It's been a while since Sophie has played with her Barbies, but tonight she had a hankering for her old friends, so with a little help from myself, all 42 tons of Barbie dolls, accessories, houses, and cars were brought up from the basement to be spread out on the floor.

After catching my breath, I settled into the other room for a little stitching and Dancing with the Stars.

And that's when I first heard her cry out, "No! Stop! It will never be yours!"

And then, "You'll never look as good in it as I do!"

Curious, I got off the couch and peeked into the Barbie room.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Kate Middleton has been kidnapped by three robbers named Cleopatria, Cicilia, and Cathedra."

(That's Kate, bound to a bed while Cleopatria mocks her. She has stolen Kate's wedding dress and veil bc she is jealous of Kate, and wants it for her own wedding.)

The next photo is of Cleopatria, looking up at the camera with maniacal laughter, overjoyed at Kate's misfortune…

The Yorkie can't believe what she's seeing.

Evil would-be bride Cleopatria (who recently played a salon customer at the hands of Sophie, Barber to the Stars) admires her reflection in a mirror…

The Yorkie stood and stared for the entire production, in shock over her future Queen being treated so barbarically.

Just when the nightmare was almost over, Cathedra stole the wedding gown from Cleopatria.

I'm not sure how it ended, as I was worried I'd miss Maks on Dancing with the Stars. But I believe Kate and Wills' wedding will go on as planned, with Kate wearing her gown and veil as if no near-disaster had ever happened.

Don't worry, Yorkie. Cleo, Cicilia, and Cathedra won't be attending.

Sabrina is not the most organized of my children.

Yesterday she was ordered to sort through every last article of clothing under her bed, in the closet, under the carpet, and on the ceiling fan. She decided that if she was going to be spending the next several hours doing as she was told, she was bringing her sister down with her. She bribed her with some very cool hand-me-downs (which I knew was just a tactic to keep from having to fold them and put them away), and to work they went.

On their way from Sabrina's room to Sophie's – and laden with Sophie's new second-hand duds – they belted out some sort of concert…

I have no idea what song it was. I've repressed that memory.

But clearly, Sabrina was passionate about it.

I was hopeful that the show would soon be over, and they would get back to work…

But the only thing Sabrina got back to was her concert.

Which exhausted Sophie.

(Truth be told, before the above photo was snapped, Sophie said to me, "Hey Mom, look. This is my dead look.") I worry for my children's mental health sometimes. I blame it on their father.

The singing eventually stopped, but the work never actually got started…

Sophie got a face full of armpit.

Which meant Sabrina would get a foot in return.

And so the evening went on…

And eventually, I just gave up and left.

I'll fight this battle another day.

 

Saturday the 26th finally arrived, and hair and nail salons all across Omaha were teeming with high school girls preparing themselves for the most anticipated event of the school year: Prom! Sabrina had been really looking forward to the day, excited to finally be able to wear her new dress and have fun with her date…

Just a quick warning: this post contains lots and lots and lots of pictures bc I just couldn't seem to cull them to a reasonable number. Between Bre and I, we took about 400 photos, and I loved them all!

Here is Bean, waiting for Yuri to arrive…

And here is Bean's good friend Sam the Ham…

Sam, you're crazy, but you're a sweetheart!

Here's Bre, who has an awesome photography blog…

And here is Sabrina with her handsome date, Yuri. Yuri is from the Ukraine, and has lived in this country for 4 years. He plays soccer and is very soft-spoken, and everyone who meets him adores him! I doubt he's ever had his picture taken as much as he did last night – especially since my mother started in with her camera as soon as they showed up at my parents' house.

(Doesn't he look fabulous in his tux?)

Here they are, exchanging flowers…

This is my very favorite photo of the night… Bre took it, and I just couldn't stop staring at it for some reason…

The girls coaxed Yuri into doing some "Charlie's Angels" poses, although he truly had no idea what they were so giggly about…

After leaving our house, they headed to another friend's house for group photos and a pre-dinner gathering…

Another one by Bre… another favorite of mine!

Actually, several are Bre's, but I've lost track of them!

Sabrina and Yuri were looking at me for some of these poses, but I liked Bre's perspective better…

Bre had the idea of taking their photos in a mirror, so I got this one…

…and Bre got this one! (I love this angle.)

Sophie only has 6 more years before it's her turn…

And finally, here's my girl getting her coat on, ready to head to dinner at an Italian steakhouse…

(Bre took that one too!)

All the kids had such a fun time, and I sure enjoyed seeing them in their beautiful gowns and dashing tuxedos. I'm sure they came away with great memories for their last year of high school.

As I write this, it's 10:00 pm, and Miss Sabrina is just getting up for the day.

It must have been a good one. 🙂

 

When Bre comes to town and I've hugged the stuffing out of her, here's usually what happens.

No one else in our family is as crazy about Red Mango as we are, so usually it's just us two. If you don't have one where you live, it's a frozen yogurt shop that allows you to dispense your own – after you've sampled as many as you like! They change out the flavors each week, so you never know what you're going to see when you arrive…

My favorite combination is coconut (oh my, don't knock it til you try it!), pineapple, and banana. Bre loves black cherry. (She was sampling the lemon souffle here.)

After you've filled either a small or large bowl with your favorite yogurts, you head to the toppings bar for even more calories!

Here's what Bre's usually looks like:

And here's mine:

I don't like to be photographed while I'm eating, but I don't mind aggravating other people with it.

(Isn't that the cutest watch?)

Btw, you pay by the ounce. The first time Bre and I visited, we each had around 4 oz. The second time, around 7 oz. We've worked our way up to about 16.4 oz each these days.

And since it's frozen yogurt (instad of ice cream), none of it shows up on our hips. ahem.

I'll be visiting Bre tomorrow, and they just happen to have a brand new Red Mango place about 5 minutes from where she lives.  In an effort to promote a healthy lifestyle, we will be supporting the shop as soon as we're finished with our lunch. 😉

 

A while ago, I heard Sabrina singing a song to the radio, and the lyrics left me speechless. Actually, I didn't know whether to cough and sputter and turn off the radio or die laughing. Not having grown up in the 70's, she had no clue why I reacted the way I did. (I actually coughed, sputtered, and then died laughing.)

Here's how the chorus went:

"Call me 'Mr. Flintstone,' cuz I can make your Bed Rock…"

Have you ever…?

Fast-forward to this past weekend, and Sabrina's high school decided to have a dance with a "Bedrock" theme. I'm not sure if that particular song was the school's inspiration, but Sabrina and her friends decided to take a more Flintstonian approach…

We had to keep Friday outside so he wouldn't try to steal the bones from their hair'do's…

Since I clearly couldn't get the girls to let their guards down and pose for me, I told them to pretend they were getting ready to meet their new cave husband…

Okay, that wasn't quite the pose I had in mind. So I told them to pretend they were being attacked by a t-rex…

(Apparently, Kenzie thinks t-rexes are cute.)

Collin wasn't getting away with standing off the the side, so the girls dragged him into it…

The kids told me that the school was strictly enforcing the "No Inappropriate Dancing" rule. So Sabrina and Kenzie demonstrated the appropriate way to dance…

This would also be acceptable:

But this would not:

 

The four friends had a really good time at the dance, but I think I'll request a new theme for the next one: Puritanism in Early America.

Nevermind. Something tells me these girls would even have fun in scratchy grey frocks and bonnets.