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Dance Recital Pictures

We had to move to a new blog site....blah, blah, blah. It wouldn't let me attach all of my pictures so here are the pictures from the recital. Still working on getting more posted....stay tuned. Sorry!

Better Late than Never

So I've been getting a little behind on my posts since Summer started.  We went to our wedding in Fargo, where Vivian was the flower girl.  She did a super job! She just thought she was the belle of the ball and took a liking to maid of honor, Lisa.  It was a long day for her, but she was a trooper.  She would only get on the dance floor with Lisa or the bride, or if I was holding her.  Henry had a great time hanging out with his cousins, Brandon and Mitchell.  I think Mitchell spent most of the night riding up and down on the elevator stopping at every floor on the way up and the way down!  The kids have decided they "love" hotels.  The wedding was beautiful, as was the bride, and it was so fun to have all of our family there to celebrate! We drove the full 9 hours back to KC from Fargo on Sunday, with a short stop in Omaha to pick up the dogs.  Vivian had her 4 year old preschool graduation on Monday the 21st and we didn't want to miss it. She insisted on wearing her flower girl dress to school for the graduation.  Pictures below.

This past weekend Vivian had her dance recital.  Grandma Jackie, Aunt Shirley and cousin Ryan all came down to watch.  It was downtown at the Music Hall.  We had the dress rehearsal Saturday morning, then Vivian and Henry each had a different birthday party that afternoon.  The recital started at 7pm and we were dressed and out the door a little after 5pm.  It was a busy, busy day.  Vivian did a wonderful job! We were all so very proud of her.  She continues to amaze me with her outgoing personality! Much different  from me as a child.  Guess that means she has lots of Dan in her, always entertaining!  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Paige's Visit and Potty Training

So last weekend Aunt Jill and Paige came to KC for a visit.  It was Paige's first time visiting us in KC.  The kids knew Aunt Jill was coming, but we didn't tell them Paige was coming. They were pretty surprised when they saw Paige at the airport.  Once we got home we had another surprise. Aunt Jamie, the twins and Grandma Carol were at our house! None of the kids knew they were coming.  Aunt Jill hasn't seen the twins since Thanksgiving so she was very excited to see them.  They are both walking now and all over the place.  The big kids had a great time with them.  Jill was in town for a high school friend's surprise 40th bday party.  Vivian and  Paige had a nice time together and were all about sharing clothes.  Paige has about 6 inches on Vivian so they better do it now, cause I'm fairly certain Paige will be considerably taller than Vivian :-)  They even had some of the same dresses (guess Jill and I shop at the same place and have similar taste) and the same purse.  Super exciting in little girl world!

Henry is officially potty training folks! Believe it or not.  He's been wearing big boy underwear every morning when we go up to the gym (a.k.a. Kids Club) so mom can workout.  So far no accidents there and he's asking to use the potty!  We, however, haven't had much luck in the pooping department.  He continues to go in his pants and I keep throwing away more underwear.  Sorry but I'm not cleaning those things out!  My mom thought I was crazy for throwing them away, but seriously folks, it's like $10 for a pack, totally worth it!  Vivian at least let us know she had to poop so we could put a diaper on her...eventually we will be there with Henry.  We are just thrilled to have him finally interested in using the potty.  We will be diaper free before we know it!

Last week was Bring your Sons and Daughters to work day (Thurs) so Dan took both kids with him to work for the morning.  Dan was concerned with Henry's outfit choice for the day, but decided to overlook it.  He picked out his black skull and crossbones socks, his green camouflage shorts, an orange polo shirt and of course his skull and crossbones bow tie from Easter.  To top it off he wore his green Croc shoes - on the wrong feet.  He said he wanted to be "fancy" for work, since that is what Vivian said.  Dan corrected him and said boys are handsome not fancy.  Well regardless, he looked great!

This weekend was pretty low key.  Saturday we didn't have much planned other than some yard work.  There was a school up the street that was having "Family Fun Day" with bounce houses, etc. so on a whim we took the kids up there for a couple of hours.  They did the bounce houses, got balloon animals, had some hot dogs, chips and snow cones...and the best part....there was a petting zoo (sort of).  Vivian would've spent all day there.  She got to hold a bunny, baby chickens, a baby duck and feed the goats.  Henry's favorite party was chasing the duck (boys will be boys).  He laughed and laughed and didn't come close to catching it but loved it anyway.  

Sunday morning Dan got up and did the Annual 4 Mile Trolley Run.  He did it last year too.  It doesn't start and stop at the same place so the kids and I headed down to the Plaza around 9 a.m. to pick him up and take him back to his car.  It was raining so I decided to not take the kids down and watch the run.  Overall a nice and relaxing weekend. Enjoy the pictures!

Easter and Garage Sale - Done!

So Easter went off without a hitch.  Kids (as always) had a wonderful time at Grandma Jackie's house.  So much to do so little time!  Dan's cousin, Tammy, brought down her automatic 4 wheeler for the kids to ride around on - it was an instant hit.  If we had a bigger yard and a place to store it we would've taken it back to KC.  Henry persuaded Grandma Jackie to let him bring the Harley Davidson bike + training wheels back to KC.  Since Vivian got a new big girl bike for her bday Henry has been wanting a big boy bike.  He doesn't understand that he's 2 years younger and doesn't always get everything she gets.  We had  nice weekend with family and it was great to see everyone back from school (Allie, Brandon, Cory and Sheila). The next family gathering will be in Fargo, ND for Cory and Sheila's wedding.  Vivian is the flower girl in the wedding and referred to Sheila as the princess.  It was good for Vivian to spend time with both Sheila and Cory.  Here's to hoping she has no problem walking down the aisle. :-)

Last weekend we had a much needed garage sale.  We had nonstop traffic on Saturday for at least 5 hours.  We got rid of lots of junk that is now someone else's junk!  The remaining items are going to the goodwill and a battered woman's shelter. Thursday night we are going over to Jeremy and Jenn's house for dinner.  They leave for Memphis on Sunday to have more scans/MRI's done for Avery.  We are hoping to keep their mind off of things and give Avery some time to play with Vivian and Henry before they leave.

Friday afternoon the kids and I are heading to the airport to pick up Aunt Jill and cousin Paige.  Jill is coming to KC to meet up with some high school friends and we thought it would be great to get the kids together. Paige has never been to our house - Vivian doesn't know she is coming! Jill hasn't seen the twins since Thanksgiving so I asked Jamie if she would want to come down with the girls.  Soooo....Jamie and Grandma Carol are coming down with the twins. It's gonna be a full house of the Sazama women.  Poor Dan and Henry...the lone guys.  I'm excited to see Jill since I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving. All in all should be a fun weekend, hectic and chaotic but fun!

Happy 5th Birthday to Vivian!

Our baby girl is 5 and we made it through her birthday weekend!  Vivian got her big girl bike that she wanted and she was thrilled about it! Friday morning we headed downtown to see Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove.  Vivian's favorite part was the whole thing and Henry's favorite part was the large alligator that came out and and ate Captain Hook from Peter Pan.  The kids got snow cones, hot dogs and popcorn.  As Tinkerbell was "floating" through the air sprinkling fairy dust, Vivian was quick to tell me that the fairy dust wasn't come from her wand it was coming from the ceiling....not sure about that.  She also informed me that when the pirates were shooting the cannons, those weren't real either...good to know!Good times were had by all. 

Grandma Carol and Grandpa came down on Saturday for Vivian's princess party.  We had a princess come to the house, Rapunzel from Tangled and nine 5 year old princesses. The girls were very excited when Rapunzel showed up and sat around and did all of the "tests" they needed to do to become a princess.  Rapunzel put make up on all of the girls and glitter in their hair. It was very exciting!  I made cupcakes for the kids and Vivian got lots of great presents. We also celebrated Grandpa's birthday while he was here.  His birthday is 2 days after Vivian's...and what a better way for him to spend his birthday than at a princess party. :-)  We all went out to dinner after the party and Dan and I took advantage of having overnight babysitters! 

I wanted to see the same band I saw for my birthday last year and they happened to be playing on Saturday night.  It's an 80's cover band, The Zeros and they are a blast!  We had a great time and had a group of about 15 people.

Family and Friends

Jamie and Kevin came down to visit with the twins this past weekend.  Their first trip down to KC in almost 2 years!! Viv and Henry were so excited to have the girls down to visit.  They are getting SO big. Vivian loved helping Ella and Payton walk.  She kept wanting to pick them up so we had to keep our eye on her, but she was great at helping them walk!  The twins are so good. Both girls are pretty low maintenance, Jamie is very lucky! The only meltdown was when Ella wouldn't go to sleep on Saturday night. It was 11pm before Jamie finally got her to bed.  Saturday afternoon Jamie and I treated ourselves to an early birthday massage - which was wonderful!  We all went out to dinner on Saturday night. It was nice to hang out with just Jamie and Kevin - we don't get to do that very often. 

Jeremy and Jenn got back from St. Jude's last weekend and Jenn asked if I could watch Avery this week.  Avery usually spends the day with Angie Mander, but Brian is having surgery this week so she couldn't watch Avery.  So Avery has spent the last couple of days with Henry, Vivian and I.  She's coming over Mon - Thurs this week.  The kids have enjoyed having her over.  She's so sweet and so easy going.  She has one of the best giggles I've ever heard.  Top 2 giggles...Avery and Raegan (my niece) - LOVE them!  I could listen to them all day.  Avery was pretty excited on Monday when she got here.  We followed the dogs around alot (which she loves), chased Vivian around the house and jumped up and down in the living room. We played with play-doh, took the dogs for a walk, painted pictures and did puzzles.  We were very busy!  Today she wasn't quite as spunky. Jenn said she was up pretty early this morning.  The kids played upstairs in Vivian's room for awhile and Jeremy came and picked her up shortly after lunch - she had a dr's appt. Tomorrow (wed) Vivian and Henry have school so it's gonna be me and Avery hanging out for a little bit.  Avery also gets to come with us to swim lessons. 

Hard to believe that Vivian is going to be 5 years old on Thursday!!!  We got her a big girl bike for her birthday.  We don't have big plans on Thursday, probably just going to dinner somewhere, her choice.  Friday we are taking the kids to Disney on Ice then out to lunch.  Saturday is her birthday party.  We have a  real princess coming to the house for the party, Rapunzel.  She invited 9 friends over for her princess party.  Should be a wonderful time!