Ice Skating For The First Time...

With the kids on fall break this whole week, I wanted to take them to something fun and different. After much thought the new ice skating rink (it just opened a few weeks ago) came to mind. I asked the kids if that would be something they would like to do and of course I got a few mixed answers. Liliana said yes but that "Uncle Jarrod" was the only one that could take her, Dillon was totally not into the idea (but these days thats just Dillon), and Ava said "yes yes yes" mainly because she says yes to almost anything!!

Being pregnant, of course I couldn't take them skating so my next best bet was to ask Aunt Jeneen. I knew the boys liked to skate so I figured between her AND the boys they could handle 2 or 3 of my kiddos!

This morning was quite interesting. Dillon was very moody and had no interest in even going to the ice rink even though I kept telling him he didn't have to skate if he didn't want to. Liliana was back and forth with her emotions, one minute anxious to leave and the next very fearful of getting hurt on the ice. I can't blame her, she had no idea what to expect. Then there was Ava who couldn't wait to get dressed, put on her helmet and get to the rink!

Once we arrived at the ice rink, we met up with Aunt Jeneen, the boys, and a couple friends! Liliana had reservations about heading out onto the ice but her cousins convinced her to go out there! Ava was of course hesitant but went right to Aunt Jeneen and skated around for a good 10 minutes! Once Ava was off the ice, Liliana got some private lessons from her aunt which helped her alot. After about an hour on the ice Liliana was skating withOUT holding the sides and even heading closer and closer into the center of the ice! Ava ended up going back in for another 10 minutes of skate time and had a blast! The girls overall had a great time! As for the boy, he was content playing video games with Papa. Hopefully someday soon we will get him in skates and on the ice.

While putting her shoes on, Liliana asked me when she would be coming back to skate again!

Report Cards Are In...

Well today marks the end of the first quarter of school. Its crazy to think we already have completed 2 whole months of school. The even more crazy thing is that the kids had a half day of school today and yesterday and now are on Fall Break until the 14th of October! Yeahup no school for 10 LOOOONG days! I will enjoy not having to pick up and drop off kids 4 times a day however!! I now just have to plan a busy week so I don't hear those dreaded words "Mommy we're bored"!!

As for report cards, Dillon's teacher and I met this afternoon. They are graded with 5 different letters representing mastered, progress, emerging, just introduced, or not yet introduced. He is doing an awesome job. He pretty much has mastered everything except for a couple things which he is labeled Progress in. The teacher of course said that he is doing great! Remember all, this is PRESCHOOL so its not like there is a whole lot to talk about or worry about if he is meeting or exceeding their expectations!!

Now comes Liliana, after much thought and issues with her teacher, I contacted the principal and had her switched to a different class! With this switch I agreed to not have a conference with her old teacher. I figured the new teacher would sit down with me and let me know how things were going and at that point give me any and all info I would have received had I met with her old teacher! I ended up running into Liliana's new teacher in the hall on the way to Dillon's conference. Her new teacher is so on top of everything its so impressive! She wants to meet with me regarding Liliana when we resume school after fall break! So for now I just have a report card with 4 numbers on it that represent her progress. 1-4, 4 being excelling and 1 being falls far below. Liliana managed to get all 3's which represent Meets. She did receive one 4 in, all subjects, P.E. The teacher informed me that she is VERY coordinated for her age. This news was very surprising since Liliana is so darn clumsy at home!! The teacher went on to explain that this is a hard age to do well in gym class because the body is going through so many changes! I thought about what she said and its true! Between losing teeth, feet that wont stop growing, height spurts, and so on it is alot for a child to deal with while trying to dribble a ball!

So on that note, with such awesome report cards, I guess I better make sure they stay occupied and have a fun week off of school!

Preggo Picture...

Alright all you friends and relatives that have been asking me over and over again to post a preggo picture of myself ...this blog post is for you... its not the best in focus picture since the boy was the photographer!! Its not a picture I like but are there gonna be any picture I take at this point in the pregnancy that I like... probably not... but at least you all can get an idea of how big I am getting! Anyway for those of you that have been requesting this picture YOU BETTER APPRECIATE AND ENJOY IT!!! Oh and for those of you forgetting how far along I am... just about 6 months and 1 week preggo in this picture!

Dance Shoe Shopping...

Some of you will get a total kick out of my dance shoe shopping trip today. So Ava is in a Ballet/Tap Combo class meaning she needs both ballet and tap shoes. I called our local payless shoestore and luckily they had her sizes in stock. So after taking Liliana to school Dillon, Ava, and I headed to the store. Ava was BEYOND EXCITED. We got to the store put the little foot stocking things on and tried on tap shoes first. She has such wide little feet that we needed to try on a couple different sizes to make sure we got the right fit. After putting 1 pair on at a time she would walk half way down the aisle and then tap her feet and say "TAP TAP TAP"! If that wasn't funny/cute enough we tried the ballet slippers on next. This is where I was just cracking up to the point where I thought I was gonna cry. She didn't walk down the aisle she "Tippy Toed" saying "Tippy Toes Tippy Toes" over and over again. Then on the way back to me she would do her high leg kicks and say "Kick Kick Kick"! So after her little store performance I convinced her to put the shoes in the boxes so we could go and pay for them! Of course the whole ride home she asked "Me go dance class now?" Poor thing just doesn't understand its only 1 time a week! I think I have a seriously obsessed dancer in our family!

She Should Be A Jack-O-Lantern For Halloween...

For some strange reason this year is the year for Liliana to lose all her teeth at one time! She just lost a tooth less than a month ago and now another tooth has fallen out! So now she has two big holes in the bottom front of her mouth! I am sure the tooth fairy is gonna go broke if her teeth keep falling out at this fast rate!! As far as Liliana is concerned... she is never sick of the tooth fairy visiting her pillow at night! Can you blame her??!! Smart little stinker she is!!! She also thinks its funny that I think she should be a jack-o-lantern for Halloween!

Window Washers Anyone??

Ok so the kids were in a cleaning mood and wanted to clean the sliding glass door. Since I clean with all natural liquids I had no issues giving them each a rag and the spray bottle and letting them go to town! Afterall its their little handprints all over the glass!!

Look at them at work! They did such a good job that they got a special treat when done!

Update My Little Dancer Ava...

So back a few postings ago I blogged about Ava starting dance lessons. I originally signed her up for a mommy and me class with plans of continuing it even after Garrison arrives. I figured this would be the "special" weekly event to make her feel like she isn't being left behind with a new baby around all of a sudden! Well my plan was ruined by the end of the first class... Ava is technically too old for the mommy and me class. The teacher was nice enough to let us conitue the class until Ava was ready to move up a class. They offer a 2-3 yr old combo class but its NOT mommy and me. Knowing she would be ready for it after a few mommy and me classes I still thought if she liked dancing enough than she can handle the older kid class. The plan was to switch her into the older class by the first week of November. Well we went for our 2nd class last week and sure enough at the end of the class the teacher said "Jillian, she is totally ready for the older class so why don't you bring her starting next week to the other class"
I brought her to her first class today and she did AWESOME. There are two other little girls in the class. Its an actual ballet and tap combo class where they wear tap shoes and ballet slippers. They teach the kids how to do the proper dance steps and how to say them! The first week of the month they leave the blinds open for parents to watch. It was BEYOND CUTE to watch her follow the teacher and her two classmates as she attempted ALL the steps the teacher was teaching! She, of course, kept looking at the window to make sure I was watching but not once did she stop dancing!! The best part for me as the mom is that she will be dancing a routine in the dance recital at the end of May! I can't WAIT. I just know that will be SO CUTE!
On that note, I am so shocked at how fast she is growing up. Its just another reminder that they are only this age once and to cherish EVERY SINGLE DAY (even those not so fun days)!!