Happy Birthday, Jack!

We have the best neighbors living next door to us, and their names are Jack & Loretta. They are wonderful people who happen to have a front porch that is perfect for visiting, which we do quite often! Well, it was Jack's birthday this past Saturday, so the girls brought over some balloons and a card:

The girls really love spending time with Jack & Loretta, and I'm pretty sure that the feeling is mutual! They treat the girls like their own, and always make each girl feel special. We're lucky to have them as our neighbors & our friends!

Fun Friday

We got our weekend off to a great start by filling our Friday with fun, from morning 'til night. Here's how it went:

We got started right after breakfast with Art Time. Jordi painted & Caroline colored with colored pencils, and both girls were very content for a long while. That's my Starbucks cup on the table; I thoroughly enjoyed sitting there, sipping my tea and enjoying their company!

After lunch, Mum & I dropped the girls off at Nana's house for a visit while we went on a few shopping errands. I don't have any pictures to prove it, but I'm quite sure everyone had fun! But, anyway, that brings us to dinnertime...

We met up with Tim & Judy at the Elks. I took this picture of Jordi as she was providing "cracker service" to the folks at the next table. She found a whole bunch of packets on an empty table, and decided to distribute them to all the patrons in the dining room. I think she charmed everyone in the place!

The girls enjoyed post-dinner lollipops, courtesy of one of the friendly Elk members. Just another one of the perks of eating dinner at Grandad's club!

Having so much fun is tiring, as you can see by this picture. After dinner, we visited with our next door neighbors, who have a wonderfully relaxing porch swing. It didn't take much swinging in my lap before Jordi was fast asleep! (It's been a long time since she's done that, and, to be honest, it was kind of nice.)

Gettin' Dirty with Grandma

Here's just one more thing that makes Grandma Henri so special: not only does she not fuss at you when you get into the dirt, she'll actually plunk you down in the garden and let you sprinkle dirt all over yourself all afternoon! Oh well, I guess it's never to early to encourage a love for puttering in the garden.

Here's Caroline in her new happy spot. (I don't know what the appeal is here, but then again I'm not 22 months old!)

Jordi prefers her gardening activities to involve tools and/or attire, but preferably both, like in this picture!

Of course, if you spend your afternoon sitting in the garden, that means you need a quick clean up in the sink before you get to far in the house. Even Caroline's diaper had dirt in it!

Recital Pictures

Well, you've seen the hair & makeup practice pictures. Now, I'm pleased to show you what all the fuss was about:

Isn't she sweet? Here's Jordi, ready & waiting her turn for pictures at ballet school. And if you think just one ballerina is cute....

..how about a whole class of ballerinas in pink tutus?! Wow! That's a lot of sugar 'n' spice!

They didn't allow us parents into the dance studio during the girls' picture session, and the proofs won't be available until May 7, so we had our own photo shoot at the neighbor's house once we got home. Loretta took most of the pictures; I just got a couple shots from the side.

More Baking

The girls had so much success with the first round of cookie baking that we decided to take the show on the road and make some for Nana & Grandad at their house!

Once they got dressed in their "baker-chef" attire, they got right to work (with Grandma's help, of course!) Jordi fees pretty big to be able to use that knife!

Almost ready for the oven! Caroline seems to be double-checking to make sure they didn't miss putting an m&m's on any of the cookies...

Of course, cleaning up is part of any food preparation project, and (as you can see by the size of her grin) just might be Caroline's favorite part of the whole process. I'm going to remind her of this enthusiastic attitude for dish washing when she gets older!

Getting Ready for the Stage

Recital time is just about a month away, and there's lots to do to get ready. You may have seen our post from a couple weeks ago of Jordi in her adorable recital costume. Well, recital pictures are being taken on Monday, and our little ballerina needs to be in full costume, including hair & make-up, for the occasion. Although I know nothing about making fancy hair buns or putting on stage make-up, I am very lucky to have some highly skilled family members to show me how things are done!

Muffin was in charge of the face. Here she is, gently applying some age-appropriate ballerina make-up to Jordi.

Next, the hair. Kim is the Bun Queen, and I was blown away at what a beautiful hair-do she created for Jordi, just by using a "magic" brush, hairspray, fake hair, bobby pins, and a hair net. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it!

Ta Da! Here's Jordi, ready for the stage. I can't thank both Kim & Muffin enough for sharing what they know with me. I'm eternally grateful!

We'll take some pictures more pictures on Monday while she's wearing her costume, but I hope you've enjoyed seeing a little bit of what all goes into the making of a little ballerina!

Baking with Grandma

We are so glad that Grandma Henri is finally here for a visit! The last time she was here was last September, so we've been waiting a long time to see her.

Grandma is quite the seamstress, and she made these cute kid-sized aprons for the girls to wear while they're helping in the kitchen. What could be more fun to help with than baking cookies? Here they are, getting ready to go into the oven...

..Mmmm, don't they look delicious?

Well, there's only one way to find out! If you're going to put the time in to make the cookies, then it's only right to be able to eat them, too!

Happy (early) Birthday, Libby!

Since it was their spring break this past week, we were lucky enough to spend some with cousin Libby and her mom, Sarah, while they were in Ashland. Libby is just six months older than Jordi, and they have always had lots of fun playing together. What made this April visit even more special was the chance to celebrate Libby's 4th birthday! (Her actual birthday is later this month, but who passes up the chance for an early party?)

Here are some pictures from the festivities:
The birthday girl and her Dora cake.

Two friends, celebrating with paper blowers (Dora, of course!)

Here's cousin Emily (and her helpers!) getting ready for the party. She's has a real flair for putting together themed parties with all kinds of special touches that ensure everyone has a wonderful time. This time was no exception!

And, just in case you were wondering, Caroline was in attendance, also. She's not quite ready to spend all her time with the older girls, so she was content to play on her own until it was time for cake!

Easter Morning

I'm sure that the cold weather on Easter Day only bothered us grown-ups; as long as the girls had their baskets of candy nearby and their fancy dresses on, they were thrilled!

In anticipation of a day full of candy eating, the girls had a nice cheese omelette breakfast!

An Easter basket is full of surprises, each more wonderful than the last! Here's Jordi, looking very pleased at unwrapping a piece of white chocolate.

I think this picture sums up the whole morning!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Although it was too cold for outdoor hunting, we went ahead and colored some Easter eggs anyway. It was the first time that we've done this activity with the girls, but it was just like I remember from childhood. Although, there was one new twist...

Caroline ate one of the Paas color tablets! I guess by now I should anticipate this type of behavior from little sis, but it didn't even cross my mind that it might look like candy to her. Luckily, the box said "non-toxic," so the only after-effect was a blue diaper 48 hours later!

Jordi got the hang of things right away, and really seemed to enjoy the whole process (except, perhaps, waiting for them to dry!)

Here we are, showing Caroline the proper use of Easter egg dye. As Caroline says, this one is "ELLOW!" (She's recently gotten the hang of colors, and likes to show off her new-found knowledge.)

Next time, I'll post some pictures from Easter morning...

Happy Easter!

Our Ballerina

As you know, Jordi's been taking weekly ballet lessons since last September. All this training will culminate in a big-time recital of the ballet "Cinderella" at the Paramount Arts Center next month. Here's Jordi in her very first official ballet costume:

Could there be anything more sweet than a little girl in a pink tutu costume? I don't think so!

What Jordi Can Do

I thought you'd all like to see a couple of the things that Jordi's been up to lately:

1. Being a "baker-chef" (her words) over at Nana & Grandad's house.

2. Continuing to work on her self-portraits & signature (I love this one in particular; she drew it on the back of a Bob Evans' comment card... just the right size to keep as a bookmark!)