the big day.

Well, the day is here!  We have a kindergartner! I really thought that I would be bawling all morning. But, Greta was so excited for school and so very, very ready that I ended up being just as happy about the ordeal as she was! Mommy, Daddy and Miles walked her up to the entrance of the school, snapped some photos and she was on her way to her classroom! She went immediately to her desk and started working on a worksheet given to her by her teacher, Mrs. Morse. She’s in heaven 🙂

The best part of the day was when we were driving to school. I said a little prayer for her first day and she started praying right after me “for Mommy and Miles to have fun at home, and for us to be able to play outside today”. I love our little girl SO much! Can’t wait to see all the great things she will do this year!

P.S.- I’m thrilled that she still loves wearing pigtails 🙂

first half of summer.

It appears as though I am taking the summer off from blogging! Oh, not so! I just have been preoccupied. I spent about 3 weeks in horrible pain due to a tooth that desperately needed a root canal. Feels SO much better now! Then Miles got the flu. And I got the flu…then Greta, and finally Joe.

So, forgive me- here are a few snapshots of our summer so far.

Recital Day.

Ice cream after the recital.

Joe and his Dad (Dennis) rockin’ out on stage.

Greta’s new obsession with wearing Miles’ pajamas 🙂

Playin’ with sticks.

Greta attacking me with a water balloon.

Working in the garden.

Splashing with Nana!

Growing up.

stage fever.

What’s the opposite of stage fright? It must be stage fever, and Greta has it!  Today, Greta had her first big dress rehearsal. Her first recital is next weekend. I new she would love dance class, but I was not quite prepared for what I saw on stage.  The video below really does not do it justice. If you could see her face, you would see that she is positively beaming! I have actually never seen her happier than she was on stage. Incredible.

But then, I’m not sure why I’m so surprised. Her dance teacher asked me, “what did you do to her??” (to get her to be the way she is). I told her that she is what happens when two Musical Theatre performers get married! Greta wasn’t the least bit shy or timid on that huge stage.  In fact, the first time through, she skipped literally ALL over the stage! -Not quite the choreography, but she was certainly very entertaining and I had several people come up to me and remark on how fun she was to watch. I think so, too!

Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day 2011 started out a little rough. Miles had not slept well the night before and has a nasty cold. I knew that bringing him to the church nursery was a recipe for disaster, so instead of going to church on Mother’s Day, the kids and I stayed home. Daddy had to play guitar for both services, so while Greta and I spent some quality time together, Miles took a nice long nap. Then Miles really woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but we continued with our plans to visit my parents after church. At about 3pm, Miles must have started feeling better. He was back to his cuddly, happy,  but boogery self!

The kids playing with one of my favorite childhood toys.

My Dad making the Lamb.

It was a beautiful day!

My gorgeous Mother and her “baby”.

Our little sunshine 🙂

Do you see them? Mimi, Papa and their Grandkids

And finished with a fabulous dessert!

A fine end to what turned out to be a lovely day.

Happy Mother’s Day!

He is Risen!

What a great Easter weekend we had!

Our dyed eggs.

Greta and Tegan 🙂

Egg Hunt #1.

(no, I did not give her the idea for this pose)

The cuties together.

An Easter first.

Egg Hunt #2

(Check out my tan!)

Happy Easter! We are so very grateful to be able to celebrate this day!

the thing i love about kids.

One of the things I absolutely adore about children is that when they are sick- they still want to play! When I am sick, all I want to do is lay in bed and sleep. I’m assuming most adults would agree with me on that one.  I love that even at the Children’s Hospital, they have a play room and an abundance of toys, games and movies available to the kids.  I think I figured it why- kids don’t feel sorry for themselves (at least young children don’t).  They kind of just say, “OK, I don’t feel the best, but I’m still gonna live my life. I’m gonna get over it!”. I so wish that I could follow their example!

Greta and Miles were both sick today. Miles is pretty much recovered, but right around noon- Greta started showing symptoms as well.

BUT- that did not stop them from…

Playing dress-up with Sister’s glasses

Painting the deck

Making a Miles cake

Enjoying a popsicle (pedialyte popsicle, that is)

Looking forward to their appetites returning!

“almost there”

I’ve been posting a lot of videos of Miles lately (with good reason!)

So, here’ s one of Greta singing “Almost There” from Princess and The Frog. The ending is definitely the best part!

Painting 101.

In home school this week, Greta was learning about textures in painting. Most children will just cover everything on the paper with a single wash of color. We worked on making long strokes for the wood grain and painting the woman’s shirt a solid color, but then adding a pattern with thicker paint. We also talked about doing a single coat of gray for the woman’s hair and then adding texture with thin strips of thicker black paint. Greta really did well! See for yourself. She took this project very seriously 🙂

The book this week was, Mrs. Katz and Tush, by Patricia Polacco. We learned about Jewish tradition, cats, and loving your neighbor.

just a thursday night.

…at the Lee’s.

Just thought I’d mention that we don’t usually let our children play with their food. I also thought I’d mention that it is, in fact, proper etiquette to use your fingers when eating asparagus 🙂

And if you’re bored, there’s more!

a dancer is born.

Greta started her long anticipated dance classes this past weekend. When I asked her to smile for the camera before class for a photo she did this…

Gee, think she was ready???

When class was over, all the girls filed out of the room, except for one. Coming from inside the room, I heard a familiar little voice say, “I don’t want to go!” After bribing her with a special lunch- she agreed to part ways with her teacher.

So, after her first dance class, Aunt Jessica and I took our little ballerina out for lunch. Jessica has generously offered to pay for Greta’s dance lessons. What a blessing! We really have the best family ever.

What a perfect day.