A Year of Birthdays

 Kyrie & Degen just might be two of the luckiest kids ever as far as birthday celebrations go! Both had a fun party with their friends. Both got to go to Disney World. And both have a doting Nana Bille & Papa Derrel who came to visit and give them a belated birthday celebration!

 My kiddos love cake and they love birthday cake the best! Nana Billie surprised them with a birthday cake and homemade chocolate sodas. They loved the cake, especially the "Happy Birthday" serenade and blowing out the candles!

 I am positive that Degen has begun to believe that birthdays come every month. Someday very soon he is going to be disappointed, BUT not today!

 My two, beautiful birthday babies!

Big love & thanks to Nana Billie & Papa Derrel for making the (long) drive up to visit and for all the birthday surprises!

And what's a birthday without presents?!?

 Degen got a too-cute, train conductor outfit!

It will be perfect when we go to see Thomas the Tank Engine in the fall!

Kyrie got this over-the-top-adorable, ballerina rain outfit!

Puddle Jumpers

 After a weekend of sunshine, the clouds rolled in and brought their rain. The temps cooled and the sunshine played peek-a-boo. After so many weeks of cold, gray, rainy days, the kids couldn't resist the chance to play in such a pleasant rainstorm.

 The cats thought they might give the rain a try, too!

 Degen made a game of running to & from the open door hollering hellos and goodbyes with each trip.

 All the rain we have had has given us a beautiful spring: everything is a lush & healthy green. When the sun comes out the colors really pop!

Another Opening, Another Show

 Kyrie's dance recital was today! DanceArts puts on six identical shows in one day, each about 30 minutes long and incorporating students from all their beginner classes (the older students have their own show). Kyrie's show was in the afternoon, and there were already crowds of people leaving after the earlier show or arriving to see the next show. The little girls were absolutely adorable! The costumes were colorful and there were curls and rouge and the sweetest faces everywhere you looked. I dropped Kyrie off to wait with her class off-stage before joining the rest of the family in the theater.

 The show was "Mother Goose Party" and it started with a solo dance by one of the older students performing as Mother Goose. I was really impressed with how great the stage looked. And all the little girls (ages 2-6) did a wonderful job waiting on-stage for their turn to dance.

 Each of the dances was perfectly cute! The youngest class danced to Pat-a-Cake and the older girls danced to songs representing Row Your Boat, Little Miss Muffet and other nursery rhyme favorites. Kyrie's class performed to Itsy Bitsy Spider. You will have to take my word that Kyrie & her class (along with all the other little girls) did a great job! Truly, the show was a complete delight to watch! (I wish I could post the video on here, but it is almost 3-minutes long and I have trouble posting any video on here that is more than about 10 seconds. Check out Facebook for the video.)

 Kyrie's class was the last class to perform before the finale. We surprised her with flowers (a bouquet from Nana Billie & Papa Derrel and a bouquet from us) when she finished the show! She loved them!

I was glad that we got such a nice photo of us with our little dancer! We were really proud of all her hard work and how well she danced on stage!

I love this photo! All the preparation and practice and finally the performance and now one, tired girl! She watched her video later and looked at all her pictures. She had so much fun! She can't wait for her next recital! 

Kyrie in "Under God's Sea"

Kyrie really enjoyed being a part of the children's choir at church and performing in their Christmas program. So, we were excited that they would be doing a show for spring. Rehearsals started on Sunday mornings in January for "Under God's Sea in 3-D."

After months of rehearsals on Sunday mornings and then Sunday evenings and finally extended Saturday afternoon rehearsals, the kids were ready to put on their show. They gave a preview during last Sunday's morning service and put on their show that evening. 

Once again, Kyrie was one of the youngest participants, but she did a great job remembering the lyrics to the songs and singing out. We love that practicing & performing with the children's choir allows her to make friendships within the church community and that it encourages her to be a part of a team effort.

Spring Planting

We have grand plans for a garden and landscaping. One of the reasons why we bought our house was because of the size of the property. In 5-10 years, it should be wonderful, but right now it is a lot of wish lists and work. Darren is the yard worker in our family. If I am needed then I will go out to help, but it is just not something that I enjoy. (I have read articles about people who had unexplained aversions to certain foods & activities that turned out to be medically valid, and I think that I have the same thing. I know that I have awful allergies and my mind is just trying to protect my body by making me prefer to stay inside. At least this is what I tell myself.)

Degen LOVES mowing the lawn with Darren. In this pic, he is scarfing down a waffle while they mow the lawn.

So, my wonderful hubby mows the lawns and picks up sticks and plants trees and gardens and does all that outside stuff all year long. He has a healthy green thumb and an eye for detail, so he's perfect for the tasks at hand. We had hoped to build large containers for an above ground garden this year, but realized that along with our other projects and general busyness we were going to be way stressed out. So, the new plan is to build the containers (and also frame out the swingset with the same composite timbers and add a base of woodchips), but wait until next year to actually plant the garden. Being the planners (& dreamers) that we are, we have created a beautiful design of what we would eventually like our garden space to be: several raised bed containers of varying heights & design filled with all sorts of delicious fruits & vegetables surrounding a cozy, covered seating area. Needless to say that we are several years away from achieving that vision.

Though it is a lot of work, Darren really loves gardening and we both love reaping the benefits of growing our own food. So much so that we can't imagine a season without a single homegrown tomato. Since we aren't planting a garden this year, we compromised by getting just a few tomato & pepper plants that we put in the flower beds in the front of the house. We also had some perennial herbs that we took from our rental growing in containers in the backyard. Darren bought replacements for any that we lost and planted them in the planter off the front porch. This was done primarily at my request. I know that most people plant flowers or more decorative plants in their porch planters, but I am nothing if not practical and having herbs growing right outside the kitchen just seemed perfect to me. It is very convenient to be able to walk right out my front door and snip herbs for supper. I also think that it looks very nice even though it's not flowers!



Cute & Curly

We are preparing for Kyrie's first dance recital with the Columbus DanceArts Academy this weekend. A few weeks ago, we had parent observation week. The girls got their costumes and we parents got a packet of papers outlining the instructions & guidelines for the recital. With pens in hand, moms took notes about the tights we needed and procedure for dropping off & picking up our daughters. We were also instructed on buying tickets, t-shirts, DVDs & photos and where to find instruction sheets for their hair & make-up. All the girls in Kyrie's class are supposed to have "high, curly ponytails."

A few months ago, Kyrie had requested some curls in her hair and I pulled out the curling iron. Amazingly, I couldn't get a single curl to set in her hair. With knowledge of that experience, I knew that I would need to find another way to curl her hair and the Academy suggested foam rollers. I scheduled Kyrie to get her recital photos at our regular portrait studio and figured it would be an excellent opportunity for me to do a trial run with the curlers (and the make-up).

 Her hair was super-easy to set after bathtime. Just a bit of gel and some hair spray. The next morning she had sweet, golden curls that actually looked pretty natural with her short 'do. I worked it into a half ponytail (as discussed with her teacher) with no bangs and set about doing her make-up.

 I don't have any issue with Kyrie wearing make-up. Every so often she will request some lipstick or mascara and I oblige. She doesn't seem to think it's a very big deal, and I tend to prefer that she keep that perspective. Now recital make-up is stage make-up, and I went out and got Kyrie her own set of everything. I got a lot of stuff that I don't even normally wear (like eyeliner and blush). I really considered this my practice session and figured out what worked and what didn't. Kyrie did great with almost everything except for the eyeliner on her lower lid, which I understand. Letting someone come at your eye with a sharpened pencil is a little unsettling. It didn't turn out the way I liked, and I think I will skip it for the recital. (Surprisingly, the other day Kyrie requested some eyeliner.)

 Kyrie looked very different in her stage make-up. She got some compliments when we went to lunch after her photo session. People loved her curly hair and her super-duper long eyelashes (which require no mascara). I find myself drawn to look at these made-up photos again & again. It's my little girl, but looking so much older. My mind keeps trying to reconcile this flash forward image to my everyday, little girl. Darren finds the photos a bit unsettling, he finds his mind unwilling to accept this grown up vision of his baby girl. Me, I just find them interesting. If I imagine Kyrie heading off to prom or walking down the aisle, is this the face I see?

Tumbling Tots

 This spring both children started tumbling at a nearby gym. Degen is in a toddler class that lets the children explore various apparatus while practicing balance, jumping, climbing and social skills.

 Kyrie's class is a combination class that includes tumbling, cheerleading and rhythmic gymnastics. Both kids really enjoy these classes, and I think that I will try to work more of them into our schedule after this session ends.

 Degen who is often so serious becomes an absolute wild man in the gym. He will literally be bouncing all over the place. He likes the trampolines best and does a great job climbing on the large foam shapes and in & out of the "cheese pit" (a pit filled with foam squares). We are practicing taking turns, but it can be a tough lesson to learn.

Kyrie has expressed a lot of excitement about her class. She enjoys using the ribbons for rhythmic gymnastics best. Both her coach & I were amazed at how well she did with rope climbing. I looked across the gym and saw her 6 feet off the ground! Her coach commented that she went higher than some of the teen tumblers she coaches.

Both kids love the Wee Beez gym! It has kiddie-sized apparatus that make it easy for the kids to explore by themselves. Kyrie's class goes through the room in an obstacle course fashion while Degen's class explores at their whim. 

Itsy-Bitsy Tap Dancer

On May 22nd, Kyrie will be dancing to "The Itsty Bitsy Spider" in the Columbus DanceArts Academy production of "Mother Goose Party." I have been delighted with our experience at DanceArts so far and can't wait to see Kyrie in her first academy recital!