Jeanne's School of Dance presents...World of Dance

Once again, we have come to the girls dance recital. I dread and love this time every year. It is so much work and ends up being such a long day, but I absolutely love to watch my girls dance and see the growth they've made in the past year. Here's some evidence we enjoyed the day:

Katelyn in her Can-can costume on our way to the show

Megan in her Can-can costume ready for the opening number

Adam needed to join in the dance pose fun :)

Megan in the front right with the Mini Starz doing "Bouncin' Around the World"

Beautiful Katelyn in the middle in her lyrical number

Great pointed toes Katelyn! This is her "Kung Fu Fighting" jazz dance

Megan starting off her tumbling routine

Katelyn in tumbling

Megan in Surfin' USA

This one was Katelyn's favorite dance. It's tap to "Walk Like an Egyptian"

Megan's 6th Birthday

Happy, Happy Birthday to my kind, active, loving, snuggly 6 year old Megan! Of course the day started off with breakfast in bed...with the famous choice of donuts.

Megan had a friend birthday party this year and invited these cute friends to the Stuffington Bear Factory.

We were given a tour of the factory and learned how they make their bears. Then we got to be in the party room and color and have lunch.

After lunch and some cupcakes, Megan got to put her hand print on the wall.

All of the kids got to pick a bear and give it a ribbon as part of the tour. Because Megan was the birthday girl, she got to pick clothes for her bear.

Later in day, we invited our family over for a BBQ and birthday party.

Somehow we missed getting a picture of Megan blowing out her candles, but here is the birthday cake she chose this year. It is marbled vanilla and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. She wanted to write her own name in frosting and she did a great job!

And Megan's day would not be complete if she didn't do some tumbling in the family room. We love you Miss Tumbling Active Megan!

Play Ball!

Chris took the kids to Diamondback games this year.

Monday was Katelyn's turn:

That's a happy face! So fun to have a special daddy-daughter date .

Tuesday Megan and Adam had their turn. Chris' Dad's office was welcoming a new doc and invited family to come along for the celebration. Katelyn wasn't able to come this night because of dance, that's why she got her own special night. Not sure how much Megan and Adam watched or enjoyed the game, but they had a fun time being there!

Hello Megan! Welcome to the game!

Megan in the "All-you-can-eat Suite"

Megan and Adam enjoying the suite.

Megan and cousin Bryson

Happy boys!

Megan's parent program - End of the Year Review

Is it really that time of when we have the end of a school year? Wow. Discovery Club was amazing this year for Megan. She has grown into a wonderful little girls who I'm not afraid to send to Kindergarten anymore! Their end of the year program was a review of all the things they've learned. Since Chris isn't working he was able to come to this final program. Megan was really excited to show things to her dad too. Here's a look at Megan through the year: (you can click on the collage to see it bigger)

Rockin' My Country

The theme for the girl's spring dance recital this year is Rockin' My Country and these kids ROCKED it! And a BIG thank you for all the hard work Amy and Kaley do to put on a great show. The girls have grown a lot this year in dance and it was fun to see their hard work. Since I've been through a couple of these recitals now, I know I have to gear up for a long day and unexpected twists and turns to my schedule. This year was no different, but overall I think (as I want to remember it) all things weren't too bad. Great job girls!

On stage after the show.

These are looks of "thanks for the flowers, I'm tired and hungry, can we go now?"

Megan's parent program - African Savannah

We are once again at a Discovery Club parent program. This unit was the African Savannah. They learned about the desert, animals found in Africa, and they even attempted to learn all the countries in Africa.

They each had a special speaking part in the program. Megan's part was about the lions and lionesses. My video is not great, but it's cute to see her stand and say her part and not be shy.

"My family is called a pride. We sleep most of the day and hunt at night. The lionesses hunt with other lionesses. The male lion gets to eat first."

Slip-N-Slide time

It's that time of year again when it's just warm enough to pull out the slip-n-slide. Feels like summer is on the way!

Megan's parent program - Rain forest Unit

This month's parent program was an open house. Our family had so much fun seeing all that Megan is doing and learning in Discovery Club. Adam especially loved all the places to go play. He was first up in the tree house loft playing with the puppet animals. Then he went to the small playroom off the main room. This unit it is set up like a scientist's tent.

Adam in the small playroom.

Megan is showing us her number work she does at Club.

Megan and Katelyn in the rain forest tent. They duplicated the environment of the rain forest with thick plastic and a humidifier. The girls said it was hot in there.

We love Discovery Club! I just can't rave enough about all that Megan is learning and how much she is growing.

Megan, the big 5 year old!

Megan has grown up so much in the last year, yet I still can't believe she is already 5. Megan is such a sweet, beautiful little girl. She loves being with people, doesn't like being by herself, loves cuddles and hugs and kisses, and is loving learning to read and being in preschool. Megan's birthday this year was spent in Vegas with my family. Chris couldn't be there to celebrate, so we used good old Skype to make sure he didn't miss out on Megan's present opening. Too bad Skpe couldn't send him any wonderful Texas sheet cake...mmmmm. Happy birthday to my Megan!

Birthday celebration number 1 with all the Chesnik's. And yes, that's an ice cream machine in the back. What's a Chesnik birthday celebration without homemade ice cream?!

Birthday celebration number 2 (on her birthday) started with traditional breakfast donuts.

Barbie movies are Megan's favorite right now.

Megan has been asking for the game Pop the Pig for a long time. Hope she likes it once she has it!

"Look at me, don't I make a good Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel doll and Megan will become best friends.

Megan's parent program - Desert Unit

Instead of a regular parent program for the desert unit, we got to go on a desert hike! I went as one of the parent volunteers to keep track of everyone on the trail. We went to a little trail about 20 minutes east of us. Who knew there were hiking trails so close to me? This trail was perfect for the kids. It was only 1 mile round trip and literally it was a circle around a small mountain/hill. Also nice, is that is was relatively flat and not too steep for these little legs. On the trail we got to see all the plants/vegetation and some animals that they have been learning about in their desert unit. I know some might disagree, but I think the desert is a beautiful place.

This is Megan's Discovery Club.
Megan is in the back row on the left, holding her hair down.

Megan's parent program - Polar regions

Megan is learning and growing so much from Discovery Club. I wish every kid had the opportunity to be a part of this curriculum! She's now even starting to bring books home and starting to learn how to read. I'm so amazed and proud of my little Megan. This unit they just finished is on the polar regions. They learned about the North and South pole, polar animals, and hibernation. My favorite song they sing is "Hibernation, time for hibernation, hibernation, time to go to.... (kids close their eyes and put their heads down)" I love it! Also, did you know that it's the male penguin that nurtures the eggs until they hatch? They keep them on top of their feet (flippers) because if the egg touches the ice it'll get too cold. The female penguin is the one who hunts and brings the males the food.

Look, Mom...I'm the same height as an emperor penguin.

The small playroom was full of "snow" this unit.

Dance, dance, dance - Christmas show

It wouldn't be Christmas time without the Jeanne's School of Dance Christmas show! The girls did a great job. This is probably my favorite dance show of the year. I loving hearing all the Christmas music. Thanks Katelyn and Megan!

These are the girls cute costumes. Cute girls!

Adam was happy to be on the grass playing after the show.

Megan's parent program - Ocean unit

Again, I am amazed at all the things the kids are learning in Club. Megan now knows the difference between a vertebrate and invertebrate, she knows about sharks and whales and fish, and tidal waves and how they are formed, and sea stars and so much more about our ocean. To add to that, she can name all the oceans in the world, and point them out on a map. A lot of what they learn is put to song to make it easier to remember. I think this is why Megan loves it so much. I even learned something new from Megan that she had learned. Did you know that sea stars (commonly referred to as star fish, but they are not a fish) take their stomach out to eat? Then if they don't like something that they've eaten they just leave their stomach there and they grow a new one. Nice. Kind of wish I could do that sometimes.

Club has a small loft. Megan is showing me her shark puppet.

Megan smiling during the classroom portion of the parent program.

This is the small playroom that is decorated like a submarine for this unit.