Fiesta

We checked out the new Mexican Art show at the DMA last Friday.

Iria loved the art, but in the end I think she paid more attention to the costumes and dancing :)

Sashay Sisters

Keira and Kassidy heading off to dance class.

Sunset Uninterrupted

A storm blew through today and took out our fence. It looks like a tropical storm hit our neighborhood, but a few blocks down everything is fine.

Lucky us...

Looking on the bright side, we got a really nice sunset tonight instead of the usual fence shadow across the lawn.

Monday Night Gallery

Here are some recent drawings by the kids.

Nothing from Keira, but I'll try to dig up something this week.

A "Katharine and Claire" friendship picture by Katharine.

A monster, by Lukas.

More monsters, by Lennon.

Lots of scribbles from Kassidy.

Competition Weekend

The "Comfort" Inn bed wrecked my back that weekend, so I only ended up taking one photo.

It might be a little cliche', but I always like taking a picture when one of my kids insist on holding a brochure... even though they can't read it. 

Bonus points if it is upside down.

Message on a String

I never get tired of Katharine's little notes that she leaves around in creative places.

Here is a recent "I'm sorry" note that was hanging from a string at around eye level in the stairwell one night.

Ponyville

"My Little Pony" is the latest craze around the house, and Katharine has already modified her dollhouses to accommodate those toys.

July 4

The Millettes invited us over on July 4 to hang out in the pool and eat awesome food with all of our friends.

Everybody had a lot of fun... but maybe a little bit too much sun (as you can see in this picture that I took on our way out).

Here are a few more pictures from earlier:

By the time we got home everybody was passed out. 

Even the fireworks outside would not wake anybody up.

Upside Down

Lennon can never do anything completely normal, and sitting on the couch upside down is just one example of that.

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Nationals, Day 4 - Time to Dance for the Juniors

The competition was held at the Riverwind Casino. I am going to spare the readers my rant about second hand smoking,...knowing we should have gotten judged better and how tired I am of looking at girls of all ages wearing Victoria's Secret underwear, lingerie and swim suits as costumes...

Here are the results for Katharine's dances:

My Guy, tap  Platinum and 1st runner up for National Champion - the girls also got to participate in the extreme dance challenge with this number and dare I say it, they kicked you know what!

Lay Your Head, lyrical  Platinum

Wild Party, production  Platinum and National Champion

With Chelsy and Rachel who are heading off to college in fall.

Katharine, Emma, Chelsy, Mattie, Madison, Rachel and Claire

Extreme Dance Challenge Awards Ceremony

I am so proud of all the girls and boys on the team of Sheena's Dance Academy. They have my utmost respect. They are such wonderful young men and ladies that dance from the heart, and with integrity without the need to flaunt their bodies on stage. They are setting an example and I belief that some of them have a bright career in dance ahead of them.

To Katharine, my wonderful dancer: You give me a gift every time you are on stage. I can see the beauty of you. Dance is your happy place. I am so proud of you!

To Erik: Thanks for giving up a lot of weekends this spring and watching at least 3 kids while Katharine was gone for competition.

To Kassidy: You are a little mascot of the team. Your easy going personality made it so easy to take you along on all the competitions! Good job singing "Wild Party."

To Lukas, Lennon and Keira: Thanks for supporting your big sister and cheering her on. She couldn't ask for more!

To the competition team: You have given Katharine the chance to form new and stronger friendships and given her the chance to grow as a dancer and person.

To the parents: Thanks for the new friends I found.

To Sheena, Anne, Angie and all the teachers: Thanks for giving Katharine and our family this opportunity. Thank you for teaching and challenging Katharine and helping her grow into the person she is supposed to be.

I want to end this post with two quotes by Martha Graham


Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.



Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.

Nationals, Day 3 - Throwing in some Education

On Saturday morning we headed over to the OU campus to visit the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History and Science, which, by the way is FABULOUS! Admission was free, which makes it even better!
Our family was joined by Claire and her mom Jennifer as well as the Katie and her mom Ellen. The first thing we did was go on a scavenger hunt through the dinosaur exhibit. The cool thing about the museum is that everything is in chronological order and very hands on.
Us girls split early as we had to be at the theater to support the older girls during their solo performances.

After a long time of watching lots of dances, awesome, easy going Kassidy fell asleep on the floor:

Erik stayed a little bit longer at the museum with child number 2, 3 and 4 and then headed back to the hotel for some swimming. We enjoyed a quiet dinner in the room, consisting of fabulous left overs, and the kids got to watch cartoons, a special treat.