That's Life

Rachel & Ava's Summer Visit, July 2011

2011-09-22T20:15:00.011-05:00

At least twice a year we are so lucky to have my sister Rachel, and her daughter, Ava come visit us. July is one of those months, and we all love to have them here to help us enjoy the Summer! One of the requests while they are here is a visit to the barn. Ava has taken riding lessons part of the year, so she has quite an understanding of how to ride.
Laura sporting some funky cowgirl fashion, sparkly pink dress over pants, with her favorite square toe hot pink boots.
Three of a kind, and I don't if they could be any happier when they are playing together.
Ava on Rider.
Laura with the giggles on Dixie.

Son & Mother, what do you think they could possibly be telling each other as three crazy girls take turns riding them?

Rachel & Ava stayed in our little house, so it was easy to have sleepovers. That house is just the perfect place with all of it's sleeper couches.
Can you hear the giggles?

The night that Ava stayed at our house was followed by the very last ever launch of the Space Shuttle. We all were glued to the television as we watched the countdown to liftoff. What an amazing feeling, and so fun to share it with the girls.

There is still one more big post from their visit with us, my parents' 4th of July shindig!

Swimming Lessons

2011-09-21T22:35:00.003-05:00

The girls started the Summer off with swimming lessons, a much needed activity when you spend as much time in or near the water as we do. My Mom met a very nice teacher while she was at our local YMCA and was able to get her to teach my girls with some of her friend's grandchildren. It was a great environment to improve their skills.
Is this really my little 8 year old girl? Holy Cow she looks so grown up in this picture!

Laura taking a break after a good swim.
After their hard work swimming they got to play, and the really loved that. Leah goofing around with this pool toy.

What a beautiful setting for swim lessons, thanks Jane for sharing your pool!
Laura enjoying floating around the pool.
Their sweet teacher, Natalia, the girls had just a couple weeks with her, but learned so much and a great time. And now, she's already in Germany for their next assignment, and we wish her all the best!

Father's Day June 2011

2011-09-21T22:02:00.007-05:00

Is there a better place for a Florida family like ours to spend Father's Day than on our beautiful beaches? I think not! So that's exactly what we did. The girls headed out in to the Ocean as soon as we got there with their boogie boards to ride the waves.
I sure love my little surfer girls!

I Love this picture, it just gives me a glimpse of what Leah will look like as a teenager.
Joe, enjoying his day at the beach.

Building sand castles, such determination on that face.
Leah enjoying relaxing on the shore watching the waves roll in.
And proof I was there too!
Like everything Laura does, she has her own way to wear her goggles. Usually upside down, and tucked under her hair.

My thought exactly Leah, it reads "I Love the Beach".

After a fun couple of hours on the beach we met my parents at a favorite local establishment, Dewey Destin's Restaurant.
Joe liked his s'mores maker from my parents.

Granddaddy with one of his girls, Laura, looking out over the water.
My Mom with Laura.
And although he now goes by Granddaddy most of the time, he's still my DAD!

Leah's turn with her Granddaddy.

Recital- June 2011

2011-09-21T20:39:00.007-05:00

The Summer has flown by, and I have not posted since the Rehearsal waaayyy back in June. Unbelievable! I'm going to blame Facebook, and the ease I can upload photos over there, but it isn't exactly a great format for sharing the stories that go along with these images. So, after thinking about it for a while, and a little urging from my cousin Pam, I guess I'm going to keep this thing going. Besides the books that my husband prints of my blogs might be my girls' only physical record of their lives.

Without further ado, I present the pictures from the girls' Dance Recital held in early June. This is the first year that both Leah and Laura were in the "big girl show". In the past, I had been able to help each group backstage, but this year I had to make a choice. Since Laura had the larger group, I was placed in there with another backstage Mom. Leah was in good hands though with both her teacher and another Mom.
Laura was once again so excited to be performing on the big stage. And of course, to be able to wear make-up!
I got several chances to catch Leah in the hallway between dances, and my co-backstage Mom was so nice to switch off with me so I could go see Leah's group perform. I can't believe how mature my "baby" looks!
On the rare occasion I got the opportunity to snap a couple pictures of them together. And it was always such a joyous reunion when they would see each other backstage.
Leah with her group ready for ballet.
She LOVED her tap routine, performed to "Soul Man", complete with top hat and dark sunglasses.

And Laura's sassy jazz number was perfect for her personality!

All of Laura's class studying the Recital Program. Parents can place pictures and words of encouragement in the program and they each love to find their picture.
Leah with some of her class before their Jazz number performed to the Go Go's "My Lips Are Sealed".
Laura with Keilana, the daughter of my co-backstage Mom.
The whole class lined up before the finale for this group picture before the finale.
Laura with another dance friend.
Another year and a very proud Mom!
So glad my parents could join our family in celebrating such a rewarding day for a year full of hard work!
Flowers and Webkinz, we are so proud of you both!

Rehearsal Day

2011-07-18T22:56:00.005-05:00

Both girls have been dancing all year, learning three different routines, all in preparation for the annual Recital. The Friday before is always rehearsal, which means all of the stress without the audience. Hair must be up, make-up must be on and by all means don't forget any of your costume or shoes!
Laura and her group getting final instructions from their Teacher.
All dressed and ready for tap!

I was a backstage Mom for Laura's class, but thankfully one of our friends was also there, so I was able to sneak back and forth and see Leah too. They loved being able to support each other during the performances.
I got a quick flash-less picture of Laura waiting for her turn to go onstage.
Modern ballerinas, four hours is a v-e-r-y long time to keep little girls entertained. Thank goodness most of them had Nintendos to help the time to speed by.

Leah all dressed for her "Soul Man" routine. They were so cool with their hats and shades.

So proud of both of my girls.
Joe captured a picture of Laura onstage awaiting the start of her Ballet routine.

Leah's Gymnastics' Awards Day

2011-07-18T22:48:00.004-05:00

After a long year of intense practices, Leah really earned this trophy! The four of us went out to Destin to join the rest of the team families to cheer Leah on as she received her award for the season.

Two crazy girls, as usual!

The trophy was nice, but playing on the playground was even better.And a quick stop at the bookstore to round out the day. Leah thought this shark hat was hilarious.

Leah's Dance Awards Day

2011-06-21T15:25:00.005-05:00

This is Leah's 5th year dancing, I can't believe it's been that long. When she started she was barely out of diapers and now she's working her way to becoming a beautiful young lady.
We also got a preview of the Recital dances. She really had some cute numbers this year, including one performed to the Blues Brothers "Soul Man". Here she is at the beginning with her shades on.

Receiving her 5 year trophy from her teacher, Ms. Brittney.

Very proud of her dedication to her dancing.

Celebrating the last day of school!

2011-06-02T21:25:00.020-05:00

Boy Summer has put the brakes on my Blogging apparently, I'm just now getting around to finishing up this post on the girls' last day of school. After a very fun day in school we came home and they immediately got in the pool, which was still very chilly by the way.
Catching a picture of Laura's head is a rare thing, this is what she's doing most of the time.

To complete a very memorable day, we boarded the Southern Star Dolphin Cruise from the docks in Destin.
The girls had their shades on, hair braided to combat the ocean breezes, and were ready to hit the sea!
Dad with one of his girls.

Mom with Laura waiting for our dolphin adventure to begin.

Watching some of the other boats head out of the harbor, it was quite a sight to see all the seagulls hovering around them.

We do live in paradise, what a beautiful view of the Destin bridge.

The deckhands invited us to come feed the seagulls and of course the girls jumped at that opportunity.

A very happy Mom enjoying an afternoon with my family after a very fun school year.

Look at that smile...that's what we live for!

Some of the structures you see on the Destin Harbor, and of course this giant beast can not be missed.
Harry T's Lighthouse
A little boat heading back in past the jetty's.

This was the girls first time out in the open sea on a substantial boat, and I was curious how they would like the big waves. Well I guess you can tell by watching this video that they got their sea legs very quickly!

And I will say, we see dolphins all the time around here, I mean really just taking the girls to school I occasionally see them in the bay as I cross the bridge. But for some reason we were all excited to spot these on our tour.
Another boat you can go out on from Destin, quite a pretty sailboat.
My beautiful Mother, one of my favorite pictures of her.

My sweet girls enjoying a special sister moment.

A good time was had by all, can't you just almost hear the laughter in this one?

Welcome Summer...we're excited your here!

Last Day of School

2011-05-31T14:50:00.006-05:00

We are starting our second week of Summer and I'm just getting around to posting pictures from their last day of school...I guess we're just a little busy around here. Both girls had such fantastic years with their teachers and classes that both were a little sad to see the end of the year. Leah must have mentioned every day for the last couple of weeks how much she was going to miss her teacher, and Laura too just couldn't say how much she loved hers. What a joy for a me as a parent to see my girls enjoy their school days.
Laura with Mrs. Cummings, she was the perfect match for Laura, she taught the children through songs which Laura's musical mind just adored. She would come home singing about each color of the Rainbow. I was a little unsure how my full of energy & imagination little girl would be welcomed into "big school", but she was not only received with open arms, but was encouraged to flourish. She is leaving Kindergarten with a head full of excitement thinking about what she may find in First grade.
Mr. Wallace, what can I say about this teacher? He is truly one of a kind, a personality that the kids just can't get enough of, full of fun and energy, but he is also a tremendous teacher. Yes they play silly games, have numerous class mascots that most outsiders wouldn't understand, but in the process, they come away with a wealth of knowledge.
And that was just the school day, we had a very full afternoon to complete our Summer Kick-Off Celebration, and that post will be coming very soon!

Celebrating Joe's Birthday

2011-05-29T13:43:00.003-05:00

We are proud to say that is a Reservist, and as such, is required to take his physical fitness tests every 6 months. The schedule he's been on for the last several years make the test fall just before his Birthday, which usually means we postpone the cake for a few days. I think when it's a Cakemaster's Bakery Cake, it's worth the wait!
The girls singing Happy Birthday to their Daddy.

Make a Wish!

Mother's Day

2011-05-18T21:03:00.004-05:00

Should Mother's Day really only last for 24 hours? I think not! Joe started mine with three dozen roses a couple days early, and I picked up from there and delivered one of parents' favorite fast breakfast foods, Hardee's Biscuit & Gravy. After all the things my Mom does for me and our whole family, there's really not anything I can do to even that out, but we wanted to let her know how appreciated she is. Another favorite thing my Mom likes are her trips to the local spa with her friends, so that makes for a great idea for presents. Here Laura is giving Mom her gift card, enjoy your pampering Mom!
We decided to skip the brunch crowds this year and head out to Louisiana Lagniappe for and early dinner. We had a great meal and enjoyed the view of the harbor. After our dinner we relaxed out on the front lawn that surrounds the condos. The girls had a great time watching all the ducks come and go from the pond. Here are my little giggle monsters as I'm trying to take pictures.
A little better.

Laura's Year End Award Gymnastics

2011-05-16T10:25:00.013-05:00

Laura has shown such perseverance in finishing out this year of gymnastics. There were several occasions we thought that she might call it quits, but this tough little girl of mine would never give up.
Doing a little pre-awards flipping around the gym.
Coach Kristy assisting Laura in her bridge into a walk-over.

Laura's long time coach, Elaina, ready to spot her on the bars as she gives her salute to the audience.
This is such a Laura face, and I love it!

The beam is probably Laura's least favorite apparatus, and here Coach Kristy was giving her a pep talk before her mount on the beam. I could hear her telling Laura that at the end of her routine she could do a simple tuck jump dismount, or try the hand stand dismount. Even though she was afraid of it, she chose to do the handstand. Being able to face her fears and challenges like that will take her far in life.

Doing her forward somersault on the beam.
Lovely arabesque.
And there it is, her hand stand dismount. I was so proud of my little girl!
A big congratulations from Coach Kristy.So excited to get her year end award.
Each gymnast received a beautiful gymnast snow globe.
All the girls in her group showing off their reward for a year of hard work.
Happy little face!
Doing a little post show poses.

Cousin Visit

2011-05-16T10:13:00.002-05:00

You would think that we would see our family that only lives a couple hours away on a regular basis, but between our two families and combined 5 children, there seems to be little time to visit. We were very happy to have just a little time to get together a couple of weeks ago.
Isabel & Laura sharing their love for music at the organ.

Marco & Laura all smiles, just happened to catch them taking a break. There wasn't much time that they weren't running around.
Mom with Marco, can't believe how big all the kiddos are getting.
Laura, Leah & Luisa...three pretty girls!
Laura just loves to help in the kitchen, here she is helping Mom get the lettuce ready for our grilled hamburgers.
We had a great visit, and hopefully our next one will be soon!

Easter with the Family

2011-05-08T20:00:00.021-05:00

Our Easter Celebrations seemed to last the whole week long. Sunday morning the girls were excited to wake up to their baskets stuffed full with Easter treats.

After they spent a little time searching through their baskets, and eating a portion of their chocolate bunnies, we headed outside to dye some eggs. With a super busy week, and a trip to Mobile Saturday to see the Disney on Ice show, we had to do it last minute. The girls didn't seem to mind one bit, and they were happy to get creative with their eggs.
Of course someone had to draw an Owl on one of the eggs.
I put spoons in each cup of colored water, but using their hands seemed like a lot more fun. Their hands were just as colorful as the eggs, guess that's part of the experience.

All of the eggs the girls created.

Later in the day, we cleaned the girls up a little and headed over to my parents house for a grand Easter Egg Hunt and delicious lunch. The girls were oh so happy to see they had a second basket waiting for them at their house too.
And as usual there are big hugs for their Grandparents.
Girls armed with their baskets, ready to hunt!
Not exactly the best way to carry your basket, but points go to Leah for creativity.

After the hunt the girls talked my Mom into making muffins for the birds again. They collect twigs and berries and mix it with flour and water, and bake them in the oven. Laura was feeling a little expressive about the whole day.

Oh Leah, what did you do? I've seen that look a thousand times!

We had a beautiful time with the family, and once again feel so blessed to have the opportunity to make such lasting sweet memories.

Disney on Ice

2011-05-03T23:05:00.011-05:00

Our family has traveled to Disney at least a couple times a year for the last 5 years, so we're all going through a bit of a withdrawal as we're trying to not return until all the newest Disney changes are complete. We recently were able to fill a little bit of that Disney void with the traveling Disney on Ice show. It's not the same as the parks, but it will do in a pinch. We even took Flat Stanley, a visitor sent from our niece Mia, to the show.
Joe with his girls, with the way overpriced cotton candy, they got those cute Mickey ears. They kept them on for at least 5 minutes, well worth the cost, right?
The girls LOVED the show!
Love hearing the girls so excited talking during the performances.

All the villians came out during this part of they show. It was so impressive to see those giant spider webs drop out of the ceiling.
Lilo & Stitch made an appearance, the fire baton twirler started that part of the show.
Minnie doing her best Mulan impression.

The character that brought the most screams and applause from the audience was by far Tiana.

After a fun time at the show we stopped at Winzell's Oyster House in Pensacola. The girls were super silly, probably due to the entire bag of cotton candy they each consumed at the show.I mean EXTREMELY Silly!!

Leah's School Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-01T23:08:00.004-05:00

I was glad that Leah's teacher said yes to having an Easter Egg Hunt for her class. I realize there is only going to be a small window in their lives that they will thoroughly enjoy things like searching out eggs, and I'm glad to take part in it while it lasts. Leah ready to go with her Easter Pail.
Mom helping to hand out the buckets to each child.
Leah had big hugs for her Granddaddy!
The kids had no clue that they were going to have an Easter Egg Hunt, so it was really fun to surprise them with it, and they also got some cupcakes & fruit.

I asked after she got done hunting if she had wondered why I dressed her in an Easter shirt that morning. Luckily she was too drowsy to ask lots of questions, so the whole class was surprised.
All smiles at the end of a fun afternoon.

Laura's Kindergarten Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-01T11:08:00.009-05:00

Laura's Kindergarten class went all out to enjoy Easter, making Bunny Baskets out of milk jugs and creating beautiful bonnets to wear for their party and egg hunt.
Laura modeling the latest fashions in Kindergarten Easter Craft Chic!Somehow we were actually able to coral the class for a quick picture before it was time to line up for the Egg Hunt.
All five classes lined up on the sidewalk waiting for the Principal's countdown.
And off they go!

She wanted to wear her favorite dress from the fashion show she was a part of a few weeks ago. She's all girly, but she's smart enough to chose function over fashion for her school footwear. She's got to have fast sneakers to find all those eggs.
Mom helping count the eggs.
One happy girl!
Laura with her friend showing off some of their favorite eggs.
Mom and Dad at the end of the line, making sure no little ones wander off.
The kids' eyes were wide when they came into their room and saw this spread of party food.
Everyone had to check out their eggs and see what kind of treats they held.
Now that's a great day at school!

Another Night at the Beach

2011-04-28T10:51:00.002-05:00

It's rare that we get a family time evening, but we had one just a couple of weeks ago, and decided to head to the beach. One of our favorite beach front restaurants has a playground just outside the deck, and now that the girls are old enough they can run down there while we wait on food. It's a perfect set up.

A long distance shot from the deck up above the playground.

Look at that toothless grin, so cute!
And here's Joe, we call this his GQ pose.
It was a lovely evening, and we had a great dinner and had two happy girls coated with our white beach sand.

Kindergarten Field Trip

2011-04-26T21:45:00.004-05:00

Laura waited all year for her field trip, the first week of April, it was her turn! All the Kindergartners, their teachers and many trip chaperones loaded the buses to head about 30 minutes away to the local college theater.
We saw a well produced play centering around several of today's most popular children books.

So glad to have opportunity to experience all of these "firsts" with my girls.
A happy class after the show heading back to the buses.

Three of the kids from my group.

Hit the pool!

2011-04-26T15:13:00.002-05:00

My parents took the girls to the local YMCA one weekend, and met one of the swim instructors while they were there. Laura really enjoyed working with her and she has now started lessons there. She loves it and is really improving with each lesson. Here she is working with her coach Natalia in the pool.

Perfecting the freestyle.

And a little bit of fun...Cannonball!!

Do my little turn on the catwalk...

2011-04-22T21:35:00.008-05:00

Recently, a local department store, Belk's, put on a children's fashion show and Laura jumped at the chance to walk the runway. She even got to pick out her own outfit for the show. Leah, wanted nothing to do with it, but she was a good cheerleader for her sister.
Laura strutting her stuff on the catwalk.

Waving to her fans.

Love my sassy little girl, she is so brave when it comes to trying new things.

It turned out to be quite a large group of kids, just think of all the adults that go with these kids. The models had a pretty big crowd watching them show off their fashions.
Two of our friends joined us at the show, and Laura was so happy to have them there.
Riley
Savannah
To entertain the crowd while they waited for the show to start they handed out door prizes. Joe won this very nice zippered box full of perfumes and a candle.
Laura loved everything about this experience, and I'm sure she will be glad to do it again.

Pensacola AQHA Show

2011-04-14T22:00:00.012-05:00

It had been quite a while since my last show, long enough that my trailer tires were shaped to the ground. Thanks to my Dad, I was able to get everything in show shape to make it the AQHA show held in Pensacola a couple weeks ago. In the past, all I had to worry about was getting myself and my horse to the show, now I have two little girls that want to show too. This time however, Leah has aged out of the lead line class, she will have to bump up to the walk-trot class, and she wasn't ready for that yet. Laura still makes the 6 year old cut-off age, so she was all ready to show in the lead-line class.

Dad even broke out his hat for the show, doesn't he do his Texas roots proud?
Joe, official horse show photographer when I'm with the horses and kids.

The ultimate "horse show Mom", she thought she was officially done, but Laura got her back ringside.
Practicing with my little girl.

There is only one opportunity to get in the arena before the western classes, including Laura's class, so to get some riding in, I had to squeeze into their tiny saddle. I thought the hard part was going to be fitting in the seat, turns out getting my foot up to their shorty stirrups was the real challenge.

The showing part is fun, the waiting part, not so much.

Finally, Laura got her chance to warm up in the pen.

She kept telling me, "Mom, there's one of your friends, don't you want to go talk to them?" She was trying to get rid of me so she could walk around by herself. Do you see that sea of horses around her, there was no way I was letting her loose in there! That's half of my body in the edge of the picture, I got my exercise shadowing she and her sister as they took turns riding.

Apparently Cowboy Dad is a big draw with the girls.
It's show time!
I kept turning around to her and saying "Sit up, look ahead." She would be turned around looking out of the arena,oh the care free days of lead line!

The judges came up to each child, and here Tom McBeath is asking Laura what her horse's name is. She replied with a very lengthy answer, even telling him about his mom, Dixie, and how she was back at home in the barn. We were all giggling at how chatty she was, nice to know she's so comfortable in any situation.

Laura loved her prizes, especially the water gun. Seriously, giving a child a water gun while sitting on a horse might not be the best idea, luckily Rider is a saint when the kids are on his back.
My turn, Rider seemed to get a second wind after his calm performance with Laura. After quite a bit of lunging, followed by a warm-up we were ready for horsemanhsip.

Why does it look like we both might tip over to the side? At least I have a somewhat pleasant expression, I've been told I can get quite the glare going when I'm concentrating on my riding.

Wasn't our best go, but I was able to get him through a fairly decent pattern, not bad for only showing once a year, maybe.

The Nina & the Pinta come to town.

2011-04-10T21:03:00.005-05:00

Over Spring Break, two authentic replications of Columbus' ship, the Nina & the Pinta, anchored in our town. We took the girls out for a chance to see how they sailed the seas so many years ago.
They were quite a majestic site to see, and it was very funny to see these ships anchored next to speed boats and jet skis. Wonder what Columbus would think of our modern modes of water transportation.

Upon leaving the ships, the girls were just as fascinated with this forklift carrying a good size boat out of the marina building. It is amazing to see such a large boat gliding through the air.

There were many schools of fish swimming around the docks, I guess it's a great place to scoop up some bait fish before a fishing trip.
We had a great time and it such a treat to be able to see how Columbus and his men sailed the sea in his time.

Spring Break

2011-04-07T14:23:00.005-05:00

Oh how we missed our beaches! The BP oil spill stole them away from us last summer, but so far, we've got beautiful beaches and crystal clear water to play in, and I hope it stays that way! The girls' Spring Break was a week filled with sunshine, so the beach was the perfect place to play.
It makes me so happy to see them enjoying the beach, it's what makes growing up in Florida such a special experience.

I have a theory that children just don't have fully formed feeling yet, they couldn't possibly and still want to go swimming in the cold March water. Joe & I watched carefully from our chairs, and I had to dart in up to my waist to pull Laura back in one time, so I can vouch that we are not quite to our nice warm, Summer water temps just yet.

Love the squeals as the run from the waves.

Laura's 6th Birthday Dinner

2011-04-04T21:53:00.002-05:00

To end a perfectly happy day celebrating Laura's 6th Birthday, she chose Logan's as her special dinner. This place is one of her favorites because you can throw the peanut shells on the floor.

Joe with his little girl.
Checking out some more presents from her Grandparents.

Leah with Mom & Dad.

The whole wait staff brought Laura to the center of the restaurant and placed her on a chair to wish her a Happy Birthday. My attention loving little girl was actually a little startled by all of the focus being put on her.

Laura's 6th Birthday "Day"

2011-03-27T16:28:00.012-05:00

Friday, March 18th, we celebrated Laura's "real" Birthday, starting bright and early in the morning of course. Leah wanted her to open the present that she had for Laura first. Laura was thrilled with her new Webkinz Snowy Owl. Now when Leah goes on and on with her endless Owls of Ga'hooole games, she will have her very own Owl to play with.
She was just a little excited!

I think Leah might have earned the "Best Sister in the World" title that day.

Laura had mentioned in her list of gifts she might like a pink electric guitar, since I didn't come across one of those, I tried to come up with a close second. She loved her Tinkerbell Acoustic Guitar.

She more than happy to pose with her new guitar.

She kept showing me her best Taylor Swift move, she would strum the guitar and throw her hair back. She's rarely seen anything the real Taylor Swift has done, but she appeared on a Phineas & Ferb episode as herself one time, that's all it took to inspire Laura.

I had decorated her car window, what a fun surprise!

The whole family came to school to eat lunch with our sweet Birthday Girl.

What a wonderful day we had celebrating your happy life Laura, hope this year is the best yet!

Catch that Leprechaun!

2011-03-26T15:28:00.003-05:00

Laura had prepared for St. Patrick's day early with the help of my Dad. They built a fantastic trap to catch that sneaky Leprechaun. It was a very detailed project, Laura drew the Rainbow inside the box to attract him, and Dad built the catching mechanism. They had attached the gold coins to lure him in, and Laura and I found the clovers to add to the attraction.
Joe & Hunter watching as we set it up.
Very proud of her work, and ready to catch a Leprechaun.
The next morning, she was disapointed that the sneaky guy got away, but she did spot the little clovers he left in his trail, and also the box was filled with green M & M's, Irish Coins, and little pots of gold.

Laura's Dance Parent Day

2011-03-23T20:57:00.004-05:00

Last week we had an opportunity to come and watch Laura's dance class. They have learned all of their dances that they will perform at their recital in June and it was fun to see what they have been working on all year.
They have much more complicated choreography than last year, she's no longer in a "baby" class.
Look at that sassy girl!

I'm a little biased, but I think she has just the sweetest smile.
And limber, she doesn't even have to try and she can be in the splits and reach all the way down to the floor.

Laura yelling something to us as we are watching her dance. She's the kind of girl that gets bored with the practices, but will surprise you when it's the real performance time, and shine!

Ta Da!

Laura's 6th Birthday Party

2011-03-17T09:23:00.039-05:00

The girls start thinking about their next Birthday Party before the current one is even through, so needless to say there was much thought and discussion in planning Laura's 6th Birthday Party. We started thinking about having one of our friend's, Nonie, come with her traveling mini zoo to host the festivities, and from there we went through Tangled, Science Party, Gymnastics, you name it, we thought of it. But after a few months of tossing ideas around, Laura came back to Nonie's Ark, so that's what we did just this last weekend with about 15 of her friends.

Leah & Laura before the guests arrived.
Mom helping get ready before the party, standing next to our jungle themed balloons and food table.
Laura's cake, the baker copied Laura's invitations, where she had drawn jungle animals.
Me with my Birthday Girl.
The week before the party, Laura decided she would help with the decorations by drawing animals. We scattered them around the table and she was very proud of her work.

Nonie brought safari hats for all the kids.
Keilana with the girls playing jungle bingo.
The crowd growing in size.
Riley
After a couple of games, the crowd headed out to the back porch to see the stars of the show, the animals.
Laura picked a "cute" animal first, so Nonie brought out her tortoise. She held it behind her back and asked Laura to guess what it was.
The shell gave it away.
She was pleased to see that it was a cute little tortoise.

Nonie walked each animal around to each child.

Watching the cycle of life, the tortoise just about to eat a worm.
Nonie was teaching them about friction, they were told to rub their hands together as fast as the could to feel the warmth they created.
As excited as she was to see the cute creature, she was anything but when Nonie pulled out the hissing cockroach.
Marley wasn't the least bit afraid and walked right up to each animal.
Laura didn't want to touch it, but agreed to put it on her hat for a photo opportunity.
Nonie asked for volunteers to kiss the cockroach.
Ryan was game!
I love the look on Laura's face, like keep that thing away from me!
Leah, Savannah & Lily
Nonie showing the cockatoo to Gavin & Jen.
Laura was a little more ready to interact with the cockatoo.
Even decided that she would hold it.
Nonie teaching Laura how to be a pirate, first you have to make your finger into a hook...
Hold the bird on your shoulder and make your best pirate face.

This was the cutest one of them all, the chinchilla. Nonie had her smell it to see if she could tell what it was.

So soft and cuddly, she loved it!

Emily giving it some love.
"Here hold this bag.", not sure I would do that knowing the collection of animals Nonie has, but Laura was game.
She was less afraid of it than the cockroach.
Even holding it.

Everything was great until the end of the tail started tickling her neck.
Then she gave it right back to Nonie.

Nonie had the children form a circle around the snake, and let them touch it gently while it was loose on the ground.
Laura had talked about how excited she was to see the tarantula again, but when it came out she didn't want anything to do with it. Nonie talked her into at least letting the spider's web touch her hand, and then she helped her become a little Spidergirl.

Alexandria with the tarantula.
Gavin checking out the frog, which he later kissed.
Emily was game to kiss the frog too.
After a great educational show, we ate snacks and relaxed inside.
Gabby, Emily & Laura
Lily

Savannah, Laura & Emily

We couldn't have asked for a better day, and the kids had a great time running around the yard.

My Mom lighting the candles to sing Happy Birthday.

Make a wish and...
Blow!

My Dad had found Laura a "Dream Ruby", otherwise a giant glass red jewel, Laura was thrilled as you can see from her face.

Laura was excited to receive so many wonderful gifts from her friends.

Dad helping Laura open the classic bank that they got her.
Laura once again declared this to be the best party ever, we had a great time celebrating with everyone and are so grateful that they helped make this a special Birthday.

Laser Tag

2011-03-11T20:09:00.004-06:00

The girls were thrilled to be invited to their friend, Gavin's birthday party, especially since it was being held at the laser tag place. My little girls love that place, running around chasing the other kids, and on this particular night, even Leah's teacher was a willing target.

Laura off and running, the vest is over half her size.
Leah, Lucky #13.Laura always finds a willing ear in Clarissa, she was just chatting away.
Leah giving her best intense Laser Tag stare.
Armed and ready!
Leah with Mr. W, Leah's teacher. She was telling him, "Remember I'm on your team." There weren't any teams, but apparently she had her own ideas about that.
The cool laser shining through the smoke.

Florida Style Mardi Gras

2011-03-06T21:23:00.005-06:00

Last week one of the local waterfront resorts held their Annual Mardi Gras parade. As we approached the Destin bridge, we noticed a massive amount of cars, crawling very slowly over the bridge, so we decided to park and walk across the bridge. I wasn't sure if the girls would be up to the hike, but they did great. I had never been across the bridge on foot, and it was breathtaking, we all marveled at the views. It's a little different walking, than zooming over in our car.

Looking at this kind of view made the walk a lot easier.
Pictures at the half-way point.

Once we made it to the parade route, we finally found the perfect spot and the girls got ready to catch some beads.

The parade was on a very narrow road that runs along the waterfront, and there was a wide variety of floats, from this little train, to electric cars, boats on trailers, a trolley car and a bunch of decorated cars.

This firetruck was squeezing through the tiny street.

On our way back some fisherman pointed out a pod of dolphins for us, and we watched them frolicking right under us.
Joe & Leah leading us back across the bridge to our car.
The very long line of cars we passed as we took our nice stroll.

We even saw one of Joe's co-workers flying around in his ultralight.

Math & Science Night

2011-03-05T15:12:00.003-06:00

Once a year the girls' school hosts a Math & Science night for all of the families to attend. Each teacher hosts a fun game for the kids to do and while they are having fun they're also learning. Each class also displays a science board, here's Laura proudly displaying her class's project.Each child got to help write the questions.
Telling Leah about the experiment.
Both girls had fun playing with this magnet experiment.
Laura with one of the kindergarten teachers seeing if she put the shapes together correctly to make the pictures.
Another experiment, this one was to determine how many objects it would take to balance the scale.
Leah taking her turn at the math game with one of the first grade teachers.
The hit of the night were the "lava lamps" our science teacher had for the kids. They filled bottles with colored water and cooking oil, then added an alka-seltzer for fizz. They loved them!
The cafeteria was filled with tables offering different activities for the children. Here the girls are playing a math game, they have to roll the dice and add up the numbers, trying to fill the entire rainbow of numbers.
It was a fun night of learning and family time at the school.

Edgewater Classic Meet

2011-02-24T13:56:00.017-06:00

Leah had her 2nd meet this year last Friday in Panama City. She felt much more confident going into this meet after having completed the Mobile one just the previous week.
Just some of our team's girls, kind of in the dark as they line up in the team announcements.
Warming up on bars.

During the warm up she had a pretty hard fall, but after another round through the practice turns, she was ready to compete. She completed a great routine, and is getting stronger every time I see her do it.
She was happy with her score, and it earned her a place at the end of the day.
Next up beam.
She is turning into such a poised little girl.

Coach Elaina helping from the side as she salutes the judges on floor.

This was the biggest crowd we've seen at the meets we've participated in, each apparatus rotated through two groups of girls at a time, and took twice as long to finish the event. You can see by the herd of kids how large it was.
Leah was happy to medal on the Bars and in the All Around.

We were so proud of our little gymnast!

After a very long afternoon, which crept right into the night, we all went to Margaritaville to celebrate. My Mom brought the girls a new Webkinz which always brings big smiles!
Happy Sisters, their shirts say it all..."best sister ever".
Leah being hypnotized by her Nintendo.
Hugs to end a happy day!
I'll try and post the videos once Joe gets time to take them off of our camera.

A day at the beach

2011-02-17T18:53:00.006-06:00

We finally have our sunny Florida weather back, and we spent Saturday enjoying it at the beach. After a good lunch at Angler's we let the kids run around the beach.

As I was loading these pictures up here, I said to Leah, "Who's that girl, she's so pretty." And she said "How old was I? I look so young." Oh yeah, she's aged quite a bit over the last week.

Miles and miles of white sand and sunshine, and they had the most fun under the big pier.

Laura couldn't resist checking out the water, I think she realized just because the weather is warming up, the ocean isn't really at swimming temperature just yet.

We're hoping for a lot of beach days this Spring and Summer, we missed it so much last Summer when the oil hit.

Leah's First Prep Opt Bronze Meet

2011-02-14T20:51:00.016-06:00

Leah moved up to Prep Opt Bronze, Level 3.5, earlier in the year, and has been so dedicated to making her routines the best they could be. Her first meet at this new level happened last Friday in Mobile, AL. We made the two hour drive for a nighttime meet, kind of strange for a girl who is usually asleep in bed by 8, but it didn't seem to phase her.

Warming up with the rest of her team.

Chatting with Coach Kathy.

Her first apparatus was also the one she was most concerned with, the beam. She had a good warm-up period, getting some of her nerves out.
She even managed a few giggles.

While big sis worked on the beam, Laura enjoyed her new designer case I had bought her for the meet.

Dad, Joe, Mom & Laura amongst the crowd.
Giving my sweet little girl a hug.
This meet was Mardi Gras themed, so the gymnast got to throw beads to the crowd as they marched in.
After the gymnasts' parade, it was time to go to work. Leah tackled the beam first, and had a wonderful performance. Her biggest fear was landing the handstand, and she did it just beautifully. She had a couple slight bobbles, but nothing too bad, and we were all so proud.

2nd event was the floor.
Warming up her kick-over.

Nice!
Big finish.

Coach Heather looking on while Leah continued to practice her floor routine.

Ready to go and awaiting the judge's acknowledgement.
Ready to go!

There's lots of waiting while each gymnast takes their turn.
Next up was the vault.

Coaches Felicity & Heather

Chalking up for the bars.

They've been working with the girls, trying to teach them how to make their bar routine flow from one movement to the next. Leah finally got this at the meet. I've never seen her do her routine so smooth and quick. Joe missed her pullover, but you can see how quick she was. Great job Leah!

Laura sporting her Mardi Gras beads, some from Leah when she made sure that her little sister caught the ones she was throwing in the parade, and some from some sweet people at the meet that shared with her.

Medal time...Leah placed in all of her events and the all around. We were so proud of her, and she held her own in a group of much older girls.
Laura just had to give her sister a hug.

Worn out at the end of a very long day, not to mention Laura was still recovering from a week of being very sick.

And the team got second place, a bunch of happy girls.

Literacy Day Dress-up

2011-02-04T11:39:00.003-06:00

Last week our school was celebrating Literacy Week, culminating with the chance to dress up like your favorite character from a book. Laura went through several ideas, and I did my best to steer her away from the regular Disney Princesses, and she was thrilled when we thought of the White Witch from "The Chronicles of Narnia". This is our best attempt at that look. It's a fine line to walk, because they were also doing Miler Club, and it's kind of hard to run in a flowing dress up gown. A white tutu, crown and wand seemed to make her very happy.

Leah was a sickie that day, so she got to stay home and chill. Laura peeking over her shoulder while she played "Owls of the Guardian" on her Nintendo DSi.
When we arrived at school, we went straight to the library to check out the Narnia book so the rest of her class would know who she was. Our Librarian was dressed as Glenda the good witch, and we all thought they made quite the pair.

Laura's Future Indianette Dance

2011-01-31T10:32:00.013-06:00

One of our local high schools held a fundraiser for the dance team by hosting a dance clinic and then inviting the kids to participate in their parent show too. Leah wanted nothing to do with this, but Laura was all for it. I even tried to talk her out of it, thinking she may be overwhelmed or scared to do something totally new and in front of a whole gym full of strangers. But not Laura, she had no fear about the whole thing.
Giving the thumbs up at Friday's dance clinic.
Striking a pose. A couple of the dancers, known as Indianettes, helped each age group of children to learn a unique dance.

Laura with Dani, the daughter of a very good friend of ours, Rhonda, and actually the person responsible for introducing Joe & myself.

At the end of the practice each group got to run through their dance for the watching parents and other dancers. Not bad for less than two hours of learning and practicing a brand new dance.

Sunday afternoon we came back to the school, Laura was proud to wear her "Future Indianette" t-shirt.
Stretching with the girls on the stage before they practiced their dances.

Laura's little group.
She spotted all of us on the bleachers waiting anxiously to cheer her on.
Time to dance!

She was so precious, staring at the girls the entire time, making sure she caught every move.
I was so proud of her, she did this brand new dance in front of a packed gym, and smiled the whole time.

I think she liked the dance they got to do when the song said something about going crazy.

What an awesome experience, and I'm not sure what Laura will do with her life, but I think she might be happy doing it on a stage.

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-01-26T12:26:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday we went out to dinner with my parents to celebrate my Mom's Birthday. She picked a restaurant that specializes in good food and local history. The girls were happy with her choice, because it lit year round with beautiful white Christmas lights.
One of Mom's gifts, a Alabama themed drinking cup.

It was a very relaxing night with the family, and such a good cause for celebration.

Birthday for a special Teacher

2011-01-21T15:37:00.005-06:00

It's kind of difficult to explain the relationship that Leah's teacher has with his whole class. He without doubt is an excellent teacher, but even more than that, he makes the day fun. The class has so many inside jokes, I can't even keep up with them all. He is constantly teasing the kids with things they term "toddler", such as Dora & Diego, Barney, and anything Unicorn. So my Mom found out his Birthday was coming up through a conversation, they share the same day, and that's when I thought I could give him a dose of his own medicine. Behold the cake, with his favorites displayed prominently. Also, they all call each other "little buddy", so of course I had to get that written on the cake too.
He loved his Barney card.
Blowing out the candles, he took all but three off and said that was the perfect age to go along with the cake.

After a double dose of sugar, another little girl had brought cupcakes for her Birthday, the kids tore off to the playground. Thank goodness they had an outlet for all of that energy!
Leah showing my Dad how high she could go.

Laura chatting with my Mom...
For a few seconds, and then she was off running.

It was a fun afternoon treating a teacher that we have really enjoyed having this year.

100th Day of School

2011-01-19T12:43:00.004-06:00

I never knew that celebrating the 100th Day of school was a big deal, it never made the calendar way back in the dark ages when I was in elementary school. But now, it's what every kindergartner around here looks forward to this time of year. Laura's class was instructed to make a shirt with 100 of anything on it, she came up with a great design, drew it out so we would do it exactly how she envisioned it and this was the result.
She had a great day at school showing her friends her shirt and seeing all of their designs too. It's amazing, 5 kindergarten classes, and I never saw two shirts that looked exactly alike. Creative bunch of kids! After a full day encompassing as many activities that celebrated the 100th day, like coloring pictures, stacking 100 dominoes, and having a special snack mix that contained 100 items from each child the girls played out on school's front lawn.
Over two years between them, but less than two inches apart in height, Leah better be nice to her "little" sister.

As I sat down on the one of the cement picnic tables in the sunshine, I set down all of the stuff behind me. As I did that, I heard my keys slide right down the hole where an umbrella would normally go. What are the odds? I tried retrieving them myself, but my short little fingers were not quite long enough to reach them, and everything I tried seemed to push them further down the hole. I figured I could go back in the school and confess my goofiness, or call my Dad, who already knows how goofy I am. So I did what any self respecting 40 year old woman would do, called my Daddy to come rescue us, and he did.

Laser Tag!

2011-01-18T21:27:00.008-06:00

Last weekend Leah & Laura partied with Ramon and friends to celebrate his 8th birthday at a local Laser Tag place. It was a new experience, and the girls were a little nervous about it, but ready to give it a try. You walk into the downstairs of a very unassuming tourist shop, but once you ascend the stairs you enter a whole other world. A pulsating, black light glowing playground including a full goofy golf course, a pool table and of course a full Laser Tag maze. It felt a little like the clubs I frequented in my 20's but without the adult beverages.
Laura at the pool table with Ramon.

Ramon leading the group over to battle it out in the Laser Tag maze.
Birthday boy all suited up and ready to play.
Leah, obviously taking the whole thing very seriously.
Okay, maybe not!
At first Laura was worried that the vest was too heavy, and it did swallow her up. After she entered the maze and started shooting she forgot all about that. She was a little worried about the darker areas of the maze, and especially the foggy places, so she wanted me to stay with her. So I was darting around trying to follow a very quick 5 year old through a dark maze, with only my camera for protection.
Leah, Jessica & Laura

After a fun time in the Laser Tag, some of the kids wanted to do the goofy golf, which was also completely in the dark, lit only by the black lights, and my occasional camera flash.
This is really what it looked like.
Which led to many pictures like these, a little "Tron" like don't ya think?

Ted & Debi's Visit

2011-01-12T10:15:00.009-06:00

Our friends, Ted & Debi, visited us last weekend and we had a great time. Ted had been here all week and came to our house with Joe Friday afternoon after work. It was so funny, I was in the kitchen and both guys were on their computers, I thought, this is what life would be like with two husbands. Too funny!
After we had a good dinner at Slick Mick's with Ted, Debi's plane arrived and we all hung out chatting until we called it a night. The next morning Joe took them to Waffle House, nothing but the best for our guests! After everyone had breakfast we all went over to ride the horses. Debi grew up riding, and still was a very talented rider.
Ted took a turn also, and did so good. I told him he looked exactly like most of the trainers you see at the shows, he would just need some good boots and hat.
After the barn, we went out to tour the Armament Museum and have lunch at the BX.

My little soldiers, making their tough faces here.
The girls posing by the MOAB, which their Grandmother had a part in developing. How many kids can say that about their Grandmother?
Teaching the girls what the Purple Heart means.
Taking turns in the cockpits.

We ended the afternoon with a very quick, and super chilly, trip to the beach.

Leah had taken a pretty hard fall on the beam at the gym the night before, and said she didn't think she would be able to run because her leg hurt to bad. How quickly she forgot all about that when she wanted to run after the seagulls.

Joe retrieving Leah after she ran past the pier.

We had a wonderful visit!

Magic Table

2011-01-11T13:03:00.002-06:00

Okay, I married Joe for many reasons, one of which was his magic table. Apparently, Joe lived at this table when he was a bachelor. We don't take advantage of it very often, but when we do it's super cool. It looks like a regular coffee table, but with a little pull and lift, it turns into a t.v. tray kind of table. Pretty cool huh? The girls like it.