Slumber Party ....3rd part and still goes on

On to the Fashion show! Drama came up to me and asked if it would be ok to put make up on the girls. I said it was ok since they could wash their faces before they go to sleep. To my surprise, out of her over night bag she produced a complete line of cosmetics. I am not talking about clear lip gloss and powder. I mean several shades of eye shadow, blush, lipstick, mascara, the works. I was amazed at how well Drama applied the makeup to each and every girl! (except for Snow White who declined the offer) I tell you no lie I was impressed! She was an expert with a makeup brush. I did not know how to apply make up until I was 16 and believe you me Drama at the tender age of 8 did a far better job than I did at 16.

I brought out the boxes of dance costumes and showed the girls Snow White’s dress up closet. They could pick out whatever outfit they wanted! Snow White is a bit smaller than her friends so an outfit may look alright on Snow White but a bit smaller…uh shorter on them. Then there was a request for shoes so we pulled out all of Snow White’s shoes, even the shoes she had not worn yet. To my surprise many of the shoes no longer fit Snow White but they fit TV Star. I told her she could take home all the shoes that fit her. Unfortunately there were two girls who could not fit into Snow White’s shoes so out came Mommy’s flats which barely fit them (Yes, I have small feet size 5). Sorry, I was not going to risk one of them missing gymnastics due to twisting an ankle in my heels. I was instructed to wait in the sunroom for the show to start. Having forgotten to charge the video camera or check the status of the disk for the digital camera I was left with a disposable camera.

Drama came out wearing a beautiful blue dress with some sparkle to it. She announced the show was about to start and lined up the girls in the kitchen. Drama was the MC saying things like “Here is our fabulous kitty. Watch her do the cat walk in style” Come on girls strut like you mean it!” Each girl was given 1 ½ minutes “on stage” to model and strike their poses. They were dressed up as ballerinas, gymnasts, cheerleaders, Disney characters, Tea Party Ladies, Dorothy, school teacher, and others that I cannot remember off hand. Pup was also in the fashion show wearing one of his shirts and often uses as an accessory by several of the girls. One of the girls struck several poses of fierce kitty, nose crinkled up, lips pursed and an “I’m going to get you” look on her face, hands clawing at the air and I was a bit scared. I so did not see that coming from this sweet shy little girl. Did I mention I was scared?

About half way through the “Fashion Show” some of the girls gleefully shouted out which outfit they wanted to wear next. Um Next? I thought this was something we would only run through once. Apparently we were not all on the same page. The rest of the girls heard this and even though standing in line for their first turn some started yelling “I calling _____ outfit!” You know sort of “calling it” like we use to when we were kids “I call shot gun”. or “I call the window seat!”

Halfway through the second stage walk I ran out of film but that did not stop them, they continued for another hour changing and striking poses. Oh well that kept them entertained while I readied the next craft. To my surprise they were not ready for another craft nor did they want to help put the outfits back. The outfits were left out “In case we want to do it again in a few minutes.” That was fine with me.

Since they were not ready to do another craft we decided it was movie time! Snow White wanted to watch TV Star on TV. I spoke with TV Star’s mother earlier in the day. She saw the clips of her daughter when it was on but TV Star had not yet seen herself on the TV show. This was exciting! Everyone rushed to the family room screaming with excitement! It took us awhile to get to the part with TV Star but it was so worth the look on all their faces! All the girls jumped up and down yelling “There she is!! There she is!! That’s you! It’s really you!”

What was the TV Show? It was VH-1’s Little Beauties. Yes, a pageant documentary. Drama and Gymnast made several comments such as “Pageant girls are so fake! How can anyone be real when they have to be so fake with all that make up and stuff. It’s a real shame they make those girls do pageants.” Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am not about to sway them in to thinking otherwise. TV Star, Cheer Girl and Snow White all heard the comments but it didn’t bother them in the least. If that is what their parents are teaching them then so be it. Never mess with the values and opinions children have learned from their parents, so long as it is not harmful to others.

Drama mentioned the girls teeth looked a bit “different, sort of too perfect.” Snow White ran upstairs and came back smiling to show off her “fake teeth.” Snow White and her friends giggled themselves silly and ended up in giggling pile on the floor. I love that she has such a good sense of humor. While watching the documentary Drama and Gymnast both mentioned a few more times their disdain for pageants.



The girls looked over Snow White’s collection of crowns and asked her questions about what she does at a pageant. With all the questions and such I thought maybe they would like to watch a pageant DVD with Snow White as one of the contestants. She picked out the Glamour Girls DVD which with all the girls lining up across the stage for “Beauty Line up.” Immediately the girls start asking which one is Snow White. I tell them “You point her out when you see her come on to the stage.” I had to laugh as they pointed out just about every blonde that walked on to the stage. Their thinking was pageants are so fake that Snow White’s hair would have been changed from ebony black to sunny blonde! Most of the girls in the group wore glitz dresses and were indeed blonde. Snow White wore a flower girl dress as did just a few others and there were one or two other brunettes in her group. The girls finally picked out Snow White when the camera did a close up of the girls faces. As we watched Snow White do her beauty walk, the girls were glued to the TV and chattered with excitement. I really did not wish to watch the whole DVD so after the beauty walk we went on to the next activity.

Although Drama and Gymnast had a few negative things to say about pageants they were excited to see the documentary and the pageant DVD. They also said they watch Top Model religiously with their Moms and have “definite plans” to try out for Top Model next year. I said nothing but I am sure their parents will let them know Top Model is for adults not 8 year olds. I did watch an episode of Austraila’s Top Model and I was shocked that this is what the girls wanted. Grown women crying, dressing up in skimpy, sexy underwear and bearing most of their body in the rest of the outfits. Again, I do not think it is right for me to interject my opinion when they are following their mothers. After all, it is only a TV show right?

Make-your-own-sundae was a big hit with most of the girls but one. Sweetie would much rather have apples and peanut butter. Remember, I said before her parents have taught her well. She did not request the different desert out of robotic regard to her parents. You could tell she genuinely wanted the apples and peanut butter. I immediately went on to cutting up one of the apples while the rest of the girls attempted to top each other by seeing who could manage the most toppings on their ice cream cups without too much spill over. Sweetie stood right next to me monitoring every move of the knife against the apple. She thanked me profusely for taking the time to make her special snack. She really appreciated this simple task. I assured her it was no trouble at all.

After the girls finished their sundaes we started on the bird houses. The girls painted their bird houses and decorated them with flowers, fake birds and other craft what-nots. The bird houses turned out beautiful! I told the girls they could either keep the bird houses for themselves or give them to their mothers on Mother’s Day. I had many different tubes of paint but only one tube of each color. The girls were showing evidence that they were indeed getting sleepy. There were a few mean comments which I quickly put an end to. One girl actually said to Snow White “Just because it is your birthday does not mean you get to be treated more special than me. I am your guest so you just sit there and wait.” This was in response to Snow White asking to put a dollop of paint on her paper plate. The girl was not using the paint at the time but planned to use it next. All the girls are very sweet, it was the late hour that brought out the few grouchy comments.

When they finished their bird houses a few said they were ready to sleep. I thought that would be a GREAT idea! It was midnight and they had accomplished their goal to stay up all night. I was surprised we did not have enough time to do all of the activities and games. Oh well, we all had a great time and no one was standing around bored. Did I mention it was only a FEW girls who said they were tired? Sweetie was getting a little upset saying over and over again that her parents would be upset if they knew she staid up late. I assured her they know she is at a slumber party and most girls stay up until midnight at slumber parties. Now about half of the girls were making their way to their sleeping bags. The other half wanted to do more crafts so I put out the Barbie sunglass kits and they started on them. What could go wrong ? Half wanted to sleep and the other half were quietly doing another activity in another room. It turns out each and every girl has a different “thing” they do that helps them fall asleep. A few need the light on to sleep and the rest cannot sleep with the light on. Others need a TV, radio or fan on. I was not about to lug a TV into the room so the girls settled for a radio and small isolating fan. I turned off the lights in the room but left the light in the bathroom on and the door cracked enough to spread a little light at one end of the room. The girls who did not want the light on moved their sleeping bags to the other end of the room. Snow White finished her Barbie sunglasses and headed for her sleeping bag. She sleeps with the lights off, a sleep mask on, needs no noise or other special things to fall asleep. At this point she was so tired she would have slept through glairing stadium lights and a big brass band playing right next to her sleeping bag. She and three other girls were out in a matter of minutes.

There were four girls who got their second wind. They were awake and ready to move on to the next activity…making sleep masks and crowns for their dolls and then decorating them. Around 2:30 AM they finished this activity and wanted to play dress up again. I noticed I was getting a bit grouchy so before I said anything, and I mean anything, I said it to myself about 5 or 6 times first. When they ran to Snow White’s room to dress up I told them I would be down stairs watching TV and that is what I did. I watched TV until 4:30 AM. Since I no longer her the pitter patter of their feet running across the hardwood floors I went to check on them, they were fast asleep in Snow White’s room. Finally, relief had come and I could sleep.

I want you to know it is not my intention to make you read so much. I just want to remember all of this some day. Also this was written 5/10/07 and regular unleaded gas was $2.89 that morning and by lunch time it was $2.95 and premium was $3.25.

WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!

Road trips are so much fun with my children. We chatted, laughed, giggled and sang a few song on our four hour drive only pausing once in awhile for reading directions to the hotel. We stopped along the way to pick up a few items I had forgotten to pack...grown up tooth paste (Colgate princess toothpaste is like brushing your teeth with bubble-gum eew), chocolate, juice, and duct tape. No, not to restrain the children or to keep my mouth shut. Oldest daughter said she needed green duct tape for entertainment value.

We arrived a bit later than I expected (10 PM) and to my surprise this hotel had only one luggage cart...and it was being used at the time. We stopped by the registration table to let the director know we had arrived. She gave Snow White a coupon to pick a out an animal, a wish and stuff it (very similar to Build-A-Bear). Her coupon was for a large animal but she really wanted a small brown bear (bless her sweet little heart). She was very happy with her new little bear! There were matching clothes and things but it was late.

Snow White, Oldest Daughter and I made several trips from the car to the room unloading everything. I know I mentioned we had two large suit cases but we had other things such as a box of coloring books for the Shriners Hospital drive, Snow White's stuffed animal entourage, an Easter basket for the gift exchange, a few gifts to hand out and Oldest Daughter's bags of personal "stuff".

After everything was unloaded I tucked Snow White in to bed and Oldest Daughter turned on the TV to amuse herself while I went down to registration. Yes, they were still registering contestants at 11 PM due to late arrivals such as us. I paid the pageant entry fees, the stage photographer and dropped off the color books. I explained to the director I had just picked up the photos for the poster competition and would bring her the poster as soon as possible. I had no time to look at the photos we just had developed so when I opened the photo envelope I was surprised to see only a few good shots. Although the files were large and looked great when I downloaded the photos to my comp many of them came out grainy! I gave the clearest pictures to her and used some double prints for the poster.

Back at our room Snow White was fast asleep and Oldest Daughter was waiting up for me. Now that I had returned she crawled in to bed. Now on to the poster task. I cut it in the shape of an Easter egg and glued cute little things (flowers, butterflies, pretty shapes, etc.) used for scrap booking. Along the edges of the poster board I glued down light blue satin ruffled ribbon. The photos were framed by pages of pastel stationary I picked up at the local pharmacy earlier in the week. The final effect was actually prettier than I anticipated. Due to the very late hour I was convinced no one would be in the ballroom so I will waited until morning to hand it in. It was 2 AM when the noise from the Lobby disco finally faded and I was able to sleep. Lucky for me Snow White was not due in the ballroom until the afternoon. The 0-4 year olds compete from 9am - Noon, then a lunch break and the 5 and up compete 1 PM until all events are finished.

PAGEANT DAY!

Morning seemed to come all to quickly and there was only a continental breakfast offered at this hotel. Ugh, not what I am use to but there was a family restaurant just down the driveway from the hotel. I picked up breakfast while the girls slept in a bit. I did tell groggy Oldest Daughter I was going but also wrote out a note just incase she thought she was dreaming during our conversation. When I returned they were both wide awake and too excited to eat. I did manage to get them to eat a bit before we started preparing for the pageant.

After eating there was a little bit of preparation needed for Snow White's hair. Snow White, her sister and I all have naturally curly hair. In order to tame it a bit we needed to put her hair up in hot rollers. I could have put sponge rollers in her hair and let her sleep in them but they would have pulled on her hair during the night and resulted in a very sleepy, cranky Snow White in the morning. It took about 10 minutes to put her hair in the rollers, then she had the rest of the morning to play. We had time to watch a few of the younger contestants on stage and had our lunch.

Although this is a natural pageant, I hired a very nice lady to do her hair which turned out lovely. She enjoyed talking with the lady and her children. Thank goodness this wonderful lady had an iron and ironing board or Snow White would have been wearing a very wrinkled cotton dress. Our room was missing these and no more were available in the hotel that weekend. I ironed Snow White's dress while she was having her hair done.

A little while later it was stage time! We watched the group before her go on and cheered loudly for each of them. Each little girl was asked a few questions and given time to answer. Most of them were a bit shy or did not know what to say, up to this point they were all under 6 years old so this is expected. I asked Snow White how she felt before she went on stage "I'm a little nervous but I can do this!" I told her remember this is all about her having fun. She smiled so big! I gave her a great big hug and kiss!

I staid with her until her age group started and the girl in front of her was half way through her time on stage. Snow White's "big moment" came, they called her name and it was time to answer a few questions. She was not shy at all! She was not afraid to speak up and say all she felt in her heart. Not only did she have the judges laughing but the audience as well! Then she did her Beauty and we ran up to each other at the other side of the stage! I scooped her up in my arms and told her what a super job she did!! She was grinning from ear to ear! I could tell she was very proud of herself.

Not knowing how much time it would take to get ready for her casualwear event or how much time we had before they were back to her group, we quickly skipped off to change (we literally skipped all the way back to the room). On our way to the room she was chattering "Mommy, did you hear them laugh? I was so good and they loved everything I had to say! All those judges smiled at me when I was walking the stage! Thank you for driving us all up here! Thank you!"

She changed outfits quickly and we did a little more hair rolling with a hot curls set. These are just like hot rollers but look like long rods. The thought was since we smoothed out her hair for beauty it would be nice to have the little curls she usually has. I will never, EVER use those THINGS again! They clung to her hair as if they were made of sticky tape! The hair and make up lady made sure Snow White's curls were uniform and pulled it away from her face. I know all of this sounds so simple and you are thinking I could not have done this myself. It is an added relief to have someone else do it. Snow White not only looked great she felt extra special! This was not Mommy doing her hair for school, this was pampering and a special time for her!

As we came closer to the ballroom we could hear the dance music. Snow White and Oldest Daughter bopped all the way down the hall to the ballroom. We arrived in time to watch the group before her and we clapped and cheered for them. At times I think we were a bit too loud but it was ok. When Snow White went to the stage entrance area with her sister I anxiously waited in the ballroom. Her turn came and I was just so amazed how she came out and did her own thing! She was really having fun and loving every second of being up there! When she came off the stage I again swooped her off her feet, hugging and kissing her all the while telling her what a great job she did! It made my heart happy to see her all excited and enjoying herself so much.

After the casualwear event we went back to the room to change her in to her Easter outfit, Little Bo Peep! She looked so darling in her outfit and her curls from casualwear looked great. When she was all dressed up and ready to go we went to show the hair and make up lady. She loved the outfit so much she took picture of Snow White and her son together.

Snow White was full of enthusiasm and couldn't wait to get back on that stage! Again we watched the group ahead of her and cheered them on. Everyone seemed to have very upbeat music and bounced around to the music. Snow White's music was "The Star of County Down" which is soft, slow and smooth (old Irish song). It was a change in pace and seemed to be well received by all. At one point she seemed to be having a little trouble maneuvering the very tall shepherds staff but she did not miss a beat! One very large egg was knocked off the display in the background but she did not falter, she kept on going as if nothing had happened. When she was done she skipped right to me just beaming with happiness! Oldest Daughter and I were clapping so hard our hands hurt!


After Snow White's group we staid in the ballroom for awhile cheering on the contestants and picked an outfit for her small bear. Now it was time to close the ballroom to tabulate the scores. The hotel restaurant wouldn't be open for another hour or so. Given this we went back to our room for her to change out of her Little Bo Peep outfit then went out for dinner.

When we returned it was time for the party! There was an Egg hunt which was three large areas covered in paper strips (Easter Bunny's Nests). Each area had toys, plastic eggs and candy hidden beneath which the children dug through! They were excited each time they emerged with a prize! There was a moon bounce, games, raffles and door prizes. Snow White and even Oldest Daughter had a GREAT time!!

AND THE AWARD GO TO...

The scores have been tabulated and everyone was gathered in the ballroom for the awards ceremony...Crowning! In the opening two Shriners came in to thank all the contestants for donating coloring books. They also talked about the wonderful benefits of the Shriners Children's Hospitals. Snow White was THRILLED to see Shriners at the pageant! After all her Uncles and Grandpa are Shriners! Grandpa was the Potentate in 1997. Good gracious has it really been that long ago? I had to pause here and call him to make sure I had the year right but I was thinking more along the lines of just a couple of years ago. My parents were actually at the Shriners Temple having dinner when I called. My Dad was also surprised thinking it has been 10 years now and shared my thinking in it seemed only a few years ago.

Ok on to the awards! There are awards in each age group for prettiest hair, smile, dress and eyes. There are awards for each event (Beauty, Casualwear, Easterwear, Photogenic) per age group for the winner and runners up. Each time your name is called by the MC you run up to the stage, have your picture taken, a crown placed on your head (for some awards), a banner (for some awards), trophy (for some awards) and given a ticket to pick out a prize on a row of tables with literally hundreds of toys to choose from!! The phrase "Let loose in a toy store" is appropriate!

There are higher awards for scoring the most points (Grand Supreme, Mini Supreme, Overalls). All contestants were eligible since all events, supremes and overalls (except poster) were included in the pageant price. These winners of the highest titles are given out first to allow first crack at the prize table. Do not misunderstand, the toys are all high level, brand names which the children actually want! After all of the awards there were many gifts still on the tables so it was not like the children called up later were only left with table scraps. A large variety was provided to insure all contestants left with prizes they liked. I don't recall a child called less than 2 or 3 times up to the stage so each was recognized on stage and given prizes.

Are you just dying to know if Snow White was the last one called to pick out a prize? Actually, her name was called several times for awards. Each time she heard her name she ran up on the stage with a HUGE smile on her face!
As to Snow White's list of awards.....drum roll....

5-10 Overall Photogenic (highest scoring photos in the 5-10 yr olds who competed)
7-8 yr Beauty Queen
7-8 yr Casualwear 1st Runner Up
7-8 yr Easter outfit 1st Runner Up
7-8 yr Best Smile
7-8 yr Best Hair
7-8 yr Prettiest Eyes
7-8 yr Best Personality
Director's Choice 5-10 Angel Face

The director came up with a few more awards after watching all the wonderful children that day. The new awards were created by the director in addition to all the awards she had planned to give out when she made up her paper work. No one knew about these extra awards when they signed up for the pageant. Everyone signed up and entered the events they wished and were still given more than they expected!

Snow White not only had a great time doing her own thing on stage...she was given more than half a dozen of toys in the awards plus all the prizes from the party and the Easter egg hunt! The whole day was exciting!

I chalk this up to a GREAT weekend! My daughters and I had yet another wonderful road trip to add to our memories! We also had a great time at the party, met new fun people who are around each of our ages (Oldest Daughter actually reacquainted herself with people she had not seen in a years!), the thrill of the awards ceremony and just a fantastic family time.

The pageant was over but I wanted to make sure we did not feel rushed out our room on pageant day. I booked the hotel room through Sunday since I did not want to worry about vacating the room by 11 am and Snow White not going on stage until the afternoon. This also gave me a little time to recoup the sleep I had lost the previous night.

There were two more pageants being held at the hotel the next day but we were exhausted from just the one. The ballroom had to be packed up and a bit of first phase cleaning. The director had to pack up all the toys, extra crowns and such while picking up the larger portion of debris (if you bring a soda, open a toy or snack please remember the area under your seat is not the same as putting it in the garbage). We went down to help clean up and pack up. We even did a little vacuuming. After clean up detail the director gave Snow White an extra crown for helping out, larger than any she had won. That was so sweet of her and so unnecessary. Someone mentioned she could give her older sister one of the smaller crowns she won at the pageant since she was given this larger crown.

Snow White and I went back to our hotel room and found Oldest Daughter trying to catch up on the shows she had missed. Snow White gave the big crown she was just given to Oldest Daughter. She later explained she gave the biggest crown to her sister because she helped her so much this weekend...and..."I won those other crowns so not matter how big or small I want to keep them. You get the biggest one because you did a super job all in one! She wouldn't appreciate getting a crown I won but she would like a crown for helping. That way she won't think she took something from me but was given something for being HER best!" I love my children! Hearing them say things like this and watching how they interact with each other and others just makes my heart swell!

Those who say pageants are not for children or think they have a negative impact on children need to realize there are positives in pageantry. If it were not for the positives they would not be so populated. They would have also gone by the way side years ago.

Big Bad "P" Word....Pageant

As mentioned in a previous entry, I had signed Snow White up for ....dun, dun, dun, dunnnn...a PAGEANT...an Easter pageant. You would be surprised to find out there were many things that need to be taken care of in preparation. Yes, you heard me correctly, I said the big bad "P" word. This is what was required just to get ready in advance.

You need an outfit for each stage event - Beauty, Casualwear and Easter wear. Her beauty dress was a cotton dress from Lord & Taylor and a beautiful shade of blue. She looked adorable in it! Her casual outfit was a blue and tan paisley swing top she loves, khaki peddle pushers and a cute pair of blue sandals. That was the easy part.

Next I searched the Internet for a Little Bo Peep costume and you would not believe how many sexy adult costumes came up! Ewww so not what I was looking for. I thought "Oh come on!" Why would searching for a child's fairytail outfit bring out all the sexy adult costumes links?



All I need is a little girls costume! Little girl Bo Peep costumes seem to be very rare! Eventually...I did find the perfect little girl outfit!

When I receiving the outfit in the mail it was beautiful! You know how it goes sometimes when you purchase an item through the mail. There are times it really does not look as well as it did in the advertizement. I was thrilled with the outfit when I unwrapped it! Well, except for the hat. The hat was not what the bonnet style I had envisioned from past story books and paintings. The hat was more Little Miss Muffit style so I searched costume shops and on line but could not find a Little Bo Peep bonnet. I was very surprised that this "country town" we moved to did not even have the cute little girly Easter hats in any of the stores. Macey's of all stores in this town, did not carry them this Easter season! Instead I found many pastel colored cowgirl hats. Some even had tiaras attached. My non-make-up-wearing-no-frills-but-breathtaking-sister was also surprised at the sheer lack of Easter bonnets.




Everyone knows Little Bo Peep needs a shepherds staff. I looked all over for this as well and almost decided on a regular cane. I typed in searches for Bo Peep walking stick, and staff but nothing came up until a week before the pageant. In one of my searches I found a shop on eBay that makes walking staffs, just what we needed! I thought it was a bit too tall for Snow White but I planned on cutting at least a foot off the bottom. ManSon convinced me it was the perfect height from the photos he had seen. We did a google search and sure enough each of the photos showed Bo Peeps Staff was about a foot or so taller than herself. Snow White and I painted the shepherds staff white.

Little Bo Peep also needed sheep and since spring had arrived (by the calendar) and Easter almost here you would think it would be easy to find at least one sheep. We searched every local toy store, department store and even pharmacy and grocery stores but could not find one single sheep. I gave up looking about 4 days before the pageant. I found only a few on eBay and purchased two lawn sheep and paid extra for overnight delivery. The auction did not end until two days before we were leaving for the pageant and the seller needed to wait until the next day before the post office would open.



FINAL COUNT DOWN

Just days before the pageant I gave up finding the perfect hat and thought of making one myself. I searched to no avail for a pattern to make the bonnet. I also searched for a form but did not find anything similar enough. Thursday evening, the night before we were to leave, I found a broad brim ladies hat that was flexible enough to bend to the shape needed. I rolled up the back of the brim and sewed it down. I also sewed some flowers and eyelet lace at the front and back of the hat as well as added the blue ribbon for the front bow. I used the same blue ribbon for a bow on the shepherds staff.

The night before we left for the pageant I thought we were ready. I looked over the paper work and saw there was one more thing I needed to take care of... photos for the Photogenic category.

I dressed her up in different outfits and took pictures of her in the back yard and front yard. She loved trying on the clothes and being a little model. Unfortunately our photo session was cut short by Pup escaping out the front door when we went inside for an outfit change. We chased Pup for a block before he encountered a few big dogs behind a fence. That was enough to stop Pup in his tracks and cry for Mommy! By the time we were back at the house it was dark but Snow White wanted to try one more outfit on so I took those pictures in the dark. Don't forget we moved out to the "country" so there are no street lights. Anyway, the photos were sent to be printed and picked up the next day when we were on our way to the pageant.







The night before I went to Walmart (nothing else open at this time) for a few odds and ends. What do you think I found! I actaully came across a display of very cute, cuddly, giant stuffed sheep! I bought one thinking it would be "just in case" the other sheep did not arrive in the mail by tomorrow afternoon.

I packed up as much as I could Thursday night but I was still working on the hat. Due to normal Mommy duties, making sure we had everything and the hat issue, I was up until about midnight. I went to work the next day and came home at lunch time to pack up the car. The mailman had come and gone without the ordered sheep. Ok, we will arrive Friday night, the pageant is Saturday all day and we check out Sunday morning. Why on earth does it take two large suit cases to bring everything we need? After work there is still no sign of the ordered sheep. I picked up the girls and we were on our way. ManSon decided he did not want to go and would rather spend his time with his friends. Since he decided to stay home we left Pup in his care.

To be continued....

Cutting Up My 7 Year Old Daughter's Credit Cards

My children and I often travel on the weekends. I always request late checkout which means my bill is processed and a copy is then slid under my door between 1:00 AM - 11:00 AM. With this process I can skip the step of going to the front desk to check out. I can also keep the room a few hours past the normal checkout time. I hate to be rushed when I am trying to have a nice time with my family.

Since this is my standard practice each time we stay at a hotel I do not go to the front desk when I am leaving. I never remember to give the key card back. Later on Snow White finds the cards in my purse. She has been putting them in her little purse pretending they are credit cards. I thought this as a way of recycling and not adding more plastic to the landfills.







Poor Snow White. I might have to cut up her credit cards. You don’t really think this will cause trauma having to go through a credit card cutting at such an early age? (Joking)


Many of you may have seen the email below before but just incase here it is…

Subject: Alert Travel Note - Key Cards at Hotels

This note was brought to my attention again. Please take note.

Ever wonder what is on your hotel magnetic key card?

Answer:

a. Customer's name
b. Customer's partial home address
c. Hotel room number
d. Check-in date and out dates
e. Customer's credit card number and expiration date!

When you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is there for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner. An employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning device , access the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense.



Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an employee re-issues the card to the next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest's information is electronically "overwritten" on the card and the previous guest's information is erased in the overwriting process. But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

The bottom line is:

Keep the cards, take them home with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room wastebasket, and NEVER turn them in to the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and you'll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted off with any simple scanning device card reader.

For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially through the electronic information strip!

Information courtesy of: Pasadena Police Department

** I personally have a small magnet and pass it across the magnetic strip several times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything on the card.

I suppose I wont have to cut up Snow White’s credit cards after all!

Snow White went to a pageant... Yes, I said the horrid "P" word. I will fill you in on the details later.

Here I am!

Oh my, it has been awhile since I wrote in my blog. I have been traveling a bit, working too much and too many projects going on at once in this house.

I watched most of the History Channel Modern Marvels shows that aired March 8th. I just couldn't stay up late enough to watch all of them. The next morning I was told the show will air on March 28 th, they gave us the wrong date when they first told us. Anyway, Snow White and I said up until 11:00 PM watching the show. She actually found it very interesting. I thought for sure after 15 minutes of the show she would fall asleep in my lap but that was not the case.

We watched to the very end and she said "But Mommy they forgot your part." After thinking it over I realize a lady in a red dress was not so much what they were looking for. The people who actually made the cut looked more appropriate for this piece. I looked professional but a blue pant suit would have been more appropriate for this show. Snow White went through phases of giggling at some parts, squealed in delight when she saw portions from where I work and actual fascination while watching. She has a better understanding of what Mommy does at work and why. That makes me very proud!

My sister on the other hand would like to contact the History Channel for any out-takes with me in them. She is certain there must have been some oops shots or me saying something silly and she wants to see them. Gotta love little sisters don't ya? Yes, I love my little sister. She helps keep the fun rolling along in our lives.

Work has been very busy since we are short staffed two people so I do the best I can to cover my work and the work load of two others...make that one and half others. I am a woman but come on, I need a break sometimes too. While keeping up at work really isn't that difficult I find myself looking off in other directions for distractions. The constant need and constant work is wearing on my poor overloaded brain. Do you want to know how bad it is? Every Monday morning my last dream before I wake is about work. The project I need to finish on Monday, the meetings I will attend on Monday and my boss asking me if my foot hurts. Why would my boss ask if my foot hurts? That will require a post all by it's self which I will post later.

Snow White had a few school projects which required going through our craft supply shelves at home and some glue and scissor supervision. We also decided to do a pageant...I will fill you in on all the details...to be continued...

For now here are a few photos of our Pup! I know it is April but my goodness the weather is crazy. We have an 80 degree day and then bam! Snow...again. I cannot wait until we really have Spring.