MY birthday

6:30am or so:  woke up to be treated to breakfast in bed - with a side of balloons, flowers, cards and gifts. 

9:00am:  i take little sister to her basketball game, daddy takes big sister to her cheer game.  after the game, little sister gets her team/coaches/parents to sing "happy birthday" to me.  (i'm just a tad embarrassed, especially at the part where you say my name, everyone got quiet and one little girl bravely said "melanie's mooommm").  little sister has her cheer game at 10:30am, so we hang out at the school where her first game was waiting...

11:25am:  little sister and i return home, and to my surprise - daddy has arranged for a babysitter so that he and i can go out to lunch.  (thanks, aunt sharman!)

12 noon:  daddy and i start to enjoy our adults-only lunch

12:45pm:  daddy takes me shopping for a new rug for the dining room (something i have been wanting but not prioritizing).  we also pick up 2 christmas trees on clearance for 90% off (paid about $15 total)!

2:00pm: as we pull back into the driveway at home, daddy confesses he has one more surprise for me.  his parents are coming into town tonight to take us to dinner and then go to the girls' basketball game.  very cool!! 

4:00pm:  after getting the girls gussied up for their cheer game, we head out to an early dinner.

5:30pm: arrive at the texas legends game

6:40pm: the girls take center court and do their 3-minute cheer and dance.  they take their seats and we are seated separately, and we all watch the first half of the game.

8:30pm:  after halftime, we head home.  the girls are tired, and so am i.  what a full day!

9:15pm:  we celebrate with cake and candles at our house.

10:30pm:  we finally get ready for bed.  it really was a great day, full of unexpected surprises.  everyone's well wishes, cards, and phone calls meant a lot.  maybe getting older isn't so bad after all. ;-)

class pictures

well, once again, big sister is in the front row.

but, for the first time, little sister in NOT in the back row.  when i asked her why, she said it was because she was wearing boots and not her hydee hi-top shoes (which add 2" to her height).  too funny!

halftime show

little sister was so excited for us to see her halftime show today.  she had kept it a secret from us, as she and her squad learn it at practice, which parents are not allowed to attend.  she told me about 3 times to make sure and watch.  the girls are so cute!

back to school

after 17.5 days of "vacation" - it's time to get back to the business of school.  new year, new quarter, and new hats to keep them warm.  very fitting, indeed! 

happy birthday

this year, my parents were visiting during my dad's birthday.  and what better reason for cake?  dark chocolate cake with redi-whip icing and shaved chocolate garnish.  yum!

happy 72nd birthday, daddy!

winter cheer portraits

lots of sass and attitude in these photos...i wonder where they get it from... 

four games today??

what a way to get right back into the thick of it!  four games today...or so i thought.  first up was little sister's basketball game at 9:45am.  we lost like 2-22, but the girls had fun.  little sister was fouled and got to shoot 2 free throws.  (but no, she did not make either one...)

then we had to rush across town to her second basketball game at 11:15am.  this game was a little more even, but we still lost.

then we rushed back to where the first game was and quickly changed little sister into her cheer uniform for a 12:45pm game.  however, this was a make-up game from the ice weekend (december 7th) and apparently i was the only mom on little sister's squad to notice the game.  when no one else showed up to cheer - not even the coach -  we left and went home.  i guess i should have verified the game with the coach earlier in the week.  lesson learned.

big sister finally had her game at 4:00pm.  and that was pretty much how we spent our saturday.