Big Honors

Back in December, Evan took his ACT's through an ivy league college's talent identification program.  He qualified for this program by scoring advanced in all areas of state testing as a 6th grader.  It was a little nerve wrecking dropping off Evan to take a college entrance exam when he was only 11 years-old, but it was also a huge honor.  Evan's score made him a qualifier for state recognition.  On the first week of summer break, we went to the ceremony where Evan was awarded a medal.  Here he is with the Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister.  She gave a fantastic speech during the ceremony that really charged the students to continue to strive for academic excellence.

Grandma Beverly and Papa Floyd came to cheer on Evan.  Here they all with all of the kiddos.

 Papa Gene was very proud of his youngest grandson!

I was one proud mama too! 

God has really blessed Evan with some amazing gifts.  It will be exciting to see how He uses him in the future.

I Hope You Dance {2016}

I love that my girls get to take dance!  They enjoy it so much. It amazes me how much dance boosts their confidence.  Earlier this month, a season's worth of hard work was put on display.  On Friday the 13th, the girls had dress rehearsal.  They all looked so beautiful!!!

Doing hair and makeup for 3 gals makes me a little nervous, but they all looked gorgeous!!!

Nana was a lifesaver and really helped me out for the big dress rehearsal night.  I also need to give a shout out to Aunt Kary for providing Evan a place to hang and pizza for dinner, while the girls did their thing.  We can't take pictures during the actual recital.  The pictures of the girls on stage are all from dress rehearsal.  The theme of this year's recital was Happily Ever After.  The little ladies were in the first show and most of their dances were themed after Disney movies.  Karsyn's tap and ballet dances were both songs from Snow White.  The littlest of ladies in our family loved dancing with a mirror. =)  

Karsyn looked so pretty!  I loved her outfit for her tap and ballet numbers!

Addi's did a ballet dance to a song from Cinderella.  Her tap number was from the movie Finding Dory.  She loved wearing a crown!!!  She looked just like a princess!

Karsyn also took a class called Pre-K Jam this year. It's a jazz/hip-hop combo class.  They danced to the theme song of the new show called Lion Guard.

Payton and Sarah were in Show 2.  Addi, Karsyn, and I really had fun hanging out with Aunt Jenn in the audience.  The "Happily Ever After" theme for the second recital involved more real life events.  Payton and I both cannot remember the name of the song they danced to for Hip Hop.  I'll update this post if we do. =)  The girls did an amazing job!!!!

For their Jazz number, the girls danced to "We Are One" by Pitbull celebrating the happily ever after of the US Soccer Team winning game in the World Cup series.  I LOVED this dance!  The girls did soooo good!!!

Dress rehearsal lasted for almost 5 hours!!!!!  We were ready to get home and rest for the big day.  Before we knew it, it was recital time.  Miss Natalie was more than helpful. She ran back stage with me between numbers to get the girls ready.  I sure love these sweet cousin bonds.

A little lip stain from her big girl cousin, and Karsyn was ready to perform.

Addi and Karsyn danced in the big finale and then took another picture with their Nattie. This was Karsyn's costume for her Jazz/Hip Hop number.

Sweet girls.

We had exactly one hour to book it home and get Payton ready for her time to shine.  It was close, but we made it.  Here's Payton, Sarah, and another bestie ready to do there thing.

The girls' second dance was after intermission.  That gave us plenty of time to run back stage to do a slight costume change.

If you're the mother to a dancer or dancers, you know just how crazy recitals can be.  You kind of breathe a sigh or relief when it's all over, but then you can't wait until the next one.  It's fun and stressful all at the same time. Words can never describe the way one feels as they watch their little girl take the stage.  When you see them light up and do their very best, it's nothing short of beautiful.  These girls of mine just amaze me.

Payton's 5th Grade Graduation

On the last school night of the year, Payton graduated from elementary school.  She'll be moving onto middle school next year!  Here she is ready for her big night!  She looked stunning!

 Payton received many awards for the evening, including the Presidential Award for Academics!

 Her basketball team was also recognized for receiving 3rd place in the district tournament.

 It was also Miss Sarah's night to shine.  She had a great 5th grade year!

 Then, it was Payton's turn for her individual awards.

I didn't get all teary eyed until the graduating 5th grade class sang "Break Away" by Kelly Clarkson.

Here's our graduating girls.

 Our elementary school graduates with our high school graduate. 

Best friend cousins.

Our very best family picture out of about 1,492 attempts. sigh!

Payton and one of her very best friends. 

It's always hard to see your kids close a chapter in their story of life.  I can't believe Payton is officially finished with her elementary school years.  But, I'm also so excited for her.  She has been looking so forward to middle school and has her two years there mapped out.  I think she's going to love it and really come into her own.  I just know she's going to do great!

Moving Along Through the Month of May

May has been a busy month for our little family.  Aren't they all?  School's out for the summer!  The kiddos and I have been working at my school tying up a few things until the start of next school year.  I think as of today, we are all done! Yay!  Before school was out, we had a few blog worthy events take place.  Addi and her best bud won their class citizenship awards together for the second year!  I'm so proud of these too!  Addi also got a special spelling award for making a 100% on every single spelling test she took this year, along with a few other awards. I wasn't able to go, but Jason took lots of pictures!

Evan and Stephen had their last band concert of the year and of their middle school careers.

 Karsyn and I went to Addi's field day.  We had fun hanging out with Addi's friends.

They played tug-a-war.

Addi had way too much fun with the punching bag. She was cracking me up!

 Evan, Payton, and I got to see Miss Natalie in one of her very last high school jazz concerts.  She did an amazing job singing a solo and a duet.  The little ladies hung out at home with daddy. 

The girls, Sarah, and I went to the annual truck touch held at the high school.  We met Velma from Scooby Doo.  As a kid, I always thought her name was Janet - after my aunt.  ha ha ha!

 I finally got my hair cut and high lighted for the first time since December. Yay!

We also had our last McDonald's dinner at the dance studio....well, for a while any way. =)

I got in some cuddles with my big girl. =)

And that brings you up to the last week of school.