My daughter's first trip to the circus.

A couple of weeks ago, K called to tell me that she was given an envelope at school because she was one of the top 5 readers in her class.  In the envelope was a ticket to the Tadmor Shrine Circus.  She was so excited.  The location where it was set was smaller, so I knew that though she tends to get overwhelmed in crowds, she should be able to rock this one out to actually be able to enjoy it.  (She gets that crowd phobia from me.)

Y'all, my girl LOVED it.  Now, this was not a circus rich in animals.  There were some lions and elephants.  Oh, there was a little dog.  There were ponies for a pony ride thing during intermission.  It was just a nice, small circus.

She kept telling me how glad she was that she won the ticket and about how she was having such a good time.  It truly made my heart happy.  We've been trying to pull as much good from this 5th grade year as possible.

No lie, today was a busy beginning of the day.  She was set to acolyte.  We were having a 100th celebration of our church and we were having a dinner afterwards.  Guess who was signed up to be greeters and totally forgot?  :hand held high:  Oops!  The one lady who was sitting behind us in church said, "Hey!  You guys were the greeters for today."  :insert shocked face:  "Crap!  I forgot about that!"  I stuck out my hand to shake hers, "Welcome to - - - United Methodist Church!  We're so glad to have you with us today!"  I apologized to the secretary and I asked her to e-mail me a reminder next time.  She laughed.  My in-law's came to join us.  They wanted to see K acolyte and frankly, they were good with Palm Sunday service.  (My MIL was thrilled to get green palms!)  We had a combined service that she truly enjoyed.  They had new members presented to the church.

This is where I feel bad.

My MIL leaned over and said, "Did you do that?"  "Yes.  We didn't invite anyone.  We had no idea what to expect.  We just did it on our own."  We didn't.  We transferred our membership from our old church.  We went to about 6 weeks of classes.  We attended regularly and were involved in a Sunday School class, so what they wanted us to do we were already doing it.  Frankly, when we transferred our membership the last time, it wasn't a big deal.  We signed a paper.  They sent a letter to our previous church.  With the Methodist Church, you have a bit more of a ceremony.  Oops.

I mentioned that after church we had a potluck.  I invited my in-law's to stay on.  My MIL insisted on bringing something, but I told her that she didn't need to worry that there would definitely be plenty.  Oh, there was plenty.  We had to pull the "we have tickets to the circus in an hour" card to get through the line sooner.  People understood.

So, back to the circus.

Presenting the flag at the start of the circus.  

The lions.

What's a circus without a ring master? 

I can't even do one hula hoop let alone an entire slinky worth!

It was a fairly small venue, so every seat was a good seat! 

I'm not this talented . . .

. . . at all.  

The elephants.  PETA was outside of the venue and made sure to give K a coloring book on her way in.  Actually, it is a well done coloring book.  Props to them for handling my circus guilt in a coloring book so well.  

Taking a seat. 

My girl loving the light-up glow stick she bought.  Bless her soul.  She wanted a light-up stick more than she could see straight.  I did promise her that she could buy something from one of the vendors walking around.  Turns out that she bought the "clearance" light stick.  (She's my girl.) It was only $5.  :)

And don't forget to purchase your balloon on the way out, folks!  We skipped those doors.  

It is a fundraiser for the Shriner's and they do wonderful things for kids.  It was a fun day and not an overwhelming time.  We left there happy and not feeling like a wet rag.  That says a lot for two ladies in the house who get crowd anxiety in a horrible way.  

Thank you, Shriner's.  My daughter loved the time she had at your circus and was delighted that she got a free ticket!  

Preparing for the hunt

My sister hosts a family and friends Easter egg hunt at her house each year.  I used to do the same for K-'s siblings, but they've gotten old enough to think that Easter egg hunts aren't so cool anymore.  Since I have a bucket full of eggs, I go ahead and stuff them each year for the family hunt.

326.  That's just in case you were wondering.  I'm sure that I've lost a few here and there, but overall I believe that I've retained the number that I've collected.  That's why I have the X's on the eggs.  I used to let the kids keep the eggs, but I found that they were getting tossed at the end of the season.  Why not reuse?  The kids know to shell the eggs, snap the pieces back together and to go ahead and dump any X'd eggs in the bin for refill the following year. 

Hey, it works for me.

My sister has everyone bring a contribution to add to the already started pot of Stone Soup.  Yes, it does have a real stone.  I know that I've touched on her tradition before, but there is seriously not a pot of Stone Soup that I haven't liked.  This year, I'll be tossing ham, carrots, potatoes, barley and soaked mixed beans to the pot.  (Just in case someone forgets their thing, I bring extra.  It's habit.) 

We're so excited!  Rain may come and we are thinking of suiting the kids up in rain coats and soccer cleats, but we'll have a great time!

Smiles in my day:
-  Though the day started out a bit rough with, "Mom, I just puked," after an hour, the bit subsided.  I was able to talk to the nurse at her pediatrician's office who said that the stomach virus that she had tended to come and go a few times before it was completely gone.  Good to know.  Prefer it to be gone.  Yuck.  Still, other than an hour of major action, K- has had a little bit of a "squeezy stomach" all day, but has successfully taken items in and has not had the horrible stomach ache or high fever of last week.  The nurse predicts that we're seeing the end.  Hallelujah!  Even as I type, I'm happy to say that the "squeezy stomach" (ref: Junie B. Jones) has completely subsided. 
-  Getting the eggs all stuffed.  Tattoos, hair ties, stickers, dinosaurs, Sillybandz, suction cup balls, spikey balls, tops, marshmallow bunnies, slinkies and buttons (pins).  Tried to find something for everyone.
-  Hubs took the day off tomorrow so that we can spend the day together as a family.  :)!

We're excited about spending time with family this weekend.  I hope that all of you have a fantastic weekend!