Painting, Cooking & Cheering!

And all in that order!

All in all, we've had a pretty leisurely summer. Since this is AC's last summer before she starts "real" school, I just wanted her to be able to relax.

But we did do three really cool things recently that the girls loved! (Actually only AC did the first two because LB wasn't old enough, but they did the last one together!)

The first was an art class at Spoiled Rockin' Kidz Salon. Ann Catherine painted this flower on canvas.



Once we got home she looked at me with a very serious face and confessed, "Mom, I didn't paint all of it. I had some help." I was quite aware of that, but I still think doing it instilled a lot of confidence in her because art has never been her thing. My friends at Frame World put a cute white frame around it and we are looking for the just the right spot in her room to hang it. How cute is that?

Then last week, we did a mommy and me cooking class at Dinner by Design, with my friend Brooke and her daughter, Annalyse. We chose our menu - chicken parmesan (one of Chris' favs), cheesy mashed potatoes (that were to die for!) and a chocolate/peanut butter dessert - and once we arrived, we donned our aprons and mixed our ingredients.






AC was doing awesome until we started making the dessert. I totally lost her when we pulled out the chocolate pudding. Then I thought, "What the hey!" and just let her start eating. (Note to those of you grossing out - NO ONE ate this but our family! :) I mean, you CAN'T let a kid make a chocolate dessert and not let them taste it!




They had so much fun!




That night, I let AC "present her meal" to us at the dinner table and Chris made such a big deal out of how good it was. She was beaming! I do believe he told her about ten times that "these are the BEST mashed potatoes I've ever had!" which I did not at all take personally at all. Well, maybe just a little. But seriously, they were CRAZY good!



I really enjoyed doing this with AC! I love to cook and it was fun to share that with her (because sometimes I am guilty of being way too anal in my own kitchen and not letting her help enough.)

For those of you who are interested, the owner is planning to do some more classes. Just give her a call - click her for a link to the Huntsville store. For $40, we got to spend quality time together, plus we actually ended up with two meals because it was dinner for 6 and we couldn't eat it all at once. And on a side note, my friend Kera made AC's cute apron. Check out her blog for all of her cute designs!

Lastly, the girls attended the Huntsville High School cheer camp this week. AC has been begging me to let her cheer and, to be honest with you, I've been putting her off because we just can't take on too much. So I thought this three-day camp might just be enough.



Let me tell you, it was only three hours a day but they were worn out when we got home each day. It was great exercise and they had a lot of fun. Best of all, they'll get to cheer the first half of a HSV High game this year which ought to be a hoot! The Huntsville High cheerleaders were so good with them, and the girls thought it was super cool to meet them.

At the end today, they let parents come in to watch what they had learned. Here they are doin' their thang!





If it looks like LB just stood there the whole time, it's because she did. Chris leaned over and said, "Did you pay for this??!" In her defense, she was always participating when I peeked in. I think she gets nervous in front of audiences. That's my story anyway :)

Now I'm going to let them veg out the rest of the week before it's (deep breath) back to school next week (can't believe that!!)!