Art Show

Ellie is fortunate to have an art teacher this year that is in her first year of teaching.  First year teachers really go all-out and Ellie has definitely enjoyed art this year.  There was an art show this past week and Ellie was proud to show us her art creations that were on display.  Among them:  a bird's nest complete with eggs, Rainbow Fish that apparently took many, many steps to create, an origami bird, a clay pot with "Mom" engraved in it, and a jump rope girl that was part of a much larger mural on the wall.  I should have taken a picture of the large mural (there were actually three of them) that Ellie's very small jump rope girl was a part of, but it didn't dawn on me until much, much later.  Oops.

John's First Half Marathon

John did awesome at his first half marathon.  The weather was perfect, too!  Having so much rain lately, we were so lucky to have perfect temps and sunshine this morning.

John finished strong.  His time was around 1:50 - which I think is just amazing for a first half marathon.

We celebrated with HUGE cheeseburgers and red velvet cake.

Happy Easter!

Our first Tae Kwon Do Competition

Ellie competed in her first Tae Kwon Do Competition today.  She did amazing.  They had to do a few moves they haven't even learned yet, but she just watched and did it.  She had to do her kicks, punches, sparring (which she's never even heard of before), and break a board.  We are very proud of her.  She walked away with three medals!

I have a video, but can't get it to load to the blog.  I'll try in a separate posting....

Spring Break

We ended Spring Break with a one night trip to Coco Key.  The kids had lots of fun on the water slides and in the lazy river.  Ellie was tall enough to do the really big slides, but Austin wasn't allowed.  She rode them several times and loved it.  It was kind of sad watching him watch his sister have so much fun.  There was plenty for him to do, including about four other decent sized slides, but he wanted to be with his sister the whole time.

After their time in the water park, John took them swimming in the regular hotel pool before we left.  Austin is really close to being a real swimmer!  He swam across the pool without help!

Two VERY tired kids...

Sweet and Sassy!

Ellie enjoyed a girl's day out with a friend last weekend.  We took them to Sweet and Sassy to get a "Glittery Glam".  They had their hair done, nail polish and glittery makeup!  Ellie's hairdo was called "The Diva".

While we were there, we saw a birthday party of 12 4-year olds.  They were all in princess dresses and getting mini-makeovers.  It was quite a sight!

After the "Glittery Glam" the girls walked the runway!

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Ellie is 7 years old today!

We celebrated yesterday with a good old-fashioned birthday party at our house.  Six friends came  over and we played lots of games:  Penny Pincher, Battle of the Oranges, Ha Ha Ha, Pin the Heart on the Unicorn, and Candy Pickup.  We then enjoyed chocolate cupcakes (decorated with Peace Signs) and vanilla ice cream.

It was fun to watch the kids all playing and laughing together.  Great time!