Tiny Dancers

Just a few pics I want to post real quick. Last Monday was "Open House" at dance, which means the parents can go in to dance class and watch the kids, whereas usually parents aren't allowed in. Jeremy took Julia to hers since I had a meeting until 5:00, and I met them in time to see Jenna. Jenna has improved so much since the fall. This is her first year in Hip Hop and the teacher (a Truman student named DJ) moved really fast in the beginning. He has since slowed things down a bit to be more on the girls' level, and Jenna was doing really well. She is going to be so cute in her recital. Have I mentioned her costume is SHORT shorts, made even shorter by her long legs? I found a pic on my phone from when she tried it on:

WOW!

I didn't get to see Jewels dance but I saw that the mom of one of her classmates had posted pics that Julia is also in, so I "borrowed" them. Julia tells me she loves dance and I think the pics show that she really gets into it! 

Work it, girl!!

Lil Sluggers

We had a great weekend. It was of course filled with laundry, housework, grocery shopping, etc., But in between, we had fun. Friday after work I ran a few errands as I'm starting to make plans for Julia's birthday party. Jeremy made spaghetti so I didn't have to worry about cooking, which was nice.

#LittleLeague

Saturday, both girls had their first softball practice. This is Julia's first year to play and man, was she adorable out there on that field. We could not find Jenna's bat anywhere that I bought her last summer; I have no idea where it could be since its not in any logical place. She had to use her old t-ball bat. Jenna's practice was at 1:00 and Julia's was at 4:00, so in between we shopped at Hibbett's (Jenna got a nice new bat. Again.). Then we went for a snack at McDonalds - chocolate shakes for Jenna and I; grilled chicken wrap for Jewels, who hadn't eaten lunch yet. We brought Jeremy a shake too since he was meeting us on the field. We had forgotten Jenna's old ball glove for Julia so I had to drop the girls off then run home. After not finding it, I ran to Wal-Mart to buy her one. [Found the old glove yesterday in a box of toys in the garage - Murphy's Law.] After Julia's practice, Jeremy, the girls and I stayed another hour to play. Jeremy pitched and I alternated between catcher and outfield. The girls would hit and run the bases; it was a very pretty evening. I picked up Jared after as he'd spent the day with Conner and Matthew, then a pizza for an easy dinner.

I *LOVE*. 

Jenna the Pro in action. 

That's a seriously cute batter, and a SERIOUS (and cute) catcher!

Sunday I had to take Jenna to mom's house to print some things for her Hawaii poster for school since my color printer isn't working. (I also printed a few of Tiffany and Melissa's photos taken in Hawaii for Jenna to use). I am going to get Gracye's old dollhouse for mom's house so while Jenna was printing, Julia helped me pack up the miscellaneous toys that are there to make room for the dollhouse; that will be the only toy there now other than a few puzzles. Julia put together one of the puzzles and left it out as her "calling card" for Mom to see when she gets back from Washington. My calling card was vacuuming and taking out some trash. The girls and I then got groceries; Jared of course was with his buddies again but he was home when we got there - another helper to carry in groceries! After putting the groceries away, the kids and I headed to the ball park as I wanted to get some pics of Julia for her softball party invitation. We had our little photo shoot while the big kids played ball; Julia was a good little model but ready to hit the playground when we were done. Jeremy brought us a fried chicken picnic from Hy-Vee that we all enjoyed at the shelter picnic area where Julia's party will be. After dinner it was more playing.

Love her!

FIERCE. 

Her "tough girl" face.

One of my favs from the day. 

Love her, she's such a rock star. 

Another fav, with her ponytails blowing in the wind. 

Dancing around between shots. 

It was a beautiful evening and the whole family had fun together - I love it :) 

Soon it is going to get hectic juggling both girls' practices and games, and the Missouri heat will likely be unrelenting at times, but for now we are enjoying Spring's late arrival with our gloves and bats.

Celebrating Basketball

Last night we went to the athletic banquet at Mary Immaculate. Our star basketball player received her trophy and award - we are very proud of her! Some comments from one of her coaches as they introduced her: 

As a 4th grader, Jenna really surprised us - she was definitely an upper-end athlete. 

Jenna had an amazing physical awareness of the court. 

And something to the effect of Jenna being their rebound girl. 

My girls just before dinner (and Jared in the background)

Jenna's team and coaches

Tomorrow the girls are both to start softball practice (they were to start this week but we got A LOT of rain and both were cancelled). I'm not sure if the fields will even be dry enough tomorrow. Anyway, Julia has decided on a softball theme for her birthday (which she has been saying is "coming up" since February). I think that will be really cute, especially since this is her first year to play. I'm already getting some cute party and invitation ideas and will be getting her a bat and bat bag for her gifts, and probably some wacky socks (she should have a lot of fun mixing those, as she tends to do on a regular basis). We plan to have it at the ball park, and since it will be on a Sunday (Mother's Day), hopefully there won't be many, if any, people there. The shelter is right next to a playground, and weather permitting, they'll get to play some ball on one of the fields. We haven't had great luck with weather for her birthday over the past 5 years (2nd birthday was day after Kirksville's big tornado; 3rd birthday was sweltering hot and stifling humid - the frosting was melting off the cupcakes; 4th birthday was COLD and WINDY). Here's to hoping this year will be a beautiful day for playing outside!

Happy Easter!

 04.09.13: Today I'm home from work for the second day with two sick children. Jared and Julia were diagnosed yesterday with Influenza A. Jared became sick last Thursday, missed school Friday, and was pretty miserable all weekend. With Julia starting a fever Sunday night, I scheduled them both an appointment Monday morning. Julia's onset of symptoms was recent enough that she was prescribed Tamiflu. Jared's onset was too far out to prescribe Tamiflu at this point and his body has to continue fighting it on his own. I'm quite hopeful the medicine helps Julia recover more quickly and easily, as it cost $106. In the meantime, they are dealing with fever, fatigue, stomach ache, headache...they pretty much feel like they've been hit by a truck. Jenna is standing strong and I pray she is able to steer clear of it. Yesterday after their appointment I cleaned and disinfected the house, washed the bedclothes, and made some vegetable stew.

Trying to catch up from my last post, on Holy Thursday (3/28) Jenna played a weeping woman at the school's live stations of the cross. She enjoyed telling me about it. I was home with Julia that day also (been using a lot of sick time lately) with a stomach bug so I missed it. Friday and Monday surrounding Easter the girls didn't have school and I had taken those days off. Thursday and Friday were very nice out and the kids finally got to play outside. The girls got the tractor out of the shed and played with that. Jenna rode her bike and played basketball. Jared went to Conner's and they played in the creek.

Saturday I worked on some things for Easter, made the mashed potatoes and lettuce salad, and a breakfast casserole. Julia sat up an audience for me:

Jared and Jenna actually hung out a while and Julia played playdoh. The kids all got their hair trimmed and I pampered myself with a wash and style also. We came home and colored eggs and painted the girls' nails.












On Easter Sunday (3/31) I awoke to a text from Dad; he was already at Big Cabin on his return trip from Texas. He left at 2:15 a.m.! The kids peeked at their baskets and noticed some eggs (Julia's surprised gasps were too cute) but decided not to go through them or hunt eggs until after church. We went to the Newman Center this year and it was very enjoyable. After church they delved into their baskets and found all the eggs. The girls got a webkinz (horse for Julia; owl for Jenna) and princess (Rapunzel for Julia; Ariel for Jenna); Jared got a beyblade and legos. They all got some new jammies and the girls got a dress and a vest/shirt combo. Jared also got some shorts. The kids played outside quite a bit - it was a beautiful day! Eventually Gigi made it over. We started on dinner (our menu: fried chicken, mashed potatoes/gravy, corn, salad, deviled eggs, and apple pie; we had little Hawaiian roll sandwiches to tide us over after church). Grandpa made it that afternoon with a cooler and flat full of strawberries, oranges, tomatoes, and cucumbers from the Dallas Farmer's Market; also some onions and a few other things for Grandma. He was able to get a cat nap in before dinner. Grandma brought the kids a new monopoly game with an ATM they played while we were cooking dinner. We enjoyed a delicious meal together (after Jersey got in trouble for drinking Jenna's strawberry milk) and then just relaxed a while.

Easter Delivery from Dallas Farmers Market

Easter Sunday

Julia asked me to take a pic of her pretty nails before church

Jenna and I; Easter Morning

My son is taller than me! 

Just before church at Newman Center, and below:
Grandma frying delicious chicken!! Extra legs for the boys, their fav --

Playing on Easter in their new shirts from Aunt Tiffy

On the following Thursday, Jeremy left for Ohio with his dad and uncles. They went to a Ford swap meet and I think they all had a really nice time. This is the night Jared got sick. It was 60 degrees out and the girls got to enjoy another afternoon outside.

The Boys - Uncle Andy, Uncle Eddie, Dad and Uncle Frank

It seems I have been to doctor appointment after doctor appointment. Between mom's surgery and pneumonia, Jenna's broken finger, Julia's gross-looking wart on her hand, my own wellness exam, and now the flu...it seems all I do lately is call in sick to work and shuffle people to appointments. We have the orthodontist yet this month, plus a follow up xRay for Jenna and a follow up for Julia with Dr. Cleaver. Also mom goes back to Columbia for her surgery follow up tomorrow. It's times like these I really wish I didn't have to work outside of the home and could focus on taking care of everyone without the guilt of missing work. I also have the search for summer childcare hanging over my head which also makes me wish I could be at home with the kids. I hope we find a good solution; we are really going to miss Gina this year.

I have to add a few pics Gina took last summer. The girls LOVE her! 

Gina's fishergirls! 

Julia is ready for me to snuggle with her so I am going to sign off. I hope to get my pictures uploaded soon so I can post them on here.

04.15.13: And here I am, after the weekend and no pictures ready to post. Somehow I never get to editing my pictures as soon as I'd like. I'll just update how our weekend went and add some pics from my phone. Thankfully, Jared and Julia seem to be over the flu except for an occasional cough that the doctor said could last up to two weeks. Friday night Jared went to spend the night with Gigi and the girls went to a game night at the Newman Center. Jeremy and I got to enjoy a dinner to ourselves at the Dukum. Afterwards we picked up the girls and they had a great time. I also got to talk to a college student about summer childcare. She is going to be working at the YMCA but mentioned that her sister could come stay with her if she had a sitting job. I got an email from her later telling me more about her sister, a freshman at Rockhurst Jesuit University in Kansas City, so I'm hopeful that something will work out. Saturday, Jared ended up going to Columbia with mom. She was clothes-shopping and he spent his time at Barnes and Noble, read an entire comic book he said, Game Stop, and Target. They had Chinese for dinner and I was glad for him that he got to spend some time with her on his own. I called her phone when they were on the way home; he answered and sounded like a grown man - he's growing up so fast. I spent most of Saturday cooking, cleaning, laundry, truck billing, paying bills...general catching up around the house. That night the girls and I watched the movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun - they liked it; Jared was home by then and elected not to join us ;) Sunday Jared and I went to church together and then I did some grocery shopping. It was a nice day, up to 70 degrees I think but very windy. The kids got to play out quite a bit. After all the grocery shopping and putting everything away, I helped Julia with A LOT of homework. She had 15-20 pages of work to make up from missing 3 days last week. I think she is getting better with her reading and we are working on making her letters the correct size and when to use capital/lowercase. She still gets mixed up with "d" and "b" but she is working on it. After that I finished up dinner and relaxed with the girls a while before bed. This week brings dance for the girls tonight, basketball Wednesday night (part of a 3-night package Grandpa got her at at silent auction to work with the high school girls), and Jenna starts softball on Saturday. She doesn't get her finger xRayed for over a week after the first day of practice, so she is going to have to be very careful. I think I will have to say no catching for a while; batting may even be tricky. We found out that Jenna will be with Coaches McLain and Chapman again. She's been lucky to have them every year. No Coach Corbett this year so he must be coaching another team. This will be Julia's first year and she is going to be on my friend Amy Feeney's husband's team (Steve) and their little boy Joel plus Sophia will be on the team. I'm glad she will have a friend on the team and that we know the coach. Pretty soon we will find ourselves coming and going to softball practices and games. Since Grandpa got the basketball practice sessions for Jenna, Julia has been hot after him to find "something softball" for her. I think he's working on it ;-)

I'll end with a few miscellaneous pics taken over the last couple of weeks -

 Julia greeted me in the car one day after work and we sat out there quite a while
contemplating how to save the world...

Julia "Christina" Grgurich ;) 

The girls one day before grocery shopping

 

Girls' new puzzle - I just love it! 

Jenna was thrilled to get a letter in the mail from her pen pal, Aunt Tiffy! 

Julia in the dress she picked out and bought with her own money -
she still had her Amazon card from Christmas from Aunt Missy!