dance class

the parents were invited to observe a dance class of e's a few days before christmas. it was a perfect christmas present!

they start with washing their hands and grabbing a mat. then they sing a welcome song and call attendance. when your name is called you get to jump up and sit down. we heard, "elena" and she jumped up and sat right down in one motion. she must have jumped a little extra hard cuz momentum took her face right to the floor when she sat down. :(

within 2 minutes of the very first observable class, my baby had a mouth and chin full of blood and a big 'ole fat lip! :(

after some tears, hugs and an ice pack she returned to dance...

of course she still grabbed that ice pack QUITE OFTEN throughout the class...

and of course hammed it up when it was asked of her...

the girl can dance... ;)

her lip must have hurt cuz she really kept at that ice pack throughtout the class...

lanie's class is for 3 year olds...turning 4. the teachers do really really well with them. the first semester has been more of a sing and dance combination...

they had some real cute activities and all the girls followed direction real well!

this second semester will start to focus on actual dance steps...

e's dance class from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

"I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance." ~George Balanchine

bulls game

j and i actually had a night away, mid december. we headed to chicago to see 'da bulls.' nosebleeds, of course... ;)
we brought j's brother, doug and his gf, adrienne...
we used to see the bulls quite often, but this was our first time back since 2003!
they ended up losing by ONE. booo. but we had a great time and the united center is always such an exciting atmosphere.
after we met my brother, tony, and headed out...
where we only drank the 2 oz's in those shot glasses and i danced no less than 3 hours. :)


"The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend." ~Chuck Palahniuk

wrestling meet

a few weeks ago we headed to one of my brothers' wrestling meets. high school wrestling is always exciting of course, but the girls can't wait to get the mat to themselves.
ad pinning uncle t-bone...the student becoming the teacher...and i'm hoping my baby's not picking up any fungi.
take down for adelyn...perfect somersaut for elena...
adelyn didn't want to pose for any pictures...
she was loving the mat too much...
but we sure had fun playing on the mat. oh, and watching my brothers' team, ahem, number one ranked in the state, wrestle.

"I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures." ~Earl Warren

christmas with family

on the 12th day of christmas my true love gave to me...

[my side on christmas eve]
12 hundred presents...(we literally had to move furniture)
11 beautiful people (my grandparents already left :( )...and i'm not biased at all...
10 pair of eyes on 1st-xmas-at-our-house natalie opening the very first gift (lol, we're mean like that)...
9-ty minutes til disaster (you'll see on the first day of christmas)...

8 hands tearing wrapping paper...
7 princesses to be unwrapped for 2 special girls...
6teen years til she can have her own pair...
5 different kinds of wrapping paper on my mom's gift (from my dad, wrapped by my dad)...
4 wine-o's drinking malt wine (very yummy)...
3 people fighting over "wearing" the crown (you stand in the mirror and it apears that the crown is on your head)...
2 cool cats (too cool to show teeth to the camera)...
and a very tiiiiiired and sick girl. :( adelyn caught the flu at the santa party and projectile vomited while we were opening gifts. our daushand, leo, was laying peacefully on the floor and happened to catch a good portion of the vomit all down his wiener body. don't worry, i won't tell you how he then started to eat the vomit. our poor little ad who loves going up and down my parents' stairs was even too tired and sick to make it up and down but a 100 times...usually it's about 750 times. :(

on the 12th day of christmas my true love gave to me...

[jason's side on christmas day]
12 tries to take this picture... 11 million markers and crayons...
10 minutes to take this picture...
9 times or more trying to put a puzzle together...
8 tries with mommy's christmas present (yes, i got a hula hoop for christmas - that story coming)...
(not to be out done) 7 more tries for little adelyn...
6ty-four candels should be on this cake (merry birthday mike)...
5 more months until they can wear these adorable handmade skirts...
4 tired family members full of christmas spirit...
3 awesome dudes...
2 hips-a-workin' (now ya all know why i married him! you go hunny!)...
and a little girl definitely still NOT feeling iiiiiiiit...


"and a partridge in a pear tree..." - Twelve Days of Christmas

21 months

move over christmas...adelyn ann is twenty one months old today!!! here are just a few things about you, adelyn, at 21 months old...

- you sure are miss independent.
- you know what you want and how to get it.
- you love love love to cuddle and be held.
- you are very tickelish.
- you have very good manners. you've been saying 'please' and 'bless you' for awhile now, but just the week of christmas did you start saying 'thank you.' perfect timing.
- you love books. it's been a gradual affair. and you are finally loving it and could sit for hours reading. by yourself or being read to.
- you want whatever your sister is playing with. at that same exact time.
- you are very impulsive...and kinda look for trouble.

you tried and empty the vaseline tubs...you had gobs of it hanging off your face and hands, not to mention all you had on your clothes and hair.
you tried and empty the tape...
you'll empty drawers...
you empty out our books and 'read' them...
emptying the kleenex...
- you love to play dress up, read and play games.
- your favorite games are duck duck goose and ring around the rosie.
- you know your colors to pick them out ("find the red bird"), but only sometimes verbalize them.
- you love all the christmas lights outside. you yell, "lights" over and over and over everytime we are in the car.
- you know all kinds of animal sounds. your favorites are the gorilla and elephant.
- you still have a bleach blonde stripe of hair and a hazel stripe amongst your big blue eyes.
- it takes you no less than 7 minutes to put a shoe on your barbies, but you refuse help and are so proud of yourself. this is the case with many things.
- you can put your boots on yourself, but rarely get the right feet. you love to get your shoes on, come to me with your coat and say "bye bye mommy...mommy, bye bye?!"
- your a little antagonist. you love to do the slow push. and you'll also lightly tap and gradually increase pressure so that you're eventually hitting.
- you take time out's like a champ, but are very very slow to apologize. unfortuantely you come by that naturally.
- you love to play with game/puzzle pieces, barbie accessories or any other teeny tiny collectibles that get lost easily.
- you speak in 2-4 word phrases.
- you answer with a very clear "yeah" or "noooo" when asked a question.
- you get very excited easily, especially for food. and you literally shake with excitement. it's really cute!
- you still are not consistently sleeping through the night. for the last 3 months you have sporadically been waking up in the middle of the night...and screaming bloody murder.
- you have the best smile and laugh and just really love to have fun. we are definitely laughing with you every day!

happy 1 3/4 years sweet ad!!! we love you so much!!!


"Childhood is a promise that is never kept." ~Ken Hill