Ice Show

Wow...what a great weekend! This was the annual ice show Under the Sea at our TC figure skating club and we are SOOOOOO proud of the girls. They rehearsed almost every night for the last 3 weeks and practiced with their coaches in between. There is so much anticipation and hard work that leads up to this show and the entire event went over very well. We also had a special guest skater (next blog) perform in all of the shows. That is an amazing experience in itself! When we began figure skating 2 years ago, I really did not think we would end up as involved as we are. The girls BEG to skate every day of the week and they want to do every competition they can! Their coaches, Heidi, Stephanie, Ann and Laurent are the best! They are so wonderful to the girls and Isabelle and Amelia look forward to every second with them. Thank you to all of our family and friends who came to watch and encourage them: Nona and Kev, Mimi and Papu, Deb and Mimi, Aunt Kate and Ben, Aunt Sarah, Grandpa Bill and Marcie, Isabelle's teacher, Mrs. Ballmer, Susan and Ella, Miss Sarah, Amelia Marie and Ava, and The Cueters. It meant more than you know!! We are looking forward to next year! (Yes, I really did just say that :))

Feeding Eli

Just a funny picture I took a few weeks ago of Matthew and Scott trying to feed Elijah. It was pretty comical to watch two men try to feed a baby without a high chair and Eli trying to grab every spoonful they attempted to give him! Poor baby...

School

The week before Isabelle turned 8, her teacher had a celebration for her. The tradition at Montessori is that we bring in a healthy snack and a timeline of the last 7 years. Isabelle then stands in the center of all her classmates, holds the globe and walks around the circle 7 times. Each circle is one year of her life. The teacher also lights a candle in the center that Isabelle blows out at the end. It is a really neat way for her classmates to get to know more about her. Isabelle chose frog cupcakes out of her Princess Tiana cookbook and we spend quite a while making them! She said some of them were frogs and some were tree frogs, since we ran out of green eyes!

Birthday Girl

I am still in shock that our oldest child is EIGHT!!!! As she reminds me, she is now a "Tween." Yikes. I am amazed at how far she has come this year at her new school (Montessori) and how maturely she thinks about the world around her. WHen we began planning her party, she came up with the idea that instead of her friends bringing gifts to her party , she would have a donation box for Haiti. She put a note in each invitation that she wanted donations for Haiti instead of a gift. I was in tears when she did this!! We are so proud that she has this attitude and empathy toward others. Much of this I think is the Montessori philosophy that has been instilled which is based on respect, courtesy, helping the environment, among MANY other things. Her friends from figure skating, Old Mission and Montessori all came and enjoyed paiting pottery, manicures and pedicures and a dance party lead by Scott! I am sure you can all imagine that!! The night before her actual birthday, Grandma and Grandpa J came up and surprised her when she woke up the next day. Grandma walked into the laundry room and the look on Belle's face was priceless, total shock for about 20 seconds and then the biggest smile and excitement ever! I wish I had a video camera on her. :( They went to lunch with her that day and watched her skate that night. Her birthday dinner was Saturday night at Golden Chopsticks. She chose to go because she loves to eat Sushi at the Sushi bar. You can see in the pic below!!

Thanksgiving Reenactment

Amelia's class (First grade, Mrs. Kelly) had a Thanksgiving feast where they dressed as pilgrims and each parent made a dish to pass. We made mashed potatoes. It is a wonderful way for the children to learn the meaning of the holiday. They took it very seriously and they looked adorable!!!

really behind...

I am just getting around to going back through photos of Thanksgiving, the Adoption and Christmas!!! Not to mention, little things in between!! I have been (along with Michele) organizing my LIFE. I have so far cleaned: *my closet *kitchen cupboards *amelias closet *elijahs closet *our bathroom drawers (there was medicine that expired in 2005) *too small boys clothes (go to Sarah for her baby) So, I am feeling like I can finally sit and blog, read books, watch iCarly with kids, hang with Ollie, etc. My next project will be Spring cleaning but that will not be for a while, we DO, after all, live in Northern Michigan. :) I just LOVE this picture of Scott and the older boys. We do not get many of these!!!

Santa

I was a bit nervous at the thought of our five children going to visit Santa and getting them to take a "decent" photo. Most of them at one point or another have been petrified-Ollie was last year, or just will not take a picture on demand (my eldest). We joined my dad at the TC Country Club this year and the kids had a blast. Many of their friends were there and they loved making cookies and smearing beautiful, bright frosting on themselves. Ollie loved pouring out entire jars of sprinkles! As you can see from the pictures, the kids were totally comfortable with santa. I was so excited to get these pics since it is not often that they all cooperate!!!