A couple of Saturday nights ago Maddox and I attended the annual Storybook Ball at the museum. This year, unlike last, we got to share the experience with three of our neighborhood girlfriends and their families, Grace, Maddie and Priya. We had a grand time just like last year. Maddox was just as enamored with the Princesses as she was last year. She just followed Aurora around most of the evening and danced the night away.
Katie, Grace's mom, and I. Katie is in one of my bible study groups and a close neighborhood 'stay at home' mom friend.
This year the partying gift was a little jewelry box that you got to decorate in the 'Think Shop' area of the museum. It is this room with little stations all set up with hammers, saws, nails, levels, and like every other type of hardware/tool. The idea is for kids to go in and make creations with the help of their parents…and of course safety glasses!! In the center of the room is this big table with several glue guns and like every 'thing-a-ma-bob' know to man donated by local community members. So sometimes you go in and there is a basket of old medication bottles and other times there are a bunch of buttons. Just all kinds of things. A fun spot. Maddox didn't spend long decorating her box as she knew time spent decorating meant LESS time dancing!! She was quick to leave the Think Shop and head back out to the Great Hall. She is my dancer….!! But, oddly enough says she doesn't want to take dance next year :( :( :( She is really interested in soccer. I honestly think dance is hard for her and Miss Alyssa her teacher asks her to do things that require a lot of core, hip, knee and especially ankle musculoskeletal coordination. I actually had her evaluated by a pediatric neurologist last week through the University of Iowa. Dr. Maxwell and her team come to Bettendorf once a month. They didn't find anything significant or give her any strong medical diagnosis but did declare she is SEVERELY left legged, meaning her right leg is probably always going to lag behind. It's kind of the same philosophy as being right handed verses left handed. You can have a dominant leg too and in Maddox's case her left leg is REALLY REALLY dominant. In addition she is extremely hypERmobile at her knees and ankles which can cause lack of coordination ( I"m sure you are thinking..well Laura must have her physical therapy brain on because I think Maddox is F…I…N…E…!!) So they basically said just keep doing what we are doing…. dance, ballet, gymnastics if she wants, and swimming. They recommended swimming because the water provides proprioceptive feedback to the joints to help her realize where her joints are in space…. Ok…I'll get off my PT box now. She is fine but will likely always have a bit of lack of coordination in the right leg verses the left leg….not necessarily noticeable to the untrained eye. :)
Maddox sitting on Aurora's lap next to Belle.
Maddox and Priya dancing with Peter Pan and her shadow.
Getting a good bye hug from Aurora.
Kennon and I still enjoy our solo play time at the museum during Maddox's dance lessons. This day it was all about the firetruck.
We have been steadily adding spring/summer gear to our wardrobe as the weather will warm here shortly and we'll be off to Florida soon. I ordered a big box of clothes for Maddox a couple of weeks ago. She enjoyed trying everything on and modeling it for me.
Kennon got in on the action too. He got a new sun hat!! Ultimately this particular one went back to REI but we just had another one delivered that is a keeper.
Wearing her new duds to school.
Thanks to our new church providing a night of babysitting for free, Eric and I went out on a real date back around Valentine's day. The kids had a grand time at the church and we enjoyed ourselves as well. So nice to have some alone time. We are really likely our new church and the kids are too. We have plugged into some small groups and continue to meet people.
Craft project! February was a busy month with birthdays in our family. We sent out homemade butterflies to all the lucky birthday people.
Priya and Maddox in a John Deere tractor wheel at Deere headquarters in Moline.
All three kids in a loader 'scoop'…I'm CERTAIN there is a more technical term but darned if I know it…. anyone?? anyone?? …Bueller??…..Bueller??…. oh wait I"m here alone.
We met Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim on Grandma Jean's birthday at the mall in Coralville. We had a great time shopping, riding the carousel and playing at the indoor playground on this cold day! What a perfect little get away on President's Day, since the kids didn't have school. Happy Birthday Grandma Jean!
We are wanting to put up some curtains in our family room. I decided to take Kennon to Target with me to see if I could find something. You can see he is definitely haven't more fun than I!! I came home empty handed, while he sent the 30 minutes swinging around the curtain rods as if they were swords and playing hide-n-seek behind the display curtains. He was actually well behaved…!! If some of you are reading this and thinking 'that is well behaved??'..trust me…for my rambunctious, stubborn, active three, almost four, year old….THAT IS!! :)
We joined Lula, Leo and Arlo ( in the stroller in the background) at the Rock Island Botanical Center last Tuesday. They bring in a pretty large pile of sand and allow the kids to play play play!! It is pretty warm and sunny in the botanical center itself and there are ponds with fish and turtles to feed. It almost felt like we were on the beach…but oh wait…then we left, chins tucked, into a freezing headwind to get back to our cars!! Thank goodness it looks like it is going to warm up next week. The boys did a good job of sharing all the toys!! We love our playdates with the Heuer family.
mmm…sorry..somehow got these out of order. Kennon is sitting up in the digger.
Priya and Maddox in the Utility Vehicle….any guesses how much for this bad boy??
Carl, Priya's dad who is driving the kids in the gator, actually works in this building for Deere. He took us on our very own private tour of the headquarter building. So so so super cool. In the middle of the two buildings, named East and West, sits this fabulous botanical/garden area with all these beautiful trees and flowers! Really cool to think we live this close to the hub of a major company like John Deere. Go Green!
Monday was March 2nd and Dr Seuess' birthday. That means pajama day in the world of preschool!! The kids were so excited to go to school on Monday in their comfy PJs. Can't say I blame them.
Maddox sporting the leg warmers…those things have made a comeback haven't they?
Maddox dancing with one of her new outfits on.
We have dance parties in the family room almost daily. Usually after dinner or after lunch to get the sillies out.
Maddox didn't have school on Tuesday due to the ice so we filled the day with games, working on subtraction and addition with Maddox and name writing with Kennon. All in all a good day.
Yesterday was peek week at dance class so we got the opportunity to see a bit of Maddox's dance routine. She is doing pretty well just needs to get memorizing a bit. The tall, older gal she is standing next to is her helper. The cues in the background are being given by her official teacher. I know the videos are fussy when they get uploaded but hopefully you are able to see some of the routine. It is to a cute Winnie The Pooh song.
Let's see what else. If it seems longer since my last post, I think it has been. Work is keeping me relatively busy doing chart audits from home. About 5-10 hours per week is what it averages out to be…which is just perfect!! However that usually eats up my blogging time. I'm currently waiting for another batch of audits ( all the patients that fell at home AND went to the emergency room for evaluation or admission to the hospital) so I thought I'd quick get in another post. Tomorrow is Kindergarten round up for Maddox! We are so excited. She is too!! She'll get to go for a bus ride and meet all the Kindergarten teachers. Then afterwards she is going to Monkey Joe's for a birthday party! A big day for Miss Maddox. I just signed both Maddox and Kennon up for soccer this Spring as well as swim lessons at the Y. And I'm already thinking about which summer camps they'll be attending, some through their current church preschool and some through the Bettendorf Parks and Recreation Organization…oh and the museum too. There are a lot of good options out there. It is best if I keep them in a routine of getting up and getting dressed and going for the day. They loved most all of the camps we did last summer.
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