Riley's Gymanstics Camp - Week 2

Riley did another week of gymnastics camp while Avery was at her camp again. She really loved her gymnastics so we decided to let her do another week. It's not as easy to take pictures of her doing her stuff so I snapped one on the last day as I picked her up. She wanted to wear a leotard because Sissy had worn one for her performance at Drama camp that day. Every day Riley would come home and do a new trick - not sure if she was just making them up or if she really learned them. :) But she can do some pretty funny stunts. I should take pictures of them. :)

Riley, you are a sweet little girl. Every day Mommy picked you up you were so excited! You would see me down the hallway and take off running to me "MOMMY" you would squeal! Oh, it made me feel so good! You are growing so fast and soon you will be 3...

sniff, sniff...

I'll stop there...

can't talk about it anymore....

Drama Camp - Week 2

Avery's last week of camp was full of more fun dress up days and drama! She had a Dinosaur Day, Outback Day, Camelot Day & Space Day. We were able to borrow an outfit from her friend Terry for Dinosaur Day - she was supposed to be a Dinosaur hunter. :) Thanks T for the outfit, she loved it!

Dinosaur Day

Camelot Day

Last day - posing with Riley - who was going to gymnastics

The last day of camp was the grand finale of the 2 weeks where the kids presented a show called Music Island. It was so perfectly cute and fun. All the kids got a moment in the spotlight. Avery was in a group that dressed up like birds. She got to strut her stuff across the stage. She had been practicing her bird walk all week and she did just great!

 

 

Avery was 2nd from right in the black leotard, with her fellow birds.

Taking their bow after the show

Music Island

A very proud Mommy

Avery with camp director Ms. Anna

My fine feathered bird

Gymanstics Camp

Riley Kate had her first week of gymnastics camp this week, while Avery was at Drama camp. It made for a super fun week for mommy - I got lots of cleaning done (although my house already needs it again!) unpacking from our recent trips and laundry etc etc. I did take a morning off to go out to breakfast with my friend Shelley and then we went and laid by the pool for awhile! This morning I helped set up for VBS at our church next week. So, I had a pretty productive week.

Back to Riley. She enjoyed her camp a lot. It's funny how at random times she would mention things they had done. My kids are never ones to talk right when I pick them up from somewhere, so I try not to pressure them and just talk about it on their time - I actually end up getting more out of them anyway.

Our friends Rainey Grace and Terry did gymnastics camp with Riley too. Rainey was in the same class as RK and they were just the absolute cutest little girls ever! Shelley and I got there a few minutes early most days so we could see them practicing their new skills. :) Love it! I didn't really take any pictures of Riley this week - shame on me. But I did snap a picture of her this afternoon with a craft they had made on her head.

My typical Riley, who beats to her own drum, has her "hat" on her head and one arm out of her shirt (that's how she rolls at home). What a trip. Anyway, I think she had fun...she's going back for more next week, so I hope so!

Talent Show

Avery participated in a Drama Camp this week at a local church with Ms. Anna the Puppet Lady. She seemed to really enjoy herself and wanted to go back each day.

They had 3 dress up days this week.

The first day (Tuesday) was Pirate Day (this included all forms of sea creatures and anything creative) - Avery dressed up as Airel from Little Mermaid.

The second day (Wednesday) was Super Hero Day (which could be actual super hero's or policemen, doctors etc) - Avery dressed up as Bat Girl. We borrowed the costume from a friend and she LOVED it!

Bat Girl in Food Lion

The third day (Thursday) was Country Day - Avery dressed up in her Jessie (from Toy Story) costume.

They didn't have dress up on the first day or the last day this week. But on the last day of camp they had a Talent Show. The kids could pick anything they wanted to do and present it on stage. The point of the time (which was supposed to be limited to 1-2 minutes each) was supposed to give them good exposure to being in front of people. To help them develop a healthy outlook of audiences and performing.

Avery and I discussed the Talent Show even before camp started. Part of me thought there would be no way she would get on stage and do anything. But she wanted to think of something and we went through a few ideas. She didn't want to sing or dance (which are really the 2 things you think of first when it comes to talent). So, we thought of something different. She loves to draw and color so I thought we could find an easel and have her draw a cat - she's pretty good at drawing cats, thanks to a cool iPhone app I have. :) She loved that idea. (And she was the only one to do that)

A pre-show song performed by the campers

So, her turn came and they were getting her set up on stage and realized they didn't have her markers. They had to get her back off stage and wait for someone to find the markers. In the mean time a few other kids performed and Avery waited so patiently. She was so sweet sitting and watching.

It came time for her to get on stage again and she walked right up there and did her thing. It was pretty easy, in that she didn't really have to look at the audience while she was up there she just had to concentrate on drawing. It was so cute watching her. She did great! We had practiced her cat the past 2 days and she forgot to draw the whiskers and the claws one time, at home, she said she hoped she didn't forget that at the Talent Show. She didn't! She did great under pressure and I am so proud of her. Her cat was a little small but I took a picture of it later so we could always remember it.

Hard at work

Avery & Ms Anna - She asked her what she drew and Avery said "CAT" :)

So proud of you Avery! I can't wait to see you next Friday in the big end of camp production!

Avery and Madalynn after the Talent Show - Madalynn's talent was telling jokes. She did great!!!

Bumps and Bruises

Well I guess it has to happen every once in a while. Riley scared me senseless this afternoon. A routine shopping trip to Sam's club ended with Riley falling out of the shopping cart in the parking lot. I don't know about you but my kids are crazy monkeys in stores! They want to climb on things, get in and out of shopping carts, sit on top of things in the shopping cart, climb on shelves and the list goes on. I know it makes them sound like unruly children, well maybe they are.

Anyway, Riley had been doing pretty good. Both the girls were sitting on top of my Sam's sized paper towels and we made it all the way out to the van in the parking lot. I had all the grocery's (mostly snack foods, I might add...don't judge) put in the van and was about to take the cart (with Riley in it) to the cart coral. She was standing up in the cart at this point and looked as if she was going to try to sit down, but she missed and fell over the back side of the cart. She hit head first on the pavement! Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how horrified I was. First because I had seen the look on her face as she was falling. Second because I was too far away to even try to break her fall. I should have been more aware of what she was doing but honestly, I am forever saying "sit down in the cart", "no, you can't sit on the edge of the cart" "please don't climb on the cart" "no, sitting on the bottom is not safe" etc etc. So, I think I take for granted that neither one of the girls have actually ever fell out!

So, I immediately picked her up, grabbed a fistful of the ice in one of our Sam's sized drink cups and applied it to her head, all the while saying "I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do!". A nice couple had come over to check on Riley and asked if there was anyone they could call. I thought to myself I should probably call someone! What if she has really hurt herself??...head injuries scare the mess out of me! I managed to dial the pediatrician's office and I didn't start crying myself until the nurse asked me what had happened. At that point I felt like the worst parent and I started crying as I said "she fell out of the shopping cart". Ugh, bad mom! BJ the nurse was super sweet, asked me to calm down and told me to bring her right over to the office.

We got to the office and they checked her out. Everything looked fine - they checked her ears, mouth/throat, eyes, and felt for any fracture of the skull. They told me what signs to look for that would indicate something more serious and we were sent home. Riley was a trooper. She sat on the table and let the doctor examine her. I was so proud of her because I knew she just wanted me to hold her and let her go to sleep. I am so so so thankful that Riley wasn't seriously hurt. Oh, I keep replaying it in my mind and it makes my stomach turn every time. Praise the Lord for watching out for my sweet Riley Roo.

Just for the record, Riley, mommy let you have ice cream tonight without finishing your dinner! :) I love you munchkin. :)

Puppy or Not??

Well, we thought we were ready for a new doggie, or I thought we were. I was looking for a Yorkiepoo - a breed combo of a Yorkie and Poodle. They are supposed to be a highly sought after dog and some people pay top dollar for them. They supposedly don't shed and stay little. :) I found this little sweet muffin on Craigslist one Saturday morning and decided to grab her up before anyone else did. She was SOOOO cute. And we would have kept her on cuteness factor alone but she was a puppy and came with all the quirks a new puppy has. She was feisty, liked to chew on anything (including shoes and door frames), liked to nibble (especially on the girls while they were sitting on the floor playing), she was really good at peeing and pooing in the floor and in the 9 days that we had her she even managed to throw up a few times. YUCK!

Well, I left for 4 days to go to New Hampshire for Jaime's wedding shower. While I was gone Ryan had the girls and our new puppy Lucy. He realized it was a lot to handle! When I came back home and in the first 20 minutes stepped in pee, picked up poop and found Lucy chewing on the door frame I said "She's got to go!" - he agreed. Whew! So, we explained to the girls and we found a perfect new family for Lucy. A true animal lover - the lady picked her up and let Lucy kiss all over her face right off the bat. The girls were really sweet and even packed up her stuff and carried it to the front door to give. They realized having a puppy was a lot too. They weren't able to play with any of their toys on the floor because Lucy would either be jumping all over them or she would take their toys and chew on them!

I'm glad we all agreed and we didn't have major tears or fights about giving her up. She was the cutest dog ever! But come to find out she SHED big time which means she must not have been a YorkiePoo but must have had something else mixed with her. :) Hope you are having a good life Lucy Lou. We had fun while you were here. ;)

First Pool Day of Summer

On May 20th we took our first trip to the pool with our friends Shelley, Rainey Grace & Terry. The kids had a blast and were so excited to start their summer off with their friends. It's going to be a fun summer!

Avery's 1st Recital

Avery took her first year of ballet and tap this year. She really seemed to enjoy it and I could see that as the year went on and she got a little more familiar with it she really grew to like it. She took pre-ballet at Greenville Civic Ballet from 3:30-4:15 on Thursday's. It was a odd time of day because usually either one or both of the girls needed to take a nap and most days we had to wake Riley up to go with us. She always enjoyed going and about 1/2 way through the year she wanted to start wearing a dance outfit of Avery's so she could be dressed like Sissy & dance around in the lobby while we watched. 

I really enjoyed that 45 minutes of just sitting in the lobby and watching Avery dance. I'm so glad that I didn't take that time to run around and do errands but I just rested and watched my little girl growing and learning! I'm also glad that Riley was entertained enough by watching as well. She was always very well behaved and I think she enjoyed it as much as me.

Here are a few pictures from the recital. The theme was Calendar Girls and one of Avery's class songs was for the month of December...that's why their costumes are red. We had some family come into town for the grand event! It was so much fun having everyone here to be able to come watch this with us. It's hard with family living so far away because they miss so much, but it was super special to have them share these few days with us.

The cousins and Riley bringing some flowers for Avery.

Nana & Mimi

Special friends who came as well - Shelley, Rainey Grace & Terry (not in picture)

The Family

Daddy giving Avery his bouquet of flowers. She LOVED the attention.

My Beautiful Dancer