Happy Passover!

Greetings on this fine Wednesday evening! Well, after a GREAT weigh in at Weight watchers yesterday, we went over to my mom's place to have Passover Seder. For a few years now, I have been the leader of our "child friendly" Seder. Which basically means "short and to the point"!

I led us through the basics, trying to explain a little bit a long the way. This year's Seder was enhanced by the reading of "Let my Babies Go!". A Rugrats rendition of the story of passover. :)

The kids were pretty interested in that, along with the singing of the four questions, and Dayenu! Everyone clapped along to Dayenu. It was pretty cool.

The kids loved the Yarmulkes, and all wanted to wear them... my mom told them they are called Kipahs in hebrew, and the kids thought it sounded like Peacocks. So, yes, in our family, these lovely beanies will be forever known as PEACOCKS.

Of course the highlight was the search for the Afikoman (a piece of matzoh, wrapped up and hidden). All the kids went on a search, with Grandma helping out with the "hot and cold" game.

Anna was the one that found it, but in this family EVERYONE is a winner! :)

It was a lovely evening with the Diamonds, Kamans, Joachims and Mom and Jerry. The matzoh ball soup wasn't so bad if I should say so myself!!!! heehee...

Sorry Will wasn't in any of the pics.. I guess he was the one taking them. And somehow Paul, Mom, Jerry, Aunt Bonnie, and Meagan all dodged their picture being taken also!! Oh well! It was a lovely evening....fun was had by all. :)

Today was a good day... Kindermusik, Kindermusik. I did go out with my friends tonight for dinner.

I better get to bed since I have to teach tomorrow.

Onward and out!

Love, Holly

Week 5 weigh in

I lost 2.2 lbs for a total of 7 pounds in 5 weeks! Yippieeeeee!!!!!! Moving on to reach that 10 lb mark, and then onward from there to GOAL!!!!!!!! I CAN DO IT!

Okay, off to Passover seder... I'll post pictures later from that. :)

Love, Holly

My butterfly wings...

We are back from a jam packed weekend! Parts of it challenging, but most of it great. :)

Friday we drove down to Plantation right before dinner at Buca Di Beppo. Buca happens to be one of my favorite restaurants. So, I was pretty nervous about going there, and sticking to Weight Watchers. Well, I ate very low point all day (so yes, I was STARVING!), and ate moderately at dinner, and did very well. The real proof will be tomorrow at my weigh in!

Here's a pic of Anna and I at dinner.

Saturday we went to Butterfly World and it was lovely. The weather was PERFECT, and that kids did great there! If you happen to ever be in that area, I highly recommended going! We took so many pictures there...but here are some to enjoy. :)



It was pretty cool. A butterfly landed right on my head! :)


Here is Anna checking out the rose garden.


Aiden stopping to smell the flowers...

We found a nice bench to chill out on for a few moments

First the bridge explanation...

Now the bridge...

Anna cuddling her Grandmolly

Aiden LOVED the parrots!

Aiden and I going through a misty tunnel

Some scenic shots...

and me....

and Aiden before we reached the parking lot!

Saturday night was spent at home. Thanks Molly for a yummy low point meal (I ate them out of vegetables!). Unfortunately, Saturday night wasn't great for us sleep wise. The previous night Aiden was keeping Anna up, so we had to bring Aiden into our room... where he slept fine. BUT... Saturday night, at about 4am, Aiden woke up, and was crying, and unhappy. He just couldn't get back to sleep no matter what we did.. so that night was pretty sleepless. Sunday we had a nice lunch and we were on our way back home...(with lots of strong Starbucks coffee!)

Today we had a great time at Kindermusik. The original plan was to mentor Elizabeth on Mondays until she was ready to be on her own. Well she has about reached that level...but AIDEN is in love with her, and just loves going to her class... so it looks like we are going to continue going each week to enjoy! :) Anna had dance class today. She is getting ready for that recital. Then I went to Chorus rehearsal. I'm a part of a choir through Timber Creek High School called the IG choir. IG stands for Inter generational. If I REALLY thought about that, I would get very upset. BUT... it's a great opportunity for me to do what I love to do.. down the street, and have some fun. It's also the program that provided the opportunity to sing at Disney this past Christmas, which was amazing...

After I got home this evening from chorus...I started cooking for my family's Passover Seder. We are doing our Seder Tuesday night because it worked better with every one's schedule.. I just whipped up a huge pot of Matzoh Ball soup, and some Vegetarian Chopped Liver (it's yummy, but no actual liver... good for putting on Matzoh).

Tomorrow Aiden and I have My Gym, then I go weigh in at WW, and then it's off to my mother's for Passover!! I'll try to take pictures of that. Should be lots of fun!

Nighty nite!

Love, Holly

TGIF!

Hello! :) Can you believe Friday is almost here? wow! I just finished a pilates workout, and thought I would post on my blog, while I still had some energy. I also have to get packing because we are taking a quick trip down to visit Will's parents this weekend. A pretty full weekend is planned. Dinner out tomorrow night (I'm a little anxious about that, since I want to stay within my weight watcher points).. and then Butterfly World on Saturday. Sunday we leave to come back home. I'm sure there will be some GREAT photo ops on Saturday with all the butterflies!

Anyway, my friend Kristin took some pictures last Saturday. The goal, to get new head shots for our Kindermusik website, and also a fun staff picture. I'm very happy with them!

Here's my new head shot

Here's the Grow and Sing Studios Staff! That Elizabeth (our new teacher), Me, and Rachael (my business partner).

Here we are being silly and jumping....

and... for those that gave opinions on Aiden's 2 year old pictures, thank you! This was the winner!!

There were many others we liked, but this was our favorite. We did get another one as well for our house...but this is the "official" 2 year old picture. :)

I'm tired from the week. Lots of Kindermusik classes (all wonderful!), and now packing and hitting the road tomorrow.

I hope you all have a perfect weekend, and I'll be back with Butterfly World pictures! :)

Love, Holly

Catching up and my week 4 weigh in....

I have been SOOO busy lately. I know, what else is new right? :)

So lets see.. first of all, the movie Reign on Me. It was VERY good. I knew it was going to be heavy, and it WAS, but who knew Adam Sandler was such a good dramatic actor. Although he was very good in Punch Drunk Love. Anyway, it was a perfect role for him, and even though it was sad, I truly enjoyed it. So, thumbs up from the Lesnicks!

Last week I went to a Mom's Nite Out with my girlfriends. We ate Sushi - my favorite - and snapped a pic. :) In June we are going on a Mom's weekend (this will be our 4th year going!) - this year to the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood Florida. Yes, that is where Anna Nicole Smith passed a way...a little eerie, but hey, it's a GREAT place! We all can't WAIT!

On Friday, Aiden got a haircut. Isn't he so cute in that chair?? The kids LOVE Miss Denise. So do we!!!!

The week has been busy, but very smooth so far. At Anna's dance class, all the parents were called in so we could learn the steps to their recital dance, and Aiden was having a great time watching all the girls dance! He mimicked them also, and he is now deemed the class mascot! So funny!

Today we went to My Gym. Aiden LOVES it there... I snapped some pictures. Here's Aiden with Miss Janet. She was teaching him how to climb the rope...

Here's Aiden learning how to do a handstand.

Here is Aiden with his favorite teacher Miss Simone. Miss Simone is also going to be Aiden's swim teacher this summer! (along with Anna, Kayla and Amy). Aiden LOVES Miss Simone!

Well, I weighed in today, and well.. I stayed the same as last week. No loss, no gain. I'm attributing it to PMS, since I was a good girl and stayed on program all week. If my suspicion is correct, then next week should be a good weigh in. It's all good, I just have to stay on track, which I will. I did vow to myself however to exercise at least 4x this week. I just finished my Pilates workout, so 3 more to go before next weigh in!

Anna has gotten into creating "Pine Cone Art". She collects pine cones from the back of our house, and creates. Apparently this work of art is called "The Clown"

I think I've caught up on the happenings around here! Hope everyone is having a good week. I'll be back soon! :)

Love, Holly

Saturday night...

It's been a few days, a busy few days! Will and I are about to go out to a movie, so this entry will be short. We are going to see Reign on Me, with Adam Sandler. I will report back and let you all know what we thought of it! This was a crazy week, a few ups and downs, but it's all good now. I did lots of teaching. It was "picture week" at Kindermusik, so my friend Kristin (who took Aiden's 2 year pics) worked VERY hard, and took over 2000 pictures of our classes. We can wait to see them. I'm sure she captured all the magic that happens in class between parents and children. :) Today, she also took staff pictures. Individual ones to change out on our bios on the grow and sing website, and also fun pictures of Rachael, Elizabeth and I. I can't wait to see those. We were awfully silly!

The kids are great... Anna was sent home this week with a report card of sorts, basically showing us where she is developmentally in preparation for Kindergarten. It was an amazing report, and we are SO proud of her. I might have to scan it in and brag a bit, especially for the family members that read my blog!! We can't believe it, but this coming week we are registering her for Kindergarten!!!!!! How is that possible. I mean really, how is that possible??? okay, the babysitter will be here any minute. So I'll be back with another post tomorrow, pictures included. Until then, have a wonderful Saturday night, and relax! :)

Love, Holly

Week 3 weigh in, and other stuff too!

Well, this was my third weigh in and I lost another 1.2 pounds! YEY! I'm down 4.8 in 3 weeks, so it's working... whoo hoo! I decided I wanted pics of my progress because it's very hard to realize your progress until you can really see it. So just like pregnant women take pictures as they get bigger and bigger, I'm going to take pictures as I get smaller and smaller! LOL!

So here I am today (Will took profile and butt shots too, but sorry guys, there are some things a girl must keep to herself... at least for a while!)


We are very much back in the swing of our normal schedule. Anna's back in school, she had dance class on Monday... today Aiden and I went to My Gym, and then I went to Weight Watchers, and tomorrow KINDERMUSIK!! Today, while I was cooking dinner (Weight watchers Eggplant Parm, yum!) Will played with the kids outside.

Aiden was really trying hard with the t-ball today. He hit a couple really well actually!! Go A-man! Here's his one handed swing!

I thought this was a precious pic of Anna...

Off to relax a bit and watch American Idol. YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT! heehee...

Love, Holly

A good week, now time to get serious!

So, let's see.. last time I left you, I had talked about Wednesday at the park. So, here's Spring Break continued!

Thursday morning, I got up and wasn't sure what I was going to do with the kids... but then it occurred to me that this really fun bounce house place called Sliderz has open play on Thursday mornings. Normally we aren't able to go, because I'm usually teaching Kindermusik, and Anna is in school.. but of course this past Thursday morning, we were free! I asked Will if he wanted to take the morning off considering he worked the entire weekend last week, and had a gig on Saturday night. He agreed, so off we went to Sliderz. I think the pictures will tell all!

Anna on the horizontal bungee!

That's me giving it a try... OY my back!

Go Anna!

Go Aiden!

Will and Aiden on the BIGGER slide!

and ME!! :)

Thursday night we had a Grow and Sing Studios staff meeting, so yes, a little work had to get done this week.

Friday, I met up with my sister and Carol (and all the kids), at the Borders in Altamonte, to see Mr. Richard perform. He writes zany children's songs that are appealing to both kids and adults alike! My favorite on Friday was a song call "Cheese", where it is basically mocking us parents for always have the camera with us, and taking pictures! It's a damn funny song. If you are interested in who this Mr. Richard character is, check out his site. I snapped a few pics while we were there... the lighting was weird, but I thought this was sweet - Kayla, Anna and Aiden were dancing to the music.


Saturday, Will had to work... but before he left, I managed to run out and get a pedicure. It was SOOOO nice!

Rachael and Paul invited me and the kids over for dinner that night, which was really nice. Paul was really considerate and made a yummy dinner, low in points and therefore low in stress. Will actually got off a little early, and was able to make it over to their place to be a bit social, so it ended up being a fun night.

Today, Rachael and I did a birthday party out in Windermere, in an unbelievable house. All I can say is guest house, game room and theatre , 7 bedrooms... OMG! Anyway, we actually did their daughter's party last year, and they re-hired us again this year. It was exciting for us, because it was our first repeat birthday business. Go us!!!

In other news....
Our Anna girl is sprouting! She put a dress on today, that she had worn last week just fine... but today it was SO short!!!! Tonight, as she was going to bed, she said her "growing pains hurt" and she was hungry. Oh my... LOL.

For whatever reason, this past week we have heard bad news, or just hard news from various friends (who don't know each other). I've been giving a lot of advice and trying to be strong for them - and a good friend... but I guess yesterday, it finally took it's toll on me (and maybe mix a little hormones in there as well!), and I was feeling pretty down. Anna asked me why I looked sad, so I told her the truth, that some of my friends were sad, and it made me sad. Well, do you know what that girl's answer to me was?? "Mommy, if they are sad, you should try to make them happy, instead of being sad too". Is that some seriously good advice from a 5 year old or what? oh, and then she came over and gave me a big hug and kiss, and asked me if that made me happy... and I told her YES! :) My life is so blessed.

Have a perfect week everyone! Weight watcher weigh in on Tuesday!

Love, Hol

I have been SO busy and haven't been able to blog in a few days. I've been missing it though, and look forward to tomorrow when I'll have a chance to add pictures and talk about the last couple of days... but it's been a whirlwind.. and since it's late and I have a birthday party to work at tomorrow, I must get some zzzzzz's. I hope everyone that celebrated (or still IS celebrating) St. Patrick's Day had a great time! Since Will had to work and we then couldn't find a sitter... we weren't able to join some friends downtown :( but we we did get to hang out at the Joachims tonight and have a fun night.... so it worked out great. Thanks to Paul for making a delicious weight watcher friendly dinner tonight!! Yummmm! (and healthy!). I'll be back tomorrow with much more exciting stuff! Until then.....





Love, Holly

"Love Bugs are in the air"

Yes, I wasn't aware that lovebug season had arrived until we started playing at the park. Those gosh darn things were EVERYWHERE!

Anyway, enough complaining and on to better things! Today was a nice day. The weather was pleasant, and the breeze was blowing. It was nice to be outside for a while, and the kids had a great time. We went to Central Winds park today, and started off on a new massive play structure. It was cool, but made for children age 5 and up, so poor Aiden was incredibly frustrated because he couldn't do much... so we played there for a while, and then everyone was kind enough to go over to the smaller play structure so Aiden could be a part of things. Since I could relax a bit more, I was able to take some shots at the smaller play area... Aiden found a girlfriend during that time. She just couldn't resist hugging and kissing him, and then they worked the slide together a few times. It was pretty funny.

Here's Anna pushing Aiden on the swing


Anna hanging with some of her friends (L-R: Kayla, Euan, Anna and Sarah)


Aiden and his new girlfriend. :)


Afterward we went to lunch and Anna ate a whole pack of Apple Wedges.. (very unlike her). She considered this her "new food" of the day... which is sketchy because she's eaten apple many times before. But.. who was I to argue when she was EATING APPLE! Right? :) I was really proud of her, and she asked that I take a picture to show Daddy.

Anna and I at lunch


Eating her apple!


Bedtime is fun in our house. It's very much a ritual that the kids look forward to each night. One part of it is that Anna asks Will or I to read her a story, while Aiden listens, and then while Anna climbs in bed and looks over a book independently, we read Aiden his story and put him to bed. Then we go in and say goodnight to Anna, and lights out.


I LOVE this picture... they were talking about the story....

What a happy boy!


Tonight, Anna got ready for bed, and closed her door because she said she had a surprise. When she was ready for us to come in, she showed us this lovely family picture she drew. That's Anna, Me, and Will and Will is holding Aiden. Take notice if you will of the height difference between Will and I. Pretty accurate? heehee...


It was another "on program" day for me of Weight Watchers, and I did my Pilates...so I feel goooood! I had lots of points left, so I rewarded myself with one of my favorites things - Jeremiah's Italian Ice. YUMMMM! If you live in Orlando, and haven't try Jeremiah's yet, GO!! It's amazing and not that bad for you (unless you have them add ice cream to it). I personally love the Scoop Froggy Frog flavor (mint choc. chip). Good stuff!

Okay, that's all I've got for tonight.
Nighty night all!

Love, Holly