Parent Day at Dance

Two weeks ago, Sage had her first of two parent days for this dance year.  It really happened this time.  I was REALLY able to see all of the time and money we've poured into this for Sage.  I've always thought she was good and that she had an ability, but this time, other people saw it.  When she was younger, there were a few girls that were just naturally skilled, and they were always the head of the class.  There was just no denying it.  This year, I saw Sage blow those girls away.  I was SO proud.  People were whispering to me how good she was and how good she looked.  She has the body for it (we all know where that comes from) and she just is GOOD.  I put up a few videos so you can see for yourself.

Some leaps

My Girl

Fall break is this week, thank God.  We needed a break.  I hate school.  If they didn't have them ALL day and then send more work HOME, I may not have as much as a problem.  Anyway, we are enjoying our time at home.  We've had a nice week of relaxing.  I love my girl Sage, who is growing up way too fast.  She has her definite opinions and given the right time and place, I enjoy hearing them.  I'm teaching her the appropriate time and place of when to give it.  Example:  I absolutely do NOT want to hear what she thinks when I've asked/told her to do something MULTIPLE times.  :)  Anyway, she's a good girl and she's a lot of fun.  I'm very proud of her.  Anyone who spends any amount of time around her just loves her.  She gets that from me lol.

I realized a few months ago that with all the sensors that my car has, it also has a weight sensor up front to turn the air bag off when a child is sitting there.  I let her try it a few weeks ago, and she just loved it.  It still doesn't feel as safe to me as when she's in the back, but if we're just around town, I don't mind.  As much.  She LOVES it and gets offended if Travis and I ride together and she has to sit in the back.  How DARE he?!

She made this for me at school.  I'll keep it forever.

 The best part

Sage's School Work

Sage has produced some GEMS at school so far this year.  If we are "friends" on facebook or you follow me on instagram, these aren't new, but I wanted to keep them here.  This first one was probably the first week of school.  I suppose they had to make an introduction to their family.  I'm looking.  We all look nice.  I've got my highlights and lowlights going on here.  My red dress on.  Red shoes.  Baby in hand.  Bleu has his blonde hair and green outfit going just right. Jaggar's hair is fixed like he likes it.  He's even waving to the crowd with a grin dressed in Auburn colors just in time for football season.  Sage's dress is perfect.  Matching shoes, socks, and bow.  Pretty smile.  Long lashes....and then Travis...who has no color, no clothes, no hair, and no hands and sticks for legs.  I was laughing so hard.  I said, "Sage, what happened to Daddy?"  "Oh, we ran out of time." 

 If that wasn't funny enough, I think I choked on the drink I was sipping while I read this.  She doesn't even know how funny this is and couldn't even really understand why we laughed so much at this.  Of course, after all of that, my favorite line is, "ANYWAY, my dad sleeps on the couch because he snores."  What fun it must be to be a teacher and see a kid' perspective into their own family.  Kids will also throw you under the bus in a heartbeat apparently.

 All the funnies aside, just the next week or so was grandparents' day.  Travis' mom and stepdad ate with her and took her to the book fair.  She racked up and chose several books and a journal.  The first page talked about daydreaming and dreaming big.  Then it left a space to write one of your dreams.  Of course, I cried reading it and so will you.  It's just not right, is it?  This is everyday of my life, these things are running through my mind.  Some days, I feel like it's a struggle to just catch a breath.  I don't get it.  I don't like it.  I feel like something in me died a little over a year ago.  I'm not the same person.  I feel cynical towards a lot some days.  I'm actually too selfish to care if it "helps someone" else by seeing her or me or us.  I'm even more matter of fact than I was before, which can be hurtful....but in spite of all of that, I believe.  Because what else do I have?  And she does, too!  While at the doctor just a few weeks ago, she said something about "When I don't have diabetes, do we have to come here?"  She's always hopeful.  But waiting is hard.  So I'm hanging on to her dream along with her.

A few days later, I heard a song I hadn't heard or thought about in YEARS, but it's one I used to LOVE.  I found it to be even more touching and true now than it was then.  It's like my daily thought process.  Hey God, aren't you strong enough?  I know you are.  I believe He hears us and is working even when it doesn't look like He is.  And on days that I find it hard to even do that, I believe I have others doing it for us.

It's Fall

Do you know what my favorite thing about fall's beginning is?  Pumpkin Spice at Starbucks.  I love all things pumpkin:  kids' clothing, pumpkin candles, pumpkin air fresheners, pumpkin desserts...I even had a pumpkin donut from Dunkin Donuts the other day.  But my favorite thing is a Pumpkin Spice frappuccino.  So I shared my love with Sage.  She thought that it was the greatest thing in the world.  And it is.  To keep my work of losing the rest of my baby weight in tact (I did it finally!), my friend Heather suggested a  new found love this season:  iced, nonfat, pumpkin spice lattes.  Not as indulgent, but still good.  So do yourself a favor and try one.

Dance Class

This was probably the first or second week of school, to be honest, but Sage is VERY into her dance this year.  And apparently, she wants Jaggar to be as well. So she put last year's shoes that didn't fit her anymore on guess who.  He was a very good student from what I could see.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Little Miss started 3rd grade today.  How is that even possible?  I thank God that I'm not nearly as nervous as I was when she went to kindergarten...and even more that I'm not as nervous as last year's beginning, which was the most stressful.   Sage didn't necessarily WANT to go back to school, but since she had to, she made up her mind to be excited about it.  She said that she likes the first day.  It's when they expect you to KEEP going that's irritating, I think.  I get the feeling.  I feel that way about bills.  We had a very long weekend, but she was up and excited to go, and I think she looked adorable.  I can't wait to hear about her day because the house is a little too quiet.

She wanted to take Costner with her.

 Our routine first day picture

 She picked out that lunchbox when we were in Kentucky in July.

 I thought Travis was going to stay home because Jaggar was still asleep.

 But nope...he wanted to be a part, so he woke Jaggar up.  You can see how thrilled he was about that.  He was NOT happy for quite a while

 Inside the school.  They say only kindergartners need to be walked in, but they won't say anything to you.  So, I got this picture in the lobby.  They're the yellow jackets.

 Sage and her sweet teacher, Mrs Lindsey.  When I met her about a week and half ago to make sure we were on the same page with taking care of Sage, I found out that her husband has type 1 diabetes.  So I had very little to explain to her.  God keeps blessing us.  I know Sage will have a great year in 3rd grade.

 Afterwards, TRAVIS suggested we go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  I don't have the time to go into detail about Travis and his hate for Cracker Barrel, but suffice it to say, he does.  We had a nice time though this visit, but it's definitely hit or miss when we go with him.

 Costner eating some eggs.  He actually broke that small plate trying to get his own eggs when Travis wasn't fast enough.

 When we got home, Jaggar went straight to work.  Remember, he loves it when Sage goes to school.  He loves it when she first gets out, and he loves it when she goes back.  He said "no" when I asked if he missed her.

 He was very proud of his smurf tower that he made.  Jaggar will have his own big day tomorrow, even though he disagrees with it.  More later.

Another Year of Dance

Sage started her 6th year of dance on Monday!  How is that possible?  This year, all 3 of her classes are on Mondays back to back.  Tap, ballet and jazz.  It's a long day, but it's OVER..or so we thought.  But when I went to buy new shoes, they invited her to a new company class that they are starting for juniors.  This helps stretch them and basically teaches them DANCE, not a routine.  She had her first class yesterday, and she LOVES it.  They require this for those that compete, but you don't have to compete to take it.  We're still a ways off from that.  We are obviously going the dance route, rather than cheer, so this is a great class for her.  Her teacher said that by Christmas, we will see a major difference.  I look forward to it.  So this year, she's doing well over 3 hours of dancing a week. 

Sister Sage

It pains me to write that this is our last full week of summer.  While I feel we have been blessed with another wonderful teacher this year based on our meetings, to deal with another year of STUFF that school brings--work, time, kids Sage doesn't like, kids I don't like, tests, early mornings...I feel I'M going back to school again.  I just want to keep her with me.  Right now though, I feel the school Sage is at is wonderful for her, and unfortunately...she just has to go to school.  But I wanted to also mention how much I will miss not only her but her HELP around here.  She is MY helper.  I think Costner Bleu may miss her just as much.  He does NOT cry when she's around because she's going to fix it.  He loves her so much.

This was when we were still in Kentucky.  She was so proud that she'd rocked him to sleep.

 Once we did get home, the kids realized how much they missed all of their things.  We were gone for 3 weeks, so having their rooms and toys again was like Christmas morning.  And Sage thought that Costner could ride in her doll stroller wonderfully.  And he did.

 A few days later, our sweet friend Emily, whose graduation we attended that I cried at, had told Sage she could spend the night before she left for college.  Here is Sage waiting for her at ANY moment.  She had so much fun.

 And here we are at the UCP telethon last week, where I"m a legend by the way.  It has seriously been over 10 years since I sang there, and they remembered me and asked me to please come back.  I actually think if I can remember next year before the day of, that I'll ask Luke and a few others if we can go and sing a few.  Anyway, once again, here is Sage being the little mommy.  She is my best girl, and I'm proud to call her mine. 

Room Tours

Thank God, it is indeed summer time.  When we aren't at a doctor's appointment every other day like last week, Sage and Jaggar play really well together (most of the time).  I love that.  I love sleeping in and not having to wear makeup or go anywhere.  Not that I really wear makeup even when I did have to go out during the school year.  I realize I will have to come out of "new mom mode" eventually, but it takes me a good year usually.  Anyway, Sage and Jaggar have had a lot of fun the past few weeks making videos.  Sage loves to watch some of the videos that other girls her age have made on youtube with their rooms and American Girl dolls.  I have full monitor over this and everything she watches and is allowed to put on there, fyi.  Anyway, I laughed at the videos they made, especially the ones where Jaggar is involved.  HILARIOUS.  "My room toy."  lol  He's so cute.

If you have 13 minutes on hand, you can watch Sage's very in depth tour.  :)


Jaggar's room.  SO funny. 


And then they did Costner's.

School's Out!

We made it through another year of school.  2nd grade came and went by so fast that it was scary, but it was a great school year.  I have to admit that after giving birth to my 3rd child, I was more than ready for EVERYTHING to come to a break:  School, Dance, Church, Meals...you get what I'm saying.  It is crazy to me how much Sage has grown, both physically and academically, this year.  She is a kind, smart, sweet, articulate girl, and I genuinely like her, and so does everyone who gets to be around her more than I do during the school day.  I get compliments from other adults about how wonderful she is.  Makes a mom's heart happy.  So we embrace summer time now!  Jaggar, in particular, was SO thrilled when we went to pick her up on that last day when I told him she didn't have to go back for a long time.  Although she was very upset that Nonni had just headed back to Kentucky, and Jaggar's repeating  "Sage, Nonni leaved!"  over and over was pouring salt in a wound, she is now really enjoying being home.

Last week of school

 Her report card...3rd grade?!  How'd that happen?  I swear it just seems like it was kindergarten.

 Her teacher had this in with the report card.  Look how much she grew!  And if you can't tell by that, just look here.

Awards Day

As the final week of school wound down, Sage had an awards program the day before the last day of school.  We didn't know what she was getting, but Mom, Mema, the boys and I all headed to the school gym to find out.  I hadn't planned on checking her out early because I'd already checked her out for field day and to get her hair cut (and I had to get her on the last day), but the principal said, "If you're checking out your kids after this, just go to the office and sign them out."  Apparently, the last week of school is just a formality.

She was excited we were there.

 The first award that she received was All A Honor Roll for the entire year.  This is all the students in the 2nd grade that got that, which you can see, isn't many.

 She also received a Most Improvement for Math.  She's like me in that she finds reading and English to be a breeze and has to work some in math.  We were very proud of her accomplishments for the year.

 And the 2nd grade flocked to the fact that there was a baby in the house.

 Sage and her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Robbins, who I'd really like for her to keep.  She was blessing to us this year, and I believe God has all of Sage's teachers (and all of my kids' for that matter) picked out.  It was nice to have a teacher that had a passion for what she did and a love for her students.  Thankful for her this year.

Awards

We stuck it out to the end because Sage was getting perfect attendance for all 3 classes AND her 5 year award.  She had been counting down the years to get that huge 5 year trophy for about 3 years.  And this year, they decided to do something different and do a "ballerina statue."  Sage was devastated.  The day that she found out, I went in her room to check on her and she was awake worrying about it.  She wanted that huge trophy so much.  Turns out, I think this was the better deal, though Sage may still disagree.

They kept them in the boxes because they can be broken easily.

How sweet is it that Jaggar gave Sage her flowers?  Pretty sweet considering he hated the entire recital and asked to go home from the very beginning.

She had that look on her face the entire time that she was up there.  She said that she was tired of holding all of that stuff.

Sage and Lydia

This is my favorite perfect attendance trophy because of the jewel.  We all earned that trophy, particularly Travis and my mom.  Travis made SURE she was getting it.  And yes, I'm being stupid here.

Here's her 5 year award.  Isn't that nice?  It says, "If you can dream it, you can become it."

Sage and Ms Sheila

with Ms Tracey

Ms Jessica

Ms Allison

Travis wanted me to take a picture of him with his trophy.  Everyone worked really hard to get her there since I had the baby in the middle of the dance year.

I don't know why we try to take family pictures.  Jaggar with his cheetos.  Costner never looking at the camera and me looking like I'm pushing 150.

Some what better and at least Jaggar is consistent.

Sage and Kylie

Travis' mom came too.

We took so many of these because we knew we weren't going anywhere on Mother's Day the next day.

Phew!  That's a LOT of recital pictures!!  Officially finished with those until next year!