Busy, Busy, Busy

Whoooo! Summer just started around here and we are already super busy. The kids got out of school on June 7. They were supposed to get out on May 26th, but we had tons of snow days to make up therefore they had to go into June. Let me tell ya, they were definitely ready to be done.

Blake and Jaxon have already started football practice (that started the day after school) for their FRESHMAN year. I cannot believe I am going to have not one, but two freshmen. Holy Cow, I am not sure I am ready for this.






Blake made his Confirmation within the Catholic Church in May. We are so proud of him and the young man he is turning into.


He also did the Juvenile Diabetes walk this year. We were not only proud of him for giving up his time, but for his friends as well. Between all of them, they donated over $100 of their own money. He definitely has some great friends.


This past weekend we had an adoption fundraiser to raise money to bring Keliah home. Despite the rain and storms we still managed to make a little under $900.00. It was pouring rain when we opened on Friday and ended up clearing out our front room to set tables of clothes in it. By early afternoon the rain had cleared off so things started to pick up a bit. We still have a ton of stuff left (we had several people donate) so I am loading it all up and taking it to friend's this weekend for their association sale. Hopefully we can get rid of lots of stuff.



Emma also set up a table at the garage sale. She is making some pretty awesome bracelets to help raise money for Keliah's adoption. Each bracelet is $6.00 and between friends, family, and the garage sale, she has already managed to make over 200 bracelets. She can whip up a bracelet in about 5 minutes or less.




I can assure you there will be more talk about these very soon!


Emma also had her dance recital this past Sunday. She did an amazing job and we are so proud of her. This year she only took ballet and really seemed to enjoy it. She will be taking ballet again in the fall and is excited to have Keliah join her. (We have video of Keliah dancing and i her interview she says that she wants to be a dancer when she grows up. I have already talked with the dance teacher and they are willing to let her start when she gets home if she wants).





Their song was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"



Mylee is so excited because this will be her first summer since she has been home that she will not be in casts. She can enjoy the lake, and will be taking a beginner Ballet class this summer. She still doesn't have 100% range in her knees and ankles, but she has been begging to dance like Emma since she came home. She is over the moon excited and asks daily when her classes will start. If all goes well, we will sign her up for a year long class as well. Oh, she will also be in Kindergarten in the fall and is extremely excited and proud to tell anyone who will listen.

She will probably spending alot of time in the water this summer.



Gabe is probably the most excited about summer break. He does quite well in school, but is definitely not a big fan. He struggled in the beginning with reading, but once he got it, he got it. His teacher says he definitely has the mind of an engineer. She said he is very creative and that in all the years of teaching she has never seen a kindergartner come up with block creations like him. She said she thoroughly enjoys watching him build things out of blocks.

Once a month the school has a River Rally where they get the kids pumped up about learning, life skills, and award any outstanding students. They give the kids a special t-shirt if they are chosen and during the last River Rally, Gabe earned a t-shirt for having perseverance all year long. His teacher said that she was so proud of Gabe for not giving up when things got too hard. Instead, he would continue to work until he figured it out. He was very excited about this and we were extremely proud of him.



Gabe loves spending time at the lake.




Andrew will be going to pre-school in the fall three days a week and is so excited to finally be going to school like his big brothers and sisters. This little guy has so much energy and can be quite ornery at times. During Emma's dance recital there was a group of girls doing hip hop (they were about 5 or 6) and one little boy. Matt and I both looked at each other and said "Andrew." So, I think we are going to sign him up for a summer hip hop class which I am sure he will love. He loves performing in front on anyone who will watch.



Drew turned 5 in March and insisted on a Spider Man party!


So, as you can see we are kicking off the summer in full swing. I am sure there will very few dull moments in the house. We will be spending lots of weekends at the lake, which the kids love.


There's just enough room for Keliah to be in the picture next year.