S'more Please!

We recently broke out the new firepit for the back yard and finally had a day nice enough to try it out. The kids loved having a campfire in the back yard while they played and enjoying some S'mores made at home.  They've already been asking for a round 2, guess I'll be keeping S'more ingredients on-hand all summer long. Come on over and enjoy some with us!

End of Year Recital

This little dancer did another great job at her end of the year performance on Saturday.  She loves performing and absolutely loved that so may people came to watch her.  They started off with a little tap number this time from her Tap/Ballet class.

Then they did a longer version of Who Let the Dogs Out from their winter program. 

Sorry for the blurriness, my phone camera didn't seem to like all those sparkles under the lights. 

She's still so funny on stage and can't wait to get up there every single time.  Afterwards, she chose where to take her entourage for brunch and we enjoyed some giant dishes at Black Bear Diner with the group.

And she enjoyed gifts from her adoring fan club. Roses from Mom and Dad. More roses and a necklace from Papa Ringo and Grandma Judi and after we got home more flowers got delivered to the house from Grandma Nette and Papa Kevin who couldn't make it.  It must be hard to have such adoring fans everywhere you go.

What a girl! She's ready for a quick dance break and then onto team try-outs and summer classes.   There's no stopping this girl when it comes to doing something she loves. And there's no stopping this Momma in helping her make it happen.

P.S. A special thank you to DaNell who came up early to help with hair and makeup. She looked adorable. I have so much to learn about being a dance-mom.

16 Years!

Last week we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary!  We started the day off with what Mike called, "extra cheese" when I had hidden several small gifts around the house for him with little notes on them to match the gifts. But all in all, he admitted that he loved everything I bought him.

After a day full of chores and running kids around, Mike came home with these goodies for me.  

Does he know me or what? 

After attending Faith's dance recital, we finally got to sneak away for a late dinner together. Of course he took me to one of my favorites, Texas Road House!  Yum,

This was a little more subdued  and laid back anniversary for us than the last few years which I had thought may leave us a little disappointed in the end, but luckily now that it's over, I think it was a nice change of pace.  I seriously don't know what I did right in this life to deserve this guy. So glad he's stuck with me through it all so far. He really is my Superman.

End of Year Choir

These boys are done with their choir en devour for the year. They finished off the year with a patriotic themed choir performance. They did several songs. Some of which they participated in, some of which they kind of just stood there. I think we had a combination of nerves, fatigue and missing-daddy-itis (as he was out of town that evening) going on, but we managed to power through and get a few decent recordings. And if nothing else, they sure looked all handsome.

 I'm really proud of them for sticking this through the whole year. Hopefully they decide to join again in the fall. 

P.S. I seem to be having some difficulties getting these video's to load, I'll keep you updated if/when I make it happen. 

Spring Pre-School Program

The end of the school year is nearing, which means it's time for more programs and singing! And out little performer didn't disappoint!  She got up early again so I could get her dressed and ready to go.

Here's a sampling of the many many numbers they performed for us.  Can you pick her out of the crowd?

This girl and her pizazz were the life of the party. We had several comments from other parents about how funny and cute she was as well as her teachers that just eat her up with it. In the words of Miss Kristen, "She owned that program."

Happy 60th Momma!

This month we did a little belated birthday party for my Mom's 60th. Since she was born in the 50's we decided to pay homage to the era with a little sock-hop party.  We all had a blast! We sang, we danced, we hula hooped, we limbo'd, we ate and had soda floats. A great time was had by all in attendance.  We are so happy that my Momma was finally home and able to finally enjoy her day, even if she couldn't participate as much as she would have liked.  Happy 60th Momma!

Dance Poser

Faith's Dance pics for the year are in and I couldn't be happier with them. I love that she's so enthralled with dance.  She's even been given an invitation to audition for one of the competitive dance teams at her studio to travel around the state and compete in dance competitions. Right now, she's all for it. We'll see how it goes next month at auditions!  What a dance ham. Can't wait for her spring recital in a couple of weeks.

Lantern Fest

After recovering all week, Mike and I got to enjoy a little date night and do something I've been wanting to do for a while, attend a local Lantern Fest!

We arrived a few hours before dark and braved the cold and wind. We ended up being so cold, that we had to buy sweatshirts to go over the sweat shirts we were already wearing.

Because we had gotten there so late, the firepits had already been claimed, but luckily a nice family invited us over to join theirs and warm up with them once we were able to light them up.  We got to warm up and enjoy some s'mores while waiting for the wind to die down enough that we could have the launch. 

Our persistance paid off and made all the cold worth it when we got to light up our lanterns that we decorated while waiting. 

 I went first and up mine went into the night sky.

Then it was Mike's turn to let Bulbasaur free.   

We watched the thousands of lanterns being released for a while and too some selfies

Mike managed to take this cool panoramic of it all. 

And I managed to take a short, but effective video of the magic. 

I could have stayed and watched all night, good thing the cold and the babysitter at the house were beckoning us to return to reality.  The pictures definitely don't do it justice. I can't wait to do it again later this year. Next time with the kids in tow.