Another year, another recital...

After a crazy busy week, Annalee had her recital last night. It is hard to enjoy the extra long civic center rehearsals while trying to entertain(chasing) a toddler, but the recital made it all worth it. Annalee's turning into such a great little dancer. She works so hard learning the dances and looks like she's having a great time when she's on the stage. Ballet is not her favorite, but it was never my favorite, either. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Here's a quickly snapped picture on our way out the door. This was her jazz and tap costume. We loved it!

In the dressing room with Helayna before the recital. We have been blessed with some great friends from dancing that we might not have formed relationships with if not for the time in the studio. I found another workout buddy!

Ballet... I loved their ballet costume and loved that they danced to Proud to be an American this year.
Annalee, we are so proud of you for all of the hard work and discipline you have shown this year!

Fun in the sun

We had a busy, but very fun afternoon at the park today with the kids, two of Michael's friends and some of our friends. The weather was nasty this morning, so I was worried we weren't going to be able to enjoy the afternoon at the park, but the weather turned out beautiful! Michael spent the night with some friends last night and had a great time. He wasn't ready for the weekend to end after going to church with them this morning and to eat lunch, so they came home with him. We went to the park for Jimmy and Timmy Snow's 30th birthday bash and let the kids play.




Annalee thought the cake was good enough to lick the plate clean!

Bella and Brody spent some time together this afternoon. I think they enjoyed each other's company!

I had to share a picture of Bella's first ball pit experience at The Jungle Gym, too! She enjoyed it as long as there weren't too many kids around.

It was such a great weekend with friends! I loved having Patrick and Carter over and hope it's the beginning of many weekends together for the boys. They were both some of the sweetest and most polite kids I have had the privilege of being around. It's usually hard when there are 3 boys or girls close to the same age to not have an odd man out, but they all played great together. I loved it! Sherri, thank you for letting the boys stay with us this afternoon. We really enjoyed the time together and hope to do it again very soon!

A day at the park

Friday we met up with a couple of friends for a day at the park! It was hot, but the great company made up for the heat and humidity!

There was a group of kindergarteners on the playground that were interested in playing with the older boys. The boys weren't too impressed. They were very nice to the kids, though!





I think the girls had fun at the pond and walking a nature trail. I gave Annalee a little bit of space and let her go with the girls. My stomach was in knots the entire time, but she had a great time and loved having a little bit of freedom!




We had a squirrel checking things out. I think he could smell the chicken and waffle fries. He wasn't quite brave enough to come get a bite.

Bella kept stealing all of our cups. I gave up trying to keep them away from her! She loves coke, just like her Momma!

We had a fantastic day and hope to do it again very soon, before it gets miserably hot!

Homeschool Field Day

Our homeschool organization did a field day for the elementary age students earlier this month. I remembered how much I disliked field day as a child and was a little concerned my kids wouldn't enjoy it, but they had a blast! Michael made two new friends. I don't think he cared much about the activities after finding boys to talk to that have some of the same interests as him.

Soccer kick

Water break

Lined up for the relay race

Egg Toss

The boys chatting while waiting for their turn to do the egg toss.

How blessed we are to be part of a homeschool organization! These families have been such a lifeline for us this year. Homeschooling has been a challenge, but I strongly believe I am where God wants me at this time in my life. Being able to have the kids at home learning with me is such a privilege.

Tuesdays Unwrapped

Emily at Chatting at the Sky is doing a series of posts on celebrating the small things in life. I don't know about you, but I am usually so busy going from place to place and so focused on my to do list, that I usually don't take the time to notice the small things.

We had our monthly Moms Night Out with the homeschool group we are part of tonight. I am awful about finding a million different excuses for why I should not take time for me and spend a night with these moms. I love the company when I get there, but getting there is a hard thing for me. It's almost like going to the gym. I struggle with getting there, but once there I love it. We had a great time of food and fellowship. We even watched a short video "It's My Homeschool and I'll Cry if I Want To". That video had us all rolling. After it was over, one of the older moms asked to speak. She has children that are in college now and I love listening to her speak because I feel like she has so much knowledge. There are times along this journey that I have wondered if I am doing the right thing by homeschooling the kids. There are times I wonder if I am failing them. She told us tonight that she has wondered the same exact things. She has talked to her husband about it and he has told her to "examine the fruit". Those 3 words shook me to my core. There are times that I think maybe I am doing this for the wrong reasons and maybe I am going to ruin my kids. Those words reminded me how awesome my kids are. Those three words gave me so much validation. School is what could potentially ruin my children. I know it was killing Michael's quest for knowledge. That is the small thing that I am taking the time to celebrate today. The pleasure of being able to listen to a mom speak that has been in my shoes and was very successful homeschooling her children. That might be a small thing, but it has had a tremendous impact on my outlook.

Easter 2009

Better late than never, right? We had a funfilled Easter weekend with family and friends.

I think the Easter Bunny enjoyed trying to take Michael down. He almost succeeded!

Bella kept an eye on the bunny at all times.

Couch to 5K Week 1 Run 1 of 3

I have wanted to start jogging for awhile now, but have been chicken! I could come up with excuse after excuse why I shouldn't do it. I'm too big. My boobs are too big and will bounce too much. I will look funny. What if I fall? What if I sprain my ankle? What if my heart rate gets too high? What if I get so hot I get sick? I finally decided enough excuses. I would never know if I could run or not, if I didn't give it a try. A good friend of mine posted on Facebook that she was starting C25K to get back to running this spring after taking the winter off. I decided now was as good as a time as any to try to do it with her. We can inspire each other and hopefully provide some accountability for each other. After the 1st jogging session this afternoon, I so wanted to give up! But I knew if I didn't say anything about getting it done, Shannon would ask if I'd done it. I need that accountability! I need to know that I'll have to tell someone that I didn't do the workout, if asked. I did day one today and it was harder than I could have imagined. I had been telling myself that surely I can make it through 8 sessions of 60 seconds of jogging. It's only 60 seconds! How hard could that possibly be? HA! It was so hard that I didn't want to move after the 1st 60 seconds! I didn't want to take a single step, much less walk for 90 seconds then start up again! I hoped I would love it like I love the body combat class, but I didn't. My hope is that it will grow on me. I think as it gets a little easier and I'm not scared I'm going to fall flat on my face or on my butt, I'll be ok. The way I felt after I completed the session, I think, made up for the pain. When I left I was thinking that I didn't know how in the world I was going to make myself do it again on Friday. I feel differently now. I feel like I accomplished something. Yes, it was only 8 sessions of 60 seconds of jogging, but the idea of being able to run a 5K at the end of 9 weeks is an amazing feeling.