Mr Mike's 1st Piano Recital

Mike held a piano recital for his students tonight. He teaches 9 students, ranging from ages 6-15. He advertised on Craigslist two years ago and started teaching one family of twins. All of his students since that first family have been referrals, so I think he must be doing a good job :) When he first started, I worried about him taking on too much with school, but He really enjoys it and it has given him a nice break from the monotony of school each day. I'm glad he's doing it and enjoying it. He also promises each of the kids that if they practice, he'll do a magic trick for them at the end of each lesson. It's good incentive for them to practice, and also great incentive for him to keep learning new tricks. At the end of the recital tonight, the students presented a gift to him as a thank you. They gave him a gift card to a magic store, which I think was appropriate :) It was very thoughtful of them. He loves teaching these kids!

Unfortunately the pictures are so dark! This is even with the flash on :( Oh well, I still want to post them. The one below is Mike playing a piece (On Green Dolphin Street) that he performed at the end of the recital. He did a great job!

I was so proud of him tonight. All the parents and kids think he's wonderful! I do too :)

Family picture after the recital

Heather's Visit

At the beginning of May my friend Heather came to visit me from Las Vegas. Heather and I lived in the same apartment complex when Mike and I lived in Vegas, and we really only knew each other for about 6 months, but became really great friends during that time. We spent almost every day together, and I think it is thanks to her that I didn't go crazy that summer, being pregnant with Erin (we were both pregnant with our second kids, and Elaina and her daughter Hailey were best little buddies!). I just love her and was so happy that she came to visit me :)

We took Heather to an authentic Texas bbq

I got to meet her adorable little Brooke too. So glad I got to meet her since it's the only one of her 3 kids that I hadn't met yet. Heather was so great with my kids that Elaina bawled for 15 minutes after we left the airport and spent the whole way to Bastrop (30 minutes away from the airport) planning a trip to Vegas to go see her, and her daughter Hailey. She told me "it only takes one plane to get to Las Vegas Mom" as if...what's the big deal, Mom? Let's just pick up and go! Agreed. Now, we just have to convince the husband :)

Kittens!

Our friend's cat recently had kittens and we were able to go over and see them when they were only a week old. They were so darn cute, I almost wanted to take one home....almost...!

This one is my favorite - Erin's giving kisses!

Fire Station

Our preschool group had an awesome field trip to the College Station Fire Department. It worked out so perfectly, and the kids loved it.

We went in and they talked to the kids about fire safety. They also got to watch the fireman get dressed in all his gear. It was pretty cool, but once he put the mask on lots of the kids were scared of him, understandably! I hadn't really realized that kids would find them scary but I guess firemen do look a bit like scary monsters! :)


After this we got to tour the station. When we were almost finished with the tour, the bell went off and they had to run to a fire. It was pretty cool how it happened - the fireman stopped mid-tour and just bolted out to the garage without even taking time to explain or say goodbye to us. They had 2 minutes to get dressed and in the truck from the instant the bell went off. The field trip coordinator stayed with us and allowed us to look out the front window as they pulled away with their sirens on. It was so cool! Apparently it was a chemical fire at the chemistry dept on campus. Since nobody was seriously hurt I don't feel to badly about enjoying the experience it offered us :)

Aren't these kids just the cutest? I love all these kids!

My Grandpa was a volunteer firefighter and so when we got home I had Elaina and Erin call and tell him all about their experience at the fire station. They think it's pretty cool to have a great-grandpa firefighter!

Announcing! Kids' Day: May 30, 2010

On the way home from church, Elaina announced: "Next Sunday is Kids' Day. Kids' Day is where you give hearts and stickers and presents to the kids." I pointed out that maybe yesterday was kids' day because we spent the day swimming and playing with her and Erin. Or maybe last Saturday was kids' day because we spent the whole day at her dance recital. Or maybe every day is kids' day because of all the fun activities we do. Apparently those things don't qualify as kids' day.

(side note: I actually remember when I was young asking my Mom why there is a Mother's Day and Father's Day and not a kids' day...she told me that every day was kids' day. I wasn't satisfied. I get it now).

This afternoon, as Elaina continued to make plans for Kids' Day, she told me that she would like me to give her a Barbie for Kids' Day. I suggested a homemade card telling her how great she is (because I loved the ones I got on Mother's Day). Nope, this would not suffice. A Barbie would be great.

Hmmm...the idea of creating a holiday for myself so that my family can give me expensive gifts sounds like a great idea. Dear Elaina: For "Allison Day" I would like diamond jewelry, please!

Photo Shoot

Elaina got such a kick out of playing around with Photo Booth on my computer. I know everyone does these, but Elaina was cracking herself up today during her own little photo shoot, so I had to post them!

This one is for Mike, since he loves the duck face so much :)

Elaina's Dance Recital

Elaina did so well at her dance recital last Saturday. She is such the little performer, and so getting on stage in front of 1000-1500 people (that's at least how many the studio expected to show) was no big deal.

Her ballet routine was called "Circus Ballerina." I don't have pictures of her in her tap shoes, but she also did a tap routine - "Gettin' Better Boogie."

Erin was so proud of her big sister!

It was fun to spend so much of the day with the two of us. Who knew dance recital days were so time consuming?!? We had to be there at 8:30am for the dress rehearsal, which started at 9am. This lasted 2+ hours. We had a few hours at home before heading back at 3:30 to get a good seat for the 5pm show that night. It was fun to spend the day together and we both really enjoyed all the other dance performances as well.

Once I get the video off the video camera I will post the performances.

More Sleepovers

We found the girls asleep in each other's beds again a few nights ago. I love how Elaina is using Erin's tummy as a pillow!

Sleepy Head

Mike found Erin sound asleep behind the couch like this:

I don't think I never posted this hilarious video of her either - this was back in October at Steve & Ashley's wedding luncheon. She fell asleep eating her roll, but kept eating! It was so funny

Elaina + Erin = BFF

I love these girls!! You won't find them apart from each other very often.

Elaina takes such good care of little sis. When Erin takes her nap Elaina listens for the squeaking door to open and as soon as it does, she runs to greet Erin and ask her to come play with her. I've also found Elaina helping Erin brush her teeth and take her potty. We've been working on having the girls say their own personal prayers before bed. The other night we forgot this in the bedtime routine and Elaina told me the next morning that she had helped Erin say her personal prayers. She's so good at including Erin when playing with her. She speaks so kindly to Erin and it is evident how much she loves her little sister in the way that she treats her (most of the time...believe me, we have our moments -- today is just a good day :) )

I love how much Erin looks up to big sister & adores Elaina so much. She even consents to being the prince so that she can play prince and princess with Elaina (other times she consents to being Captain Hook, or even "the bad guy")! What a sweetheart. She also knows the words to all the primary songs and dance songs that Elaina learns when she's not there - she just spends her day copying what Elaina does. I do love that she mimics Elaina since she does it out of love for her big sister, but I also wonder how her own little personality will blossom when Elaina is at kindergarten next year. At the same time I know it will be a really difficult transition for her and part of me doesn't look forward to separating the two of them either.

These are some beautiful weeds they picked for me
**Does that outfit of Elaina's hurt your eyes like it hurts mine? I do know how badly it doesn't match - believe me, this outfit was her choice that day and I'm trying to bite my tongue occasionally when it doesn't really matter (or at least I'm trying to convince myself that it doesn't really matter and that it's good for her to make some of her own choices over certain things....at least that's what they tell me in the Parenting books and magazines!)

This spring's bluebonnet picture

Awww, they love their puppy too!

Elaina has these preschool computer games that she loves. She's say to Erin: "Hey Erin, do you want to watch me do my computer games?" And Erin always cheerfully agrees! :)

This is my favorite! They've always loved the time at night when they can chat and giggle until they fall asleep. They even stall together - when one gets up for a drink or an owie, the other is following right behind! A couple weeks ago they started climbing in each others' beds and sleeping together. I caught this picture one night and I think it's so darn cute. They love each other so much. I'm so happy about that.

This is my Erin-Girl

*Erin has no problem standing up for herself & her big sister. We've been training our new puppy, Millie, and sometimes Millie will nip at the kids (although not so much anymore, thank goodness!). We'd try to get the kids to stand up to Millie and tell her no. Elaina had more of a difficult time doing this - she would lie there with Millie attacking her, and then Erin would come out of nowhere and shout "NO Mi-yee. Don't bite Yay-na" (="NO Millie! Don't bite Elaina!"). And Millie obeyed her commands and stopped. It is so adorable to see little sister stand up for big sister.

*Erin is also Millie's dinner-time favorite. It's no coincidence when our family is at the table that Millie sits herself on the ground between Erin and Mike (yes, Mike is very guilty too!). Millie knows where to be if she wants something yummy!

*I had to take Elaina in to get her H1N1 shot, and she knew what was coming. As I was preparing her to go to the doctor she started crying (we hadn't even left the house yet!) because she didn't want a shot. Erin came in and reassured her: "it's ok Yay-na (=Elaina)....don't cry....I'll make it all better....it won't hurt Yay-na.....shhhh, it's okay.....I'll make it all better."

*She insists that I call her by a princess name at all times. I'll call: "Erin, come help me unload the dishwasher" and I'll hear: "no, I'm Cinderella." Until I concede and call her by her proper princess name (Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, or Giselle....it changes constantly!) she won't come and do what she's asked.

*Oh, and she gives the best hugs. Sometimes I'll sit and have her hug me over and over again because it just feels so good. Everybody needs an "Erin-hug" as often as they can get it!

Elaina's Latest

*Something I find so adorable is Elaina always using the word "darling" to refer to someone's child. I'm actually not really sure where she got it from, but I love it! (Actually she says it more like darlin' with a Texas accent). She went up to a stranger in the store (as she always does) and asked: "do you have a darlin'?" Another time, Mike was teaching piano at our house and she asked the student's (Rachel's) Mom: "Is Rachel your darlin'?" So cute!

*One day we were driving and Elaina looked at the lady in the car next to us and goes: "eeewwwww! That lady is smoking!" The lady looked over at her just as she made a disgusted face in her direction. I guess in addition to teaching her healthy habits, we also need to teach her a little tact!

*This morning Elaina woke up and asked this question: "Mommy, what if you are a tool with no arms and you get sick? How do you sneeze if you have no arms?"
(for those of you who don't rely on Disney so you to take an occasional shower in privacy - and to keep you sane some mornings! - you might not know about Handy Manny and his arm-less tools. She hasn't even watched Handy Manny today, so this is obviously something she's been concerned about for a while now)

Easter Festivities

We were busy this Easter! We went to a Easter Egg Hunt & Carnival at the George Bush Presidential Library which was a lot of fun! Our friend Janine also planned an egg hunt and activities at her house for preschool which was a big hit! And the Easter Bunny came to our house on Easter Sunday.

Here are some pictures from the carnival at the library:

Check out the crowds behind them! The kids were lined up in a square surrounding the eggs. I was a little nervous for the mad dash, but it wasn't really that bad - only a couple black eyes and bruises...and lots of chocolate :)

We also ran into my friend Steph, who took an impromptu family picture

Erin gave the Easter bunny a kiss. Always the sweetheart!

Elaina was excited to run into her friend Addi

This fireman let us all try on his hat. He was pretty cool

Janine did a great Easter Egg hunt. She even divided up the eggs and assigned each child a color to look for. Brilliant!!

Egg Hunt at our house. The Easter Bunny was tricky this year and put lots of the eggs up high. I love these pictures of the kids trying to reach up high to get their goodies: