Shilah Graduates from Preschool!

Shilah "graduated" from preschool last Tuesday. She is so proud to be moving on to kindergarten next year!
The school had a cute ceremony, with caps and everything!

The class consists of kids ages 3-5, so not all of the kids graduated. Serena will go to this school next year, and she's very excited!

Shilah had this teacher for the last 2 years, and just loved her.

We are so proud of our little graduate!

Here is video of her class singing a few songs. Shilah is in the top row (in the middle):

Pics on Demand

Grandma Sho-Sho and Grandpa Rick wanted a good picture of the girls together, so here is my best attempt at a photo shoot. Pretty good, considering Serena was freaking out about ants crawling on her and Shilah could hardly stop from picking dandelions!

They're Baaaack!

The return of the Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds! They usually stick around April/May through September, then migrate south. This is the common hummingbird of the Rockies, and the males are noted for the whistling sound their wings make. We love sitting out on our deck listening to them and watching them at our feeder.

Simply Serena

Serena is just a ball of fun!
Kids Say the Cutest Things: Serena loves to play with her belly button, and sometime she can pinch it kind of hard. So Shanti told her to be gentle with her belly button, and Serena responded, "It's not glass!"

Shilah's Pictures

We recently got a new camera, and Shilah decided to try it out. Here are pictures she took, starting with a great one of her little sister!

A pet ladybug names Spot:

Random pics:

A big difference between Shilah & Serena: Shilah puts dolls in her stroller, whereas Serena prefers dinosaurs (with a soccer ball).

Serena loves to hook her stuffed dogs onto Cosmo's leash:

Busy Week!

Another busy week gone by! Last weekend Shanti took the girls to a VW van show while I managed a Jazzercise booth at a local health fair. Here are some pics of Shilah & Serena in a field of dandelions at the show:

Little Dancer

Shilah's dance class has been practicing for their recital. Her teacher recently did a professional taping & photo shoot for a tap curriculum, and Shilah's class was part of it. Shilah continues to dance it up at class and at home! She is also going through another growth spurt and eating A LOT more than usual.

And Serena continues to love animals. Her new thing is to crawl around pretending she is a puppy. She also likes to "accessorize" the pets... here is Westy set up with a pink blanket and stuffed pony:

Chilling Out (literally)

The weather has been very cold lately! Right now it is snowing, and we averted a storm that was predicted to be at least a foot of snow. We only have a couple of inches so far. That's springtime in Colorado! Shanti has been busy with work also. Here is a link to a slideshow of the Greensburg, Kansas dedication of the 3 year anniversary of rebuilding the town green:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nativeenergy/sets/72157623985094996/show/

Also, here is an article on the new building at NREL, the world's largest net zero energy office building. You can see a few of Shanti's quotes. This building is getting a lot of attention!
http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/2010/100506net_zero-1.asp

Catching up with Jazzercise

It seems I get busier and busier with Jazzercise every day! I'm glad that Serena & Shilah enjoy watching routines and coming to the center to play with the other kids. Here I am doing a rock music theme class, using Shilah's Dora guitar as a prop.

About a month ago we did a fundraiser for one of my instructor's aunts, who is going through chemo for breast cancer. We raised over $1400 towards her Avon 2-Day Walk!

Currently I'm working on a Latin theme class, and this weekend we'll be participating in a local health fair.

Happy Mother's Day!

We hope our moms (and our friends who are moms) had a great day today! I had a wonderful day starting with brunch. Later, Shilah took a Jazzercise class with me! It was taught by one of my associates & friends, Laura. There were 27 people there, many of whom were mother/daughter pairs!
The weights were a little heavy for Shilah, so she used a couple of bowling pin toys for the strength songs.

The class was Circuit format, so Shilah got to use the exercise tube too. After class I had treats for everyone and flowers for the moms. Shilah did a great job following the moves! Down below is a video.

After class we went to Beau Jo's for dinner, and had ice cream after. I love my girls!

Daddy loves them too...

Shilah the Jazzercise queen in action!

Cousins!

Shanti's second cousin David passed through town this weekend for a quick visit, on his way to Portland, Oregon. He and his girlfriend Joey stayed with Tiffany, and we had them all up for dinner last night. It was fun!

I had to be quick with the camera for this one! Cousins Lily, Emory, Shilah, Samuel, & Serena:

Daddy's not in Kansas Anymore

Shanti had a work trip over the weekend to Greensburg, Kansas. We're glad he's home safe! It was the 3 year anniversary of when Greensburg was hit by a tornado that decimated their town. Now they are rebuilding "green," and it has been an inspiration to hear about the progress!
The girls & I kept busy with a birthday party, playdate, and just having fun!

Here are a few deer hanging out in our backyard. Mother Nature lashed out a bit today with super windy weather, and there were a couple of forest fires in our mountain area. Lots of evacuations, but luckily our neighborhood was not threatened , no houses were burned down, and both fires are out now.