LIFE!!! (April)

I have been putting it off and putting it off and now I guess it is time to finally do some catch up. I am not usually a procrastinator but once I got behind it was too overwhelming to start but being the over achiever that I am (ha, ha, ha) I decide to do it all at once.
McKell has thoroughly enjoyed Kindergarten this year. She loves her teacher, she loves her school, she loves the kids in her class. She enjoys every part of the day at school, never complains about going and is always happy to see us when she gets home. I was the same way with school and I still love learning so I hope McKell can keep the excitement going. Her school had a music show where the whole kindergarten group performed a few songs, it was fun to go and see her in her 'element'Iowa has an AWESOME children's museum. It is at the mall, which I can see from my house. So we have really enjoyed spending time there having fun. They had the actors from Cirque Du Soleil come one Saturday and play with the kids. Phil had worked all night the night before so we left him and Nate sleeping and ventured over to see what was going on. They girls were definitely in their element with face painting, hats and skirts to make, and silly people everywhere. The girls were asked by a museum employee to pose for some pictures that would be put in a publication, I signed a consent and they were led around getting pictures taken. They also had a drawing and McKell entered us, we WON two tickets to the performance in Cedar Rapids. Phil and I decided to go use them and it was AMAZING! It was so fun, Phil enjoyed it so much that he said he would pay the $70/ticket to see it, and if you know how cheap Phil is that is saying something! Love ya, babe. We (a group of friends) head up to Bluestem whenever the weather is nice. We started to go last year and have been looking forward to it all summer long. I call it our Iowa mountains because it seems like we are away from everything, it is actually about 15 minutes from our house. We eat dinner sometimes, but we always make a fire and roast marshmallows and make s'mores. We try different varieties, chocolate marshmallows, different kinds of cookies instead of chocolate and graham crackers, but my favorite are still the regular traditional kind. The kids have a blast playing soccer, having water fights, going on walks, just spending good ol' 'cousin' time together. Last year whenever we would go and Nate was awake he would scream and scream. So when we went for the first time this year I was a little nervous to see if he still hated it. Luckily he loves it now and has even had his first s'more now.
McKell had her dance recital and is done with dance for the year. She LOVES to go each week and talks about it all the time. She especially loves to get in her fancies and perform. It is fun to see her get so excited about it.


We love listening to children's singer Charlotte Diamond. If you haven't heard her and you have kids you really need to get a CD and listen. My kids totally love her and request to hear her in the car all the time. Kasey made us a 'favorites' CD with only Charlotte on it, thanks Kasey- it is a hit. Charlotte was coming to Coralville for a concert and a few of us got tickets and went. It was so much fun, the kids were dancing and singing. They were chosen to go up on the stage and help with some props. They met her and got her autograph, a fun time for all- especially Sarah and Jessie who were remembering their earlier days at concerts.