not necessarily in this order

What a week it’s been! Matilda Memories Well, we did more than survive Lil Momma’s long-awaited and bumpier than expected journey to playing her first lead/main character role for her musical theater class recital! The  drama  of the lead up weighed heavily on us both – waiting to leave for the  5pm  show on Saturday felt ENDLESS – but she was able to get her head in the right place and go in with an equal amount of nerves and confidence. Let me tell you, from the moment she said her first line to the moment she screamed her last and ran from the stage, the girl was on FIRE! My parental bias is balanced with an undergraduate focus in theater criticism / reviewing, but I have to say she was one of the best parts of the production. She got a ton of laughs, a few gasps here and there, and made it through the hard song like a boss. I think we all are so relieved that this is over, but I’m so glad it can be reframed as a lesson (or lessons) and a good experience vs. what ...

One  It’s a chop, but not a wild one! And, an explanation (which was more of a win, haha!)… I had gone to the same place to get my hair done for 10 years up until 2 years ago. When they dyed my hair, it would burn my scalp and I’d get a rash on my forehead and ears, but they said it was just because I was sensitive. Apparently, the dye was too intense chemically and impacted my curl pattern as well. SO, my stringy, knotty, gross ends were the damage from those years, while the hair above is healthier because of the better for me dye I get at the place I have now.  I HAD 2 DIFFERENT CURL PATTERNS GOING ON ON THE SAME STRANDS OF HAIR?!?!?!  No wonder it / I was a mess. My mind was blown! I told her to cut off all the damage and am so much happier with it. Though, it still doesn’t work for day 2 in office, so I guess my next adventure will be to see if my roots stay mostly bearable if I’m washing my hair 2-3 times midweek…   Two  Next week is school vacation here....

  Lil Momma has a   solo verse in her musical theater school’s holiday concert   (followed by a few lines of a duet). Although she was THRILLED when chosen for this, she has been freaking out about it this week and we are at the point where we don’t know if I am going to be able to get her out of the car for the rehearsal tonight, much less to the actual concert tomorrow, sigh. I know it’s such a good life lesson for her (and have a feeling – or a hope! – that she will rally and really enjoy the moment she’s wanted for a few years), but it’s hard to navigate the big feelings when we already have so many big feelings in the house. Random Bella pic to fit the vibe! My tea advent calendar got me all messed up this week, so the next set of reviews will come next week! After the 7 different teas I opened the first week of the month,  the next 2 teas were repeats  (which made me think the rest were repeats)… Turns out, it’s just a mixed bag (haha) of flavors with some...

  One  Florida was amazing. It was a quick trip and went by in a blink, but we left wanting to go back and that’s the hallmark of a great trip to me. Lil Mama had never been to a place like Universal Studios before so it was wonderful seeing her explore how big it was and try out some rides - she loved the ones that told stories, big surprise ha ha! We spent a lot of time on the Harry Potter ones, the Simpsons, and the Spider-Man ride. We even enjoyed the hotel and she and I got cookies and milk as room service the night Luke went to see the haunted houses. It was the memory-filled weekend we needed. Two  the only real mistake we made came on day two. We had attempted to go on the new King Kong ride, but it had broke while we were on it, and we were stuck for almost an hour. Very overwhelming for me and put my little family in a bit of a grumpy mood. However, these things happen and they gave us magic passes that let us go to the front of the line even on rides that didn’...

notes from a weekend I am more ahead on teacher and activity gifts than I’ve ever been at this point in the month; however, I did forget that we would have to wrap these (oof, tiny details). On a desperation shopping trip to Target, I realized that I could almost be doubling the price of the actual gift by trying to buy gift bags. Luckily, I found a pack of white bags that would fit our little presents. Lil Mama looked a little daunted when I told her I was hoping she would decorate them, but it became the perfect weekend activity! She’s so enjoyed drawing a special picture on each one (even though she did give some feedback about drawing presents in a color she didn’t like for some of the teachers who are not her favorites, sigh). I think we’ll keep this as a tradition! My girl is the most extra extrovert (she gets it from her dad) and very excitedly volunteered to deliver her classroom’s gifts to the local elder that they’ve been gathering for. As the parent who is not as socially...