Dancing Dayne

We are so glad that it is "July" still. That way I have time to share about Dayne's Dance camp.  She and her BFF, Bella went to Barbie Dance Camp. 

Braydon had to stay home.

On the last day each girl got to dress up from their favorite Barbie Movie for the performance. Dayne is a a Musketeer. Notice the cape.

Dayne Soccer

We call her "Soccerella".

 Dayne is loving Soccer. Loving it. She loves to hug the coach and dance around on the field. She has even made contact with the ball.

This Year of Books

"

My Year of Reading has come to a close. This year was OUT.OF.CONTROL. I read

115 Books 

As I looked through my book journal, I felt proud of a lot of the book topics, new genres and lots of good books that I read.  I read totally for personal enjoyment. I am a very fast reader. I always have a book in my bag. I read at the pool, on vacations (especially the kid free ones) and at night. I love to read after everyone is in bed with headphones on blaring music. I belong to a fantastic book group.  Also a traveling book group and I am thinking of joining a Church book group.  While I am always willing to read a good recommendation, lots of these books came from me researching. 

 Here a few I loved this year:

"Delirium"

Sci-Fi. 

"Spirit Bound"

This was book 5 in a 6 books series. I also finished the series and LOVED book 6. Vampire Academy. I think one of the books is always on my favorites list. Too bad the cover art is TERRIBLE. Truly. 

"City of Bones Series"

This is book 3. They all were fantastic. They are big books. Fantasy books. Vampires, Shadowhunters, Fairies, werewolves. I realize I have crossed into totally book nerd territory. And I am totally okay with that. 

"Where She Went"

I think this may have been my favorite book this year. It is a follow up book to "If she Stays". Well written. Thoughtful. And amazing. No vampires in this book. :)

John Green is a new author to me. I have liked his books that I have read. Kind of dark. Super Sarcastic. Not all appropriate for my mother to read. 

Here are a few that I HATED (well not truly hated, I usually quit reading those but these earned D's):

Awful. It has won all types of awards. But not my me. Depressing. The guy is totally unlikable.

A ghost story. But not good. Not at all. 

I have read all the Stephenie Plum books. This was bad. Silly. Silly. Silly.

Here is last years post:

2010

Party Continues the Deets....

The Cakes

Rich made lightsabers.  I made the cake and the frostings. They were almost 4 feet long.

The Van

The Game Van came to our house for 1 1/2 hours of pure heaven.

Inside the Van

More TV's.  X-boxes on the inside. Wii on the outside. Each had it's own speakers. They had every game you could think of and would change the games upon demand.

Party Guests

Bell and Mia

It was HOT outside!

Inside Rocking it Out

Party Recap Part 1

Happy Birthday Crewe!

 8 years ago was a hard day of work. ALL DAY LONG. But in the end we got the BEST thing ever. The nurse helping me said, "I love the name Crewe. It's like he is a movie star. Or a soap opera star!" Thanks, I think.

 Crewe is an AMAZING Kid. He is KIND and thoughtful. He loves to READ. He LOVES, like Crazy LOVES video games.

 Crewe is truly a FANTASTIC swimmer. And he is discovering a love of TENNIS. He is looking forward to starting SCOUTS. And I expect that he will love passing off the badges. Crewe is smart and really likes SCIENCE. He excels at MATH but if asked what he loves the most in the day, he will say recess.

 Crewe is tall and thin. He has GIANT hair that has turned blond this summer. He loves pizza and cheese. He still eats GRAPES every day. He loves CORN on the cob and cheeseburgers. 

Crewe slept in his swimsuit last night. When I commented on it to Rich he said, "It's his Birthday. Let him do what he wants!" 

Happy Birthday Boy! We love You!

Ice Cream

 We had a friend pass away almost 2 weeks ago. I felt like if I blogged something cute or fun from my life that I would not be respectful. Or that I was throwing it their face. Like I still have a family. Nah Nah. But the thing is, 1. Ryan doesn't read this blog and that who's feelings I really care about. 2. Who else reads this blog? My parents, my sister in laws? And they already know that my heart is busy bleeding for our friends.

So I give you dayne eating ice cream after swim lessons. She passed the first level. Yeah! And has been at level 2 for the past sessions. We are proud of her and mad swimming skills!

Happy 4th of July

the dad

 My kids have been nuts about Rich lately. I think with Rich now having a day off during the week (back to working weekends) and them being home, they are totally loving having Rich around. Plus he always swims with them at the pool and he will build them a fort for sleeping. We love the Dad!

Swim Team

  We are two meets into our swimteam season. Crewe is swimming everyday for at least 45 minutes during practice and then we usually go back to the pool for fun.  Crewe is doing such a great job. He swims Back Stroke and Freestyle really well. He also is working on his Butterfly and his Breaststroke. He has a ribbon for each stroke ( that is what he cars about). We really have a great time and I am so proud of Crewe. Brace yourself for ALL the videos of the Shark!

Oh and we have a great support team. There is a lot of hanging out time and Dayne does a great job being happy and helpful.  Baby Dayne is an amazing cheerleader and we are lucky to have her supporting Crewe. Side note. She is learning to swim this year and may be on the team next year. 

Just 2 weeks behind

 Guess who is going to the Second Grade? Crewe Palmer. He rocked out his first year. We are so happy with him and how hard he worked this year. Crewe is so smart and kind. We love our boy!

Total Delight with his Friends!

 Crewe and his teacher. Mrs. Vizzussi.

Seriously. I'm in love with those kids!

Happy Father's Day

A couple of things:

1. We got a new car a couple of months ago. The blue Honda in the background. We love it!

2. We need a new camera. Doesn't this picture look a little fuzzy. What kind? Just a point and shoot.

3. This  picture is from the beginning of June. Nothing like wearing a sweater in June.

Flowers

 Speaking of our 11th Anniversary. Rich bought me the most amazing flowers. (Can't get the photo to turn). I LOVED them! They are so pretty and the pink was dazzling.



Here they a few days later......

Anniversay

Every year we take a family photo on our Anniversary. This year the four of us were never together and out of pj's. So this picture is two days later. Same thing.  June 4th 2011.  And yes, I am wearing Uggs and a sweater. We are still waiting for summer to start.

More Preschool

The actual last day of preschool. Dayne and I wore matching skirts. Awesome! It was a great day filled with a performance, a video of the kids, food and fun. I really enjoyed getting to know the other parents and I know had a great year!

 Dayne's classmates, Max, Nathan, Emma, Amelia and Dayne. They were getting ready for the silly picture. Dayne's favorite!

Dayne told me, "You know your husband's Dad? I really love him!"

Done with Preschool

Dayne is done with preschool yesterday. I'm always sad. I don't like my kids growing up and moving on. Pathetic, I know. I am happy that we did a Round Robin Style preschool this year. We both made new friends. I loved how flexible everyone could be. Dayne worked on her Letters and Numbers. This year she also learned how to write her name (not at school) and can spell her whole name on demand. Dayne is a delightful daughter. She is super dramatic. She is so happy and sweet AND can be very naughty at the next turn. We love Dayne!