Dance Recital 2012

Our dancers had their dance recital this past Sunday and they performed their little hearts out!  It takes such inner strength to stand up on stage in front of a thousand strangers, complete with the lights, props, costumes, hair and make-up.  They have practiced every week and were very excited for this day.  I know that at certain points throughout the year, when I am very tired driving them all over the place for their activities, I always wonder if it is worth it...if they are really getting anything out of it, what benefit will come from the weekly class, will they have any fun with it?  Looking at these pictures, I don't know how I ever thought about not driving them or supporting them in their activities.  Participating in a dance class, or any activity, is a part of their journey and will shape them into the ladies they are becoming.  I am so proud of them and what they have accomplished!  

Katelyn took a beginner hip-hop class, but it turned out to be a more advanced class than what we were expecting.  We were hoping that she would get some basic movements down, learn the beat and rhythm of the music.  Her teacher was very advanced and Katelyn would often get frustrated at the speed at which her teacher would move, especially considering most of these kids were beginners.  But she stuck it out, stayed in the class and smiled throughout the show.  I am so proud that she believed in herself and knew she could do it.  The recital's theme was Monopoly and Katelyn's dance was "Money".



  



Vanessa took a hip-hop acro class.  She loved it, as it combines her two favorite activities - dancing and gymnastics, but she was actually too advanced for it.  She needed something a bit more challenging, which is part of the reason why we'll be switching studios this Fall.  Her dance was "B&O Railroad".

It's Summer!

Summer is here!  I love summer because it gives us the opportunity to be outdoors, enjoy our beautiful Earth that God has created for us, spend time together as a family, try new things and go on adventures. 

The girls' last day of school, a few weeks back, were filled with mixed emotions.  I love their school, the staff, and the way they teach to the entire child.  However, come mid-May, I'm ready, as much as the girls are, for a break.  Thank goodness for summer!  We always make a list of activities and/or adventures that we'd like to try to accomplish over the summer.  We don't always get everything crossed off the list, but we have fun trying. 

Last day of Second Grade

Last day of Kindergarten

We recently took in our first game of the season.  The girls love attending and getting into the spirit of it, dressing in the team's colors, wearing their team's gear, and cheering/screaming loud when the stadium goes crazy.

All three girls have been taking swimming lessons daily too.  Both Katelyn and Vanessa already know how to swim, but it is not always pretty, so I was looking for them to get some stroke refinement and breathing techniques.  Paige thinks she can swim, but her brain hasn't told her body that she isn't water safe yet.  But at the rate that she is learning the skills, she'll be swimming on her on within the next year.

We visited some sea life at the Academy during our visit with Uncle Barry and Hannah.  I hear so often from others that Paige is no longer considered a baby or a toddler given that she is now (as of just a few weeks back) three years old (so why is she using a sippy, having toddler snacks, so very curious about the world...the likes of comments I am told!!).  However, look at her cute fingers and how can you not call those the fingers of a toddler?   

Check off of our Summer To-Do List...Visit the beach...

She's as happy as a clam living in the waters behind her!

She REALLY wanted to go run, roll, and play in the sand, but I made her stop and pose for this picture.  That must have been the longest 2 1/2 seconds of her life!  Just look at all of those grains of sand and gallons of water calling her name to come play with.

Ever wonder what they're thinking?

First they were just running away from the waves....

Then it became fun to stand in the deeper part of the wave without actually getting taken down by the wave.  No, we didn't go home dry. 

Summer is a time when many of our friends are in camps week and week.  Camps are a wonderful way to keep your kids busy, as well as to expose them to new things.  However, historically, we may do one or two camps, but then take the rest of the summer as unstructured and unplanned time.  It allows the girls time to just be kids.  We may stay home, hang out at The Lake, and go on picnics or on other fun day adventures.  I have never forced them to take a camp.  We talk about it, but ultimately it is up to them. I don't want to burn them out at such a young age in something that they really don't have any interest in.  This year, both girls participated in Vacation Bible Camp (at our Church) right after school was dismissed, but I don't have any really good photos during that time.  It's a lot of fun, like one big play-date every day, and the girls enjoy it tremendously.  

Last week, Katelyn participated in a soccer camp and Vanessa in a dance camp.  Katelyn had a wonderful time and made some good connections with her coaches.  She said she learned some new skills and refined some she already knew.  She made a strong bond with one of her coaches, which made attending every day fun and exciting for her. 

While Katelyn was on the soccer field, Vanessa was in the dance studio learning all kinds of crazy dance moves.  This was at a new studio for us and, so far, we are really impressed with it - the staff/instructors, the dances that they can teach the kids in just a few days, and the excitement for dance that they recognized within Vanessa and gave her an opportunity to express it.  I loved watching her passion develop over the week...this is a kid who sings, dances and does gymnastic moves from the moment she wakes up until five minutes after she is in bed for the night!

All the dancers in this dance, Kids, had some kind of kid-related prop, hence Vanessa's attached teddy bear.

And it's only June...we have so many wonderful adventures awaiting us in the coming summer days!

Every girl needs to feel pretty!

A few pictures of the girls getting ready for Katelyn's First Communion.  You're never to young to visit the nail salon!

Sitting so still!

Aren't those some of the cutest piggies you've ever seen!

Enjoying the entire experience.

I think she could get use to this!

The tickle-y part.  She went with a grape purple color - very pretty.

Imagine that...hot pink was her color of choice.

Katelyn's First Holy Communion

Isn't she beautiful!  Last Sunday morning we celebrated Katelyn's First Communion. She and her class had been preparing for this very special day over the last few months and she was very excited (and a bit nervous) that it was finally here. 

We purchased numerous dresses to choose from, finally agreeing on a tea-length one with sleeves and small beads and embroidery on the top.  Finding a dress that she liked, and that I felt was appropriate for church was actually rather challenging.  So many of the "First Communion" dresses were so elaborate, much like a wedding gown, or had thin spaghetti straps that I didn't feel an 8-year-old should be wearing to church for this event. 

I thought finding shoes would have been easier, but that seemed a bit of a challenge too.  I searched all the online shoe stores that I know of and finally had 11 pairs of shoes sent to the house!  I know it sounds silly, but I wasn't sure of her size or how they would fit her.  Plus, I, once again, was particular on what I felt a child should wear and not wear (as in, I don't think they need to wear high-heal wedge-type slip-on shoes).  Katelyn was able to narrow it down to one dressy pair for the church service and a pair of cute while sandals for the party afterwards. 

My mom made her vail which was beautiful and very special.  It was simple, yet fancy, and fit Katelyn's personality perfectly.   

Beautiful girl waiting for her big moment

Moments after receiving her Fist Holy Communion

Katelyn, proud Mommy and Daddy, and Fr. Chris

Notice in many of the pictures that Katelyn has her hands close together near her heart.  We gave her a beautiful cross necklace as her First Communion gift and throughout the entire service, she kept her hands on the cross.  I'm not sure if she was just really nervous and it was comforting to her, or if it was just so new that she was still caught up in the novelty of it.  She wears this necklace every day and only takes it off for soccer.  I'm proud that she wants to wear it and publicly display her beliefs.

We had a nice luncheon at home afterwards.  I think Katelyn felt very special and it was nice that for one day she could be the center of attention. 

Easter 2012

Happy Easter!

What a beautiful morning it is! The sun is shinning bright and the sky is crystal blue.

During breakfast this morning, we were discussing the meaning of Easter and why it is an important day for us. We reflected that Jesus died for us, making the ultimate sacrifice. We celebrate His Resurrection and eternal life. This day symbolizes new life, the beginning of something new. And given that we've been sick for many days, I'm looking forward to starting over this week, to some healthy bodies, to feeling new again.

Even with stuffy noses, deep hard coughs, and sore throats, we managed to get some smiles while coloring eggs.

A colorful collection of masterpieces

Under the weather

This is the beautiful collection of drugs that currently live on my kitchen counter. Yes, I have been a drug-giving Mommy, something that I usually don't do. We are sick. Or as Bill keeps telling me, it's a mental game and that we need to tell ourselves that we were sick and are getting better...but that comes easy from the ONLY person in the household who has not been hit with something. This has not been a fun week, to put it nicely. I'm hoping that with tomorrow, being Sunday and the beginning of the next week, that we'll be on the mend.

The flu knocked me out for a few days and now leaves me with a throat so raw and sore, and little energy to move from the couch. Bronchitis took over Katelyn's chest, Vanessa is fighting a good strong cold and an ear infection, and Paige has been battling a sinus infection. Apparently, we all have weak spots in our bodies and each of us got attacked in those spots.

Today we ventured outside for the first time in days, taking a little stroll outside. The girls had a good time in the sun and enjoyed taking in the fresh air. I'm hoping that tomorrow, being Easter, brings wellness and energy to my family.

Beautiful afternoon

We spent yesterday afternoon playing in the backyard. It was a beautiful day - the sun was shinning bright and there was a cool breeze. If I didn't know that it was only February, I would have thought it was the middle of Spring. Apparently, the flowers think it's Spring too.

Getting over guilt

I was visiting one of my dearest friends a few months ago and she told me to just start writing…write about our visit, or anything to just get over the fact that I’ve completely ignored this part of my life for so long. That was in September 2011. It is now February 2012. But here I am, writing, finally! Where I have been and what have we been doing for the last two years? So many
questions and probably not enough answers.

I was recently digging around on my computer and came across the post below that never actually was posted. I could say I have no idea why I never posted, but that would just be more excuses and I really don’t like excuses. Here's what I had the best intentions of posting back in September 2010...

Well how about that?
I blink and time passes…and I’m not talking about a few seconds, but like months and months. We are all still here and growing and changing as quickly as possible. So fast, that I seem to have very little time lately to write down memories, which just makes me feel soooo guilty. But either I’m going to sit here and have a glass of wine and wallow in my self-induced guilt, or I’m going to start typing again.

So here I go, again…

With drink in hand… Oh, speaking of wine, I’ve discovered a new tasty beverage that Bill and I have been enjoying lately. It’s a spin-off of a drink I had at a restaurant recently – light and refreshing, not too strong on the alcohol nor too heavy to drink. You mix Elderflower
liquor, club soda and lemon Italian soda. If you want it a bit sweeter, add champagne. It’s yummy!

Sorry, back to where I was headed…oh yah…and no guilt…We spent the majority of the summer at the lake, which is always such a blessing. The girls can run all day long and get filthy dirty and have the best time doing so. We rode horses, went on long bike rides, paddled kayaks and paddle-boats, went for walks, hung out at the beach, played miniature golf, had picnics, ate ice cream (a lot!), made s’mores over the new outdoor fire-pit, camped in the backyard, made ice cream, went out on the lake, visited with family, went up the gondola, and took the trolley on outings. I’m sure there are more things I’ve forgotten, as each day was extremely busy and full of adventures.

Paige:
She is now 15 months old and has 7 teeth. Her eighth is just starting to break through, so that’s been fun! She took her first few “real” steps at our friend’s Rusty and Jen’s going away party in mid-July and she’s been nonstop since then. She loves to try to keep up with her sisters and actually does a pretty good job at it. Paige is a happy girl and loves her baths, playing, snuggling, dancing, and “driving” her car (including pushing the horn, a.k.a. the beep-beep). She
communicates very well and has a few words – Mama, Dada, dog, book, ball, milk, done, more, no, shoe, hat, up…of course, all are pronounced in her dialect but understandable nonetheless. She understands conversations and is able to follow directions. Her hair is blonde-blonde and curly in the back…both things that the other girls never had.

Vanessa:
At four and a half years old, my dresses-only-wearing girl, is full of energy and spunk, yet has a real compassionate and nurturing side. All day long, she goes and goes and goes, until her head hits the pillow and then literately, she is asleep in about 30 seconds. She is a busy girl,
attending gymnastic and ballet classes and is in a pre-K class every afternoon. Attending school every day is a new experience for her and one that I wasn’t so sure of. But she is a child who needs consistency and repetition, as well as socialization with peers her own age. It’s only been a week and so far she seems to be handling it alright….tired, but always ready for the next day. A few weeks ago, she swam across the swimming pool all by herself, which was just awesome to watch. She took lessons at the beginning of the summer, but then we headed to the lake so didn’t get much pool time after that. But since being back, she seems to have picked up right where she left off in her lessons and really enjoys swimming. Vanessa has a very soft side to her, one that most people probably don’t notice too often. When someone gets hurt, she is the first person to run and get the ice pack or a band-aid or if needed, an adult. To Vanessa, a band-aid makes everything better, so I’ve started purchasing band-aids at Costco in the jumbo pack and
learning to let go of, what seems to me, the wastefulness use of them.

Katelyn:
My first grader! At six and a half, she is becoming a girl. I took the girls shopping the other day for a few new fall outfits. Usually, I purchase online or when I’m out by myself, but I needed to go to the mall, so decided that I would just take the girls with me and let them pick a few
outfits out themselves. It brought a smile to my face as I watched Katelyn choose her outfits carefully and thoughtfully, picking items that were no longer “little girl” looking, yet
still very much age-appropriate. She loves horses and is getting very good at soccer. This is her first year on an U8 team, which brings a larger playing field, more rules to follow, goalies, positions to play, and referees. I am the coach of her team and that has brought a new experience for all of us. I was able to recruit Coach Papa, which was a blessing and when Bill is able, he helps at practices too. She recently figured out that she was able to tell time, so I guess that means no more little white lies about “only five more minutes” and then leave in two. At
least she’ll keep me honest. Katelyn is social and has lots of friends at school, playing with girls and boys. She loves her teacher and really is thriving – in all ways possible.

Bill is amazing in his position for work and seems to really be enjoying it. Assisting with
Katelyn’s soccer practices has brought back a lot of fond memories for him. He was, and still is an exceptional soccer player, so I think is eager to pass on those skills to his own children. The old soccer cleats that have been sitting in the garage for years got pulled out the other day and wash clean. He is an amazing father and watching him one-on-one with each of his daughters is rather special. His relationship with each of them is very different, and rightfully so. With Katelyn, they’ll lie in bed and read together and he is always teaching her new things,
as she is so inquisitive. With Vanessa, she calls him her snugly, as she’ll climb into out bed and snuggles up to him and you know he just loves it (even if it isn’t always the best night’s
sleep). With Paige, she just makes him smile and melts his heart.

I’m super busy with the girls and all of their activities, as well as my own volunteer work at the girls’ schools and my work on the Board of Directors that I’ve been serving on for several years now. Recently, it occurred to me that the girls’ childhood years are so few – from age 0-10 is only 10 years. They have years and years of being an adult. Since their childhood years are so few and go by very quickly, I better make the most of them and cherish every day. Perhaps that is why I enjoy being a mom so much and giving to my family as much as I give. I want each day to be full of memories and adventures for all of us. It is always something I’m working on and by no means am I even close to having it all together, but I strive to happiness.

Speaking of memories, last weekend the girls were swimming and asked for an ice cream.
Feeling generous at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon, I brought one out to them, knowing that their dinner appetites wouldn’t be very big. We joked that they were having dessert before
dinner and that led into the thought of having a “backwards” night. And that is exactly what we did. After swimming and eating dessert, we took baths and put our pajamas on backwards, and then ate dinner complete with the table set backwards and then said grace at the end of the meal. It was a completely spontaneous evening, but one that was extremely funny and entertaining.

Fall is quickly approaching us – the evenings are getting darker earlier, the leaves are already starting to turn, and the weather is cooling off. The girls already have their Halloween costumes picked out and have started working on their Christmas wish-lists. The days are passing so quickly, that I need to go find some toothpicks to hold my eyes wide open so that I don’t blink as often…then perhaps I can keep current on recording our memories and adventures on this amazing journey.

Apparently, I have two budding fashionestas

I was helping Vanessa with her hair this morning and asked her if she wanted to wear one of her favorite headbands - an adorable pink and blue plaid around-the-head kind with a bow on top. She looked at me and proceed to tell me, "Mom, that is plaid!"

"Ya, so? It is cute and the pink matches your outfit"

"But I am not wearing any plaid. It doesn't match."

"But you have solid pink leggings and a white and pink shirt on. How does it not match?"

"But I don't have any plaid on!"

"Where did you learn about plaid?"

"Katelyn."

If only every morning was like this...

My early riser baby bird decided that yesterday her alarm clock went off around 5 AM and so too must mine. Often she'll wake up before the others, and I'm not even sure how she functions on such little sleep she gets overall - naps are short and quality is hit-or-miss, but then again, she is the third and is thriving just fine. On these early mornings, she and I will play in her room having some quality Mommy-Daughter time. To me, it is pretty special that I get a few undivided minutes to be alone with her in a quiet peaceful space. After playing for awhile, Paige decided that it was time to take a little nap.

Since the other girls were still sleeping, I decided to use those few precious minutes to take a quick shower and get ready for the day. I'm in my bathroom when I hear the water running in the other bathroom in the house. I figured that one of the girls was up and we'd all be starting our day shortly. Then Katelyn walks into my room...completely dressed - jumper, socks AND shoes - and informs me that she'd also brushed her teeth, did her hair, made her bed and opened her blinds. SERIOUSLY? Without asking a million times, bribing, or yelling? What happened to my little girl who makes each school morning oh so much fun? And how did you get her to make her bed without asking? Tell me, oh please tell me! Because on Monday morning as she complained about what I made for breakfast, again, or how when I did her hair not to her liking I'm sure the neighbors heard her loud and clear too. This morning Katelyn surprised me again with a beautifully made bed followed by the unsurprising "why do we have to have that for breakfast" comments again.

Now only if this little alien could work some magic on the sassy six-year attitude we have going on...

Did she take up boxing without us knowing it?

Katelyn came home from school on Friday with the outside area of her eye swollen. Perhaps she had got bitten by a bug or maybe it was the beginning of Pink-Eye. We watched it all weekend continue to swell, but no discharge or extreme pain (as a spider bite often causes). I took her into the urgent care yesterday, which thankfully we were not in need of "urgent care", because this urgent care facility isn't really an urgent care facility at all. They take patients by appointment only, or if you happen to walk in, as a family in the waiting room sitting next to us, you could be waiting hours - as in at least 3 hours like this family (who finally gave up waiting and walked out). While hanging out in the lobby for our "urgent care" appointment, the receptionist was telling a caller that the next appointment was at 7PM that night - as in 7 hours from now. There has always been the thought that if you don't have to go to the ER, then don't...go to an urgent care location to get quicker or easier care. Um, I think going to the ER might actually be faster.

Anyways, since her eye was almost swollen shut when she awoke in the morning and who knows what kind of condition it would be in if I waited until today to take her to see her doctor, we headed in to have it checked out. It is a blah-blah-blah caused by a blah-blah-blah. Got it? Ya, me too. In English, it is a symptom of a sinus infection. In children now-a-days, it is very uncommon to see eye swelling and discoloration to the area, but that's what it is. Being that there are no other symptoms that Katelyn has, I would have never in a million years guessed that is what's going on. She had a cold almost three weeks ago and I thought was free from it, but I guess not. It is a very odd place for this germ bug to hang out, but with medication, it will be gone in a few days.

Smelling Like...Febreze?

Katelyn has the option of wearing a crew-neck cotton sweatshirt or a fleece pull-over. Usually, the fleece wins because it has pockets and what 6-year old cannot live without pockets? What would they do with all of those treasures that they find throughout their day? How would they make sure that their chap-stick gets washes and dried, as it is securely tucked into the zipped pocket? How would they be able to dispose of their snack trash, because apparently there are no trash cans at school? And of course, their hands might just fall off from being so FROZEN without the ability to put them into the toasty warm pocket!

A few days ago, Katelyn was DETERMINED that she was going to wear her fleece to school. Because the other one just wouldn't do. However I had been a little slow on laundry and it was sitting at the bottom of the dirty clothes pile. Since my laundry seems to reproduce on its own, the fleece was sitting under a pretty large pile of stinky clothes. Without regards to potentially offending her classmates or teachers, she dug through the pile and came out victorious. I had decided not to fight this battle - if she wanted to dig through the mound and wear a dirty sweater, it was her choice...after all, she was the one wearing it, not me.

Now here is where my excellent parenting skills comes into play...just to make sure that no one thinks I never wash my children's clothes, I gave her a few sprays of Febreze as she walked out the door. We were laughing as I was doing it, but hey, at least she smelt cleaned!

A budding photographer

I was downloading some pictures and noticed a few additional photos taken by a young photographer in my home - Vanessa. These photos are hilarious! They capture what is important to her - some of her favorite toys, her laptop, the mouse to the laptop, her dolls, and her sister. In all, there were 38! Thank goodness it was digital, otherwise she would have wanted me to change out the film roll for a new one. Seeing the pictures caught me by surprise, but gave me a good laugh, especially since so many of them were taken at crazy angles angles like this one...

Head vs. Blacktop...Can you guess who won?

Prize: HUGE egg on the forehead and a really good concussion (sleepy, vomiting, dizzy).

Results: First CT Scan (Thank the Lord everything came back fine), spent an ENTIRE day in the ER, missed last soccer practice for this season and will not be able to play at last game on Saturday (but will be there to cheer the team on!), and will miss two days of school.

When it was nowhere to be found...

A BIG summer for Katelyn

So since I have not posted in awhile, ok a very long while, I have a lot to catch up on. It will take me a few days, but I’ll get it done. I get a lot of positive feedback from family and friends about this site, which is so good because I never know who, if anyone, is actually reading it. Even if no one reads, at least I will have made my best attempt at capturing special moments so that later on when my children are grown, they can have a book of stories of their lives. I wish I was one of those super crafty moms who can throw a scrap book together and have it look absolutely amazing, but I’m not. Let’s not kid ourselves here…I can plan a party, but cannot seem to write a single thing in a baby book.

Summer is over and Fall is approaching. As I write this, it is raining outside – the first for this Fall season. We are back to school and schedules, soccer practice and dance class and all of the drama that change brings upon children: up early and melt-downs around 5 PM, second-week-of-school-colds, trying to get out of the door with hair brushed and matching shoes on…on time.
For Katelyn, it has been quite an exciting few months. She learned how to swim, although as her Mommy , she still makes me very nervous. By next Summer, she’ll be doing laps in the pool without any worries. During our time at the Lake, she was able to have the adventure and new experience of riding a horse. This was her first time riding and absolutely fell in love with it. She rode around the meadow several times and then was fortunate enough to go out on a few trial rides. I am excited that she challenged herself at trying something new, especially since horses can be a bit intimating due to their size. We’ll have to hold our breath for the next few years at which point in time she’ll start begging for riding lessons and then a horse of her own. Perhaps instead of the BMW that her Daddy has promised her at 16, she’ll get a horse.

In early July, while Bill and I were out of town visiting my best friend Jessie, Katelyn lost her first tooth up at the Lake. She was so excited, but didn’t want the Tooth Fairy to come until we got home to see her tooth. So she wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy telling her (yes, in our home, the Tooth Fairy is a HER!) to come back on Monday when Mommy and Daddy get home. And guess what? The next morning, the note was gone from under her pillow! Amazing how that works :-) And apparently, there is some special magic about being up there becuase she also learned how to ride a two-wheeler! It only took a few tries with someone running next to her before he confidence took off just as she did down the street. And check out those fancy toes...of course we had to visit the local nail spa while there too.

Katelyn’s most recent excitement is that she started KINDERGARTEN! She has been waiting for this for months and months. She is absolutely adorable in her school uniform, and thank GOD for uniforms because on those mornings when we are running a tad late (Me, late? Never!), I can get her dressed while half asleep. For the past two weeks, her school day was only half day, but starting tomorrow, she’ll go all day. I know that this will be a very long day for her and we’ll probably have a massive melt-down, but once she gets adjusted, I think that this will be a good thing. Several of her friends go to a different school and each of them have said that they don’t get enough play time or time to do fun things. Since Katelyn goes all day, her class has more opportunities to do those fun things. She has music and art and Spanish, as well as the traditional academic subjects. Once a week, she has to bring in her sharing box with an item representing the letter of the week. She has three clues to give the class. For this week, her clues are 1)they can be round 2)they can be big or little 3)they are a tasty treat. Answer? Crispy Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies (5 C’s in that one…we did good this week!). I am truly amazed at how much of a little sponge she is. In the first two weeks of school, she has already learned the Hail Mary, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the song This Land is Your Land. They learn a little bit each day and before they know it, they’ve learned the entire thing. Choosing a school for your child is never easy, but I am very confident that we made a good choice for her and am very satisfied with our decision.

She is now playing on the local youth soccer league and is enjoying it. Practice makes for REALLY long days for her, but she is fast asleep when her head touches the pillow. Bill is super excited that she is playing soccer, but she’ll have big shoes to fill if she follows her Daddy in this sport. I just hope she has fun and tires her best.