Just because...

everyone likes a baby(toddler) with a messy face!

Let There Be

This was the name of the girls dance recital. It was all about the days of creation. In the program each day had the Scripture to go a long with it. I was the most beautiful dance that I have been to. My little Rockin Robin was representing the animals of the air. She was so cute that not many tears were shed when she danced. More smiles!! Samantha's class represented humanity. Oh what a beautiful dance. They danced to a song called Captivated by Shaun McDonald. Her dance brought tears to the eyes and joy to the soul!! An extra bonus of the night was it was fathers day. Jeff got to spend the night watching to of his daughters dance for Christ. He was one proud papa.

In Love

Yep, am head over heels in love!! With the zoo! It is so nice to load up the kids and go do something fun and educational all at once. This time we took along some friends and filled the van. It was a lot of fun to look back and see nine cute kids looking back at me. Okay so maybe they were staring at the DVD player. It was still cute! This time I gave the camera to Samantha and let her do photos. She is really wanting to learn more about photographer so why not a hands on lesson. She did well. Favorite animal for Melia was a friendly peacock that came and had lunch with us. There was no need for a zoom lens this guy all but ate out of our hand. Kellina's favorite animal was and may always be Gloria. Samantha liked the penguins, but if you were to ask me her favorite thing was taking pictures. She lasted with photos till almost the very end. Playing took over though. To end this post I give you some random kid shots that are to cute not to share.

My little Rockin Robin

So when I posted about Samantha and her dance I said I would get back to Melia. Well, I am now getting back to it. She danced to Rockin Robin and was the cutest robin I ever have seen. She loves to perform!! It means she gets her hair done, a pretty costume, and MAKEUP. This year she said she was nervous all day, but she got out there and did her thing. It was very cute. I plan to do an entire post about the performance, so for now enjoy Melia in all her glory.

Down on the farm.

Okay, its not really a farm. Its more like my friends back yard, but I can dream can't I. I have decided recently when I grow up I want to be a farmer. Not the kind that does it to live. More the kind who does it out of love. I mean wouldn't it be great for these little guys to be in my backyard. And shouldn't the boys be able to get lost in the tall grass more often. Oh well, for now I will have to borrow my friends farm. I mean back yard.

Did I mention..

Melia loves her new Jessie doll! So much so, she is keeping her safe every where we go.

Grand Finale!!

Last night was it!! The last time for this year that my little girl will perform with her violin. She was so excited she was jumping for joy. Okay, I made her jump. She has loved violin and wants to practice all summer. We are hoping to continue to do it next year with a new teacher. Pre-concert. Mid-concert. Post-concert. What a great night filled with great music!!

Mom made kid tested

So yesterday my friend and I decided to try and make soap. Now I know some people may view this as a waste of time, but we thought it would be great. We were inspired by our friends blog and off we went. We waited till all the little ones were napping since there is lye in the soap which is very harmful. The soap looks very yummy, like vanilla pudding. We thought we did a great job of getting the point across to not eat or touch the soap. The lye will burn your skin. Turns out Kellina didn't get the memo and had to see what was in the molds. She dipped a finger and took a lick. She found out in a very painful way that it was nothing yummy or fun. A quick call to poison control helped calm any fears. We started our process at 1:20 and didn't finish until 4:00ish. It took a little longer then we thought. There was a lot of stirring! When it was all mixed it got poured into molds. My favorite mold was the old half and half carton. Nothing says soap like funky milk smell!Now it must set for 6 weeks. I am so excited to have home made soap!! During the process the boys looked like this(while awake). Getting molars! The little girls were outside(yes! there was sun!) and came in looking like this. Samantha was the big helper. She stirred, she played, she did it all.
All in all we had a good day and topped it off by watching daddy play softball.

Growing

I am doing it! I am GROWING a garden. I know I posted about planting a garden, but now it is actually growing!!! I have beets. I have green beans. I have squash(butternut and spaghetti). I have peas(sugar snap and regular). I have carrots. I have romaine lettuce, which is totally big enough to harvest. Lastly I have cabbage. Samantha is also growing what I hope turn out to be big sunflowers! I love growing stuff and now am working on Jeff to get chickens. He isn't hating the idea. (These photos were taken about a week a go and the plants have already grown so much since then!!)

Dancing Queen

June is the time of year where all our activities come to an end. And some things like camp are getting in to full swing. This family is currently gearing up for Samantha's school year to end and summer to begin. This means one last violin concert, one last sewing class, wrapping up school with mom, and the funnest of all her dance recital. This year she is dancing both nights of the show. I remember when she first started and seemed so teeny. Now she is the Queen. Her show is June 19th and 20th. This year(and last) she has learned to share the spot light with Melia. I will post more about her later, but for now enjoy my dancing queen.