Monday, February 14, 2011

Movie Night

February 4th, 2011

It was movie night tonight and Julia and I watched Harry Potter 3.  She had finished the book awhile ago and I promised she could see the movie.  Ariana hasn't finished the book yet so she could watch the movie.
Ariana and Trevor had a daddy daughter night while Julia and I had a mommy daughter night.  Ariana played Epic Disney on the Wii and Trevor organized the DVDs and Wii games.  She ask him to play the game when she got stuck.  Julia liked the movie but said the book was much better.  The movie left out a lot of stuff.  She was glad I made her read the book first.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Ballet Tea Party

Feb 4, 2011

It was the Ballet Tea Party this afternoon and we had two sick ballerinas.  Ariana had stayed home from school the day before and Julia had come home early from school not felling well.  As the day progressed and the medicine kicked in Ariana felt great and Julia felt a little better.   They put on their best smiles and dance at the Tea Party Show.  You couldn't even tell they were under-the-weather.  They looked so adorable with their hair in perfect buns doing plies and jumps and turns.  It was a beautiful show and we all enjoyed it.

Breakfast for Dinner

February 2011,

It was getting late in the afternoon and I noticed I didn't take anything out for dinner.  I didn't know what to cook.  I started looking around in the freezer and fridge.  Then I spotted bacon.  I decided to make breakfast for dinner.  The kids LOVE when I do this.  I started cooking the bacon and got the egg mix ready for the french toast.  Mmmmmmmm.  After a little while I heard Ariana come running up the stairs yelling, "It is that bacon I smell!?"

Yep, bacon, scrambled eggs, and french toast for dinner.   All our tummies were very happy.

Report Cards

January 2011,

Julia started a new semester at school and now has gym and art.  She finished the second semester on a high note, all A's and one B+.   For the semester grades she received all A's!  Woo Hoo!  Way to go Julia.  We are so very proud of her.  :)

Julia is also tying to earn herself a phone.  We told her she needs to keep her grades up and do her responsibilities around the house.  She needs to be more responsible at home.  Having a phone is about responsibility.  It is also expensive.  It's like paying for another dance class each month.  We told we are not going to bring up the subject of the cell phone again.  She will need to come to us and tell us why it will be beneficial to us for her to have a phone.  After we told her that, she looked confused.  lol  I am curious to see what she will come with.  She did start trying to be more responsible.  She shoveled some snow and brought in the garbage cans, once.  Now if she will start doing the dishes like she is suppose to.  :)

Also when I picked her up from dance she told me that a boy walked out with her because she asked him to.  Oh man, we are in trouble!!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

My BDay

January 22, 2011


It was my birthday today so I guess I am a year older.  I don't feel older so that is good.  The girls had ballet rehearsal today and Julia was invited to her friend's birthday party.  She wasn't going to go because it was on my birthday.  I told her I would be sad if she didn't go so she better go and have fun.  We were having dinner with some friends later in the evening, so Ariana was going to her grandparents' house for the night.   Ariana wanted to spend some time with me before dance so I brought her shopping with me.  I met Renee and my mom for lunch.  Then Renee, Ariana, and I went to the mall to go shopping for mom's birthday gift.  Later after we dropped the kids off at dance, Trevor and I met some friends for dinner at Pepino's.  Dinner was great and we all had a wonderful time.


The next day, Ariana went to her cousin Alec's hockey game and stopped by his house afterwards.  When mom and dad and Ariana were getting ready to leave, they told the boys they were going to my house to have cake and ice cream. Well now Brenden, Alec, and Devin wanted to have cake too but they couldn't go.  It was Sunday and they were gone all weekend and I don't live just down the road.  So my dad did the next best thing.  He went to the car and got out the cake Ariana and her grandma had made the night before.  Then they called me and sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone.  I thought that was great!


On the way home Ariana had to call me because she was upset and missed me.  I talked to her for a bit and cheered her up.  When she came home I gave her a really big hug.  When I was tucking her in that night, she told me she had a hard time falling asleep the the night before.  She wanted to come home but didn't want to tell grandma and have grandma feel bad.  So she just cried and eventually fell asleep.  I told her it was okay and that she should have told Grandma.  Ariana said she was sad because she didn't get to tell me our special goodnight saying.  Every night before she goes to bed she always tells me:


Goodnight, sleep tight,
Don't let the bed bugs bite,
Let the ladybugs hug and kiss you.
You are the best mommy ever,
And you are my only mommy.
You are the best mommy in the whole wide world,
And I love you.


This saying started years ago.  I think she was about two or so.  It started with only: goodnight sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite, let the ladybugs hug and kiss you.  Then over the years it evolved to the other sayings as well.


Tonight though she added to it.  She said that she thought I was really special.  I told her I thought she was really special too.  Then Ariana said, "You're special because I wouldn't be here without you!"  She is just so sweet.  I just want to bottle her up and keep her young forever.  Since I can't do that, I will just keep writing about our happy enjoyable moments so I don't forget them.

Dance Convention

January 10, 2011


It was dance convention weekend and of course it snowed, and snowed, and snowed.   The convention was in Lansing and it worked out great because we got to stay with our friends.    I also finally got to show Julia the State Capital.  She never got to go on the 4th grade school trip to Lansing because they cut it out the year she was in 4th grade.  We didn't go inside because we didn't have time but we did drive by.


We had a great weekend hanging out with our friends.  Trevor and Ariana joined us on Saturday.  Rachel and Mike took us on a tour of MSU while we were in town, trying to turn us into Spartans.  I have to admit, MSU has a really nice campus and the East Lansing is a very nice place.  And I do like the color green.....


At the convention Julia was picked by Dance Dynamics to be a Showcase Dancer for her age group.  One dancer per dance school was picked for each age group.  She was thrilled to have been chosen and we were so proud of her.


It was a long weekend of dancing but well worth it.  Julia had a great time dancing and we enjoyed being with our friends.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Another Year

It's the start of a new year so it is time to reflect on the previous year and make resolutions.  I feel I had a great 2010.  Yeah, there were some down times but there were many more up times.  I had some wonderful times with Trevor, Julia and Ariana over this past year.  We had some great family times this past summer at the beach, hanging out in the pool, going for bike rides, and enjoying life.  Trevor and I had an awesome time in Washington DC this past fall and we all had a blast ice skating at Campus Martius this winter.  I want to continue that trend into 2011.


One goal is to do at least one family outing a month.  There are some fabulous places I want to take the kids: the science museum, the natural history museum, the Henry Ford, Greenfield Village, DIA, planetarium, the zoo, Ann Arbor Hands on Museum, Cranbrook, Cosi Science Center, the State Capital, and many more but that is all I can think of off the top of my head.


I also want to take more pictures. Imagine that, me wanting to take more pictures.  I want to go on more day photo excursions.  I want to have an excursion once a month.  I had such a wonderful time taking Ariana to Holland last October and spending the day with her just taking pictures.  It is something I will treasure forever.  I also want to take Julia on one of those trips.  I will just have to work it around her dance schedule.


We have lots of things to look forward to this year: skiing at Boyne this February, watching the girls durning their ballet tea party in February and dance show in May, going to the west side of the state and hanging out at our favorite beach,  playing in our pool, enjoying the blooms of all the beautiful tulips I planted, summer BBQs, bike rides through the neighborhood, smelling the bloom lilacs, relaxing with a nice bottle of wine from our favorite Michigan vineyard, enjoying the sunsets, and maybe even seeing a few sunrises.  It is also Trevor and my 15 year anniversary and we are hoping to do something special.  Maybe a trip in NYC?????


I intend to enjoy 2011 and make it the best year yet!  I'll keep blogging so I can look back and remember all the fun, silly, and crazy things we did and said.  Happy New Year!!!!