Emily and I attended Ava's 2nd Dance Class Observation in December. I didn't get much footage. Emily wanted to join in the show and was difficult to restrain. We ended up having to leave our seats on the dance floor and go up to the viewing room just as the girls did their portion of "The Nutcracker", so I wasn't able to film any of the abbreviated performance. Emily was threatening to steal the show by running onto the floor and protested loudly when I tried to hold her back. I guess she felt that she'd earned her place out there by being Ava's practice partner at home. Oh well, here's what I got. Ava continues to enjoy her dance class. She's particularly fond of tap dancing.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Getting Ready for Christmas....and other December Happenings
Because I am so far behind on my blogging (it's February and I'm just getting around to December), I decided to combine the whole first half of December into one long slide show. There's a little bit of everything here; decorating the house, potty training Emily, Ava's Christmas program.
Note: Ava gets very excited when I turn on the camera. She thinks she's the star of her own webcast. She loves iCarly!
Note: Ava gets very excited when I turn on the camera. She thinks she's the star of her own webcast. She loves iCarly!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
November in a Nutshell...
November seems to have flown by! In addition to being away from home 3 out of the 4 weekends in November, we squeezed in Ava's 5 year check-up, dentist appointment, and parent-teacher conferences at school. The verdict: she's a healthy, bright (and slightly mischevous), cavity-free, "normal" 5 year old. Very good to know. Emily is growing up fast. I can't believe that she's almost 2! She adores her big sister and wants to imitate everything. You should see some of the stuff that Ava puts her up to! Actually, since Emily is talking more...you should hear some of the things that Ava has taught her to say! They are definitely keeping me on my toes now that they've figured out how to join forces and plot against me. : )
This month began with such beautiful, mild weather that we enjoyed playing outdoors in the final, lingering days of fall. We spent a day at the beach and the Great Lakes Science Center. I had hoped to take some pictures for our Christmas card, but my subjects were less than cooperative about posing, so I got some action shots instead. Huntington Beach always provides a gorgeous back drop for pictures, no matter the season.
In the second weekend in November, Ava and I took off with our friends Staycie and Anna (Ava's bff from school and dance class) to meet up with some other moms on our mommy board. Our first girl's weekend away! Woo hoo! Road trip! Mike stayed behind with Emily. Also a first...I knew that there was no way Miss Emily was getting any sleep with a 5 year old's slumber party happening in the hotel room. We had fun meeting the other moms, checking out the Erie Children's Museum, and swimming in the hotel pool. It was fun to see how excited the girls were about the whole experience and reminded me of those girl's weekends that I used to take with my mom and grandma and sisters. Definitely a tradition that I want to keep up!
Back home again, we began to gear up for the holidays with lots of talk about what we are thankful for. Emily and I attended Ava's Thanksgiving chapel at her school. The kids all make hats for the occasion. This year Ava's class were the turkeys. Last year they were Indians (well, warriors. It's not PC to call them Indians). There were also Pilgrims and Mayflowers. It was so cute to see all of the classes crowded into the chapel with their Thanksgiving headresses. We headed home to Indiana the weekend before Thanksgiving for an early celebration with my family, then down to Mike's parent's on Tuesday for a couple of days. We made it back to Ohio on Friday after Thanksgiving to find snow on the ground! The girls were psyched! We immediately had to put on our snow clothes and go "be" in the snow.(Ignoring our suitcases completely). And now it's December... half of the Christmas decorations are up (I'm sitting here blogging instead of finishing them right now), lists are made, Ava is vying for the position of Mary in the school nativity scene, and we're looking forward to a wonderful holiday season together. Hope all of you are enjoying your holidays too!
Here are the pics from November:
This month began with such beautiful, mild weather that we enjoyed playing outdoors in the final, lingering days of fall. We spent a day at the beach and the Great Lakes Science Center. I had hoped to take some pictures for our Christmas card, but my subjects were less than cooperative about posing, so I got some action shots instead. Huntington Beach always provides a gorgeous back drop for pictures, no matter the season.
In the second weekend in November, Ava and I took off with our friends Staycie and Anna (Ava's bff from school and dance class) to meet up with some other moms on our mommy board. Our first girl's weekend away! Woo hoo! Road trip! Mike stayed behind with Emily. Also a first...I knew that there was no way Miss Emily was getting any sleep with a 5 year old's slumber party happening in the hotel room. We had fun meeting the other moms, checking out the Erie Children's Museum, and swimming in the hotel pool. It was fun to see how excited the girls were about the whole experience and reminded me of those girl's weekends that I used to take with my mom and grandma and sisters. Definitely a tradition that I want to keep up!
Back home again, we began to gear up for the holidays with lots of talk about what we are thankful for. Emily and I attended Ava's Thanksgiving chapel at her school. The kids all make hats for the occasion. This year Ava's class were the turkeys. Last year they were Indians (well, warriors. It's not PC to call them Indians). There were also Pilgrims and Mayflowers. It was so cute to see all of the classes crowded into the chapel with their Thanksgiving headresses. We headed home to Indiana the weekend before Thanksgiving for an early celebration with my family, then down to Mike's parent's on Tuesday for a couple of days. We made it back to Ohio on Friday after Thanksgiving to find snow on the ground! The girls were psyched! We immediately had to put on our snow clothes and go "be" in the snow.(Ignoring our suitcases completely). And now it's December... half of the Christmas decorations are up (I'm sitting here blogging instead of finishing them right now), lists are made, Ava is vying for the position of Mary in the school nativity scene, and we're looking forward to a wonderful holiday season together. Hope all of you are enjoying your holidays too!
Here are the pics from November:
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Yard Work
I realize that it is now December, a mere 3 weeks and 2 days til Christmas, but I have gotten behind in my posting. So here are some clips of the girls helping with yard work this fall. Stay tuned for tree trimming pictures...I'll be working on those this weekend. Happy Holidays!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Halloween
Our neighborhood knows how to do Halloween right! Decorated lawns...tons of families out trick or treating...full size candy bars! Need I say more? Our family had a fun time on Saturday night. We had friends over for dinner and then everyone went out trick or treating while I stayed home and fried up donuts in the driveway then served em' with cider to the trick or treaters and hungry moms and dads. After a loop around the block, Emily didn't want to come home and Ava actually tried to head back out on her own to secure more candy. (She got into a little trouble over that one.) Here are the pics of the girls in their costumes (Ava as Mary Poppins, Emily as Dorothy Gale). The slideshow begins with our early trick or treat in Leesburg when we were there visiting a couple of weeks ago. The cowboys are my nephews, Riley and Hudson. And that adorable lil' piggy with the shiner is my one and only niece, Ella.
Pumpkin Carving
On Tuesday night we carved our jack-o-latern. Emily was feeling a bit under the weather, but she perked right up with an exciting new task at hand! She was fascinated with the "guts" and wanted to get her hands (and mouth) on just about everything that came out of our pumpkin. Yum. Cold pumpkin goo. Ava, as usual, was ever helpful in teaching her little sister "the ropes". She was adamant that our pumpkin be scary and "evil". Lovely. I drew three types of eyes, noses, and mouths on a piece of paper and let her circle which one I would draw on the pumpkin so that she could design him herself. She drew on the eyebrows for her own added touch.
Dance Class Observation
We returned from Indiana just in time for Ava's dance class. Good thing, because it was observation night! This year, Ava wanted to learn to tap dance. We found a dance school that teaches a ballet, tap, jazz combo class for her age group. Ava attends the class with her best friend, Anna. We were out of town for the last class, when her teacher announced that students should wear their Halloween costumes to observation night. Anna's mommy and daddy were out of town during the previous week also, so neither of us got the memo. Ooops. As you watch the clips, you'll notice our daughters are in leotard rather than costume.
I love Ava's dance class this year. It's the complete opposite of last year's dance school where everything was stuffy and formal and well...cold. This place makes dancing fun! I wish that I'd had more storage on my camera to capture more of the fun exercises given to the children to encourage movement and coordination. Even the music is better! Unfortunately the room was very crowded and moving about to capture a better shot of Miss Ava was out of this question. But here's what I have:
We saw their costumes for the Spring performance tonight...in all of their neon green sequined glory! They even have a little pillbox hat to accessorize. I'm excited!
I love Ava's dance class this year. It's the complete opposite of last year's dance school where everything was stuffy and formal and well...cold. This place makes dancing fun! I wish that I'd had more storage on my camera to capture more of the fun exercises given to the children to encourage movement and coordination. Even the music is better! Unfortunately the room was very crowded and moving about to capture a better shot of Miss Ava was out of this question. But here's what I have:
We saw their costumes for the Spring performance tonight...in all of their neon green sequined glory! They even have a little pillbox hat to accessorize. I'm excited!
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