Happy St. Patrick's Day

From our little leprechauns....


Some of the tasty treats they decorated this weekend.

Dressed To Impress

Whether it is a leisurely morning at home


or heading out on the town to buy some new shoes


Greyson Erim is always dressed to kill....

G.O.A.L (Part I)

It has been a year since our last attempt at organized sport. A year of maturity, a year of growth and so we thought hey let's try again. Raif found this amazing hockey program sponsored by the Nashville Predators called G.O.A.L (Get Out And Learn). It is 4 week, 100% free program- they supply everything from mouth guard to helmet to all his pads. At the end the kids even get to keep their sticks and their jersey. And depending on their schedule some real Nashville Predators might stop by to teach. We thought this was a great way to test out hockey without spending a ridiculous amount of money on ice time and gear. We also invited Greyson's best friend Yohannes to join us figuring that Greyson might be a little less anxious with a buddy on the ice.

So last night was the first practice. Raif suited him up (seriously could he be any cuter?).

And Greyson was good to go.....until he realized that Daddy wasn't coming on the ice...then the waterworks. Raif brought him off the ice talked to him for a bit and then convinced him to stand on the ice and watch and then move a little farther out and watch and eventually he joined in for a bit albeit still crying but a least not hysterically.


At the end they did a little scrimmage and Greyson started crying again because no one would give him the puck. Raif said it was so sweet because he came over to him and said "They won't share. I used my words and asked for the puck and they wouldn't give it to me." How do you explain to a 4 year old the difference between sharing and competitive sport??

When he got home (I didn't go but had a girl's night with Quinn) I asked him how it went and he said "Good" and I asked if he wanted to go back and he said "Yes" So we are going to work this week on trying to go out on the ice without crying.

The highlight of the evening, according to Raif, was that Greyson did a great job skating. He managed to skate all the way across the ice by himself and if he fell he got back up all on his own. Hopefully he can gain some independence from us and then watch out hockey world....

Mr. Jon

We have a lot of guests come and go around here but none are quite like Mr. Jon. Perhaps it is because he is just a big kid himself that the excitement level is so high when he is around. He took time out of his busy schedule to drive up and spend the day on Sunday. He helped with some automotive improvements that Greyson had requested


and even took the Mustang out for a test drive.


After that he let the kids convince him it was a good idea to drag them around in the parachute


and let them pummel him with balls.

What can we say but "We love Mr. Jon!"

Nine and Still Fine...

Happy Birthday Guinness!!!

2012 Winter Olympics - Nashville, TN??

Yes, you read that right. The Olympics have landed right in Nashville. This week the students of Discovery Kingdom have transformed into Olympic athletes. Today was Opening ceremonies (including the torch relay) hockey, and shape toss (there was minimal coverage of this on NBC this year). Tomorrow everyone competes in figure skating and finally on Friday the closing ceremonies. Obviously Greyson competed in hockey today. All the kids marched down the hall to the Olympic theme while the whole school cheered. Friday the kids will be receiving their medals and singing the National Anthem. I heard them practicing when I went to pick up Greyson and listening to preschoolers try to sing that song is a unique experience. Ms. Ashley forwarded some pictures from today's events and so I thought I would share them with you.

Ballerina

Once every couple of months parents are allowed to sit in on dance classes at Quinn's dance school. The other days we sit outside in a waiting room where we can watch the class on closed circuit TVs. This past Saturday was parent viewing day and so I got to get a bird's eye view of my little ballerina.

I also now understand why they don't let parents in, especially in the little people classes. Pretty much for the whole entire hour no one danced. They just laughed and giggled and pointed at their Mommies. But I snapped a couple of pictures during the one or two times that Quinn forgot I was there and did a little dancing.

This last picture is of Quinn's curtsy. You can already tell that she has inherited her mother's gracefulness.