let me be . . . your teddy bear . . .

As you know, last Fall, Alli started taking dance classes at Just 4 Kicks with some of her neighborhood friends.  Although we had a shaky start (i.e. Mommy had to do some dancing too!) she completely loves it now and has her recital this weekend.  This week, we had practice at South Kitsap High School since the recital is on the stage there.  I was worried about how Alli would do but I had no need to worry.  She LOVES dancing and was so excited to go to Mommy and Daddy's school ;-)  Wednesday was just a regular practice (no costumes) for the girls to get comfortable with the stage.  The lights were on and Alli could see me so she spent half the practice blowing me kisses ~ yes, very cute!  Alli was in the pink dance outfit.

Off in her own little world ;-)

Listening to instructions from Ms. Jessica

She's in the back of the "choo choo train" ~ this is huge because a few months ago there was NO WAY she was doing the choo choo.  We practiced this  A LOT at home :)

Now look at that cutie participating with Ms. Tanya up front and Ms. Jessica in the back ~ GREAT teachers!!!

Let me be YOUR teddy bear!

Ready to give it another try . . .

Here's the choo choo train again.

Don't wanna be a tiger . . . and Alli doing her own thing again ;-)

The ending pose ~ still working on that one!

Yesterday was the dress rehearsal where they were in full costume and practiced with the lights.  I was nervous (again for NO reason!) that Alli would freak out by the lack of lights.  Nope, she was so excited that while we watched the other dances, she tried to do those dances in the aisles! :)  She is such a little cutie.  I took a video of the routine but haven't figured out how to share it yet.  I promise to post it once I do because it is SOOOOOO cute!  I was chuckling so hard because Alli was just so darn adorable.  Lacking on the dancing skills but she totally made up for it in cuteness.  Watched the others and was a step behind but smiled the whole time and was just precious!!!  When she came off stage, she jumped into my arms with a huge smile on her face and said, "that was so much fun! can we do it again?"  I cannot tell you how much I love this girl!

After the girls came off stage, Ms. Jessica decided to practice a few more times with them in the hallway ;-)

Alli was the second to last.

Just look at that little grin!

She looks a little out of it here but still cute!

The little cutie right before we left.  She cannot wait for the recital!!!

The recital is tomorrow and Sunday.  I know her Daddy and grandparents cannot wait to see her perform!

a day at the park

This morning Alli, Eli and I went to the Port Orchard waterfront to play at the park with our neighborhood friends.  The kids had a blast at the "spinny" park ~ seriously, every toy there spins.  I get dizzy just watching them play :)  After a filling picnic lunch, where both Alli and Eli ate pretty well, the big kids went down to the beach since it was low tide.  Who doesn't have fun looking for shells and rocks???

Alli is the little cutie in the yellow jacket.  Eli didn't make any of the pictures because he was stuck with Mommy . . . and not too happy about that as he wanted to be eating the rocks and sand!

one down, three to go

CPA exams that is :) 

My amazing hubby found out yesterday that he passed the first of the four tests!!!!!!!!!!! 

I am so proud of him! 

He, of course, was convinced that he had failed and was less than pleasant the day he took the test but perked up considerably once he found out it is supposed to be the hardest of the four and the majority of folks have to take it multiple times before passing it.  I kept telling him he may have done better than he thought but he didn't believe it.  Imagine his surprise yesterday when he got the letter saying he passed ;-)  I love being right!  Seriously though, I am so proud of him and as I watch him study, I am in awe.  I have to say I think this is far worse than the Bar exam.  At least that was just one, two-day test.  Poor Garrett has to take four tests and pass them all within 12 or 18 months ~ yikes. 

Way to go G!!!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the BEST guy I know!!!

Garrett ~ you are such a wonderful Daddy and we all love you so much!

The very proud Daddy with both of his munchkins.

Alli was all smiles having just woken up from her nap and Eli was in desperate need of his nap :)

G's first Father's Day with two little ones was a smashing success!

We had Hawaiian day at church so Daddy & Eli were decked out in their Aloha shirts

G changed before pictures.

We spent a relaxing afternoon at home then had dinner with my folks to celebrate my Dad's birthday.

Showing off his favorite gift ~ an art project made by Mommy, Alli & Eli.

This was an idea I stole from a friend

I traced both kids hands and arms ~ NOT an easy task with Eli!

We pasted them to another fun scrapbook paper.

The frame mat says "Daddy, no matter how big we get we will always reach for you!"

G LOVED it!

For those thinking we went cheap, he also got a fun power tool but said the frame was his favorite gift ;-)

He and Eli had fun admiring it together too

I love watching my two guys giggling together!

What a great Father's Day!

fun at the zoo

Since today was so beautiful, and G had the day off, we packed up the kids to head to the Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.  It was the perfect morning for it and both kids had a blast!  The whole time we were there, Alli kept saying "I am having so much fun!  We should come back to the zoo again sometime."  Good thing she got a family pass for her birthday :)

G & the kiddos "inside" a shark's mouth ~ so silly!

Both kiddos were enthralled with the sealife and wanted to touch :)

Alli knelt right down and said, "Hi sleepy shark!"

Must have been nap time for the animals because the elephant was sound asleep too!

 Alli was pointing at the animal in hammock, just in case we missed it ;-)

We all enjoyed taking a break for a picnic lunch before checking out so more animals.

While waiting for Alli to finish eating, the boys played on the grass and Eli had a ball being upside down :)

Finally, it was off to see some more marine life before heading home . . .

Definitely a great morning!!!  We got home just in time for afternoon naps.

happy anniversary to us

Here we are on our 9th Anniversary, ready to go out for a relaxing dinner . . .

Things have changed a little in 9 years.

We now have a little person jumping in pictures and informing us that she intends to go out to dinner with us ;-)  We probably would have had a little boy in the pic too but he was already in bed!

9 years ago today . . .

I married the most amazing man!!!

I remember that day like it was yesterday!

Hard to believe it has been 9 years already. 

Where did the time go?

I can honestly say, I love him more and am even happier than I was that day!

 Seriously, he is that AWESOME!

I love you Garrett and look forward to the rest of our lives together!!!

we have pictures!!!

Thank you Adele for sending these!

Turns out we do have pictures from our fun at the beach (discussed in previous post) and some more of Miss Alli riding her big girl bike ~ yeah!!!  I will edit the previous post to include the beach pictures but here are some of Alli the day after she got her bike.  I promise she doesn't always wear dresses for bike rides :)

Just check out that smile ~ she LOVES her new bike!

long time no blog

Guess life has been a bit busier these past two weeks.  Wish I could think of reason why but I can't.  Guess we just got caught up in life :)

Last weekend, we had another garage sale to get rid of the rest of our stuff.  Not as successful as the previous one but we still got rid of a ton and made some more money!  No Toys R Us for Alli this time, at least not with us.  She got to have a play date with Ducky Gramma and Papa that day and they took her to Toys R Us and bought her a brand new, princess, big girl bike with training wheels and a matching helmet!!!

To say she loves it would be an understatement :)  It took a few rides before she had it figured out but now, she's a pro!  She LOVES to ride around the neighborhood and gets going so quickly that she tells us she's "racing" us.  Seriously, we have to jog to keep up!  Very entertaining.

Yesterday, the weather finally warmed up again and we took full advantage by going to the beach (Treasure Island).  Of course, in packing our bag, we forgot the camera so no photos but I assure you, a great time was had by all.  Thankfully, Adele had her camera and kindly shared the pictures so we can now show you how much fun we had.  We went out after lunch and went straight down to the water.  Alli was being a pill so we put her down for a nap and let Eli play on the beach until he kept trying to eat rocks ~ silly boy.  We tried to put him down as well but he was not at all interested in the pack-n-play and we didn't want to ruin Alli's nap so we put him in the Bob (stroller), in the shade, facing the water.  He LOVED that!!!  Chatted and played with his feet for about 20 minutes, then zonked! 

While the kids slept, G and his dad dug clams on the beach. 

When Eli woke up, we put him in his little swim trunks and let him play in the little pool.  He had a ball splashing around with toys.
  

Alli changed into her suit and joined in the fun when she woke up. She had no intention of getting in with him but was happy to play right next to the pool and two passed toys back and forth ;-)

After deciding they were done with the pool, Eli ate (what's new?)

and Alli rode her bike ~ both were quite happy :)

We had a great dinner out there and both kids crashed on the drive home.  Guess all that sun and swimming wore them out!

Today has also been pretty nice so we enjoyed lunch outside and worked in the yard.  Alli loves to pull weeds and Eli thinks it is great fun to crawl around on the grass so both had fun. 

We took a quick bike ride / stroll around the neighborhood before naps. As you can see, Eli loves to chill in the Bob :)

CinderALLI

Clean, clean, clean. 

Hey, she's 3 now, time to put her to work ;-)

Really though, the girl LOVES to vacuum . . .

Seriously!  She begs to vacuum ~ and she's really good at it!!!

Last Saturday, I was doing laundry and Alli took care of the vacuuming. 

I could get used to the help ;-)