Kaitlynn's Ballet Recital

Kaitlynn has been taking ballet as part of her preschool curriculum since she started attending His Kids Preschool last fall. She LOVES her ballet class and especially her ballet teacher, Ms. Kelly. Last week, the class had their spring recital for all the girls' families to see what they've been learning all year long. Each class and age group was given a different ballet costume, and of course Kaitlynn was thrilled that she ended up in the "purple group" with a purple tutu and matching headband. Everyone knows purple is one of her favorite colors, and of course, her Sweet Daddy's favorite color too!

When the big night finally arrived, Kaitlynn was ALL SMILES in her precious costume. So fun! But then I noticed that somehow she had managed to lose an earring while getting dressed. Luckily, it just so happened that I was wearing purple that day, so I let Kaitlynn wear my purple earrings which turned out to be a perfect match for her costume. What luck!

Our little ballet dancer.

Posing for a picture before the big show.

We were early to the performance, so that gave Kaitlynn a little time to get acquainted with the big stage. She hopped right up there and busted out all her moves. Cracked me up!

Look at that girl--she was SO into her practice dance!

Such a serious face!

As the girls were enjoying the practice time on stage, suddenly they all squealed with delight when their ballet teacher, Ms. Kelly, entered the auditorium. Lots of hugs all around!

Kaitlynn with her sweet ballet teacher, Ms. Kelly.

As we took our seats before the show, Jeff and I noticed the recital program with a dozen or so performances listed. Kaitlynn was only performing in one of them, so we were a bit overwhelmed and wondering how we'd sit through all those numbers. But let me tell you, I don't know if we've ever been so entertained in our lives! We laughed and smiled and laughed some more at all the cuteness on that recital stage! Not a moment's boredom, I'll attest to that!

Kaitlynn and her Sweet Daddy enjoying some cuddles as we watched the recital performances.

When it was time for Kaitlynn's number, we couldn't wait to see what she had in store. Oh boy, did she do GREAT! Jeff and I couldn't believe how serious Kaitlynn was; she was really focused throughout the entire song. Of course, every now and then she would sneak a smile towards her Daddy. After the number, we applauded loudly and Jeff presented Kaitlynn with a special flower bouquet. We were all beaming with pride and delight for our sweet girl!

Here's my very amateur video of Kaitlynn's dance number. At the end you can see Jeff giving her big hugs and her special flower bouquet for such a great performance.




After the conclusion of the recital, we all enjoyed a reception with cookies and punch. The girls all did such a wonderful job, and it was such a nice event for the families to enjoy with their kids to witness and reward them for their great performances. What a fun night!!

Kaitlynn (with her flower bouquet) and Mommy (sans earrings, haha) after the recital. LOVE this girl of ours!

She Rides!

Earlier this month I posted some pictures of some fun playdates that Kaitlynn has had with her longtime best friend, Anais. Anais's mom, Keri, shared with us during one of our visits that Anais had recently learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. Wow, such an accomplishment considering that Connor only learned recently at age 7, ha! Keri told me that they used a neat trick to get Anais ready for her bike. They started with a small bike (12") and removed the pedals, teaching Anais to ride it by pushing and gliding. Using that method, it's much easier to learn the skill of balancing which seems to be the hardest part after removing training wheels. After Anais practiced balancing on the small bike, they put the pedals back on and within days Anais was off riding on her own.

Well, that's all it took for Kaitlynn. The peer pressure was officially ON, ha! Kaitlynn began begging to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels and wanted to use Anais's little bike without pedals. Anais then made sure we knew the steps to learn how to ride her bike. Step 1: remove the pedals, step 2: push and glide, step 3: balance, step 4: ride!, and finally step 5: put the pedals back on! Kaitlynn had those steps memorized and was more than ready to learn!

We took Anais's little bike home one weekend and waited for a good weather day to start practicing. When we had a good day, Jeff removed the pedals from the 12" bike and took Kaitlynn out in the street to start practicing. They practiced for quite a while on and off throughout the day. We were quite impressed with Kaitlynn's persistance; she just kept trying and trying! By the next morning, Jeff felt like she'd be ready to try riding with the pedals back on and without training wheels.

Sure enough, Kaitlynn hopped on the bike and would you believe, in no time she was off and riding! Without training wheels! At age 4!!!!

(Can you tell we're a bit surprised and so proud??)

Look at that smile! So proud of herself, as she should be!

She just took off on that little bike and immediately had the hang of it! Jeff and I were so shocked! The no-pedal trick really seemed to be the key to help learn to balance. After some time riding on the little bike, Kaitlynn was ready to move up to her regular (16") bike.

Moving up from the 12" bike to her regular 16" bike. Sweet Daddy is such a great teacher!

Here goes nothing.

Off she goes with Daddy chasing close behind.

Success! She never once had a problem with her balance on the bigger bike.

I joked with Jeff that he really had this bike-training thing down after 4 kids. We still can't believe Kaitlynn learned how to ride without training wheels almost 3 full years before Connor. It just goes to show, when she puts her mind to something there is NO stopping her!

Another big smile for mastering the big bike.

Kaitlynn has been begging to ride her bike everyday now. Our favorite times are riding with Connor on the way to/from school. We have had many neighbors stop us and exclaim their surprise when they see Kaitlynn riding without her training wheels. She has come a long way since riding her Big Wheel at the beginning of the school year!

Riding with Connor (and one of her babies) to school.

My two bike-riders!

Love that these two will be able to bike to school together!

Look at that girl! So proud of her!

Fun Family Birthday Weekend

Every year when I ask Jeff what he wants for his birthday, his answer is always the same: family time! He is such a great Dad and just never gets enough time with his kiddos, especially now that Collin and Kevin live away at college. So for Jeff's birthday weekend, we asked the older boys to come spend the weekend with us and we planned a fun family weekend in honor of Dad.

First up, Kaitlynn's weekly soccer game. We all got up early to cheer on Little Sister in her pigtails and soccer cleats. She was so excited to show off her skills to her older brothers!

Collin's girlfriend Martha took this family shot of us before the soccer game. Love this!!

Kaitlynn's peeps on the soccer sideline.

Kaitlynn decided that the soccer field was the place to practice her ballet moves.

Coach Kyle gives Kaitlynn some pointers for throwing the ball to her teammates.

Kaitlynn proudly runs to the sideline for a hug from Martha. She loved having everyone there to watch her!

Uh-oh, Kaitlynn made a great "header" move with the ball. Not on purpose!

End of the game lineup, and Kaitlynn is still trying to get over her soccer injury. Love the dramatic gesture, ha!

She gets a hug from brother Kevie to comfort her.

After the soccer game, we all loaded back up and made the drive south to the Kemah Boardwalk. We've spent Jeff's birthday weekend here in years past with such great success, and this year was more of the same. I've decided that April birthdays are the way to go -- such great weather for outdoor fun! We had a wonderful lunch on the boardwalk, enjoyed lots of fun amusement park rides, and just had a great time together as a family to celebrate Jeff's birthday on a beautiful day outdoors.

Collin and Martha during lunch.

Smiles with the birthday boy at lunch on the Boardwalk.

All smiles before deciding which ride to go on first.

Connor and Kaitlynn pose in front of the carousel.

Connor and Kevin rode this spinning ride, which would later come back to haunt Connor. Ha!

Weeee, no hands!

Jeff and Connor in line for another ride.

Kaitlynn and Jeff on the infamous airplane ride. You know, the one where Jeff's airplane never quite makes it up as high as the other ones. ;-)

Martha and Collin rode this one where they were WAY up high swinging in circles. (No thank you!)

A family selfie on the Kemah train.

Another train pic with her Sweet Daddy.

Connor had to sit out with Mom to recover after feeling queasy from one of the spinning rides, ha!

The last Kemah stop was one final train ride, this time with the entire family. The train takes you around the entire Boardwalk, through tunnels and around all of the attractions. The conductor gave us a little Kemah and Galveston history along the way, to which Connor sarcastically responded under his breath, "I am NOT here to learn!" Ha!

Waiting in line for the train. Kaitlynn LOVES her big brothers.

One last train selfie, this time all 7 of us were in there!

We had such a wonderful day of family time in Kemah! What a fun semi-tradition that all of us enjoy in celebration of Jeff's special day. On the way home, I think 4 of the 5 kids passed out from exhaustion. Definitely a sign of a successful day!

Back home, it was time for birthday cake and presents. Jeff's favorite: cookies and cream ice cream cake! Yum!! And the cake had a very special message for Jeff this year:

Kaitlynn and the birthday boy, her Sweet Daddy.

Not sure Jeff will ever lose that nickname given by his beloved little girl. Probably just the way he wants it! Happy Birthday, Sweet Daddy!

The Lost Photos

I was going through my photo log the other day and found several "lost photos" that never managed to make it to the blog. If it's a picture I enjoy, I definitely try to make sure it gets posted here so that it doesn't end up lost among thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of photos on my hard drive.

The Morgan Brothers! My Aunt Tina took this photo of my Dad (far left) and his 3 brothers last Thanksgiving. MawMaw would love this!

These next few pictures were taken during Christmas break. We were busy and cold, hence the pics of sleeping and bundled up kiddos.

Precious napper!

And this one, all bundled up and passed out in front of the fireplace. Can't remember the last time he fell asleep like this!!

After Christmas, we really got into the Rainbow Loom trend. So much fun making all kinds of bracelet patterns.

Connor and his buddy Reid even set up a Rainbow Loom stand outside the house. They made one sale to a neighbor :-)

Another passed out kiddo, this time on my shoulder. I wonder how many more times I'll get to experience this with my kids?

Enjoying some iPad time with her baby.

Her new winter trend: wearing this knit cap around the house and even to bed, like Edith from Despicable Me.

Connor in his snowman PJs crossing his fingers for a Snow Day. It worked -- we got 2 of them this year!

Ice cream with a fork on an icy cold day. But of course!

Last lost photo. Had to post this. What wife wouldn't enjoy seeing this from her sweet hubby?? ;-)