Showstoppers & Clara's first competition

Clara had her first dance competition on Saturday and I can say I think she loved every second of it. We were there from 8 am until 10pm and it was long. The little girls get so much attention from the bigger girls who they look up to. I think Clara is a little rock star. She did so good and had so much fun. By her last number she was so tired she forgot some of her dance...darn--she knew it perfect. But these little ones are tired at 7:30.


Susanna in her Tea Party costume. She is really learning how to ham it up. These two friends are 12 already...she is so tall---almost 10.

This is their lyrical dance...snow white. Not very difficult but so sweet.

All of her numbers placed in the top 10 which was great.

Clara is the star of her dances. She knows them so well, and she is still little enough she gets to be front center. Here she is after they one first overall for Bushel and a peck. They got 4th overall for their lyrical which she does with even 10 year olds. How fun are these pink trophies. (They got little medals to keep)

Bushel and a Peck

Here she is with one of her best little friends at dance...Skylar. They are a lot alike and phenomenal tappers. They have moved up and get to be in two tap dances this year. Skylar is a cute girl and they have had lots of fun together.

This is Ivy...a cute little girl in Susanna's class. They carry Clara around and treat her so great. I really love it since Clara and Susanna have not been getting along great. It makes Clara feel really special and loved and helps me point out to Susanna that Clara is pretty cool to other people and she should love her sister more. We are still hoping.

Here is Cold Hearted Snake right before they went on at 7:30. They were so tired and some of these little ones are only 5. They were super cute and it was the first competition for all of them. They got 4th overall in the top 10 also.

Eliza's new room

A year and a half ago I broke my shoulder. Eliza was still in her crib but I couldn't lift her out. So she permanantly moved into our bed. (not that she wasn't there half the time anyway). Her pillow is there all the time and that is where she sleeps, every single night. This last week, she finally decided to move out into her own room. Here it is.

She arranges all of her blankets and pillows and dolls, and climbs right in. She makes me zip it all the way up and goes right to sleep.

Never mind that it is really still in our room, and only a few feet away from our actual bed. We are in heaven and love it. She zips herself in and we don't see her until morning. We have tried moving her into her bed many many times only to wake up in the middle of the night with her standing at my bedside waiting for a lift up. But so far, no middle of the night surprises...she has stayed in her "room".

For the past week this is what she looks like before she goes to sleep. I mean could she be any happier to be going to bed?

AND...this is how she wakes up. She has made it through the whole night. We are getting much older and on the road. Don't get too excited for us because we still have little Amelia to snuggle with. At least she starts out in her bed. Which by the way is in the other corner of our bedroom. Can you believe we have six kids. Clint can't.

Bath Time

Until Amelia was six months old she took her baths in my bathroom sink. But, she has gotten too big so we found a perfect new bathtub for her. She loves the laundry room sink. It is just the right size and doesn't hurt that mom can fold clothes while she plays in the bath.

Eliza turns over a laundry basket, climbs up and gets to get in on the action. Her favorite is to dump water all over her.

Can you tell how much Amelia loves her bath?

Welcome to the Tea Party

Welcome to the Tea Party. That is the name of one of Susanna's dances this year. They have been performing it a few times to get ready for competition. They just finished dancing at the Highland High School Basketball Game. We are always very excited when there are no wipe-outs. The basketball floor is so slippery. Can you find her? Just look for the red head. Always my favorite dancer to watch. She is really working on her smiles and faces and improving so much. It is so fun to watch her as she gets so good. I think she is better than I was in high school at this point. I can't believe she is only 9.

Justin's Eagle scout Project

Justin did his eagle scout project last weekend. He and his dad came up with the idea to pick neighbors citrus and dontate the fruit to the united food bank. Who knew picking fruit could be so hard. We all had so many scratches and were pretty tired when we finally called it a day. Here he is waiting with donuts for his helpers to arrive.

My pictures are always a little out of order. They managed to pick 4 big boxes of fruit to donate. It took a lot longer than we anticipated. Here are some of the stalwarts that stuck it out with us.

I never realized how hard fruit pickers are to use. They had to reach up to very top to get all the fruit.

More hard working pictures. This was the first house. By the last house, we had dwindled quite a bit. All the scouts had a merit badge clinic. It was also kind of disappointing that not a single one of Justin's leaders made it. I think it would have helped to keep those boys going.

Here he is the hard worker. He hated asking anyone to work and help him so it was very hard for him to take charge. He takes after his dad in this. His dad told him it was all up to him and let him take the rein on everything.

This is Justin's good friend Parker. He was such a great worker and was happy the whole time. It was great to see such a super teenager. Justin's friend Noelle Candland also came, stayed the whole time, and worked twice as hard as most of the boys. What a trooper. She was a rockstar in my book.

Justin in his scout shirt delivering the fruit to the food bank. He worked hard and even though he has a lot of work still to finish it, I'm sure he is excited to be on his way. Thanks to all the helped make it a successful project.