Quick update

I've been so busy I have been slacking on writing on our blog. I hope to change that. Just a quick recap of all our adventures.

The girls had a great year in school last year and did outstanding! We are so proud of them and their accomplishments. We bought a new house and moved at the end of January. We love our house and are still enjoying making it our own. We miss our old neighborhood, but still happy with our decision! As a result of the move the girls ended up in a different school zone. We kept them where they were through the year but this summer we enrolled them in a new school. Just before school was to start we got calls that they had made it into the local magnet school that is lottery based. We were excited for this move and they seem to be doing well. We do miss all of their old friends and teachers but we try and keep in touch with them.

Both girls were on the competition team last year and did great! The passion they have for dance right now is amazing to me. I guess I was that way with horses when I was their age. I can only hope they keep having fun! We actually went to Ohio this summer for our National Competition. Doug had to work, but the girls and I made this our summer vacation with stops on the way up for some fun.

In addition to all this fun, we made a few trips to the beach and Disney. We also said goodbye to some dear friends who moved to California. Riley and Kamryn have been planning a trip out to CA ever since our friends moved.! They cannot wait until this summer when they hope we can make it out to see them!

Kamryn and Riley with Ashley and Sariah

Easter Egg Hunt with all the Kilgore girls

It's been quite awhile

Ok, I finally decided I need to get back to posting on our blog. It has been forever. We've had a really busy school year this year. Riley is finishing 3rd grade and Kamryn is finishing kindergarten. They both love school and have done really well! They have also been very busy this year with dance. They were both on the competition team at our studio. All the dancers did great and we're headed to Ohio for nationals.

I'm not making this super long. THere is no way I could catch up that many months. I did realize, however, that I have some family who would read the blog but don't do facebook or anything. So, in an effort to help them, I'll try and do better at posting and keeping a record of what our family has been doing.

First up is a video of Kamryn. Our church participates in a day of service for the community each year. This year, we went to a rehabilitation facility to bring some joy to the residents. We had our children walking the halls singing (Riley was part of this group), we made blankets for the residents and handed them out and our youth put on a program. Kamryn was asked to do a dance as part of the program so she made up her own little dance to a fun song - Over the Rainbow. She had a good time and brought some smiles to some faces!

Spring Break

We had such a fun Spring Break this year. The highlights were a trip to the beach, a visit to the waterparks and the girls spending the night at grandma's while Doug and I spent a night out.

playing in the sand

We went to New Smyrna Beach (on the east side of FL) with some friends. I had never been to this particular beach, but we had a blast. The girls all played well together and got into he water a little bit. This meant us moms could just hang out and relax and read and talk. I guess we're lucky that it wasn't really hot yet (it was actually really pleasant that day which is unusual for FL in the spring) so we didn't have to get in the water.

For our waterpark we chose Typhoon Lagoon. Again, it wasn't overly warm outside which is why we went there (the water is warmer there). We hadn't been there in awhile so we had fun riding rides and riding the waves in the pool. It was just the girls and I because Doug was working, but we still had fun.

Then, the girls got to spend the night at Grandma Jeryl's house. They got to eat junk food - Johnny Rockets, pizza, etc - and do all kinds of fun things like miniature golf and stuff. While they wer having fun, Doug and I went to Disney for the day and night. We didn't go to the park, but instead hung out at the hotel pool and actually relaxed. Then, we went to dinner and a movie. It was so fun not worrying about getting home to pay the babysitter,etc.

Our Spring Break was great, but the kids were excited to get back to school!!

Fort Wilderness

As Young Woman President at church (for those not of our faith, I work with the girls ages 12-18) I try and find fun things to do with the girls. We use a system where they can 'earn' beads for bringing their scriptures, giving talks, being prepared, etc. When our jar is full, we then try and plan an activity that they want to do. So far we have only gotten two in, but have another coming up very soon. They usually earn them about once a quarter. The first time we went to a corn maze. This time we went to Fort Wilderness to the campfire sing-a-long and movie. We roasted marshmallows and made smores, sang a few songs, and then watched Wall-E. It was a fun relaxing night!

Shea and Ana on the bus ride from the parking lot
Citra and Isabel enjoying the ride
Citra and Ana roasting marshmallows - Ana had never had smores before so it was quite the experience for her

Shea getting her marshmallows just right

Our wonderful YW after a fun night!!

Citra's mom, LeShan, one of my counselors was there too. Plus, due to needing babysitters a lot that week/weekend, my girls came too. They thought they were special because they got to be with the "big girls." I have no idea what the next event will be, but I know we will have fun because these girls are awesome!! I only hope next time more of them can join us!!

The resulting hairstyles

After scrounging around my house to find green ribbon, I got lucky. The girls knew what they wanted to do and these were the resulting hairstyles. They both looked cute, had green in their hair, and could wear these styles to dance. It was great! We didn't' do anything else to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but at least we all had green on that day.

Kamryn wanted her hair braided with this ribbon weave. It looked way cute in her hair and it was super easy!

Riley wanted more of a 'tween' do so we just did a small braid with a green patterned ribbon and then swept it all into a side pony. Again, cute and super easy!

I forgot to include a picture of me, but I even find a simple hairstyle I could do on myself and then attached a small green ribbon at the bottom. Lots of family hair fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

So, the girls and I were talking tonight about St. Patty's Day. I still don't think they get the holiday, but they know they need to wear green. So, we decided to try and do something cool with their hair tomorrow. Well, we started looking about 7:30pm, just before they should be heading off to bed. We found a style for each of them but they both require ribbon. So, I started looking around and couldn't find any green ribbon. I started to panic thinking I would have to head to the store with both of my girls right then or go when Doug got home from work around 11pm. I kept searching and found something that would work for Riley. I still needed a thin green ribbon for Kamryn but couldn't find any in the house. I knew I had some so I checked the guest room and all of our gift wrap/box/bow places. I checked my bedroom and the craft supply in the closet. I even checked in the garage. I knew I had seen some around the holidays but couldn't figure out where it was. Then, I come into the office to sit down at the computer and look at the bookcase and see lots of stuff, but no ribbon. I scan the top two shelves and then ...voila...there is is on the third shelf. Yea!! I'm saved. So tomorrow both of the girls should have fun St.Patty's Day hairstyles. Stay tuned!!

Catching Up

OK. I have been neglectful of my blog (as my mom and others remind me). So, I'm really far behind. I'm going to do my best not to let that happen again...AND to remember to take pictures so I can put them on here. I have started going back through and blogging about the events that happened through December and into January and February. So, you'll probably see different things pop up from time to time as I get around to completely catching up. Enjoy and sorry for the wait.