Taylor Swift RED 2013

I don't know, do you need a lot of words for this?

We went to Taylor Swift's RED Tour...it was amazing just like we expected it would be.

She puts on a fabulous show.

{Que Photos}

At the River Rock, on their way to the pool!

{the extra blondie is Claire, a friend from California.  It was special to have her and Shannon to share this fun event with!}

Red lips, obviously.

My girlies in their outfits!

They dreamed this whole ensemble up themselves...I thought they nailed it.

{cutest outfits at the concert, as far as I'm concerned...and I'm not biased at all}

Getting ready to hop on the Sky Train!

13's on the hands...of course:)

Their sleeves said "it feels like a perfect night"

{lyric from a Taylor song}

cuties.

The girls found their jean jackets in the little girls section of thrift stores.

They wanted a cropped, 3/4 length look.

Very clever!

I may have risked my life for this shot.

Abby road, right?

Such a fun night!

Shannon and I were there too, here's the proof:)

My girls in front of the Keds display...wearing their Taylor Swift Keds.

Taylor did not disappoint.

It really did feel like a perfect night.

Old House, New House

We are moving!

Taping boxes and packing and labeling and cleaning...

It's a process, and it's driving me nuts but we are in the home stretch and I am excited!

We have lived in our home for almost 7 years.

Two babies have been born here.

Lots of celebrations, lots of meals, tons of learning...

It's been a great house for us.

A family that we know is going to be moving in, I hope it will be a great house for them, too:)

(this is the back yard of our new house)

We are ready for more space for the kids to run and play.

I am looking forward to less time driving.

{our new house is 8 minutes from dance, Mike's office, the mall, the grocery store...everything}

There is room for my Mom.

We can't wait to make new memories in this new home.

For realz tho...

I don't do well with the in-between.

I am slightly worked up right now about the little details.

There are a lot of little details and I don't like not having them all nailed down.

We have one week between our move out date and our move in date.  It should be an adventure!

Will you support us in prayer over the next two weeks?

I would so appreciate that.

I can feel the uneasiness from the littlest girls, and the restlessness from the middles {as we pack up all their toys and entertainment}, there is lots to be done and I don't want to be a crazed psycho nazi Mom as I'm asking the older girls to help. 

Thanks friends!

I cant wait to update you once we are IN!!!

August 15 is move-in day.

Caleb's 7th Birthday

I am SO FAR BEHIND!

I think Instagram has ruined me with it's instant-ness.

Or maybe it's my iPhone?

I hardly sit at my computer to do much of anything these days, let alone blog.

It feels so redundant.

But I have sweet people who remind me that they like to hear what I write.

{insert surprised face here}

So- here is my feeble attempt {once again} to get caught up!

I had all of the family come for Caleb's birthday this year, at his request.

He made some friends this year at hockey but when it came to his big day, he really wanted laser tag with his cousins and the dads and uncles and grandpa!

Talk about easy-peasy!

the girls...

...now back to the party, I was just too lazy to switch the order of the pictures around:)

Favours in cute bags.

I had to make something cute, right??

Because the party guests were of all ages and genders, I gave him a $5 limit for each kid and let him choose (with help from sisters) a gift that suited each kid.

I've never done it that way but it worked great!

Birthday boy loved playing in the arcade.

I don't get the arcade.

But I don't get video games either so maybe I'm the strange one.

He had lots of male support.

Breezy had support too:)

Caity and Aunty Tammy.

She got bored of this game about 45 seconds after she started.

Ha ha, maybe she doesn't get the arcade either?

Just dance!

Gamers.

Caleb and his favourite guys.

Awe!

Here's the whole crew all suited up for laser tag.

Caleb was so stoked!

Checking out their scores afterwards.

Caleb and I googled cakes until we found one that suited his requirements and mine.

This was the end result.

So those are layers of ice cream.

{coconut ice cream to be exact}

The middle is a strip of chocolate ganache.

The base is chocolate chip cookie

The top has cut up squares of chocolate cake.

It was so good.

#dontmeantobrag

Laser taggers:)

Awe, he had such a great day!

Happy birthday song:)

Surrounded by people who love him.

Caleb and Ethan both got handcuffs as their favour:)

This picture is from his "real day".

We have a tradition in our home where the birthday kid wakes up to something exciting, usually some form of decorating in their bedroom.

{it started with a few streamers but sometimes it gets much more elaborate}

For Caleb, I put one clue in each of 7 balloons around his room.  Each hour he got to pop one balloon and read the clue.  Some clues led him on a hunt for a gift, some suggested he go have birthday pancakes.  He loved this!

Birthdays are so fun.

And boys get excited over different things.

It was great to celebrate him in the way that was most fun for him!

RAD (as in Royal Academy of Dance ballet exams, not the term from the 80's)

Last year Mikayla took ballet exams for the first time.

I was impressed with how much she learned and what a great boost of confidence it was.

This year, we required that all our girls take the RAD ballet exams.

The week before the exam, our studio set up a time for the parents to come in and watch the girls do all their exam work.

First, here are the photos from that day:

{yes, I got to watch all three girls' classes on one day...3 hours...proud Mommy!}

Mailee is a beautiful dancer!

She took her grade 4 exam.

Graceful girl!

Sisters looking on.

Mailee was most hesitant to agree to taking exams. 

I was so proud of the hard work she put in. It really paid off!

Bar work.

Character dancing!

Gotta love those character skirts!!

Mailee with her friends from ballet and their lovely ballet teacher, Miss Emma.

{Emma is Mikayla and Maddie's ballet teacher as well}

{JSYK...we <3 emma="" miss="" p="">

Mikayla took her Interfound exam.

She's worked so hard this year, I love watching her!

Lots of smiles this year, I can tell she's enjoying every second.

The Interfound girls:)

At the bar.

Mikayla is in the middle

They do part of the exam on Pointe.

Awe!

Beautiful dancer girl!

Maddie's class did not take the grade 2 exam, but they did "class award" which is like a mock exam.

So proud of my littlest ballerina:)

I made some new numbers for the girls at our studio to wear for the exam.

Everyone was pretty excited after working hard for months to be ready...

Mailee was up first on exam day!

Getting ready to go in!

Pep talk from the teacher...

Mikayla {giving me a silly face because I pulled my camera out} pins a number on Abbi.

You know that nervous feeling...

ready to go in...

Happy to be finished!

Topping off the day with new team jackets!!!!

The next day we were back at the studio for ballerina #3.

More loving encouragement from Miss Emma...

I really appreciate the disciplined element that exams have brought to dance in our home.

I also love seeing the girls encourage each other and share in a common goal!

If your daughters are dancing, find out if your studio offers the RAD program, it is well worth the extra commitment!