Because It's Funny, That's Why

Buddies

Because we do a lot of traveling, we were gone the day that they took "buddy pictures" at school.  So our little princess did not get her picture in the yearbook with one of her little girlfriends.  So instead, her friend's mom took a picture of them on their recent playdate and now they have the picture to frame in their rooms.  Aren't they adorable?

Pointers from a Pro

My husband's dear cousin got married right after we got back from Hawaii and my daughter was her flower girl.  Since the bride was very active in ballet growing up and throughout college, she asked my little ballerina to perform some dance moves down the aisle.  Of course, my princess was thrilled to get to perform and especially to get some pointers from the beautiful bride.

Pictures from Our Hawaii Trip

There's just too much to tell in a blog.  Next time you are at my house then ask to see the scrapbook I made of the trip.  It was AWESOME!

From A to Z

Every year, the kindergarten classes have a recital at the end of the school year to celebrate learning their ABCs.  Each kiddo dresses up as something from the alphabet and they each have a little ditty they sing about the characters.  In previous posts you will recall my daughter was "Gertie Goose" Below is a picture of this year's "Willy worm", "Benny bear" (my darling), "Zelda zebra", "Mr x-ray" and "Vinny volcano".  Oh yes, boys, I AM saving these as blackmail.  You are just TOO cute!

Recital 2014

In the latest installment of my daughter becoming a prima ballerina, she dons a navy blue and white tutu and dances beautifully at their end of season recital.  She is becoming very graceful and poised.

 

Youth Track 2014

Here's a few cute shots of my little track stars and their teammates this year

Headed North

We went up to the great state of Alaska last month to visit my sister and family for my niece's graduation.  It was a nice chance to visit with everyone and catch up on all those things we miss over the miles.

Me and my beautiful mom

My 3 favorite sass-tastic nieces

Farewell Awanas

Here's a pic of our most recent year-end awards ceremony.  The kids have participated in a neighboring church's Awanas program for several years now but recently decided that they would like to try the youth group at our church instead.  This would be my daughter's last year as a "spark" (grades K-2) anyway so it seems like a good year to change.  I am looking forward to their new adventure but will miss the good leaders and friends they have made at Awanas. 

His Good Luck Outfit

My little prince charming has decided that his fireman outfit is "lucky".  That means that for most occasions it makes the attire appropriate.  He wears it to the super market, the swimming pool (although I don't allow it IN the pool), and even sleeps in it sometimes.  So it was no surprise when recently he decided to wear it fishing with Daddy.  It obviously worked because they caught fish.  Although the fishing luck may also be due to their tradition of kissing any fish they catch before they throw them back.  These two traditions are independently cute, but when I caught a picture of them simultaneously in action it was priceless.

F is for Flying and Fishing

How cool is it that you can fly into an airport in Lake Isabella, camp under your wing of your plane and fish within walking distance of the runway.  Well, we didn't do the camping but we hung out for a day and definitely took the chance to go fishing.  What a neat pit-stop on our way to Paso Robles to visit family.

My sister-in-law-to-be graduated from Law school this month so we headed out to Phoenix to celebrate and support her.  They just bought a house, so we stayed with them but before we got there we took a day to stay on the Colorado river with the kids at a casino called the Blue River.  It's got a cool indoor water play area where the kids can slide down the water slide or play in any of the many levels of pools or fountains.  It was a nice way to spend a weekend and enjoy time with family.

Two Easters

 This year we got to celebrate two Easters.  The kids were out of school since they hadn't had any snow days this year and we headed down to the desert to visit family for the first one.  We are very blessed to have aunts, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents close enough to celebrate with them a few times a year all together.  We also got to see my sweet nephew and watch him toddle all over Great-grandma's house.  It's such a neat experience to enjoy holidays with kiddos and it reminds you of the value of family.  Also, seeing one of my sisters reminds me of how much I miss her since we live several hours away and don't get to visit very often. 

Then we went out to the wilderness and camped with some friends and rode ATVs.  We woke up from our tents to find that the Easter bunny had hidden eggs all over the campsite.  Luckily, the dogs were all tied up so they couldn't get to them first.  The kids had a fun time looking all over for eggs and doing a little target practicing with their bb guns when they were done.  They were very different kinds of Easters but both were fun.

First Field Trip

As kindergarteners these boys have been looking forward to their first field trip all year.  They got to take a trip recently to the local fire department and although it was cool, two of their daddies are firemen and my little man took friends to their own tour of a firehouse earlier this year (see previous posts).  So for these three little guys, the highlight of the day was getting to ride the school bus.  Isn't that funny?

King of the Hammers

We went camping this month out in the desert for the first time to see the "King of the Hammers" competition.  Literally, thousands of RVs set up a mini community in the middle of nowhere and all bring their dune buggies, 4x4s, rock crawlers and anything else they can makeshift up to race in the desert.  It was pretty windy but we camped in a sheltered spot so the only time we even noticed it was when we went to watch the races.  The kids didn't care though.  They just went about their business, catching lizards...