Playing Catch Up

Well here goes nothing....I've been avoiding catching up Zoe's blog since forever ago. I know....I shouldn't worry too much but really...it has been too long. So here goes nothing.

This summer....We went to visit our family in Mississippi. We not only visited relatives, but we went to the beach, and Lynn Meadows Discovery Center which is a super fun place for kids to build awesome imaginations....Here are some pictures.


























































































We spent a lot of time hanging out with Grannie and Shane when he was off work. We went to the park and the pool. Zoe learned to swim without her float this summer as well. All by herself I might add!














































































For the 4th of July we were all in for a special treat. Grannie took the whole family to The Great Wolf Lodge. It is a rockin' cool indoor water park were everything is so kid friendly. Zoe and Lani (and even the grown ups) had a blast!













































































The whole summer she attended Dance Camp at Sheena's Dance Academy. She had fun two mornings a week and I had a little free time :) Here is a picture of her after dance having a girls lunch with Grannie and I.






















She also decided to give up the violin for a while and take up Irish Dance classes.

Then before we knew it it was back to school....back to early nights and even earlier mornings. No one was happy.



































So that is pretty much that, We've been going to school, dance on the weekend and watching football on Sunday's. Life is grand, OH and did I mention she turned 5???? Well she did....More to come later (I promise).

Tiny Music Box Recital Rehearsal Video

Today was dress rehearsal for Zoe's dance recital. This is a video taken from my camera and it is really not that great, but I couldn't resist posting it anyway. You are going to die laughing! She was supposed to sing and dance, but she ended up yelling the words to the song and all the names of the dance moves. It was priceless. I don't think that many people watched their own kids dancing. She was so funny!!! She stole the show :)

The Dance Recital is Coming!!

Monday was the last dance class before recital this weekend. Shane took Zoe and said they sing and dance, and that she was singing so loud he could hear her in the lobby! Zoe got her costume with strict instructions to try it on once and only once. Well here she is :) I sure hope we don't get stage fright. Wish us luck!

Why didn't I think of that??

I have had trouble getting Zoe to sleep all of her life.  It has been a huge battle at our house, almost since she came home from the hospital.  The child just hates to go to sleep at night.  Only in the past year have we managed to get her out of our bed.  Tonight we had a major break through.  She has been spending a lot of time at Grannie's lately and Grannie suggested that we try her Ipod playlist for Zoe.  Shane went out and bought Zoe a stuffed animal that plays music from her Ipod (it is the white dog at the front of the picture).  We hooked it up tonight and she took it to bed.  She was only in bed for about 10 or 20 minutes before she was out.  It is amazing!  Wish we had thought about it a long time ago.  Here she is sound asleep....

Another Funny Story

Earth Day????

**Warning:  This is me getting on my "Green" Soap Box :) Sorry Y'all, I just can't help it!!

The Earth Day celebration at Zoe's school was far from what I considered Earth Day.  They had a picnic lunch...sounds good right??  BUT, the students were supposed to bring a totally disposable sack lunch, so that they didn't have to worry about keeping up with what belonged to who when they went outside to eat.  Now you need to know some background to understand why I took issue with this....

Normally, Zoe takes her lunch and aftercare snack to school everyday in a lunch bag that is specified by the school (meaning we had to buy this particular bag from her school and it is the only one we can use).  I pack an almost if not completely waste free lunch using reusable containers everyday of the year, except for Earth Day when I had to pack a lunch where everything has to be thrown away.  Make perfect sense right??? IDK

They also wore crazy socks for the occasion???  What do crazy socks have to do with the earth??  Please put me in my place and help me understand...tell me I'm overreacting!! Please ;)

So here are her adorable pictures in her crazy socks with her cute little leftover Easter gift bags (we had to have 2 - one for lunch and one for aftercare snack) that I purchased at the Walgreen's the night before Earth Day because we did not keep brown bags around for her lunch.

So, here is what Zoe learned from Earth Day....

She Loves Wearing Crazy Socks!!!  Here she is last weekend....

On a lighter note :), I did teach my kiddos about recycling/reusing things on Earth Day.  We made vessels from old magazines.  The directions are here if you are interested in how to make them.

** I am now stepping down from my "Green" Soap Box.

Tell me what you think...Was I making too big of a deal out of it??

Butterfly Day

"A butterfly lights besides us like a sunbeam. And for a brief moment its glory and beauty belongs to the world. 

But then it flies once again, and though we wish it could have stayed, we feel so lucky to have seen it."

As you release this butterfly in honor of me, know that I'm with you and will always be. Hold a hand, say a prayer, close your eyes and see me there. Although you may feel a bit torn apart, please know that I'll be forever in your heart. Now fly away butterfly as high as you can go, I'm right there with you more than you know.
By Jill Haley

Zoe's Grandpa Herb passed away the Friday after Thanksgiving last year.  My Dad works for a local hospice that had a butterfly release on April 18th to honor lost loved ones over the last year.  He invited Zoe and Shane to come out and release a butterfly in honor of Grandpa Herb.  I made a little slide show of the pictures from that day.  Shane and Zoe spent the morning with PaPaw.  They went out to breakfast and then headed to the ceremony in Dallas. Before the ceremony they had a little time to waste, so they played at the park where the ceremony was held.  That's were all the animal pictures come from.  Zoe was a little intimidated by the butterflies at first, so some of her faces in pictures are priceless.  Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.  It sure was a great way to honor Grandpa Herb's memory.

Make a Smilebox slideshow