tiny dancer

Today was the day...Grace's first dance class! Little girl was so excited to get dressed in her leotard, tights and dancing shoes. As the other little girls timidly left their mommies to make their way to the dance floor, she proudly led the pack. She may have spent a little too much time during the lesson looking to see if we were watching (even Daddy was able to swing an early lunch to come watch her first lesson...a happy surprise!), but she came home and repeated much of the lesson for me in the kitchen while I made lunch, so, apparently, she did retain everything.
Really, I have to ask, what dance lesson is complete without a Suri Cruise lookalike? (Check out the little dancer fourth from the left below or just to the right of Grace in the top photo.)
And also, what dance lesson is complete without learning the Chicken Dance?


We are now fully engulfed in extracurricular activities in our household. I guess it is finally time to hang a family calendar in the kitchen...otherwise, I know we're going to miss something. Oh, wait, we already did...Sam's soccer team development clinic...oops. One day, we'll get it all together...maybe...

Labor Day weekend in pictures

Yes, I'm fully aware that Labor Day was three full weeks ago. We've been busy, okay? :)

Sarah, Nate, Caleb and Graham arrived late Friday night to spend the weekend with us (and Mom and Dad who were already here). We kept it pretty low-key with our only outings being Sam's soccer practice and church. Other than that, we let the cousins play and just enjoyed each other's company. Oh yeah, and we threw Caleb's third birthday party in there, too. A few pics...

Grace and her Yeti, aka. Uncle Nate...
Uncle Nate was dubbed Yeti back in January after an extensive conversation between the two about a certain Backyardigans episode. It actually used to be even more entertaining, because either Grace or Nate would yell out, "YETI, YETI, YETIIIIII!" to the other and Caleb would chime in with "SPAGHETTI!!!"

cousins

getting ready for the party!

Caleb warming up to Molly...he was not such a fan when they first met


CALEB'S 3RD BIRTHDAY PARTY:

Graham loved his hat :)

Uncle Kris and Graham...hmmm, I may talk him into that third kid, yet :)

my new favorite spot in the house

I just completed this little display at the top of the stairs in our house. Well, ALMOST completed...I finally painted the little chest that I had stripped and left sitting in our garage eons ago. Now, seven years and one move later, I finally picked a paint color and got it finished and into the house...only, I seem to have misplaced the hardware that I had taken off oh so many years ago. If I had a local Anthropologie, I would probably have already bought new handles and have them on the thing. The fact that the closest one is in Cincinnati and that I have no plans to head up that way in the coming weeks, though, means that it sits handle-less until I come across the original glass hardware somewhere in some discreet spot in the garage or make it up to Cincinnati...whichever comes first. (I know what you're thinking...internet shopping...I know, I know...but I have a thing about picking that kind of stuff out in person.)

The prints on the wall above the chest are something I put together this week to showcase the birth dates of each of the kids. Since I pretty much suck at keeping a baby book (hello, why do you think I started blogging?), I thought these would be a nice keepsake for them to hang in their homes once they grow up and fly the coop. I've also made these available as custom pieces on my Etsy shop...click here to check it out.

the gadget queen

My little Lu has never met a gadget she couldn't figure out. She is constantly after my cell phone, my camera, the remote, etc. She even has the tv and dvd player in the living room figured out. So when her grandma happened to get up from her chair that happened to be sitting right in front of where her Aunt Sarah had set her phone, Grace immediately grabbed the spot. Here she is, pretending that she isn't about to call everyone she knows to tell them that she found an iPhone on her deck with a PINK case around it!

Bluegrass Driving Tour & Grandma & Papa

My parents arrived at our house with a few days to spare before Labor Day weekend.

One of those days, they took off by themselves and explored Berea for the day. That's something Kris and I have been meaning to do since we moved to KY, since the one time we ventured down there, we took the kids. We quickly learned that artisan centers and shops aren't really the best place to take two kids under 5! :)

Another of the days (on my day off), Mom, Dad, Sam, Grace and I decided to take the Bluegrass Driving Tour. We printed off the directions, packed some snacks and took off. It was really interesting and I learned so much more about where I live. I'm embarrassed to say that we really haven't invested enough time in learning about our current city. I actually want to do this tour again with Kris along for the ride next time, so he can see all the sights that were new to me on this tour. It was also nice to do, because you take your own vehicle and can stop wherever you want for as long as you want. Mom hopped out (well, as well as a lady with a bum knee can "hop"!) a few times to take a few pictures. Actually, we all hopped out at Thoroughbred Park to get a few pictures there, as well.


Other than a couple of tourist-y things, we just enjoyed a few quiet days with Grandma and Papa before Sarah, Nate and the kids arrived on Friday night. I'm not sure how I missed getting a picture of the kids playing Sequence with one grandparent or the other, but I'm pretty sure Dad is ready for a nice, long break from that game! :) I did get a shot of the group building with Lincoln Logs, though...another favorite past-time of the visit...


More to come on the rest of Labor Day weekend with the whole group of visitors...

walk, walk, walk

Molly and I have been enjoying our walks, lately. Maybe that's because we've been trying to get out there by ourselves here and there...without one 4-year-old, one 3-year-old, one wagon (loaded with stuffed animals and babies) and one tricycle slowing us down. We've been sneaking out after the kids are tucked into bed...*sigh*...too bad it's starting to get dark earlier and earlier. The other day, though, I asked the kids if they wanted to join us for a walk since we were heading out in the middle of the day. Grace said she wanted to come along, but Sam decided to stay home since he was totally into the construction he was "working on."

Thankfully, I had talked Grace out of bringing along her wagon and stuffed animals and babies this time. So, we're walking along and I'm constantly reminding Grace to keep up and she is constantly 5–8 steps behind me. When I hear her say, "Pretty!" I look back to see that she has picked a dandelion and a stem of dandelion seeds. Before she was about to blow the seeds away, she nonchalantly explains to me, "This one is the mama [the stem of seeds], and this one is the daughter. The mama is about to be dead and then the daughter will have to find a new mama." And then she blew the seeds into the air and threw the stem on the ground.

At least I know she won't be too broken up about it when it's my time to go! Geesh.

incriminating evidence

Went to pull pictures off the camera tonight and found a series that included this:


Hmmmm...I don't remember telling Sam he could play with my computer. Oh, yeah...and I ALSO don't remember taking this picture...I feel I need to give photo credit to our resident photographer, Grace, who LOVES to sneak my camera, snap a few shots and carefully return the camera where she found it.

breakfast conversation

The kids were sitting in their pjs with their stickers from their bananas proudly displayed on their shirts and were discussing what movie they might like to watch later in the day over cereal this morning. Grace at first voted for "Happy Feet", but then quickly added, "But Sam is scared of the seal who chases Mumbo...so maybe we need to watch something different."

And Sam, always quick to define his fears, explained, "Well, the seal REALLY likes sausage and God made Mumbo out of sausage, so that's why he's chasing him."

So penguins are made out of sausage...you learn something new everyday...

music to our ears...

Okay, maybe not...



I'm admitting it...I regret the decision to buy the rubber chicken.

School!

This week marked the beginning of preschool. I signed Sam up last spring and placed Grace on the waiting list at the same school and crossed my fingers for the summer. As the first day approached, I called the director to inquire about a possible opening for Grace, but...no luck. So, we prepared Sam for the big day and prepared Grace so she would be ready as she sent her big brother off to school and had to stay home alone (with a babysitter, of course!).

The big day arrived and we gave Sam his new Hot Wheels snack bag and off we went to drop him off for the first day. As we stood in the hall waiting for the door to the Orange Room to open, Sam excitedly showed his friend, Collin, his new snack bag and explained to him that those cars go really, REALLY fast because they have HOT WHEELS!

Ready for school!!

When the door opened, Grace gave Sam a big hug goodbye and went home with Miss Cara while Kris and I headed off to work. An hour after I arrived at work, my cell rang. I recognized that the number was the preschool and I was a little nervous to answer...I feel really bad, but my first thought was, "He's only been there an hour! How could he have gotten into trouble already!" I know, I know...have a little faith, right? It's just so hard given Sam's track record with a "school" setting. Daycare centers were an awful situation for him, so I was a little nervous about him getting back into a school setting, but was optimistic about sending him into a class of 10 students with two teachers as opposed to a class of 24 students with two teachers.

So, anyway, my cell phone rings and I answer with a timid, "hello?" And the very pleasant and happy voice of Ms. Sharon, the director at the preschool, asks, "Erin, are you still interested in getting Grace into school? Because it looks like we have an opening in the Yellow Room!"

I was relieved and THRILLED at the same time! Grace was so excited when Kris told her the news that night. Thursday morning, we got her ready to go. I didn't get to get a picture of her with her bag like Sam because she didn't receive her bag until she got to school since she never got to have a visitation day. And her class doesn't allow snack bags because they handle snacks for the group instead of individually. But she was pretty darn excited to take one of her favorite books as her share item for the morning. Her teacher said she had a great day and seemed really happy to be in school.

Our little tomboy on her first day of school...no pretty dresses here...jeans and tennis shoes were insisted upon...at least the sweatshirt is pink with a ruffle *sigh*

No tears out of this mama...just happy that the first week of school was a success!

it's about that time...for organized sports

Well, we figured it was about time to teach Sam to focus his ridiculous amount of energy into something that teaches him to use it to work toward a goal. Literally. Sam started soccer two weeks ago.

And while Mom and Dad could really deal without the politics that make up a youth soccer program, it really has been great for the boy, thus far.

He does seem to be getting the hang of the sport. He has had two practices and the big event happens this coming Saturday...the Vipers' first game! I really hope, though, that he won't start taunting his opponents in the U5 program...since he has already practiced that on his coach at his first practice:

back to routine

We've had family visiting for the past 6 days. My parents got into town last Tuesday night and my older sister and her family arrived on Friday night. We had a great visit. Everyone packed up and headed out this morning and I have been busy stripping beds, cleaning up and getting laundry started. Time to get back to the normal routine, I guess! Although, we ran into a snag this weekend, so I'm not quite sure what normal routine will be, yet, moving forward. I'll elaborate later and post on some of the happenings of the visit as well as Sam's first two soccer practices and his upcoming first day of preschool. We've been busy!