Lots to Update!

Here is the quick rundown of what we've been up to the last month! I am going to go from most current and work my way back because of most exciting news Joey had his Preschool Graduation this past Wednesday! I can't believe it! As usual there were teary eyes in saying goodbye and moving on. The classes did a great program of songs and poems. Joey wasn't feeling great that day but he managed to make it through the program with a smile! He will be moving to Evergreen next year, but Jillian will still be at this wonderful preschool! The week before graduation we took an early summer vacation! We went down to Nonna and Grandpa's condo for a fun week. First was the plane ride: The next morning after waking up and looking at the birds and fish we headed out to Sarasota Jungle Gardens for a fun day with Florida's finest. After cooling off in the pool in the evening it was off to Daddy's favorite restaurant- Phillipe Creek: The next day was a beach day! We needed this so that we could be ready for our surprise day. We kept telling the kids that we were going to have a big surprise for them on Wednesday. They were good and went to bed when we told them too and woke up without a problem (Jill had a case of croup so this was a big accomplishment!) and were awake and patiently waiting to find out their surprise. The surprise was not Rainforest Cafe as Joey initially thought. We had them look out the front windows and they saw the sign with Mickey and Minnie on it which meant one thing...Disney World! We got there very early- 3 row 4th parking spot, thank you! We took the ferry over and saw the opening of the park and stayed all the way until the very end. No naps, no complaints (again even though Jill was just getting over a bout of croup), they were awesome and lasted the entire day until the ferry ride back for Joey and the last few fireworks for Jill when they hit the wall and were out til the next morning. It was truly a fun and magical day, seeing princesses, riding lots of rides, shopping, and enjoying all the wonder the Magic Kingdom has to offer! The next day was a bit more relaxing again. We went to the Sarasota Car Museum where we saw some very impressive cars including John Lennon's and Katharine Hepburn's cars. We finished the night at Sharky's on the Pier for dinner and walking by the beach. (I was proud of Jill when she showed me her princesses were doing planks and then got down and did one herself!) Our last full day was spent relaxing, going back to the pool that the kids loved, walking around Venice, Siesta Key (which we also did back on Tuesday as well), and then stopping at Historic Spanish Point for a historic hike and then some ice cream! The next day it was flying back home again... In other news on the homefront: We have been redoing our bathroom, and while we don't have a finished product to show yet, here is a glimpse of how it is all going... Some random things we've been doing the past month: riding bikes, visiting the Arboretum while Jill was at Enrichment and going on a tram tour, reading some cool books that had some neat activities to do, lots of misc. things! Wow! That was a lot, I know I need to get better at keeping up with this. It was a busy month for sure and I don't think we are going to slow down anytime soon. I just finished signing the kids up for summer activities! Joey will continue hockey, Jill will continue dance, and they are both doing swim lessons, nature camp, vacation bible school, Joey is going to try karate, and Jill is going to try soccer. Phew--its going to be a full summer, but I feel like now is the time to figure out what they really like to do and then skim back later when we know where their interests are. I know some of you are saying it will never scale back, but its wishful thinking!

March 14-April 13 in review

Yes, once again a lot to update. I left off on March 14, the date Joshua met the Lord. This year, as we have in the past and plan to do in the future, pulled the kids out of school and had a family day. Each year there are more and more questions from not only Joey, but Jill as well. We told them that it was because of Josh that we were able to have the family day going to Rainforest Cafe and Legoland! We first went to Assumption where Joey insisted on bringing a few things for Josh, and Jill followed with a toy of her own. Jill also picked up her "Josh puppy" a puppy that was at his site, but she felt Josh had left for her. Since Joey and Josh usually share cars it was only fair to let Jill share the puppy. So it got a good cleaning, and Jill is taking great care of it. We went from Assumption to Rainforest Cafe one of the kids' favorite restaurants! After our early lunch we headed right over to Legoland! It was the perfect family activity for us that day; some therapeutic building, a couple of rides, and then a 3d movie that maybe pushed it a little too far for Jill. We ended up coming home with a good starter set of Duplo legos and a couple of kits for Joey and Daddy. We spent the rest of the day at our dining room table playing with legos and talking. A couple weeks later it was Easter! We celebrated the day before Easter going to the park district for the Bunny Bash along with Auntie, Grandma, Andrew, Emma, and their Grammy and Papa from NY. They were in for Easter weekend and to celebrate Emma's 3rd birthday! After a bunch of crafts, games, and egg hunt at the park district it was home for naps and then Emma's birthday party. The next morning the Easter bunny came and then it was off to church by Grandma's. After church we headed to Grandma's house to start our ravioli making tradition, color eggs, and stop off to Assumption and then time for the rest of the Easter festivities to begin: dinner, egg hunt, and a visit from the Easter bunny! This past month is always filled with mixed emotions, but we have been doing well and keeping busy. Here are some of the other highlights of the past month: Joey loved playing with energetic Jessie in the snow, Joey also had a blast helping me make some vegan pasta and vegan ravioli. Jill enjoyed it but got bored quickly, Joey recently told me that he wants to be a chef! We planted a root view garden of carrots, radishes, and onions, Jill planted some "I love you" beans that are supposed to say I love you on their first bloom. We went with Andrew and Grandma to dinner at Domo 77 where the boys enjoyed watching the food chopped up and fires going right in front of them! We celebrated Nonna's birthday and then 12 days later mine. Java and Jessie posing for pictures at the end of the night. I did a freezing cold race on my birthday, where we were somewhat misdirected so a refund of our entrance fee and $10 off next race but took some pictures of the frigid day. Just 4 days later we had nice warm weather and were on spring break so we went to Cosley Zoo with Bethany and Lilly. They were so nice to get Joey and Jill hats from their Disney trip, which they both love and wear all the time, and both Joey and Jillian had a blast with Lilly at the zoo and back at home. And then finally last weekend we had Andrew and Emma over for a few hours to play outside, have dinner, and the boys played video games for a little bit while the girls got their nails done and then played their princess matching game. We had Emma and Andrew over for a while so that Auntie and Uncle could have some time to do some last minute packing. Which takes us to today...the movers are at their house and packing up! Moving weekend is here for them!

Jill's birthday, party, and new year's

After Christmas and Joey and Jill's share of croup, we were ready to celebrate Jillian's 3rd birthday! We almost had to cancel her party, but since most people were going to be coming no matter what, and she had a good 2 days worth of medicine, her croup was caught early, and she was already feeling better just a bit more tired than usual, we went ahead with her birthday party. The day before her birthday and party Grandma stopped over to bring Jill her present a day early...a bike! The next day was Jill's real birthday! We had her My Little Pony party and outside being a little tired during presents Jill did really well and enjoyed playing with and entertaining her guests. And the next day was New Year's Eve which we celebrated at Pilot Pete's: dinner and a countdown on the hour, which we got to countdown to "midnight" twice! Joey, Jillian, Andrew and Emma had a great time, as did the rest of us. We even got pomegranates as we left, apparently good luck for the new year-who knew? But I have had some great pomegranate smoothies because of it, yum!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and yours! We hope you had a happy and healthy holiday. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, even if Joey ended up getting croup at 1am Christmas Eve and is still having some rough nights. He was still in the best of spirits considering and both Joey and Jill got more than they could have ever asked for. We started out Christmas Eve day at Joey and Jillian's school for a Children's Service. It is always followed by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and having cake! What better way to start the Christmas celebrations than to have cake in church! I have one picture on my phone which I of course forgot to transfer, I'll try to get that up here. We host Christmas Eve with Kurby/Klinger family and had a great time! Even though Joey was up a good portion of the night he managed to sleep enough for Santa to make his way in to fill stockings and bring presents! Joey rested when he could, but was running around and doing well all day on Christmas. Jillian also cooperated with an early nap so we could head to Grandma's for Christmas dinner and family fun! Christmas night was rough for Joey, we took him to the doctor and he is resting up and getting better for Jill's birthday party. We are hoping that Jill doesn't get it as well. I guess its that season though! More fun to come this weekend, but we hope you had a wonderful holiday!

Sheldon Christmas 2012

Last weekend we finally got together with our friends that we hadn't seen since Joey's birthday! It was way overdue, and the kids had a blast together while we were able to catch up as well. Joey and Jillian loved their gifts and play with everything! Thank you for hosting us, and for catering to our vegan ways! ;)

Lots of updates

So I fell behind in blogging right before Thanksgiving, and with the Christmas around the corner we have been very busy. So here is an update in pictures (or at least some of what I took when I remembered!). Last night was Jill's first dance "Holiday Showcase." She did terrific, she was hilariously adorable. If you are interested in seeing the 1 minute clip of her dance we have it! Bravo, Jillian! A week ago Phil had off of work on a Monday when Nonna and Grandpa are here, so after school Grandpa and Joey went skating. You can tell by the look on Joey's face he loves the ice and Grandpa out there with him was a treat! Last weekend we had Christmas party with friends from high school and their kids. Since we don't see everyone as often as we'd like we spent more time catching up than taking pictures. So here is the before shots... The first Sat. of December we had Breakfast with Santa at Joey and Jill's school. We had our usual routine of hockey then dance, but after eating as fast as they could get away with (meaning not eating much anyways) they ran to Santa to sit and tell them their wishes. Thanksgiving was spent at Nonna and Grandpa's. A yummy meal and lots of family fun, but of course the camera was thrown aside and forgotten again! Just before Thanksgiving Joey went in for his fitting. Joey will be in Uncle Kevin and Auntie Nicole's wedding in February. Joey has the lucky job of walking the little lady Amelia down the aisle. As you can tell he is very excited about this job and adores Amelia. We were very early in putting up our Christmas tree, the weekend before Thanksgiving, but we were very excited and wanted to enjoy it since we usually take it down before Jill's birthday much to some people's dismay! Here are the kids helping with the tree decorating. The following day Andrew and Emma were over so we had all 4 kids help decorate the living tree for Josh. And finally some random November and December shots, mostly of hockey and dance. Ok, I'll try to stay a bit more on top of things, but I'm not sure I can make any promises!

Circus Circus

Children of all ages, that means us, come see the greatest show on earth! Saturday we splurged and went to Ringling Bros. Circus! It was awesome! It was almost 3 hours long, the average child's age was probably under 5, and it was really amazing. The kids took in all that they could, and we spent all that we could! I just have to tell anyone who may go to the circus that the $33 tickets are worth it (we don't go to the movies much at all--maybe once or twice a year, so I thought that was my year's worth of movies) but a box of popcorn...$15! The programs, light spinners, don't even ask, it was a good two bill day, but totally worth it! The theme for the circus was Dragons! The performers came from all over to show us the strength, courage, wisdom, and heart of the dragon in them, and asked if we have the spirit of the dragon in us...Joey and Jill definitely do! They loved it! Jill's favorite was the dragon that we saw at the very end blowing smoke and all. Joey says his favorite was seeing the "king of the jungle lion, and tigers" but he was also in awe of the ninjas jumping through fire and knives, and the motorcycles spinning in the cage. The tightrope, trapeze artists, acrobats, really all of it was quite amazing.

Halloween 2012!

To start off the Halloween festivities we went to Joey's school for a parade and party! Joey elected to be Superman for school since he could not wear a mask or have any handheld props. So it was Superman for school followed by a change after lunch into Captain America! We went to the library with Nonna for another parade, this time both could participate together, and we can never go to the library for just a program! Both Joey and Jillian love the library, checking out books, playing on the computer, doing some puzzles, and playing with the stuff they have all around. Thanks Nonna for letting them show you what they love to do there! After spending naptime at the library instead of in bed, we came home and got ready for Andrew, Emma, Auntie, Uncle Chris, and Grandma to show up so we could go trick or treating!

Fall Fun!

I am falling a little behind in updating only because so many fun things happen from this time of year til the end of the year! A week and a half ago on Friday we went to Sonny Acres to get our pumpkins! Always a fun night, and luckily it wasn't too terribly cold, and it had just rained so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. We went just after dinner, and just before we left to come back home the high school crowd seemed to be heading out for the night. The kids had a blast picking out there pumpkins and having the run of the place. Andrew, Emma, Uncle Chris, and Grandma braved the Haunted Hayride while the rest of us checked out the goats! It was a little late to carve the pumpkins when we got home, but we had a lot of fun playing out there. Saturday morning after hockey and dance Joey couldn't wait to carve his pumpkin. Daddy helped Joey while I helped Jill, and then once the seeds were out the kids pretty much got bored so they went to play while Mommy and Daddy got to work. This was my first pumpkin carved like this...I am usually a triangle eyes, nose, and whatever happens for a mouth kinda carver so when Jill asked for Snow White and Daddy told me I was doing it I was a bit worried. Daddy did great on Ironman, and said in front of Joey that Snow White looked like she had a mustache! It was the princess upper lip, not a mustache but Joey totally believed him and tells most people that Mommy made a silly pumpkin of Snow White with a mustache! That Sunday we also went to Goebert's Farm with Nonna and Grandpa! Grandpa made his yummy blueberry pancakes to give us some energy before heading out to feed all the animals! The kids loved riding the horses, the camels, and feeding every animal they encountered! Jill was even fascinated with the mechanical dinosaur that ate a pumpkin and then thought it was hilarious that it had quite the belch afterwards! We had some tasty snacks and looked around the store before heading back home. It was quite the fall weekend! This past weekend (like I said I am over a week behind) we didn't do as much outside since it was much cooler. We're glad we were able to get out and have our fun when we did!

NICU reunion party 2012

Each year, usually in October, we are invited to the NICU reunion party. It is the best celebration of life you can think about; seeing so many kids that spent days, weeks (Joey), and for some (like Josh)months in the NICU now they are getting bigger, thriving, and showing how capable a preemie is of overcoming any obstacle. We were able to catch up with our favorite NICU nurses which we just recently saw some at the CHARGE run, and some that we hadn't seen since last year. There as usual was great kid food, lots of crafts, bubbles, games, haunted house jumpies, and the band! Even though it was earlier this year the kids were still allowed to dress up so here is also a preview of their Halloween costumes. We stopped by Assumption to thank Josh as well as Joey for allowing us to be invited and included on such a great day.

Back to school

Sunday we finished off our fun filled summer by going to the Brookfield Zoo. The kids were super excited to go and we had a few passes from someone that I teach so we took advantage of the free day. We packed up and headed out to be one of the first to enter the zoo, saw quite a bit in a few hours, had lunch in front of the giraffes, and shortly after there was a downpour but luckily we were right by a covered area. The storm passed quickly and we were able to make our way to the dolphin show before heading home for naps. On our way out of the zoo we ran into one of Jillian's new teachers! (more about that after the zoo pics) Monday was a day of rest and relaxation before the start to a busy school year. Jillian was up first on Tuesday. She was very excited to go to school and be with her new teachers. She met them the week before with Daddy, and it is nice that we know one of her teachers from the CDH Parent Advisory Council. One of her daughters who is actually in Joey's class was also in the NICU for a period of time, and we have seen Beth, aka Mrs. W, every other month for the past few years. With 2 new teachers to their school, and both in the same classroom which is Jill's it is nice to know that we know Mrs. W outside of school as well and know that Jill is in good hands. Jill loves Mrs. W and was so excited to put on her back pack and head out to school. She remembered the routine from last year quite well: hanging up her back pack, going potty, washing hands, and the look on her face with Mrs. W pretty much says it all; I know she'll be fine and have no problems at all. Another big girl thing that I forgot to mention earlier in August was that Jillian was upgraded to her big girl bed! She is no longer in a toddler bed, but a full size bed, princess sheets and all! We were initially worried she might fall out since her room doesn't allow for the bed to be against a wall to keep her from rolling out at least the one way, but she has proven big girl status once again and has been in her big girl bed for 3 weeks already! Today was Joey's turn. Joey has always be my more apprehensive one, to put it lightly. But he was also excited for school this morning. It was a rainy morning so he donned his froggy raincoat and boots and brought his back pack along. He found his name on his cubby without problem, and washed his hands and waited for the doors to open. He saw his friend Ryan who he played t-ball with over the summer and they both exchanged smiles and hellos. I started to get nervous as I saw his teacher open the door, she said hello to Joey and he turned around and ran right to her. He picked out his name tag and his teacher helped him pin it on, as she was doing so another parent stepped in front of me and I was worried Joey was going to get upset. He never looked back, never said goodbye, just walked right into class! I was so proud of him after the leg hugging and tears from last year which seemed to last longer than they should have, and I thought for sure with Jillian being Tuesday/Thursday and him being Monday/Wednesday/Friday he would want to be with us. I was so pleasantly surprised and almost worried as to why he did so well, but I guess the fact is he is growing up! I didn't even have a chance to take more pictures because he was moving so fast to get into class! Jillian is going to be able to go to work with me Wednesdays and Fridays while Joey is in school. She goes to the Kids Club while I teach a class, so today was her first time heading in there on her own. She was very shy to my friends at the desk and asked me not to leave in the daycare. She didn't cry but was a bit cautious. I helped her find some ponies to play with and then headed out. When I returned she was still playing in the same spot and Sara had mentioned she didn't get up to play with the other kids but also was fine with them coming to play by her. So I think Friday she will open up a bit more to them and that new experience. She did say she loved mommy's work and wanted to go back on Friday, luckily she is pretty adaptable and I wanted to train and teach so that I could be there to drop off and pick my kids up from school and have one along if I need to like I am doing this year. I am sure she will settle into that part of the routine and we will still have a good hour and a half once I'm done with work to play before getting Joey.

April Updates

Ok, I know I have been extremely lazy with blogging this month. Time is flying by! Here is our update for most of this month. As we head into the warmer weather I hope to be more diligent about posting again! Rainbow Toast Did you ever make rainbow toast? I remember doing this in Kindergarten and wanted to share the experience with my kids. Joey enjoyed making the toast, but he is not big on eating toast. Phil claims its because of the double fiber bread I buy, but I think he's just not a toast guy. A little Java love... Joey's Un-birthday Joey had his un-birthday at school earlier this month. Since his birthday is in the summer we kept getting notices to celebrate before the year was over. I first thought of not doing it at all, but am so glad we did. Joey knew it wasn't his real birthday but was very happy to bring in treats for the class. He is not big on cake, but loves chocolate chip cookies and chocolate. So that was what we brought in. We also had to fill out a sheet of all of Joey's answers to the things he likes. Hopefully you can read it from the picture, they were all Joey responses. He needed to bring in a book to share and he loves when I read Puff the Magic Dragon (hard to read and not sing!). Joey was presented with a birthday crown in front of his whole class and had to add 4 candles to his birthday cake. I thought being the center of attention he'd be very shy and not want to be up there but I sat on the carpet behind all the kids and he looked over to me so proud and happy to be up there. They read and asked him about his favorite things and he replied with all the same answers (so I really didn't lie!) and they asked if he wanted to tell his friends what treat he brought or if he wanted to keep it a secret. He wanted to keep it a secret, and then ran over to me to tell me how we had a secret surprise for his friends. Turns out I think the class was cupcaked out from the other birthdays because unprompted at snack time most all of his classmates said "thanks Joey!" or "I love this Joey!" He sat in his chair with a huge smile on his face and nodded at the gratitude and you could tell he was so happy. It nearly made me cry and I was so glad we did celebrate his un-birthday! Easter Easter was spent going to Grandma's church and the church that Phil and I got married at, with the mass said by the priest who christened and helped lay to rest Joshua, Father Tony. It was so great to hear his mass as always, and especially at Easter when the readings so perfectly touch my soul. The opening words of mass "Christ has risen! Christ has risen! Christ has risen!" of course said so powerfully like only Father Tony can say to capture everyone's attention led to tears streaming down my face immediately. I love Easter, the hope, the life, the promise, everything. After mass we headed to Grandma's house to color Easter eggs, have our traditional mimosas, and then make our ravioli. The kids played really well and each stopped to help with the process. At nap time Phil and I went to Assumption and then back to Grandma's for an Easter egg hunt, some gifts, and a yummy dinner! Sadly our camera battery died and we used the video camera for some of the festivities, but only got a few pictures. The glasses Jill and Emma have are 3D glasses for bubbles, we didn't quite see the 3D effects but Jill loved her glasses! And finally some pictures of the purple park, a new par I recently discovered that the kids loved. The parks we visit besides the one behind our house are all colors: red park, blue park, orange park, and now purple park. Yes, the first picture is Joey resting with his crown that he has been wearing constantly around the house and wanted to wear to school again but I told him it wasn't his unbirthday anymore! And Jill's new favorite fruit are mini bananas! Ok, that is it for now, sorry for the delay and I hope to be more on top of it!

Spring break

This week was spring break so at one point we met Auntie, Grandma, Emma, and Andrew at the indoor pool. Joey and Jillian love the water and Jillian had a hard time being told it was time to go. We spent a lot of time towards the end of the week with them as well--thank you Auntie for watching them while I picked up some extra classes! Now we are waiting for Emma's 2nd birthday party later today!

Is it really March?

Today when I was at dance class with Jill, Daddy called to say we should pick up a bathing suit for her on the way home...what? First, she did have one from her birthday, but it is March, why would we need a bathing suit? Of course you leave the boys at home and Joey who asks every day if we can put the pool out got on Daddy's good side, and sure enough at 10am the kids were in the pool! It was well into the 80's but still didn't seem quite right to be in the pool in March, even if Daddy emptied out the hot water heater to fill the pool! In the evening Mr. Sole was so nice to give us tickets to the Express hockey game for the kids to see their first game! Thank you--see below for the hockey post!

Pet Expo

Last year we went to the Pet Expo and had a great time, if you hadn't heard we are in the process of sometime in the next year, possibly adopting a St. Bernard! We fell in love with them last year at this expo and haven't stopped wanting one. So we have gone through the initial parts of the process and are waiting for our dog! Of course at the expo we took picture of lots of dogs, cats, birds, snakes, but when it came to the Saints we were too busy cuddling up to them and forgot to snap a picture!

We spent March 14 as a family, everyone took off of work and as we have in the past celebrated the family we have. We went to the Field Museum where we were all able to wander and enjoy, afterwards we came home and played with our neighbors, who allowed us to feel like we were not being isolated that day, but a part of the world still. Later we went to dinner at Stir Crazy a place where we ate the night before Joey came home from the NICU, and a place that is close to Assumption so we have made that our place of choice when we want to grab some grub and we are at Assumption. Afterwards the weather was still beautiful so we put out our blanket at Assumption and let the kids play while we all talked and hung out together as a whole family. Joey and Jillian both had their few moments of odd behavior that could be directly linked to the loss of their brother which I will tell you about at a later time, but all in all we had a peaceful day.

Hockey 1, Hockey 2...

A few weeks back our neighbors invited us to the Blackhawk vs Rangers game! We hadn't been to the United Center in a very, very long time, and between that and a night out with great friends we were excited! To top it all off Dom scored some great seats and we were amazed with his connections in the hockey world! We had a lot of fun with them, thank you!

Then about a week later (after we had a pool day on 3/17) we were offered tickets to see the Express at the Sears Centre. It was the kids first hockey game and they both really loved it! The game and atmosphere was perfect for the kids (and us)! Thank you again for all the hockey fun!

Weekend Update...

Jillian was asked to be the flower girl for Auntie Trisha (her Godmother) and Uncle Alex's wedding this October. Jillian had an afternoon with the bride to be, a few of the bridesmaids, and Auntie Pam trying on dresses, getting fitted, and going for a yummy lunch. Jill was in absolute heaven having a girls day and loved all the dresses and attention she was getting. I don't want to show the dresses, you'll have to wait til the wedding day, but here is one with her just holding some flowers while waiting, and the lady at the store put a veil on her head. She had a blast!



Saturday night we went to see our neighbor Nic play Prince Charming in Cinderella! It was Joey and Jill's first play to watch and they both really liked it. Joey had fun munching on snacks in the bleachers and would ask where Nic was every two seconds until he finally came out (which was only like 2 scenes). Joey was super excited to see him and could spot him as he walked on stage every time. Jillian loved the play as well and was ecstatic to hang out with the girls, Aubrie was so nice to let Jill sit with her and her friend during the play and Jillian absolutely loves hanging with the girls. After the play Jillian was sure to plant a kiss on the cheek of Prince Charming! Great job Nic!


Friday we got the snow that everyone was talking about, and Joey couldn't wait to go and play in it! Joey loved rolling around and pulling the sled around. Jill was happier with the slide in the snow. But Aunt Beth, Joey and Josh's NICU Auntie, came over and brought a cool pop-up Princess house and tunnel! Thank you for the cool house and the fun games too!

Last Sunday baby Amelia was baptized! Uncle Kevin and Aunt Nicole looked so happy as Uncle Mikey and Miranda took on the jobs as godparents. Congrats Amelia!



Valentine's Day was filled with lots of fun and candy! I could not believe all the candy the kids got from school. Jillian was going to school on Thursdays only but was asked to come in for the Valentine's day party. I am pretty sure she is happy she was asked because she had a blast! She continues to love school and asks all the time to go. She got upset the other day when I said it wasn't Thursday, she insisted it was her school, brought her backpack, put her stuff in her cubby, washed her hands and waited. After Joey went in she saw her teacher in the hall and ran to her. So I explained Jill's delight in school and she grabbed the director and low and behold Jill is now in school Tuesdays and Thursdays! I just couldn't rationalize telling a kid they can't go to school when she loves it so much!

Just for Laughs

So this afternoon...like 10 minutes ago I was talking to a friend over e-mail and was telling her about the dance parties we have in our kitchen pretty much every morning and/or evening. We usually have music playing for most meals and the kids love to cut a rug with us in the kitchen while I cook or we clean up. So, I was reminded of Joey's awesome moves from a while back that we caught on tape...April 2010 which means we have some videotaping to do!

Tik Tok Dancin' from Phillip Kurby on Vimeo.

And then of course Vimeo pulled up old videos so I had to look at almost all of the ones we have blogged and just like I can't get through Joey's dancing without laughing out loud, I can't watch Josh's smile on Christmas morning (frothy nose and all!) without smiling back. Enjoy!

Josh Smiling on Chrismas from Phillip Kurby on Vimeo.