Around here....

As you know there have been some changes in this household!


This little man has entered our lives and so far everyone is pretty happy about it.


Mom is here and I don't know what I'd do w/o her! She has helped so much w/ all of the kids and has been taking care of tons around the house. She brought our old keyboard w/ her and is teaching the kids how to read music.



Dance season is now over. E had her recital last Saturday and did great. Earlier in the year she said she' d like to try soccer in the fall instead of doing dance again. She has said this before but usually by the time the recital comes around she changes her mind. This year was no different except that we already signed up for fall soccer so definitely no dance next year! I am a little sad, but I think it will be a nice break w/ the new addition.


This was the best video I could get at the dress rehearsal..of course the sound tech turned the music off too soon...but still I was proud! She can be such a stubborn toot, but when she gets on stage she commits!







Went back to the birth center for a male procedure and was able to snap a pic of where he was born. (yes, it was in that tub!)


bath time...not loving it.


Sister is always looking on.



We took him out for some sun the other day...


and V found a little friend. Can you spot him?


This baby bird was hopping around our porch and hanging out in the comfrey.


He ended up hopping right on by the cat's (name diddle) nose, and he didn't seem a bit interested in the live meal.





V and the bird had a conversation.



and one more baby fix...

The Dancing Never Stops in this House

Listen to the lyrics when he is laying his head down. He's a genius at literal interpretive dance.

Dance Recital

E's dance recital was last night. I took most of these pics at her dress rehearsals as I was helping backstage during the actual show. After her first practice I asked her if she like being up there. She replied, "yes, i like being on stage." I will not deny having a happy moment. If you were one of the unlucky who did not attend, you missed out on more than seeing the cutest dancer ever. You missed out on dealing with the reactions of 80+ girls under 10 when the fire alarm went off. Some little one wandering the halls with dad decided to feed his curiosity one and for all. Actually there were only a couple criers and once we settled them back into the room, convinced them that it was a false alarm, it was more about comforting the parents that rushed back stage to check on their girls. Then I remembered my son, in the audience with his dad and grandparents. My heart started to beat a little faster. My sweet, soon to be 8 year old has a few fears and smoke alarms make the list. This wasn't the high pitched annoying beep that you have at home. This was more like alerting the people that we had gone to Defcon 1. D had a harder job than me, as I found out later. Still, eventually all was well and the show did go on. Dance is more than just bobby pins and sequence people.


Waiting in the wings.






Does anyone else love this one as much as I do?



Pep talk from Miss Amy.

You can see that one little one didn't know where her spot was, things were stopped because the poor little thing started to cry. She did fine during the real deal.

Please don't shoot the camera girl , she's an amateur. Just be thankful for this as they did not allow video taping the night of the performance, which they did last year. I think that discriminates against those of us that are cheap, or frugal. :)

This and that

Time will go by and I won't realize how much has happened since my last post. Not necessarily tons, but more than I thought.


This chapeau was what my mom called her "splurge" as part of V's Easter basket.


J had his "Race For Education" on Friday. He ran/walked 16 laps this year. He ran fastest when he could see me :)


This is also the morning that V decided to take a header off of the front stoop. However, he was so brave. He stopped crying so quickly and sat very still without a peep while I cleaned the wound and put on his band aid.


We are almost done with E's dance class. Actually last week was her last class and this weekend is her recital.


I think practicing their smiles and making faces in the mirror is half the fun.

It's a hit!

SAFE!!

Yes, it's baseball season here and J is enjoying his team. His coach this year is not as "laid back" shall we say as last year. He is actually a great coach, serious and firm but always encouraging the kids as well. He reminds them to take care of their own stuff, doesn't let them pout when they are losing, and promotes goods sportsmanship. All great things for our son to have reinforced.

Another cool thing is that his team was invited (if we bought tickets and we did) to our local minor game to be on the field with the players, have a ball signed, be there during the national anthem and while the team handed their coach a big check for a fundraiser they did. Exciting right? Yes, well I completely had the time wrong and we missed it. I was so mad at myself. J did get a bit upset at one point, but I don't think he really understood the big deal in the first place. I know it wasn't the dodgers or anything but still, for a little guy a cool thing and I blew it big time. I was definitely more bummed then he was.

At the game.

As you can see he got over it and we had a good time. His coach even got him a ball with the team name on it.

This grumpy Gus was the reason we did not stay until the end for the fireworks. But I actually had been under the weather for a couple days, and we had opening ceremonies in the am and J's first game in the middle of the day, so it was a good decision to head home.

around here

Let's first talk about this guy. He's walking. Officially walking, and very independent about it. Don't try holding his hand, he's not having that. He loves following his brother and sister around, books, balls, animals and anything soft. He says: ba (ball), mum(that's me), da, (daddy), la (light), saaaa (soft...this is what i think) and lots of ahhhs, for hugs and feeling anything soft.


He likes to do this


and this.


J couldn't be left out.


Den took E to dance last night and afterwards they went out to dinner for a date.


Again, boys could not be left out.


dance dance!

He is so happy, and life gets so busy, I don't want to miss it!



Since we are the weirdos who don't do halloween and I kept her home from preschool since they were having a halloween party (at a church! don't get me started, don't i sound like a nazi?) we made a variety of carmel apples. Huge mess, but fun.



Ballet class, I took these through a window.

*you may enlarge the image by clicking on it (you know who you are:)


saw this while at a light, drew me in....

dance dance

Honestly, I don't want her to be a welder by day exotic dancer by night(Flashdance, for those of you who are lost), just vicariously fulling my desire to wear leg warmers! Ballet started on Wed.


shame on me, I know.



He LOVES our bed, he gets excited and buries his face in it, this time he was extra pumped and squeally.

The Dance Show

I am so excited to have figured this out, enjoy!!

First Dance Class

E had her first dance class last night. It's called Creative Movement, but it's basically a 30 min. ballet & tap combo. I was able to watch through a window and I wish I could have video taped it. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute. Here are a couple pics, they didn't turn out too fab, but you get the cute vibe. She was a little hesitant when we got there, but thankfully there was a little girl there from her preschool class that could enter the room with. As soon as she saw the mirrored wall, she pointed it out and skipped and giggled w/ glee. Really, it was quite gleeful.




ps. i have posted a few more blogs so scroll down for the other new ones!

first ballet class.....

The kids have borrowed a couple of Angelina Ballerina (a mouse who dances) videos from the library recently. Contrary to what you might be thinking, E picked it out all ber herself. There was no ballet pushing from me. While I was making lunch I had the soundtrack to Amelie' on and they were doing their ballet (as they say) in the living room. After lunch it was decided that we should have a ballet class. So showed them a few basics such as a plie', first position, and chasse' (which done ungracelfully would be considered a gallop), and some turns. I got them to do some chasse's across the floor on a mini video for you all to enjoy. You can hear them saying "chasse' chasse'!" Unfortunately I am unsuccesful at loading it!! Sorry!!!! Anyway, I promise if E never takes a class and hates it I won't be too sad. It's fun to watch them have fun with it now. She can say the word ballernia perfectly by the way. And I of course want J to be a guy who can dance and be confident in it.