Where do I even begin?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It feels like we have been nonstop since! We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner over here at our house. Will's parents came up so it was a nice crowd. I really enjoyed cooking and I just love waking up on Thanksgiving morning, and watching the parade. Here are some pics from Thanksgiving. Anna led some of us in a Thanksgiving Hat craft. I just love the one of Alan wearing his!!! CLASSIC! You're a good sport Grandpa!



















































Unfortunately the next day, Will and the kids came down with a bad cold virus, so I whipped up a batch of matzoh ball chicken soup, got the kids on meds, and nursed everyone back to health. I started on my remedy of Zicam and Airbourne to try to avoid catching anything. It worked! I never caught it!! Everyone be sure to take your vitamins!!!!!

Everyone felt well enough to go to Green Meadows petting farm on Saturday...so off we went to Kissimmee! We met up with Dori's crew and my friends Rachael's crew. We have tons of pictures, but here's the highlights!


































































































































































After Thanksgiving weekend, a crazy week began! I sang in the Christmas Candlelight Processional at Epcot on Monday and Thursday. Monday we got to see John O'hurley, and on Thursday, Neil Patrick Harris! They were the guest star narrators. SO COOL! This year Dori is singing in the choir also, so it's like old times. It's been really nice spending time together singing in a such an elaborate Disney production. I will sing again on December 28th. Will is bringing the kids to see me. Yey!!

I've been going to the gym routinely 2 x per week. I wish I could get there more, but right now twice a week is good, with a couple pilates workouts thrown in at home. :) I love the eliptical. It's great!!!

Last week Anna announced that she wanted to get her ears pierced. I figured if she stayed consistent with the request for a day or so, I would take her. On Friday, she was still asking. Friday also happened to be the day that Aiden decided he was ready to take on POTTY TRAINING! Oh my. Aiden literally stayed naked all day, and went on the potty 3 times and never had an accident. wow! In the middle of all that, our cable went out, so the cable guy was here. After the cable guy left, Anna asked if I could take her to get her ears pierced. I figured, why not, since she was so decided on it. I honestly wasn't sure she would follow through once we got here, but it was worth a shot. So we went to Claire's in the mall. I requested that they do both ears at the same time, and they could accommodate us. Anna picked out adorable gold/pink daises, and next thing I knew --- my little girl had pierced ears!!! She did great, and is SO excited. I was so proud of her!!




























On Saturday we took the kids to Disney World - Magic Kingdom. It's our once a year opportunity to get in free and participate in the audience for the Disney Christmas parade that airs on Christmas day, hosted by Regis and Kelly. We had a GREAT day.

































































































Here are the kiddos at the end of a Disney Day!














Today I went to Anna's class and did a fun hour of Hanukkah activities. We sang songs, talked about the menorah, talking about the story of Hanukkah, danced the Hora, and played dreidel! Tonight we lit the 1st candle and the kids picked out one of their presents!

































Okay, finally we are caught up!!! Happy Hanukkah to those that celebrate! What's coming up? My birthday. OY!!! I'll be 35 on December 11th. Fun pictures to come I'm sure.

Love, Holly

Update on my weight loss....

Hi all!

I realized that with all of these updates lately, I haven't mentioned a thing about Weight Watchers or my goal to "get fit". So well, here's the update! I have been successfully maintaining my weight for months now. I still would love to drop a few more pounds so I have breathing room when things like THANKSGIVING comes around so I don't have to worry about messing up so badly!! Since my last weigh in post, I have actually lost a bit more. I bounce between 120 - 122 depending on what I have eaten that day and week!! I feel great. My biggest issue now is because of the two pregnancies and losing all the weight, I have some jiggling going on. Especially around my c-section area, and well, lets face it, my BOOBS! It's time to TONE UP! I decided that while the pilates has really been working GREAT on my upper abs and over all slimming down... it isn't toning those areas I really need help with. I just joined a new gym - Planet Fitness. It's a bare bones sort of gym, where I will go to just work the machines and do a bit of cardio. It's only $10 a month!!!! Yes, I know, that is SOOO reasonable! What is there to lose? I have my consultation set up for today at 4pm to get weighed, measured with a personal trainer who will put together a workout for me that will hopefully help me with my goals.

My friend Kristin is a photographer and she took our yearly family pictures. While she was at it she took a couple for me showing off my hard work. Here it is, with her logo since I haven't purchased it yet.





















I really do feel proud of what I've accomplished with my weight loss. It was a hard road, but I just didn't lose sight of the rewards. The greatest reward is being able to go to a store and pick out whatever I want, and it's not a matter of it fitting, just if I like it! I must say, lately, watching the Biggest Loser has really been motivating. I don't watch too many reality shows, but that is VERY inspirational! It feels so good to be healthy and have more energy. It also doesn't hurt to just feel pretty! :)

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Holly

The Great Outdoors

Hello!!

Let's see... what's been going on. Well..Aiden was VERY interested in Anna's new bike. He seemed so interested that we decided to get him something to ride as well. Here is Aiden trying out his new ride...

















We went on our first "mini" camping trip with the kids last weekend. Will's parents bought us a tent when we first got married and well, we JUST pitched it for the first time with the kids!! I know, sad since we've been married 9 years!!!! The good news is that we had a GREAT time. We only went for one night. It was at a park VERY close to home (just in case things went in a bad direction..haha). We did the camp out with our friends Kathy and John and their son Timothy. Our friend's son Dylan joined us too.

The kids absolutely loved being outdoors, eating smores, singing around the campfire (I brought my guitar of course!), and sleeping in the tent. We actually fit a portacrib AND a queen size air mattress in the tent, which was pretty impressive. It was very cozy. After a couple of hours, Aiden woke up, so we brought him onto the mattress with us, and we all cuddled up together for the rest of the night. It was so sweet!! Here are some pictures.

Aiden with his flashlight













There was a hiking boardwalk next to our campsite

















Timothy and Anna taking in the scenery













YUM... I LOVE smores!













Will and Aiden having fun by the campfire

















Me and Kathy

















Here I am cuddling with my Aiden (and a very scary flashlight effect on the left!!)













In the morning... it was a bit chilly!













Our cuties

















Our tent!













This week really flew by! I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving!! Oh my! Today Will and I went to Anna's Kindergarten class for their class "Thanksgiving Pow Wow and Feast". The kids each said what they are thankful for. Anna said she is thankful for her brother. AWWWW!!!! They they sang and danced to a few songs, and then we ate. I am in Anna's classroom a lot but Will doesn't get the opportunity often, so Anna LOVED showing Daddy around the room. All the kids know me as "Miss Holly", the fun mom who brings her music, so they were all just messing around with me. It was fun. Here's a couple pictures from the Pow Wow.































































Until next time!! Have a perfect weekend.

Love, Holly

Pictures say it all!

Hello! So much has been going on! I suspect it will be like that until after New Years!!!

Anyway....Since Anna didn't have school on October 26th, and just happened to be her birthday... we took her to Libby Lu for a "girl" day. Anna chose from a variety of hairstyles. You will see what she picked in the pictures below. She also had her nails painted, a touch of makeup (oy!), and made spa products. Dori brought Kayla also, so the girls had a great time. My mom came as well to enjoy watching the girls and to help Anna celebrate her official birthday! The boys just chilled and watched the fun. Afterwards we ate lunch, the kids played and then they had a birthday cookie party! It was such a fun day!





















































































On Saturday, I took Anna (and Aiden) to a birthday party of one of Anna's friends. This is Jenna and Anna at the party....



















On Sunday, Rachael and I participated in a Trunk or Treat at one of the churches we rent space from. Everyone decorated their cars and passed out candy. We set up our Kindermusik tent, and set up an "Instrument Exploration Station" and the kids had a blast.














Halloween was a lot of fun. Both kids really got into trick or treating this year. Anna dressed as Ariel, and Aiden was a pirate. Aiden loved knocking in the doors and charming all the neighbors! They walked hand in hand to each house. So cute! Notice Anna's hair. Yes, I sprayed it RED for the occasion!!















Anna's birthday party was this past Saturday. We had a Dora the Explorer party and it was a lot of fun. Anna got a new bike from Grandma and was SO excited. Anna's Kindergarten teacher, Miss Browne came, a bunch of her school friends, and of course friends and family as well. We had a bounce house, pinata, and painted maracas. Even the mommies decided to paint too!!























On Sunday, we took Molly and Alan to Winter Park / Park Ave. to stroll around and have lunch. We went to the fountain and took some pictures.




















This week flew by. I was fighting a cold, so I tried to take it easy.. but with my schedule that is hard to do. I am busy trying plan my Spring Kindermusik semester so that is a bit stressful, though I enjoy it. :) I have had the biggest session yet with 127 spots filled! wowie!

Anna has been enjoying her bike....














I just got back from a dinner out with my girlfriends. My friend Carol is moving south, so we took her out as a "goodbye".










This weekend we are "camping out" at a park nearby with some friends. We are pitching a tent, making smores, the whole thing! We are excited!!

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend, and I'll be back soon.

Love, Holly

How could this be???

My little girl is turning SIX YEARS OLD TOMORROW!!!!!!! Yes, 6 years ago tomorrow (actually today, since it's 12:08am) that beautiful miracle came into our lives. She has been such a joy, and we couldn't feel more blessed. We are taking Anna to Libby Lu tomorrow to get her hair done. Cousin Kayla is joining us too! Of course we will post pictures!! In the meantime. Here are some to enjoy. The first is Anna leaving for school. It was "silly hat day".


















Here we are making cupcakes for Anna's Kindergarten class to celebrate her birthday!













The kids were dancing around with tambourines. I had to snap a picture!!


















BYE! :)
Holly

Check out my OTHER blog!

Hi everyone!

Well, if I wasn't busy enough... now I am! :) I have just created another blog for my Kindermusik business. This one will have posts by my whole team. Whenever they have a magical moment in class, or something to share. So, check out it from time to time! Here's the link!
http://www.growandsing.vox.com/

Love, Holly

Safe and sound...

I've returned from the Windy City. It was a GREAT convention. I'm still on information overload!! We heard an amazing speaker, Dr. Becky Bailey, who talked to us about Conscious Discipline. The skills I learned from her I can apply to my teaching and also to my own parenting. Check out her website! What was really neat as I started listening to her lecture was that I realized Anna's Kindergarten teacher is using Becky Bailey's techniques. Anna knows all the rituals, and so -- now we can do them together! This really gave me a whole new perspective on adult and child behavior, along with discipline.



















We also heard Daniel Levitin speak on his book "This is your Brain on Music: The Science of Human Obsession". Very interesting scientific look into music and the brain. Each educator received a free copy that day, so I look forward to reading it!

We also enjoyed an AMAZING concert with the Grammy winning group "Sweet Honey in the Rock". These powerful women have been singing their hearts out in this group for 34 years!!

We barely saw the light of day because we were so busy with speakers and breakout sessions but we did manage to go into the city for one evening. Rachael, Elizabeth and I decided to have an adventure. So we hopped on the train in Schaumberg, and went into the city. We had a very nice train conductor who told us to walk out to the street, make a left and keep going. So... that is what we did. We walked and walked in the chill and wind......passed a bunch of interesting looking places, and came upon an Indian Restaurant that had a line. We figured, if all those people were waiting to eat there, it must be good! So we went in, ordered martinis at the bar, and waited for our table. It turned out to be a WONDERFUL choice. It was a place called India House. The food was SOOO good, and the atmosphere was so cozy. After dinner, we just walked slowly back to the train. We found ourselves in the theatre district at the exact time that all the shows were letting out. The town was hopping!! We had a great time looking around. We went back to the train and realized we were riding with an entire car filled with SMASHED people who just left a hockey game. Oh my, it was definitely interesting!














































Kindermusik held a banquet on the last night, so we all got dressed up.



















Will and the kids did great in my absence. I'm not at all surprised. :)

Well, after a couple days of settling back in... I'm back to teaching tomorrow. I look forward to putting all I learned into action!!

Until next time....

See ya!
Holly