Aulora Starts Ballet

She's been dreaming of this most of her little life.

Aulora started ballet lessons. And not just any ballet lessons.

Princess Ballerina lessons.

Really, that's what the class is.

Here's the only shot I was able to get inside the classroom. It was right before they started.

And this is a bonus shot of the princess ballerina in training eating a pea at dinner.

PS. Thank you to Gran and D who gave this class as a Christmas present!

Joshua's Third Birthday

Happy Birthday, Joshua! You may be three but as long as I'm living my baby you'll be!

His birthday was on Tuesday and I packed the day full. After taking the three big kids to school, Joshua and I went to Stone's Old Fashioned Donut Shop. It reminds me of a tea room. He picked out a donut with pink icing and we sat at a tall table on a couple of stools and shared a milk. Next we went to the store so he could pick out a small present. We bought a really fun animal game that we played with Aulora after she was done with school.

As soon as the oldest two were out of school we went to Chuck E. Cheese. (No crowds at 3:30 on a Tuesday!) After that was Aulora's first ballet lesson (soon coming post), dinner at Chickfila, and then home for presents and cake. It was just all of us and Grandmamma (my mom).

The first time he's ever really played air hockey.

No, he's not competitive at all. Where would he even inherit such a thing??

Julia was a patient teacher.

Cheese pizza!

John David helps him go up in the rocket ship.

Julia was his "buddy" for this Chuck E. Cheese trip. (The big kids take turns buddying up with Joshua when we go there. They do an incredible job!)

John David brought in the cake while we sang. It wasn't fancy but it was yummy! Joshua insisted on a "vanilla" cake even though all the other kids tried repeatedly to talk him into chocolate. They even resorted to telling him vanilla tasted like throw up. Gross! He didn't fall for it though.

There's always lots of help opening presents!

Julia gave him her Zhu Zhu pet she "wrapped" in a spider man lunch box. That child loves giving presents. He also received some interactive Toy Story books, shoes and beanbag toss from Granmamma and Dodie, a Thomas the Train set and dvds from Gran and D, and a game, Buzz sun glasses and Larry Mobile from Mommy and Daddy.

Looking back to that special day three years ago....

Turning Three

This little guy....

turned THREE yesterday!

Some birthday pictures will be coming soon.

These are just a couple of everyday pictures from painting.

(He prefers his face over paper.)

Story Time

It's nice to have more readers in the house now. Julia is an excellent reader now and she has definite teacher-ish qualities. In this picture the little ones are entertained with library books while I was able to finish cleaning up dinner.

Breaking the Silence

Christmas 2010

Soooo behind on posting.....I blame it on the holidays, John's surgery and ongoing recovery, massive amounts of ebay listings, lots of snow to shovel, and a subscription to Netflix for the first time ever.

Postings will be back to normal soon. Probably. Hopefully. Maybe. =)

Joshua's Trick

I didn't get any pictures on Thanksgiving, but I did manage to get this one lone video. The "trick" had already gone on a few times before I knew about it and this video is our attempt to get him to perform one more time.



When the kids were younger, we used to put marshmallows on their bellies or in their ears and have them lay very still. Then we'd tell our dog Pudge to get the treat. Too funny! I guess since Pudge now lives in Austin with my brother, we'll have to make do with my dad getting the treats. =)

Thistleberry Farm Trip

On October 30th, my parents and I drove about 5 miles to a local farm to have some fun with the kids. It turned out to be the neatest place!

Warning: This is a picture heavy post!

My dad took about 5 different shots, but Aulora was doing something weird in every single one.

We were trying to leave, but the girls just kept wanting me to take pictures of them.

The big guys did a Disney movie trivia corn maze.

Joshua and the girls did a storybook maze. After this small sampling of a corn maze, I'm pretty sure I will never want to do a normal one. I'm afraid I would get lost and never find my way out. The kids enjoyed themselves though.

Patiently hunting down the bunnies.

Still hunting....

The concession stand was a very important part of the day.

Julia befriended a very sweet kitty.

Being 10 is very tough.

Joshua's very first maze.

I think we may have found a new yearly tradition! (As long as we live around here, anyway.) If you're a local and haven't gone, you should!