Halloween 2012

Scary Fairy and the Monster High girl

Dancing Queens

Here are some pictures from the dance recital a few weeks back.  Aunt Rhonda, Gramma and Grampa Wagner, Gramma and Grampa Rambo, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Brittany, and Aunt Nicole drove over to watch them.  They also had Meme and Papa Don, Nanna Bonnie and Richard, Gramma Bruce, Uncle Bob, and us there to watch.  What a cheering section!

They did a really great job.  Isabella knew her dance routine much better this year than last.  Kennedy seemed much more at ease up on stage and smiled alot.  She showed alot of personality in her routines.  She did 3 - which I have no idea how she remembered all those moves - hip hop, jazz, and tap. Isabella did a tap routine this year.

All the eye makeup aside, they looked beautiful!  I look blah and tired compared to these made-up beauties!

 

Shoot!

Don took Kennedy, Shane, and I to Horn Rapids to shoot on Saturday.  This is the second weekend in a row I've manhandled a gun and I'm likin' it!

Shane got to shoot his new Glock again and Don had a new Walther 380 I got to test drive. 

I was not very good but got better as the day went.  I keep switching up left-eye versus right-eye, left leg forward vs right leg forward - I got NO game when it comes to gun-shootin' form.  But I did feel like toward the end of the day I was starting to figure out what works better for me.  I'm excited to try again.

Don brought two .22's which were super fun!  I'd never shot them before and they were a blast. Papa Don gave Kennedy some schooling and it was really cute to watch.

This gun is the one Shane learned to shoot with.

This is the face of happiness!

Kennedy also got to use a newer .22 with a cool scope.  She like that much better and had great aim!  She was going through the bullets almost as fast as Don could load em! 

 We had a great day and Kennedy is pretty sharp shooter.

Sushi Mama

How much does Kennedy want a chameleon?  Enough to try sushi!  She is still saving money for this creepy lizard creature.  She has $130 saved up.  That is about half of what they cost to buy - yikes!  But then there is still the cage, drip misting system, sunlamp, cricket habitat, and plants to buy.  When she brought up buying one of these awhile back, I told her when she learned to like sushi she could have a chameleon knowing that NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would she even try it. 

I was mistaken...

We went to Mizu Sushi on Friday night for dinner.  She did not like it, not a shocker, but I couldn't believe she tried it.  Her and Isabella ended up having popcorn chicken nuggets and teriyaki chicken for dinner.  The great thing was that we can go there every once in awhile for dinner when I'm really craving me a spicy tuna roll.  Isabella had a great time grabbing the rolls off the conveyor belt as they rolled by. 

Kennedy's desire for a chameleon is apparently more than a passing phase.  She has been saving and saving which I have never seen her do before.  She is also doing lots of research on the internet about prices and species differences...and ok, she may not have liked the sushi but she tried it...I cannot believe this.  I feel my heart softening toward this nasty lizard idea.  We still do not have a babysitter lined up for this thing if we were to get one and I have a hard time believing that will be an easy task.  I'm hoping this remains the reason it's not feasible.  Eek!

Punk party

The girls had a punk party a couple of weekends ago.  They had a blast getting ready for it.  This party was right up Isabella's alley with her 'real make-up' obsession and tendency toward mis-matched clothes!  They were party rockers!

Fun at Freddy's

Smackdown Live

Kennedy loves WWE - she knows all the main characters on Smackdown vs. Raw.  John Cena is one of her faves.  Shane and I asked her how she could watch it knowing that it wasn't 'real' wrestling and she quickly told us "It's just entertainment."  Like duh parents...who wouldn't enjoy it?  I remember Dad watching WWF every Saturday morning with Hulk Hogan - I think that may have ruined my chances for enjoying WWE.

WWE Smackdown Live! came to Tri-Cities a couple months ago.  Kennedy's Papa Don got tickets and just the two of them went to it.  It was on a Thursday night so the deal was Kennedy had to have all her homework done so she could go.  She worked really hard the weekend before and finished her book report (or 99%) of it. She was ecstatic!

He bought her Smackdown paraphernalia like an autographed tshirt and a DVD set (yahoo - more Smackdown action to watch later! oh sorry that was my sarcastic voice). She had a great time and it was a special night for her to be one-on-one with her Papa. She is still talking about it months later.

The Big Shoe

At the end of school Kennedy's music teacher puts on "The Big Shoe." Each class sings a song or puts on a musical performance.  During the changeover of each class to the middle of the gym stage, the steel drum band plays and the kids in circus club show off their skills.  Kennedy has been in circus club the last two years.

We thought the class - I think it was 1st or 2nd grade - did an awesome job with their dragons.  And they were fun to look at:

This is Kennedy with her friend Lainey Lacey showing their circus moves with spinning plates:

Kennedy on rode stilts & a unicycle:

Kennedy's entire 5th grade class performed with muck buckets - who knew a bucket could make such a great beat:

5th grade Promotion

Kennedy had her last day of school today.  Last week was full of end-of-school year activities.  One milestone for Kennedy was her 5th grade promotion ceremony and the beginning of summer before middle school!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Isabella, her Meme, and her Nanna

Photo courtesy of Isabella.

Kennedy received her Safety Patrol recognition from Officer Clark who used to be our next door neighbor:

 Kennedy and her best friend, Lainey Lacey.

Dog Bed for Maggie

Brittany got me an amazing book for Christmas:

There are so many fun projects in here and all can be done with one yard of fabric so it's really good for the budget too. 

Kennedy got a sewing kit for Christmas from Aunt Rhonda so a few weekends back we picked out a project to make together.  Even better, I had a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's fabrics!  She wanted to make a dog bed for Maggie, her mini-schnauzer at her Mom's house. 

Kennedy did all of the cutting and most of the sewing; I had to help her with some of the corners and hand-stitching.  It turned out cute and Maggie apparently sleeps on it every night.

 We made her a blankie too with the scrap fabric so in this picture, the blankie is sitting on top of the dog bed:

Karma Chameleon

Kennedy has been wanting a new pet...a chameleon.  I am ABSOLUTELY opposed because I have an ABSOLUTE phobia of reptiles.  Maybe I'm a total sucker but I kept thinking to myself we should do it.  We had so many fun pets: lovebirds, a parakeet, a canary, guinea pigs, a pig, dogs, cats, bunnies (oh man! did we have bunnies!)...how bad can one lizard be?  Unfortunately, while most of my pets were fuzzy and feathery, alot of Shane's pets were scaly: snakes, alligators and an iguana.  How Debbie was able to walk in her house I'll never know.

So, for one weekend we entertained the idea and did some research. She and Lainey Lacey went to the pet store to see what it means to take care of them.  Not sure that was a great idea....it only made her want one more! She even got to hold this creature.  This is a female and not nearly as colorful as the males.

Don't you EVEN say "oh, it's kinda cute!"  My insides were flip-floppin when this thing came out of its cage.  I did not sleep for two nights imagining having a lizard in the room next to me. 

I am still OPPOSED to this idea and fortunately Shane is supporting this since we really don't have the time to devote to a baby chameleon...or the patience and time to raise/buy crickets. I just have to wonder how long he'll be able to hold out.