Thursday Night Gym Class

Michael has been going to My Gym since he was less than

a year old. It has been a wonderful progression from

Mommy and Me class to him working on his own on

various activities. Ms. Sheila is helping him walk on stilts.

Ms. Stacy is my all-time favorite teacher. She is wonderful with

the kids. She loves what she does and is perfect at it.

This is Michael with his favorite teacher, Jaime. He used to be one of character actors at Disney World. No wonder he's so popular.

Portait Artist Paints My Kids And The Pope. How Cool Is That?

My parents have become really good friends

with Igor and Mary Babailov.

They live in Brentwood too. Igor is a phenomenal painter

and has painted just about everyone.

He painted these portraits of my kids and

my parents last year. Pretty amazing!

He has just been commissioned to paint the new Pope's official portrait. I have a hard time with that one.

Paint my kids, paint the Pope. Wow!

Check out his website at: www.babailov.com

A Day At The Track....

Kenneth got to take his "05 Mustange out on the Superspeedway in May.

Talk about something you don't get to do everyday!

The kids and I got to go out in the car during the warm-up lap. Because

the speeds were much lower, they allowed passengers without helmets.

They sat in the backseat without carseats, just using the seatbelts.

They thought they were such big kids.

Kenneth and all the other drivers were on the road course at the track. This helped keep the speeds down. One time an instructor rode with him to help him on his driving. He told Kenneth that he needed to move up to the next level above novice. That means he'll get to go faster while on the track. He is definitely looking forward to the next time he can go out.

Last But Certainly Not Least.....

Emily was invited to
join the company of dancers for her age and level last year. Their sole purpose is to learn one dance which they will perform at various venues and at competitions. Due to this year being a recital year, they did not compete. The photo on the right is from their performance at recital to "If I Was A Rich Girl". Talk about some bling on these girls. The photo on the left is from the finale of the last recital performance. I sat through all three performances...about 9 hours of dancing. Whew! Emily's group, The Diamoniques, were the youngest to perform in the last recital and consequently were on the front row during the finale. Photo taking mom was loving this. Emily was asked back to the Diamoniques for next year. It is going to be interesting to see how it goes during a non-recital year. Oh, by the way, all that hair doesn't belong to Emily. The girls in the companies were required to buy a hair piece. I thought it looked good and definitely added something to the performances.

The Girl Has Tappin' Feet

I am convinced that Emily's favorite dance right now is tap. She is constantly tapping her feet no matter what shoes she is wearing: sandals, sneakers, water shoes and even her cowboy boots. These are a couple of shots from her recital of her tap routine. Sorry they are slow in coming to the blog.

The Show Must Go On....

Emily's recital was on Saturday. It was wonderful!!! She was in the first recital performing all three dances: ballet, tap and jazz. The ballet number was to Disney's The Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World". She looked beautiful. What do you think?

Nana walks with God

On Saturday morning June 17th my Nana, Era Maye Wright, passed away in Franklin, TN. She had her youngest son by her side when she left. Thankfully her passing was peaceful. I was last with her Thursday morning. I got to tell her that "I love you" and was told the same in return. I will be forever grateful for that moment. Lately her life hadn't been what she would have wanted had she been cognizant enough to realize it. We are all sad that she is gone from us, but happy that she is in a better place. Please keep us in your prayers during this difficult time.

The picture is from my wedding. She loved her children and grandchildren more than anything. I am sorry that mine was the only one she was able to attend.

Emily's First Recital Costume

Emily has been taking dance at the Ann Carroll School of Dance in Franklin for a little over a year now. She has had so much fun and has improved quite a lot this year. This costume is for her ballet class performance. Actual photos from the recital will be posted soon. They danced to "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid on Saturday at TPAC, Tennessee Performing Arts Center. They performed on the same stage as the touring Broadway shows! It was very exciting.

Michael is a growing boy....

I knew Michael was getting taller 'cause his clothes kept getting so short. Emily asked me why I was cutting his pants down into shorts. I told her that since his waist hasn't gotten any bigger, we are recycling his old pants into new play shorts.

Well we went to the Endocrinologist yesterday for Michael's check-up. His height is now almost to the 50th percentile and his weight is almost to the 30th percentile. Yeah!!! I'm glad he is obviously continuing to respond to the medicine.

For those who don't remember, Michael is growth hormone deficient. The Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz" also had this condition. The doctor said that had he been left untreated, Michael would probably only grown to 3 foot 6 inches. It is hard to imagine him living his entire life at that height. Yesterday his height measured just under 3' 6".

Love to all.....

Laura

Michael's Baseball Practice

Michael had his first season of t-ball this spring. He absolutely loved it. This picture is from his first baseball practice. He gave 100% all the time. The Cubs had a great season and he can't wait to play again.

Here we go.....

Well I got inspired by my cousin, Megan, and thought I'd join her in updating family and friends this way.

I have been very bad about sending out pictures lately. Hopefully I'll be a bit better with it. The kids had a great Easter. Considering Michael wanted very little to do with any of the characters at Disney World at Christmas, I wasn't to sure about his reaction to the Easter Bunny. It was a vast improvement.

More to follow....
Laura