Daila's New Obsession

Daila has a few obsessions:
The swing.
Her cousin Julia.
(well and if we count today she can't stop mentioning "the beach" for some reason . . . I think she just likes the word. Go figure.)
and . . .

The computer. She will play on nickjr.com ALL day long if we let her. Crazy little girl.

These 3 obsessions will cause major meltdowns if not handled appropriately. Ahh the drama of toddler-hood.

Daila's Preschool Program

Here is our busy little bee, Daila:

I had a really cute picture of her by her bee with a beautiful grin. But alas, I accidentally deleted it. :( So how's this do?
Here is a video of Daila (she is the one waving) singing "ABC's" and "Friends Love One Another" with her classmates:



Here is Daila just after her performance at the open house.

And here are a couple of other favorites from preschool. (I really LOVED her preschool. It was the perfect environment for Daila. She had a pizza and ice cream party on the last day of school and they presented each child with their own scrapbook for the year with poems and photos of the child. Impressive.)

So this is Daila's Mother's Day photo which came home framed:

And this is Daila's favorite day at school; pony rides and petting zoo! She is riding a pony named Dollar.

Janae's Spring Musical was "NUTS"

Janae was a cloud in the spring musical at school!

It was called "NUTS" and it was all about the circle of life. A seed is planted and grows into a great oak tree which then drops more nuts. The 1st grade boys stole the show with their rap, "BIG . . . Bad . . . Squirrels!!!" My favorite line was "We know you think we're precious. We know you think we're cute. But when there's heavy lifting, we Rock there's no dispute." To which the other squirrels enthusiastically echo (with best gangsta moves) "WE ROCK THERE'S NO DISPUTE!!" And then they have some simple choreography which involves shaking their bushy little tails. I tell ya, it was darn cute and kinda made me wish I had a boy too. :) Almost.

But I'm quite proud of my cloud and more than happy with her performance too. She tries to block the sun that the seeds so desperately need to grow. She does a good job of blocking them in this picture! :) These are some friends in her class. The girl on the left is really trying to steal Janae's spotlight, but lucky for petite, lil Janae, her costume is nice and big.

Here is a video of her performance. She is the furthest cloud on the right. Janae's right in front of her music teacher who is really working hard to direct this bunch of 1st and 2nd grade stars in the show. (Can you just imagine! She did a great job, too.) For some reason (probably because it was just my digital camera and not designed to take complicated moving pictures) the focus moves in and out throughout the entire performance. But hopefully you'll still be able to enjoy the mood of that evening. It was a wonderfully successful Arts Night with a school wide art show, make and take art projects, a musical performance, and cookies! :)

And now . . . without further ado . . . we present . . . JANAE (and some other kids) performing, "THE SUN!" . . . . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANAE!!!!!!!!!

Today is Janae's 8th birthday!

My Irish twins. They are both 8 years old . . . for now. :) Am I blessed or what?!

The Legend of the Dogwood

Okay . . . so this one is for me (because I love this time of year when the dogwood blooms)

and for my Aunt Mary, who apparently loves them as much as I do. :)

Ahh . . . Welcome Spring!!!

Daila is tickling a bright pink blooming bush in our front yard . . . I don't know why. . . . But I think it's cute! :)
Aren't the blossoms interesting?! It's kind of a weird little bush.

These are some of the dogwood trees that are growing on my street.


Aren't these blushing pink blooms pretty?! The white ones are still my all time favorite. There are all types of white flowering trees blooming along the main streets of the townships around St. Louis. We call them "popcorn trees" and we thoroughly enjoy them.

This is the dogwood in my backyard.

I just love Spring in Missouri!! All these trees that bloom gorgeous white flowers decorate our city and forests in amazing ways. I wish I had a picture of our drive down to Sullivan. The other trees are budding, but they are not leafy enough to hide the forests, so you can see "inside" large groves of trees through their branches. And dotted throughout the many branches, you'll see several sprays of white blossoms at different depths and heights and distances. It's like nature's lace. I just love it and words can't describe it's beauty. I would love to have a painting of it to hang in my home.

*contented sigh*

But, of course, my favorite of all the flowering trees is our Missouri state tree . . . the dogwood.

The Legend of the Dogwood Tree

When Christ was on earth, the dogwood grew

To a towering size with lovely hue.

Its branches were strong and interwoven

And for Christ's cross its timbers were chosen.

Being distressed at the use of this wood,

Christ made a promise which still holds good:

"Not ever again shall the dogwood grow to be large enough for such a tree,

And so slender and twisted it shall always be with cross-shaped blossoms for all to see.

The petals shall have bloodstains marked in brown

And in the blossom's center a thorny crown.

All who see it will think of Me, nailed to a cross from the dogwood tree.

Protected and cherished this tree shall be a reflection to all of my agony."

-Author Unknown