Preschool Graduation

Our baby graduated preschool this week, and I only cried a little, not even enough to roll down my cheek.  But my eyes did well up a little, more with pride than sadness.  I'm so proud of how wonderful she is, and smart she is.  She was one of the few members of the "100 Club" in her class, meaning she can count to 100.  She was the only one in her class to pass off all of her letters, that means knowing the sounds, and how to write them both upper case and lower case.  And when I volunteered in her class I was so proud of the way she acted.  Other than giving me too many hugs during my visit she always acted how I would expect her to.

It was fun to attend her graduation because both the a.m. class and p.m. class were combined so I got to see my nephew Roland, and other kids from our ward primary.

I was trying to take a picture of the cousins together, but was taking a video by accident.  The video was still pretty cute, so here it is.

Their teachers had taken photos of them all year long and put them on a DVD that we could purchase.  I thought that was so thoughtful and wonderful to get an inside glimpse of how the school year was for the kids.

I hope she gets a good kindergarten teacher because Mrs. Christensen, and co-teacher Mrs. Molgard really had the system down and everything was beautifully run.  We were so blessed to have such an awesome preschool, especially free of charge, and only a walk away from our home.

It's Dancy Dance Time

Phew, having a school age child is a lot of work.  I think extracurricular activities are important to all children, but I feel a special need for them in Andrea's life since she is an only child.  But now that Spring is here, between soccer, dance, and preschool, things can get a little hectic.

Her final dance competitions started the end of April, first it was Taylorsville High School.

Then Lagoon the beginning of May. At the Taylorsville and Lagoon competitions her group danced to "Do you believe in Magic".  This year was fun because they learned different facial expressions along with the moves "kissy face" is my favorite.  We have a lot of pictures of her and her cute friend Ireland because they were in group "one" together.

I forget how many rides Lagoon has that she can only ride alone.  Ryan and I really shouldn't have bought tickets, because we really only rode one or two rides with her. And I would have had more pictures of her on rides, but I lost the ones that were on my phone.  I think they're somewhere in cyberspace, hopefully one day I'll find them, here are the only two I could round up.

Don't you love the photo bomb guy behind us?

This was the way home from Lagoon, face paint and all.

Her final dance review was at the Tooele High Auditorium the middle of May.The last recital is my favorite because we get to see all the dances from all the ages, and we get to see both of her dances.

The theme for her final recital this year was "Carnival" and her group was dressed as the fortune tellers.  Even though her fortune teller music had no vocals I think I liked it better because the moves were just so darn cute!

Here are the links for both dances:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVXrhp3GmGA&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGV0rsgGOn4&feature=youtu.be

I think she's still interested in dance next year too, and she's loving soccer, so I guess we'll have to handle both financially somehow.  I do love her dance company and all  her friends in her class, this has been a fun time for her!

Easter

I'm so glad Easter was later this year.  The Easter bunny had more time to get ready before it snuck up like it usually does.

Two days before Easter we had a new nephew, Wulf, arrive.  So Saturday before Easter I got spend a little time with Brigitta and Roland while their mom was still in the hospital.  I waited to color eggs until they came to give them something to do, but Roland wasn't interested.

 I think he was probably dealing with middle child emotions, but didn't know it.  He just wanted to snuggle with the dog, and anything to make him happy is fine with me.  We also went to the park and then he perked right up.

Easter morning we had our traditional Easter pancakes, but Ryan was so sick with a bad cold that he couldn't even go outside to watch the Easter egg hunt, and I had to save him pancakes for later.

 The dog decided to do his business in the worst place possible.

 The Easter bunny led Andrea on the usually scavenger hunt and the basket was hiding under the kitchen table.  She got a movie, an outfit, and of course, lots of candy.

Grandma and Grandpa Lee had bought Andrea an Easter dress, and I bought myself a new skirt.

After church we had an Easter lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Williams.  With Ryan sick, and Amy just having a baby, it was just Eric and me with our kids.  The grandparents got each of the kids a bucket and sunglasses and then Eric was sent off to do some egg hiding at his house.  I guess Brigitta and Roland still hadn't had time to find the other eggs left at their house from the Easter bunny, so Andrea got a few extras.

Andrea got a homemade bunny from Amy, she does that every year and we're are getting an adorable collection! I think she has slept with that bunny every night since Easter. One night before bed Andrea asked, "how did Amy make this bunny?" I said, "she is very talented".  And she said, "she can sew better than you, huh, Mom"?  I replied, "Yes, but we all have different talents.  So what do you think my talents are?".  After thinking a minute she said, "Being a good Mom.".... Mommy paycheck!