May 5

So does anyone have any big plans for Cinco de Mayo?  We don’t and honestly I’m not even sure what this day celebrates – lol! Guess I’ve got some researching to do huh? We had a big weekend here in our household – dance recital!  Last year Jaia didn’t want to participate until about 2 weeks before the recital – by then it was too late. This year I signed her up for it  – no questions asked. It would have been easier to pull her out than sign her up to participate if she’d changed her mind so that’s what I did. Since she is loving the performing aspect of Irish Dancing I knew my decision would be fine  – and it was.

Selfie on the way to the recital –

FYI – I’ve been having issues with getting my pictures from the computer onto my blog – grrr…. so I’m hoping that some of the pictures I took I can post on my blog – we’ll see though .   And nope they are not working – I keep getting an error notice. Utterly and completely frustrating for me –

We are in the final  stretch before Rowan leaves for London – sooo much to do. I’ve got to get a few items of clothing for her – you know how teens are they wear the same 3 shirts day in and day out! She should be taking at least 7 days of clothes with her so we need to bolster her wardrobe a bit. Schoolwork needs to be finished up. Her 50 hour project is nearly done but it’s due Thursday and she still needs to fit it on the horse and take a million pictures to create a slide show –  Armor to put together and all sorts of stuff.

Friday was our last home school class of this semester. It was a new group we had tried out this semester to see if we liked it. It was okay – Jaia had a great time in the knitting class but the cooking from scratch class left a bit to be desired. Several baggies of herb mixes, salad dressing mixes etc… were certainly NOT worth the $30 I paid for the class.

Playtime after our last day of classes –

And exciting news! We don’t have to work summer camps this summer! We are all very excited but I’m realizing that I am out that money then. I always use camp money to cover some of the costs of feising – Oh well… I have lots of plans to grow my blog so look for some big changes this summer!

I’m off to start our day and to figure out why my pictures won’t transfer to my blog!

Bright Blessings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.   – Soulemama. Thanks for letting us join!

Sculpture Park

Tuesday afternoon Jaia really wanted to go to the zoo. Great! We didn’t have too much time since J has dance class in the evening, but we contacted some friends and they were going to go with us.  (our zoo is free! it’s a fantastic zoo) – I drove all the way over to the zoo  and there I discovered the crowd – jam packed! I was so surprised! A lot of our schools in the area had started for the year Monday so I honestly thought the zoo was going to be relatively empty. But! the paid parking lots were full and my usual parking secret was filled to the brim also!  After a quick chat with our friends we decided to skip the zoo and go someplace else. We’ll do the zoo next week..

We ended up a a sculpture park – It’s a neat place filled with trails and HUGE pieces of artwork. Some you can climb on  – some you cannot. I apologize in advance for anything my child climbed on that she was NOT supposed to. Sometimes you don’t see the sign until after the fact..

 

We grew into giants and sat on houses –

 

Walked a u-turn bridge.

 

Discovered a hidden grotto –

Played in a creek –  She looks so thrilled doesn’t she?

Climbed on huge metal balls that snaked off into the distance..

Saw a silver tree –

 

And saw all sorts of sculptures that I didn’t quite understand.

 

 

 

Giant eyeball anyone?

 

This was my favorite – the teardrop tree tent. Can you imagine camping in this! Fantastic –

All in All – we had a fantastic afternoon with some wonderful friends! Next week we’ll do the zoo..

Bright Blessings

 

 

 

Misc.

Tuesday, 3 hours before Jaia needed to be at dance class , she shouts out – “Mom! can we go by new shoes?!” – as in new dance shoes.  There’s only one place here that I know of that sells them and it was about 1/2 hour away so we jumped in the car and made a mad dash to buy new shoes! I had been promising her for weeks that we’d go and well… I had to keep my promise right?

I cannot believe I didn’t take pictures at the store!  J was in dance heaven. Soft shoes, hard shoes, bags, t-shirts etc… I do believe her christmas list is begun and finished now!  She was very happy to get new shoes.  – Sorry the pic is blurry – It’s so very hard to catch a girl on the move doing her “step 1,2,3’s”.  She’ll be in her first performance on the 11th and her first feis on the 25th of August. I can’t wait ! I’m sure she’ll do fantastic and wow those judges:)

Wednesday was barn day of course. Camps are all over and we’re back to peace and quite there.  We went a bit early so Rowan could ride. The heat here has been so oppressive and just plain HOT  – that it’s been hard for anyone to find the time to ride safely. Rowan has decided that it’s time Jaia is able to ride Jonah  – so she’s been letting J hop on Jonah after her rides. Just a bit of walking until Jaia gets used to riding a horse much larger that what she’s used to.  I was sitting and reading while they were riding, but I looked up to see  this..

My girls – riding together. I love it when they get along.

Bright Blessings!

Wednesday

We had the most relaxing day yesterday. We got to stay home all day other than leaving for dance! Totally what we need the week before camps start.

Playtime in the morning with  dolls. My girls are constantly making bridles, halters, saddles and carriages for the dolls and their horses.

Carriage riding in the kitchen

Jaia is wanting to learn to sew, so she dug out the old blue sewing machine, found some scrap fabric and got to work. I drew some lines so that she could practice her straight stitching  and then she decided to make a pillow.

Sewing practice

First sewing project! A pillow!

Playing in the sprinkler with friends. Now that schools are out for the summer, Jaia’s friends are able to come and play! She’s so happy – ran out the door yesterday and I don’t think I saw her for a good hour!

Today we’re going to the barn and tonight we’re having some friends over for a sleepover – homemade pizza!

Bright Blessings!