Yesterday was my mom’s birthday. It’s hard to get someone something who can just buy anything they want for themselves. So I had to get creative. I searched blogs. I found this. And I made this:
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| This is her four grandkids in birth order. Rilyn, Ella, Asher, and Caden. I bought a big frame so I can redo it when all the grandkidsare finished being born. (By the way, I am done! My brother and sister can keep the grandkids coming…) |
Ella’s dance recital, “I Love New York” was Sunday evening. We were thankful for family and friend (shout out to Denise!) who came to watch! Ella really enjoyed her recital although you would never know it by watching her perform. She never cracked a smile the entire 2 performances (a tap and a ballet number). She tapped to “I Don’t Need Anything But You” from Annie and did ballet to “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid.
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| Ella tapping and Anna next to her |
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| Ella jumping a little early! |
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| Ella trying to get the pose right…put your right arm down honey. 🙂 |
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| I just like this picture because at this age, the girls are all doing their own thing. Ella is in the air! |
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| Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for coming! |
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| Uncle Ben and Braden came to watch too! |
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| family pic |
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| we are so proud of you Ella! |
Mommy mistake. I let Asher outside in the backyard the day after a hard rain. He played outside for 15 minutes independently before I checked on him…
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| Yes, he was drinking the “water” in the sand table. |
And this isn’t the first time he did this. Check here for another time that I caught him with my camera.
I did a photo shoot yesterday morning with Ella and her best friend, Anna, in their recital costumes. Their recital is tonight!
Here is a sneak peek. If you want to see their faces, you have to go and check out the rest here!
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Field Day at Manor Elementary was a success if you ask this happy girl!
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| yes, she is wet. You’ll find out why in a minute… |
There was tug of war:
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| love Rilyn’s look of determination |
Potato sack races:
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| with her best friend |
Sprints:
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| she had a smile on her face the whole sprint! |
Hula hooping:
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| she is really good at this even though the picture didn’t catch it |
Flag tag:
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| run! |
And Rilyn got to do all these games with her most loyal supporters cheering her on!
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| Ella and Asher and proud sister, Rilyn |
But her favorite activity? When her teacher sprayed all the kids with a hose over and over and over!
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| Rilyn trying to run! |
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| direct shot from Mrs. Stein! |
Rilyn and her friend trying to escape the hose!
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| pure joy |
Not a tear was shed…by Rilyn. But Asher?…well he wanted his own big bag of M&M’s at the concession stand and I’m such a mean mommy, I wouldn’t let him.
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| There is his one tear. |
Today is my brother’s 5 year anniversary to his bride, Becca! I thought it would be fun to show some pictures of his wedding for flashback Friday!
Rilyn was the flower girl at 23 months old. She never made it down the aisle (she cried), despite James’ parents waiting on the front row with a chocolate shake from McDonalds. Rookie mistake: she still got the shake at the back of the church because Papaw couldn’t resist her sweet tears, and she spilled it all over her dress. Needless to say James’ parents took her home after the pictures were taken in the church. No reception for her.
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| love this pic of her soon-to-be aunt Becca! |
I was a bridesmaid and James was a groomsman.
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Ella was only 5 months old, and I had to pump in the public restroom during the reception. I’m sure there were strange looks when ladies came in and heard the noises coming from the stall…
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| only picture I have with Ella in it (these are my cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandpa)…I had my hands full with Rilyn that day!! |
It’s the end of a school year, so here comes all the awards ceremonies! Rilyn wanted to do gymnastics to help her tumbling skills when it comes to cheerleading. Since cheer is only August-October, we put her in gymnastics in January and will take her out in July to start her 2nd season of cheer. She has a lot of fun and loves Capital Gymnastics!
She had her 4th birthday party here in 2008.
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| june 2008 |
And here she is bouncing on the same “tumbl trak” this afternoon 3 years later! (Hair still flying high!)
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| yes, I edited this funky because I was in that kinda mood |
She took gymnastics here in 2008 too.
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| her “award ceremony” 2008 (I like how Ella thinks she was in gymnastics too!) She will get her turn this fall. |
Rilyn’s award ceremony today:
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| that is her coach in the red shirt |
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| jumping off the beam |
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| balance… |
Warning: this might be a brag post. 😉
My favorite thing in school (beside art) would be creative writing. Rilyn came home yesterday with a story she had written at school and I just had to post because I thought it was cute, and she really worked hard on it! Maybe we will share favorite subjects in school!
Rilyn has done very well in first grade and we are so pleased with how her year went. She has climbed to a 4th grade reading level and does 4th grade spelling tests! We are definitely proud parents, but also remind Rilyn that it is God who gave her that brain and it is not in her power to succeed, but in the Lord’s.
(Instead of trying to make you read her handwriting and grammatically incorrect punctuation, etc.), I typed it out for you.
“Once upon a time there were 4 princesses. Their names were Shaliya, Rilyn, Jada, and Ariana. Ariana had nature power, Jada had sun power, Shaliya had rain power, and Rilyn had wind power. One day a fairy appeared. The fairy said, “I can grant four wishes.” But at that time an evil queen was watching them and her name was Leah.
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At that second, the fairy was gone. The queen had captured her and they didn’t know what to do. The evil queen had left a clue. It said “Go over the creepy mountains then go through a forest to meet me.” They followed it, but then the queen captured them. A knight heard their scream. He followed it and lead him to a castle. The knight saved them, his name was Ed Manuel.
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One day the knight changed into a werewolf. The princesses were scared. They ran off to their homes. One day they heard a knock at the door. It was the werewolf. Ahhhhh!!!! They screamed. The werewolf said, “I’m sorry, I’m here to save you.”
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That day the queen was destroyed. The fairy was free. They wished their wishes.
The end.”
(I think she ran out of time finishing the story in class, so she just got straight to the point!)
For my birthday I received the best birthday present ever from my hubs! He had me convinced that we could not afford this, and I was perfectly fine with that. After all, it was a big want, and not a need. So, as the post title states, I got some new glass for my camera. A professional Canon luxury lens! I was speechless. I told James the last time I felt like that was when he proposed, and I had no clue what was coming. I played around with it this afternoon because I have a photo shoot tomorrow evening. Here are some pics of the girls:
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| making an ella face |
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| a little sass |
I took the girls to the pool this afternoon in an effort to finish potty training Asher. What I mean by this is I took the girls to the pool without Asher because he still won’t go poo poo in the potty. He doesn’t get to go in the neighborhood pool until he does (now, I could fold on this promise because it’s not fair during the week to keep my girls home because of Asher, but for now, while the pool is only opened on the weekends…) While we were getting ready for the pool, Asher was putting his shoes on too, and when we told him he couldn’t go, he started crying. In an effort to rub it in, James even walked him to the pool and let him watch the girls and I behind the fence. I, of course, had my camera ready to capture this moment of, how shall we say it nicely? Extreme parenting? 🙂 Listen, I’m tired of buying pull-ups!!!
Here’s him pouting:
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| if you would just poo poo in the potty stubborn boy! |
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| full out crying=success? We’ll see tomorrow… |
the paquettes 