Dance Recital

This weekend mostly revolved around Julia's dance recital.  This is her first year in dance and I found out quickly that the year end events are planned for starting in November for the June event!  The studio that Julia takes lessons in does a recital every other year and this was the year for the recital, so I just had to put her in it.  Just thinking of the little ones dancing on stage makes me smile.

Julia had two routines - tap and ballet.  This required two different costumes, hairpieces and shoes.  It also required a bit of a time investment with the dress rehearsal on Thursday and a recital performance on Saturday night and on Sunday afternoon.  I was a stage mom on Saturday night so I was able to see the performance on Sunday with our families.  The kids did really well!  All of them showed up on-stage and most of them danced.  This is no small feat for a group of 15 three and four year olds.  Actually, all the routines in the first act were fantastic and the time just flew by.  What a great way to finish up the dance season!  Until next year.....

Wordless Friday

Some of the blogs I follow do a Wordless Wednesday where they post photos.  I love that idea, but didn't get around to doing it until today so I'll call this Wordless Friday.

Here are some photos of the girls playing with play doh (Emma actually was rolling the dough with her fingers while keeping herself in a sitting position!), riding the pony Mercedes, and I even  threw in a photo of Finnegan for good measure.  Enjoy!

Lazy Weekend

We took a break from our general activities last weekend.  It wasn't a planned "down" weekend, but we mostly wound up staying around the house since Julia was sick.  It was really nice not to have to go anywhere or do anything.  The girls slept really well, which let me catch up on some much needed sleep.  Chris and I even slept past 9am on Sunday, drank coffee on the deck and read part of the Sunday paper before the girls woke up - it felt like we were newlyweds again!

Julia did manage to spend a bit of time playing in the splash table we bought this weekend, but outside of that she mostly watched videos and cuddled in my lap.  Emma loved the splash table, too, and even went after the toys in the water quite aggressively.  This weekend need to figure out a set-up that will allow her to play at the table without me holding her up.  We even got a reprieve from the constant worry of getting Emma to eat since she ate at all her meals and even munched on some cheese puffs for a snack on Saturday!  This was such an event that I took a short video of her eating puffs and posted it below.  Did this have something to do with Emma's great therapeutic riding session on Friday?  I'm not sure, but I hope the eating and sleeping continues.  

While we didn't plan the lazy weekend, it sure felt good! 

Changes

The economy is causing a lot of people to make changes, and we are no exception to this.  I found out this week that I'm part of a corporate downsizing.  In the 13+ years that I have been there, I've had 11 managers, 5 different positions, completed my MBA, and had the pleasure to work with more exciting, creative, unique people than I've dreamed possible.  During those same 13 years, I've adopted a dog, met and married Chris, and had two beautiful girls.  

For the last couple of years I've struggled with working vs. staying home with the girls.  I was able to transition to a part-time position which worked really well and allowed me to participate in most of Emma's therapy sessions, have fun time with Julia and take the girls on field trips.  It was a great balance for me while it lasted, but I have to say that I'm really looking forward to spending more time with the girls.  We are lucky that Chris has a job he loves that seems pretty secure for now.  My severance package will continue our benefits for a while and enable us to have Emma's second CI surgery under our existing health benefits, which was my main concern as Chris' benefits do not cover cochlear implants.  

So, in a few weeks I'll be free from work!  I've been working since I was 14 years old so this will be a new experience for me.  I'm going to recharge a bit, enjoy the summer, look into starting the business I've considered.  I'm excited about the new chapter in my life that is about to begin.  I think this change is good!

Another new look

I had some trouble with the other template, so decided to go with a Blogger standard one.  I hope this is easy to read and people can post comments.  In fact, if you are reading this now please send me a comment so I know that section is working!