Happy Heart Day!

The girls had a great Valentine’s Day this year! Some of their favorite things included: making the V-day cards for their friends and teachers at school, having fun at their V-day parties at school, making their Dad a homemade V-day card, going through all the V-day cards and treats they got from friends, and of course getting V-day presents and money from family!

I finally got around to putting together their autograph and photo books from our Disney trip.  Katelin especially loved the books.  They also got a heart locket with pictures from Disney in it.  Annie got an Aerial and Kate got Cinderella.

James loved his his Elmo carrying case with Sesame Street characters and his first tool kit he got from Grandma Sharon.  He too LOVED getting in on the action of homemade cards by coloring at his little table.

Brian and I enjoyed a nice dinner out at Fogo and a movie tonight.  It was nice to get some much needed adult time.

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and got to spend some quality time with your loved ones too.

Vegas Baby!

This week I was in Vegas attending the Marketing Sherpa Email Summit 2012 for work.  I was asked to speak on a panel regarding Mobile Strategies for the Direct Sale. I must admit I was fairly nervous as I am not an expert in mobile marketing and oddly enough this is the second time I have spoken at a conference where mobile was the topic. In the end though, it went pretty well (and that is even considering the fact that the night before I went on stage I fell asleep at 10PM and hadn’t gotten past preparing my speaking points past the first slide!).

While I was there I did manage to have some fun too. I walked around the strip for a few hours one night, grabbed some dinner at Cabo Wabo and spent some time playing a few slots at the Bellagio.  OK, I will be honest, I was a little addicted to Wheel Of Fortune! I managed to sit at one of the machines for almost two hours and kept playing off of basically only $40.  Throughout my stay I won about $200 but in the end I ended up down about $60 or so.  I really should have walked away from the last few machines at the airport but I just couldn’t! I think it is a good thing I don’t live near Vegas.

I was really hoping Brian would have been able to attend with me but alas, someone had to stay home and watch our kiddies. Maybe next time!

OLE Rockin’ Roundup!

For the past few months I have been on the PTO committee that is in charge of coordinating the OLE winter dance.  It was a fun experience to get involved with this event and I look forward to being a part of it again next year.  This year it was a western theme and Brian actually came up with the name of the dance and designed the posters and flyers (the PTO said they were the best ever!).

The girls had a blast! I should mention it took them a while to feel comfortable though.  I think they were a little overwhelmed with all the people and Katelin told us she was nervous everyone was going to be looking at her and laughing.  This was the first time she has expressed fear of having peers judge her which was interesting to hear at such a young age.

But in the end they ended up dancing the the night away.  Annie had a great time dancing with her buddy Noah.  They even ventured off to get their face painted, play a few games and try out the limbo.

Katelin loved dancing with all her neighborhood and school friends and she even participated in the hoola hoop contest.

It really was a very fun event and we are so lucky to be enjoying the experience of Katelin’s first year of school.  We love OLE!

Fun with Dick & Jane!

Last night Katelin decided she wanted to read a book to Annie before bed. She picked out their Dick & Jane book that we forgot they had. I can’t believe how well she did! She read 5 stories to us and never once got frustrated or gave up and she actually barely even got any words wrong. She was extremely proud of herself, as was I. So tonight she decided she wanted to read the last three stories that we didn’t get a chance to last night because they were more complicated and longer. Again, she did an awesome job and decided to show Brian how she could read the whole book.  She read 32 pages tonight! I  am going to make a big effort to keep this up and have her read to us every night (even if it is just a page or two).

Oh P.S., Happy Groundhogs Day! I am actually happy Phil saw his shadow today.  I want some snow this winter!!  The girls enjoyed their Groundhog’s festivities at school today and I loved how Kate told me that all groundhogs live in Philadelphia!  Too cute!

Kindergarten Registration already!

Tonight we had the registration meeting for Kindergarten for Annie.  She was SO excited to go to her Kindergarten meeting.  She said when she met Mrs. Reed (Katelin’s teacher) she was going to say, “Hi Mrs. Reed, I am Annie.  Nice to meet ya!”  That isn’t exactly what came out.  It was more like a long smile, rocking back and forth, and then finally said “I’m Annie and I go to another school.” 

Annie got to play in the Kindergarten room for an hour while the parents listened to the meeting. She was so excited as her friends Noah and Kelsey were there too.  When we picked her up she said she just wanted to go back to Kindergarten.  She keeps talking about how she will get to ride the bus with Noah!!  She continues to talk about how her birthday is in Spring, then is summer and then when fall comes it is Kindergarten time.  We are crossing our fingers she gets into the full-day class with Mrs. Reed. 

It is hard to imagine that Annie will be in Kindergarten next year.  I am so excited for her and hope she enjoys it as much as Kate does.