Day out with Aiden

Hi everyone! Long time no post. heehee..

So, last week I had the pleasure of spending the day with my amazing son Aiden when we went to A Day Out with Thomas (the tank engine). One of my Kindermusik mommies invited us along and I was actually available. I'm SOO glad we went!!

I had to drive us almost an hour away to a town called Tavares. There were tons of trains to play with, bounce house, entertainment, hay maze, tatoo station (temporary of course!!), ice cream and SO much more. We finished out our day with a ride on the train. Aiden was in 7th heaven. I was too just to see the HUGE smile on Aiden's face! Here are some pictures!

Here is Aiden as we arrived. He was VERY excited. Thomas is behind him

















Here is he playing at the train tables. He love it there. It was hard to convince him to move on to other things!!













Time for a Thomas temporary tatoo!













and some yummy ice cream!

















and.. the hay ball maze!













Here is Aiden walking with his friend Samantha (one of my kindermusik students!!)!













Here we are, riding in the train. Aiden absolutely loved being the train. He kept saying, "I'm riding Thomas!!" It was SO cute.













And of course we had to stop at the gift shop. Aiden picked this t-shirt!

















What a great day it was!

Love, Holly

Spring Break Happenings!

Well hello there!

Yes, I know, I've been SO bad about posting. Please forgive me, but just as we thought everyone was healthy again, ANNA got a VERY high fever, so back to the doctor we went AGAIN and she was diagnosed with Mono! I wasn't even aware a 6 year old could get mono, but apparently they can! It took a good week for her to feel better and we are just hoping it doesn't relapse since mono can come and go for a long time. We'll see...

Anyway, thankfully Anna started feeling better just before her Spring Break. I earned a 2 night stay at the Nickelodeon Hotel by doing Kindermusik there during their Noggin month last September. We decided use the pass this past week while I was off from Kindermusik and the kids were off from school. We had the BEST time! Here are some pictures: We took the kids to the Nick Hotel's character breakfast. We met Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick, Dora the Explorer, Diego, Little Bill (?) and Squidward.





Anna took this pictures of Will and I. I think it's good!














They have lives shows also! Here is a picture of the Dora and Boots show, and we also took the kids to the nighttime show which is run similar to the old Nickelodeon game shows like Double Dare. At the end, a kid got big time SLIMED!













We spent a TON of time at the pools. Lots of fun fountains, and slides. Anna was a little fish, Aiden a bit more cautious. They have a Nick Workshop where Anna did an art project.



































I really like this the next picture. It shows the large slide structure at the Lagoon Pool. See the big orange bucket at the top? At 4:45pm each day, anyone that wants to can stand underneath and get SLIMED! Good fun!!

















We did buy one of the hotel pics of all of us with Spongebob but I have to scan it in. We had such a great time this past week. It really felt like a vacation which we all needed DESPERATELY!!!
Now to negotiate another gig with the Nick Hotel, so we can do this again next year!

Before Spring Break but after Anna's mono fever broke, Anna had to dress up in her recital costume for pictures. I took this before we left. Doesn't she look absolutely precious???

















This weekend Will's parents are here visiting. We have kept so busy because I did a Kindermusik party today. Since it was at a park, everyone came along. I did my gig and the rest enjoyed the playground. Then this evening, Will had a video gig shooting a festival to be delivered to the local news stations. We just got back from that, and he is in the process of editing and then he is off to deliver tapes. Tomorrow should be calmer though today was fun!

I'll be back soon.
Love, Holly

Here we go!!! The big catch up!

Hi!

Well, just as soon as I promised to post, Aiden got a fever! GEESH! Are you kidding me??? Turns out it was a weird virus with the only symptoms being a fever and a bit of fatique for 24 hours or so. I can say that as I post this, everyone is healthy. Let's hope it stays that way!

So.. since I've missed out on lots of posting.. I'll just update what is going on NOW and them back post a bit..

Tomorrow Anna is going on her first big field trip of the year to the Orlando Science Center. Will is volunteering as a chaperone so that should be lots of fun. I asked him to take lots of pictures! :)
Last weekend we met up with Dori and crew, and Rachael and crew at the Oak Haven Farms strawberry patch. I took the kids there last year. It was a lot of fun, and the kids had a blast. Here's some picture highlights!




































































We also recently took the kids to the Orlando Repatory Theater to see Blue Clues Live. They both loved it!


















Both kids are doing great in school. Anna is excelling in her reading. Her teaching has her on a 1st grade reading level so she continues to be challenged. We are of course VERY proud of her! Aiden LOVES going to A Kid's Gym. He just smiles from ear to ear when we drop him off! I also still take him to Kindermusik each week. I just love being a "Kindermusik mommy" once a week in the midst of all the craziness! Lately, Aiden has really been into puzzles! He's able to put together 24 piece puzzles. We are still working on peaking his interest in potty training, but are not pushing the issue. (though Will and I are definitely ready to move away from diapers already!!!)

There is a pretty lake in Downtown Orlando called Lake Eola that we like to go to once in a while. It has a sidewalk all the way around it, playground, cafe, gardens, ducks/bird feeding area, swan paddles boats, ampitheater, etc. It's very charming, I have always liked it down there. Anyway, while I was suffering with the vertigo, and SOOOO sick of being in the house - we decided to go down there. We snapped a few pics...(but of course!)


















































































Okay, well there are many pictures from February that I never got to post..but I think we are are back on track now, at least for March! I hope to be WAY more on top of things now.

L, Hol

Feeling GOOD!

I'm finally feeling human again! So... I promise a post WITH PICTURES this weekend!!! YEY! Holly's back! :)

C ya soon!
Holly

SICKY SICK SICK!

Oh my gosh. It's been so long since I've blogged! Right around Valentines Day our whole household got SICK!!! First it was Will, then Aiden, then me, and then Anna. We had what was probably the flu, mixed with Strep for Aiden, Ear infections and Bronchitis for me. YUCK!!! It's been a lousy bunch of weeks, and we are all finally coming out of it. I'm last, as just as I was coming out of my bronchitis, I got vertigo! I'm really dizzy... So... this is the reason for the lack of blogging.. but I really hope to post some pictures tomorrow (Monday), and get back on track!!

Hugs to anyone that reads this!

Love, Holly

Bear Hugs!

Happy Valentines Day!!

My Boy is THREE, and as CUTE as can be!

I had EVERY intention of posting right away about Aiden's birthday...but then, alas...I got sick. I was fighting a pretty nasty chest cold that pretty much hit me on Monday. So, here I am, a week late, but excited to share the pictures!

Aiden is very into trains right now, so we decided to have a Thomas the Tank Engine Party. We found a company who brought over 2 train tables and a ride on train. Our friend Paul made an AMAZING cake, and everyone had a great time. :)

And....here are the pictures!











































































Many more pictures were taken of course, and close family and friends were there! :) So much fun!

We have been taking lots of pictures this month.. so another post will follow soon. Right now, Will and I are sort of obsessed over teh new HBO show "In Treatment", and I MUST go watch an episode right now!!!! heehee...

Love, Hol

Doing GREAT! :)

Tomorrow is Aiden's birthday party! Oh my gosh. I can't believe my little guy is turning 3!! His official birthday is on Monday.. so that will be the day I post birthday pictures..

Things have been very busy (of course!). Kindermusik has been great. Classes are all going along wonderfully and I just can't believe how many families we see each week. I think we are upwards of 130!! WOWIE!!!

I'm SO excited because our dear friend Sam is returning from Iraq sometime is the next few days (it's unclear exactly when). He has been there for a year, and it will be such a relief to hear that he has once again returned safely back to his base and kiddos who miss him terribly. I can't believe this Iraq thing is still going on. No comment. Anyway, we can't wait until he can visit Florida and get some seriously good R&R.

We have been very busy lately doing more renevations on the house. We painted some walls, changed kitchen hardware, hung pictures, shelves, and completely re-arranged the kids' playroom.... lots of work but SOOO worth it. I will most definitely take some pictures and post soon.

What else?! I don't know.. I'll add some pictures, and I'm sure that will spark some ideas as to what to update on!

Ah...yes! Last weekend, I had this idea to all go strawberry picking at a nearby patch. Well...we got there and they were CLOSED. The kids were really excited to get out and do something, so we drove a bit, and came upon a park of sorts called Black Hammock. Well, it was really fun. They have gators to check out, birds, airboat rides, a restaurant -- and all of it waterfront! We had absolutely NO idea it was here, and it's only 15 minutes away from our house. It's so much fun to discover things like that!! Here's a couple pictures from that fun day:




























Our dog Sagan (who we adopted from Rachael's brother Robert a few months ago), we have discovered is afraid of cameras. The minute he detects that a camera is coming out, or if he hears the BEEP, he flees the room immediately. I have spent the last few months trying to get a picture, and have been unsuccessful. However, I FINALLY did it! I turned the camera on in another room, waited a few minutes, pressed the button halfway, and walked in ...here is what I got!












Will also caught a cute moment with the cats recently...

Aiden got a froggy towel from Grandmolly and Grandpa over the holidays and it's just TOOO cute!!!





















A couple other pictures... Anna after her and I had returned home from getting our hair done. She LOVES going to Miss Denise (our hairdresser) because she straightens it!
















Here's a picture just to say I'm proud of myself that I have been successfully maintaining my weight since the end of summer! I've been working out with weights also and I feel SOOO good!

Okay, off to bed, so we are fresh and ready for Aiden's big day!!!!

Love to all...

Holly

Busy times!

The last couple weeks are a big blur. Well not really, but there isn't a TON to report since most of the time I have been prepping or gearing up for the new Kindermusik session to begin. The kids went back to school. Basically got back to "normal".

We did have a fun New Year's Eve. I never posted the pictures from that.. so here are a few! :)

























































While we were all on break, we tried to do fun little things with the kids. There is a nearby trail, so we decided to hike a bit.












































We also went to Chuck E Cheese, which is INSANE when the kids are out of school.



































Life has been a whirwind the last few weeks as I have prepared for a Kindermusik session for over 120 families so far (and counting)!!

Poor Anna has gotton a bad stomach virus and is just now coming out of it.

Since my mom has been traveling during the week we have been getting together for Sunday brunches lately. Here's a pic from last week!













Onward to another busy week! Now that I'm caught up, I'll be motivated to keep up. Have a great week!

Love, Holly

more coming soooooooon!

I hope to add more pictures to the blog tonight, so please check back ..hmm...let's say either VERY late tonight or tomorrow!! I've been majorly busy as my Kindermusik Spring 2008 semester has started this week. So far 116 spots filled! Is that amazing or what?? That's a lot of happy musical children and parents!

Okay, I'll be back!

Have a perfect day.

Love, Holly

This is why I love John Mayer!

Well, beside his fabulous music, and amazing guitar skills.... http://www.johnmayer.com/blog#2019

Enjoy and DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!

Love, Holly

For you...

Pieces of Time

New years come and new years go,
Pieces of time all in a row.
As I live my life, each second and minute,
I know I'm privileged to be in it.
My appreciation never ends
For my greatest blessings: my family and friends.

You can click on the collage to make it larger for viewing. :)














Happy New Year!
Love, Holly

p.s. if you are reading this, and you are not in the collage, you are still in my heart and thoughts! I was limited on space and pictures!! :)

Singing at Disney!!

Well, today was my last day singing at the Christmas Candlelight processional at Epcot. Will took the kids to the park to see me sing! Steve brought Kayla and Brandon as well to see Dori. It was SO much fun knowing they were out there watching us. Every time I looked out at the crowd, I saw Anna enthusiastically waving at me, or conducting to the music. Will was able to capture some pictures, so thought I would share.

Here are Dori and I processing in.

Here is a picture of the stage. Look towards the bottom right. I put an arrow that says "I am here" so you can find me. Unfortunately there was a mike right in front of me. Dori is directly to the left (my right). :) I believe if you click on this picture, it will allow you to view it a bit larger.

Will did a fabulous job with the kids today. I give him MAJOR kudos for braving a theme park alone with the two kids. Superdad!!!

Okay, goodnight all!
Love, Holly