handsful

Ridiculously behind.

Sorry.

Can’t believe Summer is over!  How did THAT happen?  We’re in school mode, with the big kids beginning their Mitchell CC classes tomorrow.  We will begin a couple of things with Lainey and Dylan this week, with their official start on August 24th.

So, what DID we do this summer?  Testify concerts, Testify tour, summer day camps, Acrofitness day camps, 5 birthdays, two kids got their braces off, family and friend visits, a family vacation to Myrtle Beach, sewing camps, boating time, sleepovers…

I realize that’s a lot to include in one blog post.  But, time is of the essence.  So below are some snapshots of some of the above.  I’ll add the rest in another post.

Enjoy :)

After going back and forth on whether she wanted to cut her hair, she finally made the decision to cut!

I think having her bff go first is what pushed her over the edge.

She donated 8 inches, which we are sending to an organization called Children With Hair Loss.  They make wigs for kids who suffer from several hair-loss related condition, never charge them a cent.

I took her to a hair salon that’s connected to our Acrofitness gym.  One of her coaches, Rachel, cut her hair :)

Her first thought?  It’s so short!!

I think she looks older.  Which will match her “8 going on 16” attitude.  ;)

This stands for Daddy Daughter Dance, and it was held last weekend.  Same evening as Ethan’s prom.

It was a busy day.

She picked out a new dress and shoes for the occasion.  And, I curled her hair.

She has a lot of hair.

Before we know it, Lainey will be off to her prom.

Slow down…

We’ve been blessed to be a part of Acrofitness for the last 3 years.  All 6 kids have taken classes at some point, but right now Marley, Lainey, and Dylan are enrolled.

What is Acrofitness?  From their website…

Our mission is to provide classes that inspire all children to develop a love for movement. Our state of the art programming teaches non-competitive functional skills that will last a lifetime. Our sport incorporates street tumbling, hip hop dance, cheer, parkour/free running, elements of strength and flexibility, and much more.

We’re huge fans of getting our kids MOVING and Acrofitness does all that and more.

Dylan takes the AFFR class, which teaches free running skills…you’ve seen those videos of the crazy guys flipping off park benches, jumping off steps, etc?  With D’s lack of fear and “I’ll try anything” personality, nothing stops him from running with all the guys.  We do have to protect all the gym equipment from his prosthesis (sharp edges could damage), so he wears a long soccer sock pulled up high and sweat pants.

Marley and Lainey both take 3 classes, as they’re both on Acro teams.  The teams are based on age, so Marley is on Senior and Lainey is on Freshman.  Other than their team choreography classes, they each take Fitness Plus (cardio and strength class) and Elite/Extreme tumbling.  As team members, they get to perform their routines at lots of local community events in the spring.  Performance season is just now gearing up, and they’re busy just about every weekend through May….about 12 total.  Team tryouts and camp is in June, so this is pretty much a year-round commitment.  They wouldn’t have it any other way.

A couple of weekends ago, they performed their routines in front of all the parents for the first time.  The routines are on YouTube…just search for “2015.3.21 Fit-a-thon Freshman” to see Lainey’s (she does the first tumbling pass at the beginning of the routine) and “2015.3.21 Fit-a-thon Seniors” to see Marley.  She’s at the back at the beginning, but then you’ll see her being lifted up front/left and then again at the back at the end of the routine.

Here are some pics from that day…

Marley’s Senior Team

Lainey’s Freshman Team

Lainey making the first tumbling pass

Another tumbling pass

Lainey and her friend Gracie

Our Acro girls :)

Can’t wait to watch their other routines coming up!

My post titles seem to revolve around numbers lately!

Lainey has been with us for 7 years, as of 2/18!

I’m not gonna say life with her is always easy.  It’s not.  She’s got a strong personality.

She’s constantly “on”, if you know what I mean.

She needs to know, be involved in, and in control of EVERYTHING.

I’m just assuming that the hard days now mean easy days when she’s a teenager.

Don’t laugh at me.

Despite challenges, she’s our girl and I’ll never doubt her place in our family.

Because of the kids work schedules, and Randy’s travel schedule, we weren’t able to go out to dinner.  Yet.

We’ll pull that together asap.

She’s in love with all things American Girl right now, so the books choice was easy.  She’s working hard on reading these days, and I suspect she’ll have her head in these chapter books as soon as she can.

Love you, Lainey Q.  Happy 7th Family Day :)

Forgive the late post, but we’ve just had 5 birthdays around here. Let’s start with our Independence Day kiddos…

Lainey 8

Dylan 7

Bags over their heads so they wouldn’t see what we were bringing in the room….big kids idea :)

We got Dylan a bike and had it fitted with a left pedal clip and straps.  As long as Randy gets him going, he can keep his balance and ride for quite a long way!

Lainey wears out our carpet on a daily basis with all of her tumbling…so, we got her a gymnastics mat.  She’s now wearing IT out.

Their choice for Birthday dinner?  One of our fav Asian places :)

These two are growing up quickly, it seems.

Our July 4th “littles” are blessings!

Daddy-daughter dance with our Classical Conversations group.  The theme was a Hawaiian Luau.

New dress, new shoes, fresh curls…

Someone likes posing in front of a camera

Sassy

Time to go…

They had a wonderful time!