Katydid

"Katie is a Katydid 'cause Katie did what Katie did,

And Katie did what Katie did 'cause Katie is a Katydid."

At least that is what my big sister, Holly, always told me.

But although my name is Katie, I don't think I'd ever met a Katydid until recently.

We named her Katie: Pretty fascinating.

I love it when my girls get up close and personal and explore the world around them in detail.

Anna's 1st Day of School

Boy howdy was this girl excited today! I have never seen her ride her bike as fast anywhere as she rode on her way to her first day of school.Josie is already looking forward to her turn next year.
All grown up and still our baby girl, so many people, so much to overwhelm, still wanting to hold her Daddy's hand.

BCSIS has a Rose Ceremony to welcome everyone back. The teachers form a drum circle and sing as their welcome, the 5th graders give the Kindergarteners each a rose to welcome them into the community.

Then the parents make an archway and all the students pass through the arch on their way to their new classrooms. Kindergarten parents get to go through it with their Kindergartners.

I love how BCSIS marks special occasions with special ceremony, highlighting their importance in the life of your child, celebrating the milestones. We feel very welcomed into the BCSIS community.

Anna with her Daddy'O, she's still looking a bit nervous and intimidated here.

And with Mommy. I'm so proud of my little girl.

It didn't take her long to feel comfortable and confident, just a few minutes of play on the playground and she was smiling and running around playing with her new classmates.

Anna doing a rhyming activity with her teacher, Mrs. Wells:

And reading with one of the para's:

Her first day is under her belt, a huge milestone in the life of this family. My firstborn, my little girl, taking steps away from the nucleus of this family, out on her own. It was fun to see her walk into her classroom with her teacher for her assessment so confident and secure, her eyes sparkling. That's my Anna.

Uncle Chad

This Josie girl sure does love her Uncle Chad.This is what relaxing on the couch at the Clement house is like:You look like you want me to stop taking pictures and rescue you from the chaos, Chad!

Isn't this how you like to drink your beer?Uncle Chad actually came to town to run the Bolder Boulder with Mitch this weekend. 60,000 people ran this year. That's a pretty big event for this town. Here the two of them are running, except you can't see Chad because one of the 60,000 wouldn't get out of the way for me to take a better picture. Or maybe I'm just a bad photographer. Sorry Chad.What you can't see in that picture is that Chad has his left arm in a cast because he cracked one of the bones in his arm right by his elbow after a biking crash yesterday. Tough way to race, but Chad is one tough cookie. Congratulations, Chad, that is quite an accomplishment.

Here's a picture of two cuties watching the racers stream past:And a photo shoot in the stadium after the race:The Bolder Boulder ends in the CU football stadium and the last race of the day is a pro-race, mens and womens. That was fun to watch. Those guys can run!

The festivities conclude with a Memorial Day ceremony, complete with 21-gun salute, jet fly-over, flag carrying parachuters being dropped over the stadium and all somehow managing to actually land on the field (that takes some skill), taps, and a race awards ceremony.

Fun times at the Bolder Boulder with Uncle Chad.

And one last picture of Ruthie and Josie, just because.

Ruthie?

Yup, Ruthie.

That's Ruthie riding a bike-with training wheels, mind you- but pushing those pedals around nonetheless.




I'm proud of my not-so-little girl. She worked hard to figure that one out. She is not going to be left behind by her big sisters. Her feet can barely reach all the way around the rotation of the pedals, I don't think she can do it barefoot, only with shoes that have a good thick sole on them. It took some determination and desire to keep getting back on that bike until she figured it out. Now we just have to work on teaching her how to brake on purpose.

P.S. I was finally able to upload this video today. I don't know why I haven't been able to upload any videos lately, but that definitely puts a damper on wanting to blog when half the stuff I want to show you has been in video form. Sorry about the technical difficulties, hopefully I have the issue resolved.

Was It Really THAT Warm Out?

Absolutely NOT.

These girls are crazy.

First Ruthie wanted to get naked and climb into the birdbath we have on the south side of our house. Sorry Ruthie, house rules, you can't be naked outside. At least a swim suit is in order. Of course, once one puts a swim suit on, the others follow suit. Three crazy young girls running around outside in their bathing suits and one Mama in long pants, long sleeve shirt and a lined sweatshirt who still felt chilly. Then Ruthie did try to climb in the birdbath and broke it. That's when Mama caved in and set out the pool. Hot tub, actually. That hose is hooked up to the laundry room sink and warm water is pouring out.
Sophie joined them:

Let the jumping begin!

I love Ruthie's method:) I don't think she actually cleared the side with her feet, but water is a soft landing, luckily. I love how she squinches her eyes shut in preparation.

I promise Anna didn't actually land on Sophie.

Synchronized jumping.

There you have it, the favorite chilly day hot tubbing methods of 4 little girls.

Easter Girls

Beautiful smiles.

Hugs

and kisses. Lots of love.
Playing the piano:

Thank you, Mema, for beautiful Easter dresses. It's so fun to watch little girls when they feel so loved, so fancy, so special on a special day in special clothes.

Easter Twirl:

NOTKRAKR

Would you like to come see a production of the NOtKRAKR? This was the ticket, at least the ticket that let everyone in our family in (or out, since the production was outside).The other side of the ticket:

And the production itself:

Josie was a Sugar Plum Fairy, Anna was Claire and had a pretend Nutcracker, and Ruthie was the live music in the pit.

The end of the show, curtsying:

Spring Fun

Everything is so new and fresh in the Springtime. The games the girls played last summer have been forgotten and are being newly discovered all over again by girls just a little older and just a little more mature. It warms a Mama's heart to see how the games change as my girls change, to watch Ruthie joining in the games in a way that she couldn't last year, to see her making up her own mind about how and what she wants to do, what she wants to wear, where she wants to go, the games changing as the other two make a space for her to be included.

Chalk play mixed with water play gives brilliant colors for sidewalk art.
Tree climbing has begun again in earnest around here. Anna climbing just a little bit higher than last year. Ruthie climbing for the first time on her own.

The colors of Spring, the smells of Spring, fill the air as the girls climb.

Simply glorious. Who wouldn't want to climb that tree with those incredible pink blossoms?!

Even in the garden Spring has begun. The greens are starting to poke up their little heads. This year Josie has a spot in the garden all her own. She's planting carrots, eggplant and strawberries, by her own choosing.

She and her Daddy'O carefully place the strawberries in the ground:

Even the finches are back, sitting on their eggs in their same spot right outside our door. The Daddy finch loves to sit on our bedroom windowsill and sing. It reminds me to soak in the moment of today, it will be gone all too soon.

Dance Recital II

Sorry to those of you grandparents and cousin who have been waiting all day for me to post this video:) I have been trying, but it was too big. I never could get it to upload to the blog, and I don't have any video editing software on my computer that I could find to make it smaller. Instead, you get a link to Anna's dance, Twilight Hush. I ended up posting it on YouTube. I'm definitely not a professional videographer, but it turned out all right for me. There's a bit of dark at the beginning before they turn the stage lights on and the dance starts, but I didn't want to miss the beginning so I had already started taping, and, like I said, I don't have any video editing capabilities, so you get to watch that, too. Anna is the first one out on stage, leading the class. She was so excited about the whole thing, not a bit nervous even in front of all those people. It was so fun to watch our little girl up there, self-confident and enjoying herself. We were very proud of you, Anna Clement!

I took this picture is in the dressing room right before the show. Standing with her classmates ready to go out on stage:

Dance Recital

The BIG DAY is coming that Anna has been looking forward to for about a year now. This little girl loves to dance, and this Sunday is the culmination of her dance class, her first big concert up on stage.

The following pictures were taken last night at the dress rehearsal. We'll post more of the real thing on Sunday.

Getting ready in the dressing room:

Tucking in her laces, making sure everything is ready:

Makeup! Quite a stressful thing for this Mama to figure out what to buy and how to put it on my little dancer. She soaked up every minute of it. You know you're helping your child follow their own heart, their own dreams, staying true to who they are, when their choice is not what you would choose for yourself. This is what Anna loves.

There she goes, all grown up.

Taking pictures. Dancing is serious business:

Sometimes:)

Her dance is called Twilight Hush, thus the moon pillow as a prop. Stay posted for the big day on Sunday, I'll post a video of her dance then.