Dance Recital

This year Joshua took a preschool movement dance class at the dance studio where I teach, so he was in a recital during the Mother's Day weekend.

We were nervous that he wouldn't even make it onto the stage, but in the end he did it! And it turned out it was a little harder to get him OFF the stage than on it! Anyways, there were 2 performances so we put both up on here, cause you just never know what you're going to get with 3 year olds! He is the one in fluorescent green.

Check out our little fishy...or sea turtle, in action!

The first is the saturday performance....



He keeps looking offstage because I was in the wings cheering him on.

And here is the 2nd performance...




Well.... he has some potential, right? ha ha
Pretty priceless though.




He was so cute and so proud of himself!
And we were so proud of him!

Claire came to the recital too and helped me backstage...she even wore her tutu!
Here are some pics we took when we got home.



And here are a couple of recital dances from the classes I taught and choreographed this year....
They were taped on an angle, so it's kinda hard to see the formations. The theme of the recital was "Planet Earth".

The first is my advanced tap class dancing to "Proud Mary" - they were supposed to be a river.

The second group dancing to "Heat Wave" is meant to be just that.... a heat wave.
Both classes did an awesome job :) It's great teaching these kids. I have watched them improve immensely throughout the year.

The Tulip Festival

Our computer is fixed so I'm finally posting some new pics! YAY!!! I thought a slide show would be the best way to show our fun trip to Holland, Michigan to the Tulip Festival. We met up with Doug and Sharon and their kids in Holland, which is about 2 and 1/2 hours from our house. The weather started out really nice and we had a good time in this little Dutch Village, but then it got cold and nasty and we still hadn't gone to the tulip farm, which was supposed to be the best thing to see. So we decided to wait out the storm inside the shops until they were about to close and kicked us out, then we headed over to the tulip farms. The weather had NOT improved...in fact, it was probably worse. It was freezing cold, pouring rain, and windy! Doug and most of the kids decided to stay in the car, but we were determined....we'd come all this way, darn it all we were going to see tulips! So we trekked through the tulip fields...well, RAN really! Up and down the rows. They had given us a piece of paper with the names of every tulip out there, and you could check off the ones you liked to order bulbs. So you have to imagine Jason and I running through these fields in the pouring rain, baby Claire strapped to me with the baby bjorn and 2 blankets over her (she was not happy, but eventually fell asleep), Jason holding the umbrella over us and stopping periodically to write on the paper with my back as the writing surface, me holding the umbrella over the soaking wet paper, and Josh and big Claire - the troopers they are - following us behind without a single complaint. Call us stubborn, but we just had to see those tulips. But the funny thing is that when you look at the pictures you'd never even know it was overcast...they turned out beautiful. So I guess it was all worth the misery...uh, maybe.

Busted

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't put any new pics up in awhile. Our computer is completely busted (the good one), and unfortunately it has all of our pictures on it, so hopefully we will be able to salvage what is on it. But in the mean time, hang tight and I will get some new pictures up asap! I have a bunch of new ones and a few videos to add as well. Jason is working like a madman trying to get his thesis done. It's crunch time and he is very stressed and we're all feeling his pain. So lately he works late into the night and I've been a one-man (er... woman) show, but we've been doing ok. I have to say that I have a huge amount of respect for single parents out there. You are amazing! Just to update everyone, Claire has reached several milestones in the last couple of months! She got her 2 first teeth on the front bottom, is crawling everywhere and exploring her newly attainable world, and pulls herself to stand to cruise along everything she can...the ottoman, the fridge, the stove, anything that is higher than her chest and gives her some leverage! This has resulted in quite a few bruises as she falls straight backwards onto our hardwood floors (hitting the same spot on her head! Poor thing.), as well as some bruises on her face from falling both forwards and sideways, and 2 bloody noses. But she's no sissy... the girl is tough and keeps coming back for more! Also, I now have to be extra vigilant with cleaning because she has developed quite the pincer grasp and is putting even microscopic things in her mouth as she explores her new world. Josh is getting good at separating Claire-friendly toys from choke hazards, which is good because he is suddenly a huge fan of board games and all the little pieces they encompass. Josh has begun to expand his repertoire of ONLY trains to cars, coloring books, and puzzles. He still plays with his trains, but not with the same zeal. I have to say that it's actually sad for me to see him leave this obsession behind. The weather has begun to get reliably nice and I might actually get up the nerve to put away the winter hats this week...yes, in June. But there's Michigan for you! I started my vegetable garden on memorial day and in less than a week I have sprouts for everything! Although a critter or some sort did nibble my tomatoes. I'm hoping they will survive. Anyways, I love you all and hope you're doing well. Keep checking for new pictures! I'll do my best to get them on here soon for everyone!

Look at our pretty little girl!

Isn't she beautiful? I may be biased, but Claire is such a pretty little girl! We took these pictures in our backyard when the weather was warm. She gets so excited when we're outside and the wind is blowing on her face!! She laughes and kicks her legs!

Claire is so close to crawling! She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth like she's about to crawl, then she falls foreward.

"I found a worm."

Today I was washing dishes in the kitchen and Josh was playing outside. He came in and announced "Mom, I want to pee in the grass." So, I did what every mother would do. I said "Ok." It was raining anyways. Josh explains the rest....

This was my view from the kitchen window....heaven only knows what the neighbors were thinking!

Yes, he did in fact find a worm.

Josh's haircut

Jason and I gave Josh a haircut today that was LONG overdue! We used the clippers and everything....our first time using them on Josh. We usually just tag-team him with the scissors distracting him with some smarties and a Thomas movie. It went surprisingly well, and he was very excited to be getting a big boy haircut with the clippers just like Daddy does. He even wanted some gel in his hair so it could be spikey just like Daddy's! We had fun doing this little photoshoot. The kid is a pretty handsome devil....in some pics he just looks like a little devil!

Egg Hunt

Our Easter egg hunt was pretty interesting this year with all of the snow!
Wherever the Easter bunny hid an egg it left a pool of color...like a snow cone. :)

Jason started a snowball fight with Josh.... don't hit Claire!

Oops! haha :)

Claire loves her daddy!

It's always been a tradition in my family to have an "egg war". Two people each choose

an egg and then after counting to 3 they smash the eggs together at the tip. The egg left unsmashed is the winner! The game continues until there is only the winning egg left. Here Josh is learning the ropes...he ended up winning the entire contest - a natural!