I Love Dance Recitals!

Amberlee had her first dance recital yesterday and it was adorable! She, by nature, really does not like performing in front of people (she still has yet to give the prayer/scripture/talk in primary and ends up in tears every time)...so the fact that she was up on stage was amazing to me. It was so fun dressing her up in make-up and her little costumes! We had so much fun!

Amberlee and one of her best friends. They have had so much fun taking this class together!



Amberlee was SO excited when her pre-school teacher came to watch her!

















And here's a little snippet of one of her dances! She really does smile when she dances...just not in front of everyone...and notice how she's the first one to run off the stage...totally cute and funny!

talent runs in the family...hopefully

I hope that through pure genetics, my kids can somehow be as talented as our amazing cousins! Kevin's Uncle's family (his wife and 7 kids), stage name "The Lowe Family", has been performing in Branson, MO for the past 10 years. They have now taken their show on the road. A couple weekends ago they came up to MI and we were able to go to the show with our 3 oldest kiddos! All together their family plays 50 different instruments-beautifully, they dance, they sing, and they put on such an amazing show! The girls sat mesmerized during the whole performance! It was so much fun to see them all! Here is a link to their YouTube page. Check out the snippets from their shows and also their new music video, "We Will Go On"...it's really awesome!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/thelowefamily

The next day, we were so excited to have the Lowe's all over for lunch before they headed back to Branson.

Uncle Bob and Jer-Bear have something in common...besides being brothers, they both fell asleep in this chair...with little girlies smothering them with random hugs!

Kassie told Doug she would rub his feet if he paid her...and she held him to it!

We love you guys!!! It was GREAT to see you again!!!

As a little side note, our cousin Kendra, who's part of this whole family, is now the Keyboardist and female vocalist for David Archuleta!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu7khh8VZBs

A little Bit of Amberlee

We celebrated Amberlee's Birthday a little while ago (ok...it was 3 weeks ago on the 4th) and she's been looking forward to seeing her pictures on the blog! So here's a little 5 year birthday blog celebration of our sweet Amberlee...starting with our 5 top reasons we love her!

1. She is the most thoughtful person. She always thinks about others before herself. For example, she got a few dollars for her birthday and the first thing she said was that she could go to the dollar store and buy presents for her sisters! This is how she thinks...all the time!

2. She is quiet and very shy outside of our home, but once you get to know her she is incredibly goofy...and I'm always finding pictures on my camera like this...

3. She loves to cook with me and she's always finding recipes for me to try.

4. She's a little (possibly a lot) OCD and organizes almost everything...and her favorite color is orange!

5. She told me that her most special talent is swimming! (We'll see!) She likes playing soccer (but not on game day) and she loves animals!

Amberlee was born in Japan...and she was cold. She had a hard time regulating her body temperature so they put her in a warming bed and put this little hat on her...it was so cute. She now asks to see the picture of her wearing the bunny ears! You can even see the top part of her little newborn kimono!

3 months old1 year old at Disney Sea in Japan2 years old3 years old with her 1st bike4th birthday...she wanted a princess tea party. She invited her friends over and wanted them to wear their princess dresses. On the day of the party, all she wanted to wear was her polka-dot dress from grandma!5 years old, 2009Birthday party at the gymnastics center with her favorite friends

(Lauren, Emma, Amberlee, Morgan, and Maggie)

Sewing and Sock-hops

Ok...I LOVE to do projects. However...let's understand one thing...I do not sew and I really REALLY do not like it! That being said...I love that when I do attempt to make something, it turns out crooked and lopsided and always adorable!

Every year, there's a sock-hop at the girl's elementary school. I thought that we would not be able to make it this year...but at the last minute, the girls needed those poodle skirts! So, in my creative and crafty ways, I headed out to Joann's to get my needed supplies and spent the afternoon whipping these cuties out!

Oh, as a disclaimer...my sewing sister came to my aid...yeah!!! After I used our large wall clock and tape measure to cut out two circle skirts...she called and was more than happy to help with my project. So while I can claim the *concept* of this project...she was the sewing chick behind it all (I ironed the poodle on...does that count???)!

Can you believe that the kids were totally rockin' out to AC/DC at an elementary dance!

Kassie and one of her BFFs---Rachel

She was so excited for the hula-hoop contest...look at all of those skirts!!!

Amberlee, Sophie, and Kassie

Happy Birthday Emma!!!

We have a tradition of decorating the house after the birthday girl goes to bed...so when they wake up we can tape them coming downstairs with eyes full of excitement while exclaiming..."It's my birthday!!!" True to Emma's character, she slipped out of our room and ran downstairs to see all her balloons without us capturing a dang thing!!! Happy Birthday to our bright little Emma!!!

Emma was born in January...in Pittsburgh...in 2005 when the Steelers won the last Superbowl...with a terrible towel in her bassinet! The maternity ward was one big tailgate party!!! It was so fun!!! I think I should have clued in at that point that we were welcoming a little party animal into our family!

Emma brings a huge ray of brightness and excitement to our home. When she was a little baby, her Grandpa Bregg gave her the nickname "Sunbeam"! She loves life, is always smiling, and is the most energetic girl I've ever seen. She is beyond curious and is always exploring everything...which unfortunately results in the worst messes to clean up! She is the most nurturing person. She's always trying to help her little sister and her favorite thing in life is her dolly!!! She has NO volume control and she thinks everything is stinkin' hysterical!

I asked Kevin a while ago to tell me one word that describes Emma. He replied, "!"...yes, an exclamation point! She does everything with emphasis. Everything from the way she walks to the way she hugs (so tight you can't breathe), and the way she tells you get off the carpet because no food is allowed on the carpet (remember...no volume control)!!! She cracks us up all the time!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Emma!!! We love you so much!!!

Kicking and Screaming

Poor Amberlee bumped her mouth a little while ago (embarrassing mom confession...I have NO idea when it happened!), and her front tooth has progressively begun to die. When I took her for her check-up before Christmas, our dentist said the tooth had to come out! So today, I had to literally lay across her kicking legs and hold yelling/screaming Amberlee down while they gave her the numbing shot. You should have seen the looks of everyone once they opened the door!!! It actually made me laugh a little! How often do you really hear someone yelling while you're in the waiting room??? She really did try to be very brave, and was so happy that it was finally over! I think she only finds comfort in knowing that the tooth fairy will come tonight!!! Here are her before and after pictures! She's been having fun showing off her missing tooth to her little sisters and I keep finding her looking at herself in the mirror!!!

What goes down when Mom's on the phone!

Christmas Trees and Snow Days...Yay Winter!!!

This year marks our 4th year back in the states and the 4th trip to a tree farm to find our Christmas tree! This is a tradition we love and the girls are finally starting to love it as well. They were so cute as they hunted for the perfect tree---quirks and all! For some reason, we have the uncanny ability to pick out the most crooked trees!

Today was our first snow day of the year...YAY!!! I was so glad to wake up to 5 inches of snow and we didn't have to rush out the door to go anywhere! We had a great day of sitting by the fire in our pj's, sledding and playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate, making cookies, and decorating our Christmas Tree! Winter is finally here and it is beautiful...remind me of this in February :) !!!

Here's a little video of my penguins...backwards and forwards!!!

What would I do without you?

As today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to write a post for one thing I am especially thankful for this year! As you may know, my parents bought the house next door to us. My mom and dad have been here periodically since then...but my mom has been here for the past 2 months!!! I'm so sad that she will be leaving for California tomorrow. My life now has to get back to normal :(!Here is my list of why my I am so thankful for my mom and why she is the BEST neighbor in the world!

1. She came over almost morning to help with breakfast and watch Laicee while I took my older girls to school!


2. She watched Emma and Laicee while I took the older girls to dance class and soccer!


3. She picked up things for me at the grocery store whenever I need them!


4. She would bring me coke and sandwiches for lunch!


5. We'd go shopping together!


6. She watched the girls while I volunteered in the girls classes!


7. She came over during nap time so I could run errands!


8. She'd surprise me and clean-up dinner and do the dishes while I gave the girls their baths!


9. She let the girls come over to play at her house for HOURS at a time!


10. She never complained to help! She was just happy to be with her grand-daughters!


11. She read the girls bedtime stories!


12. She had numerous movie nights with the girls so I could go out with my friends...and Kevin too!


13. She gladly let the girls hug her to death every time they saw her!


14. She has helped so much with everything as Kev has been studying ALL THE TIME for his HUGE test that he is taking soon!

Mom, I love you and I am so thankful for how amazing you have been! You have made it so that I haven't lost my mind dragging all my little ones around while Kev has been out of commission! You have stepped in when I have needed you the most! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you and I'm seriously going to miss you!!!

I hope you all have had a great day! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!