All About Us

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Trying...

We have been so busy, it is hard to keep this up. I am still trying,though, as it is a good record for the girls!!

Since my last post...

Leah had her very busy weekend. She did well in everything of course. She had her Dance Recital on Saturday, May 18. She was in 3 dances- tap, jazz and ballet. It was not hard to determine that her favorite dance was jazz and her least favorite was tap! We loved watching her. Amber did yell out “Hi sissy” and “Leah” a few times from the audience!! Next up was her gymnastics show also on Saturday, May 18. She always has a smile on when she does gymnastics. She just loves it. She is always doing gymnastics! Then, on Sunday May 19, Leah had her First Communion. She was so beautiful and looked so grown up. Hard to believe that she is already 8! Vicky, Jim, Steve, Linda traveled down to help her celebrate her day along with Grandma Mary, Nonna, Grandpa Jim, Dan, Tiffanie, Thea and Delila. It was a lovely day.

The girls both got to go up to the cabin and enjoy Memorial Weekend. Joe and I stayed home as I had to work and we had lots of yard work to do. I was bummed not to go, but glad the girls got to go and that they just had a blast!

Amber had her daycare Spring Program on Saturday June 3. She got up on stage and sang her little heart out!! She was a rock star. She is very outgoing and it is fun to watch her grow.

Leah helped her good friend Kaylee celebrate her 9^th birthday at Sky Zone (a trampoline park). I love how they are still great friends even though they live an hour from each other and don’t get to see each other as often as they would like!

Leah had her last day of 2^nd grade on Friday June 7. She had a make up day added to the end of the year due to snow days! Boo. She didn’t seem to mind. She did so well in 2^nd grade. She loved her teacher and classmates. She was very excited for summer to start!

Both girls finished a session of swimming at Foss Swim School. This was Amber’s first session and she came a long way from start to finish. I am amazed at the strength Leah is showing in the pool. She was in a class of all boys and kept up with them!!

On June 9, Nonna, Renate, Tiffanie, Jamie, Thea, Delila, Leah and I went to Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” It was excellent. The girls really enjoyed it.

The girls and I went to the Mall of America on Tuesday June 11 with Nonna, Tiffanie, Thea and Delila for lunch at the American Girl Store. They just love going to lunch and taking their dolls! It is chaotic, but they love it! Of course, since we were there, the girls all got to go on some rides as well. Nonna just spoils them so!!:)

We celebrated Father’s Day weekend with a trip up to the cabin. The first trip for Joe and I this year. Crazy that it was already in the middle of June!! Even though it was a bit cold, all the girls got in the water. Love that they don’t care, but dang it was cold!!

On Tuesday June 25, I took the girls to Como Zoo. What a fun and hot day! They enjoyed time watching the animals (including the Sparky the sea lion show), then time at Como Town on the rides and at the splash zone to cool off!

We spent 4^th of July weekend up at the cabin. We watched fireworks from the pontoon, had a couple of sunny days and a couple of rainy days. It didn’t matter to the girls, they still went swimming in the rain!! Joe and I took Leah and Amber to see Despicable Me 2 on Friday. It was Amber’s first movie. She sat and ate popcorn for about 20 min, but then she couldn’t sit still for the rest of the movie and wanted to keep talking. I guess she just is not ready yet! Leah loved the movie though. Now Joe and I are back, but the girls get to stay up one more night and come back with my folks tomorrow. Work really gets in the way of summer fun!

Summer (as far as weather) started really late this year, we are now enjoying some good MN summer days.

All about Leah:

She is always doing gymnastics – in the house, in the yard, wherever! She did manage to break the glass of the entertainment center with a knee while doing gymnastics (luckily no cuts)

She is lovely and helpful at times and difficult at times (sounds like she is entering the tween stage)

She loves being in the water

All about Amber:

She plays air guitar and says “I’m a rock starrrr”

She is working on writing her name

She counts to 20

She doesn’t like to sit still

She is stubborn

She is so animated in facial expression and how she talks

She loves gymnastics and swimming just like her big sister

She is 3 – sometimes it is terrific 3s, sometimes it is terrible 3s!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Trying to catch up...

I can’t believe how long it has been since I have posted an update! Wow, what a busy few months.

We had a wonderful Easter day spent with family and friends which was held at my parent’s house. It was a very cold day, so the Easter Bunny hid the Easter eggs inside Nonna and Grandpa’s house so that the girls would not have to search for eggs in the cold and snow! Yup, snow!! We didn’t attempt to bring Amber to Church, she just doesn’t sit well. So, Joe and Amber stayed at my parent’s house on food duty. The girls were lucky to have the Easter Bunny bring them 2 baskets- one at home and one to Nonna and Grandpa’s house! Such lucky girls.

Nonna, Grammy, Tiffanie, Thea, Delila, Leah and I all went to see Mary Poppins at the Orpheum. What a fantastic show. The girls loved it, though Leah was the only one to see it through the end as the other 2 fell asleep (the show started at 8, ended at 10:30). I did have to poke her a few times to keep her awake! Leah is still talking about it and singing the songs.

We had such a gorgeous day for March for Babies. THANK YOU to all of you who supported babies!! It was one of the first nice days we had! I didn’t bring the stroller and Amber did walk a majority of the 2 miles, but I did end up carrying her in the final stretch! I love that we do this together, and I think it is important that the girls are a part of something as amazing as this.

Leah has been busy with dance, gymnastics, swimming, Girl Scouts, and school (of course)! She is also preparing for her First Communion. Oh, and another big milestone- she got braces, yup braces at the young age of 8. She has a very busy weekend coming up- Dance Recital, Gymnastic Show and First Communion. It is going to be a crazy weekend!

Amber is doing soccer and gymnastics at daycare. She is also taking swimming lessons. She is so very energetic that we are going to need to keep her busy! She loves to copy her big sister. She has even started to copy her when Leah is practicing her dances. I must say, Amber is catching on. I guess we will have another one in dance next year!!

We had a fun day over at Dan and Tiff’s house celebrating Delila’s 5^th birthday! The girls always enjoy spending time together!!

We are so happy that Spring is finally here as we have had a severe case of Cabin Fever over this very long Winter. So, it is not always warm around here yet, at least all of the snow has melted and we have had some great weather days with more to come (we hope)!!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Cruise in Review

· Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas

· Fort Lauderdale, FL : Philipsburg, St. Maarten : Basseterre, St. Kitts : San Juan, PR : Labadee, Haiti

· 16 friends from all of the USA along with quality time together as a couple

· 8 days/nights

· Ocean View Room

· Thousands of photos (photo award to Jenny Benz)

· St. Maarten Maho Beach (by the airport)

· Hard Rock Cafe

· Dancing

· Adult beverage consumption

· St. Kitts Catamaran Sail and Snorkel

· Monkeys in St. Kitts

· Pool time

· Harlem Shake

· Labadee Jet Ski Tour

· SANDBAR Island ADULT getaway

· Shopping

· Sorrento’s Pizza

· 2 formal nights

· Joe’s All Access Tour

· SUN, SUN and more SUN

· Labadoozies

· Quest Champions

· Video Scavenger Hunt Champions: #icantbelieveweallfitinhere

· Robe time

· Raj: Always there for us when it was time for a drink

· Santana and Angelie- Dining Room

· “I am thankful for…” everynight at dinner

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

All About Amber, Age 3

*She is loveable and sweet
*She is stubborn and strong
*She is independent
*She loves to take baths, but hates to have her hair washed
*She loves her big sister and wants to be with her, always!
*She has to pick out her own clothes (Clothes- 4T, shoes - 10)!
*She has a new bedtime book: "The Great Train Ride."
*She still loves her white blanket
*She knows her colors, basic shapes, alphabet, and can almost count to 20
*She has great speaking skills
*She is extremely social and will start conversations with anyone
*She is doing gymnastics class at daycare
*She just finished her first session of skating lessons and can skate (slowly) on her own
*She will start swimming lessons in March
*She is very active, she does not like to sit still!
*She always wants the t.v. on, but she doesn't sit and watch t.v
*She loves her sweets
*She loves to be tickled (and we love to tickle her because a child's laughter is such a great sound)
*I call her baby still!

Amber's Age 3 interview

Name? Amber

Age? 2 (really 3, but you are still saying 2)

School? Krayola Kids

Grade? Pre 1

Favorite thing to do at daycare? Sing

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your favorite song? Jingle Bells

What is your favorite food? Hamburger

What is your favorite thing to do at home? Watch t.v

What is your favorite animal? Giraffe

Why do you like giraffes? Cuz I want giraffes at our house

What is your favorite number? 2

What is your favorite book? The Big Big Train Ride (The Great Train Ride)

Hugs or kisses? Both

What is your favorite movie? Santa Paws

Who do you like to play with? Ella

All About Leah, age 8

Hard to believe she is already 8. She started out so very small and fragile, and now she is tween! Wow, how fast the time as gone. I love the person she is becoming. She is loving, caring, empathic, and giving. She is a good friend and she is kind. Don't get me wrong, she also can whine a throw a fit, but I think her good qualities really show who she is becoming!!

For her birthday this year, she told me that she didn't want presents because she already had enough stuff and she wanted to something for people who don't have stuff. So, I helped her find an organization and Leah collected donations instead of gifts (yes, she did get some gifts) for her birthday. She donated 10 boxed of personal hygiene items to New Pathways in Cambridge, MN (an organization that helps homeless families)! We are so very proud of her! What an amazing thing for an 8 year old to do!!

Leah is very active. If we would let her, she would do something every night, but we try to keep her activities to 2 nights each week. This year she is doing dance and gymnastics weekly. She has also done cheerleading and ice skating lessons. She will be starting swimming lessons in March. She loves being busy.

She continues to be an awesome big sister, but she is starting to get annoyed by the fact that Amber wants to be with her all of the time!!

She works hard in school and is right where she should be in academics. She seems to do best in spelling and math. She does like to read, but she still struggles with comprehension.

Oh, and she got her ears pieced this month! A very exciting event for a young girl. She is now anxious to take the starter earrings out, so she can start to wear some of the earrings she has already collected!

Leah's 8 year Interview: