Little Ballerina Girl

April & May proved to be performance months for our dancing girl! The first event was a performance before an Oklahoma City RedHawks baseball game. What worked out great was that it was also our elementary schools' night there too so she got to dance in front of people she knew!!! The RedHawks were leading as the rain rolled in so they won. We ended up getting totally soaked on our way to our car...good times!

 Our girl on the jumbo tron!

 May brought her formal recital...

You knew there'd be a video...wait for it...

Now you can enjoy the rest of your day!

Piano Recital

I know everyone has been waiting for this upload since you saw me post there was a recital over the weekend. Since it was in a post about my son please click on the performance below to be mererized with his piano skills! :)

Actually for some reason he got up to the piano so much faster than I anticipated so we join him mid note...keep in mind I don't get paid for this...just do it to embarrass the kiddos.

We'll let ya know how State goes!

With Miss Ursula!

1st Baseball Game

Yay! April is over? Where did that go? Well April has given away to May and our first season of machine pitch baseball has started.

We're working on his stance...it may be a long season! Hey at least he's having fun!!!

Let's go Rays!

Summer is starting

Ahh the joys of early summer...I grew up in a small town & for the early springs from the time I was 7 until I was 13 every May & June was spent playing softball. I enjoyed it. I unfortunately wasn't good enough to play at the next level, but I can remember practicing A LOT.

My son is entering his first season of machine pitch baseball. This is a whole new avenue for us. This past weekend we got him one of these...

I can remember spending many an afternoon trying to perfect my pitching, throwing and catching. I hope we're giving him a similar experience I had.

He may not be drafted any time soon, but I'm glad he's out there trying. 

I just hope he gets the life long friends  like I did!

Easter Weekend

Yes, I'm aware I'm almost a week late. Such is life...

We actually celebrated Easter all weekend long starting with Good Friday. LNC's day care is great in that they still have an Easter egg hunt. It usually is held on their enclosed playground, but due to the rain last week it was held in the kids' classroom. Here's my girl...I had to laugh because as I watched her she would go past the green, orange or blue eggs and only pick up the pink & purple ones. What a silly girl!!!

Then on Saturday we headed over to our friends' elementary school for our annual egg hunt with friends.

Why Indy came to the egg hunt - I'm not real sure...but they both had a really good time!

Then of course on Easter Sunday we went to church and had a great service. It was a great end to a great weekend. So glad the tulips lasted until we could take photos!

Saving

Since RTC is now 8 we started giving him an allowance for the "services" he provides around the house. Granted, he must be reminded to perform these "services" but he's 8 and in my book that's OK. He's getting it and he's not complaining.

When he gets paid on Saturdays we sit down and take 10% out for tithing. 40% out for savings, and then he gets to keep 50% as his spending money. I keep his spending money with me so that if we're in Target and he wants to get a toy or something he has the means to purchase it. We started this back in January.

In February I'm not sure if he's the one who brought it up or if it was us, but it comes up that he'd like his own iPod. Hmm...I think and so I propose that he saves his spending money for one. I told him that if he wanted just a shuffle those were relatively inexpensive and shouldn't take him very long to save for it. Man, he was stoked! Fortunately for him his Mimi & Granpa Bud sent him money for Valentine's Day - so he was much closer than he thought. He started doing extra things for me at home and when he came to work with me he did a few chores there as well.  When we were at the store he would mention getting a toy and I would just say "sure, here's your wallet" and then he'd think about it and not spend the money. It was great to see him think about it and decide he'd rather save and buy the shuffle.

This past weekend we took him to the Apple Store (yes, I'm aware that Walmart sells the shuffle for $3.00 cheaper, but there's just something different about going to their store) and had one of their "geniuses" help him get the color the wanted.

He's so thrilled!
He also seems to be taking care of it better than the camera Santa brought him a couple of years ago! Guess there's some truth to them taking care of something better if they work for it.

We cautioned him on volume control of his ear buds. 

We loaded up some songs that we thought would be OK for an 8 year old. You know the staples, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Rush, Yes, The Cars, Sammy Hagar, Twisted Sister  - you know 80's music at it's finest. 

He's already thinking about what he wants to save up for next.

1st Day of Spring

 Aww....The first day of spring!

Even though it's not as warm as it could be I thought I'd share some of our favorite "firsts" of the season!

These are my tulips!

They are finally blooming!

I would plant 10,000 of these

if I could. Tulips just make me

happy & remind me of my

childhood!

These are pictures of our first snocones of the season. Eskimo Sno is one of our favorites so we were tickled when we found their location on the west side to be open a couple of weeks ago.

What a wonderful season & can't wait to have a few more "firsts" before summer begins!