Channing's Pre-School Graduation!

Channing has loved every bit of pre-school this year. I am so grateful a friend recommended Miss Lindsay to us. She has had the best time and has improved so much. Last week was her "graduation" from pre-school to Kindergarten.

Here her class sang their last few songs for us and showed us what they learned.

Channing getting her certificate.

Miss Lindsay with 6 of the 7 kids. Katelyn was sick.

She is growing up so fast and made so much improvement in the past 9 months! She started the year only knowing 3 of the 26 letters and couldn't count well, and couldn't write her name, and now she knows all of that and can even read a few words. She was too shy to really talk to her teacher, and now she raises her hand and is happy to chat. I was worried as my other two were reading before Kindergarten and seemed more ready, but they all come at different levels and I feel like she is ready now. I am so proud of her!

I sure love my orange headed soon to be Kindergartner!

A trip to Galveston!

So many who know me, know I don't love the beach. I have too many issues with cleaning that the thought of all the sand and cleaning up afterward usually detracts me from going. I have been trying to get out of my comfort zone and do more things that I usually don't, so when my brother texted that the weather was perfect and they were going, we joined along. It was seriously a beautiful day!

Ragnar jumped right in and did his pose and the kids followed right in! I was surprised how brave Channing and Deacon were. Channing wanted to go out pretty far and Deacon would get out of the water and say "Watty" and want to go right back in!

Charlotte and Channing made castles together!

Ella and Coleton made theirs.

And, Caden and Cavin did their own creation.

Deacon was loving in there and I was so glad!

Such a perfect, sunny day!

Our cute little beach family!

Here was the gang! We have a lot of fun together and I was so grateful they invited us! Next time we will just have to put a little more sunscreen on the adults! The kids made out just fine, the rest of us were lobsters the next day! So fun!

Ella is double digits!

I really can't believe I have a daughter that is a decade old! Time has flown by since she started kindergarten.We had a pretty low key day as it was a school day, but I hope she still felt special!

Breakfast Birthday donuts are a must!

She went to school and her Grandma Speers went to lunch with her at school and then she came home and wanted me to make her a pasta dish, so we waited for dad and had dinner and then opened presents.

She got some rollerblades she's been wanting.

Her grandma and grandpa Speers bought her a Polaroid camera which she was very excited about.

Just like her mama, she requested a cookie cake for her birthday! YUM!

We played games and she got to stay up late. I am very lucky that she is so easy going. She is generally happy and doesn't need a whole lot of fuss to make things great. She is always reading. I swear she can read a 400 page book in a couple hours and want to read another and another right after. I am so grateful for her thirst for knowledge. She always gets straight A's and if she gets less than a 100, then she sees room for improvement. I am grateful that she loves school and that she always wants to be better. She does loves beanie boos still, and the Land of Stories books are her obsession right now. I can't even tell you how many times she has read that series, but she probably can't either. Her brother Cavin is officially taller than her and she is trying to accept the fact that she is the shortest in class, and may not be super tall. She keeps waiting for her growth spurt but in the mean time she is making a list of all the benefits of being shorter :) haha, that's my Ella. She is so kind and giving and always wanting to make others happy. She still loves to sleep and will take a good nap for me, even if she pretends to not like it, because it is no longer cool! The only thing I hope I can get her moving on in the next 10 years is cleaning her room! We sure are grateful for her lead in our family to her siblings, despite her often less than cleanly room ;)

Cavin's 2nd grade musical!

Cavin participated in his 2nd grade musical, Seussical the Musical. He was pretty excited about it. 

Each class was separated into songs, and his class sang "The Seussical MegaMix". It was the last song, and after having to sit on the cafeteria floor, because they had inadequate seating, we were delighted to see him perform! He got to wear the big hat!

He was pretty excited and thankfully it didn't fall off!

He is one of the tallest in his class, so he is always in the back, but we were able to see his dancing skills ;)

This is his friend Weston who he adores. They are in the same class, but their class was split into two songs, so they happen to be separated. They had fun though and they did a cute job!

Channing turned 5!!

Channing Ava Hartzheim turned 5 on April 23, 2016. She was very excited about her big day. She woke up and we had our yummy donuts and we got to spend the day as a family celebrating our little "orange head". She wanted to paint her nails so she could be all ready for the day!

After her nails were ready she went on a date to lunch with her dad. They got lunch and some balloons for her party. We went to Cavin's soccer game after naps and then grandma and grandpa came over with Aunt Natalie, and Aunt Chira and her cousins to have a BBQ with Channing.

Channing wanted "real" earrings, but we aren't ready to pierce her ears. She was pretty excited about her magnetic ones she got ;)

This was her second favorite present. A princess learning laptop. She got many cute presents and was excited.

After presents we sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles and then they went back out to the trampoline!

She loves the show "Sophia the First", so for the second year we did a Sophia themed party, but this year I attempted to make a Sophia dress cupcake cake. She loved it and that's all that matters. Haha!

Channing is a very logical, matter of fact child. Things have to make sense to her. She is however, very very girly which is new for this mama! Ella and I are much more tame when it comes to being girly, but she is going to go all out for us! She is constantly wearing high heels and wanting to go everywhere in them. She always needs a purse, and jewelry, and she just loves to wear dresses. Some of her favorite things are:
Favorite Foods: Goldfish, Chicken Nuggets, and String Cheese.
Favorite Color: Yellow, then blue, then purple ;)
Favorite Movie: Home
Favorite Treat: Gummy Bears and Popsicles
Favorite Activity: Playing Games
Height: 3'6
Weight: 42 lbs

She has three blankets she sleeps with at night. One that matched her bedding when she was a baby that's pink with a tulip on it, one polka dotted one that has a hole in the top that she puts her legs in, and an Elsa blanket. She sure loves to sleep with them. She sure has a lot of personality and is ALWAYS singing. When she responds to you, it's in song, when she goes to the bathroom, cleans, or plays, always singing. We sure love her and the girl she is growing up to be!

Cavin's Baptism

April 16, 2016 Cavin Ragnar Hartzheim chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a special day for him and our family and we are proud of the decision he made. 
We woke up early and he went to play a soccer game as his Grandparents were in town and he really wanted to see him play. He did well and came home and we headed over to the chapel.

These were the couple photos we used on the display table..

Here he is with his father about to be baptized.

I love this picture of the two of them walking hand in hand together.

 Our family before he is baptized.

 Cavin with his Oma and Opa Hartzheim

Sometimes it is hard to wait, but my parents and Ragnar's parents were wonderful with helping with Deacon.

Cavin was baptized and confirmed by his father. His Uncle Chris gave a wonderful talk on baptism and his Opa Hartzheim did a sweet job of giving a talk on the Holy Ghost. Both talked referred to sports as Cavin lives and breathes sports. Daphne helped translate Hellmut's talk from German to English and it was a very sweet moment for our family. It was great to have their grandfather there with his only two name sake grandsons.

Channing and Ella were so brave as to prepare a special musical number "The Miracle" to sing. It was beautifully sung, and I was so proud of them for being willing, brave, and confident up there singing.

He is washed clean and a baptized member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I am so grateful for Ragnar and that he holds the priesthood keys and was able to baptize our son.

We have a wonderfully supportive family.

Aunt Daphne gave a great prayer and we were so glad she could make it.

My parents are always such an amazing support for us here and I am grateful they could make it.

We were also lucky to have Ragnar's Aunt Brigette and Uncle Kent come from Dallas to join us. It was very kind of them!

These are some wonderful men and outstanding examples of who I hope Cavin will emulate.

We also had my brothers family there and we are so glad they live close. My kids love love love being with them. (We didn't communicate the pictures at the church well and Cavin was already out of his clothes by the time we got a photo with them)

We had a little family gathering at the home afterward and had a little party!

We are so grateful for Cavin and the boy he is becoming! He is such a special kid and we sure love him so much!

While the Hartzheim's were here we also got to do some other fun things together like go on walks and play lots of Legos! They spent hours putting them together with the kids. They also made cute little lamps out of napkins. We only had them for a short 4 days, but they sure had an impression on Deacon. He has not stopped saying Opa and Oma over and over since they left.