St. Patrick and Shamrock

The second grade students put on the play "St Patrick and the Shamrock."  Dawson was a leprechaun.  Wonder if they picked her for that role on purpose???  Either way, she did a fabulous job!

 One of my favorite parts of her school is the many opportunities to be a leader.  Dawson is very shy and prefers to take in a situation and be in the background.  Her teachers encourage her to try everything in a safe environment and she does.  What confidence she is building every single day!  

 I love these two girls...best of friends!

Great job girls!

January was a cold one!

This has been one of the coldest winters ever.  Last year we had many snow days, this year we had many cold days!  When I say cold, I mean COLD...windchills in the -20 range.  

 So what did we do....we played outside as much as we could!

Nothing better than sledding on a day of school!

Christmas 2015

A new tradition this year, we hosted New Year's Eve.  It was a lot of work but, Dawson was super happy to stay home and enjoy the evening with company at "HER" house this year!  

Christmas morning was filled with fun and excitement.  Santa brought a chair from Justice, crafts, Lalaloopsy doll, a microscope and a new doll bed.  Most things on her list showed up under the tree.  Dawson must have been good this year!

Christmas day was spent at Grammy's as usual.  This year, Aunt Kim bought her a sewing machine.  Looks like Grammy has to teach since I have no clue.  She was super excited about this!

 And some dollar bills from Grammy......

 Grammy's dog Mia was trying out the new American Girl Vet Shop.  She looks like she likes it!

Merry Christmas!

Elves and More

In honor of my father, I gathered many of our friends and family to put together and deliver bikes for underprivileged children.  The charity, Elves and More has been doing this for 10 years!  This was a first for us and quite a valuable experience for all!  Everyone that came this year is already looking forward to participating next year!

Mother Daughter Luncheon

Yes, I'm back and I have a lot to catch up on!  With that being said, my pictures will be plentiful and my words will be minimal until I'm all caught up!  Enjoy!

The annual Elms Mother Daughter luncheon was fun as usual.  This year I co-chaired (which might explain why I never have time to post anything) and it was tons of fun!

 Signing in and picking up some raffle tickets!

Having fun with friends!

Our favorite part, a story teller!

FALL is HERE!

We always have fun with our friends Lynn and Grace!  This year we hit another pumpkin farm!

Mapleside Farms hosts an annual Pumpkin village loaded with Fall activities for the kids.  We spent at least 3 hours experiencing everything we could.

A little water pumping to get the ducks moving up and down the ramps.  What great science!

 Always our favorite ride....the piggies!  The pigs are pulled by a giant tractor that drives crazy.  Even the parents had a chance to go on this adventure.  A bit bumpy for Lynn and I but, the kids LOVED it!

 Mapleside was full of apples.  these girls each picked out a honeycrisp to eat in between events!

 Time to jump and burn some energy!

This slide was huge and more fun than you can imagine.  Of course, the hardest part is climbing back up the hill to go down again!

Happy FALL!   

Soccer Season #1

We have always encouraged soccer at this household considering Dawson's dad was a Division 1 National Champion in college and her sister has played competitively for years!  The answer has always been NO WAY!  

 There's no giving up at this household so, dad continued to ask each season and got a surprise YES!  He was shocked but, we signed her up right away. 

 Our first practice was a tearful ride to the field.  Once on the field, there was an instant turnaround and an "I love soccer" mom right away!

 The season consists of 7 outdoor games with coed teams.  Her team consisted of 3 girls (all from her school) and 7 boys.  A little different for the girls since they go to an all girls school!  Kind of funny to see the interactions with the boys!

 I am so proud of Dawson.  She got right in there with the rest of them and gave 100% effort.  It's not easy when everyone is so much tall than you!

The funny thing about kid soccer at this age is that they all chase the ball in a cluster. 

It was a fun season and we just signed up for indoor....wondering what sport might be next???