Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be the Mom that got to go on a field trip with the 4th graders. Rylee was super excited for me to come, but refused to sit by me on the bus. I was also not allowed to sing under penalty of death!
We all loaded on the bus at 8:00 AM and prepared for the 2 hour drive to Pierre, SD where we got to go on a tour of the Herritage Center and the State Capitol. I love stuff like that and was super excited to see it. Being new residents to the state made it ever more fun to learn a little something about our new home.
Our dance Spring Show was yesterday. Was a pretty small show as we only had 12 weeks of practice here in Mobridge. The girls worked super hard in those 12 weeks and each class pulled off two routines. Gonna miss them over the summer, but am already doing some choreography for fall.
Anna and the kids came down to help us with the Spring Show. Afterward, we went for a long walk by the river. It was the first sunny day in over a week and we were happy to get out and enjoy.
Anna and the kids had to get home Saturday night. So after they left, we went to the golf course to hit a bucket of balls. The kids are loving golf and dad is loving that they love it.
Ever heard the prase "It's better to keep up than to catch up?" Well, I have, but I've never been one to learn the easy way. No, I like to procrastinate and feel overwhelmed before I get on the ball and get things done. Well, this weekend has been rainy and gloomy. Perfect weekend for some catch up. Catch up on all kinds of things, including The Blog! So, I don't really know where to start. I guess I'll just dive in. It might not be chronological or pretty, but hopefully when I'm done you will have seen a few pictures and heard a few stories.
We had our first Mobridge Dance performance on April 10th. It was at the All Star Basketball games. All 5 of my classes danced. Preschool (Tiny Kix) and K-1st grade (Wee Petites) danced at the girls game and were amazing. I was relativly sure I'd have one or two preschool criers, but boy was I wrong. Those little ones charmed the crowd the same way they have been charming me the last three months. The Wee Petites is a HUGE class with some very spunky little girls. They went on after the Tiny Kix and rocked the joint. Super cute. 2-3rd grade (Wee Kix), 4-5th grade (Mini Kix, including Rylee) and 6-8th grade (Middle Kix, including Brooklyn) dance at halftime for the Boys game. Wee Kix were first and did an excellant job. That's another HUGE class with a lot of talent. Next was my smallest class, the Mini Kix. They did amazing too. They might have forgotten to smile just a bit, but we've been working on it. Middle Kix were last. They were probably the most nervous. You know how it is in Middle School. A cute boy might be watching and it's very nerve wracking. The song came on and they hit their moves perfectly....and then... the music changed. The DJ played the wrong version of our song and all the girls looked at me with panic written all over their faces. (To be honest, I was a bit panicked myself.) I mouth to them to keep dancing and I did my best to give them cues, and you can't believe how well they pulled it off! Nobody in the audience had any idea that we had such a music problem. Amazing. So, first performance is out of the way. Now everyone knows a little bit about what to expect and the next performance should go smoothly!
Brooklyn has joined the Middle School track team. She's running like crazy. She's determined to do hurdles, but hasn't quite mastered the rythm yet and is sticking to regurlar running races and the high jump. She has found out that she's not much of a sprinter, but can usually kick some butt in a longer run. She's gone from signing up for 100 meter races to 800 meter races. Her devoted fans (i.e. me, Ryan, and Rylee...oh, and Grandma Brick) have learned the hard way that Mother Nature loves to mess with track meets. It can be the most beautiful week ever, but on the day of a meet, it's guaranteed to get nasty! We have froze our butts off a number of times. I'm looking forward to the first track meet where we can enjoy some sunshine. Hasn't happened yet!
We spent a fun weekend in Bismarck a few weeks ago. Shopping with my mom and celebrating Korbyn's 2nd birthday. Mark, Faye and Carmen, Joyce, Les, Tina, Kanin, Korbyn and more all met at the Ramkota for a fun night and morning of swimming and laughing before we had to take my mom to the airport on sunday.
Carla and her girls came for a weekend and Carla and I spent the weekend laughing so hard we cried. Good times! No pictures. :(
Last week was the girls music concerts. Brooklyn's was on Tuesday.
She plays guitar in the band and is also in the Middle School Choir. The girls choir was singing "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus and the choir teacher asked all the girls to write an essay about what "The Climb" means to them. She chose Brooklyn's essay to be read at the concert. Brooklyn loves to write and was very proud that she was chosen, but scared silly to have to read it at the concert. Yeah...I cried.
I know you can't see her well in the band video. She's sitting behind the boy on Bass Guitar. If you look closely, you can see her fingers! Ha!
Rylee's concert was on Thursday. Her choir teacher doesn't just do a little concert, it's a HUGE production. Rylee's part was a clown. Well, try and find a clown costume in a small town in April. Not easy. We ended up with a few misc. clown supplies, some big polka dot pj pants and one of dad's shirts. Turned out to be one super cute clown I think!
Ryan's job is still keeping him super busy. He says he likes to run a tight ship, I say he's obsessive compulsive, but either way, the company likes what he does and he continues to make a good name for himself. He's spent several weeks in New Town, North Dakota helping with a problem store...until last week when a guy he fired threatened to kill him. Not the first threat he's recieved, but this one was armed and has spent time in prison for homicide. Ryan was escorted out of town by the police and the good news is, he's never going back to New Town. Maybe we'll be able to keep him at home for a minute.
My wrist continues to heal, and I have an awesome tan line! Maybe it's not a hot look, but it means that the sun has been shining (as long as there's no track meet) and I have been out in it! Yay! I have a Dr. appointment on Thursday and I'm hoping to get the OK to start putting weight on it. Range of motion is slowly coming back, but I'm ready for a full recovery. I only have a few weeks to build strength before wake board season!
A few misc. pictures:
The kids and I love to ride bike, walk, or rollerblade by the river. This picture was taken with my phone when the ice was starting to melt. It was awesome. Sounded like a million glasses breaking all at once!
Rylee is in need of a new "Uncle Skyler Blankie". As you can see, she's growing out of this one. She has other blankets, and she likes them, but she refuses to sleep with any other blanket. Yes Uncle Sky, that's a hint. Birthday is July 11th!
Rusty continues to find amusing places to sleep. The kids are forever filling memory cards with pictures of the stupid dog. Seriously...he's spoiled.
This last one is Brooklyns dance class trying out their ending pose. I had to take a picture of it with my phone so they could see what it looked like. Funny girls.
