Caitlyn's Dance Recital

Caitlyn had her end of the year dance recital a week or so ago, and I wanted to share some video and a few pics. She has grown up so much over the past year, and it was really eye opening for Jeremy and I to see how much better she is this year. He doesn't get to see her dance every week like I do, and I kept telling him he was going to be surprised. :) She is really turning into a graceful dancer, and I credit her Lyrical teacher, Ms. Tammy, for that. She has done a stellar job of teaching Caitlyn about finishing movement and 'feeling' the music. She took both Christian Lyrical and Irish Hard Shoe this year. She has really taken a liking to the Irish dances and will be doing Irish Soft Shoe as well next year. The video and pictures were all taken the night of her recital rehearsal, so that I could just enjoy her performances the actual night of the recital. I wanted to soak up these moments.... Anyway, the lighting wasn't great, and well, you can at least hear the music and see the choreography. Enjoy!

UPDATE on the house: No, we have still not moved in, but we are very close. Hopefully within the week. The house is really starting to come together, and I am so excited. I have plenty of pictures and even some video, but once we start getting rooms completed I will post before and afters for you. There's a few rooms that are completely done except for the carpet which will be installed on Thursday. So close!!

Luke Blowing Up a Balloon... Or Not

This week, I caught this video of Luke trying to blow up a balloon. It was too funny not to share! I kept trying to tell him that these were water balloons and they were too hard to try and blow up, but he just kept trying. :)



Pictures and video of Caitlyn's dance recital will be up in the next few days. We've been super busy working on the new house and trying to get everything straight so we can move in!

The New House

As promised, here's a couple pics of the new house! We had our final walk-through last night, so I snapped a couple of the front and back. We are FINALLY closing today. So excited!

The Kiddos Get New Bikes

Remember those new bikes I said the kids got for Easter? Well, here are the pics and video finally. :) I know, I've been a slacker. Luke LOVES his new bike (big wheel) and makes us laugh when he rides around making car noises. By the way, here's an update on the house. Our closing was postponed yet again, and has now been scheduled for this Tuesday. I'm not holding my breath at this point. I'll post some pictures of the house as soon as we close!

Family Time at Reviewers Retreat/Great Wolf Lodge Poconos

This past weekend, I attended a blog conference called Reviewers Retreat in Pennsylvania. It was part of a blogger network that I have been working on in regards to my website My Four Monkeys. Besides the conference part of Reviewers Retreat, my favorite part of the whole trip was the location. Not only did it allow me to bring the whole family along for the trip, but Reviewers Retreat took place at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos. Now, you know we LOVE Great Wolf Lodge, but have never been to this location. Even the kids were excited to see how this location differed from our usual Great Wolf in Williamsburg.

Right away we noticed that the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos is a bit larger, with a roomier lobby and a larger 'treehouse' section in the waterpark. Over all, there wasn't too much of a difference, as it still featured the fabulous food (we're talking syrup fountains at breakfast time, and everything you could possibly dream of at dinner), great amenities (like the Northern Lights Arcade), well-trained and caring lifeguards (John David got a boo-boo that had to be tended to), and the ever present and helpful staff. Apart from the blogger festivities and sessions, I really enjoyed getting to spend some fun time with Jeremy and the kids, and take advantage of the fabulous location to get some family time in. It was a much needed getaway with all the house craziness that's been going on here (we are finally closing next week), and I'm so glad we went!

So glad we got to stay indoors! It was yucky and dreary outside the whole time we were there!

4th floor please!

The large fireplace in the lobby is always an attraction for the kids. Super warm and comforting atmosphere.

Whose got muscles?

I do! I do!

Eating dinner at Loose Moose Cottage. Where else can you go out to dinner still wet from the waterpark?

Gotta love the smiley face fries!

Our ingenious swimsuit dryer. :)

I think somebody is wore out from playing so hard!

Caitlyn taking a rest while the boys nap. She read through two whole books while we were there, and we ended up taking a trip to the store to get more!

We of course found time to be silly!

So close!

So much to choose from!

Time to go, but we'll be back!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yes, I know... I'm getting old! But nothing makes it better than hearing "happy birthday" from your two year old. :) He kept singing it to me this morning and then when I got the camera out he got quiet, of course.

If my birthday is today, that means in TWO days it will be my dad's birthday! So, Happy Birthday Poppy!

Easter Pics - We Are Moving!

I know I'm late, but I wanted to share a few pics from Easter. I was looking at pictures from last Easter, and seriously... how do kids grow so fast?!! The kiddos all got new bikes for Easter, and I have some fun pictures and video of that I'll share tomorrow. Enjoy!

Also, for those of you who haven't heard - we are moving! It's only about ten minutes away from where we are now, but we are super excited! More to come on the moving process soon. We are supposed to close this week, and will be working on both houses a ton over the next few weeks. I will be sure to post some pictures of the new house and the work we'll be doing. Seems like our lazy summer is off to a busy start!