Visting Family in Oklahoma

We went to Oklahoma for Memorial Day to visit some family. We first went to see my uncle Mike and aunt Kelly. It was nice having a little visit with them. The next day we were able to go see my Grandpa Knight and Betty. The kids loved seeing them. Nathan was very excited to spend some time with his great grandpa. The kids also loved seeing Mike's birds, especially Louie. They have been talking about that bird almost everyday since. They thought it was amazing to hear a bird talk and to see it dance and open its own cage. I think this was a trip they will not forget for a while, even though it was so short. We will have to find a time when we can spend more than a few hours with everyone.

Amy and Grandpa Knight

Nathan and Grandpa Knight
Grandpa Knight and Lucy (he was walking around the backyard showing her everything)

Grandpa had the kids jumping on the trampoline and having a good time

My Grandpa Knight

Lucy was a little unsure about the trampoline

Another Groove Squad Performance

Nathan had another Groove Squad performance at a PTA meeting during the last week of school. I know I am late posting this, since the last day of school was June 4th, however, I thought it was fun watching him dance and wanted to share it with everyone. Sorry for the shaky picture; Amy was trying to climb me to get me to hold her while I was trying to record Nathan.

The Newton Rayzor Elementary 1st Grade Texas Rodeo

Nathan's elementary school does a 1st grade rodeo every year. I think they said this is the 23rd annual rodeo, so they know exactly what they are doing and it is fun to attend.
Nathan had so much fun preparing for this. He has been constantly talking about this for about a month. All of the kids were supposed to make their own stick horses out of stuff they could find around their house. Nathan's was made from one of our brooms and some rope. We attached a couple of paper eyes and voila-- perfect rodeo horse for a boy.
He was chosen along with a few other 1st graders to do the flag ceremony. So we have a video of him trotting in with a Texas flag. He practiced trotting around our house for a few days. I think he perfected it!

After they trotted and did the flag ceremony (Nathan trotted in with his friend Marley), they had a parade of 1st graders to show off their horses. Then they did a little dance to a song that was fun to watch (video included--he's on the other side of the circle from where we were sitting during his dance).

After the dance they had events that the kids got to participate in. Nathan was in the three-legged race with his friend Isabella (video included). There were other events as well that other kids did: barrel (bucket) racing, hay bale hurdling, booty-scootin' on a bouncy ball thing, hula-hoop races, potato sack races, catching a pig's tail (one kid had a bandanna on his back that had a pig mask on and another kid had to try to pull it off), etc. It was fun to watch and gave us some ideas for when we are in charge of a family reunion again.

Videos from the festival

Lucy loved this balloon that someone handed out to the kids. I thought it was so funny to see her laughing at it and had to get it on video.

Nathan did a great job dancing with the other kids. We are proud of him for being such a good kid at school and getting the opportunity to do things like this.

Denton Arts and Jazz Festival

Today was the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. Nathan is in a group from his school called the Groove Squad. They are the kids that have been good all year and that have gotten good grades. They learn dances to fun songs and perform them at a few things toward the end of the school year. Today was their first performance. Nathan did it last year and loved it, so we let him do it again this year. He did well and looked like he had lots of fun.
We also had fun going around the festival and hearing music, looking at art, eating some expensive festival food, watching the kids enjoy themselves, and being outdoors in nice weather.
Here are a few pictures from our day:

This is where Lucy spent the majority of the time. She seems to not mind being in the stroller too much.
This face was so classic. Amy decided to taste the lemon they had in her lemonade and it really made her pucker and then almost cry.

Here is Nathan on stage with the other first grader Groove Squad team. He is on the far left by the teacher in the purple shirt. The kid in front of him is his best friend at school, O'Maurie.

Steve thought it would be fun to take a picture of me holding Amy up so she could see Nathan dancing over the crowd.

Nathan climbing on a thing they have at the park. I wish I had his energy.

All of the heat and humidity got to Amy's hair by the time we had walked around the park.

They had this weird ride where you are sitting in bathtubs spinning around. Amy loved it.

Lucy's little scrunched up nose face. She has so much personality.

I love this picture. Nathan was making faces at Lucy trying to get her to laugh and she was looking at him like he was the strangest kid in the world.

Things that have been going on...

Steve and Allison playing at his recital. Willem was his accompanist and was amazing!


Steve playing at his recital. He did a wonderful job!


Well, I had a posting drought, so I better tell a little about what has been going on.



Steve had a recital that was excellent. His sister Allison played with him on one of the pieces. Nathan came along to listen and he did very well sitting and listening to his daddy play. It gives me a little more courage and hope to think that it won't be long before we can take him to hear a symphony concert.



During Spring Break we went camping up at Ray Roberts Lake. It was perfect weather, but it was too early when we went and the trees didn't have their leaves out yet, so no shade. The dogs did wonderful; for some reason they love camping and they don't bark. They are soooo good. My parents would be surprised to see them so calm and relaxed because they are yappers. For those who don't know, the dogs were my parents before we got them and my parents were a little annoyed by them. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so no pictures of our fun time.



I have been running like a maniac trying to get into shape. I am hoping to do a 10k at the end of summer. I have talked Steve into doing a 5k with me this winter, but we'll have to see. I may have to keep reminding him that he agreed. I am now able to run 6 miles without falling over, but I want to get to the point that I don't feel like I am running in slow motion.
My sister just finished running a 1/2 marathon and she did amazing! She is truly an inspiration to me. I think it would be amazing to run one with her someday in the future, but I have a ways to go to get to the performance level she is at. I guess it takes baby steps to get to that point, so I will start slow and hopefully not get discouraged.



Not too much more has been happening, so hopefully I will do a little better at keeping the blog updated.

My Baby Turns One

Finally figuring out how to unwrap a present after Nathan showed her how to unwrap a couple.

Cake, hotdogs, peas, and carrots... what more could a one year old want?

Her scrunched up nose face. This is the face she usually gives to people she doesn't know very well when they are talking to her.


Thinking she is funny when mommy freaks out about her standing in her high chair

Yep... Lucy is now one. I can hardly believe it. She seems too little to be one already. It amazes me how much faster time has gone with her compared to Nathan and Amy.

We had a little party for her. She seemed a little confused about the cake and the presents, but she was happy.

Amy was nice enough to blow the candle out for her and Nathan was nice enough to help her open her presents. Aren't siblings the greatest?!