Claire's Recital

Yesterday was Claire's dance recital.  She was so excited!  She loves to be on stage.

Claire loves the madness of the Black Box while everyone puts their finishing touches on their costumes.

And the kids always have fun playing.

And of course, this is where I take a bazillion pictures.

After Claire's dance (Feel The Beat) then it was time for Daddy and Me!  She was so excited to dance with her Daddy again this year.

She just loves being on stage :)

And getting her presents from Nana, Papa, Grandma, and Grandpa afterwards.

 We weren't even out of the parking lot and Claire looked like this.  She loves her recital but it takes a lot out of her!

Claire you did a wonderful job (yet again).  I am so proud of you!!!!  I love watching you on stage!  But, then again...I love watching you all the time!

Tae Kwon Do

Today was Claire's Tae Kwon Do performance.  She is great great!! She was so excited to show us what she learned this year!

Look at that form!

She was so proud to show off her punches!

Always time for a smile.

She is always ready to answer a question :)

Claire was thrilled to demonstrate how the kicks should be done.

She's got those punches down.

Here she is getting her diploma.

Claire and Miss Sandy.

Oliver loved watching his big sister perform.

He was so good the whole time!  And Grandma's bracelet was a great distraction :)

I was so proud of Claire.  She worked so hard all year!!  I have more pictures of her and her buddies but I have to check with their parents before I post them. 

GREAT JOB CLAIRE!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!! I LOVE YOU CHICKEN!!!

Taste Of Summer

Today it was gorgeous out and I got a little taste of what this summer is going to be like.  I can't wait!  Oliver is old enough now that he is discovering EVERYTHING and LOVES it!  I can't wait to spend our days at the zoo, the park, the beach, and going for walks, riding bikes, playing outside, and just hanging around the house all day!!  This summer I am going to blog everyday again and I can't wait to capture all of it!

I busted out the baby pool while the kids were napping and had it all ready when they woke up.  Claire was so excited!  When she woke up, I told her that I had a surprise for her.  When I showed her the pool, she was speechless. Then she just threw her arms around me and thanked me. It was so sweet.  It's the little things!

My friend Amy gave me this pool and it was perfect for today.  The kids had so much fun!

I thought Claire would think the pool was too small once she started playing in it.  But, she loved it! 

It was so fun to watch Claire and Oliver play together.  They really play together now and it is so sweet.  

For some reason Claire kept putting her fist in the air and yelling.  

So of course, Oliver had to do it too.  He does EVERYTHING that his big sister does!

Apparently, the kids love Mark's trees.  They kept going over and hugging them.  Oliver is also obsessed with birds.  He chases them all over the yard yelling "Hold you!  I hold you!"  and then they all fly away and he looks at me like "Hey!  I just want to hold them!"  Then the mother in me wants to grab all the birds for my baby to hold.

Today was wonderful.  I got a taste of what summer is going to be like and I CANNOT wait for it!!  Bring on the summer!!

Cinco De Mayo

Happy Cinco De Mayo!!  Yesterday the kids had a Cinco De Mayo celebration at school.  So of course, I love a theme day, so it was time to come up with something good!!

With no time to shop, I consulted Pinterest and came up with some sombreros and ponchos.  The kids loved painting after dinner.

They both worked really hard and took it very seriously.

While our sombreros were drying we started our ponchos (thanks Tammy for the paper).  

Oliver really loved painting!  But after a while he decided to just paint his hands.  He was very proud of himself.

And being the mother that I am instead of telling him "no" I just kept taking pictures :)

Claire did a great job, as always.  She didn't want to paint strips on her poncho so I took a few deep breathes and allowed her to have her creative freedom :)  And it came out adorable!!

 She had so much fun.  I love this face.

Then I put my little artists to work cleaning up!

Oliver took a break from the floor for a while and started to clean up his body.

Here are the final sombreros.

Oliver ready for school!!!  Oliver also had a sticky mustache to wear too:)

Claire ready to go!!!!  

Their outfits came out adorable and we had a blast making them!  HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!