Finishing Up Spring Break

I can't believe that Spring Break is already wrapping up. Even though we were super sad not to make it to Guymon, we were surprised with a wonderful week in Dallas.

After time with cousins, we had a sweet day with friends in downtown Dallas. We ate at a gourmet food truck for lunch near Thanksgiving Square then headed to Main Street Garden park to play. The kids had a blast spinning and running all around the park. Then, a quick trip to the Farmer's Market left us all ready for a nap but with smiles on our faces.

Today we drove back to the Arboretum for a day with the family. The cousins chased each other and rolled down the hills. I think the theme of this break was certainly "parks and picnics" as we enjoyed another wonderful day outside.

Hearing the cousins laugh and play brings so much joy to my heart. Moses stayed the night while Haley stayed with Gigi and the girls. And theses boys cracked me up. We could hear them playing pretend rescue heroes or encouraging one another to clean up so they could play something else. I thought the fact that I only had to go in once and tell them to calm down and go to sleep made the evening was a success. I think I was more tired than them and certainly just as dirty. Boy night at our house was a success.

I can't believe how much all our friends and cousins have grown and changed over the past year. The kids play less with me and head off to play with each other. As a parent of small children, it is such a HUGE shift in play dates. Instead of entertaining the kids, now I have free time to catch up on my blog or do the dishes. It is so crazy how much our lives have changed from no kids to little bitty kids to school aged kids.

I TREASURE these breaks from school and LOVE having the kids home with me for the week. The time does fly by so fast and I am so thankful for this wonderful week home together. I hope our kids always have this much fun enjoying each day, playing & having fun with friends.

Spring Break Day 3

Gigi surprised us all with 3 cousins for spring break. She met Taye halfway and brought the kids back for the week. Yippee!

The kids had a blast today doing normal kid things. We played at the park, 2 times, we made tents in Evan's room, played army guys, played American Girl dolls, ate ice cream sandwiches and had tons of fun. We were all tired and dirty at the day's end.

It is so sweet to see how the cousins all love each other so much. It doesn't matter how long it has been since they last played, they are ready to move in together by the end of the trip.

They have grown up so much over the years and now they just run back to the bedrooms and play until it is time to eat then they play until bedtime. I don't think there were even any tears today which is amazing progress.

I love hearing their conversations, their laughter and see their love. What a fun surprise day!

Parisian Dancer

I bet you didn't know that I had a Parisian dancer living at my house. Its true. And, it is about the cutest thing you have ever seen.

Haley has LOVED dance since her first class at 4 1/2 years old. She has tapped, twirled and shuffled her way into our heart. I know I am horribly prejudiced, but when they asked Haley to join the competitive dance company last summer, we just couldn't say no.

It has been a lot of work (especially in a winter where we have been unusually sick) but she has loved performing and practicing with her team. In the days of shows like, "Dance Mom" where the moms cry and fight over their daughters being the star, I feel so thankful to be at such a sweet studio where modest dress, age appropriate dancing is still fun.

Yes, she looks twice as old as she is with all her stage make-up, but she is still her bubbly self on the stage. She smiles, she spins and she makes me love dancing every time I watch her on stage. I am so proud of the way that she has committed to be the best she can be on the team.

We have learned so much this year but I am most thankful for the way that Haley has learned to feel confident in front of others and understand what it means to be part of a team.

We danced at Christmas at Six Flag...still working out some choreography kinks and then the girls did awesome at a competition in February winning a special judges pick award as well as top awards in their division. We have two more competitions this spring and are thankful that this has been such a fun experience.

Spring Break 2012

Well, after a week of pneumonia for Haley we are all crawling out of our house and into the world again. It is certainly not easy. With Jed in Belize during the sick days, we are all pretty tired and trying to catch up from our week under the weather. It is crazy how it feels like it was all a bad dream now....3 dr. visits, 2 antibiotics, 5 missed days of school and many missed hours of sleep. The coughing continues but we are trying to build up Haley's strength and get back to life!

So, Monday Jed took the day off and we went to the arboretum with Evan's buddy Ty. The weather was perfect and although Haley mostly rode in the jogging stroller, the boys ran and played for hours. I think Evan was so excited to get out of the house he probably could have run all day long.

We had to cancel our trip to Guymon because Haley was so sick but are excited to have a quiet yet fun week playing in Dallas. I am always so thankful to have both of the kids home and never want to waste a minute of our time together.

Tuesday we had a fun day at the park with friends. If you give Evan his night vision gogles, a light saber and a hand grenade (all pretend of course) he can play for hours. And the boy certainly did!

Here are some other picture worthy moments from the month:)

Winter Leaves

Crazy that it is often January before we have enough leaves on the ground to rake and jump in them, but it is true. I followed the kids outside with a rake and a camera and it turned into a game of camera hide and seek. They laughed and laughed as they ran from me.

You go zoom lens. I think you are the winner today!

Fevers and Fashion

Haley has spent the last 2 days in bed with a 102-104 degree temp and a nasty cough. While spending the day in bed, I used the time to catch up on our blog (the Birthday story) and she used the time to do some fashion drawings.

I love seeing her create things. She made me my very own design and wrote this sweet note on the back (I will have to admit it came after she read what I wrote about her on her Birthday). I will take this sweet encouragement any day.

Nothing better than being thanked after a hard day of caring for a sick kiddo and a not sick jumping bean...I am Evan.

Haley Turns Seven

I had to bypass the Christmas pictures AGAIN to just keep up with where we are today and that takes me straight to Haley's 7th Birthday.

We had a wonderful celebration this year filled with family, friends and dancing fun. On Haley's actual Birthday we opened presents early in the morning before school...new lunch box & back pack, barbie clothes and matching AG and little girl clothes to name a few. The big gift from all the grandparents and us was another trip to the AG store for accessories. Haley bought Kit's bed and now Kit and Ruthie sleep comfortably side by side in Haley's room.

The party was so precious with our friend, Rachael, as the wonderful ballet teacher. She brought all the kids together...many who do not dance at all...and had them smiling and pointing their toes in no time. We cleared all the furniture in the living room and let the girls fill the space. (Haley got a little ambitious with he verbal invitations this year and we ended up inviting all the girls from her class at school plus some other friends = 15 dancers.)

After a handprint tutu craft and making a purple wooden bead necklace, the dancers got right to business giggling and leaping their way through the afternoon. After some amazing cupcakes from Society Bakery (thanks to Amy Flickinger) and some awesome chocolate chip cookies from Gigi together with some purple and pink punch, the girls wrapped up the party with an out of control game of freeze dance. They couldn't be any cuter!

I am sure I will say this every year for the rest of my life but I can't believe Haley is 7. It was only yesterday that we were in the hospital in Sewickley, PA watching the snow fall out the window while we held our perfect baby girl.

These days Haley is full of love and laughter every day. She still loves to dance and is even competing on her company dance team. If she could choose she would play outside all day long and spend the day imagining great adventures. She is a great reader, her current favorites include anything about dogs and Magic Treehouse series. I don't think I mentioned that she was student of the 6 weeks in first grade this fall and enjoys being at school almost every day. We couldn't be any more proud of Haley for the ways that she is kind to others, cares about her friends and tries to include everyone. What a joy she is in our lives. We love you Haley Ann Roseberry and look forward to many more fun years ahead.