Channing Dance Recital

On June 9th, Channing finished out her ballet season with her dance recital. She was very excited as she loves to perform. 

She danced to a beautiful song called "Braver Still" and did a wonderful job.

She looked beautiful. 

Grandma and Natalie came to support Channing at her recital and she was exited to have them there.

Channing and her best friend Avery always love to dance together. She is lucky to have such a good friend. We enjoy watching Channing dance and do something she loves.

Lake Charles Weekend!

The first weekend of summer we headed to Lake Charles to meet Daphne halfway for a fun day out. We went to a beach in Lake Charles that was pretty vacant and we enjoyed the sun!

The sand was pretty white and soft and we made a sand castle.

The kids enjoyed digging with the shovel. 

Daphne brought her dog Cortex who seemed to have a nice time in the water and the kids are getting more and more comfortable with him. 

Brother and Sister! Always great to see her! 

A beautiful family day! 

After the beach we went over to Millenium Park. It was a super hot day but the kids enjoyed the splash pad and if it would have been cooler they could have played at the park for a long time! 

We cooled down with Sonic slushes and then hit the road! The kids were all out within a few minutes of driving home. They were exhausted. It was a fun day! I don't love the beach as there is so much mess and sand, but we did have a nice day!

End of Year Performances

The end of the year is such a busy time!! The kids all have plays, performances, award ceremonies, field days, etc! Channing began with her "Pajama Party" play.

She had a part and she rocked it! She was animated, loud, and clear! 

Her friend Mallory and her are in the same class together and will be again next year! 

Everything is always about Avery, her best friend. She loves to hang out with her! The play was cute and it was short and sweet which was perfect!

Cavin performed in the "Pirates" play a couple weeks later. 

He was a handsome pirate and played the part of purple beard. He only said one line but our quiet, shy boy actually was very loud and clear. It was great!!

The songs were pretty good and I was glad that this year I got to see two new plays since they usually reoccur each year and I've seen them several times between kids. 

That same evening I enlisted my mother who went to Ella's orchestra concert as I couldn't be at both and Ragnar was working.

My mom said she did a good job. 

She also had an awards ceremony for 6th grade the following week. 

She received an award for A/B honor roll, Super Reader from her reading teacher (no surprise there), and Excellence and Dedication in Science. I am glad she is liking school and hopefully she will use her smart brain and really learn to apply herself, because she has the ability to do great things!

Lastly, Ella had her piano recital. She performed the "Star Wars" theme song.

She did a good job and I hope this summer she will have more of a desire to practice :)

Ella is 12!!!

Birthday season wrapped up with Ella's 12th birthday. She had a full day of festivities. We woke up and had donuts together. 

Our family seriously loves donuts!

We did presents early so she could use some of them later at the pool :) 

She got a lava lamp, fins, an LOL doll, beanie boos, an amazon echo dot, design sketch books, and other fun gifts. 

We went out for a big lunch since she had her party later. She chose Olive Garden and ate LOTS of breadsticks! I'm afraid I gave my carb addiction to the kids!

That afternoon, she went with a few friends to celebrate her party at the pool as it was opening day. Jaemi, Evyn, Helen, Mackayla, and Addy came. She has some cute friends who are really smart and they are great at pushing her to be better!

She loves art, so we did a painting cookie cake. She loved it and the weather was perfect.  

The next day we celebrated again with my brother Chris who shares her birthday and my niece Charlotte whose birthday is a few days later!

Ella is an avid reader! Like, that is ALL she wants to do. She loves books and I cannot get enough for her fast enough. She is really picking up the cello and learning it quickly. Her piano has suffered this year, I think due to the fact that she is picking up a different instrument, but she still takes lessons. She has thrived in 6th grade and has transitioned well from elementary school. She is not very organized, but she is very creative. She loves to come up with ideas and has a sharp mind. She LOVES art and music and is always wanting to listen to music. She also loves to sketch and draw and right now wants to be an interior designer or fashion designer. She is a good kid and is a great big sister. 

Channing turns 7!

Channing has been very excited about her birthday! She loves to celebrate and have a party! She was able to go with some friends the weekend before her birthday to celebrate her! They went to Mudpie to paint and then we went for dinner and dessert at Chick fil A. 

The girls were SO giggly! They had a great time, but by the end I needed some silence! They loved to make each other laugh and smile. Ellie, Channing, and Avery painted a butterfly and Mallory chose a turtle. They are a cute group of girls! Channing has a good group of friends.

On her actual birthday a couple days later we got our usual donuts and she got enough to share with her class. Then after school her grandparents came over to have dinner with us at Culvers.

She LOVES  Descendants, so I attempted an Evie cake from the movie. She was thrilled even though it was just a simple cake. 

She was making sure we did everything right! 

Then we got to open presents. She asked for LOL dolls, a Hatchimal, an enchantimal, a nail salon kit, The Greatest Showman movie, and jewelry. 

Then her DREAM came true. On Saturday, I took her to get her ears pierced. She was so excited and has been asking for years. When we got to Claire's she got really nervous but braved it and only cried for like 30 seconds. 

She is our girly girl and is all about fashion so she picked glitter heart earrings!

She is growing up so fast!! She is 3'11 and 54 pounds. She is becoming quite a good reader and has become so much more confident this year. Her teacher has really helped her feel like she can do anything and she is outgoing and really blossomed. She loves anything regarding fashion, clothing, jewelry, makeup, and shoes! She enjoys dancing in ballet. She did Destination Imagination club this year. She learned to ride her bike, tie her shoes, and swim. She declared her 6-7th year as monumental! She is a great singer and loves to sing everywhere. She also is always talking, is a talented/creative artist, and has incredible handwriting. We love our orange headed girl and all the sass she brings to the family!

Cavin's 10th Birthday!

Cavin Ragnar Hartzheim turned 10 years old on April 12, 2018!! He was pretty somber about his birthday. He was nervous it wouldn't be a good one as what he asked for, he knew was pretty expensive. We had been discussing that just because you don't get exactly what you want, that doesn't mean we don't love you! It's hard for a kid to understand sometimes. I was worried that I had passed some of my lack of love for birthday's on to him. I used to love birthday's when I was a child, so I really hoped that he could still enjoy them while he was young. All in all, I think the day ended up great, and he said he was really happy.

We began our day like any other Hartzheim birthday, with donuts! 

We had donuts and enjoyed some birthday facts about April 12th and then sent everyone off to school. Unfortunately I couldn't go have lunch with him, because they are doing state testing at school and he wasn't allowed to have any visitors at school. After school we hung out at the park until his dad and Grandparents came over.  

He was really anxious about his presents. All he wanted this year was James Harden shoes, and a Nintendo Switch. 

We were able to deliver on both, and he was so excited! Cavin is a quiet child, so if he shows any emotion, I am grateful to see it. I just wanted him to be excited and feel loved on his birthday. When he opened his present, the joy on his face was worth it. He was thrilled. 

We had a delicious bundt cake and we played on the switch and played MadGab and he got to stay up late playing games with Ragnar.

The next day was his birthday party. We were really stressing about the weather all week as it was supposed to have heavy rains. In Texas, heavy rains is not what you want to be out in! Thankfully Heavenly Father was kind to us, and the rain mostly held off besides and occasional sprinkle or two! 

The boys had fun playing flag football as that is all Cavin wanted to do for his party. They played hard and enjoyed the evening.  

Cavin loved us singing to him ;) haha 

He said he had a fun day, and he got this new game from his friend called Dunk Head and he had a blast when we played it together! 

We sure love Cavin. He is a gentle giant as we have always called him. He is very tough, but does not like to wrestle or rough house. He is very sweet with his brother and loves to hang out with him. He is very intelligent with math, and is on the Math Olympiad team at school. He get amazing grades and scored a 100 on his star state test. He just loves to learn. He is SUPER competitive and will sometimes resort to cheating to make sure he can win when he plays games. He loves to be outside right now playing football or basketball or baseball or kickball or whatever he can! He finally learned to ride his bike last month and I am proud of him for being tenacious and figuring it out. He is 106 pounds and 4'10 and 1/2 and he wears a size 8 shoe! The kid will be bigger than me by next year! He is always including others at school and I am grateful for his kindness and for cheering others on. He has done all three sports this year, soccer, basketball, and is now finishing flag football season. He still loves the color green and watching American Ninja Warrior. He is a great kid, and I am so grateful we get to call him our son! Happy 10th Birthday Chief!