I went to Kindergarten!

Hi everyone! Happy Friday. What a truly BUSY but great week! I can't even remember where I left off... So... let's just start with....

Last Saturday night I had a lovely date with my daughter. I took her to play at the Orlando Repertory Theatre to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We both enjoyed it. I decided to buy us season tickets again this year, since last year was so much fun. The next show we are going to is "The Emperor's New Clothes". Should be fun as well.


















Rachael, Elizabeth and I (the Grow and Sing Studios crew) did our last event for the month over at the Nick Hotel. That was quite the commitment...getting up at 6:30am every Sunday in September. BUT... we each earned a 2 night weekend stay in a family suite, so now we are all VERY happy! Yey!! We have to figure out when to cash in and take the kids. I know it's going to be a fun little "in town" getaway for us. We took some pictures in Studio Nick where we did our events.




























This past week flew by. I did a Kindermusik demo class (which my sister helped arrange through one of her playgroups) on Tuesday morning which was quite a success, and then went over to Anna's Kindergarten class to Volunteer my musical services! Anna's teacher arranged for me to have an entire hour with Anna's class. I had them playing rhythm sticks, dancing, playing with scarves, exploring instruments, playing my big 4ft round drum, and singing their little hearts out. They had SO much fun and so did I. Apparently Anna walked around all morning before I got there with a HUGE smile on her face because I was coming. The kids asked if I could come back the next day. HA! I told them I would do my music again soon, but not everyday. So cute!! It was SO amazing to be able to volunteer in her class. I already planned with her teacher to volunteer this coming Tuesday, but this time, I'm just assisting with reading groups, etc. I know the kids are going to expect some music, so I might bring my guitar and do a little sing a long if there is time. :) That was most definitely the highlight of my week!

Wednesday I took Aiden to Kindermusik (Rachael's class). I love bringing him as a "mommy" to class. He just LOVES it! Then I taught my Toddler Art class. I just love teaching that class. Anna had dance class Wed. afternoon, and it was WATCHING DAY! The parents are invited into the dance room to watch the class. So of course I took some pictures! Anna did great and I was really impressed by how much she is learning.


















Thursday was a very busy day because I started another Art Class, so many new faces to greet. Lots trying out the class for the first time, who by the way signed up on the spot! :) I also did my toddler music class. So much fun! Boy, Kindermusik is BOOMING right now.

Today I took Aiden to My Gym. I just love spending time with him. He is the sweetest little boy. I feel so blessed to be able to take him to Kindermusik and My Gym and just devote my entire attention to him. We have such a good time together.

Tomorrow we are taking the kids to Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music. The show is coming to the new UCF arena so it's literally 3 minutes from our house. Both kids are very excited. The only other thing on the agenda this weekend is buying the kids their Halloween costumes. I purposefully kept this weekend open because the rest of October is NUTS!

I'm getting really excited about the Kindermusik Convention in Chicago! Less than 2 weeks!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed this latest entry. See ya next time!

Love, Holly

My Award Winning Daughter!

Hi all - it's been a busy two weeks! First of all a very belated L'Shanah Tova!! We had a lovely Rosh Hashanah dinner at my house this year!
































I was due for a pedicure, and invited Anna to come along with me. She decided she wanted a manicure and pedicure. She LOVED it, but of course!














We have done some serious birthday party hopping recently. First was Brandon's 1st birthday which I posted on previously. Then was Seth Joachim's 1st birthday (Seth is the son of our friends Rachael and Paul). Then last week was Kayla's 4th birthday! I have officially declared it Birthday Season! I am in the planning process for Anna's 6th birthday. She will turn 6 on Oct 26th!! OH MY GOODNESS!!

Seth's Party....










































Kayla's Party.....




















































Speaking of Anna, we are SOOOO proud of her. She won Student of the week last week! We were SO proud!!






















































Our favorite Marine Sam came to visit us for about a day and a half during his 2 week R&R from Iraq. We took him out to celebrate a very belated 40th birthday. It was GREAT to see him, and pray for a safe return home in 4 months from his 2nd Iraq tour.




























The Nick Hotel classes are going great. We have one more Sunday left, and then we get paid with weekend stays in the hotel. I'm really excited about that.

I'm continuing to sing in chorus on Monday nights so I can perform at Epcot again this year. Dori is singing this year also, so it's like old times in High School! :)

The kids are doing marvelous. My Kindermusik program is going strong. We are up to 14 classes this session. Lots going on!!!! If I stop to think about it, I might get overwhelmed...so I'm just always moving forward and enjoying every minute!

Have a GREAT rest of the week, and I'll be back soon!

Love, Holly

I'm still here!!

New blog post coming later today! Been a busy 2 weeks!!!!!
Love, Hol

Cutest kids!!

Hi everyone! I'm definitely back in the "blogging spirit"!

Yesterday I just thought Anna looked so cute, so before she left for school, I snapped a couple pictures of her.

















After Anna left for school, it was just Aiden and I. I was looking at a location for possible Kindermusik and after that meeting was done, I took Aiden to the mall to read books at the bookstore. I decided that since we were relaxed and it was just the two of us, that I would go stroller free! I wanted to see how Aiden would be with all that freedom. Well all I have to say is, what a SWEETHEART that little boy is!!!!! We held hands all the way into the mall, and into the bookstore. Once we were in the store, he was in a familiar environment and he ran to the kids section. We had a nice time reading. Then I let him pick out a sticker book (Aiden is VERY into stickers all of a sudden), and took him to pay for it. He was VERY interested in the whole process, and then I asked him if he wanted to hold his bag like a big boy. He said "yes", and took it and put it on his wrist and we walked hand in hand out of the store. I just thought he looked so cute and proud, that of course I took a picture of him!!!

















Today unfortunately Aiden had cold symptoms, so we kept him home from school. I went to the dermatologist for my bi-yearly biopsy visit. She biopsied 5 freckles and I'll hear results back in about 10 days (or sooner). So far I haven't ever had a problem, so we'll just assume all is fine!

Tomorrow I teach my toddler art class. Fun!!

I was interviewed about my Kindermusik program. If you are interested you can hear it at http://www.madnessofmotherhood.com/, but first you have to listen to the lady who invented the Butler Bag. :)

Okay, time to go to sleep! Have a GREAT Wednesday. Be back soon!

Love, Holly

Happy Birthday Brandon!

My Adorable nephew Brandon celebrated his FIRST birthday today. We went over to my sisters for an intimate gathering of just family, and it was great! It is so much fun to watch the four kids play and interact. Aiden goes back and forth between playing with Brandon, and Kayla since he is the cousin in the middle. The four of them just get along so well, and have so much fun together. What a blessing to all be within 20 minutes of each other. I'm so happy that they can grow up together. Here are some pictures that were taken today!

Anna, Kayla and Aiden getting right to the playing...

Me and my gorgeous boy!

Here's Brandon following the blue icing incident!

The kids got in the spirit!

Me and the Birthday Boy!

My Mom and the kids looking on as Brandon enjoyed his cake.

My sis and me

One of my favorite things in the world are rainbows. This was the rainbow we saw on the drive home today!

The morning was great as well. The Nick Hotel Kindermusik class went GREAT. We had about 20 kids or so attend, and they all had a great time. So did we! We have 3 more Sundays to go!

Okay, here's to a good smooth week!

Love, Hol

Anniversary dinner

Will and I just returned from a lovely dinner at Season's 52 to celebrate our anniversary. I love that place!!! The food is SO good. Here are pictures from our evening.
































I snapped this picture of the kids eating dinner before Will and I left. Aren't they SO cute??














It's a busy weekend coming... Tomorrow I'm doing a Kindermusik birthday party for a 1 year old baby. :) Then on Sunday, we are doing a class at the Nickelodeon Hotel. It's the first of 4 that we contracted with them for. September is their Nick Jr. month so we are part of the festivities. What is REALLY cool is that we made it onto the Nickjr.com national website: http://www.nickjr.com/travel/nick_hotels_parks/Nick-Hotel-Month.jhtml. (Look for where it says Kindermusik Family Time! That's us!!)

Then Sunday afternoon we are celebrating my nephew Brandon's 1st birthday. How is THAT possible???

I wish those reading a wonderful weekend! I'll be back soon.

Love, Holly

9 years and counting.....

SEPTEMBER 6, 1998

THE DAY WILL AND I GOT MARRIED!!!

Will and I are celebrating our 9th Anniversary today (Thursday). Ummm..how in the world has it been that long??? Well, I guess we have done a lot in that time. Got married, bought first house, started IFM, got pregnant with Anna, became licensed Kindermusik educator, bought second house, got pregnant with Aiden, started Grow and Sing Studios. We have had loss in our family over the past 9 years. Oh and of course the usual buying cars, getting pets.
Okay, yes.. it HAS been 9 years! heehee...

Things are great all this time later. We have had ups and downs like all couples...but are most definitely stronger for it all. :) I feel so blessed with all we have together. A beautiful family, 2 businesses and most importantly our HEALTH!

Next year we renew our vows in VEGAS for our 10th anniversary. Anyone that wants to join us... COME ON ALONG! We will renew our vows in a little chapel, and PARTY. Can't wait!!! The 1 year countdown is ON!

Will and I are actually going out to dinner to celebrate on Friday night, so tomorrow should be pretty normal. Of course our present to each other was the JOHN MAYER concert. The best time ever!!!!

Hope everyone has a GREAT day. We will!!!

Love, Holly

Back to life, back to reality!

Well, it took me a while to get to this post, but here I am!!!

We have had quite a few weeks here at the Lesnicks! Lots excitement!

Anna started Kindergarten!!!!! Aiden started his 2 day/week preschool. I started my Fall Kindermusik session. Will had a birthday (34th!). Anna started at a new dance studio. Aiden and I continued at My Gym together. Anna started her "Kindermusik Young Child" class for 5 - 7 year olds (the first time we have offered it). Oh my, what else?

Well here are some pictures to capture the highlights....

Here's a pic of Anna and Aiden with Miss Laura. Miss Laura is Aiden's teacher now, but she was also Anna's first teacher at Pre-K. We have come FULL CIRCLE. :)














Here is our big girl with her backpack on the first day of Kindergarten. She was SOOOO excited!



















Here is Anna with her new teacher - Miss Browne. Anna LOVES Kindergarten, and her teacher. She says the kids in her class are really nice.



















This was taken before Will, Aiden and I left for the "boo hoo breakfast". The PTA threw that for the Kindergarten parents after we dropped off our kids on the first day. Okay, I admit it, I shed a few tears...













Here's Anna in her Ballet outfit, ready for her new studio. She loved her new dance teacher!


















Things are going really smoothly around here. Just VERY busy. I started back to my chorus rehearsals for the Christmas Candlelight performances at Epcot.

Weight watchers: I weighed in last week and was down another 3 lbs since weighing in before vacation. So now I'm 5 lbs under goal weight. Yes!!

Alright, as much as I could keep typing...it's time for sleep. We just got back from a nice visit at Molly and Alan's. I'm tired. It's late...

Now that I'm caught up.. it will be easy to keep it up!

Until next time...

Love, Hol

A new post is coming! I promise!!

Last week was unbelievable and I can't wait to catch everyone up! I have a great post almost ready to go, with vacation pics. That will go up first. Then I will post about everyone's first week of classes - Anna and Kindergarten, Aiden and preschool, and me with Kindermusik! A VERY good, but BUSY BUSY BUSY week. It's the longest I've gone without posting, and I apologize. But I'm going to catch up on it all this week! :)

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY. Be back soon.

Love, Holly

My vacation!

Well, I meant to finish this off and post it about 3 weeks ago... but life sort of got in the way. It's has been a busy 3 weeks since we've been back. So, here is the completed post of our vacation - so that I can get on with it, and start posting about current stuff!!!!
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Hi everyone!

Wow, an entire week has gone by, and this is the first opportunity to post my pictures from vacation. I obviously can't post everything, but I will try to summarize.

We had a GREAT time. We started with our flight, which could have gone either way with 2 children. The kids absolutely impressed us! Will brought along a portable DVD player, and that kept Aiden very happy. Anna was busy with her leapster, and activity books that we brought along. I was shocked to have actually had the TIME to read several chapters in my book. What great kiddies we have!!!

After a little rental car complication - we made our way to my Aunt Rhea and Uncle Steve's house. We stayed there for our first 3 nights. During that time, we went to sesame place, and visit with the Lesnick side of Will's family.

Also, as per my request, my Aunt and Uncle made sure I got a REAL Philly cheesesteak. OH MY GOODNESS... I forgot how good they are! On Sunday we met up with the Lesnick side of the family! It was nice to see everyone in Chestnut Hill... and also NY cousins Chuck and Beth. Anna loved her cousin June!!

On Monday we packed up the car and went into the mountains. Will's mother's family has property in the deep deep mountains of PA. When we go up there, we stay in a cabin that was built in the 1800's. Over the years family had modernized it a bit. It now has running water, a shower, stove and fridge. Much easier that hit had been in the past! What it doesn't have is a bathroom. Yes, we still have to treck it out to outhouse when nature calls. To me, not a big deal. I wasn't sure how Anna would feel about it... but she was FINE. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would say she LIKED the outhouse!!!

During our stay at what the family calls Bellasylva, we visited with lots of family, went on hikes, fished, at smores over the campfire, picked blueberries and enjoyed a computer free 4 days! haha! There was one day where the kids stayed back with Will's parents, and Will and I took a nice long (and in my opinion vigorious) hike to Mahoopany Falls. We went with cousin's Penny and Becky, and Uncle Sam. It was a lovely hike and due to the strenous terrain energy I exuted... I didn't feel bad eating all the chicken wings and smores I wanted later on in the evening!! Bellasylva isn't that far from the small town of Dushore, PA. On Wednesday nights there is a town event called "wing night". So we all decided to go and check it out. All I can say is YUMM! :)

The kids just LOVED it up there. Will and I both love watching the kids enjoy nature, and spend time with all the family up there. It was so nice to just get away, and for a few days just leave it all behind and have fun. I can't wait to go back!!

Here are pictures from the Bellasylva portion of our trip:

On Friday after lunch we left to return to Philly for some more family events - this time my family! We arrived at Aunt Rhea's to find my sister and family there as well. They flew up for a big family reunion that was being held on Sunday. It was pretty funny... because my sister requested a cheesesteak as well, so yes, I had my SECOND cheesesteak of the vacation. Yikes!

On Saturday the four of us and my sisters clan went driving. Dori and I felt we wanted to see the house we grew up in. We moved away when I was 12, and wow, even though it's been soooo long, the house looks exactly the same to us, and I still remember every detail. It was a bit surreal to be honest.

Then went to a quaint place called Peddlers Village for a while. We ate lunch and strolled a bit. We returned to my Aunt's place in time for a family BBQ. My mom was there since she was in town for the reunion on Sunday also. My first cousins Barry and Susie came to see us. It was GREAT seeing them and spending some time together. These are family members from my Eskin side, so it's really comforting to see them. If they read this, HI!! It was great seeing you, love you!

The next day we went to the big Lemanowitz reunion. This is my mom's side of the family. It was really need to see and in some cases MEET all of these relatives. I also got to see my cousin Jenn who I wish I could see more often. If we lived closer I know we would hang out, so it's always nice to see her. Hi Jenn, miss you, love you and hope next time you'll make it to Bellasylva!!! :)

After the reunion Will and I took the kids to Tanner's for ice cream. This was a place I have LOTS and LOTS of memories from. I remember going there as a kid, getting ice cream and looking at the cows. Well all of these years later, it's the SAME!!!! I mean even the cows are there! The kids loved their ice cream, as evidenced by the fact that it was all over their clothes and mouths. Then we went back to my Aunts place to regroup and pack up. We flew home the next day. Another GREAT flight with the kids (and Dori and crew were on our flight, so that was a nice added bonus).

It really was a wonderful vacation.

We returned on Monday, and Tuesday Will and I went to the John Mayer concert. It was absolutely AMAZING. HE is amazing and I will most definitely be going to his concert the next time he is anywhere near here. We were in the 15th row, so it was just soooooo cool being that close. I was in my glory. Will had a great time too!

So that is the summary on those 12 days or so...

The last week has been full of school shopping and Kindermusik prep. Anna had her "meet the teacher" on Thursday. I will post a separate blog entry about the kids and school, so stay tuned!

Love, Holly