On Display

Thanks to a friend of Jen's mom, Katey was asked to be in a fashion show for Dillard's a couple of weeks ago. If you know Katey at all, you understand why Mike and I were curious as to how this would play out on the day of the show.

We made our way to the store about 2 hours before the presentation and started to get ready. The organizers put light make-up on the girls, and worked with the kids on how to walk down the runway, when to stand still and how to pose while the announcer talked about the clothes and shoes. Katey was pretty reserved that day but was still excited to be a part of all the action.

Here she is in her first outfit. This one was her favorite!!

And here is outfit #2!
Katey did a wonderful job, posed nicely and even remembered to smile during her 2nd runway experience! It is hard to believe how grown-up she looks!

Summer

Mike pointed out last week that it has been an entire month since I posted anything on here.  Summer has been too fun to stop and blog!

Since I am completely overwhelmed with all there is to write about, I have decided to do a quick poem to sum it all up (with a few pictures, of course).

SUMMER
The summer started out with lots of watery fun;
We spent a week with the Collins family (and Grammy) at a house on Lake Norman.
The kids learned to ski and we spent the week on the boat;
It took another 5 day for Jen to stop feeling a-float!
Next up was a trip back North;
To Ohio we went, just after July 4th.
We had fun at the Hankins' family reunion - what a treat;
Lots of aunts, uncles and cousins to visit with and good food to eat!
Packed and ready to head back home, until we heard a scream;
Seth scraped up his armpit but managed to not fall out of the tree!
Harry Potter camp is where we sent Katey;
She loved being a Hufflepuff and we don't mean maybe!
A camp filled with sports was where Seth then headed;
He loved it so much, the end of the week he dreaded.
Swimming with friends at the water park has been fun;
It's hard to believe that summer is almost done!!

On your mark, get set...

GO!  Seth up on ski's for the first time!

Check out Katey's form!  She skied like that the entire time!

The kids singing the National Anthem during the closing ceremonies of the Lake Norman Olympics

Uncle Jason with the kids.  They loved to go TOP SPEED!

At the reunion - the Ella Hankins clan

Father's Day

We are so thankful for Mike!!  And, here is how we celebrated him on Father's Day this year:

 

It started with the traditional breakfast in bed (cheerios mixed with frosted flakes!) and gifts.  Katey worked hard on the banner and all the letters are in the correct order from left-to-right this time! 

After church we headed to Crowder's Mountain to do some hiking.   

It is just a couple of miles to hike to the top but portions of the path are pretty steep so we did some resting along the way.

 And, it was pretty hot that day.

 But we made it to the top and were greeted with an awesome view!

 Then it was back to Charlotte for dinner at Tony's Pizza!  What a great way to spend Father's Day!

Good thing I am not...

...a betting woman otherwise I would be out some cash! 

It didn't take long to settle the "what will the kids call us?" question.  A week or so ago Katey asked if it would be okay to call me "Mom" but still call Mike "Daddy".  When I said yes, both kids were excited.  So, for the last week we have been working on the switch.  It is more difficult than one might imagine.

Several times Seth has frustratingly declared that he was addressing me as Mom but I didn't respond.  Admittedly, it sounds strange to have the kids call me that and my ears are not yet tuned to that being my moniker.  (It didn't help that we were on vacation with 4 other kids and I assumed that if I heard, "Mom" it was one of the others trying to address their parent.)  But, we are all getting into the groove, it is feeling more normal, and I think I am responding more often now...

Social Conventions

There is a big debate brewing at our house:  What to call the parents?  Both kids have always called us Mommy and Daddy.  In the last year or so I have wondered when they might switch over to Mom and Dad and I have even encouraged Katey to make the change as it feels a little strange to have a now 6th grader call me Mommy.  She has stood firm.  Seth, however, came home last week and declared that he would now call us Mom and Dad.  He's about 50% there in remembering to do so.

This got me thinking about social conventions and how we do things rather strangely in the US sometimes.  How bizarre that it is commonplace to teach a child to call you one thing (Mommy) then switch that around when they hit a certain age (Mom) - and have it be looked down upon if you don't.  Now, I don't know if others are judging my family when they hear Katey say mommy, but it feels uncomfortable to me knowing they might.

So, the great debate continues around here.  Seth is trying hard to make the switch and Katey happily adds, "E" to the end when Seth stops at Mom or Dad.  If I refer to myself as Mom we can also hear Katey say "E!" if she is within earshot.  (She has even gone so far as to correct me in writing.  I will sometimes jot notes to the kids on their napkins at lunch.  When I sign it "Mom" Katey will return it to me with MY added to the end!)

I am curious to see where we land in the coming weeks but if I were to place a bet it would be that we will soon be called both Mommy/Mom and Daddy/Dad, depending on which child is addressing us. 

Another Great Year

Summer break is here!  I'm not sure who is more excited, the kids or me!

We had a nice end to the school year with lots of fun events/parties.  Katey got to attend the 5th grade dance, then there was field day (for both kids), the 5th grade graduation and classroom parties. 

The dance was a lot of fun to chaperone.  It was great to see the kids run around with an air of, "we own this place"!!  As was expected, Katey had a very fun time but didn't really interact with her classmates much.  She really does march to her own beat and seems to truly enjoy life and not really care too much what other people think.

Our beautiful dancer!

Katey is all the way on the right.  She is dancing, just far away from the group!

Graduation was a nice event yesterday.  The kids were so proud to walk across the stage to get their certificates.  Katey said she was a little nervous because her class went first and, since they did things alphabetically, she was the very first student to be called up.  She did beautifully and is now officially a 6th grader!!

Finally, there were classroom parties.  It is always a little bittersweet to see the end of the school year arrive.  Katey and Seth both had fantastic teachers and it is hard to say goodbye to them (for me, too!).  Katey's class made 5th grade memory books and signed each others' yearbooks.  Seth's class had an ice cream sundae party and signed beach balls.  I believe today was taken up with cleaning out desks and watching movies.  What fun!

With Mrs. Carbone

With Mrs. Holder

With Ms. Crook

With Mrs. Haynes and Ryan

With Mrs. Toy

This year has flown by!  Here are pictures for comparison sake.  Wow, have these kids grown and changed this year!!

August, 2011

June, 2012

August, 2011

June, 2012 - I do feel the need to point out that Seth is wearing pj pants because today was pajama day!

Honor Roll and Georgia!

The end of the school year always brings a flurry of activity and this year is no different.

Katey took the EOG tests 2 weeks ago (4 tests over 4 days) and passed all with flying colors!  While we didn't have much worry that she wouldn't pass, it is still a stressful time for Katey and her school mates and we are so thankful to have them behind us!

Friday was an exciting day around here.  Katey was part of the award ceremony for the Honor Roll at the school.  She was in the A honor roll all year long and received a certificate and trophy for all her hard work!!

Right after school on Friday we headed south to Georgia to meet up with Aunt Christy and visit Aunt Martha and Uncle Lee (and cousins!).  We had a wonderful weekend of fun playing in the pool, catching frogs and a turtle, exploring the woods, playing on the tire swing, watching Uncle Lee take off in his plane, visiting church, laying around with Cody the dog and eating lots and lots of cookies!  As usual I was really bad about getting pictures and neglected to pull the camera out while we were hanging out with Mike's cousins.  (I think it was because we were enjoying being together so much that there wasn't time to think about pictures!)  Guess we'll have to have a next time so I can get pictures then!  :-)