Lock 3 Performance

We just found out tonight that Kaitlyn is performing Friday night (Dec. 5) in Downtown Akron at 7pm....she will be in an indoor demonstration area, so hopefully we will all be able to stay warm. Evidently there are many festivities to enjoy after her performance. There is an ice skating rink, outdoor shopping opportunities, children's activities and other performances and demonstrations.

If anybody is interested in meeting up with us for the performance let me know and I'll give you directions...actually, I'll have James give you directions because we all know that I can barely find my way around Belden Village, I would have you lost in Akron for sure!!!

Hope to see you there!!!

Holiday Performances

For anybody who is interested Kaitlyn has 2 Christmas performances coming up. She will be dancing at the Hartville Marketplace on December 6th at 11am and at Lock 3 in Akron. We don't have a date on the Akron performance yet but it will take place downtown in a heated tent. I will post more details when they become available. Kaitlyn is also going to be performing at a Lake High School basketball game on Dec. 23rd. She is participating in a cheer clinic with High School cheerleaders and they will teach a dance for the girls to perform at half time.

Kourtney has a Christmas program on Dec. 15th at 7pm at Children of Grace. Her class has been working hard learning songs for it and there will be cookies and punch afterwards. I can't believe this will be her last preschool program. I think I am going to have a harder time sending her to Kindergarten next year then I thought.....

Happy 2nd Birthday Nico!!!

Dear Nicolas,

I cannot believe today is your 2nd birthday already.....it seems like only yesterday I was talking to your mommy about possible baby names; and now, here you are growing up and becoming a little man. You are such a cutie, and it is always so much fun when we get to spend time with you. Your beautiful blue eyes and your smile are irresistible....I really don't know how it is possible for anybody to ever tell you "no." We are all very excited for your birthday party at Pump it Up on Saturday...Kourt wakes up every morning asking if it is party day yet.

I just want you to know that we all love you very, very much and we are so excited to see what the next year has in store for you. Mommy told me that you are talking a lot more now, and I know she will keep me updated on all the other new things you are learning. I can't wait until the first time you say my name....I'm pretty sure you will get whatever you want that day just because I will be so happy!

We love you Nico and hope that you have a great 2nd birthday!!!

James, Terri, Kait and Kourt

A Few Updates....

I know it has been awhile since I wrote, so I thought I would update everybody on what has been going on with the Leonard's...just in case people are still checking my blog! :)



Kaitlyn turned 9 and had an awesome time at Pump It Up. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us! It was by far her favorite birthday party yet, it even beat out her Chuck E Cheese party if you can believe that! I'm still having a hard time believing she is 9 already....

Kaitlyn started school on August 26th, so she is now officially a 4th Grader. Lake Elementary is trying out a Project Based Learning Classroom this year and Kaitlyn got accepted into it which was pretty exciting. It is a class combined of 4th and 5th graders....there are 45 students in the class but there are also 2 teachers. She loves it so far, and she is doing awesome. We can go online this year and view her grades and she has A's in every single assignment so far. For their first project they have to make a model of the solar system. She is very excited about it, and has already come up with some great ideas to construct it all on her own.
Kaitlyn is cheering this year for the (so far) undefeated Chiefs. This summer she had to go to Dance Camp for 3 days to learn a routine for Half Time. Even with her 6+ years of dance, she found the routine a little challenging at first, but she caught on fast and does a great job with it. AND she was the only one chosen to go into a split at the end of the routine so she is very excited about that!

Kourtney turned 5 on September 7th with a Hannah Montana themed party. She also got to have her first sleepover with her friend Kierstan the night before the party so it was a pretty crazy weekend. Kourtney did not get to start Kindergarten this year unfortunately because her birthday did not meet Lake's cutoff so she is in the five's class at Children of Grace. She is doing great, and her teacher has told me that she is already more then ready for Kindergarten. She is starting to read and write some simple words including "butt", which she thinks is hillarious, thanks to the boys in her preschool class. Kaitlyn has been working hard with her too, and has actually taught her some simple addition facts.

So this should catch everybody up on everything that has been going on.....it was a crazy summer, but we had a lot of fun. Dance Class and swimming lessons have started up again, so look for more updates soon. Kourt has also been begging me to sign her up for gymnastics so she will prolly start that next month......my life as the girls chauffeur has begun! :)

Kaitlyn's Birthday Party....

I know it is very early, but I wanted to let everyone know that I booked Kaitlyn's birthday party this year at Pump it Up in Hartville. It is going to be on Saturday, July 19th from 1-3pm, and everybody is invited!!! She is sooo excited! She has never actually been there....Kourt has gone there twice for her friends Birthday parties but Kaitie always has had to stay home. The best part is adults are aloud to play on all of the inflatables too so it should be a blast, just make sure you wear socks if you are going to play. And keep in mind the 25 kids she is aloud to invite to the party. We figured she should have at least that to invite considering she has friends at school, dance and the daycare. But I also have a question for you guys.....would it be tacky for her to distribute her invitations to her friends at school on the last day which is Friday? I know it would be like a month and a half early but it is always hard to track down her friends addresses. So anyways, I'll check in with everybody when the party gets closer....just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

9 More Classes to go.....

So I think I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up, and believe it or not it is not a professional student :) I signed up last week at Brighton College so I can become a certified medical coder. This college is an affordable, accredited college out of Hudson that is totally online, and you can finish the course in 9-12 months. And it prepares you to take the certification test which is pretty much required if you want to get a job. My first class was Intro to Healthcare which I finished in about 4 days.....and I just got my exam back and I got an "A." Don't get to excited tho....this was the easiest class I have ever taken! Now I have to take Skills for Success which also looks like an incredibly easy class, but there are actually assignments that have to be turned in so we'll see. Some other classes I have to take is Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, and at least 3 separate coding classes. Just knowing I will be getting out of the daycare soon will keep me focused and determined to get done as soon as I can. So, if anybody is bored and wants to help me study let me know :)

Introducing Kaitlyn the Ballerina....

Kaitlyn started taking dance 6 years ago when she was 3 years old. Her first class was a Creative Movement/Ballet Combo class. She loved to come home and perform for anyone who would watch her. The only thing was she would not dance until she was announced. So every time she was ready to perform her routine, someone had to say dramatically "Introducing....Kaitlyn the Ballerina!!" And if she didn't like the way you said it she would make you do it again. At that point I knew that she was definitely a dancer.

I was positive of this until the night of her very first dance recital. She had two routines to dance that night and I remember she was very nervous about it. When I dropped her off in the dressing room she began to tear up but I figured she would be ok after a couple of minutes. When it was her turn to dance her teacher led her and the rest of her group on the dark stage, and when the music started the lights turned on. They had never practiced it that way during the dress rehearsal and I think it totally freaked Kaitlyn out to see the room packed full of people, and she just stood on the stage and cried. To say the least I was completely mortified! Her second dance went a little bit better. She came onstage with red, puffy eyes but she actually danced a little bit until she tripped and fell on stage. Then she was embarrassed and started crying again. This was the same year that she announced to the owner of the studio during the finale of the show that she had to go potty, so the owner announced in the microphone that the mother of this little girl needs to come get her and take her to the bathroom.

After this recital experience James and I were really not sure if Kaitlyn was going to be the dancer that we thought she was going to be. But she convinced us that she still wanted to take lessons and we signed her up again for more classes......at a new studio of coarse :)

We put her in Rising Star Dance Center and that's where she has been ever since. This year she made the Elite team and she went to her very first competition today at Firestone High school. Her group earned a silver for their lyrical dance. The studio got a trophy and she got to take home a ribbon. It really was awesome that they earned a silver because it was everybody's first time at competing.

It hit me today as I was watching her dance that she is growing up so fast......I really don't know where the last 8 1/2 years have gone. And she really has become the dancer that I had hoped she would. And for the very first time she had a huge smile on her face while she was performing which was awesome. I realized that all the practices and the time spent running her back and forth 3 days a week to the studio, not to mention all the money put into her classes have been totally worth it to see her so happy today and to see her do well enough with her group to win a trophy at their very first competition. It will be fun to see what the future has in store for her, and what opportunities will come about from her years of dancing. Now everybody just needs to remind me that I wrote this when it comes down to recital week and we are practically living at the dance studio......