and did a great job.

Jack finished his first year of preschool (one more to go, and then kindergarten... yikes!) and they did a little program for the parents on the last day. It was really cute. Here he is with his wonderful teacher. Mary had her dance recital this weekend. She did really well. (Here she is with her cousin backstage.) This was her first year at this studio, and I was really impressed with the quality! The recital was fantastic!

Here is a video of Mary's ballet dance. She is on the far right in the beginning, the one experiencing the wardrobe malfunction. (The video is compressed so it's not great quality.)

Other things that happened this month that I don't have photos of:

- Mary received the "Excellent PE Student" award for the entire 1st grade (I know, kind of random)
- Collin finished his 3rd season playing coach pitch baseball
- We attended 2 family parties in the same weekend
- I enjoyed a nice Mother's Day with my family (it was especially nice and relaxing because it was the day after the big show, and I didn't have to attend any early morning meetings so I got to sleep in a little)
- Jay and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary by escaping for a weekend to the Mondrian in Scottsdale. We felt really old and "un-hip" surrounded by all the gorgeous 20-somethings. But it was nice to get away. We also enjoyed (finally) eating at La Grande Orange for dinner (YUM!!!), and at The Orange Table (service is very slow but the food is good) for breakfast the next day (yes, Arizona... especially Scottsdale... certainly has the citrus theme going). And when they found out we were celebrating our anniversary, the resort manager gave us a certificate for a free dessert in their restaurant, which was thoughtful.

The kids are excited to be out of school for the summer. I'm excited about having a less hectic routine.... I hope.