Silliness

Silliness abounds at our house!

Dance Recital

Hannah took dance lessons this year starting in October through the beginning of April from a friend of mine who does a wonderful job teaching children dance.  She had 45 minutes of ballet and 15 minutes of tap every week.  She loved it at the start but was ready to move on to soccer by the end of it.  

Hannah after the recital posing for the camera

The last week of class they gave a recital.  The teacher's mom made matching skirts for all the girls.  They had fun during their performance.  Here are some pictures of the evening....

Waiting on the sidelines -- ready for the recital

First number - tap dance (Hannah in back row)

Hannah spent a lot of time watching Kaylin for the moves (she's the girl in the front on the left)...see picture below -- it really shows her watching -- most of the girls had their eyes on Kaylin.  She's been dancing for 3 years and she's in 3rd grade -- older than all of the girls in the class.  It was good for the girls to have someone to follow because they may have been pretty lost without her.

The end of the tap number (change shoes for ballet numbers)

Ballet

Hannah's debut in the front row -- the older kids moved to the back for part of the ballet number

After the serious ballet number they did two fun dances -- here is Hannah "Bopping Until She Drops"

Taking a bow with her friends

As we were getting ready to go to the recital, Sophie wanted to wear a dance skirt too.  After she put it on, she said, "I'm Barbie."  

It's starting quite young for her!  I guess having an older sister pushes those ideas along faster.  We sat in the front row so the kids could see the dancers.  Luke didn't move a muscle the whole time.  He loves attending any kind of art performance -- musicals, concerts, dance recitals, etc.  I think he will be a performer one day.

Posing for the crowd after they were finished -- some of the girls really got into the whole performance.  Hannah was pretty shy for much of the performance.

I'm glad that Hannah had this experience, even if she decides never to take a dance class again in her life.

Mother's Day

I was pampered on Mother's Day....

Pat made French toast for breakfast.

I got to go to Bible Study before church and Pat stayed home with the kids.

We took a nice leisurely walk from church to Dairy Queen for lunch - Mom's were given a free sundae for Mother's Day.

We worked in the garden all afternoon getting it ready to plant veggies -- hopefully this weekend!

 They showered me with fun, interesting and thoughtful gifts -- marigolds to plant in the garden to keep the bugs off the tomatoes, a funky shirt, lots of yummy chocolate, lots of homemade art/cards (the kids were busy most of Saturday working on art for Mother's Day while Pat and I did projects around the house), and a chore card book from Jacob full of hilarious entries (ie. change Sophie's diaper, watch Luke, watch Sophie, wipe the table, lock the front door, clean the whole house, wipe Sophie's face, water the garden, pick up sticks, etc).  And to top it off he told me that not only did I get help once with each of these chores, but each one got 5 slashes!  Wow!  This was an amazing gift especially coming from Jacob who tries to weasel his way out of any extra work around the house most of the time.  He got the idea for giving these chore cards as a gift from a series of books he's been reading lately -- "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".  I wasn't sure what I thought of the books -- but now I'm sold!

Easter Weekend

Luke's first time on Annie!  He was able to pet Annie on the nose without screaming, and so he got to take his first ride.  

Hannah worked on balance this trip.  This was her first ride using reigns and not holding on the saddle horn.  She had fun with this and looks forward to our next visit so she can begin learning to turn the horse using reigns.

Decked out for Easter -- too sunny, Mom! 

So we moved inside -- but now it's too dark and everyone is pictured out....oh well.  You get the idea of what they looked like anyway.

We took the kids to a community-wide Easter egg hunt in Brookings the day before Easter.  They each were in a different area by age.  I stayed with Sophie and it was quite comical watching the 2 and under kids scramble for candy.  Mostly it was parents telling their kids "grab some candy" as the kids were frozen with fear with so many kids around.  Jacob and Hannah were on their own and Lois hunted with Luke.  He froze when the time came to get candy.  He doesn't like loud noises (marching bands, fire trucks in parades scare him) so it didn't surprise me to hear that he froze.  Despite being overwhelmed at this egg hunt, the kids still came away from it with baskets overflowing with candy and toys.  A day later they had a quieter, trickier hunt at Nana's. The Easter bunny did a great job hiding eggs all over the house - some way up high!

Fun on the Farm -- the three little ones had fun with the wagon.  These pictures are precious to me.

We had a fun weekend on Nana's farm! 

Little Helpers

Sophie and Luke have been my helpers in the kitchen lately.  

This past week they helped me make pizza crust.  

Many hands make light work!

(Does this still hold true for little hands?!)

I think so!

She's Two!

Sophia turned two on April 24th! 

We celebrated her birthday at Reptile Gardens near Rapid City.  The kids loved seeing all of the reptiles.  It's a good deal -- you buy admission for the day and receive a seasonal pass to go back as many times between now and the end of November for free.  We probably will head back sometime this summer when they have more of the outdoor shows going.  It was too cold for the reptiles to be outside for most of the outdoor shows. 

We had the neighbor girls, Stormy and Nina, over for Sophie's birthday celebration after we got back from Reptile Gardens.  We had dinner,

cake (I made a butterfly cake this year) and then opened presents.

She loves her new doll from Aunt Carrie's family and was excited to have her own bike.  After we gave her the tricycle, the party moved outside to try it out.  She is quickly learning to steer it.  She also figured out how to push it from behind up the slight hill in front of our house.  She must have pushed it up the hill 15 times before tiring of it.  She would push it up the hill and then get on and ride it back down.  

Nana Haertel, Nana and Papa and our family all chipped in to get her a slide. 

 (Sorry for the poor quality picture --- I took it from the kitchen window through the screen)
It arrived a few days after her birthday.  It has been a big hit with all of the kids!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!