Abbie's Dance Recital

Abbie's dance recital was April 30th this year. For the second year she is in the youngest class..tap filled with 3, 4, and 5 year-olds. It is the class that always steals the show. They sing AND dance. This year because Abbie was one of the oldest she wasn't afraid to show that she knew what she was doing so if you listened closely you could hear Abbie's voice belting out "With a Hey and Hi and a Ho Ho Ho!"

Last year I had a hard time putting grown-up make-up on my 4 year old baby. This year I was broke in so there were no problems.

Showing me some moves before the show.

Abbie's Fan Club

Jeremy's Birthday

Jeremy's 35th birthday snuck up on me a bit. It seemed like we had a lot going on at the end of April so I didn't plan anything really special...at all. The girls bought him new welding hats which they thought were really fun to pick out.

He told me he needed some new wrenches. I had to call him from the store to make sure I was buying the right ones so those were a big surprise! The only thing he didn't know about was a new pair of badly needed jeans...I am sure he was thrilled! Abbie made him a card though...there isn't

anything better than that!

Soccer on April 18th and April 25th

Soccer this season looks like it might be a bit different for Abbie. The girls are all starting to understand the concept of the game more so it used to be whoever was the kickoff person would kick the ball down the field into the net while everyone else just stood and kind of watched or ran alongside. Now everyone understands a bit of defense and so it has become more challenging. Abbie hasn't scored any goals after 3 games but is learning to get in front of the ball to play some defense and is understanding boundaries and trying to stop the ball before it goes out.

Rylee still has little, nothing really, to say at 16 months but is able to throw and kick a ball. Will she be the athlete?

She looks so sweet and innocent! You would never know by looking at this picture she is so independent and opinionated. She is feeding herself everything now to the point that if I try to help scoop up the peas or get her spaghetti on the fork she will not eat it. She must do it all herself. There are just a few things she will let you help her do such as putting on her shoes or changing her diaper, everything else...Look out I can do it myself!!!

2-Wheel Bike Riding

This was the beginning of teaching Abbie to ride her bike without training wheels. We decided to teach her on her old bike and then have her move up to her new bike we bought her for her birthday. With this adventure there was a need for extreme patience. There were lots of cues that Abbie was supposed to remember...Look where your going! Pedal! Don't lean! And Jeremy and I each had our own way of teaching her, poor Abbie. She was so full of prompts that as I would run beside her she would be repeating all of the cues aloud as she was trying. It was exhausting for all of us! Needless to say we didn't perfect bike riding in one day!


We went back...........


and forth a lot of times!

Soccer on April 11th

And so starts the spring soccer season of 2010. Cold as usual. Ruby's mom, Elizabeth, stepped up to the plate and agreed to coach. Yea Liz! Ruby and Emily were the only players from the fall season team but this year Taylee joined Abbie's team.

Brrrrrrrrrr!






Wait Ruby..not so fast!

My 1st Breakfast in Bed

Abbie crawled into bed with Jeremy and I on April 17th at about 630. She laid quietly and waited until 700 am when I heard her say to Jeremy that she wanted to get out on his side of the bed so that she wouldn't wake me up. She told Jeremy that she was going to make me breakfast.

As I lay awake listening to the sounds of the kitchen I whispered to Jeremy, "What do you think she's making??" In she walked with a plum on a plate.

Abbie: I made you breakfast in bed Mom.

Me: Honey, thank you.

Abbie: I even washed it and took the sticker off myself.

She set down the plate and walked away.

Me: Where are you going Abbie?

Abbie: I made one for me too! (that's my girl...always remember food for yourself)

She looks at Jeremy knowing that he didn't get a plum in bed.

Abbie: Dad, you can't swallow so I didn't worry about you.

(Jeremy was still struggling after his neck surgery to eat some things so Abbie decided plums were one of the things we couldn't/shouldn't eat I guess.)

Abbie's Friend Birthday

Abbie chose a My Little Pony theme for her friend birthday. She also chose, for the second year in a row, to have a big bouncy house as the main attraction at her party. This year I attempted to be one of those creative moms and tried to come up with cutesy games to keep the kids busy during the entire party, apparently I felt the jumpy house wasn't enough. Abbie wanted to invite the kids in her pre-school class, so we invited all 7 kids plus Abbie's close friends of Taylee, Jenna, Norah, and Claire. This was a huge jump from the 4 total kids I entertained last year! So I ended up with 10 kids total...10 five-year-olds!! I know that lots of amazing moms throw this type of party all of the time, but that is not me. I was very worried as to how the whole thing may turn out especially since the weather in April isn't always really nice so having an outdoor party and I haven't mentioned that the morning of Abbie's party I was bringing Jeremy home from the hospital after a neck surgery. So I recruited a lot of help to make sure this party went smoothly....thankfully I have wonderful friends and family who were willing to help out.


Here is the bouncy castle with a slide that started the party off.

After the kids bounced awhile I brought them in and they colored a My Little Pony picture that I had glued to the outside of the goodie bags.

In order to fill the goodie bags we played some games where everyone was a winner. We threw balls through a hula hoop, we played pin-the-tail on the My Little Pony, and we even had some pony races.

Rylee even played the part of a My Little Pony with her ears and mane.

The very last fun event I had planned (other than cake which is always my favorite) was a pinata. I bought a pull one, but I wouldn't advise that. Each kid pulled on their string and.....nothing happened! We had to break into the pinata and fish the candy out to fall on the ground. The kids enjoyed the candy so all was well, but I definitely made a mental note of it for the future.

The perfect end to the party was a My Little Pony cake.

After the kids had gone home the girls and I spent our own time playing in the bouncy house. This was my favorite part. I love to be a kid with them and bounce and laugh and watch them light up while they are having fun.
I may not be a super creative mom but I think Abbie had fun at her My Little Pony Birthday...and to me that is all that matters!!