Just some photos

Annabelle's latest dance moves

Here's an awesome video of Annabelle pulling out all the moves!

Counting in Spanish

Between Jillian's feedings, getting Annabelle breakfast and her hair done, and my needing to shower and so forth, it always takes me a while to get the kids and myself ready for the day. Many times, it's almost lunchtime byefore we're all dressed and ready to be seen in public. So while I'm feeding Jillian or showering or whatever, Annabelle is watching cartoons on tv. Her favorites are still Dora, the explorer, Mickey Mouse clubhouse, Little Einsteins, and Clifford, the bog red dog. Sometimes, she'll quote lines from the these shows to me. But today, I realized how much she pays attention to them and how much television can play a role in what your children learn. This morning, I overheard Annabelle counting to 7 in Spanish. Now, I've certainly never taught her that, but I have no doubt she's learned it from Dora. It's nice to see her learning new things and I'm glad she's learning good things at this point, but it's kind of scary to think if you're not careful, kids can be learning bad habits from tv. Anyway, here's the video of Annabelle counting. She forgot what came after 7, so I helped her a little bit. But in doing so, I think I said the number 10 in French rather than Spanish. =)

What we've been up to- Part 1

So once again, it's been a little while since I last posted and I have no idea where the time has gone. So, here are a few things we've been doing in the past few weeks.

It's been so nice outside that we've spent quite a bit of time at the park or just hanging out outside. I'm excited to plant some flowers. Last weekend, Michael and Annabelle worked on the yard for a while. Annabelle was especially fond of digging around in the dirt.

In less than a week, Jillian will be 3 months old. She is such a joy and I love every minute with her. For the last week, she has been sleeping from 9 pm to 6:30 am. It's been wonderful! She also is beginning to figure out she has a voice and hands. She's starting reaching out to touch objects and she enjoys just lying on her back and practicing making noise.

And the big news for Michael is that he is teaching his first class at the university. As if he's not busy enough. But he's a really great teacher and I think he'll really enjoy it. I'm attending the class today so I'll be posting later about the first day. =)

And of course, I can't resist posting some cute pictures of the kids.

What we've been up to- Part 2

Last Saturday, two of my piano students participated in the semi-annual Music Festival. It's sponsored by a local music teachers' association, of which I'm a member, and it allows students to learn and perform two pieces and certain scales and techniques in front of a judge and receive a score for their performance. I'm so proud of my two students who participated. They worked so hard for the last month and a half learning their songs and preparing themselves for this event. They both did excellent and received high scores.When they were done being judged, we celebrated by going out for ice cream. Then, as we waited for the scores to be posted, both kids performed one of their songs for the other students, teachers, and parents that were walking around the foyer of the building. Here are pictures and a clip of their performance.

Spring?

Last Saturday, the day started out beautifully and promised to be the most beautiful spring day we've had yet. Or so I thought. I went running in the morning while Michael played with Annabelle outside in the yard . (Jillian was sleeping.) After I got back, we thought we would take the kids to the park later that afternoon after Jillian was awake and fed. However, by the time we made it to the park late afternoon, the clouds had rolled in and the temperature had dropped. As you can see from the kids' outfits, it wasn't the kind of spring afternoon we were hoping for. But it was still fun to get out. Michael and I threw the frisbee around for the first time since about last September. Here's some videos of Annabelle playing and a picture of Jillian all bundled up. (Sorry, but the videos don't have sound, but you can still enjoy watching Annabelle play.)

And here's a cute picture of Annabelle and me.

Jillian's smiles

Jillian is such a joy. It's been especially great for the last few days because she's slept from 9:30 pm to 6:30 am straight for 2 nights in a row. She is 10 weeks old and has the cutest smile as you'll see from the video.

Easter

Our Easter celebration was relatively low key. There was a city Easter egg hunt at the park that I was interested in taking Annabelle to, but the terrible weather and the 9 am start time made me less than enthusiastic to attend. So we made do with hiding eggs inside the house. I'd had Annabelle's eggs in a basket out in plain sight as part of my Easter decorations for awhile and all week, Annabelle asked me if she could have her eggs yet. She definitely did not like waiting until Easter weekend to get her treats, but her patience paid off and she now gets to play with her eggs as well as eat whatever is in them. Life couldn't get any better for a 3-year old.

For dinner that night, we had chicken parmesan and Annabelle managed to get sauce all over her pants, so I asked her to go put on some new ones and to her credit, she did as I asked. As you can see though, we have a long way to go on style.