The Little Ballerina

I was deciding between signing Maddie up for ballet class or soccer this fall and while soccer talen definitely runs in the Moskal family, I think I made the right decision. Maddie loves dressing up right now. She loves princesses, loves music, and loves dancing. So when I found a princess ballet class in which they have different dresses every week for them to wear and the whole class is princess themed, I had to do it. My little girl may not be girly forever, so I thought I would take advantage of this very girly phase she's in. She loves it and all the little girls are so cute! Maddie has turned the word "ballet" into a verb. So she likes to say, "Mommy, I love ballet-ing" or "Are we going ballet-ing today?" or "I want to put on my ballet dress and do some ballet-ing." I can't correct her yet, it's too sweet!

Making a wish as Snow White

Mommy's Little Helper

Madeline is becoming very interested in helping me clean. I found the perfect thing for her to do, the Swiffer. We had music on while we were cleaning and I decided to get out the camera and record her dancing and cleaning at the same time. I tried to record her talking since that's all she seems to do these days, so the video is kind of long. And of course, she didn't talk a whole lot because she was so busy dancing and cleaning. It's fun to have her help. I have such vivid and fond memories of helping my mom clean when I was growing up in New York and we used to listen to Air Supply! It's fun to be making those memories again with my own daughter.

First Week of Preschool

Anyone who knows me knows that I put a lot of thought into big decisions. Thorough analysis runs in my family. It's in my blood. So when it came time to decide on a preschool for Maddie, all factors were considered. Was it a clean, safe, fun place? What days would she go? Where is it? Will it work for both me and my mom to take her and pick her up? Etc., etc., etc. I was very pleased with our decision on a preschool and excited for her to start. It is a 2 day program, Mondays and Tuesdays from 9-12. My mom will do one day (I work on Mondays) and I will do the other. The location is centrally located between our house and my parents'. Perfect!!!

I hate to focus on the negative part of this first week of school, but her first day is one I'll never forget. Despite all my perfect planning, the first morning did not exactly go smoothly. I decided to take the morning off so that I could take her myself. It was a short day from 9-10:30 and she would meet her teacher, see the classroom and get acquainted. I had my mom meet us there since she'll be doing Monday preschool. The most direct route to the preschool is not the normal route I take in the mornings when I work because I always drop Madeline at my parents' house first. I anticipated traffic and left at 8:15, allowing 45 minutes to go 10 miles. It's Northern Virginia, there's lots of traffic. I HAVE NEVER SEEN TRAFFIC LIKE THIS IN MY 8 YEARS LIVING IN LEESBURG!!!! That morning it took me 1 hour and 25 minutes to go 10 miles! Maddie and I arrived 40 minutes late to her first day! I started getting upset on the phone with my mom who was giving me the play-by-play of what we were missing (which wasn't really much to tell the truth). Maddie could tell I was upset, so then she got upset and started weeping and saying, "Mommy, I'm sad that we can't get to my preschool." It was so pitiful. But long story short, I pulled myself together for her sake and when we got there, she caught up quickly and was very comfortable right away.

The second day I left at 7:45 and paid $4 to take the toll road and skip the traffic. We arrived with enough time to spare to go to Target nearby and we were still the first ones in the door once it opened! What's most important is that Madeline had a great time and so far seems to like it. I was warned that there would be tears when she goes to school, I just didn't think the tears would be over traffic! But in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather have us both shed a tear or two over traffic than have Maddie or me crying over leaving her there :)

The Lake (again!)

We had one last fun weekend at the lake with the gang in August. Kaitlyn and Maddie were two peas in a pod with their matching bathing suits and Laura and Andy are adorably excited about their two peas in a pod (they are expecting twins)!! And Maddie went on her first jet ski ride with Daddy and loved it! The lake is definitely one of our favorite weekend getaways and we are so grateful to be welcomed there every summer!

Buffalo Trip

In August, Maddie and I went on a road trip to Buffalo with my parents. Sigh.....yes I survived the car trip being the member of the sandwich generation (having my parents and my child with me)! Maddie just watched videos the whole time, didn't sleep a wink, but she is a great little traveller. And other than getting a lecture once on where the cooler goes in the car, I had a great time with my parents. It's been a while since we've had 9 hours together to just chat. I dare say the car ride was even enjoyable.

We went up there to visit my Grandma and my dad's Uncle John who was visiting from Brazil. We stayed with my Aunt Joanne and her family and visited with my Aunt Mary Beth and my cousins. Everyone has a pool in Buffalo. When the weather's warm, they know how to enjoy it since it's rare! Maddie's buddy the whole weekend was Uncle Mark (Joanne's hubby) who brought home toys from his fun place of employment, Fisher Price. He also played with her lots in the pool. Mark says that Maddie reminds him so much of my cousin (his daughter) Katie at age 3, who is now looking at colleges!

Fun with Nana in the pool

Napping in the pool? Nope, just a good actress. She had some people fooled for a few minutes....but I know my girl. She would never fall asleep instead of having fun :) But it was convincing.

Uncle Mark

Aunt Joanne

Great Grandma and Great Uncle John (the priest)


Kissing cousins!

I was playing around with my camera settings and had some fun. Joanne and Mark's yard is so beautifully landscaped and made for a good background.

The Water Park

We have a great new water park in Leesburg with lots of fun slides, play areas, and a lazy river. We went there on Maddie's actual birthday. I had to post these two cute pictures of Maddie and her buddy Nicholas, our neighbor. He is almost 6 years old, but despite the age difference, they play so well together. Maddie adores him. And lucky for me, his mom Amy is a great friend. We are so lucky to have such a fun neighborhood!

Birthday Fun!

We had lots of fun celebrating Madeline's birthday this year. We had our parents and siblings over for dinner and cake. One highlight for me was Maddie's excitement over the homemade pink princess cake I made. Nothing fancy at all. One box of yellow cake mix $1.89; one container of pink funfetti icing $2.29; party store Disney princess cake topper $8.99......Your daughter waking up from her nap and seeing her birthday cake and saying, "Mommy, I love my cake! Isn't it beautiful? It's amazing!" over and over.....Priceless!
She also LOVED the musical cards everyone gave her and the two pairs of flip-flops. She insisted on wearing one pink and one blue flip-flop. This kid is easy to please.

The best part of the evening however, was Maddie putting on a dance/singing show for everyone. We had Disney music on in the background and before we knew it she was dancing and singing while everyone watched. Well everyone except Samie, who danced with her. We took a couple videos. For those who have seen Maddie dance, you know she spins. So here's some more spinning. They are a little long, but I just couldn't stop recording!

Disney World

We had an amazing vacation in Florida. We spent a week there in a beautiful time share (thanks to Chris's parents) and did 4 days at Disney, and 2 days at the beach. Not a single nap was had by anyone the whole week, but we had a GREAT time! Maddie is very into all things Disney right now, especially the princesses. So it was truly a magical experience to see her take it all in. Our favorite things were the character meals including breakfast with the Little Einsteins and Pooh & friends, as well as dinner in Cinderella's castle; riding on Thunder mountain with Maddie, she was just tall enough and came off and said, "that was awesome!"; the Everest and Aerosmith roller coasters (Maddie was too small for them); the Lion King show; the parades and the fireworks; meeting the princesses and other characters; Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood playground; and Ariel's Grotto water play area. We got very lucky avoiding long lines and kept cool with a spray bottle and by getting drenched one day at Magic Kingdom in the rain!

I have to put this video first. It was our first morning at Magic Kingdom (we did 2 days there) and we got to the park before it opened for a character breakfast. There was music playing and Maddie just started dancing with the castle in the background. It made for such a precious moment I had to catch it on video. Simply magical....



Here are some pictures from the 3 parks we visited.

First was Hollyood Studios: Pictures are of Breakfast with June and Leo from Little Einsteins, character greetings, outside the Muppet 3D movie (which was the ONLY thing that scared her the whole week), and with Daddy at the fountain. We also loved all the shows at Hollywood Studios, the Ariel show, the Belle show, the Disney playhouse show, and the American Idol Experience.

Next, Magic Kingdom: Character breakfast with Pooh & Friends, meeting the Princesses, Ariel's Grotto, dinner at Cinderella's castle where the Fairy Godmother sang Happy Birthday, the Hundred Acre Wood and Toontown playgrounds, watching the nightime parade and fireworks (to name a few!!)

She is not asleep in this picture, just closing her eyes during the fireworks. She did not fall asleep until we got back to the hotel at 11:30 and that was with no nap that day! She didn't want to miss a thing!

We also went to Animal Kingdom and Maddie got to meet Minnie Mouse!



In addition to the parks, we also took two day trips to the coast. We spent one day North of Disney in Palm Coast at my Uncle Ken and Aunt Cindy's beautiful house. Chris went golfing with Ken, Cindy and my Uncle Greg, while Maddie and I went to the beach with my Aunt Patti.

We also spent one day South of Disney at Sarah and Rob's house in Indian Harbour Beach. She just had baby Vance on July 8th and we were so thrilled to be able to meet him when he was one week old! He is so precious! We relaxed, swam in the their pool, and then went to the beach in the evening and saw the shuttle launch from Kenney Space Center. It was a wonderful day!

It was a really fun week and we made lots of great memories. Seeing Disney through Maddie's eyes really was like seeing it for the first time. She may not remember it in years to come, but I know Chris and I will never forget it!