Braggin'

Cora started the first class of Novice Agility this afternoon and she was fantastic!! Grouped among five other dogs and trainers who have experience in competition agility, the new instructor commented that Cora blended with the rest and fit in like a pro. We ran a fifteen obstacle course and she stayed with me the entire time, all 1.5 hours of it. It~was~a~blast and I am on cloud nine!

There is nothing greater than seeing the hard work and companionship with your dog come to success. She was into me and I was into her. I know there will be ups and downs in this training, but today is an up day!

This video was taken by a friend in class who brought her Flip Video last week when we graduated from Advanced Handling. If you think this is adequate, you should have seen today! Whoo-Hoo, Cora!!

On the edge

We came across this man from the Hualapai Nation Tribe on our walk on the Grand Canyon's West Rim. He was sitting on this rock, dangling his feet over the 5,000 foot drop, enjoying his bottled water. I got dizzy looking at him; thinking about his precarious position. But I was also in awe of his life and his courage.

At this location, there were no ropes, or no do not cross signs; it was a free-for-all to venture as they wished along the rock flooring. We stayed at a comfortable distance, but even that was enough to buckle my knees as I enjoyed the magnificent drop below. Some were more daring, and some were more "lost in their photography" and should have been really observant of where they placed their foot; for those I just had to turn my eyes and walk past them. The human race is incredible.

This man shared with us about his Tribe's workings on the West Rim. They live 2.5 hours away in Peachtree City, Arizona, however, they own a magnificent amount of land on top and acres upon acres through the Canyon. They commute in daily, 365 days of the year, to run the tourism of the Rim.

He remembers as a boy taking pictures for tourists who could not go pass the Tribal rope line which kept tourist on track and safe. But he was allowed to venture out and snap their photos. As he grew older, he remembers traveling through the Colorado River below and looking up on the cliffs above and seeing the top just as a speck. Now that the Skywalk is part of the horizon of the cliffs, he says the bridge is so tiny from the water in comparison to the grandness of the Canyon surrounding it. Every day he takes his lunch break on some rock on the Canyon wall.

And he says he never tires of his view. I can see why.

15th Anniversary!

In the last week, my husband and I took an amazing vacation to Lake Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon to celebrate our 15th Anniversary on September 25th. With the dry heat reaching temps of 100, we soaked in the sun and enjoyed the scenery of all kinds; from people watching in Vegas to the ongoing dessert land, and it was fabulous!

Staying in Lake Las Vegas was the perfect spot because it allowed us to venture only twenty minutes to The Strip of Vegas, and it also allowed us to truly unwind and enjoy the quiet of the dessert. With pools and cute little shops, and outdoor seating at restaurants and live music nightly, the Lake was the prime location in our opinion.

From there, an easy 2 hour day trip took us to The West Rim of the Grand Canyon, passing through Hoover Dam along the route. The West Rim is the location of the Skywalk, the glass bridge which stands a mere 4000 feet above the Canyon walls. A spectacular view, even for those scared of heights, it is worth the opportunity to hold tight to the railing and walk. A moment neither of us will ever forget. The freedom you feel, the awesomeness of the scenery, the true beauty of God's fabulous creation right before your eyes. It was incredible.

Hundreds of pictures to choose from, many stories to share, this is just a snippet to welcome you back to my blog after my week's absence.

Sunrise View from our room.

Skywalk at The West Rim of the Grand Canyon.


Las Vegas Strip.

Autumn

Summertime has left, and the beauty of fall is upon us. It will soon be time for amazing foliage photos, pumpkins and corn stalks, sweaters and puffy coats, beautiful sunrises with the surprise of crispness in the air.

Throughout the years, Autumn has always enhanced our lives with beauty and blessings; my husband and I were wed, we bought our first house, we found our first dog, and both of our children were born. Perhaps that is why the color tones in our house are aligned to fall colors; oranges, reds, yellows, browns, and greens. Against the backdrop of the changing leaves we have always enjoyed and celebrated Autumn.

During this little time of celebration in our house, I am granting myself a seven-day vacation from blog writing. I will return in a week with many new adventures to share and photos to post.

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
~William Cullen Bryant

Barbecue in the rain ....

We planned our End of the Summer Neighborhood Barbecue for this afternoon and it is rai-ning. Having spent the morning up and out the door early for a dog Agility Trial (observing, not competing) I came home this afternoon to a quiet house with the fireplace on and the kids highly content in their playtime.

So all I wanted to do was cuddle up on our couch with my dog, turn on a great chick-flick movie, and sip warm hot chocolate. But rather, I gathered up our potluck food, got the fam dressed in warm layers, and headed to the street. In the rain. In the cold. The two are not a good combo for me. I shiver down to my bones a lot more than I used to and it seems to have gotten worse as I have gotten older. ~Sigh.planned our <span style="font-style: italic;">End of the Summer Neighborhood Barbecue</span> for this afternoon and it is rai-ning. Having spent the morning up and out the door early for a dog Agility Trial (observing, not competing) I came home this afternoon to a quiet house with the fireplace on and the kids highly content in their playtime. So all I wanted to do was cuddle up on our couch with my dog, turn on a great chick-flick movie, and sip warm hot chocolate. But rather, I gathered up our potluck food, got the fam dressed in warm layers, and headed to the street. In the rain. In the cold. The two are not a good combo for me. I shiver down to my bones a lot more than I used to and it seems to have gotten worse as I have gotten older. ~Sigh. Despite the weather, ten of the fourteen homes were represented with their bundled layers too and their yummy food. Complete with multiple party tents and my hubby's never-ending quest for ambiance where ever he goes, our fire pit was moved to the front to warm up the street huddle. It turned out to be a fantastic evening together with friends.

Despite the weather, ten of the fourteen homes were represented with their bundled layers too and their yummy food. Complete with multiple party tents and my hubby's never-ending quest for ambiance where ever he goes, our fire pit was moved to the front to warm up the street huddle. It turned out to be a fantastic evening together with friends ... and a spontaneous Umbrella Parade by the kids.

Have a feeling you are being watched?

Spreading the smiles ...

Now I think I know what the little field mouse feels like in our back yard. Cora has been in constant study this week. She will sit on our back porch and stare at our rock wall for hours. When she spots something (phantom something so far to us; we only think it is a field mouse because we saw one about two years ago in the wall) she will sneak up quickly all to be fooled into returning back to the porch to sit the game all of over again. Hours. She's taxing those brain cells, as eventually she will ask to come in and then just zonk.

Nostalgia

I found a new blog that I just completely enjoy reading. The author just started writing and I am already hooked. She is starting her freshman year at my alma mater and she is writing about her experiences; and it is bringing back alllll the memories of college. Love it!

I met my best college friend for lunch today. Jennifer is one of my close friends that I can share every-thing-with and have deep conversations about every topic. We were college wing-mates and she was a sophomore when I entered as a freshman. I remember our first meeting was at 3:12 am when the upperclassmen woke up the freshmen with bull horns and screams and banging of doors for the Freshmen Initiation during the first nights at school.

Jennifer was the perky girl sitting on the arm rest of the sofa that was in the dorm lounge. She was perky. Really awake and excited and energetic. I was tired and confused like the rest of my group, and I remember staring at her and wondering how she could be so awake and active at 3:12 am. At the time, I did not know that she is the ideal example of a night owl (even to this day). But she intrigued me and I had to get to know this life of the party person.

Over time we got to know each other and ended up falling into the same Major (BA in Communications with a Public Relations emphasis). We started to study together, which lead to deep talks, which lead to a strong friendship that has lasted 18 years! We live about 45 minutes apart, but that has not hindered our email time, phone time, play dates, and one-on-one lunch dates.

Sharing our individual life's journey has been so rewarding; to see my friend grow from the perky 3:12 am college girl to a great wife and successful mother of two. As I read my new blog-find, the flood of college memories surround me, I think of all the amazingly fun memories, the friendships I made, with warm nostalgia.

Speaking of Fish

Cricket was successfully moved to her new tank today. I think we solved the stress issue. While she is not swimming laps perfectly, she definitely is calm and looks much happier. We did notice that she has a tear in her front fin, so perhaps Panda did grab a hold of her between the divided slats. Panda, now in the big tank with no divider, is extremely joyful and swims more than she ever has. My word of advice to all future Betta owners ... either get one, or get multiple tanks per fish. Having girls live together, or with a divider, is false in our opinion.

Speaking of fish, my husband and son went to the U-Fish pond recently. I enjoy these series of photos:

For the love of my son ... and his two fish.

We have a Betta Fish problem. Cricket, the small one, decided that she wanted to go on a field trip on Sunday evening and that was when the problem all started.

I was in my son's room tucking him into bed, waiting for him to complete his task of feeding his fish a bedtime snack, when all of a sudden little Miss Cricket jumped and squeezed herself between the plastic divider and the wall of the tank. She found herself next to Panda; in Panda's water space. The look on our two faces and the two fishes faces were shock!

First, the amount of clearance between the divider and the tank is literally less than centimeters thin. We are dumbfounded how she did it, but she did it fast and successfully. While we stared in shock, my son finally blinked, and ran to get the net from under his bathroom sink. Within seconds I had scooped up Cricket and placed her back on her half of the tank. We sighed relief as both fish were still alive.

However, since that evening, Cricket has been wild!! She no longer swims gracefully; rather she jumps in the water and bounces from one fake plant to the wall to the other wall to another fake plant. She is like an out of control ping-pong machine. Then there are times when she rests at the top of the water, correct side up, breathing, but motionless. If you get too near the tank, she goes into ping-pong mode all over again.

Tonight, we witnessed Panda fighting with her through their divider. While they can not literally nip each other because they can't open their mouth between the slits, she was poking at her. I believe Cricket feels challenged by Panda, and Panda feels threatened by her unwelcomed Sunday night visitor still lurking around. The friendship period is ooovvver!

This was supposed to be a cute little fish tank fostering responsibility and care of animals for my son. It has turned into a babysitting job of toddler girl fish; or perhaps even worse, my son feels like the camp counselor dealing with two teenage girls!

I am going to Petco tomorrow morning, buying another (but smaller tank) for Cricket to move into. Placing them on each end of my son's long dresser, we hope the two girls will chill out and continue life on a happy beat.

All for the love of my son, and two Betta fish.

Spoiled?

Our good friends and neighbors home school two of their three children. On Monday's I teach the two piano during the afternoon.

Today I surprised them with a Cora Special. Rather than being outside or in her kennel during lesson time, I just let her be. And she Be'd right at the tip of their toes. It was so cute! With her back against the piano next to the pedals, and her face smack against their feet, both girls thoroughly enjoyed their lesson!

I think this will become a habit for us with these two students. However, the length of lessons for the rest of the afternoon and evening are too long to accommodate this special treat.

But Cora gets spoiled more by each passing day. First it was cuddle time on the couch, then it was "Here, have a piece of my pillow", and now it is being invited to my place of work!

Can't help it; I love my dog!!!

E-A-S-Y Dessert

The weather is gorgeous outside, warm sun, and blue sky. I know that it is not true in many parts of the country right now, so I am really being particularly appreciative because I know "our day is coming". So, rather than writing a lengthy post at my desk, I am grabbing this recipe to share for those stuck in the rain and needing a delicious pick-me-up.

It is a recipe I enjoyed before braces ... and will completely enjoy post braces. It is extreme-yum and completely e-a-s-y. My favorite combo.

*Gooey Turtle Bars:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecan pieces
1 (12 oz) jar caramel sauce

Combine crumbs and melted butter in an ungreased 13x9 pan; stir and press firmly into bottom of pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans.

Remove lid from caramel sauce and microwave on High 1 to 1.5 minutes or until hot; stirring after 30 seconds. Drizzle over pecans. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until chips are melted. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Chill at least 30 minutes, cut into bars.

Yield: 2 dozen.

*Southern Living: Our Best Easy Weeknight Favorites

Spa Party

Today has been spent in party-mode. My daughter's birthday parties are today. Yes, partIES.

We had a friends party this afternoon where five of her good friends came over to be pampered at our Birthday Spa Salon. At the Birthday Spa Salon, the only thing shared is laughter and fun, so each girl received her own basket of goodies for the party and to take home to enjoy. Complete with makeup, fingernail polish, a manicure set, a hairbrush, lip gloss, Smarties candy, and a yummy smelly bar of soap (to wash it all off when Momma says) the girls were set and so ready to create their new looks.

My husband and son joined the fun of this highly girlie-girl party by being the Spa Photographers. A photograph was taken of each girl with a Before and After look. While the party continued, my husband did his magic on the computer to print up an 8x11 page for each girl with the party logo, graphics, and the Before and After photo. The girls were wide-eyed and impressed with their surprise take-home.

Stations included the pedicure, the makeup, and the hair stylist chair. Using the American Girl Hair book, each girl selected a hairstyle and I created. While I knew the afternoon was just for fun, my biggest compliment came from a mom who asked during pick up if I was a Hairstylist for a profession. That felt good. But wait ... it just occurred to me ... maybe she was wondering how to avoid meeting up with me someday. Ha! I bet that was it! Well, anyway, the girls looked fabulous.We had a great afternoon with the girls. It was fun to see my baby girl acting her age personality-wise, while doing a more grown-up girl activity. She has focused on some sweet friends.

The next party today is after dinner when we are hosting our extended family party. Both sets of Grandparents, two sets of Aunts and Uncles, and five cousins ranging from age 8 to 11 will be celebrating with us over appetizers and dessert. A relaxing, fun evening together.

Happy Birthday!

To my Sunflower Girl,

I wish you a day filled with joy and fun. All the "I remember when's" are bottled up in my heart, savored today, and cherished for a lifetime. You are an amazing girl; full of energy and spunk, love and laughter, sweetness and kindness, brains and wisdom. You mean the world to your family and we celebrate you today on your 10th Birthday!

We love you so much!
~ Mom

This day in history ...

My heart continues to go out to all the heroes on earth and heaven who were involved in the 9/11 attacks. This day in 2001 will never be forgotten by anyone who witnessed it live on TV or in person. It was a very powerful day in our land.

This day too brings up another memory in my heart. This one brings joy. It was 10 years ago today, that I was over-due pregnant with my first child. We had received the news from my doctor earlier in the week to schedule an inducement for the 12th, so that we could get things started if nothing happened prior. While I was excited for an official end date, I was disappointed that my first child was going to be delivered on an exact date, versus the surprise happening.

See, I was the girl who dreamed of waking up in the middle of the night by the phone call of my sister-in-laws to announce they were in labor, throwing on my sweats, and rushing over. While I got those surprise phone calls, they were mid-day and although equally exciting, there is something about the middle of the night call (crazy, right?). When it was my turn, I envisioned calling every body on my way to the hospital at 2am. But my dreams were slowly fading away as the 12th came closer and no baby had arrived.

I remember walking around Home Depot with my husband on Friday, Sept 11, 1998, thinking, "We really ought to be on a very cool date! We are having a baby this weekend!" But I was exhausted and emotional, and I really didn't care that we were shopping for landscaping sprinkler systems on our last day of being child-less.

I zonked on the couch all afternoon, out for the count, I was so pregnant, so tired, so ready for this babe! My husband was outside installing his new sprinkler system, enjoying the sunny, hot weather, and his last day of non-parental responsibilities. I woke late to find a yummy pancake dinner that I had requested earlier in the day. The years have faded the exact details, but I do remember sitting at the table with my husband, music playing in the background, and we were just staring. Tired and in disbelief of our soon adventure.

Then the emotions waved over me as I tucked into bed. I just could not believe my luck! No exciting phone call to dial. Nothing. The overly planned, organized person that I was, wanted that unplanned-spur-of-the-moment happening ... and nothing was happening except the hormonal tears. My husband said our prayers out loud that night, his hand on my belly, asking for peace and the perfect plan for our baby's delivery.

Now, you will think I am making the rest up for blog-storytelling, but this really happened next. A pop ... and then you guessed it ... my water broke. It was unbelievable!! Talk about the laughter and happy screams that followed!

So, in the end, we got to call our family at 11:00pm to share the news that we were driving to the city to deliver this baby. Little did I know that my first child would be born 20 HOURS LATER via c-section! There really was no rush for any one to jump into their sweats and get to the maternity ward by midnight ... still a little sorry about that. Oops.

But to me, September 11th will always be remembered with joy for this memory, and the memory and honor to those fallen on this day in 2001.

Gonna Complain ... to ease my pain

Can you guess what I am going to talk about? I seem to write only complaints when it is my Ortho Adjustment Day. So here's another one ...

While I completely agree that my teeth issues needed some fixing, I honestly did not know how frustrating and all consumingly "argh" some days would be with braces. I know this is truly minor in the huge scope of life, but it is happening to me right now and so it is on my mind.

There isn't even really much to say. My Orthodontist and staff are incredibly nice, smart, and they mean well. But they create a lot of pain. I had a simple xray taken today and it was determined that three brackets needed to be repositioned to continue the task of moving my teeth correctly. The doctor snapped off two; it wasn't that bad. The third would not budge. He decided to leave it and go a different route in twisting something-something (I don't know all the technical jargon, but he could make it work just as well). And I was fine with that, until they actually did turn it and then it was worse pain than trying to take off the bracket.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like if someone sat you in a chair, asked you to open wide, took some pliers, grabbed your lower side tooth, and pulled full force, so much so that you saw their arm and finger muscles bulging? Just imagine that for a minute or two. That was what I felt and saw. I broke out in goose bumps and a cold sweat and had to tell myself to breath. Either I have a really low tolerance for pain, or I seriously have a right to complain.

Between the throbbing, my thoughts creep back to that bracket that would not come off. What is this going to be like in the future when it really is time to get all my braces off? I get a headache just thinking about it. Breathe ... in ... out ... in ... out.

Hands On

I am happy to report that my son's fishes, Panda and Cricket, are healthy and happy and being well taken cared for by their owner. He has done a fantastic job of feeding them, and changing their water. He is all about the hands-on experience and has kept up with it more than I had anticipated.

Speaking of the hands-on approach, our son found like little hermit crab on the beach's tide pool this summer. The Naturalist, who came out to protect the tide pool and educate the visitors, allowed my son to pick up this little critter. Although my son was very serious about his job, he was also beaming! I wish we would have captured his face too. Anything-animal, and he is there and willing to participate.

*If you look close on the left side of the photo you will notice a crab skeleton. I hadn't noticed that when we were there; amazing what shows up in a picture.

Turtle

My daughter made these two sand turtles while we were vacationing at the beach in August. She was so focused in her sand creations during our stay. Between the massive hole she dug, to the large sand castle, to these turtles; it was a great release for her to be soaked in creativity for so long, with no clock ticking, no schedule to stop her. It was equally as relaxing for me to sit and watch her.

I am so excited to see where she will land some day in the future. What path she decides to take. Every step of her creativity is more interesting to me than the previous step. The journey will be great no matter what she chooses.

Doggie Date

Reading up on dog etiquette and talking with a dog training expert, we decided on a plan for Splash and Cora to meet this past week. Both dogs on leashes, but both off territory, we met at the school bus stop around the corner from my house. They spied each other at the same time, but there was no barking. After a lot of sniffing; the look on Cora's face seemed to say that she got that he was all pup and she had a look of "Ok, kid, follow me" as we walked. After our short journey, the two relaxed over water and grass time on our front lawn. A couple more friendly walking treks are on our agenda and then it is off leash playtime in the fenced backyards. Crossing our fingers the friendship will continue easily like the first meeting.

South to North

We spent our morning at a neat client appreciation party titled: Willow's Wild Child Day where our friend Willow had a jumpy toy, cookie decorating, face painting, painting, and games all rolled into one neat outdoor location. The kids enjoyed wearing themselves out and eating sugar. It was nice to hang out with Willow and her other client friends at Fircrest Park; which we've never been to, but found to be really cool.

We came home to drop off Cora and change our clothes and then we were off to Qwest Field to take in a High School Football game. My husband's cousin's son is the starting Running Back of his team and he did a fab-u-lous job! Not only did Jorey get the ball frequently, he ran fast and had a great weave through the defense.

I don't know much about football; but I know when things are looking good and Jorey made things look good. He was so enthusiastic too, he really pumped up his team with the body slams and yells. It was truly fun to watch cousins in this environment. We wish Jorey all the best as he continues his football dreams.

My husband captured the game and took this great series of shots. There are 10 pictures total in this sequence that show Jorey running the ball; I just selected a handful to show that he is hard to stop. He was like the Energizer Bunny, he just kept going and going. He's white jersey #6 with the ball:



And he still was not done running before the final tackle!! And ... yes, they won the game!

It was a fun and busy day from South to North.

Can Of Corn

My husband had his Canon at the ball game tonight, taking pictures of the players and of us, enjoying the game. The man behind us was so kind to suggest that he take a family photo of us. Once taken, he asks if perhaps my husband could do the same of his family and then email him the photo. Of course my husband is willing to do this and stands up and enters the aisle to get a good shot.

All of a sudden, the crowd is going wild like something big is happening. I barely had a chance to look forward, when I notice every one is looking up with their hands in the air. I knew the ball was coming our way. Having a nice chunk of dollar in my mouth (aka: braces) I duck my head in my lap at the exact moment that my husband holds up his left hand, his right hand occupied by the camera, and catches the base ball.

He said it was like "A can of corn."

It was so effortless by my husband, whose back was not only towards the ball field, but his eye was peering through the camera! It was brilliant.

Here's the after photo of his great catch:

Here's the photo he was taking just before he caught the ball:

The kids were so excited about their daddy's big catch. It was very cool; well done, Babe!

New Blog

It was the beginning of the summer when my daughter said to me that she wanted to do a blog. After talking with her about what she wanted her blog to be about, she told me she wanted to write summaries about the books she reads, she wanted to give them a rating, and "post it out there." A budding book critic. I jumped all over her idea!

We set it up, I gave a quick mini tour of blog land do's and don'ts, and then she took off with great speed and has been keeping it up all on her own. Now that school is open she wanted to share her blog with her fourth grade teacher (whom she looped up with from 3rd to 4th), and she also gave me permission to post it here today: Banana's Book Blog.

While her grammar or her sentence structure may not be perfect, neither is mine nor a lot of folks. So I credit her on the fact that she is reading and she is writing and she enjoys it! That is awesome!

Feel free to give comments on her blog. She looks forward to those, just like the rest of us. :)

Finished Pottery

I picked up the kids' pottery pieces they made last week. I think they came out artistic and it is a nice reminder of our fun day with cousins. I had planned to stay today and paint something myself, but since the weather turned back to summer and it is beautiful outside, I wasn't feeling the inspiration to sit! I think I will save my creation for when the gloom returns and I can have a nice cup of caramel apple cider to sip on.




The pasta bowl hand painted by my daughter.











The dessert bowl hand painted by my son.

First Day of School

I had envisioned a calm morning and even woke up early to make it that way. Everything was going smoothly until about the last five minutes before go-time; in which it suddenly did a nose dive.

I had made the lunches, the kids had picked out their clothes, tied their own shoes, did their own hair; wow, this 2nd grade and 4th grade thing was working well. Cora would be joining us in the car because as soon as the kids were dropped off, we were headed for her Agility class. And that is when it went South.

The car I drive most frequently (aka: the car Cora does not get car sick in) decided to break it's hydraulic system to the hatch in the back that enabled me to load the car with her kennel. Why does the car always break when I touch it; never breaks when my husband touches it, just me. Always. If it is not going to turn over, it is because I'm at the wheel. If the power windows are going to glitch, it is because I tried to open the window. If the hydraulic system is going to conk out, it is because I tried to open the back door. Always me.

So anyway, there we are, Cora on a leash extremely hyper as she knows "work" is happening soon and she can't wait a second longer, the kids are waiting patiently for the traditional camera pose at the front door but are highly worried they are going to be late for their first day, I remembered that I forgot to write the standard note that my kids take the car home rather than the bus and so I need a pen and paper while my hands are already full, my neighbors are walking past with a their cheerful Hellos and small talk, so one must take the time to answer as not to be rude, and all the while we are trying to figure out the logistics for getting the kids and the dog to their classes.

Nothing like a few hoops of maneuvering to get the job done, but in the end we made it with five minutes to spare. But it was not pretty. It was not as peaceful as their first day of photos reflect. It was not the calm, serene, Ahhh, moment for the first day of school. (As far as the car, the fix will come another day, and we'll work around it until then. Grrr).

Labor Day

Our never ending quest to clean up and out our kid's playroom over the years has finally made the final shift. After family discussions, we have come to the agreement that one section of the playroom would be turned into a "dance floor."

Both of our children dance well. My daughter is the known dancer of our family, but my son is amazing in his own-right; he just does not show it off as often as he could. My husband has a few good moves in him too; one being caught on tape during our honeymoon that may sneak out on YouTube someday (kidding, Honey, relax). Me? No, I am not a dancer. Although I was enrolled in ballet as a youngster, there is a movie of me floating around my parent's house which shows me trying very hard to skip around our kitchen table as a first grader in my ballet uniform. I completely admit I was horrid; no coordination, it was bad! Although I am just a few years older now (ha) I don't feel like I use my rhythm well, so I would not consider myself a good dancer.

But that does not really matter, as our new playroom adventure will be a place where my daughter can practice her dance class assignments, a place where both kids can rock-n-roll to their favorite music, a place where friends and cousins can put on their elaborate plays and dance parties, or even a place to exercise.

Today we drove to the city to meet a man who rents dance floors as a prominent side business and sells his lightly used dance floors to people like us. A good selection of flooring squares to choose from, we selected our pieces and it was relatively easy install for my husband. To complete the look, we will hire for a floor to ceiling mirror to be installed on the short wall of the dance floor. Otherwise, it will remain pretty basic so there is room to move and improve.

The kids are loving their new dance section of the playroom. The other half of the room still remains host to some furniture and a few toys they have not outgrown.

In the end, this Labor Day was spent laboring in our house.