The Hip Hoppers

Next up for dress rehearsal are the little hip hoppers, Gracie & her best friend Taylor.  It's hard to believe that they have been dancing together & in the SAME dance class too since they were two years old!!! Wow, how far they have come. Break a leg girls!!! :)

Dress Rehearsal

Tonight is the dress rehearsal for tomorrow's dance recital.  The girls have been practicing all year for this special moment!!! It will be Josie's FIRST dance recital as pictured here on stage with her best friend Ellie!!!  Ohhh they are adorable :)  Good luck little ballerinas!!! They will be dancing to This Little Light Of Mine by Yancy.

Cheers From The Rothleutner Patio

Our favorite thing to do at the end of the day, ENJOY our beautiful backyard!!! :) Cheers from The Rothleutner's for Memorial Day!!!

Our Little Gardeners

Ever since I can remember we have been planting flowers & veggies in our garden on Memorial Day Weekend.  I have memories of Gracie planting with us before she was even two :) It's always been a fun family tradition for us.  This year the girls really got into digging the holes & planting the flowers.  They even each picked out a new pot at Home Depot for the backyard that they will take care of all summer.  Gracie planted pansies, Josie planted impatiens, Kris planted Zeinas & I planted Snapdragons. I can't wait too see how all of our flowers bloom. The only thing missing was Papa & Nana who are usually visiting & planting with us.  We hope they will be back with us next year :) I love family traditions!!!

Gracie & Ms. Chertack

Gracie came home from school today feeling a little sad.  She has decided that she wants to stay in first grade.  That's right, she doesn't want to move to second grade as she is quite fine staying in first grade with her favorite teacher Ms. Chertack :)  After we talked a little bit & she was feeling better, she decided to make Ms. Chertack a card.  I love how she drew a picture of them & especially Ms. Chertack's beautiful red hair!!!  I still remember my first grade teacher, Ms. Dupont too. Oh grade school memories!!!  :) I can't believe she's going to be in second grade next year either as it seems like just yesterday we brought our bundle of pink home from the hospital!!!  Time sure flies by...

A favorite quote from Dr. Seuss that made me & Gracie feel better :)

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!!!"

Our Little Girl Scout Daisy :)

It's OFFICIAL, Gracie received all of her Daisy petals & she is now a Girl Scout Daisy!!! She received petals throughout the year after completing special projects related to the characteristics of friendship, respect, consideration, honesty, resourcefulness etc. We our so proud of our little Daisy & look forward to her adventures next year when she takes on the World as a Girl Scout Brownie :) 

This Sums It Up

Our girls weekend was lots of fun & exhausting too!!! :)

Girls Weekend With Nana Shirley

Hanging out with Nana Shirley in Dubuque...fun, fun fun!!! :)

GNO In Dubuque

Girls Night Out (GNO) with my friends from grade school. Oh how I love how we are all still so close!!! :) Love these girls!!!

Introducing Ms. U...

She came home from school with the veil she made & all her assessories including a a heart that Liam made her & a very special ring :) And she says they will live happily ever after too!!! :)

Today at school "Mr. Q" & "Ms. U" from The Land of the Letter People are getting married.  Since they live too far away for the children to attend the wedding, they have planned their own wedding celebration in the class room.  The girls will dress as brides & the boys as grooms. And they helped plan the entire wedding celebration too including designing invitations, making veils & boutineers & baking cupcakes.  Josie is very excited to be a bride today & partner up with her buddy Liam.

Gracie's Gorilla Report

The first graders are studying mammals this week.  And as part of their lesson, they each had to chose a mammal to research & present to the class.  The presentations had to be 2 minutes long & they needed to include a poster with lots of interesting facts.  Gracie chose a Gorilla because she said they are very silly & she likes to visit them at the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Gracie was a little nervous to present her findings in front of all her classmates & their parents so we practiced her presentation...Josie helped her practice too :)  She wanted to include a funny joke too so daddy helped her research a Gorilla Joke "What's a Gorilla's favorite cookie?"  "A Chocolate CHIMP!!!"  I took an adorable video of her practicing...too bad it's too long to post as she did an awesome job!!! :) Break a leg, Gracie.

Happy Mother's Day

Enjoying the day with my 2 favorite little ladies :)

Mother's Day Tea

Today the first grade class hosted their mom's for a Mother's Day Tea Party.  And how fun for Gracie that Nana Marci was here to celebrate with us too :) It was the best tea I've ever had too!!!

Disney World 2013

Many magical memories from our first trip to Disney World, including this one :) We made memories that will last a lifetime!!!

More Magical Moments At Magic Kingdom

Enjoying each & every magical moment :)

Josie & Her Buddy Mickey Mouse :)

It doesn't get much better than a big hug from Mickey Mouse now does it?!?!?  The look on her face is priceless too :)

Space Mountain

Next up...Space Mountain!!!  I have memories riding this ride when I was a little so it was fun to be able to ride it with Gracie.  Josie wasn't tall enough to ride so she enjoyed some time with Daddy & Micky Mouse while the rest of us rode the ride :)  I forgot how many twists & turns were on the ride & in the dark too!!! Gracie absolutely loved it & is still talking about it too!!! :)

Splash Mountain

We enjoyed a very wet ride on Splash Mountain!!! :)  And Gracie was very excited that she sat in the front & was the wettest of us all. I enjoyed listening to the girls squeal & scream along every twist, turn & fall.  I wish I would have gotten a video just to hear their voices :)

Dessert!!!

The BEST cupcake EVER at the Beauty & The Beast's Castle!!! :)

Be Our Guest Restaurant

On our last day at Magic Kingdom we enjoyed lunch at Belle's new restaurant Be Our Guest. And it was definitely worth all the hype & Kris & Papa Will standing in line for us to get in too :)  If you are a fan of the movie, you will enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant.  We enjoyed lunch in the ballroom where we listened to some of our favorite songs from the movie.  We took some pictures in the "Enchanted Garden" where there was a music box with Belle & The Beast dancing & spinning on top.  The girls really wanted to see the forbidden West Wing.  And it did not disappoint them either. The room was considerably colder than the other rooms & it was raining & lighting too.  You could also hear The Beast growling!!! And of course, the rose was on display too.  And the food was delicious!!!

Ariel's Grotto

Just "hanging out" for some "girl time" with one of their favorite friends in her shell!!! :) Another new area at Fantasyland.

Enchanted Tales With Belle

The new Fantasyland now includes a special section for one of the girls favorite princesses, Belle.  Enchanted Tales with Belle acts out the fairytale story of The Beauty & The Beast.  And the children get to take part in the story :)  My little princesses were chosen to play the very important part of the pictures on the wall along side The Wardrobe. And they played their part very well too :)  Their dreams came true when they got to meet Belle at the end of the story in her fancy yellow dress :)  Another magical day at Magic Kingdom!!!

Nite Nite

Josie & her new BFF(s)...the Minnie Mouse(s)...so cute!!!

Prost...Cheers From Germany

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we didn't make it to Oktoberfest in Germany last year :( But we will always have memories of our beer at Germany Epcot :) Prost to us!!!

Cheers From Epcot Paris

Enjoying a glass of bubbly as we tour France :)

Adventures At Epcot

Highlights at Epcot for the girls was getting their passports stamped in some of the countries that we visited just like their daddy.  So fun for them to experience international travel just like he does :)  They loved meeting Belle in Paris, Jasmine & Aladdin in Morocco, Alice In Wonderland & Mary Poppins in the UK & Mulan in China.  Along with eating crepes in France & Bavarian pretzels in Germany.  So fun!!!