2015 Ballet Recital Costume

Emma's ballet class did their class pictures today in their recital costume. Some of the other kids are getting individual portraits done. We are buying the class picture, but we explained to Emma that she has had 3 sets of school pictures already this year, all of which we bought, so we'll just do these at home! She was not too happy until she saw how they turned out. Now she thinks "they are beautiful, of course they are." Her recital is June 21st.

Our Little Fish

Last night Will finished his current session of swimming lessons at the rec center and completed level 3 of the American Red Cross swimming course. We're so proud of him! He swims as well as both his parents did as teens now! He was sick with a sinus/ear infection for over a week, so his teacher didn't think he would pass the test, but she said he did such a great job she passed him despite missing 3/10 classes. So this summer he'll take level 4 lessons, and he's thinking about doing swim team this fall. Pretty awesome, especially considering he had never swam a stroke until last August, and has only been in the water for a few weeks this year. He just loves it! This is a video of his level 3 swim test - jump into deep water, swim 25 meters backstroke, tread water for 1 minute, swim back front crawl. He's the kid in the bright yellow swim shirt closest to the edge.

Last Day of Preschool

Emma had her last day of preschool May 22. She was sick all week until Friday, so she missed the rest of the week, including her class picnic, but at least she got to attend her graduation ceremony (cute!) and the last day. She was a little down in the dumps afterward, already missing her friends and teacher. She just loves her teacher, and gave her a big hug and kiss before we left. She is very excited about kindergarten next year, going to school with Will and riding the bus, but she is a social girl and loves her friends from preschool. Emma is looking forward to her ballet recital in June, and also her birthday party. She is having her first "friend" party, and we're inviting her ballet girls, the 4 girls from her class at school, and a couple of friends from sunday school. She's excited for her first big girl party!

Mother's Day

I felt very blessed this Mother's Day. The kids and Jered made me a breakfast plate (leftover egg beater and turkey sausage casserole I made the day before, and some yogurt - yay for bringing me a healthy breakfast like I prefer!) and brought it up to my room, then during church Jered taught Sunday School with me, which I really enjoy. After church we came home and had some yummy steaks that Jered grilled. After a restful afternoon, we rode our bikes to the nearby frozen yogurt store for "supper" and then enjoyed a family bike ride around the neighborhood. They know how to make me happy! Jered gave me a sweet card and some beautiful roses for anniversary/mother's day (they always fall on the same weekend), and the kids both made me the cutest cards at school. Will also gave me a little pot with a seed in it, and a fill in the blank booklet "About Mom." It had funny things in it like "My mom cooks me pigs in the blanket the best," but the sweetest one was the page that said "If I could give anything to my mom..." Will wrote, "I would give her my life because I love her." Keep that forever!!

12th Wedding Anniversary

This year we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. We got to do something we've never done before - overnight without the kids! We stayed at Surfside Inn on the boardwalk Friday night, May 1. I called to set up a special romance package and they made the room look really nice, gave us champagne and flowers, etc. It was raining and a little cold Friday night, but Saturday morning was beautiful. After enjoying a hot breakfast buffet at the hotel, we took a bike ride on the boardwalk, and watched the kite flying event and ultimate Frisbee tournament from our room's private balcony. After we left the hotel, our wonderful friend Bylinda, who was watching the kids, said don't hurry home. So we went to the Beach Movie Bistro and watched the new Avengers movie. It was such a fantastic weekend, and the first time since our "honeymoon" that we have been out of the house alone overnight! That's hard to believe in 12 years we never did that, but we decided we definitely have to do it again, sooner this time! On our real anniversary, May 9, we took the kids to Jamestown. They were celebrating Jamestown Day, so they had a special fairground area set up with period games, music and shows. The Jamestown Settlement is a great area to visit with your children - extensive indoor and outdoor exhibits, and a re-created Powahatan village and Jamestown fort. We even got to board the replicas of the 3 ships that sailed from England to found Jamestown.

Kids Sleepover! First away from home sleep over for both kids.