60 Years!!

June 14, 2012 was my parent's 60th wedding anniversary!  Can you imagine being married for 60 years?  That is quite an accomplishment-especially in this day and age! It's inspiring.

The happy couple.  My Mom does not like a lot of fuss and hates crowds, but we did talk her into having a luncheon at Maddox Lodge.  We also got them to have a portrait taken. My Mom hates pictures, but I told her it would only happen every 10 years, so she said okay.  The last one we had was at their 50th anniversary.  I can't wait to see how the picture turns out.

Most of the family was able to make it and my kids had fun playing with their cousins and second cousins.  Here are Jensen and Holden with their oldest cousin Jason.  Jason always has fun with the kids and they love to see him.

My goofy boys.

Ally and Grandpa.  I'm so glad my kids get to really "know" their grandparents.  My Dad has had SO many close calls and it is such a blessing to have him in our lives.  Mom, too!  My kids help keep them active and healthy! 

After lunch, we all headed back to our house for an afternoon and evening of the "Naylor Nuthouse".  Some crazy things were happening and I can't wait to get pictures from my sister.  I foresee another blog post about it in the future!

Little Pagoda

Ally had her ballet recital last week and she did a great job!  Her studio has an actual ballet instead of just a recital and this year it was called "Little Pagoda".  It obviously had an oriental theme.

Ally and her friend Breonna were "White Egrets".  They were the only white egrets in the production.  Their costumes were very pretty, but SO big!  They couldn't wear them anywhere but on stage.

Ally got her pointe shoes in January and Breonna got hers in May.  This was their debut pointe performances and they did awesome!

Look at her strait legs!

My pretty White Egret.

Ally and Breonna.  BFFs.

******Ally found out that she got a part in Willy Wonka this week, too.  She is playing the part of "Matilda".  Matilda is Charlie's schoolmate and she has a few lines and a solo!  Out of 38 kids in the cast, she got one of the few speaking parts.  She will also be in the "Cooks Chorus".  It will be so fun for her and she is excited!*****

******Okay. Another update.  Ally found out this afternoon that she will be the understudy for Violet Beaureguarde!!  She gets to perform Violet at both matinees and one other performance!  We couldn't be more excited!!*****

Catch Up

So I haven't been the greatest at blogging lately, have you noticed?  Probably not!  The sense of duty finally caught up with me so here I am.  I will try to remember what we have been up to.

Jensen had his First Grade program and it was so fun to watch him sing and dance!  I got a little teary eyed because next year he moves to the "big" school and it really is when my kids start to lose their sweet innocence. Sigh.  Anyway, Jensen has been playing coach-pitch baseball again this spring and LOVES it!  He hits every time he is at bat and scored an out at second base last night.  I also should mention that he didn't miss one day of school during First Grade AND Kindergarten. Two full years of perfect attendance-crazy!  He is such a happy, healthy kid.  Unfortunately that also means we didn't go on any trip during the school year.  Maybe next year!

Holden is SO busy!  His new trick is to make really good machine gun noises with his mouth.  He has also picked up a weird nickname for Subway.  He calls it "Babas".  He can often be heard asking to eat at "Babas". We think he likes it because they have Cheetos.  He also had a horrible trip to the dentist.  Instead of the anesthesia making him calm, it made him upset and combative.  Three people had to hold him down and now he is terrified of the work "dentist".  And he has crappy teeth. I foresee therapy in his future. 

Logan is also playing baseball this spring and if you look close you can see the impression of the laces from a baseball in his forehead.  Little league can be a little tough on the body.  He is quite a good hitter and even got to pitch for the first time.  I don't know who was more nervous, me or him!

Ally successfully finished sixth grade with flying colors.  She even got chosen to be on Student Council for next year!  It will be such a fun experience for her.  She also recently tried out for another play at Heritage Theatre and we are waiting to see if she will be in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".  Her ballet recital is this week and we had Girls Camp last week.  She has been super busy!

We went to the cabin over Memorial Day weekend and this is what the weather was like. Yuck!  We got in one fourwheeler ride and then it snowed!  We didn't bring our snow clothes so we were stuck in the cabin the whole time. It was a LONG weekend!

This was the snowman we built at the cabin.

And last but not least, I love this picture that Logan took of my tulips this spring.  So pretty!

So there's a quick catch up!  Bring on summer!

More Easter

After lunch we headed home to work in the yard.  But first we had to do what any good duck owner would do...

...give them a shower, of course!  We had four ducks, but Sunshine died the night before so we decided to give the others a little extra TLC so they didn't meet the same fate.  Our remaining ducks are Clover, Faith and Blossom.  And yes, I'm a little sickened by this picture, but rest assured our shower was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized very quickly.

Fluffy, clean duckies.

We decided to plant our garden and Holden was a little possessive of the hoe.

Now he's happy and Logan's not.

When we're helping, we're happy...well momentarily.

Now that the "real" garden was planted it was time to plant our "magic" Easter jelly beans.

If you plant jelly beans on Easter Eve, they grow into candy during the night.

Planted, watered and ready to grow.

This year they grew into Peeps!

Nothing like sugar covered Peeps to start Easter morning off right.  My apologies to his Sunbeam teachers...

My adorable Easter kiddles.

Randall Easter Hunt

After the Braegger Breakfast it was time to head to the Randall Easter lunch.  We were in charge of bringing deviled eggs, but they make me gag so I refused to make them.  Carilee made my share and I brought candy for the hunt for her.  Awesome trade!

Ally and Holden are enjoying lunch.

I guess I'll claim them...

Yes, the saying on his shirt is accurate in case you were wondering.

Of course we ended up with loads of candy as usual!  Fun times!

Braegger Easter Breakfast

We had just finished up eating our traditional breakfast of french toast and bacon when someone said "There's the Easter Bunny!"  Sure enough, hopping by the windows of Grandma's garage, was the Easter Bunny.

I was able to snap a picture as he ran across the yard, dropping eggs out of his basket for the kids to find.  It was a fun surprise for everyone.

Waiting for the signal to hunt.

1, 2, 3, GO!

Holden thought he was done after finding one egg.  I had to talk him into taking more. :)

Jensen loved the hunt!  As always it was fun to catch up with all the cousins, aunts and uncles.

Coloring Eggs

Once in a (great) while I pull out some "fun Mom moves".  So I surprised the kids on one of the morning of Spring Break by having stuff ready to color eggs when they woke up.  They were a little shocked.  Usually I forget about coloring eggs until Easter Sunday after church.

They were all smiles!

Logan and Bubby. 

Jensen's bright smile!

The finished product.  Then we had (surprise, surprise) boiled eggs for breakfast!  My kids love them and we only ended up with a half a dozen left after breakfast.  It was a great way to start the day!