Love! Love! Love!

We have been waiting for this movie to come out on DVD since we saw it during Thanksgiving break. So, we bought it yesterday and have been playing it over and over ever since. The music in it is so amazing! I love the duet sung by Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) and Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi). It is such a sweet and beautiful song! This is Clara's all-time favorite princess movie--mine too!

Clara's Ballet Recital!

Tiny Ballerina's 2011 RecitalClara really enjoyed her ballet class. She learned some new skills like how to do the side splits.And the middle splits. That just looks painful.She loved holding onto the bar when they did plee(ay)s.She was really good at them too.Ready for leaps (or take off).She is so cute to watch!After warming up, she is now ready for the big dance.Here's her partner Abbie.There she goes, leaping across!And again with the leaping! She loved to run and leap.

She kinda looks like her daddy out there.Skipping to her partner.Twirling.And strike a pose! It was a lot of fun watching her. Of course, I watched her every week, but Memee and Grandpa Choo-Choo came down to watch her for her special day, not to mention our "camera man" dad!

Clara will be taking lessons from Ms. Megan again. She really liked Ms. Megan a lot.

And of course, we have to get pictures of her friend Chloe.

We decided to take Clara out for a sundae at Dairy Queen to top off her special day. It was so much fun!

Toddler Bed

Well, we must be suckers! We broke down and bought a toddler bed for James. Since he was coming up on his 2nd birthday, we thought, "Hey! Why Not!"

These pictures are taken during the day-mind you. James thought it was awesome! Couldn't wait for me to put the Thomas sheets on that we got from Aunt Annie. He jumped right in. The idea of a toddler bed is nice but it's a lot of work getting them to stay "in" the bed when it's time to be "in" the bed. Needless to say this is just one of those "little experiments" to test parents' patience.

Story Time with Big Sister

I was putting away some laundry in the kids' room the other day, when I saw Clara trying to pull James up on her bed. "What are you doing?" I asked. "I want to read James a story," she said. So, as I went about my business, I came back into the room and saw this sight.

Of course, I had to go get the camera.I think she was trying to pin him down so he wouldn't run away.It was the cutest thing ever!

She tried to read him another book but I think it was just a "one book only" moment.

Clara was a little sad but she got over it pretty fast.

Just When You Thought It Was Over!

As some of you may know, "Pinkalicious" is one of Clara's favorite books. We even took her to go see the performance last year. Well, there was a second book, "Purplicious". Clara loves this book as well.However, the third book, "Goldilicious" is her all time favorite book!Today, while we were out at Sam's, we discovered a NEWLY RELEASED BOOK from her favorite series. Introducing . . . "Silverlicious"! Didn't even read it--just bought it. Clara looked through the pictures and already started to ask if we could read it to her. Can't wait till daddy gets home, so we can all join in the pinkalicious fun!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The weekends always seem to be packed with all sorts of fun around here. It's the only time we can truly enjoy daddy or take advantage of him.

Before we get started on this last weekend, here are some promised pictures of our chickens. since our last post of the chickens, we have added 2 more, making it an even 10 chickens. The "Reds" are almost a month old and are looking really well. I am counting down the days until it gets warmer here or they are fully feathered. Then, out they go!Here are our 2 "Barred Plymouth Rocks". We are so excited to have a little variety, as these two are little and sweet still. There are starting to get more of their white feathers in, since we bought them. Clara calls one of them "Snow White". We thought it was pretty clever. Now, we just have to figure out which one she is.Since the chickens have been getting bigger, Dale has had to modify our design. With this lid, they can't jump out anymore. I don't think the chickens like it too much, except for when James enters the room. It's a lifesaver!Dale has "finished" the chicken run. It's pretty darn heavy, if you ask me! It is equipped with a small door for the chickens to access the coop, and also a bit larger door for the people to access the chickens. Once we pulled this thing from the garage to the backyard, Dale realized it is way too big. So, now he will be working up a plan to "modify" it a bit, which will include attaching the coop, as well. Another project in the works: our second extended garden is underway. With Spring approaching, we are looking forward to expanding our garden, which will include Broccoli, Zucchini, Squash, Spinach, Onions, Carrots, Cucumbers, Cantaloupe, Peas, Green Beans, Strawberries, and the ever popular Tomatoes. I am sure there are a few that I missed, but that gives you the idea.

This area used to be the dog's bathroom but we have since relocated them off site. I told Dale we needed to get some fencing up because I refuse to be gardening in or around any "droppings". We had great success last year with our garden and look forward to another year of new and exciting things.

Hurray for Spring! Two projects in one: Painting and Book case. We have been toying with the idea of painting Clara's room, but haven't agreed on the color. Awhile back, we showed some swatches to Clara and she (not) surprisingly picked out "Ballet Slippers", which has been described as white with two drops of red. So, after ballet class this past weekend, we started to paint her room. It turned out lovely. We have half of a wall left to do still but are happy with the results.

Dale also took the time to make a replacement bookcase for the kids' books. I came up with a general design and Dale did his own thing. I must say, I like his design better than mine. This isn't really the best shot of it (I had to sneak into a little sleeping girl's room to get it), but I'll get one later of the side view.The Final "Unseen" Project: a busted water pipe, under the house. Enough said, right?! Well, as our weekend projects were coming to a close (about 8 or 9 o'clock), Dale comes in from outside and tells me that he discovered a busted water pipe under the house. It was the line from the hot water heater to the kitchen sink, and it either needed to be repaired or replaced. Now the description of this was not "drip, drip" it was "oh my! there's the Nile river under our house." Needless to say, Dale didn't climb into bed until sometime after 1 am. Poor guy!

What a weekend! I think Dale is actually glad to be back at work, where he doesn't have to worry about paint, wood, or busted pipes! I am sure our weekends will only get busier as we have 17 weeks left before our #3 joins us.