Time Flies

There was a moment when I thought to myself, "I haven't kept up writing our stories, maybe it is time to just let it go - life is too fast to maintain a blog...." But it just doesn't seem right to leave out a very important little person that has come to be in our lives.

Meet our Ada Wren.

She has come to add some sugar to our world. She is sweet as can be. She came to us on July 1, 2015 - a beautiful summer day. Ada had been in our hearts before that...I know we were happy and feeling the joys of life (and the hard parts, too) but deep down we knew there was one more little that our family needed. And she already has a story for me to add....

Ode to Back Seat Drivers

Been Doing

We did a Father's Day lunch at SPIN. Beautiful day. Beautiful Father, there.

The kids had Gelato and lemonade.

Potty training while it's raining.

He relaxes.

We saw Dragon II in the new Prime theater.  Talk about sound quality!! It was fun!

Meet Corduroy

This is going to be one of my very favorite posts...I can tell already.  We adopted a puppy!!

The kids were at Vacation Bible School at Christ Church. Derek and I had 2 hours to do something fun before picking them up. We went out for a margarita and dinner at the Salty Iguana. Then we went for a walk around Corinth Square and found ourselves at The Land of Paws.  Well, it was love at first sight. We took him out to hold him. And then we couldn't put him down. So, we decided to surprise the kids with a new friend. It couldn't be a more perfect gift for a family on Father's Day weekend.

Greta named Mimsy, so this naming job was Jack's. He was leaning towards Floppsy, Casper, Trotter,  Steve, Dan, and then Casper again.

By morning, Jack named him Corduroy. He said it was after his pants, not the bear. He is a wonderful little Corduroy. Roy. He is the sweetest little puppy.

He was born March 30, 2014 and his mommy is a Calvalier King Charles Spaniel named Countess and his daddy is a Cocker Spaniel named Handsome Rusty. This makes Corduroy a Cockalier Colling.

He enjoys watching TV.

He has plans for Mimsy the cat....big big plans. She now wants outside more than ever! But seriously,  Corduroy is very exited to play with Mimsy and she is tolerant and not too upset, but just wants him to slow down a bit and mind the tail wagging.

The tail is my favorite!

Dancing Day

I've got these little hipsters that make me really proud. 

They are ready to hip hop!

I seriously cried when they came out for their dance. I love them so much and feel so much pride for their awesome efforts.  I told them to have a ball, and they really did. 

Jack even got flowers. Sunflowers!

Curtain call, and there are so many that your hands loose feeling while clapping.

The girls, Zoe, Gracie, Maura, and Greta backstage. I love the little diva on the right! HA! That is Gabriella.  Greta's ballet/ tap and hip hop jazz teacher is in the background. Her name is  Miss Victoria. (She is really good!)

Gracie, Maura, Greta and Lilly.

I hope the kids enjoy dancing as much as I enjoy watching. 

Kentucky in the Spring

We took a drive to Kentucky over Memorial Day Weekend and spent a bit of time with Grandma and Poppy and Aunt Shelly, Uncle Robert and Olivia. Kentucky is so beautiful and I enjoy it very much. We were lucky to be there on a weekend with some fun events. There was a Beatles Festival by the river! (Derek says, Yay.) (He is not a Beatles fan!!) There were many stages set up with each band covering  the Beatles with perfection. Derek says, "What's worse than hearing your least favorite band play? Hearing cover bands of them play ....all day...long." But the finale was The Beach Boys. And Jack did some break dancing.

R2D2 looked at Jack...he turned his head all the way around and whistled at him. We heart R2.

We were painted and so happy.

Jack picked a leopard face...a boy leopard.

The people were all so friendly and loved on Greta's pretty smile.  It was fun to be in such a happy place.

And this is the drink Derek earned by being with us all day.

Break dancing makes you extremely sleepy.

One of the reasons for going to Kentucky was to give a dōTERRA Essential Oils class and training for Jayne and all of her friends that are using the oils and wanting to build a business with it. We had a wonderful time sharing and trying delicious food they all made. Let me tell you how good the peppermint patties were...and healthy, right?

We spent Memorial Day with Shelly and it was beautiful. We enjoyed the sunshine and grilled burgers and brats and were thankful.

Another Year in Pictures...

We are getting good at this. Buns, tights, lip gloss and tap shoes....we know the routine.  This is picture day at our dance studio. We love to see all of the pretty costumes in anticipation of recital weekend. This year the recital is called The Gifted.

Greta is tapping with a paint brush to a Bob Ross remix.

Happy little clouds!

Look at those legs! 

And this year, we added a hip hop/ jazz class. And, it was extra fun...

Because Brother Jack joined in! 

He said he wanted to perfect his breakdancing skills. He said he wanted to see what was back stage after sitting through 3 previous recital weekends (that is 6 recitals that run about 2 and half hours long.) We asked if Jack could join the class even though he is a bit too young, and they said they would love to have him. Greta warned him not to eat any crackers found on the floor back stage.  Sound advice for anyone back stage.