Just Dance

Dance class is over. 

On the last day of class Sadie and Claire volunteered to show me some of their dance moves.

And when we got home that day Sadie made her face look like she'd been in a fist fight by putting pink stamp ink all over it

This week was recital rehearsal and the big recital itself. This picture of Sadie's cute class during rehearsal makes me smile.

The day of Sadie's recital she was in a bad mood and I was a little nervous she wouldn't go on stage. 

She actually did great during the first song.

Then they went back stage for 30 minutes until it was their turn to perform again. I didn't realize this was going to happen so I didn't talk to Sadie about how she'd be back there without her teacher or really any adults that she knew. In retrospect, I guess I should have gone back and said hi her. Apparently this time was traumatic for Sadie and she has since told me she whined for me the whole time. When they came out for their second number Sadie saw me and burst into tears. 

She danced while crying for a few minutes and then just ran off the stage:

She hugged me and then asked to go back on stage and finish the song. 

Dance was fun this year, but I think we'll wait to do more classes until next fall.

Just a tease?

Nielsullivan trip to the park

Elise & Quinn- Nielsullivan friends, the next generation

Elise tries to befriend every dog she sees. It makes her giggle when dogs bark.

This is Sadie deep in conversation with herself on a walk

Attempting to smell flowers in a neighbor's yard. Both girls ended up with pollen on their noses. At least they didn't pick the flowers?

I love when it is warm enough to play outside but there is still snow on the mountains

The weather has been so beautiful, but I am starting to worry that it is all a tease. I am sure we will see snow a few more times before Spring really comes. But for now we are going to head to the park every day and soak up as much of that long-lost sun as we can.

So I started this blog post 2 weeks ago, and then yes, it snowed multiple times last weekend. And everyone but me got a cold so I wouldn't let the girls play outside in it. The above picture of Lou may be in my top 5 favorite pictures of her. Who knows where she learned how to pose like that, but I do know the pose will serve her well for years to come.


PS- Spring is back in full swing this week

Coloring Incident

 Last week we had our first ever major coloring violation. I was surprised because I figured once Sadie turned 3 without ever coloring on something she shouldn't that it wasn't going to be an issue. But on this day she came running up to me and said she wanted to show me her "language". I turned the corner to find black dry erase marker all over the wall. I started scrubbing immediately and didn't think to take a picture until Sadie was finishing up the job. Magic Erasers took the marker right off. 

 We got a birthday package from Mimi and Paco for Daniel. The girls opened everything while he was at work, including the birthday window clings you can see behind Sadie's head. I had to hide the whoopie cushion because I got sick of blowing it up. That was Elise's favorite thing. Sadie cried when we put the small basketball into a bowl of water and it turned into a towel. Haha. 

When did Sadie start looking so grown up? 

And are you wondering when she decided it was time for summer clothes? Oh, that was a week ago when the highs were still 40 degrees.

After asking me about 50 times a day, I finally let her wear flip flops outside to dance class and the park. Temperatures have been in the 60's for us so even I might be wearing flip flops outside soon. 

DOI Round 2

Hillary bought the girls tickets to Disney on Ice for Christmas. In fact, she bought tickets for our whole family and herself. The main problem with Disney on Ice is that the show times generally conflict with nap or bedtime, so you just have to pick your poison. We chose to skip naps and off we went last Saturday morning. 

Elise loved every second of the first act and most of intermission. She danced along and clapped super enthusiastically. 

Then she fell backwards over the seats in front of us which started a downward spiral where she cried, whined, or was generally disruptive. Daniel took her out for the last 15 minutes.

 Sadie enjoyed nearly every second of the show as well.

 Until she dropped her plastic ring over the edge onto the seats below us with about 10 minutes left. Oops. 

Pre-ring incident

I got her to calm down and even felt a little bad for her until she screamed bloody murder when the show ended. Then I lost all sympathetic feelings and told her it was gone forever.  

 After my third Disney on Ice show I can admit I quite enjoy them. 

That's good, because I am sure we will be going to more in the future. 

The Golden Trophy

Every year at the library we have awards and an awards ceremony, much like the Dundie's except not nearly as entertaining. And it is only 3 awards. And the awards are voted on by all library employees. Anyway...

This year I was on the library awards committee. Last time I was on the committee I was 8 months pregnant with Elise and didn't help with anything. In fact, I didn't even attend the awards. This year, in an effort to spice up the ceremony and have some fun I made some pretty sweet awards to go along with the monetary reward each winner gets. 

I was trying to decide which vase to buy to turn into a cup award. I went with the one on the left.

I made 2 awards- the golden cup for the project of the year, which involved a team of people, and the golden book, which went to the employee of the year. This project required gorilla glue and gold spray paint. Glued the plastic handles onto the vase and the book onto the wood plaque and sprayed it gold. Bam.  

No one else seemed to think it was as funny as I thought it was. 

I volunteered to be in charge of the awards next year so I am thinking we'll turn things up a few notches. Entertainment? Drama? Suspense? I'll bring it all.

PS- Happiest of birthdays to old man Nielson. Celebrating the big 3-0. I almost forgot since he is in Chicago the rest of the week.

Goosey Goo

Elise gets called things like Goosey Goo--short for silly goose of course--more often than her actual given name. But she really is a silly goose. Her newest discovery is fake laughing. I need to get it on video because it is great. 

After church last Sunday Elise found the nutella sandwich that Sadie hadn't finished before church. Lou promptly set to work cleaning out all the nutella without eating any of the bread. She gutted it all while keeping the bread in tact. It was impressive, really.

Man, I love that little girl. 

Here she is dancing. You might think when she falls to the floor she is throwing a tantrum, but no, that is one of her signature moves.

Sadie Sings

This is one of Sadie's favorite songs:

This is Sadie's version. Warning: it is 4 minutes long, so feel free to skip to minute 2 or so. Enjoy.

Saturday is a special day.....

Saturday was a busy day. 

Lots of errands in the morning, including stopping by the Downeast Outfitters warehouse where the girls insisted on playing on this mattress, which was actually just a wood box set up on a nice bed frame that was for sale.

 Back home for lunch and naps. Yes, naps is plural. My kids both took naps for the first time in months. I'll forgive Sadie that I didn't get to take a nap because she was breathing all over my face and making me hot. The snuggling was fairly adorable.

 Then on to Daniel's final regular season game. Elise actually watched a lot of the time.

 Sadie played on the iPad approximately 100% of the time.

 UVU won the Great West regular season outright. The girls were excited to pose for team pictures with him.

 Okay, maybe I was excited to pose for pictures with him too. I love this picture even though we are all looking at a different camera.

Speciman of the Day: Hillary

This blog needs a shout out to a person who rarely gets mentioned, but who is in our lives a lot.

Who: Hillary Frances John Garcia Mendez Salazar Torres

Relationship: My youngest sister. 6 1/2 years my junior.

Nicknames: Hill, Larry, Hill-man, the most popular girl in school.

Family: Ben, her husband, and no children. Yet. She's turning 22 today so she should be popping out kids very soon, right?

Location: Right here in Orem, Utah. We get to spend lots of time with her.

Profession: Full-time student and part-time worker at BYU's independent study program (?). I don't actually know her exact title but I know she has worked her way up to a decent wage and she doesn't know her bosses last name. She does, however, know a lot of random facts about him and his family.

Allowing a 4-month-old Sadie to barf all over her

Generous: Hillary is so giving, sometimes to a fault. She wants to help everyone as much as possible and sometimes over-commits herself in the process. Just last week she was trying to figure out a way she could watch my kids for me when my babysitter fell through. Oh, never mind the fact that she had school and work to go to. During Hillary's freshman year of college she used to watch Sadie twice a week for free and then take me to lunch after. I was nice enough to allow her to do this.

Painfully Shy: She's actually not anymore, but when she was young she used to talk so quietly no one could hear her. Then she would also put her hands in front of her mouth so you couldn't read her lips either. She insists she was only shy around our family, but I have no proof otherwise.

Determined: When Hillary sets her mind on something she will generally make it work no matter what.

Egg dying- Easter 2012

Best Gift-Giver: I am counting down the years until Hillary our family in the John family Christmas present exchange. Christmas 2014 is going to be sweet!! Since she was young she has given awesome gifts. I feel bad though, because it's like, she can't stop now. Everyone expects great presents from her. (Just kidding Hill. You can stop giving awesome gifts whenever you want. I won't be too upset.)

Wicket Smaht: Like, seriously. Full 4 year scholarship to BYU. She is majoring in neuroscience with a minor in math (or is it logic?). Now she is struggling with the decision of what to do after her undergrad. It's really hard for someone who is brilliant and well-rounded, so she has lots of different interests and talents. Yeah, I'm gonna brag for a second: she placed in the 99th percentile on a practice LSAT.

Perpetual Loser: She tends to misplace things, namely, her phone. I text Ben when I am trying to reach her. This quirk is fascinating to me and just helps me to know she is human, and not completely perfect.

Dancing with Sadie at her wedding 

Thoughtful: I think a few years ago when I did a post about my whole family I said something along the lines of Hillary being the most inconsiderate, considerate person I know. That's what I said about her when she was a senior in high school and I actually didn't know her super well. I hadn't lived at home in 7 years. Now I know she is incredibly thoughtful and because she is so determined, she will stop at nothing to accomplish these generous and thoughtful things once she has decided to do them. Hillary is also thoughtful because she just thinks about/analyzes everything. She has thoughtful opinions on almost any topic you might bring up.

Sadie's 3rd birthday cake made by Hillary

Dessert Lover: I can always count on Hillary to eat dessert with me. She doesn't only love to eat it, she loves to make it. She did an independent study cooking class in high school with a family friend and she learned all kinds of delicious desserts. She has continued to make amazing food since then. And along those same lines...

Impressive Eater: Hillary can out-eat most of us if she wanted to. One time when I got home from work after she'd been babysitting she confessed that she had eaten a lot of peanut butter that day. I laughed at her and said, "how much?" She had eaten more than half of a large container! I was not upset in the least; I was impressed. I don't know how that much food fits in her tiny frame, but it does. It's just straight impressive.

Fun Aunt: Man, do I enjoy watching Hillary with my girls. My girls love Hillary and she loves them.  She gets down and interacts with them one-on-one.

 

Playing with Elise

She is always willing to play. She worries aloud to me about whether or not she will love her kids as much as she loves mine.

Sadie & Hillary's first meeting- August 2009

She definitely has a special relationship with Sadie. She spent so much time with her when she was young.

Playing with Lauren & Elise

Holding Lauren as a newborn- Sadie giving kisses

She makes such an effort to have a personal relationship with all of her nieces and nephews.  If I were to pay Hillary for all the hours of babysitting she has done over the past 3 1/2 years I would be thousands of dollars in her debt. Yet, Hillary still apologizes profusely if there is ever a time I ask her to sit and she can't do it.

Chasing Sadie when I was 8 months pregnant

Well-Rounded: Hillary is one of those girls that most people, especially women, are intimidated by. She is so beautiful, but also smart and capable. It's kind of unfair, but then when you get to know her you find out she is completely down-to-earth and fun.

I am so happy I have gotten the chance to live by Hillary for the past 4 years. She really is one of my best friends. Happy birthday Hill!

Feb Randoms

Some pics from the past month

Sleeping in the car with shades on

Crashing Sadie's friends' birthday party

Feet selfies while Mom was visiting teaching

A birthday party at Kangaroo Zoo

I really like this photo of my girls with the birthday girl, Anna

The face of someone who just got surprised with an iPad

What Sadie's hair looked like 4 hours after curling it. Pretty gosh darn good considering Sadie has extremely fine hair and I didn't put any hair spray in it. I am in love with my curling wand and I don't care who knows it. Not sure where Sadie came up with that grin.