May Photo-a-day Challenge Wrap-Up

Wrapping up the May Photo-A-Day challenge!

Let's Go!

{on Instagram @franjenkins}

5.16 what you're reading

{trying to finish up these 3 along with 'Not A Fan'...ughhh pressure}

5.16 snack

{sharing an orange with my sweet boy}

5.18 something you made

{well, something someone else made anyway...all the kids in the class wrote a sentence about each other.  One of her buddies wrote that Chloe is "coot"...I think she is cute too!}

5.19  a favorite place

{home is where the heart is}

5.20 something you can't live without

{family and great friends}

5.21 where you stand

{standing outside of Carter's daycare...sporting my new wedges I ordered from HauteLook}

5.22 pink

{a touch of pink on my girl's luau dress...one of the last days of Kindergarten}

5.23 technology

{we are loving our Apple TV}

5.24 something new

{can't wait to wear my new dress to Flying High this weekend!  Thanks Posh}

5.25 unusual

{it's NOT unusual for me to be running a tad bit late to work!}

5.26 12 o'clock

{12 o'clock on Sunday we were getting ready for day #2 of recital}

5.27 something sweet

{my 2 love bugs at Publix...they were looking awfully sweet behind the wheel}

5.28 the weather today

{rain rain go away}

5.29 number

{a number sheet to help Chloe stay fresh on her numbers...gotta get ready for 1st grade}

5.30 your personality

{even though I try and try, I never fully have my ducks in a row...downfall of a Mom of 2}

5.31 something beautiful

Join in for June....here's the list:

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a few side notes...

after our Community Group last night, I sat outside and made this beauty!

I love now it turned out!  These are the EASIEST wreaths to make...

and let me tell you...If I think they are easy, they're easy!

Also, I went to get Chloe some new kicks for daycare this summer...well, I found Carter some too!  

I'm a bit of a shop-o-holic!  What can I say?

Happy Thursday!

Dance, Dance, Dance

This past weekend was Chloe's annual Dance Recital.  Those 2 days were the culmination of all her hard work since August of 2011!  Her and her little ballerina buddies have been learning these dances for so long...it was nice to see all their hard work pay off!

{1} Shake-Tap

{2} Dream a Little Dream-Ballet

{3} Finale Outfit-Rock the Radio

They were all just precious.

It literally brought tears to my eyes seeing her up there.  This year was different than the last. She was much more aware of what was going on...she knew her moves much better this year too!  She still needed a bit of help from her friends and teachers, but that is okay!  I'm glad she has the help when she needed it!

I took many, many pictures of my Tiny Dancer!

She danced in Show B which was on Friday and Sunday.

It was a long weekend filled with lots of hurry up and wait, but it was worth every second!

We are so proud of you Chloe!  Great job!

{Chloe & Ansley...they have been dancing together for 3 years}

{getting her coloring in while we waited...they didn't go on for the first time until Dance 23, ugh!}

{KK & Chandler came back to visit}

{the majority of her class}

{Chloe & Papa}

Did you know you can make an amazing bun like this one...with a man's dress sock?

Well, thanks to one of the other Dance Moms & Pinterest...I know am a professional bun maker!

It came out perfect!

{Birdie couldn't be there so she had flowers sent to the house. Made Chloe feel extra special that they were for her!}

She's a sassy thing!  Dance is the perfect activity for all her spunk!

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The rest of Memorial Day Weekend was spent in the pool because it was 500 degrees outside!

Chloe has become quite a swimmer.  We are very proud of her newly found independence!

She is going to The Settlement Summer Camp this summer and they will get the opportunity to swim 3 times during the week...I feel confident she will be a full fledged swimmer by the end of summer!

Yesterday after work, I ventured to Publix to pick up a few things!

I was so thankful to see this cart waiting for us when we walked in.

Thanks to that little steering wheel, I was able to get all my groceries into the cart without having to occupy Carter!  It's the little things in life!

Finally, I dropped Chloe off at The Settlement this morning.

This was her before we walked in...

after, she was quite timid.  She was a little unsure, but I feel confident that she has had a great day!

We love it there!

I hope your Memorial Day was just as fun and jam packed!

Life in the fast lane...

Well, as usual, we have been full steam ahead.  This past week / weekend has already been jam packed.  Chloe has her annual dance recital coming up this Memorial Weekend.  I have a love hate relationship with recital.  I think any other "dance moms" out there can relate.  We run, run, run to get ready...decorating shirts, long "extra" practices PLUS school ending all at the same time!  I feel crazy!  I can't imagine if she was in more than 1 activity right now!  I do love the opportunity dance provides her--it makes her outgoing and gives her a chance to shine in front of her peers PLUS it helps her learn the importance of hard work and dedication.  She sees the final result and I know she is proud!  Here is a sassy picture I snapped of my sweet girl {she had her group tap picture on Saturday}.  My heart kind of skipped a beat when I saw these--it  made the reality of her growing up REAL and that is a scary thing for a Momma!

Saturday night, Blake and I headed to Adrienne and Travis' house for a surprise Graduation / Birthday Party!  Adrienne had NO idea...so much so, she ended up not coming for more than 2 hours after we all arrived...but, it was WELL WORTH THE WAIT!  She was so surprised to see all of us there waiting for her!  It was definitely a well deserved celebration!  Congratulations on Graduating Friend :)

Sunday, we did a bit of swimming with Mom, Sam, Monika, and the kids!  It was so fun.  Carter has really taken to my Mom {finally}!  He even came up with his own nickname for her: "B!"  Whenever he sees her now, he will run to her saying "B" "B!"  So precious!  A rain storm creeped  in so we headed over to their house quickly to avoid the rain and do some grilling!

On Tuesday, Chloe had her end of the year Luau at Clarksville Academy.  It was so sweet.  All the Kindergartners ran around and played for a bit and then we ate a yummy lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs.  Mrs. King put together a precious slide show from all the activities over the last year.  It was really touching and crazy to think how fast time has flow. We officially have a 1st grader in our house!  Chloe is taking the new role in stride...I can definitely tell her demeanor has changed a bit.  

The other day we took the kids for a late night yogurt run.  The lady behind the counter gave Carter a balloon.  He was so excited.  As soon as we got home, this is what he started doing with the balloon.  I guess he was having a 'conference!'  I was waiting for it to pop at any second...never happened! 

 Wednesday was Chloe's last official day as a Kindergarten.  There weren't many kids at school so she and a few friends helped Mrs. King clean up the room.  She was proud to tell me all about how she helped!  I have to say I am so happy for our sweet growing girl but so sad that this chapter is closing.  I feel like I have blinked and it is over.  We are excited to see what adventures 1st grade hold!  

Well, our Team is at it again!  If you are in the Clarksville area, you will see these around:

It is always surreal seeing us on the billboards but fun at the same time!  

One of Chloe's final projects that she gave us was this ABC book.  It is so precious. Each letter is represented and was turned into an animal or other type of object.  A-Z we got to see what creative thing Chloe came up with!  Very cute!

I think because its the end of the year, I am starting to look at Chloe in a different light.  She is so big and is turning into such a little lady.  Lately, she has been such a big helper {she really has always been a HUGE help to us and such a good girl}, but it has really been shining through lately.  She does a lot around the house without having to be asked, she helps her brother whenever he needs it, she listens well {most of the time}....She has really just matured a lot over the last few months, and we couldn't be more proud!

With Chloe's recital coming up, I had to do some searching to find a head peace for her finale.  I stumbled upon this crazy hair clip at Hobby Lobby and I knew it would be the perfect accessory for her "80's" style finale outfit!

Last night, Chloe had recital practice and Blake went on to our Community Group so Alexa kept Carter for us.  She took him to a Church picnic.  Alexa said when they got home, Carter grabbed his pjs off the counter and laid on the ground.  She said, "I guess he was read for bed."  Well, when I got home, I went up to check on him and say good night...and this is what I found:

I don't normally put him to bed with a sippy cup, but I was so thankful she did last night because this was just precious.  This just shows how tired he really was...normally everything is thrown out of his bed before he lays down to sleep...it's his nightly ritual!

Finally, yesterday I walked upstairs to find this at Chloe's door:

She had asked me to help her write the word available...I had no idea what she wanted it for...well, she wanted to make sure we knew she wasn't available!  Haha...funny girl!