Memorial Day

"The nation that forgets its defenders, will itself be forgotten." Calvin Coolidge

Hope ya'll are enjoying your Memorial Day Celebrations with family and friends. The girls and I are relaxing, BBQing with the neighbors, and swimming at the Rudderville Pool. Duane is still at Ft. Benning for his second school and is spending his weekend studying. :(

For obvious reasons, Memorial Day is a holiday close to our hearts. Please take some time today, in between the BBQing and suntan lotion applications, to remember the men and women whose sacrifice has paid for the freedoms, small and large, that we enjoy each day. I know that our country is not perfect, our leaders not without fault. There are numerous things to complain about and be frustrated with in America today, but we are still the only country founded purely upon the principles and ideals of freedom. It is a struggle for us to maintain these ideals and sometimes, we fail. But in the end, the very freedom to strive towards the ideals upon which we were founded is owed to the men and women who have died under our flag. Don't taint their memory with complacency but rather purpose to be actively thankful for each small blessing of freedom and strive to maintain the ideals that our nation was founded upon all those years ago. God Bless America!

"There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream." ~Archibald MacLeish

"We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights." ~Felix Frankfurter

"My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! " ~Thomas Jefferson

"Our great modern Republic. May those who seek the blessings of its institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations they impose." ~Ulysses S. Grant

"Patriotism... is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." ~Adlai Stevenson

Samantha Grace

With all the "end of the school year" events, we have tons of pictures of Kaitlyn on here and none of Sam. No, we do not lock our second child in the closet..........Really, we take her everywhere too. Here are a few pictures of Samantha Grace so you don't think we leave her at home with the cats. She is growing like a weed and can't wait until she can do all the things her sister can. Mommy can probably wait.....both for the sake of sanity and the fact that I want one of them to stay little! They grow way too fast.

p.s. the second picture was taken in Duane's room at Ft. Benning, GA. barracks (Olson Hall) while he was at school there. We got to see him when we drove up to fly out of Atlanta. The girls were beside themselves with excitement. Of course, now that he just left again, they are under the impression that we can "go with Daddy" when he goes TDY for Army schools............I suppose he could just throw them in the rucksack.....hmmmm.........

PreK Graduation

I can hardly force myself to believe it, but Kaitlyn is officially a Kindergartener. She "graduated" from PreK on Thursday evening. I don't remember anything like this in the northwest so it must be a Southern thing. The PreK students actually wear a cap and gown and have a "graduation." It is just about the cutest, funniest thing you've ever seen. The kids have practiced all month. I'll admit, I've snuck into their practices - one of the benefits of teaching at the school. Duane's parents were still in town so they got to attend the graduation with us. The "graduates" sang the alphabet in French, the weather song in French, (which I have never heard before but it is pretty amusing), and for their grand finale, "Kindergarten Here I Come." They then received "diplomas" one at a time while anxious parents angled for the perfect shot and 4 and 5 year olds attempted to pose, all of which ended up being rather comical. A reception followed, with cake and punch. I think I can report with much confidence that the reception was the most enjoyed part of graduation for the graduates. Probably had something to do with the cake and copious amounts of frosting........... While the graduates enjoyed frosting and sugar filled punch, the parents stood around in a daze, attempting to comprehend that their "babies" are now officially on their way to Kindergarten...... All in all, it was a success!

Kaiti's 1st Recital

On May 6th, our little ballerina made her stage debut, performing in the Eglin Ballet School Annual Recital. Kaitlyn has been taking ballet and tap at the Eglin Air Force Base Ballet School since last summer. She is in the 3-5 year old class which means that they manage to practice a few plie's and grand jete's in between making faces at themselves in the mirror and sliding across the floor in ballet shoes. Somehow, their very talented teacher is able to turn this into an adorable recital. Let me just say, it was quite the event.

We spent all day Saturday at the rehearsal. The ballet school is comprised of students age 3 - 18 so there were 29 separate dance numbers, including the Mom's dance. That's right, some of us old moms were convinced to make fools of ourselves and perform a dance that we learned on Saturday afternoons. Let's just say that we did a lot more laughing at ourselves than dancing. We're not sure how the dance actually looked but we had a great time learning it together and the daughters had a great time laughing at their mommies.

After a long dress rehearsal, we all arrived on Sunday afternoon at the base theatre and headed backstage. Samantha sat with Duane's parents and cousin who had come in from Oklahoma for the festivities. To complicate matters, Camp Rudder was hosting its' annual Open House where we open the Camp to the public to view everything from an ambush demonstration to a parachute jump. Duane was one of the jumpers. He jumped at 12:30 and literally ripped his chute off and raced to the base theatre just in time to catch Kaitlyn's first number. Of course Kaitlyn thought it was pretty cool that her Dad jumped out of a plane to be at her recital - Rangers Lead the Way......even to ballet recitals..........:)

Kaitlyn performed a tap number to "RESPECT" which was pretty hilarious. Her ballet number was to the song "Butterfly Kisses" and of course I cried. She was adorable and loved the stage. While many of the little ballerinas were a little intimidated by the stage lights, Kaitlyn ate it up. I'm thinking if we encourage her love of the stage, perhaps Duane and I will be able to retire in a first rate nursing home..........

All in all, it was an exhausting and adorable event. I can definitely see the wisdom in having only one recital a year because I think it will take me a year to gear up again.....and next spring it will be Kaitlyn and Samantha.

Build A Bear Field Trip

We are approaching the end of the school year here in Florida and Kaitlyn's PreK class recently took their final field trip fo the year. As the most traveled PreK in the state, they had to have a pretty spectacular trip to top all the amazing trips they have been on this year. Ms. Sterling and Ms. Kuchnia took all 18 PreKers to Build A Bear at Destin Commons. Each child got to make a bear, eat lunch at Johnny Rockets, and play in the water park. The best part of the trip for Kaiti was her Daddy. Duane made it home from 2 months at Ft. Benning just in time to chaperone the trip. They had a fabulous day and Duane needed a nap when they got home.......