Tutu Cute

Sof is on her third week of dance and we're making progress! Last week she participated in just the "Happy and You Know It" part, this week she did the whole class! She still cried hysterically when she went in though! Next week is viewing week which means parents can sit in on the whole class. I haven't decided if that's a good idea or not. I'm going to go in because I don't want her to wonder why everyone else's mommy is there, but I hope she doesn't cling to me and shut down. She's not at a point yet where I could say, "Mommy has to leave if you don't participate". At the end of the day I don't really care if she dances or not, I just like getting her dressed in her tutu's!

She did not want to pose for a picture! She just wanted to go. Funny, she's always super excited about the idea of dance, she just gets cold dancing feet when we get there!

Potpourri of Events

It's definitely harder to get posts in now that we're in school! Things happen, and I take pictures, and I have good intentions, but then I just can't get it blogged! So here goes, a random assortment of thoughts and events that are only related because of the week they happened in.

One night we actually all(except Adrienne who was at dance of course) sat down to a nice dinner. It was misery. Alexa was crying because she didn't like it(she doesn't like anything that counts as real food, and makes dinnertime miserable every night). We had the usual "eat your damn food or you're going to bed right now" conversation. Sof has been "playing" with her food a lot lately. I've decided that when you're smart enough to learn your colors, shapes, and some letters, you're smart enough to figure out no, stop, and consequences. So...when she dumped her mac n' cheese out of the bowl I took her whole dinner away. She cried, then Lexi cried. Sweet Lexi's heart couldn't handle it. Mark asked why she was crying and she said, "Mom's being mean to Sof!". I then had to explain that it's not being mean, it's called parenting, and if more people did it we wouldn't have so many poorly behaved children in this world! The point of this story is that even when your intentions are right, sometimes life isn't the storybook you want it to be. That night stuck in my head because it really was a miserable dinnertime, but after dinner we went outside. It was a beautiful night and we just threw the ball around, watered flowers, and jumped rope. The laundry was overflowing, carpet needed to be vacuumed, and countertops needed wiping. Lucky me, it was all still waiting when we came in, and I did it with a happy heart knowing we had an hour of quality time that was better than a planned meal, clean house, or organized closet.

Adrienne's middle school musical is "Alice in Wonderland". Of course she had her heart set on being Alice. She was well prepared for the audition and felt good about it. In the Jr. musical there is small Alice, Alice, and tall Alice. This is a problem because Adrienne is pretty tall. Bottom line is she didn't get it. Who knows why, but she didn't. She got the role of "Rose" which is the lead flower in the garden. She has lines and a small solo singing part. It was one of those moments you hate to see your kid go through, but have the responsibility as the parent to make it a teachable moment. When life gives you thorns be the best rose there ever was. Lesson learned.

You know when you think an outfit is cute, but you put it on your kid and it fits just right and looks even more cute then you thought it was going to? That happened...

Even better? I didn't even have to buy that outfit! It came in a package from Grandma. Don't you just love getting mail?

If you take a nap with a toddler running around, check your face when you get up.

I think I blogged about our last performance of the season. I lied. We just had real last performance of the season! It was at a local fair, with rides and all. It was a beautiful day and fun time.

Half the cousins dances, and half the cousins watched!

Livy and Kaitlyn's group

Nice kickline girls!

These kids are so amazing! They are such a talented group and nice kids to boot!

After dancing we had an hour to have some fun before Adrienne had to be back at the studio for choreography. That was plenty of time for everyone to ride two rides.

Sof's first ride. She loved it!

Lexi and Livy had to choose a "big" ride!

So cute to see Kaitlyn being the big cousin. For 5 years she was our baby!

Sorry Natalie, you ARE our baby and always will be!!

Another great week behind us and one on the horizon. The circle of life...Monday-Friday-Sunday, and Monday again...

Fabulous Fall Fun

This weekend was just screaming fall to me. I was ready to dress in denim and browns and get some pumpkin patch photos of the kids. As soon as we found out Adrienne was free from dance, I called my sister and we planned a quick trip to the cottage. We drove in Saturday afternoon, 2 mommy's, 6 girlies and a carload of bags. It's just a nice getaway. It feels like vacation. Plus there's nothing I love more then hangin' with my sis and watchin' cousins play.

My Mom, Dad, and Grandma came out and brought dinner. Pizza, salad, and decorate your own dessert. Yummmm....

Grandma got good time with baby...

Sunday morning started with a trip to the corner stand we L-O-V-E. They have the best pumpkins, best prices, coolest dog, and we basically just love everything about it!

Sof got to pick her first pumpkin. What's more fun than that?

Then we headed down the street to the real cider mill for more Sofie firsts. Donuts, cider, hayride, and some other commercialized stuff that doesn't belong at cider mills. I love seeing this child discover her world.

Beauty and Brains Part 2

Lexi had her school pictures today. She knew what she wanted to wear, and what she wanted to do with her hair. I'm pretty sure she must have been the cutest 4th grader there. Of course I'm a little partial...but judge for yourself, I think you'll agree:)

The great thing about this girl? She is absolutely 100% as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

Sof's First Day at Dance

Poor Sof, for months she has cried everytime we drop Alexa off at gymnastics, and everytime we drop Adrienne at dance. Now mind you, with our schedule, this happens just about everyday! Finally, yesterday was her turn. I'll be honest, I'm a total dance/gymnastics mom! I believe in extracurricular activities. I know that life is not for everyone, but it's right for us. When we were adopting I knew I would put this little girl in dance right away. Just like my other girls. I also knew it might not be her thing. It's possible, gasp, she may want to play a sport. Don't get me wrong, I'd support my kids no matter what they wanted to do, but it's sure a lot easier when their interest matches mine:). I love the whole dance scene, and I'm so excited to see Sof wanting to do it! She's been so excited about her bag and shoes! We went outside to take pictures before we left and she wouldn't set her bag down on the ground! She had to hang it on the garage door handle!

When we got there she was soooo excited! I kept telling her it was her turn. She marched right in the door, got her shoes on, and wanted to go in every door that opened. Finally it was time for her to line up. She jumped off the bench and went with her teacher. I knew that enthusiaam would wear off though when she realized she was going alone. Sure enough when she reappeared on the monitor she was crying and on the teacher's hip. By a few minutes into the class she was standing on her own, but she didn't move. She was super happy when she came out though!

So the the synopsis is...Sof was IN dance class, she did NOT dance. A girl can't show all her moves right away. She's saving her inner rock star for class #2.

Beauty and Brains

She's got the beauty part hands down. I can't take any credit for that. Well, maybe a little, that is an amazing outfit:)

We saw the brains right away the first visit we had with her. She was just over 2, and she was successful doing a puzzle in those extremely stressful moments. We knew she was a smartie.

So let me tell you about Sof and the rocks...

She lined up these six rocks. My sister and I were sitting on the porch steps. She brought over two and set them next to my sister. Then she went back and brought another two over and set them next to me. When she went back for the last two I was certain she would put them inbetween us(she's OCD like that!). She actually set them in my pile. My sister and I giggled a bit, like there goes that theory, she's not quite as particular as we thought. Suddenly she looked back and saw 4 on one side and 2 on the other. Without missing a beat she grabbed one and moved it to the other pile to make 3 and 3. As if it was no big deal, just oh, let me even those out...

It was genius. It's official, beauty and brains, all my girls have 'em.