Spring Break

Last week was spring break and we did several fun things around the city 

because Daddy had the week off too!

One of the things we did was go to an indoor water park for the day. The girls were happy little fish swimming in the cool water for eight hours straight. Reese on the other hand was not very thrilled with this opportunity. She mostly stayed with Mommy eating snacks, people watching and fussing...we did manage a 30 minute nap in the stroller.

To her defense the chlorine did make her eczema terribly itchy.

Cody was super Dad and kept the big girls safe and giggling in the water. 

He morphs into a human jungle gym man at places like this and the kids love utilizing his body for all types of daring dives and acrobatic endeavors. 

Towards the end of the day I broke away from baby and dared the frigid waters to go down the slides with the big girls while Cody took his turn with fussy pants.

Reese has become quite the kisser. It's a brave task to attempt a kiss however, one is never sure if Reese will respond to the "kiss" request with a face scratching or her open mouth kiss.

Brinley took time out to encourage her little sister to get wet and be happy. 

Brinley is such a patient and loving sister to Reese, so when she often cries out in pain after being scratched in the face by her it is quite sad.

We also took the children to a 3D movie, went to magic mountain, 

Brinley and Avery got haircuts and we went out to lunch during our "staycation" this week!

I am mourning Cody's return to work tomorrow morning. 

Having him home is just too wonderful!

St. Patrick's Day Parade

On Saturday we headed up to Dublin to attend the annual 

St. Patrick's Day parade.

Cody faced the crowds alone with the girls in tow

 and I rushed to meet them

 after teaching my Saturday morning classes.

 

It was quite cold, but the passing out of candy 

kept the girls minds off the weather and focused on holding out those bags!

We thought of Aunt Kelty when the horses came by!

As the parade was coming to a close I began putting on wigs for the Irish dance

performance that the girls were to be in following the parade. 

 

Avery and Brinley are now at the level to participate in performance teams. 

Saturday marked their very first show, outside of the annual recital, and they did a great job!

Brinley even had a solo dance.

 We have several clips of the girls dancing, but for some reason blogger will not upload our videos...

HELP?

 

(The girls with one of their teachers)

They have another performance at a cultural festival coming up next Friday.

Aspen will be participating in a spring class series starting April 11th  

and her ongoing lessons will begin in August. She is very excited!

Ei Ei Oops

On Friday night Avery participated in her first grade play called Ei Ei Oops.

 They had been practicing for months and it payed off because the show was over the top.

 I pretty much had every song memorized before the play even started because Avery has been  

singing the songs around the house for some time.

 

(before the show began)

I am really not one to brag about my children, 

but I do have to honestly say that Avery stole the show.

She was highly dramatic, expressive and spot on when it came to 

EVERY action and EVERY word.

Other parents were coming up to us after the performance 

 with comments like "she has a future on stage," and "we could not take our eyes off her."

 

She was given the only singing solo and sang it with clarity and zeal!

We have several videos which I would just love to share,

 but for some reason blogger will not upload our videos anymore. 

We have even had our computer wiz sister and brother-in-law stumped on this video issue.

HELP?

Our Little Outting

 On Friday Reese was so excited to take a trip in Daddy's car. 

You see when we go in Daddy's car Reese gets to sit in a big girl car seat, 

which is something that makes her feel happy!

 What she did not know is that we were headed to the allergist to have

 her tested for allergies.

Reese has extremely severe eczema. We lather her in high doses of thick creams morning and night AND even use cortisone cream on the big raised patches, 

however her condition has been worsening.

Thank goodness Cody could be there to hold her down as they pushed all the sharp icky plates, covered in potential allergens, into her back. I had to walk out.

Here you can see that only ONE spot raised up, indicating an allergic reaction, which happened to be grass. We are however taking Reese off the minimal dairy she was consuming in hopes that this dietary change may help her poor scaly skin.

My Sweet Girls

Dear Mom,

 Thank you for all of the wonderful meals you give me,

you are the best mom ever.

Avery

One of Brinley's daily chores is unloading the dishwasher, however on Saturday does not have dishwasher duty because she has

 all of her Saturday Chores to complete. 

A few weeks ago I came downstairs on a Saturday morning and happened upon this sweet note.

Dear Mom,

 You are really a busy bee so thank you for all you do and when you do it you are efficient.

I love you,

Love Avery

Oh how finding these sweet notes around the house fills this mothers heart!

Confessions of a Crabby Baby

 Reese has been gearing up to be the first prize winner for the

 fussiest baby in American contest.

 

Her training regimen includes, but is certainly not limited to:

*waking up multipule times every night to prepare her lungs for the upcoming day of crying. She does this by crying on and off throughout the night for no reason whatsoever. 
Her parents have not gone in to sooth her at night since she was 4 months old, 
yet this is one of her favorite things to do.

*Screaming when she is not allowed to completely empty all the contents out of the "hair tin" each morning while her mother is doing her big sisters hair for the day.
 

*Crying whenever her mother or father walk more than three steps away from her.

*Screaming when she is made to be still during a diaper change.

*Scratching mommy's face when I try to give her a kiss. 
*Scratching her big sisters faces whenever they get too close.
*Scratching her daddy's face whenever she feels like it's been 
to long since she last hurt someone.

*Screaming while arching her back and scratching whomever is closest and then melting down into a full blown temper tantrum
  when she does not get what she wants when she wants it. 

*Crying when she has to go in the car.
*Crying when she does not get to go in car and someone else is.
*Crying when offered a toy that she does not want.
*Crying and grabbing legs when mommy or daddy use the computer and she is 
not allowed to bang on the keys.

*Throwing food off her highchair tray if presented with food that is not to her liking.

*Repeatedly banging her head on the back of her chair if she is not given food fast enough or has to sit in her chair for longer than she deems appropriate.
 

Well, I think you get the point.  

Hopeful competitors will have to kick it into high gear if they want a shot 
at beating Reese and winning the title of America's fussiet baby!
 
We are going to patiently love her through this...
and hope we stay sane while doing so.

Visit to Virginia

After Kelty's visit to our home we both boarded a plane and headed
to Virginia to visit my Dad and Grandma Lewis.

The absolute shock of the century happened
 when we pulled up to my Grandma's house,
as seen above....

(Grandma's boat deck)

and out walks Arian!!!
Yep, Arian had flown all the way from England to be with us.

My Dad was in on the surprise, but Kelty, Grandma and I were
in shock and I was in tears as we hugged him.

 My mind was racing trying to figure out how he made this happen,
but Arian always finds a way to put first things first.

We were thrilled to have him with us for the short but sweet two-day trip.

(Her students have made several t-shirts for her throughout the years, here is one of them)

Throughout her years of teaching fitness

Grandma has become somewhat of a local celebrity. 

She has been featured in several newspaper articles as being one heck of  

an awesome aerobics instructor. 

Just walking around town it seems that many people know her and 

have participated in her classes at one point or another.

On the first morning of our trip we headed off to the gym to attend  
one of Grandma's classes.

Although her routines and class descriptions have changed over the years,

at age 91 she is still vibrant and completely confident instructing large classes.

Before, during and after the class people came up to Arian, Kelty and me saying 

how much they love Violet and what an inspiration she is to them.

Grandma is able to crack jokes, correct form and keep with the beat 

all at the same time.

She is a stickler on form, I suppose I inherited intolerance for poor form from her. 

I think this is such a cool picture that Arian (AKA Mr. Cameraman) took. 

Grandma 91, Granddaughter 31, both passionate fitness instructors.

It was such a neat opportunity to participate in her class again.

It's fun to pretend like I know anything at all about technology.
This takes good acting when you are around Kelty and Arian who are both tech savy.

Grandma and Dad are both blown away by the i-phone.

My Dad, Gordon, has been living in Virginia helping with the upkeep and sale 
 of Grandma's home
since she now is living in a retirement community.

He has been a wonderful help and companion to her.

On the second day we took a drive out to the boat docks where my father worked as a deck hand when he was a teenager. 

It was very cold, but that did not keep Kelty from dipping her feet in the icy water. 

Arian was one cool dude in the shades he borrowed from Dad. 

Although our trip was short we were able to make the most of it and spent 

quality time talking, eating and just enjoying our time together.