dance observation week!

I feel like I have lots of posts about dance observation week....oh well. Here are pictures of the girls at ballet (E&K), tap (K), and jazz (E). :)

Halloween!!

Eager to start trick-or-treating!!



This next one strikes me as really funny. "Go ahead, honey! Ring that doorbell!"

Pit stop!!


We had lots of fun. The weather was gorgeous and it wasn't windy like the last few years, so we spent over an hour trick-or-treating. That's the longest the girls have lasted so far. And I got some much-needed sunshine. :)
Oh, and even though K was wearing a witch costume, she really wanted the wings, so she decided she was the tooth fairy instead.

Another pair of earlobes

Pictures Below!! :)

K got her ears pierced today. I was bored, and she likes sparkly things. Things could have gone much worse than pierced ears, considering those circumstances.

But, as usual, I forgot the camera card at home, so my only pictures are on my cell phone. She did so well, though!! My little trooper. She had to do one ear at a time, so after the first one, she fought HARD not to cry...but she was pretty scared of the second one. She still sat still for it, though, and I'm so proud of her for that. But after the second, she let go a little and cried. :) She was so brave.

They're really pretty. She took forever picking a pair, and settled (without any influence from me) on pretty light pinkish diamonds (not real, obviously). They're very pretty in her ears.

***Thanks for the pictures, Wendy!!***

:)

:)

October

I can't believe September is already over. Our schedule has felt just as hectic as I would have imagined, but the upside to that is that our weeks fly by.

We finally had our shower fixed (again), and now it should actually drain the right way. The tile floor in the shower didn't slope toward the drain so after every shower, we had to squeegee it and then towel dry it. Really annoying.
But now it should drain perfectly.

We had planned an awesome Disney trip for December with a great hotel, reservations for the best restaurants at Disney, and tickets to Cirque du Soleil....but we just canceled everything. And I am SO happy we did. It would have been a whirlwind trip and I just don't think we'll be up to that in December. Saving $5,000 is pretty nice, too. We weren't able to get a refund on our plane tickets, but we will transfer them for flights to CT next summer instead. :) It'll be nice to avoid that long drive.

E update: she's still doing really well in school, and is keeping up with her crazy schedule. I feel like I barely ever see her, though. But what helps is that I know she's happy. She loves being at school, so I'm okay with her being gone that much.

K update: She's reading really well now, but is so stubborn that unless I outright bribe her, she won't even read the word 'it.' She loves preschool and swimming lessons, and it's been really good for her to have some things away from me. :) She may only be four years old, but we already get on each other's nerves sometimes. She deserves an outlet. :)
Below are some pictures from September and from a recent trip to the Shedd Aquarium. :)

Tired.

E's doing amazingly well so far with her insane schedule. I think she's like Denis. School fuels her. She absolutely LOVES school. She never wants to leave. :)

I, however, am tired. I canceled two of Kate's classes, which would have required a lot of driving, so that's a big stress relief, but it's amazing how this schedule is just wiping me out.

I'm becoming a soccer mom...except I'm a gymnastics, dance, and swimming mom.

lalalala

So we've been busy this summer. :) The girls tried soccer camp, and while K didn't really have an opinion, E decided it was definitely NOT her sport.





We've been swimming at the Aquatic Center a lot and haven't gotten a single picture. Maybe I'll remember to bring my camera this week some time. E is totally independent in the water and now does every water slide in the park, including the huge drop slides that land in 12 feet of water. K is very eager to "swim" but is still needing a lot of help. I have them both enrolled in private swim lessons throughout the year now to hopefully get them as confident as possible in the water before next summer.

We had an awesome trip to CT/NJ this year, and were really sad to leave. One part I loved was all the awesome food we had while we were out there: crab bisque, scallops, lobster rolls, ribs, to-die-for Blueberry Cheesecake ice cream from the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe (I'm willing to forgive their superfluous 'p' and 'e' because of how good the ice cream is),and incredible pasta from the Lafayette House...I don't know why I can't forget how good that was. Mmmmmm!!!!! I wish they could just package it up and ship it out here.

It was so awesome to see family out there, and I love that our girls have such a strong and amazing extended family. I just wish we could see them more often. :(























But now we're home and the girls are VERY excited about starting their fall schedules. And let me say this: it will be insane. We have four dance classes, four gymnastics classes, two swim classes and two cooking classes, along with preschool and 1st grade. Our only day off is Sunday. Busy is good for me, though. I hate sitting around and doing nothing (like right now).

So lots of things going on in our household. But good things. :)

My favorite part of the summer so far (other than my pasta from Lafayette House, of course) was today. K started getting really upset, so being the wonderful (ha) mother that I am, I slowly made my way over to her.

Me: What?
K: I have play-doh in my nose!!!!
Me: Really? How???
K: (visibly upset) I was trying to be funny but I put too much up there!!!!

I love life sometimes. :) Seriously, I couldn't stop laughing at her. She kept trying to pick it out of her nose, but had some much stupid play-doh on her finger that it just made it worse.

Needless to say, I never helped her. That's just not my style. I just helped her see the humor in the situation. There's still play-doh up there as I write this, but I just don't care.

Edited to add: I love my husband. He got me pizza from The Silo today. Thanks, D!!!!