Maddy pre-dance pictures

A couple of weeks ago Maddy's dance class did their pictures at the studio. 

They turned out absolutely adorable and I post them when I get them. 

These are the ones I took when we were on our way to get the pictures taken. 

She had to wear her costume for the upcoming dance recital. 

Of course, she wasn't wearing her purple shoes in the class pictures!

I tried to get a picture of her getting the photos taken but it's a little hard to see through the window. 

You can see her down there on the left. 

She wanted more pictures with her slicked back hair and make-up at home later in her regular clothes. 

I love these pictures. They are so sweet...

And then I captured her personality...

She is such a funny girl.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was really nice! 

The girls made me lots of cards leading up the day that were hung around the house. 

Abi brought this one home from school. 

My mom made me the really cute painted flower in the picture that has a special place on one of my bookshelves now. 

Abi made the little green/blue vase at school which also is on a bookshelf. 

I got three books I have been wanting to read. 

The girls both gave me cards they made at church. 

I got the cookie at church as well but I let the girls share it. 

And, since I have really been wanting some new luggage for my trip to Europe, I picked this one up for a sweet deal and then justified it by turning it into a Mother's day gift. :)

I have never bought new luggage for myself. Everything we have was Doug's save one small carry on I got for Christmas many, many years ago when I worked at IHC. 

In fact, the only luggage we have bought is Abi's Sofia the first suitcase. 

So I am super excited to actually have a piece of regular sized luggage that is brand new and beautiful. 

I love the yellow and blue pattern!

It was a really nice day. It started with church and then I spent most of the day reading.

Abi's school program

A couple of weeks ago, Abi had her program at school. 

They sang songs from around the world. 

It was really cute. 

 

Her group was representing England and they were supposed to wear red, white, and blue.

Dancing!

It was so cute and she did such a great job!

Some May moments

Our girls have always loved art. I love watching what they do with their creativity. 

A lot of the time whatever they are interested in becomes the focus of their art. 

The other day, Abi brought me this picture she had drawn of some of her favorite Pokemon characters. 

I think it is pretty darn good. 

We took the girls to a new dentist this month.
The one we started taking them to when we moved to Utah was nice and had a fun place for the kids to play, but I just didn't feel comfortable there.
He filled one cavity on Abi right away and I just wasn't sure it was necessary.
So when we went back at the end of last year and he said she had two more he wanted to fill and one on Maddy that would probably have to be filled by this spring (and she hasn't lost any of her baby teeth yet) I just didn't believe him.
I made the appointments but just didn't feel right.
So I cancelled.
Then we found out that the dentist my sister took her girls to accepted our dental insurance so we went to check them out.
This place was awesome.
And I was right.
The dentist told me that there were some areas on Abi that could become cavities but they didn't need to be filled because they weren't anything yet and they were in teeth she should be losing in the next year or two and he said Maddy's teeth were perfect.
So glad I followed my gut on this one!
Also, they got to play video games while they had their teeth cleaned.

Afterward, the dental hygienist made them balloon animals!

And every time you leave without having cavities you get a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Sonic. 

They are so happy with their new dentist office!

It has been an extremely rainy month here in Utah. 

Abi really needed an umbrella for school. 

I love the one she picked out at Target!

And I love that they are always coming out of their room in cute little outfits and asking me to take their picture. 

Book signing

I love going to book signings and meeting authors. 

Maggie Steifvater has been to Utah a few times but every time there was a reason I couldn't get to the signing. So when I found out she would be here with Jackson Pearce for their new book "Pip Bartlett's  Guide to Magical Creatures" I knew that I wanted to go and to take the girls with me. 

We had a lot of fun. 

There were crafts set up in the back of the room so they were able to make unicorn horns and various other beasties while we waited for it to start.

Then the two authors came out. 

If you ever have a chance to go to an event with these two ladies... do it. 

They were both hilarious. 

It was highly entertaining and really fun. 

They talked a bit about themselves, their books, and then how they met. 

They talked about the book they worked on together and then they told the kids that they were going to help come up with a mythical animal. 

Then they asked the kids for ideas and Maggie drew the animal as everyone shouted out things that it needed to have. 

The final product was the Provo Sock Hop. A beastie that eats socks. 

Afterward they went into another room to sign books. Abi and Maddy wanted to dance in the ballroom for a few minutes. 

We bought their new book there to have them sign. 

But we also brought along two of Maggie's books. 

I let Abi give her the 2nd in the Spirit Animals series.

I handed Maggie Raven Boys. 

They were both so nice and the girls really had a good experience. 

We had such a great time. 

Our drive home was another matter. 

It was raining quite hard. 

We were driving around an area on the freeway that was under construction and is always quite busy. There were other cars and semi's everywhere and with how hard the rain was coming down I already felt anxious. 

Then my windshield wiper broke. 

In half. 

It was the wiper on the driver's side but when it broke it blocked the other one too so I was without wipers. 

And within seconds I could not see out the window at all. 

I knew there was construction to my right and a semi to my left and all I could do was try to look out the bottom of the window to see the lines and try to stay in them. I slowed down as much as I could without someone running in to me. 

I told Abi to pray and she started praying like crazy. 

I rolled down my window to try to use my arm to wipe it but since we were in the van it was too far away for me to reach. 

Then all of a sudden there was a loud creaking noise and the wipers started going again. 

I still couldn't see out of my side but I could lean over as far as I could to the passenger side and see out. 

I got off the first exit that I could and took the back roads the rest of the way home since it was pretty hard to drive that way. 

But we made it home safe. 

Kindergarten registration

In April we took Maddy up to Abi's school to register her for Kindergarten. 

I really can't believe my little baby is going to be in school in just a few months!

 

They had a really nice program. 

The principle welcomed us all and they put little colored balloons on each kids' shirt. 

Then the two kindergarten teachers were introduced and the children were split up based on their balloon color and went with a teacher to her room. 

There they read stories and learned about the kindergarten schedule and had snacks. 

While they were gone, the principal went over all the things we needed to know. 

It was really great. 

And Maddy had the best time!

Abi's friend Henry was there with his family too so they sat together looking at Pokemon books the whole time. She loved it.

When it was over we went outside and Abi showed Maddy the whole playground (even though it won't be Maddy's playground until 1st grade AND Maddy has been on it before.)

Maddy's date with Grandma and Grandpa

Recently my mom and dad took Maddy on her date. 

Maddy still wants me to tag along so that was fun. 

First they took her to McDonald's for lunch. 

She was so excited that they had My Little Pony toys. 

 

The next stop was Build A Bear so I rode in the back with Maddy. 

Along the way she did some classic Maddy funny faces. 

At Build a Bear she picked out another Princess Palace Pet, Treasure. 

She was so excited. 

They let her pick out an outfit too. 

Maddy and my adorable mom. 

After that we stopped at Swig for drinks.

This was so messy. But she loved it. 

 

She had such a great time. 

Times with the grandparents are the best!