Dancing Queen

To say I'm a proud Momma might be an understatement!

(Her favorite part? Getting to wear "mascara"!)

On Saturday, Ava had her 1st ever dance recital! SO EXCITING!! Don't know if the excitement was more expressed by me or by Ava, but exciting none-the-less!

She has taken dance for this past year in a 3-4 year old ballet and tap class. I absolutely adore her studio. I've been so impressed with the technique she's been receiving, even at such a young age. No "Skip to My Lou" song and dance here! Lots of fun, but with good technical lessons in the mix! She's had a great year and I know she'll excel quickly here!

They put all that fun and learning to good use at the recital this past weekend and did an awesome job!

Of COURSE, I cried! Come on!! Who wouldn't? (Though it's true....I cried for 5 other groups with kids I didn't even know. I can blame that on the hormones, right?)

As line leader of her class, Ava had a lot riding on the performance. And she DID NOT disappoint! She came right out, went straight to her spot and did all her moves beautifully!

Such a proud Momma!

 (Her "silly" faces...sigh)

Thank you to all the family that came to see her! We were all thrilled you could make it! And she LOVED getting all those beautiful flowers!

Fish Outta Water

Well, the first week is over. I think Ethan is VERY glad! I thought after a day or two he'd be more accustomed to what was happening, but no. He cried EVERY DAY!!

Sweet little stubborn boy!

Poor Miss Carole!

Good thing she's used to it...sort of.

On the last day of the week, Miss Carole takes pictures of the kids. Here's what she caught of Ethan. It's a very true representation of the week.

The funny thing is, he DID do his work. As soon as Miss Carole counted 1, 2, 3, off he went!

Kick, Kick, Kick....straight to the wall! He had no problems with the actual learning, just that it wasn't what HE wanted to do. Like I said, STUBBORN!!

Here's 2 more of him actually swimming.

Here's hoping next week goes slightly smoother!

Busy Busy Busy

We are some busy folks this week! Thank GOODNESS Mike has off this week to help out! Ava is off to the first of 2 Vacation Bible School camps and Ethan is starting his swim lessons! Plus, Ava's dance recital is on Saturday and I have my glucose test this week too! Wow, seems like a lot, but I do love to be busy!

This weeks VBS is at our beloved Miss Debbi's church.

Ava loves it because she gets to see all of Miss Debbi's kids, too! Lots of fun!

Swim lessons....Poor Ethan.....

He had such a fond love of the water last week. I'm crossing my fingers AND toes that tomorrow goes well. All morning long I had a sinking feeling that he just didn't know what was about to hit him.

He started strong. Went fairly easily to Miss Carole, our swim teacher. Not much fussing until about 5 minutes in. Then, just cried the whole time. The funny thing was, he kept doing what he was supposed to do. Just cried whenever he was above the water. Poor Miss Carole. We might need to get her some ear plugs!

Going into the water for the 1st time. Not too shabby...

 Kick, Kick, Kick

 Annnnnndddd.....here come the tears!

 Starting to calm down, it seems. Sweet boy!

 Floating on his back

 Hopefully the rest of this week and next goes well for the little swimmer!

Animal Kingdom

As promised, here are some fun pictures with Ava, Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Danny at Animal Kingdom from last week.

She had such an amazing day! I was so proud of her for going all by herself and being so BRAVE! Trust me, it takes a lot to get her to do something alone these days! But she did it and she had a blast! I think her favorite thing about the whole day was that face paint. First of all, she LOVES unicorns. Score!! She said to me (as we were washing it off in the bath that night) how that was THE BEST face paint she'd ever had!

Thanks for the memories Danny and Stephanie!

STEEE-RIKE!

Today was a fun, new adventure for us! We recently found out that during the summer there's a Kid's Bowl Free program. One of the mama's in our playgroup mentioned it, so I went ahead and signed both kiddos up! It's a GREAT bargain too! They get to bowl almost any day of the week ALL SUMMER LONG for free! What an awesome idea...and I DO love air conditioner in these H.O.T. summer months! Phew!

So today was our first experiment with bowling. Ava loved it! She's been practicing (on the Wii, of course) and kinda had the gist of it. Ethan was thrilled to roll the ball down the lane too, though he wanted to chase after it once he released it!

Overall, it was a success. I know we'll be heading back there again many times this summer!

Just a Note

Today is an exciting day for all the kiddos!

First off, Ava got to go to Animal Kingdom with Aunt Steph and Uncle Danny for the day! This is WAY exciting because, though it may be hard to believe, Ava is a little nervous nelly when it comes to doing something "unknown". At the first invite, she was a definite NO on going. Once I told her they'd buy her food (funny what food will do for a kid) she was on board. Throughout the day we've been receiving pictures and she seems to be having a BLAST! Will  post more later!


Second off, today is Ethan's 17 month old birthday! My oh my does time fly! This little guy is turning into such a sweet little boy! He LOVES his toys, especially balls (footballs to be specific). He also LOVES his sister. In fact, today he's a little lost without her. Every time we get up to do something he keeps asking for her. I know she's missing him to and their "reunion" later tonight will be precious! He's such my little lover boy too! Oh! And what a joker personality! He's good a peek-a-boo and being a little mischievous! I guess that's what little boys are made of!


Thirdly, baby #3 is 26 weeks in the belly today! HOORAY for both of us! We've reached the 3rd trimester and I'm am stoked! Can NOT wait to meet this little bitty! She will be such a joyful addition to our already "house full of love"!

Rainy Wednesday

Ava has been DYING to use her rain boots! Thankful to finally be getting some rain, today turned out to be a great day to try out these new boots. By the way, the boots were a STEAL at $1.00 from a garage sale! :) Love great deals!

When we got home from a friends house, she immediately ran to her room, grabbed the boots and coat and headed outside. Such a sweet girl!