Dance Recital 2009

A & E did an outstanding job at their dance recital last week. They had both sets of Grand parents along with Jane, K and of course both Jon and I in the audience to cheer them on. It was really sweet and I wanted to share the video of their two dances, one ballet and one tap with all of you. Enjoy.

A Little Explanation

In case you were wondering why the girls had stuffed balls into their shirts, here is the explanation from Sue who took those pictures:

I forgot to tell you about the picking up the balls at the park. E started putting the balls in her shirt, so of course everyone else did too and I had to take pictures.

Then E told me to "hold on", She dumped all her balls and picked out two (matching) and told me she was going to make "boobies" because she really wants to have them like Mommy does. So of course A did too. Thankfully K wasn't interested.
As I am sure you can imagine, both Jon and I had a good laugh about this but we also shake our heads. We are so in trouble some day with those little girls!

Wordless Wednesday ~ You know you're in trouble when....

A Day Late, But Hopeful For That Dollar...

Lately, I feel that I have been burning the candle at both ends or another way to say it would be not coming up for air as often as I should or need too or a Day late and a dollar short. Life is busy right now for The Erickson Five. Our King....AKA Daddy around here is busy finishing up his MBA right now and he is in his last class which means he is very busy with school and when not doing that it seems as though work is next on his list and they seem to need him a lot these days too.
With the absence of our king, the other stuff seems to come my way. WOW...it has been hard to catch my breath lately with all that we have going on. So for Father's day, our king was not here so we could celebrate how awesome he is as a dad but we did get to have dinner with Grandpa Al and tonight (a day late) I got to have a nice long uninterrupted conversation with Grandpa Ronnie to wish him a Happy Father's Day! Tonight our own daddy showed up and we showered him with hugs and kisses and a few gifts for his special day. So I may have been a day late on gifts, calls, or love but I am hopeful that I still have that dollar.
To all the dads and grandpas in our life. We so appreciate you and all you love and support. Thank you for being such great role models for all of us. We love you and keep up the good work!

Encounters From Above

Tonight as I was reading through my favorite blogs, I came across this post at Amazing Trips. This made me smile and what a really cool encounter these children had with their late Grandmother. I truly believe that children are so much closer to heaven than we are as adults. In the past year, I have had a few things happen in my own life and the life of my children that I truly believe our beloved late GG Del is working her magic from heaven. Just the other day, one of my bestest friends was talking to me about a situation that I had been in. I told her "God was really looking out for me on that one" and she replied "no I am pretty sure GG Del marched into God's office and told him that he needed to take care of that for you"! This made me laugh and smile. As much as I miss GG Del I take great comfort knowing that she is up above keeping all of us down here in good hands. Enjoy the beluga whale story. I think it is truly amazing!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Scooter Kids

Sneak Preview-Butterfly Dancers

The girls had their dress rehearsal last night for the dance recital that will be on Thursday night. Since it was a full dress rehearsal, I needed to do their hair and make up for it. I have to say that they looked pretty darn cute. I have special make up for them and their dance and I have to say that they think they are the cats meow with the make up on.
The dance show should be fun. A is very shy up on stage and E seems to really like the spot light. We will see how the show goes on Thursday. They will have lots of fans in the audience.

Graduation Celebration

This past weekend I had the pleasure of road tripping with my mom and the kids. The guys all left to go fishing on one of their annual trips so my mom and I decided it would be fun to head up north to visit my cousin and help her son celebrate his high school graduation.
We had a great time! The kids did awesome and they are really becoming such good travelers. I had to laugh to myself when we were pulling out of the drive way and one of the kids piped up from the back "hey mom, what time is our flight"! This was funny to me because it shows what little travelers we have and the preferred method of travel. They were disappointed to know that we were DRIVING not flying. A few things I learned very quickly on this trip....Grandmas plus gas stations plus grand kids are not a good mix!!! Grandma would take the kids in for a treat and I am surprised there was anything left at the station by the time we pulled out! The kids LOVED it. Grandma Mary was sure having fun too. However, buying the kids "Bug Juice" at the start of the trip was not a great idea because it resulted in 5 bathrooms stops in 3.5 hours! Oh well, live and learn.
It was a lot of fun to see my cousin and help them celebrate her oldest High School Graduation. There were a lot of people at the open house on Saturday and every time a new boy showed up, K was best friends with them within 5 minutes. Then when his new "friend" would leave, he would have to walk them out and ask if they were planning to come back. This happened at least 3-4 times in about 4 hours. I think I have a social butterfly on my hands. The biggest hit of the trip was the bug catcher that my cousin Colleen bought for the kids. They loved going around the yard collecting bugs. K has been at bug catching now for 2 days straight. Watch out bug world here comes K. A tried to get into bug catching but that was short lived as she would run and cry every time a bug got close to her.
We met everyone for breakfast the day after the graduation on our way out of town. At breakfast we got talking about the history of the city and my cousin said it would be fun to drive up to the Mining tourist spot after breakfast. I am so glad she suggested it because for one I had no idea of the history in that town and for two the kids LOVED it. They had huge trucks, wheels, and scoops the kids could climb on and I could not believe my eyes at how wide and deep the land was. They call it the Grand Canyon of the north. It was beautiful and amazing. We were at the Hull Rust Mahoning Mine. There is so much history there and I was so clueless. I guess I need to brush up on my history.
They had a mining truck there you could climb on and it was as big as a house. I guess this truck is now considered a "baby" truck compared to what they are using now. It was HUGE. It was pretty amazing to see what the iron range was all about. We snapped this picture in case anyone was interested in reading about the Iron Range and the mining. The kids had fun running around and getting some energy out before we had to load them back up in the van and head out. It was a fun weekend and the sun was out for us the whole time. the guys all returned shortly after we did and it is always a relief when you get back home safe and sound and we finished our weekend over at Grandma Mary's house with some hamburgers, cocktails, and trip talk! Summer is finally here and we could not be happier!

Machinery Petting Zoo

Our library hosted a machinery petting zoo. We met our triplet friends J, E, and M at the library so we could go see, touch, climb on, and learn about trucks, and other machines. This was a hit with the kids. they loved to climb up, pretend to drive and learn about all sorts of different trucks that the city and county use to take care of our community.
K was especially fond of the street cleaner and when the truck driver started to spray the crowed, he laughed and laughed and got all wet. He loved it. E loved it too until she got wet but since it was such a nice day, she dried quickly. After our visit with the machines, we headed into the library for some reading fun and we ended our visit with checking out some library books which is one of our favorite things to do!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Dinner with Friends

5 Year Old Divas

5th Birthday Fun

What a day to remember. The kids 5th Birthday was jammed packed full of fun and memory making moments. The day started off with the kids crawling into bed with their daddy. He told them that they looked like five year olds. This got them going right away. A asked how he could tell that she looked 5 and then decided that she was going to examine herself in the mirror to figure it out. She looked herself up and down a few times in the full length mirror. It was a precious moment. I of course had to inspect them from their ears all the way down to their toes to determine if they were 5 and they all checked out!
Soon after all the inspection and mirror checking we Had a request for some sausage and pancakes with candles for breakfast. They were so delighted to get their pancakes with 5 candles in them. We sang Happy Birthday to them and they quickly blew out their candles.
We then headed to the zoo to meet some of my college friends and their kids. It was a beautiful day and such a great day for a zoo outing. We saw lots of fun animals/fish like grizzly bears, sea otters, sharks, sea turtles, wild boars, bison, tigers, zebras, and ostriches. The highlight of our zoo trip though was seeing and feeding the Giraffes. It was so cool and I was amazed at how up close we were to the Giraffes. We even noticed that they have long and very pretty eyelashes. The kids were thrilled that the Giraffe ate crackers right out of their hands. It was so fun and such a great memory on their 5th Birthday. After lunch with our friends and a ride on the train at the zoo we headed home. Since it was their Birthday, I decided on the way home we would stop at the Gas Station for an ice cream treat. We even picked one out and surprised Daddy with it.
Later in the day we met Grandma Mary, Jane, and Uncle T out for some Birthday dinner. Grandma stopped and got balloons on her way and these were each tied to their chairs when we arrived. It was so special and cute. The kids loved it. Grandma Carol sent each of the kids a music card and K got one that was his favorite Madacasgar. When he opened the card he just smiled from ear to ear and then he let a giggle as it sang one of his favorite tunes from Madagascar. He then told us that that card was "hiwarious"!
For the mama, today was bittersweet. It actually took me by surprise how bittersweet it was. I long for my babies but I love how big and independent these kids are getting. This age is nice because they love to cuddle but yet they can do so much for themselves. I kept looking at my watch all day today and thinking about where I had been just 5 years prior. I will never forget that birthday and how it changed our world forever. Tonight as I tucked the kids into bed, I prayed with each of them asking God to keep them safe and help them to learn all the important things they need to know about being five. Each of the kids really enjoyed me praying over them and it was a nice end to such an important day to all of us.
Jon and I are very proud of kids and the past 5 years. It is hard to remember the early days but after talking with Grandma Carol tonight on the phone, she reminded me what it was like back when I had three babies. What an accomplishment all of this is. I would say that in the past five years we have had many moments where three were quite the challenge. To be honest, I can't remember "how we did it" but I do know that both Jon and I agree that we would not change a thing. We love what we have and these kids rock. Here is to another, happy, fun filled 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 plus years of memory making family fun. May God continue to bless The Erickson Five!!!!

Birthday fit for a King and some Queens

We actually did their Birthday Part(ies) last weekend as Jon was in town and it was a good weekend to have family come to town. We did a separate kid party and adult party and we had so much fun the whole weekend.
First we started out at the Little Gym and this was a party with all their friends. We had 18 kids total at the party and the kids had a blast. Both Jon and I along with the other parents had fun watching the kids pretend they are dinosaurs, jump on the trampoline, play with balls, a parachute, and walk the balance beams. My kids had great big smiles on their faces the whole time. They loved it and so did we.
After their gym time they were taking into the party room for cake and presents. Here is a video clip of the kids singing (shouting) Happy Birthday to A, E, and K. The funny party is that everyone had their hands over their ears but yet still screamed really loud.


They got a lot of really nice things and they were so grateful for all of it. Jon and I were really glad that we held the party at the Little Gym because they did such a great job for the kids and it was so relaxing for all of the adults. It truly was a great time and one I am sure the kids will always remember.