Dancing Queens

I am so glad that my girls have the opportunity to participate in dance class. Leah has been dancing for 6 years now! She's really got a knack for it-- she enjoys it and does pretty well. It has been amazing to see her growth. And this year her love for dance spread to her little sister. After trying it out when she was just 4, she wasn't quite ready to get out there and be the center of attention. But we tried again this year and though it took a few weeks, she ended up thriving. Her teacher saw the growth & change in her and said she has promise as a good little dancer. The best part for Abi was the change in her I saw socially. By the end of the year she was asking her friends if she could play with them before class.

I love their small little dance studio, where Abi and Leah both had the same teacher, just in different classes. Leah got to tap with adults this year and fit it perfectly well as the youngest in her class. Their teacher expects them to be their best and gets much respect from the girls because she just doesn't allow them to do less than that.

Both girls were a little nervous before the show this year, but also excited and didn't need me to stay back with them.

Abigail's jazz number was "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid. I took most of these pictures during the dress rehearsal, rather than the actual recital, which is why you see most of them looking off to their teacher on the side!

  

Her tap number was "Lollipop"-- I mean, who can resist five and six year olds in frilly skirts with lollipops? They did such a great job and barely missed a step! For mostly first year dancers, they sure did seem like they knew exactly what to do!

Leah's tap number, with the adult class, was 42nd Street, a broadway show from the 20's. I tried to upload to YouTube but they are apparently pretty strict with copyright laws and muted the music. Just watching this dance amazed me! I don't know how anyone can move their feet that fast!

Leah's jazz number was from The Greatest Showman-- hence the circus-themed costumes. It was a really great song and fit this age group perfectly. They had so much fun learning this and adding in the sticks and other props.

And a comparison shot-- Leah's first recital, vs. her sixth!

Train Ride & Family Fun

Apparently since there is Mother's Day and there is Father's Day, Vermont also feels the need to celebrate Kids' Day. And we joined in the fun! Kids rode free this past weekend on the Green Mountain Railroad (grown ups could tag along for a pretty cheap price). It was a pretty cool train. We rode about 45 minutes out and back-- not too much to see, but it was still really fun to see out the wide open windows and spend time together at the table on the train.

After the train ride we went to the Kids' Day carnival events downtown. Leah held a snake.

Jacob was a little grouchy because the sun was hot and, well, he's 2. The bubbles helped a little.

We sat on a fire truck and an ambulance. The paramedic in the ambulance was really nice and the kids enjoyed seeing some of the things they've been learning about the human body in science class!

Of course no Kids Day would be complete without creemees. Our first of the season! 

Easter 2018

Easter always seems to be a good time of year to get good new pictures of the kids in their nice clothes. We tried them on a few days early when it was a little warmer and went outside to take some photos.

Jacob's not really a fan of posing for pictures currently so I'll take what I can get with him-- hence the fact he has no shoes.

The Egg Hunt at church is always a little hectic, with kids going in every direction. The three older kids managed on their own just fine this year so I stuck with Jacob, who really couldn't care less about candy or eggs or anything for that matter except getting out of the cold.

We opened our Easter baskets from the bunny after church this year, which seemed to work better since there was a sunrise service & Brett was gone super early. The kids were happy with their loot.

Winter Days

January & February in wintery Vermont are usually made up of mundane days with not much excitement. We try to add some fun in the mix but not many pictures get taken of the everyday stuff that makes up these kids' childhood. Here's a few things that happened:


Andrew had to go to the dentist to get his first two teeth removed, as they were pretty stubborn and the new ones were already growing in. So he had a little bit of a toothless grin, but maybe not quite as much. He was a trooper about it all.

On school days, Jacob generally walks around and dumps out everything he can find, moves on to the next toy, dumps it out, and moves on again. Besides dumping things out, he also has a love for sorting and lining things up. He puts the teddy bear counters into the correct color cups, one at a time. He is so smart, too! He is able to recognize almost all the colors, and now he's even able to recognize many of the letters of the alphabet-- all without me ever even trying to teach him!

Andrew working hard at spelling.

Abi is finally starting to show a little interest in reading, so we have started to do a little kindergarten work. She is just now able to say the beginning sound of each letter of the alphabet. She still isn't really catching on to blending letters together to make words, but we are working on it. She loves little folder games or worksheets with mazes and dot-to-dots. She is great at copying letters to make words-- she just doesn't know what word it is she wrote!

Leah started taking a ballet class in addition to her tap/ jazz class. She has proven to be dedicated and really truly interested in dance and we want to encourage that and help her grow. It is a basic ballet class with kids from 6 up to 10, one day a week. She seems to really enjoy it.

Of course we had a lot of snow, and thankfully our snow plow friends make really big piles to climb on and sled down! And the kids built their first snowman all on their own!