Dance Recital

Avery was super excited to perform at her dance recital. It is all she talked about for weeks. The night of the rehearsal was also picture night. She turned on the charm.

The day of the recital was so fun for her! She made good friends Parker Grace from day 1.

Aves had a grand group of supporters there and loved getting so many flowers!

As soon as she finished the recital she was ready to hang up her dancing shoes and start martial arts. She liked dance and it was a good experience, but she's loving her new adventure. 

Martial Arts Testing and Board Breaking

Ross has been moving along quite nicely with martial arts. He still loves it! At the previous testing he was selected as student of that period for the best demonstration of the life skill they were learning - kindness. That meant he earned a pizza party with the added bonus of breaking his first board!

He was a bit nervous going into it. Mr. Cowan was great and they decided he should kick instead of use his hands. I got a slo-mo video b/c it always happens so fast when I've watched other people. Ross was stoked! 

Lemonade and Cookie Stand

Ross and Addison joined forces again for a Lemonade and Cookie stand to make money for Walk for the Waiting. They set their goal at $10,000! Double last year's goal. 

This year they had a new addition of selling t-shirts. As soon as I picked them up I had Ross try his on. They were a huge hit! 

They sold around 125 shirts. Everyone supported their great cause! 

Cookie production started in full force the first weekend in February. We baked a lot of mom's b/c she has a double oven and with so many orders that definitely came in handy.

I think in total we made about 1800 cookies/ pecans. Poppy made most of our candied pecans! People loved them! 

I think this year should be called the year of media. Project Zero made a video about their venture last year and why they raised money. 

Meredith Mitchell with KTHV also came to our house and did a segment on the kids. 

When Ross saw "Lemonade With Purpose" scroll across the TV he was beyond excited! 

Their first lemonade/ cookie stand was hosted by Capitol Bistro. They had an awesome turnout even with cold temps AND they were surprised with KARK Pay It Forward award. Ronald McDonald was there and they were given $250 to go toward their goal. 

Then started the neighborhood stands. See the Dads doing their part bringing in the customers! :) 

So many friends helped out this year!! It has been awesome to see so many get involved! 

Their last stand was planned for a Sunday morning after church. Well the electricity was out, which meant no church but there was a function that night at Larry's Pizza and the kids were ready to take donations. They are quite bold about it and don't have any hesitations when taking around their donation bowl. It helps that they are cute and they can tell people what they are collecting for with such conviction. 

In the end they raise $10,704.90. When they were interviewed at church the day after the walk they said the goal for 2018 was $15,000! We will pray it happens! One thing I learned this year is to never doubt God's blessing on a pure heart and a great mission. 

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was excellent! Such fun and great time with family and friends. The Saturday started off with going to Mrs. Tamey's for an Easter party. Thanks to me for staining Avery's Easter dress so got a play one and I rushed on Saturday to make her 2.0. She was excited about it b/c she could wear the play one all day! 

That afternoon we went to the Egg Dash and met up with even more friends. 

We ended the day with family over for playing and BBQ. Ross made these cute bunny treats for dessert. 

Easter Day. Yes the Easter bunny came, but we are always sure to remember the reason we celebrate. 

We went to church with Mom and even were able to get Tyler with us for the day. 

Sometimes I let too much get packed into a weekend, but when I pack it with family and friends we make tons of memories and in the end it is worth it!

Daddy Daughter Dance

The day Avery had looked forward to all school year finally arrived! (Dad may have looked forward to it even more than Avery.) The annual Daddy/ Daughter dance! 

She didn't even mind taking pics on the big night. She planned ahead on what exactly she would wear and we did a test run. 

Uncle De sent the corsage for us. 

So sweet. 

I was even lucky enough to be sent a couple of videos. Avery and Daddy had a great night!!