Andi's first ballet/ tap class

The same day Dawson started kindergarten, Andi started dance! It was kind of nice to have such a fun distraction from worrying about my boy all day. And, Andi was SUPER excited!

Here she is about to leave, showing off her new dance bag.

Stretching at the start of class. She takes dance at Chara Christian Dance, so they start each class with a prayer. So sweet.

Sweet girl.

Twirl!

Learning to skip.

Starting tap...look how much taller she is!

tap & maracas

I took all these pics through the two way mirror, and being right up against the glass Andi could see me & she knew I was right there watching. She LOVED every minute of class & at one point, she turned & looked right at me through the window/mirror. Her expression was priceless. In one wide-eyed look it said 'WOW, this is amazing!' and 'WHY HAVE YOU NEVER BROUGHT ME HERE BEFORE???' I am so glad she loves it & enjoys the same things I do. I am sure we are in for many years of recital fun!

My baby boy starts kindergarten

Well, I don't know how 'normal' this is, but I cried off & on about Dawson starting kindergarten...for about 2 years. Totally serious. And, I am not a big crier...so that was a pretty big deal for me to be THAT emotional for so long. I think it was about two years anyway. So, since I had already had that much crying out of the way, I did pretty well his first day of school. I made it safely home before I totally fell apart...again

This was orientation night, standing by his chair.

About to leave the first morning, Derek & I both took him the first day.

A nervous Dawson with Mom...holding it together.

Dawson & Dada

I even snapped a shot of his bus bringing him home!

And...getting off the bus. I know I am a dork. Yay for a great first day!
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Dawson's 5 year pics

Last summer, I tried multiple times to photograph Dawson for his birthday. However, he has officially reached that phase where it is IMPOSSIBLE for Mom to get a decent smile out of him. All the pictures I took of him looked like he was in pain. So, for the first time ever, I wanted someone else to take his pics. When I found out Trish was doing a 'back to school' set, I jumped on board. It was perfect timing to document him turning 5 years old & starting kindergarten. I could not be happier with the pics...they turned out so adorable! My little flirt had no trouble smiling for her! I am about to cry again looking at these. Photos are so priceless.

Well, hello there!

Long time, no blog. I will spare you all of my pathetic excuses for not blogging for the last year, but I now have some MAJOR catching up to do. Since my plan is to print this blog out for my kiddos some day, I have an entire year of blogs to get on here: 63 to be exact. So, today I did a quick makeover to the blog & layed out a blog catching up gameplan. Hopefully, if I can put 1-3 posts on here per day, I will be caught up by the time school starts! Here we go!

Slip n Slidin OR Belly Flopin?

One of Dawson's birthday presents this year, was a new slip n slide. Thanks Shauna! So, we spent several days a week cooling off this way in the backyard. This day however, was the first day Andi was brave enough to actually try 'sliding' and it was hilarious!

My kids are of course matching...shocker right? I had been eyeballing these adorable swimsuits & snatched them up when they went on sale for next summer. That is why they are too big on them. But, they had just come in the mail & they were excited to wear them. I love the added touch of the temporary tattoo on Dawson's arm!




Here is the hilarous video of Andi's 'sliding'.


And, here is a cute video the the slip & slide master!

July 4th Fun

I LOVE when my kids match!

Swimming at the Morse Resort, this is Dawson's 'dive'

And, crazy girl jumping

Dawson with Granna & Granny's Dog Willy

Derek & Granny (who just turned 92!)

We ended up at the last minute joining up with the McDaniel crew to watch fireworks

Trace, Andi, Dawson & Carson

They pointed at EVERY firework & then giggled...so cute.

These two visited the entire time, like long lost friends that had been reunited. And, Andi was TOTALLY flirting. Hmmm, something to watch out for in the future!



And, snuggling with Mom after a long day.

Derek's gonna kill me...

One evening Dada had some...uhm, stinky gas issues...hehe, love ya babe! But, the funny part was that after Dawson had complained about the odor, he came running into the room with this contraption on claiming it would 'help with the smell.' Ha! You probably never knew a slinky & snorkel were so valuable.

What is that?

During our vacation this summer, this framed print was hanging in the bathroom opposite of the toilet. The first time that I took Andi to the potty in there, she just kept staring at the picture. Then she glanced over at me, then back at the picture, then over at me, and then back at the picture again. Finally she whispers at me with wide-eyes "Mom...is that...is that...is that...God?" It was so adorable.

Dawson turns 5!!!

This post is SO late, but better late than never! My sweet boy turned 5 back in June...here are the photo highlights!

On his actual birthday...he caught his hair on fire doing this!!!!

WHOOPS! Don't think he'll do that again anytime soon!

Derek & I took him to Space Center Houston for the day.

Me & Dawson

Getting sung to at LaCasita at dinner, how cute is he!

At his birthday party at Jump n Jungle with best buddy Jonathan.

The cake table with cousins & friends.

Here he is with all his presents!

And, with his new spiderman bike!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Knee Woes

These last few months with my knee have been really interesting. On average, my knee is dislocating about 5 times per day, and it will dislocate 3 out of 4 directions. And, something inside my knee keeps getting hung up, on something else in there & I have to jiggle it loose constantly. It literally feels like I am having to balance the bones on top of each other very, very carefully with each step I take. If you didn't know, I had multiple surgeries on my left knee when I was a senior in High School. (Someday, I will have to tell the entire story about how I hurt my knee because it is actually quite an amazing story of how God used my painful/ frustrating situation for his good....but, that story is for another day.) After my last surgery, my knee doctor informed me that he felt like I would probably need a knee replacement within 20 years because the damage had been so severe. Well, I made it 13 years.

I hurt my knee that last week we were in Mn going up & down all of our stairs packing for the move. Since then, it has just gotten worse & worse. I made an appointment pretty soon after we moved back & the soonest my doctor could see me is the 30th of Aug. The newest development is severely crazy. On top of all the dislocating & things getting stuck...I now have a lump??? The lump will fall down from somewhere in the top of my knee cap, down to the side of my knee cap. When it does that, it almost completely restricts any movement at all. To bend my knee again, I have to physically push the little lump back up where it came from. When this first started, it only happened a few times per day, but now it happens with every 10th step or so. Have you ever heard of such a thing??? Talk about bizarre. I will keep you posted about what the doc says after I see him.

The Wii Addict

When Aunt Hettie comes down to visit us, the first thing Dawson asks her is "Did you bring your GAME?????" He loves to play video games & is really quite obsessed with the Wii. So, it is a good thing that he only gets to play every once in awhile. The funny part is that he is HILARIOUS to watch when he is playing. He is actually really good, but he just has his own very interesting methods of playing.

I posted two funny videos of him playing two different games. Video #1: Dawson playing Mario Kart. His feet are obviously the main focus here...I love how during the stressful parts of the game, his feet will go faster/slower or how he flexes his toes! Video #2: Dawson playing Wii boxing. Again, the feet are going crazy...and the arms are going crazy too! Too funny! He is just so serious about it.




While we were on vacation in Galveston, he had been playing the boxing game for awhile & had made it passed several different opponents. Then, he finally beat one guy that he thought was really hard to beat. Very enthusiastically, he yelled at the opponent on TV, "LAY LIKE A BIRD IN YOUR BED...SON!" We all began laughing hysterically at his random outburst, and one of us managed to ask him through our laughter "Dawson, what in the world does that mean?" He shrugged nonchalantly & simply said "It means I beat him."

Galveston Vacation 2010

Starting Memorial Day, our family with Derek's parents & sister, spent a week at Point West Condos in Galveston. We had wonderful, wonderful weather & a great relaxing time. Sorry for the onslaught of photos...but, these are some of my favorites from the trip.

The kiddos striking a crazy pose before we went to the beach the first day. (Andi's sunglasses are upside down!)

There was ALOT of wave jumping.

Lots of crazy face making!

The Porters came to hang out with us one day.

Lots of running down the beach.

Lots of swimming. Both kiddos decided to ditch the floaties this year!

A little bit of sibling sweetness.

Lots of snuggling with Dad watching movies.

Lots of 'fun with Hettie' time.

Lots of peanut butter.

Lots of pics of my 5 year old birthday boy!

Lots of floating the lazy river.

Lots of sand castle building.

Lots of naps...Dawson piled the pillows & floaties on top of them & they didn't even wake up!

And...lots of cuteness!

So, so, so, so behind.

Yes, I know...I am HORRIBLY behind on my blogging. I have a list of about 12 things to blog about, but I am just lacking the motivation. We will blame it on my 'leaving Minnesota depression.' But, I will get my butt in gear asap because I have some great things to post! I'll be back soon.