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.