Dance Recital 2014

 Lexi's dance recital was the first weekend in May this year. She had two numbers - tap and ballet. While she got a little stage fright and had trouble remembering her dances in a new environment, she looked DARLING in her costumes!

Her new studio has all the girls in full makeup (so the stage lights don't wash them out). Lexi's reaction to having to pile on this much makeup for the first time was priceless: "Mom, why are you putting all this makeup on me? I'm already beautiful!"  #humble

 Tap costume: the song title was perfect. They truly were "Little Bitty Pretty Ones" 

While she liked the costume for her Tap dance, the Ballet costume made her tiny dancer heart soar. She loved this white sparkly piece of perfection so much I think I am going to put wings on her back and have her wear it for Halloween this year as an angel! 

Ballet: "Me and My Shadow" - the black and white costumes were beautiful and the girls were darling. 

Don't you just love Kindergarten ballerinas?

Great job at recital, Lulu! 

Run Fast . . . .

 Oh the Prairie Fire Half Marathon. I had been alternately dreading and anxiously awaiting this day for the past 6 months. Last Fall, I had been training for a half marathon but got seriously sidelined with an IT band injury (if you haven't had one, it feels like everything from your hip to your knee cap is going to snap from tightness and it makes your knee caps pop pretty painfully). I worked my way back over the winter and thanks to some amazing running divas/mentors/friends, I was race day ready.

No one expected the high to be 100 degrees on May 4th. I was hydrating like CRAZY in the days prior and driving my husband insane with my constant babble about how nervous I was.  

What if I quit again like I did during a training run at 11.7 miles? 

What if it's windy? 

What if I fall?

Is it ok to start crying at mile 8? I will definitely be crying by mile 12. 

What if my knee injury comes back? 

What should I wear? 

 The morning of:

 I know I am smiling, but inside I wanted to throw up from nerves.

The race went pretty well, all things considered; certainly not the fastest I could have gone, but I wasn't about to push it with the heat/humidity/wind combo Kansas delivered me that day. I laced my shoes too tightly and had to stop at mile 4 because my foot went numb, but after that was fixed I had full feeling in my feet. I stopped at EVERY SINGLE WATER STATION because it was crazy hot. I tried to to smile for the cameras, but mostly it looked like a grimace. My knee held out (PRAISE ALL THINGS HOLY!) and I was able to cross that big, beautiful finish line in under 2 hours (1:58:42 to be exact), which had been my only goal going in to this race.

 My incentive package from my running girls was also helping me keep up my 9 minute mile pace. You can put one foot in front of the other when you know double stuff golden oreos (my personal fave) are on the line.

Easter 2014

Wow . . . 41 days off the blog! That's got to be some kind of terrible record for me. So let's just play a little catch up, shall we? 

Easter weekend was PACKED with activity this year! 

Saturday morning, Paul and I ran the Easter Sun Run 10k. Mom and Dad (Nana and Papa) brought the girls down to cheer us on from the finish line. Emma thought it was SO COOL when her daddy gave her a high five when he ran past her. I would have, but I was ready to die after letting Paul (aka Long Legs McSpeedy) pace us. I can now say that I am the proud owner of a 51 minute 10K personal record (that's an 8:13/mile) and that I never, ever want to run with him again. I love him with my whole heart, but my legs wanted to fall off after that race. 

Easter Sunday we made plans to meet my sister at Magdalen for Mass at 8 a.m. - she was coming from Augusta and I insist on an early Mass on holidays, so it worked out well. We got the girls up early and they found their Easter baskets (stuffed with new books, a new shirt each, matching nightgowns, and Barbie each, and one chocolate bunny . . . the Easter Bunny kind of rocked it out this year). 

 A few precious PEACHY pictures later  . . . .

 and we were off to Easter Sunday Mass. 

After church, everyone headed back to my parents house and the kiddos had a few (dozen) Easter egg hunts in the yard. As you can tell from the photos, my hiding technique is somewhat lacking. I prefer to just scatter the eggs. No one under the age of 6 was complaining.

The cousins had a great time playing and being silly, too! 

And to end our fab weekend - Miss Emma FINALLY was deemed fully potty trained! The deal was that when she was a big girl and no longer going in her diapers, she would get to have her new doll house that Grandma Kay had given her for Christmas! We are so proud of Emma!

3-0 sick-o

There is no photographic evidence of it, but I turned 30 last week. I had been experiencing extreme, life-crippling dread for weeks months prior and gave very specific instructions that no big deals or gestures were to be made. Everyone humored me (and only made a small deal out of my birthday) and I very much expected that I would turn the big 3-0 calmly, quietly, and with the grace befitting someone of my advanced age.

But sometimes my plans don't work out. On Wednesday night, the night of my birthday, Emma started throwing up while I was trying to put her to bed. My poor girl was up until past 3:00 a.m. heaving. I ended up sleeping on her floor because she is still so little and you can't really just hand an (almost) 3 year old a barf bucket and wish them well, you know? I woke up the next morning with the realization that my 20's were TRULY over: I hurt everywhere from sleeping on the floor. I seriously used to be able to sleep comfortably anywhere - cars, desks, floors, stairwells. But no more.

I stayed home from work Thursday to help Emma (and my old lady back) recuperate.

On Saturday, I celebrated overcoming my fear of being 30 by running 11 miles that morning and then ice skating with Lexi for an hour and a half. More old lady hurts happened that day, but I felt pretty good; a yucky start to the decade, but I wasn't going to let a little illness mess with my new mature outlook. But what also happened that day was Paul got sick. He got home from running and looked like death with a side of awful - pale, clammy, white lips, swaying slightly. Oh yes - he had gotten sick. He was down for the count through Sunday morning.

And Sunday morning was exactly when Lexi started throwing up. 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, to be exact. So sweet Lexi slept, shivered, and "spit" (what my kids call throwing up - ???) her way through all of Sunday.

I told Paul that I am distinctly underwhelmed by turning 30. Out of the 5 days since I turned 30 - 4 of them have involved cleaning up vomit. None of it my own. So, I guess that means it's all uphill from here? right?

Emma's Prayers

I was checking a few emails and I could hear Emma babbling - when I went to check on her, she was just repeating her Angel of God prayer over and over. Paul has been working on this prayer with her before bedtime every night, and I would say she has got it!

Being the type of mom I am (crazy obsessed with filming them), I quickly grabbed my phone to record her prayerfulness.

She gets a little camera shy, so you really have to listen. You also really have to ignore the fact that she is still in her nightgown (this kid LIVES in her jammies). Also ignore the fact that she has taco soup all over her face . . . I'm just happy she had been eating because that is never a guarantee with Emma Jo.

Ice Skating Update

My little girls are still loving their ice skating lessons. Emma sometimes wakes up in the mornings (around 5:00 a.m. . . . . ) and the first question out of her mouth is "We go skating today?"

They look forward to it all week, and honestly so do I! They are both doing really really well - Lexi taught herself to skate backwards yesterday. Emma manages to stay on her skates (not the ice) about 75% of the class time, which is amazing considering she isn't even 3 yet.

As promised, here is a video of Lexi skating:

 

She's the little one in all purple. My favorite part is the half spin and backwards skate towards the end.

Ice Skating Adventures

Here at the Holding House, we tend to get Olympics fever. By "we" I, of course am referring to myself and Alexis. Paul is mildly interested, but he just wants to know the outcome, not watch the full event. Emma is a toss-up, as always - sometimes she'll watch, sometimes she could not care less. 

Lexi and I have been INVOLVED with these Olympics. After watching the opening ceremony, she made her own American flag and taped it to a pole so she could also be a flag bearer. She understands the process and the medal count (I was even awarded a gold medal for 'treadmill' one night!) 

 

From the very beginning of the opening ceremonies she was hooked: the ski jumping, downhill everything, skeleton, bobsled, and most importantly the skating. Oh the skating! Lexi was enthralled! She could quote scores the next day. 

I have been letting her stay up until 8:20 every night (such rebels, we are!) to watch. It has been so entertaining listening to her gasp and say "Oh my!" during the performances. My favorite has been when she yelled, "Are you kidding me?" when one of the skaters fell after a jump - she told me "This is the Olympics - you aren't supposed to fall during the Olympics. Save that for practice!" 

Well after a few moments of watching figure skating, Lexi asked me if she could grow up to be a figure skater. I told her she could, but she would have to learn how to ice skate. Turns out, you can do that here! I ended up signing BOTH girls up for lessons and we had our first session yesterday. 

I was apprehensive about how they would adapt. Paul couldn't come, so my parents accompanied us and dutifully played photographers while Emma and I attended the Parent and Tot class and Lexi took her first steps onto the ice (her future home, if you ask her). 

I fully anticipated that both girls would spend more time on their hineys than on their feet, and tears were definitely a possibility from both. I can say I was pleasantly surprised. Lexi did amazing for her first time in skates ever - she fell a few times, but overall she picked things up very quickly!

Emma surprised me as well. I figured I was in for more ice wrestling than ice skating; I didn't think she would be able to stand up, let alone skate. Turns out that girl can move pretty well in skates for not even being 3! Her poor instructor wanted the class (of 2 students) to spend the lesson practicing standing and getting up. Emma wanted to SKATE! She could go 7 or 8 feet before losing her balance, but she was right back up almost every time. 

 

 (I asked her if she was done - she said "I so tired and hot")

When Paul asked how things went, I just told him that I am going to start prepping for my P&G "thank you, mom" Olympic commercial right now. 

 

Lexi's video is coming - she wants to perfect her triple toe loops, first! 

Let It Go

My sweet little Lexi, she of song and dance, would like to present to
you her rendition of "Let It Go" from Frozen (aka the greatest Disney
movie of her entire 5 1/2 year old life).



enjoy.

Snow Days 2014

I love winter. 

L.O.V.E.
 

The snow loves me back - it left a heart shape on our back deck!

I know that makes me one of about 7 people currently residing in Wichita, but it's true. I love snow, cold weather, boots, scarves, fires, and SNOW DAYS! (not to mention that the pressure to be tan does not exist in winter . . . and this momma has skin that gets cancer instead of tan). 

We were blessed with two wonderful, beautiful, glorious snow days this past week. I was super lucky because I was able to talk my husband into working from home for 1 1/2 of them. I love snow days so much more when I don't have to worry about his safety. 

Morning of Snow Day #1: my girls greeted me with big hugs (and demands for a big breakfast) because they knew we were staying home today!

This year, I could pretty much feel the snow day coming, so I was prepared with lots of activities and new little things to keep my girls entertained. I learn from my mistakes (last year's Blizzard of Oz left me a little frazzled and in want of new amusement). 

Here are the photos from our perfect winter snow days: 

I'm apparently insane, because I gave Emma paint. Despite all signs pointing to Amateur Move, the painting went over really well! They loved creating masterpieces and Emma only painted something other than the paper (her own fingers) once! 

A new puzzle kept Lexi entertained for a while - not only is it a puzzle, but a Search and Find activity, too!

 Play Doh party

Of course, we watched some new movies - Lady and the Tramp is now one of the favorite movies. The girls watched while laying in front of the fire in the new sleeping bags they got for Christmas. 

 We went from THIS (top) 

to 

THIS (bottom) in about 4 hours.

 our new building blocks were a huge hit

 we made lots of Valentine cards (and a huge mess of paper scraps and stickers)

Flu Season Lessons

 I woke up last night shortly after midnight, and I knew I was sick. I held out for a good 40 minutes, willing myself to go back to sleep, but alas by 1:00 I was sicker than a college freshman during their first week at school (because they would party a lot . . . and get sick). 

I wish I could say that I was cool enough to just have had a hangover, but this was the real deal nasty stomach flu. 

So I spent a night and a day with the flu and I learned a few things: 

1. I am WAY too old to sleep on the bathroom floor. I have aches and pains that I never used to get - seriously in may late teens and early twenties I could sleep anywhere - classroom desks, cars, and once on a staircase (proud moments, all of them). 

2. After a whole day of being in quarantine, I really really missed my kids. Hearing them playing (and fighting) downstairs while I was upstairs recuperating, was hard. I wanted to hug them and talk to them, but my germy germs have kept me away. 

3. I don't give Paul enough credit. He took care of the kids all day (even took them to the zoo!), and took of all the usual Saturday household chores. Love him! 

4. I spent most of my awake time, worrying that someone else would catch this from me. If someone is going to be sick, I would definitely prefer that that person be me. 

So thanks to a lot of Tylenol, saltine crackers, and Gatorade I am mending. I am too old for this.