MAY

Enough said. Anyone with school age children can tell you how busy the month of May is. It is when all of the end of the school year programs are and when there are several end of season recitals. This year was no different! It is also a crazy time for teachers - and preschool is no exception! Though it is a busy, busy, time of year, it is also one of my favorite times of the year. There is a lot of excitement in the air with school ending and the warm weather coming. I say coming because it seems like all Mother Nature can make these days is rain, rain and more rain. Hopefully our true late spring weather will get here soon. . . .

We definitely started the month off right with going to the Hope of America with Kaycee. It is part of Provo's Freedom Festival. Each year around 6,000 fifth grade students meet at the Marriott Center in Provo and sing songs and participate in a festival celebrating America!!! It is such a great opportunity for those schools who are lucky enough to participate. Kaycee had an absolute blast and John, Luke and I loved the whole show as well. They sang some great songs that made you feel that true patriotic pride of America - when you feel so proud and grateful for our freedoms that you feel like crying!

One of the greatest parts is that the 6,000 students make up a huge American flag. Kaycee was totally excited when their school was chosen to be part of the blue part of the flag.

We sat directly across the floor from Kaycee and used our camera to search all the way over to the other side to find her. Before the program she was having fun talking with her classmates.

There was also a pre-show and part of it was this Green Man group. They were pretty funny and we really enjoyed watching them.

Here is that awesome human flag. I can't even imagine the headache the person who has to figure all this out must get every year. The whole show was very well organized and put together. Kudos to them!

During the show they also used other elementary students to perform some cute dance routines.

A favorite part of the evening was the old ladies that danced to pop music. I am telling you that they really know how to shake their booties! And at the end, one 90+ year old lady did the splits all the way flat. The crowd went wild. They were great!!!

One of my favorite parts was at the end when the students sang a song about being a light. They used flashlights and it was really cool. These children really are our Hope of America and I know they will make the future bright for all who follow.

We definitely started May off on a very patriotic note. Luke also had a 2nd grade patriotic program at his school. He was cracking me up big time. He was on the front row of the stage and we were on the front row of the chairs just a little bit kiddie corner from him. He would not look at us one bit. Even when all of his classmates started waving and yelling out "Hi" to their families, Luke refused to look at us. Even when he was singing he wouldn't look at us. He knew I was filming and taking pictures of him. Little nut! He is the most non-shy kid in the whole world and yet he couldn't even look at his parents.

I did manage to get this cute picture of him and some of his friends before the show started.

The second grade also made a flag of paper and people. Luke was very proud of this flag and kept reminding me before the program that I needed to take a picture of this flag. It is very cool!

Luke knew the songs and the sign language well. He was so focused on not looking at us or smiling for that camera that he actually looked pretty angry as he sang the songs. I have some totally awesome footage. I laugh just thinking about it.

After the program was over I found him in the hall goofing off and having fun.

I just love this kid!

Next up Kaycee performed in her first tumbling recital. She looked cute and performed great! Two of her friends are in her class and they had a lot of fun together. I loved their costumes - especially the leg warmers!
Kaycee totally impressed me with her tumbling abilities. A couple of weeks before the recital she told me she wanted to get her round-off back tuck for the recital. I didn't really think she was serious but apparently she was and she totally just did it! I was totally WOWed. I got it on film and I was able to get this cool pic of her doing it after the recital.
Kaycee loves her tumbling teacher Kara. She really gives them confidence and believes in them. She knows how to push just the right amount. She is wonderful!
In between all of the above Kaycee also competed with her team, Sr. Elite, in 2 dance competitions. One in Ogden and Nationals at Lagoon. They did great. And the big news??? Kaycee's team took OVERALL HIGH POINT out of 66 teams at Lagoon for their jazz dance called Jungle Drum. It is the cutest dance ever and we are really going to miss it next competition season. Kaycee's great director and teacher said that she really has her work cut out for her to come up with something better for next year.

Today was Kaycee's final dance recital for the year. She performed her team lyrical and jazz, solo jazz and her first point routine. She did great! It was fun to see her do her pointe dance because I have never seen her on her point shoes.

I would love to post a lot of the film I have from this month but my computer is having issues nowadays and it takes too long to download it to blogger. One day we'll get rid of Windows Vista and I will once again love my computer.

I can't wait for summer to officially start!