Easter with Aaron and Em!

We spent Easter weekend with Aaron and Emily.  We enjoyed such delights as: 

...Watching Aaron play indoor soccer!  He is a ROCK STAR!  AND he scored 3 goals for us!  By the end of the game, Jon wished he had shin guards so he could have joined the fun!

...Hiking Table Top! The kids did great and everyone had a lot of fun up there!

...Stopping for snacks... Healthy, as always...

...Enjoying the view... 

...Balancing on rocks!

...Participating in not ONE...

...not TWO... 

....But THREE Easter Egg hunts!  Courtesy of Nana,  Emily, and Danielle. 

...And everyone's favorite game: sit on Uncle Jon until he resembles a dead horse.

Thanks for an awesome Easter weekend, Central Point Seversons! 

Choo-Choo Chewing Gum

Dawna took a tap dancing class this year.  It was a very sentimental thing for me because her teacher, Miss Tracy, was the assistant in my tap classes many years ago.  It was like coming home when I took her to her first class.  

Dawna worked hard all year and learned two tap dances.  In the fall, her class learned a dance to "It's a Small World" and performed at a Halloween carnival.  Starting in January, they've been working on a dance to "Choo-Choo Chewing Gum," which is a WAY cute little song!  

This is her little studio.  After the first few weeks, Dawna wouldn't let me pick out her dance outfits... so regrettably, she is wearing a sparkly red velvet leotard OVER her brown sweat pants... lovely... 

Larry and Xochitl were good sports all year as they watched Dawna in dance class. In the above picture, Xochitl is feeding her "kitten."  Imagination is still the best entertainer. 

Near recital time, the costumes came--ALL the way from NEW YORK!  Mrs. Gentry (my old dance teacher who just died this year and to whom the studio is dedicated) had some kind of deal with a pro tailoring shop back there and it continues on.  They make SUCH cute recital outfits! You can tell Dawna knows she's cute! 

And here's her whole class! 4-6 years old, Marvelous Monday tappers! 

Xochitl is 2!

My baby turned 2! 

She Loved blowing out candles... again and again and again!

Grandma K got her a little Kangaroo and a book to go with it...

Nana got her a new swimming suit and Flip flops

Really, she's only 2, but if you ask, she will probably say she's 4 or 6... it's pretty cute! 

Dad's Book club: The Midwife's Apprentice

I am on a quest to read all the Newbery Medal books.  Lucky for me, there is a separate bookshelf at our library, making them easy to find :).  This week's pick is The Midwife's Apprentice, (by Karen Cushman) which I rather enjoyed.  I find reading about midwifery very interesting, and in this case a bit frightening.  I am quite glad nobody rubbed boiled slugs on my belly to help induce contractions. Gross...

But that's not the point of the book. It's about a poor orphan girl who is finding a place in the world for herself.  At first she is called Beetle by the entire village because she often slept in the dung heap for warmth. She is not afraid to work and tries hard to do good.  Her most important lesson is summed up in her own words, "I know how to try and risk and fail and try again and not give up." This is her moment when she decides who (and what) she wants to be: the midwife's apprentice