Time for a BREAK!

Ever since we had planned on getting Olivia a second American Girl doll for her birthday, we talked about possibly going to an AG store during spring break so she could spend her birthday money (Dallas??). We ended up deciding on Atlanta, so we could spend time with family as well.

We left for Alpharetta on Saturday morning around 4 am. This was perfect, because we arrived about 2:30-3 pm at our hotel in GA. Lee met us there, and we went straight to the mall...go the AG store. Olivia was SO excited! Lee got her a few outfits for her AG dolls, and had each doll get her hair styled at the salon!








Grammy also got a Bitty Twin doll for Bella, with jammies, dress, and ballet dress. Talk about an excited 4 year old!




Then we had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's before going back to the hotel.

The next day, we went to have breakfast with Lee, Alan and Cheryl. Then, we drove to meet Cheryl's mom (She's a hoot!) on our way to Discover Mills Mall (because it was a rainy day), as well as Mall of Georgia.



Liv with one of the biggest, fattest cats EVER...he was SO sweet!!! She stayed on the bed the entire time we were at Cheryl's mom's house just petting him!


Of course, the AG dolls had to get dressed for the day as well...

And I just LOVE these shirts for the girls! They got them for Christmas...



Then on Monday, we drove to Atlantic Station to the IKEA... Whoo Hoo! I LOVE IKEA!






After spending hours there, we left and went back to the hotel. Alan and Cheryl called us later for dinner. We saw them again for lunch on Tuesday at Sweet Tomatoes. We got back early that evening to start packing up because we were leaving early again the next morning to head out on Wednesday...early!

It was a great trip!

Oh, and no trip to Grammy's would be complete without the ride on the carousel...

Eight Years Old?

Olivia had her 8th birthday on Saturday. Eight! Wow...time FLIES!

She had a slumber party with only a few friends (with Brian having his wisdom teeth out 2 days prior, we really had to limit the number of girls we invited. We chose 2 from dance, and 2 from school--then with our 2, we had 6 total.) One of the girls' moms emailed on Friday and said that Jenny was sick and could not come.

The plan was that Liv would leave before technique class so that she would be home in time for the party to start at 7. Valerie came with us at 6:30, and Isabelle came at 7. We talked with her dad while the girls ate dinner. When Julianne arrived around 7:15, we were about to have cake. I had gotten her came from a cake shop across the street from my school (delicious!!!).









After cake, Olivia opened gifts, and the girls got on their PJs for manicures. Then sleeping bags went down to watch Kit Kittredge (an American Girl movie). The girls did so well with Bella. I was afraid that she would get in the way, but she didn't at all! About 1/2 way through the movie, I had her go upstairs to our room (Ashley was staying over to help me with the party and she was going to stay in Bella's room).






In the morning, the girls all ate doughnuts while they waited for their parents to come get them. It was a fantastic sleep over! It honestly could NOT have gone better!



Then that evening, we had a family party for her. We finished the second half of her yummy cake, and she got presents all over again! Lucky kid...






Then on Sunday afternoon, we went to her favorite place for lunch, Cheeburger, Cheegurger! We enjoyed some delicious burgers and magnificent shakes! Super yum!

Group dance made the web!

Olivia's group dance Falling Slowly, made the competition's website as their pick for a primary-level dance.

Here's the link:

Falling Slowly

Brian, the patient

Brian has been complaining about his wisdom teeth for some time now. I added him to my dental insurance this year, and figured we would have him looked at to see about having the teeth taken out. A friend from church is an oral surgeon, and so he was able to get Brian in last month for a consultation. As we suspected, 3 needed to be taken out.

Yesterday was the day of the surgery. I took off to drive and take care of him. The surgery was set for 9 am, and we were walking out of there at straight up 10:00. I just have to say, he was hilarious! He kept telling me how loopy he felt and kept asking me the same questions every time he saw me (like, how did I get up the stairs? Did the dr. tell you about drinking out of a straw?)

He has an ice pack wrap that he is supposed to keep around his head for 36 hours. All in all, he is doing much better than I thought he would though. I don't remember much of anything from the first few days after mine were taken out, and he is up watching movies and folding laundry! However, he did say that he is much more uncomfortable today than yesterday. I told him that was to be expected...

Here's a pic of him sleeping yesterday with the ice wrap. Poor baby!

Kids Artistic Review 2010

This past competition, Olivia did not dance until Sunday...and she danced ALL DAY LONG! Because we knew it would be a long day, we arranged for Belle to spend the night with my mom on Saturday night and to stay with her throughout the day.

Her solo went on about 8:30 (and this time, we did NOT forget her skirt!). Once again, she did incredibly well! When awards came, Olivia received a Top First award (the highest for the primary division), and came in 7th in the top 15! There were 30 solos total for ages 8 & under and we were thrilled with her placement for only her second time to compete a solo!



Then, it was time for her and Kenny's duet. They went on close to the end of the category, and also received a top first award (and highest point total in their division of tap). Then, when the top 10 were announced, they were announced as being second...but we have since found out that they TIED for first place with Lost (another duet from our studio). Since this competition broke tied scores based on technique scores and the other duet had a higher score by 1/2 point, they were announced as the winner. But it was so very exciting to know that we actually tied. Olivia was SO excited. Their hard work has paid off. Olivia and Kenny also received an invitation to New York to the KAR Kids program. How cool!










When it came to small groups, Jump Shout Boogied looked good, but not quite as good as I thought it did last time. It received a top first award, and came in fifth over all. It also got a special judges award of **** Our group's hip-hop (which Olivia is not in) came in second, and received most entertaining. The judges were loving it!



That evening, large groups were warming up, and it was obvious that the kids were getting tired. Not all of them, but most of the ones that had been there all day. Olivia was hyper as ever! LOL.







Jazz was first and looked fantastic. Then, it was tap (looked pretty good), and lyrical (looked great). After lyrical was over, I decided we needed to leave. I was not going to stay for awards because it was 6:30 pm and I hadn't seen Bella since the day before. It was a school night and I was BEAT!!!

I heard later that evening that tap came in 4th, jazz came in 2nd (and received most entertaining), and lyrical won. It was a VERY long and exhausting day, but as always...lots of fun!

I took pics at the awards ceremonies I need to post, but also, we purchased pics from the competition during the dances, but the CDs are being mailed to Renea so I'll post those when I get them. There are some GREAT ones to share!

DONE...DONE...DONE!!!!!

My BIG ESL project from the graduate academy this past summer had to be completed and postmarked by 3/1...so Monday afternoon, I was at the post office mailing my project! I was so happy it was finished...I just HAD to take a picture of it before dropping it in the slot! WooHoo!!!

Bella and the BIG bike

Isabella has been eyeing big girl bikes for some time now. The problem is, her legs are too short! Well, Brian decided to take the girls on a bike ride on Sunday afternoon because the weather was (finally) beautiful, and I needed to be working on my ESL project. So, after church, he put the training wheels back on Olivia's little bike and lowered the seat all the way down. We tried her on the bike, and her legs BARELY are long enough!

So, after Olivia's private lesson with Angel, Bella put on her helmet and tried out the big bike. She did not find it nearly as much fun as she thought it would be, and tired of it easily...but she was still proud of herself. I got some cute shots of her real quick before she came inside.

Hall of Fame '10

We went to Hall of Fame dance competition this past weekend. It was insane! All of Olivia's dances were within 3 1/2 hours of each other! And that wasn't the only drama...

Olivia did her very first solo Jailhouse Rock for the first time. I was so nervous because of her turn (I didn't want her to fall...). Not only was it her first time, but she was the 7th dance of the morning! So that meant we had to be at the Robinson Auditorium at 7:15...which meant we had to get up at 5:30 to get completely ready to leave by 7 (and allow extra time to get those contacts in!). WELL...we were in SUCH a rush, that we ran off and left Olivia's skirt for her solo costume AT THE HOUSE! I realized it in the elevator of the Robinson. I called Brian (who had dropped us off to find a parking spot) and he ran back to the house. He was literally going 90 MPH to make it back to competition in time. I was completely freaked out!! Olivia had already gone backstage with Jamie and Hannah (also doing her solo for the first time) when I met Brian outside to get the skirt! I ran back behind the curtain, pinned the skirt on as Abbey was on stage!! I went out in the audience and FELL APART crying! Talk about stressful! But the solo itself...it went well. She nailed her turn and she looked really good.




Then, it was off to change for large group dances. Falling Slowly was first (no good pictures of Liv so we didn't buy them),then Soul Man,



and Takin' Care of Business.



This was the first time for Takin' Care of Business to perform. It looked great. After that, it was a fast costume change into the red dress for Jump Shout Boogie (my MOST FAVORITE dance!). That was small group tap and Olivia had been picked as the one to get the award for that one this year. I love it because it is so fun, but also, it is a HARD dance! The fact that these little 7-year-olds can do toe-stand turns, etc. blows my mind!




Awards were about 11:00 or so. Her solo got a High Gold award, Falling Slowly a High Gold, Soul Man and Takin' Care of Business both got a Platinum! In the top 4, Soul Man came in first, Taking Care of Business came in second. They won $150 for large group jazz. Then, for small groups, Jump Shout Boogie also got a Platinum award (but I am honestly NOT surprised...it is just that good. LOL), and they also won $150 for small group tap.

We bought the cd of pictures with a few other moms. Aren't they good?