The Little Mermaid...Ballet-Style

Yesterday afternoon was Hannah's final Storybook Ballet performance of the summer. As you can probably tell by the title, they did "The Little Mermaid." Obviously, they couldn't do ballet with a fin, but they did have beautiful costumes that made it look like they were in the water. Hannah has improved SO much in her ballet--I am just so proud of her! In mid-August, she will be taking their Princess Drama Camp (this is RIGHT up her alley!), which is for three half-days. Then, in the fall, she will be doing the Storybook Ballet again. For those who don't know how Storybook Ballet works, it's a WONDERFUL program taught by an amazing teacher. It's a 45-minute-long class where the first 30 minutes is used to teach the girls ballet. Then, the teacher reads them a story (and, amazingly, in the over-a-year she's been in this program there has never been a repeat!), and then they dress up as the main character in the story in beautiful costumes and, using the ballet moves they have learned, they act out the story. And at the end of each semester, they prepare a longer, more elaborate story for the parents. After the fall semester, she will be old enough/advanced enough that she will no longer be in the Storybook part, and will advance to the regular ballet class. While she'll likely be very sad about not doing the stories, it's great that she'll be doing so well and becoming a graceful ballerina! Here are two links to her performances...their short Clown Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nNdhWfFfO0 and their Little Mermaid performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=repyjeECvpI

Green Beans at Cracker Barrel

On our last night in Missouri, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrel, for dinner. While we all have our "usuals" we order, Eli has still been trying to find his. Last time, he had a grilled cheese sandwich, and was up in the night screaming--my guess is that it was so greasy that it gave him a tummyache. Anyway, this time, he got mac and cheese and green beans. To my surprise, his favorite part was the green beans! In fact, when I wasn't looking, he had grabbed his plate (which I thought was out of reach) and started shoveling the green beans into his mouth! By the end of dinner, he had green beans all over the table and his shirt, and there was green bean-grease in his hair, causing it to stick straight up. But it was SO cute! And good that he enjoyed the vegetable...although I'm guessing that they cook it in a greasy enough way to make it taste amazing! :)

A Fun Picnic

We are currently in Missouri visiting my grandparents, Nannie and Paw Paw. On our way here, we stopped in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa for a picnic. We did a big search for the perfect spot--one with a great playground. So, we found a huge playground...unfortunately, it turned out to be in a pretty bad neighborhood (where the neighbors were outside yelling and cursing at their kids...) but still Hannah and Eli enjoyed the playground and were pretty oblivious to the neighborhood goings-on. The playground was HUGE, and dinner was great!

First Words

For whoever doesn't know yet...Eli has said his first words! He loves playing the game where he brings objects over to us and we say "thank you!" Then, he started to bring them over and say "thank you" himself! I finally was able to catch this on video, and here's the link to it on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEeE4Czag3k

Future Soccer Player?

Eli loves to play with balls--any kind! Soccer balls, basketballs, footballs... And he will kick them on command! "Kick the ball, Eli!" And there he goes--running up and kicking the ball! Here's a link to a video of him doing it! http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=117669550368&h=HfI70&u=AwT8S&ref=nf

Fun in the Pool!

This summer, we got a really fun pool for Eli (and Hannah) to use! It's really geared towards Eli's age, but Hannah had a ball in it, too. It has inflatable stacking rings, a little slide, an inflatable ride-on whale, and a rainbow to sit under. It also attaches to a hose and has holes all around it, so it sprays water EVERYWHERE! It's great, and Eli loves to splash in it! He eventually got a bit frustrated with being squirted in the face, so playtime was over by then, but they played together in there for a long time!

Happy First Birthday, Elijah!

Well, I don't know why it took me THIS long to post this, but here it is, anyway. Elijah had a great first birthday! We celebrated it as a family on Sunday because Gabah had to go to London on Monday. We were very blessed to have GG (Gabah's mom) here with us for the occasion, which was really special. We started out with him opening presents. He got many fun toys, but was just a bit overwhelmed and overstimulated. But now, he's gotten to play with his toys, and he loves each and every one of them! (As does Hannah. LOL) After presents was the eating part! I made cupcakes, and Eli started out smooshing them and throwing bits to the floor. Once I had him eat some, he really got the idea and started eating it! He didn't make as much of a mess as I thought he would, though. I figured he'd have it all over his face and hair because he is a pretty messy guy--he usually ends up with some of his oatmeal in his hair in the mornings. But, he was pretty neat with his cupcake! On his actual birthday, I took him over to Brent's house for a couple hours. There, he got to play with Brent, Jerry, and Rose, and we all had a great time! Eli loved playing the game where he would take pieces of wrapping paper and hand them to Jerry as Jerry would say "thank you!!" He was also able to show off his new walking skills to everyone both at home and at Brent's house. Eli is now a VERY proficient walker. And FAST! Unfortunately, on the evening of his birthday, he took a forward tumble on the hardwood floor and bumped his forehead pretty hard and ended up with a big bump and, the next day, a bruise. But after a couple minutes of crying, he didn't complain any more. I can't believe that our little guy is already one year old!!! P.S. To see more birthday pictures, click here... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2585883&id=8621722&l=75e4cbb1b9

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th, everyone! We actually started off our celebration last night by going to see fireworks. There are no fireworks in Madison on the 4th, so we had to go on the 3rd. We parked at a distance to avoid the crowds--we had a decent view, but would have liked to have felt more of the "boom." :) Eli slept through the whole thing, but Hannah was awake, and really enjoyed it! This morning, we had the neighborhood parade. There were tables set up at the park with free decorations for bikes, wagons, strollers, etc., and a fire truck to lead the way! Grammie and I took Hannah and Eli over and got the stroller and Hannah's bike all decorated, and we were ready to go! We walked from one park to the other in the neighborhood...about a 30 minute walk. At the other end, the kids could check out the fire truck and got goody bags and popsicles. Hannah had a great time, and Eli, I think, went along with it but wasn't so sure. :) We got some great pictures from the parade, and they're posted at the link below. Enjoy!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2584089&id=8621722&l=105661f0e7

House Tour Day

Last Tuesday was Mom's Attic Angel House Tour. It's a fund raiser, and people pay money to walk through 7 houses, one of which was ours, so we had to spend the day out. My friend, Beth, was here for the first part of the day when it was just us and Eli (Hannah was at school), and we spent the rest of the day with Gabah after Hannah was picked up from school and he got home from a business trip. Our first stop was Denny's for breakfast. Eli had fun playing with the placemats. :) Then, we went to the mall where they were having a "Got Milk?" display, and Eli got to meet the Nesquik bunny. He wasn't so sure about him. We had lunch at Panera and then picked Hannah up at school. We all went bowling (well, Beth and Eli played while the rest of us bowled--she didn't bring socks) and Hannah did great for her first time! Of course, it helped that Gabah helped her bowl, and she rolled the ball from between her legs, and the bumpers were up...but hey! She had fun beating her Mommy, who was HORRIBLE! :) After that, we played mini golf at the impossible indoor course where each hole is modeled after a different site in Madison. That was followed by dinner at Chili's, ice cream at Dairy Queen, and FINALLY home again!!! It was a long day, but we had lots of fun. :) (P.S. Thanks to Beth for taking such great pictures!!)