le Jazz Hot Baby

Kali with Mr. Joe Tremaine and Jeff Amsden

Another successful weekend in Cleveland at the Tremaine Dance Convention. Kali put in a stellar performance. She has made the finals of the scholarship audition every time she's been there and she won again this year. What makes me really proud? This year she moved up an age group. She was up against 11-13 year old dancers and completely held her own. Her ballet technique gets her noticed, as it should. But it's her jazz style that makes the cut. A dancer, with great technique, who can really move, I wonder where she gets that from???? The most important thing for me is that she had so much fun! That smile is priceless.

When I asked her if she would ever be interested in dancing with Tremaine, she had the most remarkable answer. She said " If the "singing" ship sails without me, I'll climb aboard the "dance" boat." Now, that's an 11 year old with a plan!

A MidWinter Night's Dream

We threw some swimsuits in a bag and headed north to Kalahari for some R&R. The weather outside was frightful ~ 20 degrees to be exact ~ but, the fireplace in our suite was just delightful!

Peyton finally is tall enough to do "whatever she wants to do!" She earned her 48" wristband and was so happy! She is actually knocking on 50 inches, but I don't want to acknowledge just how big she's getting.

It was all about the wave pool ~ it always is. All four of us were waterlogged by the end of the 2nd day. We managed to enjoy most of what the water park had to offer. It was nice just to walk around in 80 degree weather for awhile. Of course, Kali dragged me to the outdoor hot tub. We sat in the steamy water while the snow fell around us.

6 More Weeks of Winter!?!?! You don't say....

Well, the 1st week of February brought a grim forecast from the Groundhog and a very unexpected snow storm. If only those 18 inches would of fallen 24 hours earlier ~ I could of used another snow day. The winter scene was just beautiful, I love being able to enjoy all 4 seasons to their fullest.

After digging out, we spent some time at Jim and Donie's. It was Cooper's 1st birthday. Smiles, games and laughter ~ what more could you ask for? No better way to chase away the winter blues than an evening with friends.



Peyton kept me company while I was ironing by cuddling up in the cubby of our shelves!!! 1st with her Leapster, than with Cinnamon. That little girl cracks me up every single day!

January Thaw

Kali and her friends spent a rainy January Sunday having fun and just being kids. They ate their weight in junk food and worked it off by playing "Just Dance" on the Wii. Peyton had a couple friends over, too. It was so loud and so crazy and so much fun. A house full of happy kids is one of life's greatest pleasures.
Just like our college days, me and Steph dancing and partying well into the night. Boy, the past 2 decades have just flown by. It's good to know that no matter how much life changes, some things stay the same. Good friends, good times.

Donna and I have been going out together for 25 years!!!! At least we are no longer in our cheerleading/flag corps uniforms at Pizza Bazaar!!!! Now we are dancing at the Greenville Inn to Run, Avril, Run! I'm hoping that's a step up. Not sure of anything but the love of my best friend.

4 Day Weekend! Yippee!!!!!

The 1st long weekend of 2010. We are excited. I have to work tomorrow, but today ~ nothing but Japanese food.

This week Kali had her Character Tea project at school and she dressed as the great Ella Fitzgerald. The concept is, well, fabulous. The kids had to pick a prominent person and read their biography. Then they had to put together a timeline of that person's life and give a presentation in class. Most schools stop there, not Miller South. The kids dressed as their character and showed up at a tea party acting as their character. It was the parents job to ask each kid specific questions about their character and try to figure out who they were. The parents had to put forth some effort, but it was so much fun. Only one student stumped me, some Olympic swimmer. Not my strongest trivia category, I did get all the artists and presidents. Can I tell you how glad I am that Kali goes to that school?

The Recipe for a Snow Day

Well, today was the 1st snow day of the year and the girls made the best of it. Kali had 3 friends over and they spent the day outside in the blizzard. Peyton chose to spend most of the day cuddling, in front of the fire, with Sugar Daddy. She did finally don her snowsuit and go outside to sled. And eat snow. She enjoyed both. I got the day off, too. Yippee. I got some choreography done and my classes will have a new play list to dance to tomorrow. A very welcome and enjoyable day for everyone. In every way. This week, we were also blessed by a visit from Miss Amya, Sasha's little girl. My great niece. I had her all day on Sunday and we had such a good time. She loved spending time with Kali and Peyton and she had so much fun with the kitties.

Bring On 2010 !

Happy New Year!
May all your dreams come true !

Kali bustin' a move Beyonce style

Peyton proving that she can Flex her Mind!

Kali gearing up for her Mind Flex game.

We had a not so quiet New Year's Eve at home. Kali had a friend over and they played and danced the night away. We made my addictive pretzel chicken nuggets for dinner, yummy. The best part of spending the evening in? Ringing in the New Year in jeans and a t-shirt.

What's the new year without some crazy fun? The girls had silly string and confetti everywhere!

This morning I was up early and cooking. I wanted dinner to be ready before Jimmy went to work. The pork is roasted and it was delicious. My eastern european ancestors would be so proud of my traditional pork, dumplings and sauerkraut meal. I also made green bean almondine, for any western european relatives rolling in their graves over the starchy meal. The holidays were wonderful, but it's time to get back to work. I have choreography to finish and classes to plan. Add to that a pile of uniforms to iron and I'm pretty sure I'll be busy all weekend.

Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Every One! As I sit next to a roaring fire, sipping coffee and watching my kids watch "A Christmas Story" for the 50th time this month, I marvel at the blessings that have been sent down to us this year. The girls had an awesome Christmas ~ Kali's adjective. Santa brought the coveted Mind Flex game for both of them. The Wii Fit Plus was under the tree, too. I'm excited about that. I see Wii Yoga in my future. Kali also landed an Ipod Touch. Those of you who know how hard she worked selling raffle tickets for show choir to be the top seller (and win an Ipod touch) know she really deserved it. She sold 359 and was the 2nd top seller after someones Dad wrote a $2000 check for 2000 raffle tickets on the last day

:( Peyton is bumming that it's raining instead of snowing. She got a big girl snow board. Our new kitties had an fabulous morning and we are so happy they are part of our family. The girls planned the Noel menu - all appetizers! Buffalo Chicken Dip, Beef Dip, Bacon Wrapped Chestnuts-three of the most important food groups - pork, beef, poultry!!! I threw in some veggies for good measure. This evening it's off to Joe and Kelly's for more festivities!