Dance recital ....

Jenna's dance recital was last weekend. She gets so excited for her dance recital each year. She loves being up on the stage and having the opportunity to show her family what she has learned all year. Great Grandma L, Uncle Tony, her BFF Savannah, and her 1st grade teacher all came to watch the rehearsal on Friday night and Grandpa/Grandma C, Grandpa/Grandma D, Becca, Debby, Dad, Jacob and I all came to watch her performance on Saturday. This was her 4th year in dance and her last year in the petite performance. She has really become quite a good little dancer and it was so fun to watch her perform. She really gets into it! This year she got to perform in 4 dances plus the finale. The bonus for us was that she was in the front row for 4 out of 5 of those dances.

I tried to get some decent photos of her performing, but dance recital photos continue to be the one type of photos I just can't seem to get down. The dark auditorium, funky stage lighting, and all the movement are all working against me - but I still managed to get several photos so you can see her in action.

Jazz - "Hard Knock Life (from Annie)"

Ballet - "How Do You Know"

Tap - "Labels or Love"
Finale "Move It"

Jenna and her good friend Kenzie


Jenna and Miss Kim

With all her flowers....A big THANK YOU to my cousin Alaina for sending surprise flowers for Jenna. She was so excited to get them!!!

Jenna-isms....

I really need to start writing down all the funny things Jenna says. She comes up with some of the best Jenna-isms! Maybe if I start sharing them on here I will at least have record of them ...a place to go back and remember all of them.

Anyone who has been around Jenna lately knows that she cannot go more than about 5 minutes without breaking out and doing some sort of tumbling - handstands, cartwheels, roundoffs, etc. She does them constantly and it usually doesn't matter where we are! Yesterday the two of us made a quick trip to Ft Wayne to do some birthday shopping for Jacob. We were speed shopping since she had to be home by 2pm for her best friend's birthday party. We had already been to 6 stores when we stopped at Target. We were in the shoe department when I looked over at her and she did a little "shiver" and made a noise - kind of like when you have a chill. I asked her what was wrong and she said "I just can't hold it in anymore. I just have to tumble. I really need to do a cartwheel right now." It just made me laugh. She had sat the whole time on the way to Ft Wayne and then gone through 6+ stores without being able to tumble and it was driving her nuts.

Bring on summer....

School is officially out for summer and I am ready for summer vacation mode to set in! We celebrated at Rocky Top with last day of school ice cream (a little tradition we have) and then went to Jacob's baseball game. This morning I slept in - bliss!!

So....bring on summer ....

-lots of sunny, hot days
-baseball games
-swimming at our neighbor's pool
-dinner on the patio
-a visit from my sisters and my nieces and nephew
-trips to RockyTop for ice cream
-playdates with friends
-watermelon and strawberries
-staying up late
-lots of grilling
-flip flops
-pink lemonade
-a week at the beach with friends
-tans
-a freezer stocked with popsicles
-bike rides
-sleeping in
-a relaxed schedule
-reading lots of good books
-sidewalk chalk and bubbles

Fairies in the woods....

A few weeks ago my friend Jodi - who is an awesome photographer - asked if Jenna wanted to be a part of a photo shoot she was planning. Jodi has an idea for a book and wants lots and lots of photos of fairies. Of course Jenna couldn't wait to take photos with Miss Jodi again - especially since she was going to get to wear one of Jodi's fabulous costumes. We met two of Jenna's other friends - Allie and Savannah - at the park and Jodi had them get changed into their fairy costumes. They were AMAZING! Seriously - she made them all and each one was a little different. She is truly talented! After they changed we headed off to the woods for lots of fun fairy photos. Jodi was kind enough to let me tag along with my camera, so I was able to take some photos along the way. The girls had an absolute ball and felt so magical. They loved their costumes and all the attention they were getting.

Jodi - thanks again for asking Jenna to be a part of this. I'm sure she will remember it for a long, long time.


Savannah, Allie and Jenna . . .

Jenna and her BFF, Savannah....

Jodi had gone through the woods before we arrived and placed some props. Jenna got to "find" a big pink "diamond" in a hole in this tree. She loved it and asked me afterwards if it was real. Too cute!
This is my favorite photo I took that day. I love that it looks like I am really spying through the trees at three little fairies dancing in the woods!
All three girls wanted to "sleep" for Jodi. They were too funny. And yes, Jenna is laying on a blanket - not just the growth in the woods.

Love this one too - I'm always a sucker for photos like this!

Time for a little baseball....

Baseball season has officially been underway for about 3 weeks now. This year Jacob moved up to little league and Chris is once again his coach. His team has won 3 of their first 4 games. Jacob has been playing shortstop, 2nd base and outfield and is beginning to hit the ball really well. Now if only we could get those little legs to run a little faster! He also made the tournament team again this year. They played in a tournament this weekend and won 3 of their 4 tournament games.

I have decided that baseball is truly one of my very favorite things to take photos of. I've already taken photos at two of his games and love how some of them have turned out. I made sure to take photos of all the boys on the team so I can post them on their team website. If you want to follow Jacob's team and check out their schedule, scores, and updated photos you can visit their team website here and the tournament team website here.

Because I have so many fun baseball photos of Jacob to share, I decided to make some collages instead of posting individual photos. Hopefully you can still see each of the photos okay. If not, I'll go back to posting regular photos next time.

My sweet new ride....

I came home Saturday from a day of shopping in Columbus with Cheryl to discover my birthday/Mother's Day gift sitting in the family room.

I have mentioned several times that I'd like a new bike. My old one just wasn't comfy anymore and I couldn't ride more than 5 minutes without my shoulders, arms, back and/or rear end hurting. Chris and the kids listened to my request and picked out a great new bike!

Bright red...my favorite color...

a cushy, comfortable seat.....

brakes that actually work and don't squeek every time you press them....

and tires that I won't have to pump every time I want to ride....

It pays to leave a blog comment....

My friend Michelle had posted some photos of her daugher Kenzie on her blog wearing a really cute hat that her grandma had made for her. I left a comment about the cute hat....and soon Jenna received a surprise....her very own hat made by Kenzie's grandma! The hat looked adorable on her, so we headed to the backyard for some photos. Jenna has always been my #1 model...and she definitely lived up to her model potential for these photos. THANKS to Kenzie's grandma for making Jenna a hat, too. She loves it!!


PS These photos were taken right after Jenna's dance competition, so she has a little makeup on, including mascara. I think that definitely added to her modelling confidence!

Mom's Day

Mother's Day around our house is usually pretty quiet - nothing fancy or overdone, just a day with my family and a little time to relax. I started out the day going to Sunday School with Jenna. They were supposed to invite their moms to come along so we could do some activities with them. After church, Cheryl and London came over and we helped her celebrate her first Mother's Day with pizza for lunch (see, I told you we aren't fancy!) and a Mother's Day photo shoot in the backyard. I spent most of the afternoon planting flowers with Jacob and catching up on DVR'd shows. Later Chris' parents, Becca and Ryan came over for dinner prepared by Chris and his dad - steak and chicken on the grill, potato salad, baked beans, chips, and ice cream cake from DQ for dessert. I think this is the first Sunday in a long time when I haven't done laundry or grocery shopping or cleaned up around the house. It was nice to just have a relaxing day with my family.

The Moms.....

...and the kids (LOVE London's face in this photo -such a silly boy!)....

My oldest..... ....and my baby....


...and lots of love....

LOVE this photo of Cheryl and London....it's pretty obvious that London spends a lot of time with his mama....

...and getting a little love from Mom....

Lots of photos....not lots of time....

I have lots of photos to share - Mother's Day, baseball, a backyard photo shoot with Jenna. Unfortunately, my to do list just keeps getting longer and longer....and adding photos to my blog keeps getting pushed to the bottom of that list. It looks like tomorrow may be the day where I can squeeze in a little time to do some of the things at the bottom of my list - like adding photos here.....so be sure to check back!!

Six on Saturday......

Just a few things that are making me happy ......

1. Google reader.....thanks to Rebekah, I have discovered google reader. If you are a blog stalker like me, then you need to check this out. Love it!

2. Change of Heart....the latest book I'm reading. My neighbor just read it and is letting me borrow it. I love Jodi Piccoult and this one is really good.

I also just finished this book I got from Bob and Celesta for Christmas. A quick read and very funny - especially with my HGTV addiction. LOVE that it's almost summer, which means lots of time for reading!

3. Grey's Anatomy....I just knew Meredith and Derek wouldn't get married - but how can I be mad at them when they gave their wedding to Izzy and Alex instead? Of course I sat there and cried as he gave his vows.

4. This you tube video....I know this poor boy just had dental surgery and it's not really a funny situation, but it just made me laugh.

5. FLOWERS! I bribed Chris and Jacob to come with me last night to buy flowers for all my outdoor flower spots. We went to my favorite nursery and then to Buffalo Wild Wings (their bribe). Now if only the wind would stop so I can get outside and plant them.

6. Midnight Truffle Blizzard from Dairy Queen - total chocolate overload, but I love it!!

And one thing that is NOT making me happy right now....IEPs! I have IEP conferences on Monday and Wednesday, so I'm spending my Saturday writing reports. Luckily the weather isn't very nice, so I don't mind being inside all day. My goal is to finish them today because I REFUSE to spend my Mother's Day writing IEPs. That's just wrong.

Whew....no wonder I'm tired!

This was one of those weekends that we knew was going to be busy. It just seemed like everything kept falling on May 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Yet, here I sit on Sunday night wondering why I feel so exhausted and achey! Maybe it's because over the past 48 hours I.....

• took Jenna to pictures for tumbling
• took Jenna and her friend Savannah through the McD's drive-thru and then back to our house to play
• made salad for dinner with the neighbors
• had dinner with the neighbors
• went to the PAC to see Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood and laughed way too hard!
• went to pancake breakfast at the HS
• went to Jenna's tumbling meet
• went to the Prom walk-thru to see the decorations
• went to the nursery to pick out Mother's Day gifts and then to WalMart
• visited with my mom and dad (my mom came Friday night and my dad came Saturday afternoon)
• went to dinner and ate way too much Chinese food
• went to watch the Promenade
• loaded tumbling photos onto my computer and editted them
• updated my blog
• did laundry (but I let Chris fold it all)
• got Jenna ready for her dance competition
• watched Jenna's dance competition (after sitting for 2 hours waiting for it to start!)
• transferred all my photos from January until now onto my external hard drive
• ordered photos from WalMart
• watched Grey's Anatomy
• paid bills
• washed dishes
• ate pizza with the neighbors

No wonder I am so tired! I love getting lots of things checked off my "to do" list, but I hate starting the week already tired. It will definitely be an early bed night! Next weekend is Mother's Day. I think I will definitely take some time to just relax and sit next Sunday!

Flippin' and tuckin'....

Saturday was Jenna's gymnastics "meet" at Flip Tuck Gymnastics Center. She has been taking gymnastics there since last June and absolutely loves it. The girls did their routine on each event - bars, beam, floor, and vault - and got ribbons based on their performance on each. Jenna got blue ribbons (highest achievement) on bars, beam, and floor and got a red (higher achievement) on vault. She went through her vault routine too quickly and forgot to "salute" at the end of her vault. . At the end of the "meet", each girl got to go up on the podium and receive their participation medal.

If you've been around Jenna lately, you know how much she loves tumbling. She can't walk anywhere without throwing in a cartwheel or two. She is constantly tumbling on her mat in the family room. She spends most of her recess time doing tumbling with some of her friends. She is going to continue tumbling through the summer and even gets to move up to the "intermediate" class. We're so proud of our little tumblina!

Bars:

Beam:

Floor (they even had music for their routine - it was too cute!):

Vault:

Jenna and one of her best friends, Allie - They have had so much fun in tumbling class together this year!

Jenna and Allie watching the older girls and instructors tumble. . .Saluting after receiving her medal:



Jenna and her best friend, Savannah (who is an awesome little tumbler!)