OuR FiRsT DaNcE ReCiTaL!

Avery had her very first dance recital last week. She was so excited for it to finally be here. I wondered if she would even do anything because every time I asked her to show me shat she learned, she told me she wanted it to be a surprise. Anyway she loved going and dancing with all of her friends! I think that she is just the cutest little dancer ever!

So here it is.....all of those hours of lessons, the singing of 3 little girls on the carpool, the money well spent (to some of us), and we have the finished product!

SpLaSh PaD FuN

Here are a couple of pictures of Avery & Trace at the splash pad. It was a bribery tool since Dax was at a friends house playing. It was the perfect day for a perfect bribe.

ThE FiRsT & LaSt DaY!

One day I will remember which order to out the pictures, so they are all backwards. So I guess lets start with our favorite crossing guard, Valerie. Every school day Avery & Trace would run on the yellow line and give her a big high five. She would tickle them when they were cross and always missed seeing them if they weren't with me. Thanks Valerie!
This is Dax and Mrs. Patterson, his teacher this year. Bless her heart that she is still smiling at the end of the year! She had a very lopsided class this year with 20 boys and 8 girls. I would be crazy!! Luckily she loved Dax because he was such a good boy. He was so proud that he never got his card flipped all year. Way to go!!

This is finally a picture of Dax on his first day of 1st grade. One thing for sure, the tooth fairy came to see Dax in 1st grade!!!!

Dax going to school this morning!! He told me that he can't wait to be a 2nd grader because when the bell rings he can just run out and he doesn't have to wait until his teacher sees me anymore. I am trying to convince myself that it is because he is so responsible and not that he is embarrassed of me. Time will only tell.

See what I mean about that darn tooth fairy. He isn't the greatest walking advertisement for us right now!! We love you Dax, you are such a good boy and a good example to those around you!! PLEASE - keep it up for the summer!

TiGhT Is NoT ThE WoRD!

Okay-we barely can fit the boat in the garage!! This has been one of our challenges of buying a boat because Brian did not want to pay to have it stored and with the HOA we can not have it outside unless it is behind an RV gate which of course we don't have. So it really narrowed our search. So we got this boat and our our way home from picking it up Brian said to me "It's Not going to fit." I looked at him like what do ya mean? So when we got home we took off the platform and lowered the tower and started the backing. Now it is a good thing that I am married to the world's best backer upper because this is a chore. First, we get it half way in and I have to stop Brian because the tower is just a little to tall to go in the garage door. So we take out the 2x4 jobber that the guy before us made to rest the tower on and then it barely skims under. Then the board goes back on the tower. So as you can see we have all together on the front, back and side a combined total of 1/2 inch of extra room. There is no way we could have a bigger boat until we have a bigger house!!! So now we have to open that garage to get to the other side of the garage and as you can see Trace & Avery have found a new window to look out of. Tight, tight, tight!!!

OuT oN ThE WaTeR

Here is Dax out on the tube-he is alone because not all of us like to go as fast as he does. I will say that I have done more tubing this week then I have done in the last 5 years combined. I think that this is the only time that he is riding with out holding his thumb up to go faster.

Avery & myself out on the tube. Avery likes to stand up and ride the waves this way. This is my kind of ride!!

Dax always has asmile after his turn behind the boat!! You just have to love this kid! He is such a trooper. He is such a big helper on the boat this year!

Brian & Avery drivin' the boat! Brian looks so tuff in this picture!!

Dax & Avery riding or really showing us some moves in the tube! Smiles again!

Dax skiing!!! We had to be inventive with getting him up. We have always had a beach and more hands to get the kids up on the skiis and now we only have Brian & I. I am driving the boat and Brian has to hold the end of the rope in the boat. So we tried to have Dax just deep water start but his little chicken legs had a hard time holding the skiis straight. I understand his pain! So Brian held his skiis straight off the back of the platform and got him up and then let him out slowly. So he is up again and with another smile. Now he has a new goal - to be able to get out of the water by himself.

Here is the crowd on the tube!! What a good lookin' bunch!!!

I LOVE this girl!! She wants to be her daddy and this is a good start!

Trace Loves the Boat!! The morning after we brought the boat home, he woke up and ran right to the garage opened the door and said "Helloooo Gorgeous!!" I thanked him for saying such a nice thing to me and he quickly said, "Not you mom, do you see that boat?" Duh, what was I thinking! He had spent more time in the boat than any of us because he doesn't care if it is in the water or not. The garage is almost as good. A boat is a boat!

OuR NeW ToY!!!

We FINALLY got a boat!!! Brian has wanted a boat for years and it now we have one! It hasn't easy or alot of fun (unless you like roller coasters)! I say this because this isn't the first boat that we found to get but the stars were all aligned and it finally happened! We could not be happier with the boat that we ended up with. It already has been a good family time.
This is the 3rd time that we took the boat out but the first time that I remembered to get a picture of us with the boat. Well, this is an almost picture of the boat, good thing we double up on pictures. The first two times to the lake, Brian had such an itch to get the boat into the water that we get it in super fast and then it is dark when we pull out of the water. So the 3rd time was the charm to get a picture of us with the boat.

See what I mean......everyone is sooooo happy!

This is the best spot on the boat for our three captains!! They are always perched right up here in the front with big grins!

Avery is pointing out the best spot for the day!

A WeLcOmE SoNg FoR GrAdUaTiOn!

Well we know who wore the pants in the preschool room!!

GrAdUaTiOn SoNgS

Here are some of the songs that Avery sang for the program at Graduation. Tooo cute!

PrEsChOoL GrAdUaTiOn

Yesterday was Avery's Preschool Graduation. I have LOVED Avery's teacher this year so we are sooo sad that it went so fast. But lucky for us, Avery gets another year with Mrs. Jodi and of course Oscar.
Avery making the big walk!

Mrs. Jodi talked about each of the children and the kids came up with expressive words about themselves and Avery came up with giggly!! So true, Avery always has a smile and giggle.

Avery with Mrs. Jodi and Oscar. Oscar is a seeing eye dog that Jodi is training and the kids just LOVE him. He sits in class with them while they are singing songs and is very protective of the kids. When they get done with school each day he leads them out and makes sure that none of the kids go in the road and are safe with their parent. What a great experience preschool was this year! We are so excited that Avery & Trace are in her preschool next year.

FieLd DaY

Only in Arizona is this a part of field day at school....picking up marbles with your toes and putting them in a bucket! This is a sign of a real champion!!
This event looks a little dangerous to me!!

The 3-legged race! Of course Dax wanted Ainsley to be his partner but what can I say-they WON!!

When I saw this I am sure that I had the same feeling my poor mom had every time I was involved in a sporting event, for that I am sorry. In his defence, he was supposed to be doing this, I never was!!

I did learn that Dax some some moves with the Hula Hoop!! In the 10 minutes that they did this he only dropped it once, he must be his fathers son!! haha