I'm So Excited, and I Just Can't Hide It!

So last week I created a post showing off pictures of how well behaved Leah is at ballet class. She seemed so poised and proper. She listened to everything Ms. Rachel had to say. She waited her turn. She ignored the other little brats talking out of turn. She smiled and held her head high as she tippy-toed across the dancefloor. She glanced over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of her sweet little self in the mirror. And I was the proud mommy in the corner, knowing that everytime it was her turn to strike 1st Position, she was on it. No questions asked, no comments made. She just pointed those little toes out, straightened those little legs and held her shoulders back. A beautiful line there with little Leah the ballerina. And the other moms glanced over their shoulders at me...because my kid was a natural.
Not so today, my friends. I still think she's a natural, but she wasn't quite as poised as she had led us all to believe. The first few minutes, I was still proud mama, watching her walk with good posture. Then she started to interrupt Ms. Rachel to tell her how much she's been practicing her "moves" at home. She didn't tell her once, or twice. She kept telling her and telling her. She was so proud of herself. All week she'd been telling me, "I think Ms. Rachel is going to be so proud of me!" Don't get me wrong, now. Ms. Rachel is great about redirecting the kids and being patient with them and their stories. Some of the parents sit along the back wall and chat the whole time. We're not talking about a formal dance studio here. Most of the other kids in the class don't seem to have a big enough attention span to unwrap a tootsie roll.
Leah, on the other hand, thrives on the structure classtime provides. Her Sunday-school teachers tell us the same thing. It brings out the best in her. Even when she was 14/15 months old, not wanting us to leave her in class. As soon as Ms. Candace pulled out the carpet squares, Leah was ready and comfortable. Time to listen, time to learn. Until today. She decided that the other little "froofies" in the class were going to determine her actions and reactions. I realize she's 3. I guess I thought that since she'd overcome 5 classtimes before, she'd remain steadfast. I guess 5 out of 6 ain't bad?
She's so pretty in her "ballet-tard" and skirt and little shoes. I just love doing her hair with ribbons. She won't let me pull it back during the week. Only for ballet and church. I take full advantage. I'm so enjoying having a girlie girl. Enjoy the pictures...and hear the sarcasm in my voice when you read this post. Of course i'm so proud of her...not at all sad about how she acted today. I think i'm just a little surprised! And reminded once again that she is 3. I love having a ballerina in the family! I'm just glad i'm not teaching her class!
P.S. Check out Logan's hair today too. He's amazing to be able to pull off this look at such an early age.

Spring has sprung!

It was 82 degrees here today. It was very pleasant, we enjoyed it almost all day long. Leah and I went on a walk this morning. Logan napped while Ryan worked on the shower. It's so nice to almost have it finished! We'll be back to having two working bathrooms here in the near future. It was also nice to have Ryan home for most of the morning. The kids loved having him here and I had a little flexibility with my routine too. The kids played out back while I made lunch and dinner and we even had time to get to the park tonight after dinner. It was so nice. We walked through all the T-Ball kids and families watching them play. It felt like spring. I always loved York in the spring when the baseball team started to play games. It was just warm enough to sit for an hour and wear a t-shirt and jeans. I loved getting pink cheeks after a pasty winter in the snow. So here are a few pictures and videos of the kids as we start our Spring. Logan is so stinkin' brave. He climbs all the way up by himself. He seems to have no fear. Leah is fearless but Logan is a different kind of fearless. The boy kind. He's also talking a lot and we're getting a huge kick out of how he's saying certain words. For example, last night at dinner, he kept repeating us saying, "Drop it." He says, "Boppit" and we just kept laughing. This video is on the tail end of that laughing episode, so he's a little sick of saying it. He gave us one last hoorah for the film. Endless hours of entertainment they are to us. Leah started giggling outside today while I was making lunch...turns out she was laughing at her art on the back patio. She told me they were spiders with 8 legs. She made Daddy ones and Mommy ones and even a baby one. I didn't know she knew how to do it, but she's figured out how to draw little bugs. I was and still am, seriously quite impressed. Mostly because I wasn't out there at all directing or giving ideas. She just started laughing and I came out to see why. I think she was just as surprised as I was! She also wanted to wear her snow boots out to play...I explained to her that it was 82 degrees outside...so she chose her slip on sparkle shoes instead. Please enjoy our fun day through these pictures and videos!

Cheese!

Did you ever try to get both of your kids to smile nicely for a picture at the same time?

It's official...

Well it's official. Leah is hilarious. The things she comes up with are just too funny for me. Randy and Grandma Connie gave her a terrarium for Christmas. It came with a certificate to order a tadpole, so when we got home from Wisconsin, we ordered two. They came in the mail yesterday and she's named them. She calls them Creepy and Second. You'll hear her name them in the video below. Too funny!


Here are just a few pictures from the last few days. The kids have really started to enjoy playing outside...it's not too hot, not too cold. It's nice for me to make dinner while they're outside playing. I can hear and see everything they say and do. I love it too.
Enjoy!

We know God has a plan...

We know God has a plan for us. We're just ready to see it happen! Ryan's driving a few hours everyday and it's taking it's toll on him and the cars and on our family time. He's dealt with it for 3 years now and we're ready to take action. We've started the process of looking at some townhomes way across town. They're located halfway between Ryan's school and his Texan's soccer fields. That would mean that He could sleep a little later in the mornings, be home to play with the kids before He helps put them down at night, and on the weekends, he could come home between games instead of having to stay out for 10 hours straight. We're just too far away, it's like we have 2 seperate lives going! We've done a great job staying positive over the years, but we know that we want a better quality of life. So we've started to pray that God would send us someone that wants to lease our house. We're going to try to do it on our own, no realtor involved. I'm getting some flyers made up today to take to some nearby apartment complexes etc. We figure that there's got to be someone out there that wants to pay the same as they're paying now, for much more space and a yard.
We have two friends that are a mortgage broker and realtor. They've been such a big help with advice, connections for when we're ready to write up a contract etc.
Thank you for your prayers, we really feel this is what we need to do for Ryan's sanity, and mine too I guess. And just for the betterment of our family. We want as little stress as possible, of course so we plan to keep it simple. We know that God wants the best for our family too, so we trust this will work out in His time, with results that are best for us.
Anyone interested in leasing a home? hehe

Tippie Toes

She's feeling like her old self again...Leah's got her ballet shoes back on and is back into her class. I think she's a natural. Always walking on her toes, tippy toe-ing around. She doesn't quite have the discipline down yet. I do think she's got a dancers heart. We'll have to see how far she decides to take it in the years to come! I was very proud watching her today. I know Ryan really wished that he could have been there. He didn't miss a class the last round. If you're ever in town on a Friday afternoon, you can come along and watch her in her element!
Logan did a pretty good job watching. He really wants to get out there with the girls and run around. It's not quite orderly at this age...although there are a few that do listen and try to follow direction.
Christi and Tim sent the kids some serious sticker books for Valentine's Day...they love them! I keep finding stickers all over the house. That's ok, we get to talk about Uncle Tim and Aunt Christi a lot. I just remind the kids that they gave them the stickers for the books not the toilet or the TV screen.
Happy Valentine's Day, much love to everyone!

100% Boy

So that's how it went down. I don't know why He wanted to do that. But he had fun in the process, and it was funny for Leah and me to watch. Little boy. 100%.