Spittingimage

Tada!

Audrey took a preschool gymnastics class for 2 years.  This year, she switched gyms and she has really flourished.  She does a class that is ballet for the first half and gymnastics for the second, and she LOVES it!  Since the fall, she has perfected her cartwheel (once they figured out she was a lefty gymnast like her Mommy), mastered her round-off, and just recently, straightened out her handstand.  Watch out, because if you are in the way when she decides to practice gymnastics, you just might get kicked!

Party Time!

As it so happens, many of my friends have kids Trey & Audrey's ages.  So Trey & Audrey have lots of friends.  When it comes to Belle, she just has a few special friends of her own.  For her birthday, Belle chose to go to a jumpy place near our house.  3 little friends joined us for bouncing before heading off to McDonalds for happy meals and gifts.  It was a perfect party for a 4-year-old.

Roar!

The kids school is growing FAST!  They are in need of extra classrooms and hope to raise enough money to build for next year.  One fundraiser was a fun fair.  The kids loved the games and little prizes.  Belle even won a big cake in the cake walk.  They also enjoyed having their faces painted.

Daddy Daughter Dance

For Valentine's Day, Dante and Audrey went to the local Daddy Daughter Dance.  She was soooo excited!  They had a double date with Audrey's friend Gracie, and her daddy, Tom.  What a fun memory!

Winter Jubilee

Our kids' school does not do a Christmas concert.  They do not do a Spring concert.  They do a big ole concert in February called Winter Jubilee.  This year, there were to be 3 performances, but the Thursday night one was cancelled due to the blizzard.  Both performances, therefore fell on Trey's birthday.  He really doesn't care to sing in front of people, but he did a nice job.  Audrey, on the other hand, LOVES to perform!

This next picture isn't too crisp, but I love his face!

Trey's friend, Ben, made me laugh.  He hates singing in front of people.  You could tell he was nervous.  This next picture was snapped DURING his class' performance...

After the show, we headed to Dairy Queen.  We weren't the only ones with that idea... the place was PACKED with families from our school!

Creamy

Trey has been completely into animals for as long as we can remember.  When he was about four, he was begging for his own pet, and Dante said he could get a hermit crab when he turned seven.  Well, let me tell you, the kid did NOT forget!  Trey's birthday fell on a day of Winter Jubilee, a concert at school, so they had a late start.  We started with breakfast at McDonald's (his choice)...

Next, we went to the pet store, where Trey picked a hermit crab with a baseball-painted shell.  He named it Creamy.  I have no idea why.  That is the name he had picked out weeks in advance.

After I dropped the kids off at school, I had to go to Target.  Well, you can't leave a warm-weather crab in a freezing cold car, so Creamy got a tour of Target.  And I got crazy looks.  I did, however, run into Sara.  Came in handy for a picture :)

That afternoon, Dante took Creamy out of his cage to let Trey hold him.  Trey wasn't so sure!  I love his faces :)

Let Them Eat Cake!

My BABY is four!  So hard to believe!  Belle was born just 47 minutes before her daddy's brithday.  The night of Belle's birthday, Dante's friend Ray brought over a beautiful birthday cake for the birthday girl and boy.

7 years old!

In February, Trey celebrated his 7th birthday.  Each birthday blows me away with the realization of how FAST time flies!  This year, there was a huge blizzard right before his birthday.  Dante booked a hotel in the city so he could get to work.  I packed up the kids and headed to Auntie Sara's house.  We often lose power in storms, and I didn't want to take the chance of being stuck alone with the kids and no heat.  When we returned, the day before Trey's birthday, here's what we found...

We were literally stuck for 2 days with our friends, because we couldn't get out of the driveway or off the street.  When we did leave, it took 3x as long as it should have to get home.  That didn't stop us from making birthday treats!  Trey shares a birthday with his friend, Faith.  They share more than a birthday... a love of animals, a love for each other... Trey is totally in love with this sweet little girl.  He blushes at the mention of her name.  Faith and her mom came over to make birthday cupcakes together, and it was a blast!  Hopefully, this will be a tradition for many years :)

Christmas... Better Late than Never

Well, I did promise a Christmas post... even if it was 90 degrees out today!

Christmas gets more fun with the kids each year.  Here are some highlights from Christmas 2010...

 

The girls each got a Madame Alexander doll from Nono & Nona.  It was JUST what Audrey wanted!

 

Belle made a Rudolph hat at school and wore it everywhere well into January.  I had to restaple the back several times.

 

We had an Ugly Christmas Sweater get together with some friends. (Sorry Mom)

 

And of course, the kids looked adorable in their Christmas clothes :)

 

One highlight that I didn't get a picture of was on Christmas morning.  Santa brought a Wii, but left it near the tv in another room, not where we were opening presents.  We forgot, and Dante sent Trey to get a garbage bag for the wrapping paper.  He came flying back, squealing, "WE GOT A Wii!!! SANTA BROUGHT A Wii!!!".  He knew it even though it was wrapped, and he spotted it immediately :)