Rigoletto: Daisy Dance

Isabella has been in ballet for the past two years. We were both sold on the Heart of America Dance Program after seeing their production of "A Wrinkle in Time" two years ago. For the past six months her dance class has been gearing up for their dance in the big show: Rigoletto. The amount of talent the two teachers have is immense. I still can't believe the magnitude of the show they produced! Isabella only had one small dance in a two hour production but it was enough to melt my heart seeing her up on stage.
After this experience of rehearsals, practices and more rehearsals, I thought for sure this would be our last year, but Isabella caught the stage-bug and now can't wait to perform on stage again! (Although it will be another two years before the next big performance). She loved being in the spotlight. She did a great job and we are so proud of her. She was super excited that a few friends and family got to come and see the show. It meant the world to her to know that someone cared enough to come see her perform. 7.30.10

At least someone listens occasionally

I just overheard Dominic say to Isabella while they are playing with blocks "your not perfect Bella"
Bella- "yes I am"
Dominic-"Bella, mom said that nobody is perfect except God"
Bella-"well, people could be perfect if they tried hard enough"
Dominic-"Did you not hear what I said? Nobody is perfect! Nobody!"
I am so glad that someone around hear listens to me.


Yesterday I was having a discussion with Isabella while we were waiting for our car to be fixed. She was very mad at me because I wouldn't let her go out to the car and get a bag of toys out. The car was in the shop being worked on so I wasn't going to let her walk through the busy mechanic area just for a toy when they had a whole room of toys for kids to play with. So she was saying "mom, you are so mean, this is no fair!!"
Dominic overheard the conversation and he said "Bella, don't you know life isn't fair? You can't always get what you want because life just isn't fair." Then he looked at me and said "Isn't that right mom?"
After I picked my jaw up off the table I said "you are right Dominic life just isn't fair." So sweet to hear a 4 year old explain life to his 7 year old sister in such simple terms. 7.27.10

Playing Dress up with Style

The other day I was working on the computer and I heard a lot of commotion going on in the kids room. Then Dominic emerged from the room wearing his Sunday best. I asked why he was wearing suit pants, dress shirt and a tie. He looked at me in all seriousness and said "mom, I am not Dominic, I am Bruce Wayne and I am headed to the office."
Of course...how silly of me to forget your alter-ego Batman. 7.26.10

The new roof

This summer has been a whirlwind for many reasons. One of them was a beautiful blessing in disguise. We called a contractor to look at our broken gutter. We ended up finding out that we had enough hail damage to get not only new gutters but a new roof as well. While he was at it he was going to put in a gas line so that we could finish off our newly remodeled kitchen with a gas stove (someday). When it came time to do the gas line the guy that came in about fell over when he found that we had copper lines running gas to our dryer. (Didn't even know I had a gas dryer hmmm.) Copper lines are for water not gas! When he got into the project he said he wasn't really sure why our house hadn't blown up or caught fire since our compression fittings were loose and we had a switch that sparked just inches away from the line every time we turned on the bathroom light. God is so good. 12 hours later we had new gas lines and a fitting placed for a gas stove (someday we will get one after we pay off all the bills from this summer!!)
So in an indirect way getting our gutter looked at may have saved our lives.

The kids had a ball watching the guys rip off shingles and put on new ones. Any time a piece of shingle fell away from the "danger area" the kids would run and snag it for their collection. I am not sure why they are saving old shingles but they sure did have fun at it. 7.25.10

Our little Artist, She's amazing

This year Isabella entered the North KC library drawing contest. She was up against both 7 & 8 year old kids, tougher competition from last year and she still won! She has talent. This is the second year she has won. Last year she won the 5 & 6 year old age group. She gets a $50 savings bond and a blue ribbon. Her art was on display at the library until the end of summer and is now on display in our school room. We are pretty proud of our little artist. 7.16.10

The new triplets

We got three new kittens from my parents this week. The kids are super excited. Two girls and one boy. Clockwise starting at the bottom: Krypto, Stella & Snowy. They are six weeks old. 7.1.10

The momma kitty

This cat has been around since my early years in college. I think it was born in about 1998. She is one of the few tame cats that my parents have around. By some fluke she happened to have three siamese kittens. There have not been any Siamese cats at my parents house since she was born. Three of her siblings were Siamese but they were all given away as kittens in 1998. We are so happy to be blessed with these little Siamese miracles. This momma is the baby from my favorite momma cat of all time. So it is a bit special for us to have her babies! 7.1.10

Snowy Kitty

There is some dispute over which kitty should be called "snowy" right now I think there is an agreement that Snowy is a girl's name but Dominic is insisting that the boy be called Snowy. We will see how it pans out this week. As of now this is Snowy. She is a girl with black tipped ears and tail. She has little white spots on her feet and her nose. She loves to follow Dominic around like a little puppy. She takes a lot of "lovin" from Dominic and keeps coming back for more. 7.1.10

Stella Kitty

Here is one of the girl kitties, my favorite, Stella. (Isabella named it after our neighbors new baby girl.) She is so cute with little stripes mixed in with her white fur. 7.1.10

Krypto

Here is the only boy of the group who has been named Krypto after Superman's pet.

Isabella turns 7!!

I can't believe how fast time goes. I now have a 7 year old. How is that possible? Here she is with her Littlest Pet Shop cake that she designed and I created. I put a close up of the top of the cake so you could see that all the pets were at the park for the bunny's birthday party. That was Isabella's idea. I thought it was pretty cute. We made all the presents and the little cake out of fondant. 6.27.10

The 2 week Kitchen Remodel

Our old white refrigerator died in May and we had a new silver one delivered in June. We decided we would start by changing the hardware on the cabinets to silver. Then we decided to paint the dining room and kitchen red Since we always wanted a red kitchen. After that we took on stripping the cabinets and painting the base of the cabinets. It was a long two weeks with very little sleep but in the end the kitchen turned out pretty sweet. I now love to be in there. Hmmm now I think I need a new stove.... 6.27.10

Building the fort

This summer Michael and his dad took on a new project for the kids: building a fort in the forest behind our house. When it is complete it will have a ladder, climbing rope, and a zip line. I am sure there will be hours of fun spent in the fort over the next couple years. Here is a picture of Dominic and Papa and a few of the kids zipping on the zip line. 6.28.10

Face Makeover

Isabella's front tooth has been dangling for almost two weeks. It has been a constant source of contention in our house. We have tried bribes to get her to pull it out but with no success. She is so uncomfortable and can't eat well but she just won't make that final tug. On her birthday someone bumped her elbow when she was trying to get some food out of her teeth and pop...out it came. No more snaggle tooth! What a great birthday surprise. She is thrilled it is finally gone. Maybe next time "someone" will bump it out a bit earlier??? 6.28.10

It was a good car

Eight years ago on the night of our wedding my in-laws gave us a beautiful, black Toyota Avalon and unfortunately this summer we had to bid it farewell. Michael was hit while driving to work, not once but twice by the same car! The Avalon handled the impact wonderfully and Michael was thankfully not really hurt. (We give most of that credit to God and a Guardian Angel.) The damage was beyond repair giving the age of the car. It was a sad day when we had to say good-bye to the black Avalon. Michael now has to settle for my white Avalon as his work car. It too is a nice car but not quite a swanky as the sleek black one. Plus my car has the wear from two children over the past 7 years. (aka: melted crayon in the back seat and impressions from constant pressure from car seats.)6.24.10

Ballet 2010

Here are some pictures I took at the ballet studio this summer at the end of Bella's second year of ballet. 6.22.10

Jeffrey & Amie get married

Michael's younger brother, Jeffrey got married this past weekend. Here are some pictures from the whirlwind weekend. Michael was the best man, Isabella was the flower girl and Dominic was the ring bearer.

Track & Field Day 2010

Besides the 4x100 relay Isabella also participated in the 100, 200 & 50yd dash and the long jump. Here are a few pictures of her jumping skills. 5.22.10