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And She Dances

Reegan had her first dance class yesterday. She was so excited...she has been asking about taking dance for a little while and loves to dress up with Cora in her ballerina outfit and has been practicing dance moves that Reeva and Rylee have shown her. Her favorite is practicing Pique Pas de bourree - the girls laugh at her when she tries to say that one but it is completely adorable. :) She did a very good job for her first class though she had a little trouble keeping up in a few areas and her coordination was very cute to watch - sometimes she would drift from what the teacher was doing and just dance to her own little tune. She was just dancing away and loving every minute of it! She also got to do some tap and jazz. And, of course, I have a few pictures to share...hope you all have a great day - be sure to dance to your own music! ;)

Right as she jumped out the car - her outfit was a tad big but she didn't care in the least :)

I couldn't resist this shot of her walking to class - she loved getting to use Rylee's pink ballet bag (and will use Reeva's purple bag for the next class -lots of choices with two older sisters:)

Picking out some new ballet shoes!

Another School Year Begins

I can't believe that another summer has passed and the kids began another first day of school. Of course, they were up bright and early and ready to go. Rylee kept trying to drag me out of bed to get product for her hair. She wanted to braid it last night so she would have wavy hair for two high ponytails (which she switched this morning to low ponytails). Reeva wanted her hair down with wavy curls like Aunt Becca's. We couldn't find the big curling iron so it took a little while to try to get it curled with the tiny curling iron I had. But, she's not picky and was happy to go eat breakfast. :) Reece, on the other hand, could have cared less if we combed his hair at all but he did let me help him fix it. (though I had to drag him away from his legos to do it;)


We finally got outside to snap a few pictures.

There they go - off to another first day of school. Two fourth graders and a first grader. I know it is very cliche' but, seriously, where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday Rylee and Reeva were heading down for their first day of kindergarten. I'm not sure that this was their first day, but I think it was one of their first days. How sweet it is to look back and think of this incredible journey that has got them from that day to this one.

Ok, time to get my day started. Lots to do - it's the beginning of my final year at home with Reegan - not to mention...a house that needs some major attention. :( And Rylee reminded me last night that I need to bake some cookies because I always have cold milk and cookies fresh from the oven when they get off the bus from the first day of school ("well, except for last year" she said, "because Reece was sick and came home and so we had Oreos."). Sounds like I'd better get busy.

Rock Stars

Randy and the kids thought this video was the greatest...they just crack up every time they watch it. This is definitely their dad coming out in them. Reegan cracks me up laying on the floor jamming with her raquet guitar. You have to pause my blog music and turn the volume all the way up on the computer to hear the music they are rockin' to...even then it is a little fuzzy...although it's not too bad for a cell phone, I guess!

Sink or Swim?!

Or, in Reegan's case, maybe neither. :) I couldn't resist grabbing my cell phone today and taking this picture so I can remember this summer and how our swimming escapades went. Reegan always wants to go swimming but does not care for the water - especially in her face. She never has liked getting her hair washed - water in her eyes or ears - bathtime is no fun with her! The pool we usually goes to has steps that she usually parks herself on and spends her time in shallow water with no fear of getting her face wet. The other day was the first time she let me take her hands and pull her around the pool - with floaties, of course - and she held her nose and put her face in the water!! She was so proud. :)

Today, Nikki asked if we wanted to go with her to Kirk's parents house and swim. The kids thought it sounded fun - only one problem - it's an above ground pool which means there is only one depth and no steps to sit on. So, I made sure we had plenty of floatation devices and, as you can see, I think Reegan used every single one! But she was in - even though it took a little while to get her to this point she had a lot of fun. We're thinking we may have to go back a time or two before school starts next week.

Kids Day 2009

Today we celebrated our second annual Kid's Day. "Kid's Day," you ask? For our house it started last year when the kids approached me and asked, "Mom, why is it that there is a Mother's Day and a Father's Day, but no Kid's Day?" Hmmm, good question...which led me back to when I was a kid and it seems that me and my siblings had thoughts along the same lines and approached my mom and dad...to which they invented a Kid's Day for us...my, didn't we think that was a wonderful thing!! :) A whole day just for us...breakfast in bed, no chores, fun activities and maybe a little gift. So, why not Kid's Day? Of course, I like to think I celebrate my kids every day - after all they are special to me every day...yes, even on the days that they are "this close" to causing me to lose what sanity I have left! ;) But, why not have a day to let them know? So, what do we need...a date, right? Thinking back, I remembered Kid's Day being in July and that seemed to be a pretty good month for us...Randy's farming has settled down and it's not yet time for school. I'm not sure the exact date we chose last year and for this year I just chose a day that looked like it would work...I have to say I did plan a little better last year but, no matter, the kids loved it just the same.

Randy got up and started making "Dad's Special Chocolate Chip Pancakes" and I quickly started hanging streamers and drew up a sign that read, "Happy Kid's Day!" Autumn came upstairs and I put her to work helping me. I heard Reeva get up and rushed to the stairs and told her that she could read a little if she wanted...that I was making up the chore list for the day. I had told them yesterday that we had lots of work to do today. I knew telling them I was making "my list" would keep them up there a while. :) Once we got the decorations up, Autumn went upstairs to check on the kids. They were pretty bummed about all the chores they were going to have to do...Rylee and Reeva tried to talk Aunt Audie into taking them to work with her...she said she would ask but my list looked pretty big. While Autumn was talking to them she said Rylee walked over to her dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a card. She looked at the card and then said, "Oh man, we missed Kid's Day." I think she looked at the date from last year...not sure why she pulled the card out and thought about it then...but, anyway, about that time Randy called for them to come to breakfast.

And so our day started. Everyone ate pancakes (and didn't have to clean up their dishes afterward!) and then got dressed for the day. We decided to make it a back-to-school Kid's Day so we headed to Eville for everyone to get a few new clothes for school and to pick out school supplies. We also took them to see G Force in 3D at the IMAX Theater. They had a blast. I snapped this photo as we sat outside eating ice cream at GD Ritzies. Yummy!

It was then time to head for home so they popped in a movie that their dad bought them while we were picking out school supplies and settled in for the ride. It was a long, but happy day.

Happy Kid's Day, kiddos...thanks for being such awesome kids! We love you...xoxo ~Mom&Dad