Kylee's Dance Recital

Dance has ended for the year, and with it Kylee's class was part of a massive dance recital held last Saturday at the Colonial Theater. When I say massive, I mean MASSIVE. There were two acts, and the show ran from 6-9:30 pm. Kylee was part of the second act, so we had to  be there shortly before 7, and stayed to the bitter end so Kylee could be part of the curtain call and "bow". It was her favorite part, so I'm glad we stuck it out.

She performed two dances: the first was her ballet/jazz dance and the second was a tap dance. They still didn't know their tap dance very well, but it was cute to watch them try! I took tons of photos, but shortly after the second dance started I decided to switch to video, so at the end of the post is a partial video of her dance. The photos aren't great, and it's a little hard to see her in some, but they're kinda cute anyway. Enjoy!

 

2nd Dance (Tap) - Kylee's in the back circle, facing the camera

Kylee's on the far left in the next two:

Running off the stage after the dance...how do you like their feather butts? ;-)

And the best part, the curtain call! Kylee's teacher, Miss Brittany, is in the green and yellow. She teaches Zumba at the studio and was part of a Zumba performance during intermission.Kylee is the 4th to the left of the teacher.

Now for the video...a little blurry at first, and the last 20 seconds are apparently of me walking away from the stage (oops) so you can skip that part. Short, but pretty cute!

Brianna Banana

Just some random photos of my littlest lady..she's growing so fast! She is now 11 months, still has no teeth, does not walk or hardly even stand, and doesn't even really crawl - she scoots. :-) But she's got the most contagious laughter and smile around, she loves to wave, blow kisses, clap, and recently said "hi" instead of waving. She LOVES her brother and sister and can often be found being toted around by them, hanging out in one of their rooms or in the backyard with them, or trying to get into the bathroom when one of them is in there. She loves to give Aedan "kisses" and wraps her arms around his noggin (after he sticks it in her face) and gives him big, sloppy, open-mouth kisses all over his face and hair. She's such a sweetheart, we can't get enough of her!

With the recent turn in the weather, we have tried to spend more time outside. Brianna LOVES being outside! She loves going for walks in the backpack or the stroller, or just sitting on the grass and exploring her own little world. In these pics, she was happy as a clam because we finally came outside. She was not too happy about the hat, however, which belonged to Kylee once-upon-a-time. One thing I've discovered is that Brianna's got a bigger head than Kylee at this age...the hat barely fits! :-)

When I first put Brianna on the grass (when she has bare legs) it takes her a few minutes to be comfortable with the poky stuff on her legs. She always sits for a bit with one leg up in the air.

These videos are just kinda fun. You'll have to excuse my inability to properly focus or to turn them right side up and just enjoy the smiles, the laughter and other sweet sounds, and the silly frog-like scoot of our little lady!







And, one last random photo...Aedan was playing outside yesterday while Brett worked in his shop. I looked out the window (and what did I see?) to see Aedan writing his name with the sidewalk chalk. (Sometimes he gets a few letters backwards, like in this pic, but most of the time he gets it exactly right!) I am completely amazed still that he can do this...his big sister and his dad taught him how to do it, and now he writes it all over the place (along with "mom"). What a stud! ;-)

Graduation...Finally

It's finally over! It took me more than a week to be able to post about graduation, because I'm still not entirely caught up to the fact that I'm done. I've spent the last week and a half kinda puttering and accomplishing very little. I'm waiting for the panicked "I only have XX weeks until I have to go back to school!" thoughts to hit, and it's not happening. I guess it will finally be real in August when I'm still at home. :-)

I'm really glad I decided to participate in the graduation commencement. I knew it would be long, irritating, boring, etc etc. But I also knew that when it was over I would be glad to have the closure. Nearly five years has passed since I had no homework, no class schedule to plan, and no babysitters/daycare to arrange. Part of me still feels like I'll be going back soon, and I think about the people who are still there and preparing for fall semester. I know this is all just rambling, but that's pretty much how my thoughts are trending about graduation...weird.

Anyway, long story short, here are some pics of the end of my career as an undergrad...yay! (They are also quite possibly the first photos of me to be published in at least a year. :) It was great to be able to celebrate with all the family who came, both to the graduation and to the BBQ later that afternoon. Everyone had fun with my camera, so there are some pretty fun shots here.

It really was fun to be graduating at the same time as my sister. It turned it into quite the party for our family. And as we are the first of our siblings to earn a bachelor's degree and all the jazz that comes with (commencement) it was kinda exciting for our parents. And after her post about it here, I guess I'll stop feeling silly to be graduating 10 years after high school at the same time as my 4-years-younger sister, and start thinking maybe it was meant to be that way. :-)

Amy and I (along with our husbands) decided to give our "stole of gratitude" to our parents, to thank them for all they did to help us reach this point. We both know that our husbands were the ones who dealt with the daily stress and financial burden of getting us through school. But our parents have also raised us in a way that taught us the value of an education, and they always made sure we knew that we could do anything we wanted.

 

Since I never watch the news, I was super surprised when my friend Jolene sent this link on Facebook (and so glad she did! It was kinda goofy to see myself on video!). So along with the first photos of me in over a year...I made the news! :-) I don't know how long the article/video will be available, but I wanted to include it anyway. 

And, we finally figured out why they make us sit through the hooding of the doctorate candidates. Both Amy and I came away feeling like we want to continue our education. Um...dumb? Maybe, but we'll see. We're both taking a couple years off first. :-) 

Thanks to everyone who supported me and listened to me whine through this crazy journey! I have had so many friends and family to give me the boost of encouragement needed just at the right time, I never would have made it without the help! Now, to find something else to talk about... :-)