Happy Thanksgiving from our growing family to yours! We have a lot to be thankful for this year: our family, friendships, health and laughter. The girls are growing up way to fast and soon they’ll be big sisters to a little brother. Things are crazy around here as usual, but we are thankful to have the chaos in our lives.
We are so fortunate to have a close and loving family. We are so thankful for all the help they have provided, especially during home projects and being there for the girls.
Bailey is four and a half and is currently in her second year of preschool. She loves seeing her friends everyday and is excited to have Ms. Kristi (Miss Courtney’s Mom) as her teacher this year. She is in Mini Company again this year and also has a tap class with her favorite person, Miss Holly, so dance is going well. She loves to read books, draw, build things out of Legos and Magnatiles, explore nature, baking and taking care of her big brother Tequila. She is a wonderful big sister and is really excited to meet her little brother – she likes to talk and sing to him. We are so thankful for such a beautiful and kind girl and love watching her grow.
Sienna is our little firecracker. She is two and a half, thinks she is 16 and full of sass. She really misses her big sister when she is at school, but is looking forward to preschool for herself next year. She is in her own dance class this year and absolutely loves it along with her bestie Ms. Keli! She loves to make everyone laugh, dress up, play with mermaids and princesses, draw and jump and run around the house. She is definitely a handful but keeps things interesting. She is excited to be a big sister next year and loves holding hands with her baby brother and watching him kick at her. We are so thankful for our little wild child and the smiles she brings to our lives.
We are so thankful that the girls are so close. They really are best friends and love to play and get into trouble together. Sure they know how to cut each other down, but they are just as quick to hug it out and love on each other.
I am so thankful that there is so much laughter in our house. From Brian’s jokes to the girls’ crazy shenanigans, there is a lot to laugh at. I love that we can laugh at ourselves and not take life to seriously…we love to have fun!
We’re thankful for the roof over our head and the ability to create our house into a home that fits our needs. Stay tuned for our next project that we will be starting this weekend…it’s a big one!
We’re thankful for the love that we share. It’s easy to get caught up in the chaos and all the things going wrong. It’s nice to step back and realize how lucky we are to be so close and all the love that we have.
We’re thankful for our friends that we may not see everyday, but that are in our hearts always. Busy schedules and long distances may be keeping us away, but whenever we get together or talk on the phone, it’s as if nothing has changed.
We are also thankful for our amazingly talented and ever-so-patient photographer, Kim with Kim Joyce Photography. She’s been capturing memories since Bailey was a newborn and she has been a blessing to us.
We are thankful for our Bubba, our bestie, Mr Tequila. This year has been a little rough on him and he’s currently dealing with a hurt paw / busted nail, but he is a trooper. We are excited to celebrate his 14th birthday in just a couple of weeks.
And lastly we are thankful for Baby Boy Schorr. He is very active like his sisters, and appears to be another night owl (yippee!) We had another sonogram with him a few weeks ago and he loves to keep his feet over his head and kick with all his might. He’s already giving me a run for my money, so we’re crossing our fingers he’ll be a calm and sweet newborn.
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We’ll be updating you on our new home project soon.
Better late than never…this seems to be my motto recently, one that I am definitely hoping to change before baby boy shows up. The girls are almost halfway through their current dance season and I just realized I never posted about last year. I can’t even blame it on the preggo brain…I’ll just say we were really busy this summer!
Our girls love to dance. From inside my belly on, they have both been movers and shakers. Bailey started when she was about 18 months, when we met the wonderful Miss Holly at Wiggles & Giggles and then followed her onto Perception. Our first year at PDC was an eye opener. There were so many talented dancers that put so much time and love into every rehearsal and performance. There was a great sense of community that was even extended to the littlest dancers of the group.
We met a lot of great families and enjoyed the independence our tiny dancers gained when going into class on their own for an entire hour. This past year, we enjoyed getting back into the groove of dance and spending more time with our dance family. Bailey loved it so much that when we were asked to join Mini Company, we knew we had to give it a try.
Mermaid Party – Mini Company
When we were first approached to have Bailey join Mini Company, we didn’t really know what we were getting into. An extra half hour after her regular class to learn a new dance didn’t seem too daunting. We were going to be joining late in the game, but we were open to it. Plus, when Bailey found out she was going to be a mermaid, she was ready to be fitted for her costume.
Ms. Keli, Bailey’s new dance teacher, was amazing at getting Bailey caught up with the new dance. She is so patient and sweet, we are so lucky to have her. With just a few practices before the first performance, we tried to catch up as quickly as we could. Of course, the weather didn’t help as it snowed every Wednesday for about two or three months. We did have a couple extra practices in there but let’s just say we weren’t 100% prepared for the first performance.
Looking back it’s funny how unprepared I was to be a Mini Company Dance Mom. I am so used to winging it and just trying to get our girls in the car on time. As long as they were dressed and looked cute, I thought we were good. Nope. Clearly I had a lot to learn about dance hair, jazz shoes, safety pins, performance gifts and spray gel…oh the spray gel. Luckily I’m a fast learner and the other Mermaid Moms (and other fellow PDC Moms) were gracious and super helpful teaching me the ropes. Thank you all from the bottom of my newbie heart!
Pre Hair Help…Bad Mom
No flyaways here
We had 4 performances for Mini Company – the parent’s show, the first competition, In10sity Dance at the KCI Expo, the second competition, StarQuest, at the Music Hall and the recital. Watching these girls grow through each performance was amazing. The four of them worked so hard together and had a lot of fun. They listened and waited patiently for their turn and got on stage and danced their hearts out. Watching them get off the stage after each performance, the excitement in their eyes, was exciting. Watching the older dancers cheer the littles on and sit with them during the results made you appreciate what PDC instills…a sense of family.
Parent Show
In10sity Dance
StarQuest
I am so glad we decided to join Mini Company. Not only did Bailey’s skill level grow, but her confidence and teamwork shined. I am so proud of our little Mermaid and all of the other Mermaids for their dedication and hard work all season long. It really gave us a glimpse into the amount of time, work and dedication it takes for the older Company dancers who are among the best dancers we’ve ever seen. (Big congratulations to all the Prince Ali dancers and all the national and regional champs – we loved watching and cheering for you all year!)
Little Sis takes the Stage
Watching your big sister do something she loves can make you yearn for the same feeling. Sienna loves to dance and didn’t quite understand that she was too little to join the fun. She dressed the part every week, watched her sister join her friends and clapped with delight watching the performances each week. It was not enough.
One day, a month or so after her 18 month mark, she decided she was going to join the dance circle at the beginning of Bailey’s class and wasn’t going to leave. I tried to coax her out to come with me back to the waiting area, but she wasn’t having it. She had her tutu, her ballet shoes and she was ready to dance. Fortunately Ms. Keli is wonderful and said that she could stay since it was a smaller class.
It’s happening
I waited outside the door, listening for tears or screams but was left with nothing. I joined the other moms and waited. When it was time to come in to watch at the end of class I was greeted with big hugs from both girls and I have never seen Sienna more proud. She was a dancer. Ms. Keli said that she did great in class and listened really well…I almost keeled over in shock, but I was really proud of our little nugget.
We decided to put her on a trial basis to see how she did and she stayed with the class for the rest of the year. She was officially a Love Bug with her older sister and the youngest PDC dancer they’d had. It was adorable to watch and fortunately their weren’t many sister fights. Bailey enjoyed having her in class – as long as she could be the lone Mermaid of the family.
Dance Recital Rehearsal
The season went by so fast and before we knew it, it was recital time. Of course we had to make things difficult for ourselves by having a garage sale the same week as recital. Luckily Gigi held down the fort while we trekked up to Lansing for the rehearsal. Since we were in two different dances and had an outfit change, I had to be on my game. Plus we had photos so the pressure was really on…especially since I was on my own 45 minutes from home.
Thankfully the other PDC Dance Moms had trained me well. I came equipped with extra hair gel, hair ties, bobby pins, makeup, etc. I just needed to wrangle two dancers and make sure their hair, costumes and smiles were on point. The morning went by pretty smooth, the Love Bugs had photos first so we didn’t have much time to mess ourselves up. Not sure how Sienna would do in front of a photographer she didn’t know, I was a little nervous…but she nailed it. Then Bailey the pro only needed 2 photos to get what they needed and they did a sisters pic. Be still my heart! By the time the group photo rolled around, the girls were having fun. And I knew our pocketbook would be hurting later.
Next up, the Love Bugs rehearsal. It was Sienna’s first time on stage and she was ready to follow her big sisters cue. The Love Bug Moms scooted to the front row for some video. They decided to scoot the little ones closer to the stage, which seemed like a good idea until they realized that part of their dance was a sassy walk forward…and the stage was about 10 feet up from the pit. Let’s just say my heart dropped a bit as they teetered almost over the edge of the stage…and I think Ms. Keli had about the same reaction…enjoy my moment of panic in the video below:
If I can make it through that, I can make it through anything. The rest of rehearsal was a piece of cake…the Mermaids snapped their photos and we waited for them to get a chance to rehearse. With all the competitions under their belt, they looked like seasoned pros. We waved goodbye to all our friends and then we were back to the garage sale and ready to rest up for the big day.
Showtime: Recital 2019
Recital day was here and we had a full house ready to cheer on our tiny dancers. Grandma & Grandpa Schorr and Granny came in town to watch the girls and Gigi & Pop Pop were ready for the hike up to Lansing. Our morning was a bit of a whirlwind full of hairspray, gel and lots of makeup, but the girls, Brian and I were on the road with plenty of time.
I am not going to lie…I was a little nervous, especially after last year’s recital. I held my breath a few times and waited for the tears, but the girls did amazing! I am so proud of both of them. They worked so hard and had so much fun this year. I was the one with tears in my eyes during their performances. We might have bootlegged their performances, but don’t worry, we also bought the DVD. I am proud to be a PDC Dance Mom and am so excited to see what this year brings!
Here are the professional photos from this year:
I wanted to give a special thanks to Ms. Keli for being an amazing teacher and having unlimited patience with both girls. Thank you to all of the PDC dancers, families and teachers (especially Miss Holly and Miss Meredith) for supporting us and for welcoming us. We love you all! Cheers to a wonderful season and an even better one to come!
We’re late! We’re Late! We’re Late for an Important Date! No truer words have ever been spoken in our house, so when Bailey decided she wanted to be the Queen of Hearts for Halloween, it seemed a perfect theme this year.
This Halloween season has been a lot of fun this year and luckily we got in a lot of outdoor fun before the snow fell. We visited a few new pumpkin patches this year including Johnson Farms and Schaake’s. And we got in a lot of Trick or Treating at The Night of the Living Farm at Deanna Rose, Celebrate Olathe and Olathe North’s Trick or Treat of the Street. Take a look at some of our favorite adventures.
Halloween – The Big Day
When you wake up with a couple inches of snow, it’s hard to get in the Halloween spirit. However it did not stop us from suiting up and tossing a few snow balls.
We watched a little Hocus Pocus while we warmed up and then Bailey had to get ready for school and get dressed up. We had a lot of fun at her school party playing games, eating sugar, having a parade and eating more sugar. Plus we got to hang out with our bestie, Juna, and our love, Elijah. Huge thank you to Gigi for watching little sis while we were at the party.
After school we rushed home to pick up Sienna and headed to Daddy’s work for more trick or treating. We stocked up on candy and enjoyed seeing everyone and looking at t the pumpkins they carved. We may have had a few meltdowns, but I am going to try and block those out. Then we headed to Gigi & Pop Pop’s neighborhood for some quick trick or treating before rounding everything out in our neighborhood.
It’s been an exhausting day, but the girls had fun. Too bad this mama’s preggo, because today definitely called for a glass (or three) of wine.
Night of the Living Farm
This is the first year we’ve been to Deanna Rose’s Night of the Living Farm. The weather was beautiful and it was packed with people. The girls loved roasting marshmallows, doing science experiments and going on the spooky hay ride. It also gave us a chance to test out our costumes this year, without being weighed down by our winter coats.
Pumpkin Patches
We love taking the family to a few pumpkin patches during the season. We are fortunate to be surrounded by a ton, both big and small. We always visit Pumpkin Hollow at Deanna Rose, and this year we made a few trips.
We also visited Johnson Farms with Gigi, Pop Pop and Uncle Mat – it was huge and we spent a ton of time there. And of course, we had to make a stop at Dunn’s Cider Mill beforehand.
And if 10 pumpkins weren’t enough we stopped at one last pumpkin patch, Schaake’s out in Lawrence. It was a beautiful day and there is no entry fee so it was packed, but we still found some really cool and unique pumpkins to bring home.
Celebrate Olathe & Trick or Treat Off the Street
We are so fortunate to live in a wonderful community with tons of activities for kids and adults alike. Celebrate Olathe is one of our favorite events and the girls love playing with all of the kids, trick or treating and crafting. They wanted to try out new costumes for this event so we scrounged through our dress up closet for some last minute changes.
We also hit up the local high school and went Trick or Treating off the street. With the pending snow the high school was packed with kids so we didn’t stay too long but had a lot of fun!
Pumpkin Carving and Shenanigans
We waited until the day before Halloween to carve pumpkins because it’s been so busy lately. the girls loved carving the insides out and helping Dad make the faces. We opted for easy this year because of our time constraints, but I think they did a great job!
This has definitely been an eventful holiday and we’ve had a lot of fun. But we are definitely ready for a little break and the sugar crash to calm down. Happy Halloween from our family to yours!
