Hailey's Dance Recital

We have been looking forward to the first part of May for months!  Hailey decided to do dance this spring and we have anxiously been awaiting the arrival of the dance recital.  This year the theme was "Disney Magic" and was centered around the Disney Princesses.  Hailey group did a dance from the show "Brave" and their costumes had them dress up as the princess Merida.  

She looked so cute, I could hardly stand it!

Their teacher even made them a little halo complete with curling ribbon at the back, to make them look like Merida with her long, curly, red hair.

The night of the dress rehearsal was so exciting.  The girls had just received their costumes two day before, so this was the first time we saw them dressed up.  Here she is with two of the girls from her dance class.

I love the dress rehearsal to take pictures because we can get really close and there isn't a lot of commotion or craziness like there is the night of the actual recital.

She was so cute doing all of the moves to her dance.

I can't believe how tall and skinny she is!

She is so great at all of the moves, she really had them down pat.

There were only 5 girls in her class this year, but they all did a great job!

The night of the recital, we got there extra early to get a good seat.  Of course, that meant we had plenty of time to wait before the actual start of the program.  While we waited, we took pictures of her with all of the princess set around as decorations.  Here she is with Tiana and Ariel (her favorite princess).

Here she is with Cinderella.

And Rapunzel.

And last of all Sleeping Beauty.  We almost missed her because she was in a completely differnent part of the gym, but we spotted her and got a picture before it filled up.

Nana and Papa came down to watch the program.  They were troopers because they had already been down for the grandparent program a few days before!

We also got a quick picture of our family with our little dancer.

Hailey and Nana.

Hailey and Papa.

And I had to include this picture - Tate decided the program worked better as a spy glass and ran around saying "arrrr" all night, yes he's into pirates right now.

Way to go Sis, we sure are proud of you!  You were the best dancer up there the night of the recital.  We can't wait until the next recital!  Love you!

Miscellaneous

Here a few pictures I've taken but haven't posted yet.  Thought I'd throw them into one miscellaneous post instead of separate ones.

Tate is usually pretty good about going to the store with me when needed.  Every once in a while he will need some extra "incentive" to go during a show he likes or if he's in the middle of playing.  Times like these, I find the promise of a donut to be extremely effective is convincing him to abandon whatever he's doing and go.  During one of these times, he chose a chocolate donut at the store and after he had eaten it, you can tell how much he loved it.  Isn't there a saying out there that the more you love it, the more you wear it?  If not, then there should be.  And this kid could be the poster child.

After a long time in a crib, we decided it was time to convert it to a toddler bed for our big boy.  We have done it alot sooner for both the other kids and decided that it was time.  He loves it and thinks it's the best to be able to get in and out all on his own.  Of course we were excited for him too, until we realized that he can get up whenever he wants now and most of the time that is 6:30 in the morning!!!  Now we're wondering if this was such a good decision!

Here are our 3 after getting bathed and cleaned up ready for some popcorn.  They were all so cute, we just had to take a picture.  Nothing puts a smile on your face like the promise of popcorn!

Just a few pictures of our every day life.  What would I do without these 3 monkeys to keep me smiling?

Hailey's 1st Grade Grandparent Program

I love school programs.  It's so fun to go and see the kids perform.  This year Hailey is in 1st grade and their class, along with 3 other classes, did a Grandparents Program and invited all of the grandparents to come and see it.  Hailey was so excited and could hardly wait for the day to arrive.  We walked in and spotted her right off.  She was so excited to see us all.  Unforunately, one set of grandparents lives far away and couldn't make it, but we knew they were there in spirit with us.

She is so cute, she just makes me smile.  

Nana and Papa came down to see the special program and Tate had fun climbing all over the two of them the entire time!

I loved the program they put on.  They had so many fun songs and actions, they had us laughing the whole time!

Hailey kept her special part a secret and was almost bursting by the time the day arrived.  The cutest part was that she was to hold up the "T" in the word Grandparents, but she got so excited, she held it up sideways!  It was so darling!

After the program, the grandparents were invited back to the classrooms for a special treat and to be presented with a special card.  We loved the cookies they had for us and Nana and Papa loved seeing Hailey's classroom and her desk.

Tate snuck into the last picture at the last minute, so we decided to do another with just Hailey and Nana and Papa.

And of course, one her and each of them separately.

These pictures turned out so darling!

Thanks Nana and Papa for coming all the way down for the program!  We love you!

Easter 2013!

I'm a little behind in getting some of these recent events posted, but I'm trying to catch up!  We had a very fun Easter this year.  The kids were so excited for the Easter Bunny to come and leave them all sorts of presents and candy. 

Zach loved all the fun things he got.  

He tore into his basket before I could even take a picture!  His favorite thing (besides all of the candy) was the new MP3 player he got - complete with arm band so he can listen to music while mowing the lawn - just like his dad!

Hailey was a little bit more careful and we were able to reconstruct hers before I took the picture.

Hailey's favorite thing was all the candy of course - she's a sugar-a-holic!  But she also loves the MP3 player she got.  She didn't need an arm band, but she was so excited that it was red! 

Tate wasn't sure about all of the presents, but he loved them all.  He was really excited about his new sport ball sheets to go on his crib/toddler bed. 

He also got some headphone and a fun sprinkler to share for the summer.

They all loved all of their gifts!

Once the excitement of the easter baskets died down, we started the easter egg hunt.  The easter bunny always leaves filled plastic eggs around the family room for the kids to find.  Hailey decided to put on her bunny ears for the hunt.

Tate did too and was so excited every time he found an egg, he had to show me each and every one!

After we got ready for church, I had the kids sit down for a quick picture.  They are getting so big and I'm feeling like I'm not taking near enough pictures of them!

How I love these three!  Hope you all had a Happy Easter too!

Crazy days!

Some days are just crazy in many ways.  Some days when the kids are at school and daddy is at work, the little one will amaze me at how he entertains himself.  Tate's been obsessed with pulling games out of the closet to play with, just like his older brother and sister.  He was in there one day and happened to spot the parachute and he would not leave the closet without it.  Even though I wasn't exactly sure how he was going to play with it by himself, he amazed me once again.  He spent the first little bit running around with it like a cape.

Next thing I knew, he had it on his head and was running around looking through the mesh center.  As you can tell from his expression, he thought this was AWESOME and so, so very funny!

I admit that I'm addicted to that smile - how can you not smile back and be happy?

He was definitely entertained for over and hour and managed to keep his mom entertained as well.

We love this little boy and can't imagine life without him!

Zach's Birthday - 2013

We had another birthday.  Yep, Zach turned 10 this year - when did that happen?  He keeps getting older and older and I keep wondering where all the time has gone.  Seems like with his birthday in March, the start of the new year is the start of another countdown until his birthday.  Zach's birthday was on a Monday this year and when we ended up going to Nana and Papa's house for a couple of baby showers the Saturday before, we decided to throw in a birthday party with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins while we were there.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures of the presents, fun, and crazy looking cupcakes I made for the day.  But he had a blast and loved being together with the extended family.  

When the actual day of his birthday came around, we had a small party with just our little family.  We went to dinner at IHOP and I think Zach has found a new favorite restaurant - breakfast of any kind?  He's sold.  He had a plate of 5 LARGE pancakes and polished the whole thing off, including part of Hailey's pancake (I don't want to even think about how much he'll eat when he's a teenager!).  After dinner we headed home to open our presents to him.  

Tate gave him a football.

Hailey gave him new scout stuff for moving up into Webelos.

His dad and I gave him a set of books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series), 

 A new Lego Ninjago Lego Set, and ...

A longboard.

Yep, he was pretty excited.  He's been begging for one of these for years.  After opening the presents, he headed outside to try it out.  

After we pulled the kids back in and got them bathed, we decided to have a little singing and candle blowing ceremony.  Since we didn't have any cupcakes left, Zach decided he wanted banana bread as his "birthday treat."  So we stuck some candles in, sang "Happy Birthday" and ...

He blew them out.

Not a typical birthday, but I think it was a hit.  He kept telling me all night that it was the "best birthday ever!"    As long as he's happy, then I'm happy.  So traditional birthday or not, it seems he had a great one this year!  We sure love you Zach!