Beauty and the Beast

This was a really big weekend for the girls! Jonathan was out of town, so Margaret and I had a "sleep over" at the Columbia house for "two nights!" Margaret was really excited and stated that we should stay there more often because there are "many more rooms and bathrooms than our little St. Matthews house." Yes, it is time to move!! I had a class on Saturday morning and Margaret was DELIGHTED to stay with "Miss"Tracey for a few hours. When I got back, Marg and I made a mad dash to find a dress for me to wear to the ballet and a purse for her. She was VERY well behaved and we got home just in time to change clothes and head off to see Beauty and the Beast.

The show was wonderful. There were 2 intermissions and we read each act before the dancers started back. Below are a few pictures of Margaret before the ballet and at intermission. She was quite engrossed during the performance. She whispered questions to me about who was who throughout, but was basically mesmerized. After the performance, we went backstage to see the costumes, dancers, and well back stage stuff. Margaret got REALLY shy at this point and would not even stand by the costumes for a picture. We (Tracey and I begged her) did finally get one picture of Margaret with the Beast "in his nice clothes" just before we left. When we got in the car Margaret was pouty and then burst into broken hearted tears. Either the ballet was quite cathartic or she is turning into a teenage early!! Luckily, after a few tears and some tight hugs she was better and just as her tears were drying she nailed her head on a side mirror of a car she was passing as we walked in to a resturant to eat dinner. What terrible timing!! This was the second BIG bump on her head of the weekend. On Friday night she jammed her head into a door frame. So, the bruises on the forehead in pictures for the next week or so are not due to abuse.....just tired clumsiness. Anyway, she recovered quickly from this injury and was thrilled to eat pizza and then walk around the corner for icecream. YUM! All in all it was a great day!Margaret was not so thrilled about this picture.

I tried to get Margaret to pose next to the pretty costumes and Beast mask, not so much... After the ballet, Margaret had a bit of a moment......

Margaret was completely cured of her mood by the time we went for icecream!

Washing my OWN hair!!

Margaret has been into taking showers lately. She says she is a "big girl." I love for her to take showers because the steam seems to help with her recent stuffiness and it is just easier. Well, tonight she washed her own hair! She usually washes herself but I always do the hair. I did help to rinse her hair but she did everything else by herself. She was quite proud of herself!

The pour..."is this enough?"

Scrubbing with Shampoo

The rinse...."I can do it by myself!"

Day of the Dentist

Margaret and I have been talking for weeks about the trip to the dentist that happened this morning. For her first dentist appointment she did GREAT! She let the hygenist clean and floss her teeth and let the dentist check her without fussing at all. I was SOOOO proud. Today I took the camera anticipating the same excellent behavior and I really was going to make a big deal about it. Needless to say, todays visit was NOT photo worthy--unless we could have gotten a shot of me holding Marg down with my arms and legs and the hygenist prying her mouth open to clean her teeth! YIKES! She was ok at first, but then she decided she was done and she REALLY was. We went to lunch with Jonathan and Tracey after the dental visit and she told them a little about her behavior. She told me she would really try to be a good girl at the next visit. Hopefully she is not going to follow in my footsteps with a dental phobia.

Our Fabulous Find

Madeline is very thrilled to have a new stroller. Margaret and I found this antique baby carraige at a yard sale at her school last week and have been having fun cleaning it up and preparing to add some new ribbons to make it "beautiful for Madeline." We are planning to find some fabulous ribbon or lace this weekend at one of our new favorite places, JoAnne's. We will post a picture of the final product when it is finished!

Lunch with Laine

I forgot to post about Margaret's play date last week with one of her best friends, Laine. Margaret was very excited to pick Laine up from school. We were sad that Ren was sick, but the two girls had a fun time eating pizza at Joe's Deli, playing at the park, then were both really helpful with my patient that we all went to see!

We can't wait for both of the twins to visit again soon!

Excited about Easter!

Easter is one of Margaret's most favorite holidays. On Tuesday, after cleaning much of the day, we went in the attic to get down the Easter decorations that Margaret has been begging to get for at least a week now. She was totally thrilled and set up a party for all the bunnies. She had everyone dancing and singing--it was hilarious!

We are very excited to already have three Easter Egg hunts on our calendar and possibly a fourth, depending on the date and time. I have a feeling we will start egg hunt practicing tomorrow!

Playing Cinderella

Today is "Terrific Tuesday". This is Margaret and my special day each week to have fun together. Lately, things have been so busy that we seem to have too much to do other than stay home and have fun. Today we decided to go and see my one patient and then come home and play Cinderella. This is the perfect pretend play for today, since our house is definately in need of some cleaning. I love that Margaret enjoys helping with household chorses. As you can see, she is a pro at washing mirrors and really enjoys it! Yes, she is standing on my bathroom counter in the picture on the left. I am a physical therapist and do not discourage climbing. However, I do stay very close by to catch her if she falls. Along with cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and vacuuming the house, we cleaned and organized Margaret's bedroom. She really enjoyed setting all of her animals up to slide down the laundry basket after we finished in her room. She has quite the imagination.

Hopefully, we will get up the attic to get out Easter decorations later today! Margaret is thrilled that Easter is soon. This is one of her FAVORITE holidays!! I like it because "it has Easter bunnies and I like bunnies." I think she is also a fan because she knows her birthday is shortly after Easter!