Emma turns 10!

Well it is hard to believe but my baby girl turned 10 on May 30th.  She had an early celebration at school with some ice cream cone cupcakes that we baked for her class before school ended.  They were super easy but a little difficult to transport without falling over!  Her actual birthday we went to Westerville Golf Center for some mini-golf and dinner at the House of Japan.  Then opening gifts with her Grandma & Great Grandma Kyre and us.

Then she had a spa/sleepover with 6 girls last weekend!  It was a fun night of pizza, cupcakes, chocolate facials, manis and pedis!  Thanks to my friend Tina for coming over and helping me with the manis!  Erik took Ethan out to dinner so he would not bother the girls.  They ended the night with watching 2 Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies and popcorn.  Not sure what exact time they went to sleep but they were up at 8 am when Erik and I made pancakes and bacon for them!  Emma had a great time and hopefully the girls did too!  She told me it was the best birthday ever!

Whirl wind May....

This month has been a whirl wind of excitement and quite busy.  However I think we all secretly love it!  First thing, first...Emma's dance recital was May 17th and 18th.  Being the crazy Mom that I am, I helped her age group backstage on many dances Friday night and Saturday morning.  I even watched a very long performance Friday evening and one Saturday morning.  I can honestly say, these dancers worked it!  I was so proud of our Emma remembering 7 dances and dancing wonderfully.  Since we are not allowed to take pics or videos...here are a few backstage, getting her trophy and a secret shot of the finally!

Then the day before school is out...the kid's school had "SuperGames".  It is a super-sized field day that the PTO fundraiser all year to bring in a company that sets up a ton of games.  This year both Emma's & Ethan's classes were in the morning so I volunteered to help!  I chose the potato sack races (since long time volunteers got the bounce houses.)

The last day of school...it was bittersweet for us since our little Ethan is growing up and moving to first grade.

Emma had a 4th grade picnic the last day as well and Ethan and I stopped by to have lunch with her.  So much fun!

The first day of summer vacation, we met some friends at the Columbus Zoo.  Well it was really windy and not so warm along with about 10 other schools visiting.  However we still had a great time and got to see what we wanted to see.

Then that night Emma performed in the Westerville 4th Friday.  I love to watch my baby girl dance!

Spring is here!

This spring Ethan started spring outdoor soccer.  This is his second season and he LOVED it!  He tried in last fall and wanted to keep playing.  We signed him up for SuperKick..which is an indoor soccer skills training place.  He LOVED that as well.  He wanted to play more and more so we signed him up with a friend from his team at SuperKick in the summer for 8 weeks.  He will be ready for the fall!

Then we had Mother's Day with Erik's Mom & Grandma and Erik's 41st birthday but going out to dinner and some ice cream cake.  No pics of me since I am taking them.  Emma was not feeling well so we kept it low key.

Busy, busy, busy...

This past weekend was so busy but so fun!  We are all exhausted but would not change a thing!  Friday night was Emma's first 4th Friday performance of the season.  She had 3 dances to perform and again I am so impressed with how much she has grown as a dancer and of course as a young lady.  Very sad that my baby is growing up but it is true!  The Generation Performing Art Center dancers again did a wonderful job.  Come join us next month!

Then Saturday morning was Ethan's soccer game.  I just love watching all the 4 and 5 year olds play.  This team was pretty good and Ethan is finally starting to be a little more aggressive (getting the ball that is) and helping his team.  He is struggling on getting the ball turned around and stealing from the other team but he is really trying!  So proud of my little man!  He is half way through the spring season and the Green Alligators are wonderful!

 

Then on Sunday was our annual March for Babies walk.  Erik and I have been walking for 19 years due to I was a preemie and became a coordinator for my previous employers.  Ironically I had a preemie (Emma) and had to take progesterone injections to prevent premature birth for Ethan and it worked.  March of Dimes means so much to Erik and me.  We were lucky that Emma and I were healthy babies.  So we strive to give back and help with research on prematurity.  Thank you to all that sponsored Team Kyre and hope you will join us next year!

Spring Break and Easter 2013

It was a very eventful Spring Break this year and not so eventful Easter.  Recently we found out that our half bath sprung a small leak and our hardwood floors need to be partially replaced.  Erik and I decided to not only get the floors repaired but rip out carpet in 3 rooms and have hardwoods put in.  With hesitation, we moved out of the house and stayed in a hotel for 5 days.  Ethan was just getting over a stomach virus so I was a little nervous.  However we wanted to have a fun "staycation".

Last Monday, Ethan was still sick so we delayed the floors one day to get everything ready and make sure he was okay.  Tuesday morning we boarded our cat and then headed over to Franklin Park Conservatory to see the butterflies and glass blowing.  We met some friends there and even had lunch.  It was a great time and we even bought some caterpillars so the kids can watch them grow into butterflies. Then later that night dinner with Dad and of course lots of swimming at the hotel pool!

Wednesday we slept in and then had lunch and over to SuperGames for some bouncing and laser tag!  The kids had a great time and I even had 1 free coupon left!  Afterwards, we visited Buckeye and then met Erik for dinner and of course more swimming.

Thursday and Friday Erik was off so we decided to head over to COSI Thursday early afternoon.  Not such a great idea since that was the plan for everyone else on Spring Break.  We had to wait an hour and a half in line (which I have never done that before there)!  Once we got our tickets, it was not too bad at the exhibits. We visited almost everything we could and Emma even rode the unicycle!  First time for her and she was not  that nervous.  She did such a great job! We even headed over to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner which we have not gone in a long time.  We had a 20 minute wait there but well worth it!

Friday was our relax day at the hotel.  We slept in and then met Erik's Mom and Grandma for lunch.  Then at lunch Emma became ill and we took her back to the hotel with an upset tummy.  It was okay though since we wanted to watch basketball anyway.

Saturday morning we packed up from the hotel and got back into our messy dust-filled house.  The floors are gorgeous but just very dusty.  So Erik and I spent most of Saturday and Easter cleaning.  Emma slept most of Saturday and Sunday so Erik's Mom came over to give them their Easter baskets.  Emma did get up for that and our Easter egg hunt inside!

Here are some pics of our week and Easter!  Pics of the floors coming soon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day & 81 Years Young

Last week we celebrated St.Patrick's Day a little early since they had Spring pictures on Friday.  They still love wearing green and looking for the Leprechaun!  I am not sure if Emma still believes in it but she goes along with it really well!  I am not really sure we are Irish but my maternal grandmother, Donna always celebrated this holiday growing up so I always thought I was a little.  I miss my grandparents so much but I know they are looking down on us from Heaven...and probably laughing!

We also celebrated Erik's grandmother's 81st birthday last Saturday with lunch at O'Charley's.  We adore her so much and loved celebrating her birthday with her!  Many more to come!

Keep Calm & Dance On

Emma has had a very busy couple of weekends with dance.  Of course she loves it all but very busy, well at least for me!

On March 1st, Emma performed one of her group dances (Afro Circus) solo!  She was a little nervous being this was her first time performing a dance solo and  I was as well. Her school, Fouse packed the high school auditorium like nobody's business!  There were tons of acts from dancing, singing, playing piano to funny skits!  It was a long night but Emma performed in the first act so we got to see her early.  I videoed it on my phone and Ethan took some pictures with my camera.  This kept him busy for awhile.  When Emma got on stage, she smiled and danced like a pro.  We were so proud of her!

Then we drove almost 4 hours to Louisville, KY to watch her perform 4 of her competition dances last weekend.  Our hotel was about 20 minutes away from the auditorium.  We arrived Saturday afternoon since she did not have to perform until the evening.  We settled into the hotel and then it was time to dance.  The auditorium was filled.  Emma and I got her dresses together and make-up and hair.  She performed 3 of her dances Saturday night flawlessly.  All 3 of them won trophies and special awards from the judges.  The dancers were so excited and so thrilled to be recognized for all their hard work.  Sunday Emma did not have to perform her last dance until the evening so we slept in since we lost an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time.  Then we had a late breakfast at Bob Evans by the hotel.  Then guess what, we found a Target near by and did a little shopping!  Finally it was off to the show.  Emma and her friends again dances wonderfully!  However we left right after the dance since it was 6 pm and the kids had school the next day.  Another Mom told me the dance won 2nd place!  So happy again for them.

Emma worked so hard on her dancing this month.  I cannot tell you how proud I am of her and all of her hard work she puts into it.  I know this is her passion and I hope she keeps it for a long time!