Kinley's day!

After hours and hours of bleacher sitting, yesterday was all about Kinley. It was the last day of school for all the kids, but she had a special kindergarten graduation and then her big dance recital in the evening. She was one tired puppy by the end of the day, but she very much enjoyed being the center of attention. She just kept saying, "Today is all about ME!"

Of course, I didn't make it through the little graduation ceremony without some major tears. I'm posting the two songs that did me in. Notice how she kept looking at me. I even got teary when she gave her teacher a big hug. Mrs. Brown was also Kaiya's kindergarten teacher and we were so lucky to get her again. She pulled me aside before we left and said she wants me to keep in touch with her for years to come because she knows Kinley is going to do something amazing in life with her big personality.

We love Mrs. Brown!

Kinley and her best buddies--notice the height!

Ice cream for the grads!

It's pictures like this when I realize they do look alike!

Kaiya and one of her best buddies

Thanks, Mrs. Hamblin!

The recital was long, but Kinley was quite the trooper considering her first dance was toward the beginning and her last was toward the end. Of course we are partial, but I think she did a great job. She knew her dances and more importantly, she had a blast. That girl loves the stage! She is ready to dance all summer long!

All dolled up and ready for the show

After the show

Warming up in the halls

Kinely's idol, Maddie

The official fan club

The songs that brought me to tears (of laughter and sadness!)

Spanish Ballet

The Way You Make Me Feel

Fabulous Finish

It is time to reclaim our weekends! Kaiya's spring gymnastics season and Cooper's spring basketball season are both officially over and we survived. We had to do split parenting on Saturday because both events were conveniently scheduled at the same time, of course. Cooper's team lost by 2 points in a heartbreaker in the first game but then won the 2nd game. Of course, the game I missed was one of Cooper's best games ever in which he had 6 points in a very short time frame. Thankfully, Doug was there to see it and our good friends took this really neat photo (thanks, Kris!!). I love the way Cooper's team really hypes it up when he does well. He will never be the star on the team, but he works really hard and it's nice to see when it pays off.

Love the way his buddies are congratulating him!

Meanwhile, Kaiya had a meet across town in a stuffy gym (the outside temp was 91 at the start of the meet). She had her best meet of the season with the exception of the nasty balance beam. She used to just blow it off really well if she had a bad event, but this girl was ticked after beam! It took her a while to let it go, but then she went on to finish great. She won bars (see video below) and had a very solid floor routine and then her best vault of the year. Even with a crappy beam score, she had her season-best all-around score of a 33.25, which is a huge deal. In the fall, she needs a 33.0 to qualify for the level 5 state meet, which is her goal. She ended up 7th in the all-around on Saturday out of about 30 girls. So proud of this girl!!

Kaiya and her best gym buddy, Sarah both placed in the all-around

Before the big weekend, Kinley and Kaiya had Field Day on Friday. I am a bit of a protester of this day because they do not have the kids compete in the events, but they sure had fun. Kinley smoked all the boys in the sack race and obstacle courses, so she was quite pleased with herself. They both got soaked by the firetruck that came to cool them all off and had popsicles afterward, so they will both tell you it was a very fun day.

To cap off our weekend, on Sunday we celebrated Brandon and Erika's birthday together since they have birthdays that are only 2 weeks apart. Good times!

Erika's birthday present helper

The winning bar routine!

Another nutty weekend!

We had yet another busy and fun weekend and I've decided it's a good thing I can work nights because it's the only way I have time to work. It's funny, though, because as busy as we are and as much as I seem to be complaining, to see my children succeed and be happy in their endeavors is all I need. And, on mulitple occasions this weekend, I got unsolicited "thank yous" from each of them.

On Saturday, Kaiya had a piano recital in Boulder followed by a gymnastics meet in Littleton--the first at 10 a.m. and the second at 1 p.m. It gave us just enough time to grab some lunch together at our favorite spot (Panera) in between--just the two of us. Doug stayed back for Cooper's baseball practice and then met me at the gym meet with Kinley and my dad.

The piano recital was so neat--Kaiya's piano teacher has somehow arranged to have it at a piano store in Boulder and they have a small room in the back just for recitals. She had about 12 students there and they got to use a $75,000 grand piano for their performances. Wow! The acoustics in the room were incredible, too. Kaiya had 5 short numbers to perform and she has improved so much. I have decided she has a knack for competing at anything. On Friday night, she was practicing and kept making some small errors yet she gets up there on the stage on Saturday and didn't miss a single note.

Kaiya and her teacher, Ms. Jill

$75K grand piano

The meet in Littleton was well run and didn't last all day and she had her best meet of the season. She fell once on her cartwheel on beam, but nailed everything else including a stuck landing on vault and a clean bar routine. She ended up with a gold medal in the all-around and I think she was shocked when they called her name. She is just looking more and more comfortable when she competes (her mother withstanding) and her coaches are so positive and fun.

Gold medal!

Cooper has also had several basketball games this spring and finishes those this next weekend. We will not be doing two sports at once next year, but he has enjoyed being with his buddies non-stop. He had at least one bucket in every single spring game except the last one, so he was pretty happy about that. He is also about to finish sixth grade with a 4.0 GPA for the year and was selected to help with orientation for the incoming 6th graders in the fall and to continue as a peer counselor. He has worked really hard this year. Proud of that kid!

Crappy action shot

From the meet, my dad took us to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and then to a Rockies game. Kaiya was so funny--as we got to dinner, she said this was the best day of her life--two performances, dinner out and a Rockies game (and a nice win at that).

Keeping Papa warm

Her favorite treat in the world

Kinley is such a trooper through it all--she has become an expert at packing her "go" bag of stuff to do at the meets and other events. Coloring books, crayons, ipod, dolls, you name it and it's in her bag. She makes friends at the meets (literally walks up to strangers kids and asks if they need a new friend and if so, she would be happy to play and share toys--but just don't try to do my doll's hair because it makes her mad) and keeps us laughing. As we pulled into the parking lot at the Rockies game, she was changing into warmer clothes in the car and says, "Well, this is my first time being naked in public." We had a good hour laugh after that one.

Only 6 more days of school for the kids. We are looking forward to our lazy days at the pool, lots of baseball and Kinley starts her Showstoppers practices. Kaiya will be attending a week-long gymnastics camp at DU in June (an overnighter--not sure I'm ready), I have my 20 year high school reunion, Cooper will go on a scout camp in August, we are hoping to get to LaCrosse, Wisconsin to see Bennett play in his summer league, and we are hosting the 40+ members of Doug's immediate family for a family reunion in Estes in mid-August. and I will put another 10K miles on my car in a few short months. Bring it on!!!

Her last piano piece & one of her best floor routines (even though they first played the wrong music!)

A tale of two cities . . .

These are the days I love and hate being a mom. I had kids doing what the love today, but at the same time and in two different parts of the state. Ugh!!

Cooper had a baseball tourney in Ft. Collins in a highly competitive league and they got demolished. He somehow managed a smile by the end of the day. Not sure what life lesson you learn when you lose 20-4, but perhaps it is that you have to still find a way to love the game. Coop had a rough first game mostly just because he is battling some fear of the ball after his eye injury. In the second game, he played 3rd and caught behind the plate much better. The ump told him after the game that if there was a sportsmanship award, he would have given it to Cooper for the way he treated the other team. Guess I can live with that! It will be nice, though, to get into our rec league schedule where we match up so much better with the opposition. At the end of the day, most of these kids just want a shot to play on the high school team. Hard to believe that is only 2.5 years away!

Enjoying some fun between games

Kaiya had her second spring gymnastics meet in Boulder today and she was lights out except on her best event, which was kind of ironic. She won the meet on beam (even she is still laughing about that because beam is usually her weakest event!) and had awesome performances on floor and vault, improving by 0.65 and 1.2 points respectively. She fell on a silly transition move on bars and was NOT happy. She still ended up 4th in the all-around, though! I posted just her beam routine that she nailed!

Sporting her all-around medal

Then, there was Kinley today . . . being dragged all over the state to support her brother and sis. She had everyone at the meet cracking up, though, so at least she got her moment of fame. :)

I think for Mother's Day, all I want is SLEEP! :)

The winning beam routine (if you can see it over the top of people's heads--bad video!)

Blown away

I look forward to this time of year EXCEPT for the wind. The kids all have end-of-year field trips this month and Kinley's fell on the windiest day ever. The kids didn't seem to care, but all the adults who went along were pretty grumpy by the end. We went to Sunflower Farm in Longmont and got to feed and pet a bunch of farm animals, play in their treehouse, ride the zip line and play on a hay maze. The wind was spooking the ponies, so they had to skip the pony rides. :(

I'm so glad I got to go along, though. It's always nice to spend a day with one kid at a time!

Ready to explore

Checking out the treehouse with buddy, Ellie

She could get used to farm life!

A Clydesdale eating right from her hand

Planting seeds with buddy Annie

Kinley's other big news was getting selected by her dance studio to be part of their dance "company" called the Showstoppers. A group of about 5 girls were selected (one of which is Kinley's fav buddy and a returning company member) after an audition last Saturday. She will get to do a couple competitions next year, but the best part is performing at all of the community celebrations--the 4th of July Parade, the Miner's Day celebration, the Honey Festival, etc. Seems like our small town is always having some community event. At her age, I feel like that is the perfect "stage" for her. I have absolutely no idea how I will figure out how to get everyone to all their activities!