Taylor starts Dance Classes!

Tay has been talking about being a "ballerina princess" for at least the past month, so I called to find out when classes were offered on base and got her signed up the next day for the 2 and 3 year old class.  They're even doing a recital in June!

As I'm sure you can imagine, a class of eight 2 and 3 year olds looked more like herding cats than Swan Lake. :)  Thank goodness the teacher was extremely patient with all the girls!

Here's a few pics. (Sorry for the poor quality, these are from my phone. Tay is in the light pink shirt.)

Stretching out at the beginning of class:

Tay was shy at first, but once she got into it, she was showing the teacher that she already KNEW how to roll!

The girls were supposed to sit on the rainbow mat and wait their turn to do their jumps:

They were supposed to jump off the "cheese mat" and say "TA DA" with their arms in the air:

At the end of the class, they got to play with a parachute:

Tay got TWO stickers because she listened so well during class.  She's already been asking when she can go dance again.  We are making a special trip to Savannah this weekend to get her a leotard and tights and "princess shoes" aka ballet slippers. :) 

So proud of our little ballerina princess! :)

Rice Krispies

Yesterday, I made Rice Krispy Treats.

Or as Taylor refers to them, "Rice Christmas Treats."

This is what the plate looks like today:

I may or may not have eaten six of them myself.  Just sayin'.  :)

Pioneer Woman's Cowboy Potato Chowder

Okay, I have a confession. I LOVE the Pioneer Woman's recipes.  I have yet to try one of her dishes that I didn't like.  I am especially fond of the Marlboro Man-approved recipes.  If you're not familiar with Pioneer Woman, you probably have no idea who Marlboro Man is, but that is her pet name for her husband.  Sounds a lot more manly than "Pooky," I suppose. :) 

Anyways, Friday night we were supposed to go to the local drive-in to watch Act of Valor (for free!), but tornado watches and thunderstorms kind of put the kibosh on those plans, so I had to come up with something to fix for dinner, quick, fast, and in a hurry.  I had found the recipe for Cowboy Potato Chowder earlier and had all the ingredients on hand, so I decided to give it a try.  I did omit the dill because I don't have any, but it didn't seem to be lacking in flavor without it.

You can find the link to the recipe here.

This chowder is delicious.  Thick and chunky and especially good topped with shredded cheddar and crispy bacon.  Perfect for a cold, rainy night at home. Marcus had two bowls and Hunter ate his whole bowl AND finished off Taylor's!  He was shoveling it in by the handful, haha!

I promise he does know how to use a spoon!

Anyways, I just thought I'd share.  :)   I'm sure there will be plenty more recipe posts to come, especially since I have discovered Pinterest! (That's a whole 'nother post in and of itself!)

Why Blog?

I have been contemplating starting a blog for a long time now because I wanted a way to chronicle our family as it grows and changes.  I foresee many different life changes in the near future as I get out of the Marine Corps and become a stay-at-home mom, a (possible) new addition to our family, and our big move to Idaho when Marcus gets out of the Marine Corps.  I want to be able to look back and not wonder what happened in 2012, so a blog seems to be perfect for journaling our lives from this point on.

I also wanted a way to keep our family and friends informed with things that are happening with our kids and in our lives.  A way to keep in touch and tell funny stories and pictures when we can’t call or send emails every day.  Our extended family extends almost all the way across the United States, from Alabama to Arizona to Idaho, and currently Iraq.  So if anyone wants to see how we are doing, they can read all of our updates and see pictures of the kiddos as they grow and change. 

Welcome to the Addis family blog!! :)