Preschool Graduation

How cute are these guys. I'm so proud of them, they have truly loved preschool and are looking forward to starting kindergarten in the fall. Now if only I survive the entire summer of hearing "Do I start kindergarten, tomorrow?". At least they are excited right?

Memorial Day

We didn't think we would be able to decorate graves on Memorial Day, unless we were willing to do it in the rain. But luckily we decided to wait it out and go in the afternoon instead. It worked out great, we had about a two hour window of decent weather. Going to the cemetary is something that I have done since I can remember. I loved hearing the stories of all of my ancestors that my grandma told. Now my mother is telling those stories to my kids, it is a great family tradition.



Kelsie, Rachel and Maddie (my cousins daughter) thought they were to old to help, but they couldn't say no to grandma.



Katelyn at my cousin Geri's grave, she loved the Mickey Mouse on the headstone.



Rachel & Brinlee saying they were bored.



Katelyn always the big helper.



Austin playing with the bee balloon on my cousin Cassie's grave.



Sara, Brinlee and Kyle hanging out.



This is my favorite picture of the day, my nephew Blake was so cute!!



The girls (Lexi, Kennadi & Katelyn) hanging out.



Kyle loves his Aunt Jamie.

Student Council

Rachel has had a great 5th grade year, she ran for student council last fall and won. One of the things they were in charge of was Quarters for Christmas Drive in December, and had to collect, count and deliver the money to the bank. They are also in charge of doing the announcements each day. They rotate weeks with the other kids in student council, and every three weeks they are in charge. A few weeks ago the principal took the student council to Chuck E Cheese for lunch as an award for doing such a great job. She has had a blast on the student council. She has learned a lot. She is really going to miss this school next year, but she'll see all these kids in junior high in two years so I think that is helping.

A Beautiful Disaster!

Kelsie had a cake auction fundraiser for girls camp tonight!! I had to work late and wasn't home to help with the cake. Her and Angi said they had it covered. Well the cake baking went fine, it was the putting it on the board that ended up being the problem. They dropped it. They made the best of what they had at that point, and ended up naming the cake the beautiful disaster. When we arrived at the cake auction, someone had already bid on the cake, so they must have had a good sense of humor. We purchased the cake for $50, hey it was a fundraiser.

Choir Concert - "You Raise Me Up"

This year Kelsie was in the 7th grade girls choir. For a little background I've been begging Kelsie to be in choir for years, but she was afraid it wasn't "cool" enough. But she had to pick band or choir in the 7th grade. Guess what? She loved choir!! She has always had a good voice and a great stage presence, so I knew it would be a great fit. Her choir teacher was a lot of fun, so I'm sure that helped. The choir concert was a lot of fun, the kids all looked like they were having fun. The last song of the program was combined with all the choirs, they sang "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Grobin. They did an excellent job. I cried of course. This song has a lot of meaning for me, and it was wonderful to hear Kelsie sing it. Four years ago this week we learned the devastating news that Jason's brother Damon was killed in an airplane crash. One of the first songs I heard on the radio that day was "You Raise Me Up" and since then it has helped me get through that tough time and I always think about Damon when I hear it. So of course I cried when Kelsie sang it. Damon, We miss you everyday!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I had a great Mother's Day, it started out with breakfast in bed, then church, then presents. Jason and the kids out did themselves this year. They got me a few shirts, some new jammies and a Thomas Kinkade painting for the new house. I love it!! Then a few days later we got to have it highlighted by a Master Painter at the gallery. I thought it beautiful before the highlighting, but wow it made a huge difference. Jason asked that some of the water be highlighted, the painter had not ever had anyone ask about the water. Leave it to Jason to be the first, it was no surprise to me. She loved how it turned out, and so did I. Jason blew me away again when I learned why he and the kids picked that particular painting. I loved it when I saw it, and the kids loved it and thought that was all. The biggest reason was that it reminded Jason of Grandma Thompson who passed away in January and my mom, Disneyland is both of their favorite place on earth.

JUMP

We spent the weekend at the Salt Palace Convention Center for the JUMP dance convention. The girls worked so hard. Brinlee got to come this time. She was enrolled in a jump start program which is three hours long with the intention of being a great way to expose them to a convention atmosphere. Brinlee did so good with several of the choreographers picking her out to show the class how to do things or just with a good job. She loved everything about it, especially meeting the choreographers. After the three hours were up she decided she wanted more. So we upgraded her to a mini and she joined Rachel's class. She did awesome. Rachel did great in her class, and worked so hard. At the end of the two days she was picked by Kim Swain as a runner up when she picked two girls that had worked the hardest for her. Kelsie also did great, the mother who was sitting in her room (I couldn't be in all three places at the same time) was so impressed with how much she has grown as a dancer this year. She said she was beautiful, I wish I could have seen that dance. I did watch a few of her classes, but not that one. At the end of the two days they had 80's hour and then a big extravaganza show, they had so much fun dressing up and I was blown away at the reminder of what I wore so long ago. Nick Lazzarini (the winner of the first So You Think You Can Dance) was the favorite choreographer by all three girls.

Mommy Muffin Day!

I got to go to Mommy Muffin Day with the twins at preschool today. I always love this special time with the twins, and the muffins are so yummy! The kids sang a cute song for all the moms and each child read one page out of a book to us. Katelyn read the first page and Austin read the last page, they did such a great job. They made me cute key rings to give me and just beamed when they presented them to me. I felt so special!! I love being their mommy!

Spring Dance Recital!

The last two nights were spent at the girls spring dance recital. It is a crazy time for mom, doing makeup, hair and trying to get everyone changed and in the right spot at the right time. The first night the three older girls did all of their competition routines and Kelsie and Brinlee performed their solos. Cassie Thompson danced with her group, as well. The second night they did their competition routines again and Rachel did her duo. Katelyn danced to a song from Mulan, she so excited to perform. I love watching my girls perform. I wasn't big into dance until I was much older and then I did ballroom. I would have never guessed what this has become when I put Kelsie in her first dance class when she was 3 years old. They absolutely love dance. Somedays making four to six trips to the dance studio seems daunting, but when I see their faces light up on the stage it makes it all worth it.

Rachel Loves School!

Rachel loves school and it shows!! Last year she tied with her friend Rachel with the highest grades in her class, and she is doing really well again. She doesn't procrastinate her school work and always goes the extra mile. Her state report was due Tuesday and she had it all done the Friday before. She was asked to highlight 5 things from her state and needed to have 8 or so things on her poster. As you can see she did many more. She learned so much about Florida and now she wants to visit again. I am very proud of her and all of her accomplishments

Brinlee's Bug Program

The first grade does a cute bug program each year and Brinlee was a ladybug this year. The program talks about all kinds of bugs and the kids are in cute costumes. The story is about a stink bug that no one wants to be around and in the end we learn that every body has a purpose and we should be friends with everyone. Brinlee was on the first row, front and center. She is very comfortable being the center of attention and gives 100%. She had cute facials and knew all the songs really well. She had a speaking part as well. It was a cute program, I love seeing my kids perform. Brinlee is going to miss her friends at this school next year, but I'm sure she will find lots of new friends.