HAY!

I was driving home one day and saw this.  I think this guy had a bad day.  OOPS!

Just for fun!

So, I am doing this because I can.  My sister Amber is in Costa Rica, and my sister Misty has her children.  Amber copied Misty's blog, so I thought I would also post it.  Just for fun.  Amber's comments are in all CAPS, the others are Misty's, and I won't comment.  Here is what they have to say.  I love you guys.

I am totally just going to copy her blog post for you. :) Here is what she has to say and a ton pf pictures she has taken... From this point on my comments will be in all CAPS.

HERE IS WHAT MISTY, MY SISTER, HAS TO SAY ABOUT HER WEEKEND THUS FAR WITH MY KIDS...

My sister and her hubby are in Costa Rica right now (AHHH YEAH!!), so I have the first shift of watching her kids. I brought them back to our house so we could hang out with Phil. He had several things going on this weekend so he couldn't come out with us. Anyhow, here are several pictures from today. We went to the park across the street and had some fun out there. The 3 big kids went back to the park while the little boys napped. I set myself up on the corner where I still had reception on the monitor and could see the kids at the park. After a visit from Grandma, Grandpa and Joslyn we went to a local water park. Little did we know there was a festival going on down town so it was packed! We still had fun, though! I think (hope) we're looking at early bedtimes tonight because if they feel at all like me, everyone should be pooped! Here a million picture (I'm hoping my sister will check my blog while she's gone so she can see her kiddos) THANK YOU! THEY TOTALLY MAKE ME SMILE! AND I MISS MY SWEET LITTLE RUGRATS!!

D on the slide
I AM THINKING IT MIGHT BE TIME FOR A HAIR CUT SOON!


J unhappy about being at the park - he eventually enjoyed it!
MAN, I DON'T MISS THAT LOOK, I SEE IT WAY TOO OFTEN. ;) LOL!
LOVE YOU, J!


A pushing D around in a circle
AHH--D LOOKS LIKE HE IS ENJOYING HIMSELF!
THANKS, A, FOR BEING SO HELPFUL!


D caught more speed than A thought he would coming down the slide
ROFL!! HAHAHA


J pushing S around in circles
WHAT A HELPFUL BIG BROTHER! AWESOME!


S avoiding the camera
SO SHE DOESN'T JUST DO THAT TO ME.


A and S walking Ty home
LOVE THAT! :)


Pre-lunch snack. Yes, I fed them from the floor!
GASP, SHOCK AND HORROR! LOL!!


What Ty thinks of our house guests. He really is having a harder time than anyone else. I guess it's good that he's getting used to om not being totally wrapped up in him since that will be our life in a few months!
HE LOOKS TOTALLY HAPPY HERE! :)


At the water park
MY LITTLE FISHIES!!


J, A, S in front of the spouting volcano/submarine/whale?


S making a run for it while J and A get soaked!
OH MY GOSH! THAT CRACKS ME UP. RUN, S, RUN!! :)


The park
WOW! WHY DIDN'T THEY HAVE SOMETHING COOL LIKE THAT WHEN WE WERE GROWING UP!


D content by the side. He never did move too far from this spot.
WHAT A SILLY LITTLE NUT!
WAS HE CONTENT OR JUST NERVOUS?


Ty running around
ADORABLE AS ALWAYS!


Phil and Ty
THANKS GUYS, FOR SHARING YOUR WIFE/MOM WITH US. :)


All of us, minus Phil
GOOD TIMES!


Fiona and D. No, I don't know Fiona. However, she came and stood in front of Tyler for about a minute and they just looked at each other. Later on she came and just sat next to D. I thought I should get a picture of her. She is very cute!
KISS THAT LITTLE BOY FOR ME! SIGH!

AND THEN SOME MORE FROM MISTY... SHE IS A BETTER BLOGGER ABOUT MY KIDS THAN I AM. HAHA!

Apparently, the night wasn't quite over! I realized it was time for all the kids to take baths. I put the 2 girls in our tub with the jets and then took the little boys into the other bathroom. We told them they could have a jetted bath, or a bubble bath but not both. I thought the girls sounded like they were having way too much fun, and, I was right! Here are some pictures from the evening. Who would've thought I needed to keep a closer eye on the two older ones? Needless to say, when J saw what they had done, he HAD to join in on the fun! Enjoy the pictures!

Little boys playing nicely
SO CUTE! I HOPE THEY ARE GETTING ALONG.


D with soap in his hair
DANG--HOW CUTE IS THAT LITTLE GUY!


Oh yeah! Check it out!
ROCK ON TY! LOVE THE HAWK!


Caught!!! It's a good thing I came in when I did - we almost had a tub overflow. Those bubbles just keep getting bigger and bigger!
RUH ROH! SNEAKY SNEAKERSONS!
HAHAHA!! THEY LOVE THEIR BUBBLE BATHS!


The Culprit!
GUILTY INDEED!


The accomplice
I AM THINKING SHE MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN THE
MASTER PLANNER PLANNER OF THIS EVENT, BUT NOW HIDES
UNDER THE GUISE OF ACCOMPLICE. ;)


Couldn't pass up the opportunity!
TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION! THAT'S MY BOY!

THANK YOU MISTY, FOR TAKING SUCH GOOD CARE OF THEM, YOU ARE BRAVE BRAVE WOMAN TO VENTURE OUT WITH ALL OF THEM. LOL!! REMEMBER TO THREATEN THEM WITH THE GIFTS FROM US IF THEY ARE MISBEHAVING! LOL! AND SMOOCH THEM ALL FOR ME. :)

WE ARE WELL AND HAVING FUN! SEE YOU ALL SOON! :)

Claire's Quote of the Day

Today Claire said to me, "Everywhere I go there is a stinky smell."  I told her maybe it was her.  She replied, "Oh, yeah!"  I told her she probably needed a bath, and she agreed.

Our New Toys

Brett and I have been researching new computers.  We decided that we would get a MacBook.  We wanted to see and play with it firsts, so after one of the competitions, we went to the Mall of America to the Apple Store.  There we were able to ask questions, and have some hands on instructions.  So, this is my new toy!  The children think I am addicted to it, which is quite possible.  Brett worries about my computer because I take it everywhere with me.  I can't help it, there are so many possibilities with it, and I never know when I might need it. Before we left, Brett got a new toy, too.  He got an ipod, touch.  We have a bunch of free games on it, and I take his toy with me, too.  They really are a lot of fun, and we are enjoying them.

Picture Links

The picture linked is the first in the group, just scroll through them to see the boys.

Caleb's duet:

http://midweststarz.smugmug.com/gallery/8033452_L7mXz#522861903_s5wWU

Eli's dance:

http://midweststarz.smugmug.com/gallery/8035431_7ZpK2#523074378_4Hbr3

...  I cannot get it to come up.  I hope it works for you.

Caleb's lyrical:

http://midweststarz.smugmug.com/gallery/8047618_vXYPS#524109838_83zKP

Caleb's Thriller:

http://midweststarz.smugmug.com/gallery/8049167_75Ti9#524207054_rcUAy

Competitions Completed

So, we are finished with competitions... at least for now.  We did three of them this month, and it made for a long month.  I am blogging from my new computer, so I have had to steal pictures from other sources as I do not have my own pictures on here yet, and I am too lazy to go downstairs and do this.

Here is how we ended up:

Caleb & Laney's ballet duet got 2 high golds and one platinum.  They got a dynamic duo award, a technique award, power pack invitation and were invited to go to a national competition and do a dance "camp" for a week, and they had a lot of fun together.

Eli's group got three high golds, and an award for being the "most entertaining."

Check out the pictures of Eli at this site.  http://midweststarz.smugmug.com/gallery/8035431_7ZpK2#523074378_4Hbr3

Caleb's "Thriller" dance got one high gold and 2 platinum awards.  They tied with Eli's "Funkytown" for the most entertaining, got a theatrical award, and got a few other awards.  I think Bridget will be taking this dance to NATIONALS!
Here he is with his group, and his friend Megan.
His group lyrical dance got 3 high golds.  The did really well.

All in all it was a good season.  It was just long with three of the four weekends away at competitions.  MY HOUSE IS A DISASTER.  I am paying for it now.

Try Outs!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the kindergarten center to register Claire for school.  She was able to go to one of the classrooms and play in there.  They had teachers and aids in the rooms with the children.  They also took them on a bus ride.  There was a school bus right outside the door and they went around the block and talked about bus safety (the school district busses all of the kindergartners in town to one school).

While she was in the classroom, I was in another room with parents listening to the principal and several teachers tell about the different things that happen at school.  It was my third time sitting through it, but it was Claire's first time there.

After the registration, we went to the preschool.  We were in the office with the secretary, and I told Claire to tell her what we did.  She said, "I tried out for kindergarten."  The reply from the secretary was a little giggle and then she asked, "Did you make it?"  Claire responded, "Yes, and I get to go in the fall."

Very sweet.

As a side note, the picture of Claire was taken this past weekend.  She wanted to have hair like the competition group that Caleb is in.  It's "Thriller" hair.

OLD TOYS

Yesterday I went to a rummage sale and I bought two old tape recorders.  The children are amazed by it.  I taught Caleb how to use it last night, and this morning I heard him while he was showing Eli how to use it.  He said something like, "Eli, you've gotta see this.  It is really cool."  Then he recorded himself.  They were singing into it and now the girls are sitting on the couch laughing at their voices that they just recorded.

It is the same type of things we were entertained by 30 years ago.

Oh, the simplicity of it all.  Oh, how it stimulates their imagination.  I think it was a good investment!

Dance, Dance, Dance!

We have been very busy with dance.  We have had two competitions so far, and we have one more on Saturday.  The first one we went to is called Starpower.  It was a big competition with some big dance studios.  Eli's group - Funky Town - got an elite gold.  It is so fun to watch him dance.  These pictures are from Cathy Roe's competition.

Won't you take me to Funky Town?

The girls showing off Eli.

Dancing his little heart out.

Strike a pose.  The final pose in his dance.

Posing on Stage for pictures before awards.

Caleb does two group dances and a duet.  All of them got elite golds.  I'll have to put some pictures in later.

Both of the boys were asked to go to Ohio in July to be runway models for a dancewear catalogue.  They were excited, I not sure at this point what we be doing.

Performing at the Mall

Caleb and Eli did a pre-competition performance. The groups they dance with performed at the mall. A couple of my friends took some pictures - YAY for friends. There are only pictures of Caleb doing his duet. Here are the pictures:

This is Caleb with his duet partner. They dance to Tiny Dancer by Elton John.

This is the line where the song says, "Only you, and you can hear me..."

Here they are getting ready to do a lift. It is a pretty cool move.

Almost at the end. They are going in for the finale.

The last pose, as the music ends.

When we were looking at pictures, Caleb, who has to focus on holding his partner, said, "Wow! That looks cool!" He has never seen it from this angle (either have I for that matter, I get to sit on the side of the studio and watch their practices). They have a lot of fun dancing together.