Grandparents Day

Roman and Capri had their first official school program and it was A. Dor. Able. The entire program was dedicated to grandparents and they were lucky enough to have all four there. They sang several songs, many with actions, and then invited us to their room for cookies afterward. We loved watching them up there with a hundred other 1st graders, all wearing white shirts and a scarf of their choosing.
Capri and Roman were very different participants, however. There Capri was, front and center, and she didn't miss a beat. She smiled, she sang, she did every little action. Roman, on the other hand, was a bit more choosy as to when he would do such things. You knew within the first few seconds of the song whether or not he was going to really get into it. If he liked the song, he was great, smiling and all. If not, he exhumed boredom. It was hilarious! Playing with his scarf, chatting with his friend, or just standing there...it made us all laugh!
The best part of the day was definitely seeing Roman and Capri's reaction to seeing all four of the grandparents there. They were so excited to show them their classroom and their sweet letters they had written. A great day.

This read, "Dear Grandma and Grandpa, I love when you come over for dinr. I love you. Love, Capri. I love that she documented something so simple and yet so meaningful, the fact that we often eat with my sister and parents.

It's that time of year!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...Christmas Time! That means time for our annual Temple trip to see the lights. It is truly one of my favorite traditions despite the cold and crowds. I love bundling everyone up, heading downtown, and taking in the Christmas spirit. Seeing the nativity reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas and I love that my kids are interested in that now.

This year we added a bonus treat by heading to Blue Lemon for hot chocolate and cookies...and I think that will be a tradition as well!
Here is our little, or not so little, family all bundled up! And thank you for the photobomb Richard:

The entire Curtis Clan...amazing we got everyone together:

Loving the Blue Lemon:

Until next year!

I think she was ready for bed:

Christmas time is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Capri-a busy, busy ballerina!

December was a whirlwind of rehearsals, performances, and demonstrations for Capri. Being apart of PEEPS meant that Capri had many more performance opportunities. She was able to dance at Festival of Trees and the Dicken's Festival, which was fun for all of us this Christmas season. I was especially happy to watch her perform. It makes me so proud and more importantly, I love that she loves it!
She has such a fan club-thank you!

Here we are at the Dicken's Festival...

 This is Capri during her technique class demonstration...

They did a small piece from the Nutcracker and it was darling!

Karoline, another tiny little dancer

Karoline started ballet at UDA this year and is just the cutest little ballerina. Her teacher, Miss Leslie, seemed a bit intense at first and I was questioning keeping her in there. I really wanted her to enjoy dancing and I wasn't worried so much about making it serious. However, Miss Leslie and her assistant, Miss Brooklyn, have really made it fun even with the heavy structure. Karoline now tells me that she loves Miss Brooklyn and thinks Miss Leslie is nice. I know she is having fun because of how much she smiles during class. All the kids get restless from time to time, but Karoline does such a great job of paying attention and following as she should. They started learning their "Bewitched" dance for the recital and I cannot wait to see it on stage!

Before the Christmas break, their class got scarves from Miss Leslie and we took some class pictures...

 And I think you can see that she really does love Miss Leslie now!

Team Roman

Roman went for Jr. Jazz again this year and showed a lot of improvement. He was much more aggressive and really worked to get the ball. He also handled the ball so much better with great passing and dribbling. I am so glad he had a good time and I loved catching him with a smile right in the middle of a game.

Just look at that big grin!

When Roman's tennis coach disappeared, we knew we needed an even better replacement. Sports Mall isn't too close, but has great instruction so we got him started with tennis twice a week over there. He loves it so far and I think the change has done him good. He has progressed so much in just a few months.
Such a tennis stud!

Some randoms from November...

I just think my kids are the cutest...

This is how I will always picture my Roman boy...

 Bath time! Capri is such a good little helper with Clara, even in the tub.

 I had a lot of fun this month with Susie, Lexy and Drew. First up, Ballet West at Kingsbury Hall.

Next was the one and only Michael Buble...A. Maz. Ing.

Thank you Susie! It was the best night ever!!!

Nielson Family Pictures

We couldn't let the fact that the entire Nielson Family was together pass us up. We wanted to get pictures done but we only had the following 2 days to do it. How awesome it is to have Elizabeth always so willing to be our fabulous photographer! She found the perfect setting for us and the pictures turned out stunning...which is pretty amazing considering how many little ones we had to work with!

The entire family...

 Just our little fam...

 Grammy, Grampy, and the grandkids...

It was freezing that morning and the kids were trying really hard to be good. When they started to struggle, Grammy promised a toy for each if they promised to be good for the pictures. She delivered with a trip to Target right after we finished...

Doesn't get much better than that!