Dance Recital

Today was Bella's dance recital. This is her second recital, and she performed a ballet and tap dance. She has been anxious about it for weeks. Almost every morning she would ask me if it was recital day. Finally, the day arrived! It was lots of fun getting her all "dolled up" with make-up and curls. She did so great dancing on stage. I was so proud of her.

Here is Bella posing with her flowers:

Chloe, Alexa & Bella

Memorial Weekend

We spent the Memorial Weekend with the Sorokwasz Family at the lake house at Cedar Creek. Bella was so excited to go to the lake and hang out with her cousins. The kids had so much fun playing, swimming, boating and fishing. I'm sure some great memories were made...

Visit from Elmo

One afternoon Bella came down stairs dressed in an Elmo costume. We were all a little surprised, this is the same costume that I bought her when she was 2 years old and was deathly afraid of...I'm talking would scream at the sight of it. And here she is, so proud of herself to entertain her brother. Marshall was a little shocked too, but he thought it was great.

Bella's Dance Pictures

Bella's Dance Recital is coming up in a couple of weeks. Today they had pictures. We were so excited to put everything together...costume, curly hair and make-up. She looked like a little doll. Here she is:

Meredith & Bella:

Bella and her cousin Chloe:

Spanish SchoolHouse Spring Show

Thursday we had Bella's school show. All of the different classes were representing different Spanish-speaking countries. Bella's class was Cuba! They sang and danced to "Hola Amigos" and then did a dance to Mambo # 8. Bella was so excited for her program. She practiced at home and sang the songs in her sleep (Literally!!! I caught her the other night singing in her sleep!). She was also excited to wear her costume. Their teachers made their costumes and they were so cute! I especially loved their little "mambo skirt"! Here is Bella modeling. She thinks she's hot stuff!

Here is Bella with her friend Payton:

and with her friends Bella and Sage:

Marshall was patiently waiting to see his Big Sister

Here is "Hola Amigos":

Here is "Mambo #8":

Mother's Day

Here are some pictures from Mother's Day. We had a very nice day. We had brunch at the Omni. Mark's mom (Mimi) and The Dufur's (Stephanie, Todd, Connor, Chloe and Carson) joined us this year. The atmosphere and food were great. They had a kids buffet with "kid food", and a craft table full of paper, blank cards, glitter, glue, foam shapes, markers and stamps. The kids had so much fun at the craft table making cards for us. I think I came home with 6 cards!

La Centerra

One evening while we were in Houston, my dad had a surprise for us after dinner. He took us to a brand new, really great outdoor shopping center. I'm thinking great...Shopping! But why are we here?? Well, in the middle of the shopping center, they have these water spouts that shoot out from the ground, and the kids play in them. Yes, soaking wet kids running around and having a blast! So we walk up to this area and Bella is looking at us like "Are you really going to let me get wet?!?!?!" We sat down and let her explore. She was very timid at first, and kept looking back at us for approval, then she went for it! Marshall was soon to follow. It was hilarious! They had SO MUCH FUN!! Here are some pictures. I've categorized them as before, during and after the soaking so you could enjoy the progression as we did.

Before:

During:


After:

Kemah

While we were in Houston my parents took us to Kemah for the afternoon. The kids had a lot of fun riding rides and Bella had her face painted (which she LOVES to do) like a cat. The guys went to Babbin's to watch the Kentucky Derby, which a cousin of mine won! How about that?!?!?

We waited in line for about 30 minutes to ride this train. I think you can see it in Bella's expression...she's a little "over it".

Houston Visit

Last week I had a conference in Houston, so the whole family went down to spend time with my parents. The kids had so much fun playing in the backyard and hanging out with their grandparents. Here are some pictures of the kids with Honey & P-Pa.