Maggie's Dance Recital

 My little dancer!

 Can she pose or what?!!

 They danced to the song if all of the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops...If you can't tell she is catching the raindrops! hilarious!!

 She loves shaking her hips!

 They danced with a partner from an older class.  It was a precious dance!

 Yes, she is waving to us from the stage!!

Maggie loved dancing again this year.  We found a wonderful dance studio here.  Her teachers were wonderful.  She wasn't the least bit shy on that stage.  She couldn't wait to get dressed up, wear make up and have curls in her hair.  But what girl doesn't like all that?  Of course it thrilled my soul to have a little girl to do all this fun stuff with!  We have been joined at the hip this past school year.  I still don't know what I am going to do without her at home with me every day!  I can't think about it right now or i will start crying...again!!...for the 10th time!  Anyway, the recital was such a success.  She is already looking forward to starting back in the fall!

Field Day and End of First Grade

 Part of Field Day included enjoying the fun bouncies!

 Tyner with a few of the girls from his class

 3 of his friends from his class at Field Day

Speedy running and jumping hurdles

Field Day was a blast.  Everything they did at school this year amazed me!  I must say again how thankful I am for such a wonderful public school!  We have an outstanding principal and a PTA that is just awesome.  And not to mention fabulous teachers!!  Anyway, we enjoyed our first Lake Ridge field day.  Maggie, Hunt and I walked up the hill to the track that is behind the school and watched Tyner.  After he completed the field events with his class they went to the playground and jumped on bouncies.  Needless to say he was worn out by the time school was out!

 Acting goofy during computer time

Tyner and his wonderful teacher!! 

My son finished first grade with a bang.  He had an incredible teacher that developed in him a LOVE for writing!! Those of  you that know me well know how much I love kids to write in the classroom!  Well, they did a TON of it at Lake Ridge Elementary.  I took Tyner to Target the other day to get a new swimming suit and a journal for the summer.  He was more excited about his journal than his new suit!  I was one happy Mama!  He is quite the reader, too!  He had a precious class and made lots of new friends.  We continue to love our neighborhood and all it has to offer.  It is wonderful living across the street from the school.  I could step out the front door in the afternoons and see Tyner's class at recess.  It kind of felt like it was something out of a storybook.  I am so very thankful it is real and we are getting to enjoy this "Mayberry" type place! We are truly blessed!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day weekend we met our cousins at Dollywood!  Although it was very crowded (we saw a glimpse of Dolly!!) the kids and adults had a blast.  We spent the night with Kacky and Roger.  It was so much fun watching all these cousins laugh and giggle!

Red Fork Falls

Red Fork Falls is one of my very favorite hikes we have done since we moved to Johnson City.  It is interesting in the fact you start the hike at the top of the waterfall and hike down beside it.  It is lots of rock climbing and hanging from trees but that is the way I like it.  And my kids do, too! It is absolutely gorgeous!  When we went this time we had friends join us.  The kids (and adults) had a blast! 

Fairy Tales

After our Eric Carle study we did a unit on fairy tales.  So perfect for a little girl!  We read Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, Rumplestiltskein, The Enormous Carrot and a few more.  We discussed the different elements of a fairy tale...how they begin with "Once upon a time"...and they usually end with "and they lived happily ever after"... we talked about how some fairy tales have a princess in them.  Making a crown was a perfect way to end our study!  Maggie wore it most of the day,  Are we surprised?

Baseball Season

April brought us our first baseball season in Johnson City.  Tyner is a Texas Ranger!  He has an incredible coach and a great team.  He has been playing second base and right field.  He has been batting really well and thrown several people out while playing second base!  He has grown to LOVE baseball...of course his Daddy loves that!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter at the lake!  We enjoyed being with family, the annual Moon Lake Easter egg hunt, and most importantly celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior!! As you can tell from the last picture...it is really hard to get a good shot of everyone looking the right way...ha!

Author study- Eric Carle

Tissue paper giraffe

We did an author study on Eric Carle for a couple of weeks in March.  I absolutely love him and so do the kids! We learned about where he grew up, how he became children's author and really talked a lot about his illustrations.  Maggie learned how he uses tissue paper for his illustrations.  We made a giraffe out of  painted tissue paper.  Hunt helped a little, too.  Her finished product is amazing!

March

 Visiting Bays Mountain Park

 Abby, Hayden, Maggie and me ready for the zipline

The highlight of March was our cousins and aunts coming to visit.  We had a blast- of course- and loved showing them all the fun things we have to do.  We hiked, enjoyed playgrounds, zip lined, and laughed a lot!! The pictures tell it all!

Playing Dress Up

What little girls doesn't love to put rollers in her hair, makeup on, and dress up in mommy's clothes and high heels? Well, mine was beside herself. We did our hair, put make-up on, painted our nails and then picked out a dress and heels! It was a special afternoon that just the 2 of us spent together...well, while #2 son was sleeping. This sweet little girl...all my children...bring me such JOY!! I am blessed beyond measure!!

Valentine Handprint craft

I am going to frame these...they are such a keepsake!

He was SO proud of his artwork!

You can kind of see in the backgroud the snowmen we made with our footprints in January!

We have had lots of fun trying all different kinds of handprint and footprint crafts. Today, we did a valentine tree using our arm and hand. Then we dipped our thumbs in pink and red paint to make "heart thumbprints." The turned out to be adorable and my 2 "students" loved them! This little girl is keeping me on my toes. Her reading is amazing...she asks every day now to read to me! Makes this teacher/mommy very proud!!

Christmas 2011

Our Christmas Eve visit with my second family

Our tradition of reading Luke 2 and 'Twas the Night before Christmas

The cousins on Christmas morning

I could eat them up!!!

Our fun Christmas Eve tradition at the Johnsons! Waiting on Santa to arrive!

Christmas night...these 2 cousins were adorable! it was like flashback to childhood!

Christmas...we have such a fun family tradition...from Christmas Eve to Christmas night...it is always so much fun!!...and it was so wonderful having even more of our family with us in Clarksdale this year! Christmas Eve was a blast...just like it always is. The cousins had a blast waking up to Santa together!