HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE!

Claire's birthday wish finally came true...she now has her American Girl Doll, Lanie. Lanie loves nature, helping wildlife and the environment. Sound familiar? Yes, they are a match made in heaven. So far Lanie and Claire have been inseparable. She has been waiting and wanting this doll for a long time. I think her patience paid off...and her enthusiasm has really made it worth it to us:)

Rather than having a party we took Claire, a few friends, and my nephews rollerskating! It was SO fun!

Some friends needed more help than others:)

Many just hugged the wall!!

After the first half an hour it was smooth sailing! I think a good time was had by all....and they have the bruises to show for it!

One thing is for sure...Girls definitely know how to have fun!!

Happy Birthday Claire Bear! You are our beautifully GOOFY girl...always making us laugh, always giving us a smile, and forever loving to everyone and everything!!

We are so proud of you for nothing more and nothing less than just being you!!

Summertime...REALLY?

Okay...I have been getting some comments about my lack of blog activity. Hopefully the pics will fill you in and you will understand why I have not had time to do this! Thank goodness Summer is just around the corner:) I can't believe how this Spring has FLOWN by!!

In March we celebrated Earth Hour with our friends by playing in the dark, eating s'mores and hotdogs, and using NO ELECTRICITY the entire evening:)

Dalton and Tyla were our buddies that night..SOOO fun!

Many of you know that Claire had her ear drum reconstructed and did extremely well with her surgery! You can see how much support she received from friends and family. It really meant so much to her to have so many thoughts and prayers:)

She also did LOTS of resting...poor baby. We are very relieved to have that behind us! She has already been showering and swimming without earplugs this Spring...finally she has a "normal" ear!!

Somehow we managed to squeeze in a trip to Indian Echo Caverns. It was a Mother's Day activity, and it was perfect. We had lots of fun going out to breakfast, learning about the caverns, and then doing some shopping:) Thanks Jason:)

Ayden has been playing baseball, and Claire has made a friend in Dylan. Dylan is Ayden's good buddy Ryan('s )brother. Ryan and Ayden are on the same team this year and loving it.

Baseball presents a lots of challenges this year. Hitting off of the team pitchers (not coaches), playing outfield and learning how to play the game. Ayden has learned so much, and improved his game immensely.

The Dodgers (his team) have great coaches, parents and boys that play together nicely. Everyone has been very encouraging, so it's been a very positive experience.

That brings us to the most demanding aspect of our Spring shedule! E-DANCE!!! See for yourself....

Claire's ballet number was set to an Alice and Wonderland theme...

Ayden's was 2000 Watts, an old MJ song...

The show was a huge success, and totally fun...watching the show at the end of the season ALWAYS makes the chaos of classes, rehearsal, costumes, worth it!

Tyla and Claire were in the same dance class this year which made is extra-specially fun! Jason and I were SO proud of the kiddos for their hard work and confidence when performing in front of an extremely crowded theater!

Among all of our activities the kids HAVE had a terrific year at school. I think they will be sad to leave their teachers and classmates on Friday. I have also been substituting as an Instructional Aide regularly and have liked it a lot. Brian and Erica stayed with us a few days, and were even able to help out at Field Day with the kiddos! THEN Stewie stayed with us a few days the following week!! PHEW! Did I mention I am really looking forward to Summertime? That's it in a nutshell....I'll be in touch!