True to her name

*First of all, thank you to all the men, women, and families that have sacrificed the ultimate to win our freedom, protect our freedom, and help protect others as well. *


Ceilidh has been begging to go to the beach, so Andrew took some PTO and we took off yesterday! What a great time we had!! The weather was perfect, our children rode peacefully there and back, and we enjoyed Five Guys for dinner. Not many days can top that. wink Not only was this sort of a Ceilidh birthday wish, it was Jane's FIRST time at the beach!!!!! As the title suggests, she was true to her Clendenin name. She is a beach bum already! ha She liked the water, but LOVED the sand. Every time I turned around she was covered literally from head to toe. I am sure she will be pooping out sand for the next week. ha

Thank you Andrew for making your daughter's bday wish happen. She has been talking about her "mental pictures" all day today! I made a few of my own, too! Can't wait to go again soon!

Tangled up in fun

Just to make Saturday a little more crazy/exhausting/fun; we held Ceilidh's 5th bday party that evening. Since my parents were in for the Spring Concert, it just made sense to have the party that night as well. I don't think I am ready to put into words my emotions about her turning five yet, so this is just a party post. Thank you to all who were able to come. She was pretty mentally and physically tired by the end of the evening, but I know she had a blast. 

How we just "discovered" Hill Crest Park, I will never know?! ha Andrew even worked for the parks department one summer during college, but we just never took the children over there. This spring/summer though, we have taken advantage! I love the playground area b/c it has a toddler area, a bigger kid area, and a swing area. The bathrooms are clean, and the county parks department office is located at the park which means there is always someone around. I am not a nervous person really, but it is nice to know I have people nearby if I did ever have an emergency. After chowing down on some hot dogs, the kids had full access to all the play areas. Instead of "pin the tail on the donkey," we played "pin the nose on Flyn Rider." I still don't think we got his nose right! wink We painted "on the walls" just like Rapunzel. This was fun, but incredibly messy! ha At one point, while I was washing Zion's hands; he said, "Thank you for washing my hands, Aunt Cyndy. I'm sure glad my mom and dad didn't see me like this." HAHA No worries, Lydia... we kept all paint off clothes! wink

We ate cake and homemade peach and strawberry ice cream before opening presents. THANK you Daddy for making the ice cream! I heard C tell one of her dance friends the other day, that her Grandaddy "always makes my birthday ice cream!" Ceilidh has been SO excited about a surprise she had for everyone for MONTHS now. We released 5 lanterns in honor of her 5 years of life! We started the party as late as we could in hopes that dark would creep up on us by the end of the gathering. It never quite got dark enough to get the full effect, but we did it anyway. Once we finally got a few to go, they were really neat! The process of figuring out how to light these things, and getting them to fly was hilarious! The instructions claimed it only took one minute for them to fill with hot air and fly. Ummm... wrong! It took 3 grown men, about 10 minutes each, a little fanning of the flame, and A LOT of patience! ha I had envisioned releasing all 5 of them together, cheering, and that being that. Well.... we eventually got 3 up (all one at a time), and the fun was had by all the grownups as the kids got totally bored with the process! ha Oh well.. the ones that did fly were really neat to watch. Thank you Paul and Jared for helping Andrew!!

My favorite moment of the night though, was instigated by Graeme boy. Andrew and I have never really made a big deal out of bday gifts, so I still don't know where G came up with this; which makes this THAT much sweeter. On the way to the park before the party, Graeme shouts from the back of the car, "OH NO! I forgot my fire truck at home." I asked him why he needed his fire truck, and he told me his gift to Ceilidh was sharing it with her. Oh man....  I admit, I started crying just a bit. ha This unprovoked selflessness and thoughtfulness coming from a two year old in the middle of the "mines," was really neat to watch. 

It was a fun and relaxed time together to celebrate our Ceilidh D. She is very loved, and I am so thankful for that! Andrew surprised Ceilidh by taking off Monday and going to the beach for another bday celebration. Those pictures are coming soon!

Graeme enjoying his adorable new chair from Grandaddy and Grappy

Jack and Phoenix said, "Forget the hotdogs, we want to PLAY!" ha

Sweet D

Pin the nose on Flyn Rider!

Painting "on the walls" like Rapunzel in Tangled!

Thank you, Mikayla for these great photos! I appreciate you taking pictures!!

There was QUITE a mess to clean up after this fun! HA

Lovebirds! wink

 I love this picture.... even the Mickey D's cup! HA

Ugh... there isn't much to say about this. At least she had a cake and it tasted ok.  The icing started getting too warm while I was making her bodice, and I should have done her hair BEFORE I placed got her in place.  I was trying to keep it out of the icing, but then I couldn't mess with it b/c it would have knocked her around too much. ha Oh well.... 

Lantern chaos  fun! ha

Almost!

Finally!!!

Ballerina Girl, you are so lovely...

I am SO proud of Ceilidh D! She did an excellent job yesterday during her first Spring Concert! Her tiny pink tutu was quite fitting for my little girly-girl! I got a wee bit nervous she wasn't going to go on stage as she hesitated just a bit; but once she was on; she was in a dance zone! ha They were together as much as 4 and 5 years can be (wink), and they each even came on stage by themselves and met a partner center stage. That is incredibly brave for her age! Her whole class were terrific dancers.

Andrew and I want to be very intentional that this is something she wants to do, and not just something that Mommy loves. wink Taking that into consideration, dance will definitely be a year by year activity depending on her interest. When I was changing her tights she said, "Be careful, Mommy! Don't rip them, I need them for a summer dance camp. PLEASE can I dance this summer?!" I think I have her answer for next year already! HA Thank you so much for all who came to support her! She asked about who was coming the entire week before the show. Though she is shy about the attention, she loves it! wink

Miss Tessa

He was SO excited to give her flowers. Make my heart melt!

*5th birthday party pictures coming soon!!!

Preview

My beautiful, almost 5 year old is performing in her first Spring Concert this Saturday! She is a butterfly using a selection from Alice in Wonderland. Obviously, she and her classmates are 4 and 5 year olds. Most of them are first year dancers, second year at most. Knowing all this, I was expecting some cute turns, a plie or two, and maybe a tendu or so. Well... her little class has rocked it on stage during tech week. I can't see into her classroom at the studio, so this was the first time I had seen them dance. I was genuinely impressed! ha Their dance only consists of a few turns, plies, posses', and tendus; but their legs are straight and their toes are pointed!  As a dance instructor, this is no small feat (pun intended, wink)! HA Way to go level 2's, and way to go Miss Tessa! They are learning so much from you!

With all the girly-ness happening around the house this weekend; I thought I would add a few fun things about Graeme as well. Recently, I have been coming face to face with boy-ness. ha I think I have mentioned how aggressive Graeme has gotten recently. Some of this new-found aggression has been the physical kind that we have had to begin disciplining. The majority though has just been in a behavioral way; like running through a room dumping toy baskets and kicking balls as hard as he can! ha So, I have been intentionally trying to see/foster the areas of this "boy-ness" that I love. I DO NOT want to break his masculinity; but I do want to direct it to be a respectful, gentle, and loving masculinity.

Anyway..... I LOVE how FIERCELY protective he is of his time with Daddy. G and A share a love of oatmeal, like no other I have ever seen. One morning they sat down at the kid's table to eat breakfast together; and now Graeme calls it their "breakfast date." He threw a literal temper tantrum the other morning b/c I suggested we all sit together at the big table for breakfast. This was NOT ok. Ceilidh, Jane, and myself were/are NOT invited to the "breakfast date." HA

He and Andrew were wrestling the other night b/c it is just fun to do; and we were trying to wrestle some energy out of him before bedtime! Ceilidh asked to join (she HATES to be left out of things), and Graeme promptly told her, "No, Deedee! It's too dangerous for you!" HA He also takes every opportunity he can to use the word penis. Yes, I wrote it. Ha He loves to run around naked, makes sure I snap his "penis strap"on the car seat, and has even thanked Jesus for it during prayers one night! HA Oh man; he keeps us laughing!

*I can't take pictures during the actual performance b/c of distraction/director makes money from the professional photographer (wink); so I got a few at the dress rehearsal last night. I can't wait for Saturday... she is SO excited!

So sweet!

Such a supportive little brother! wink

He didn't weigh enough to keep the auditorium seat down! ha

Look at those straight legs! wink