Up Late Again

Yes, I'm up late again.

And you want to know why? Because tomorrow is the last and final deadline for Reflections entries at the high school and although this was not a priority when they were messing around on the weekend or even a couple of weeks ago, now they are stressed. And by extension, I mean me.

Honestly, it drives me crazy. I have always been one of those people who has pulled things together early, to even let them sit for a while if necessary (like the treat bags for Baby Doll's birthday party next Tuesday...all done!). It couldn't just be that I'm avoiding housework... could it?

But that brings me back to my original dilemma.

I don't know how to burn these two DVDs for Crafty. She did a beautiful dance and then today she did a really sweet film. Both are stuck in the computer...

A Grand Adventure for Scout

It's after 2:00 AM and I am still up.

Maybe that is because my sweetie let me take a 4-hour nap today after church. I couldn't believe it when I checked my cell phone and the time really did say 6:24. Baby Doll and Curly both go back on track tomorrow, so everyone will be in school again except for Scout.

She is off on a grand adventure.

Really. She is headed for Catalina Island with her girl scout group. This is the first time she has been away from home on her own before and her first time in an airplane. My sweetie and I were up at 6:00 AM to take her to the airport. She was meeting her group at 7:00.

She was nervous about packing last night because they were limited to one carry-on for four days and they had to take a sleeping bag. Thank goodness we had a backpacking one from Sport's camping days last year. It only took up a third of her space...

We finally got everything in there and honestly, it wasn't even that hard to squeeze. She is used to traveling light since we usually have so much luggage and limited cargo space when we travel as a family. It was difficult to get her out of bed this morning and into the car. She didn't want to leave the safety of the car once we arrived at the airport, but when it became evident that we weren't giving in, she dragged herself out and allowed us to lead her to the meeting spot.

We waited with her until it was time for the to head to security. I don't think she wanted to be embarrassed, so after a minute of hugging, and a quick pic, off she went with the rest of the girls and not a second look back. I heard from her leader this evening that she loved the plane ride and was having a blast at the aquarium sleepover. And her grand adventure has just begun!

Happy Baptism Day, Baby Doll

We had a beautiful, nearly perfect day this morning. It started about 8:00 for me (after another late night) when I crawled out of bed to put the final preparations on our breakfast celebration. Thankfully, Drama Queen had come over early and finished up the last minute cleanup and prep work so everything was nearly ready.

She also braided Baby Doll's hair so it would stay down and not require her to be immersed a second time. After she was dressed and ready to go, we sat down to breakfast with many family and extended family members. It was so nice to meet and eat before the actual ordinance at the church.

Half way done...

 At 9:30, my sweetie, Baby Doll and I rode over to the church. She and I went into the dressing room and she changed into her baptism dress. She looked so beautiful and so grown up as you can tell. Just before we entered the chapel, we managed to snap a couple of pictures since we can't take them during the actual baptism and confirmation.

Nice healthy breakfast, Baby Doll...

 The meeting began right on time and when it was our turn, our family sang the special musical number. After one more talk it was time for Baby Doll to be baptized. She was the first of the 4 children to have a turn. Grandpa and The Beast were the witnesses and she was only immersed once by her daddy (good thing I sewed the weights in the bottom of the dress last night!). Then I helped her changed in the dressing room before we went into the confirmation.

Our girl was simply beaming as she shook hands and thanked her family and friends for coming. I am so proud of her and her good choices. Love you, Baby Doll!

BYU Homecoming Spectacular with David Archuleta and Colbie Caillat

I'm sorry I was so whiny yesterday. I feel much better today.

My advance preparation is making this jump into the weekend much easier. Lots of good things happened today, but I think my favorite has to be my trip down to BYU with my girls to see their Homecoming concert with Colbie Caillat and David Archuleta, two of my favorite singers.

We managed to climb into our car about 10 minutes later than I wanted to, but we would have been fine except that the traffic was horrible and we didn't reach Provo and Princess until about 7:40. We got through Security and speed-walked to our seats. Thankfully, we only missed announcements and part of the first song.

We were in the Marriott Center, student section and that meant stadium seating, but maybe that was good because I was next to Baby Doll. The girls loved the entire show, all except for maybe Twizlet. I have never seen a show like that before. It was set up more like a variety show with singers and dancers from all areas of BYU's performing arts department and the two artists we came to see were interspersed all through and with the other acts.

I'm so glad Princess called and asked if we wanted tickets! Next time I would take everyone.