Ella Grace's First Communion

Our sweet, beautiful, wonderful Ella Grace is growing up.  

First Communion.

Just as Claire did when she was in 3rd grade, Ella

took her first communion classes at Hope and 

prepared to take her first communion on Maundy Thursday.

We are very blessed to share this, and so many other

special moments, with our dear family friends The Liskeys.

Ella and Claire L. took class together and prepared

to celebrate together, just as Claire R. and Katie did.

("big Claire, little Claire" is out!)

Ella was very nervous about the class and the whole

process, but she was also very excited and anxious to learn more.

I am so grateful for our church home.  They do such a great

job leading our children, especially the youth pastor, Mark.

I remember how much I loved my youth pastor growing up

and I look forward to my girls having the same relationship.

Class was good, and fun, and silly, and important.

Ella enjoyed it, especially the 'practice' part! 

Communion practice.  Open hand, take bread...

Dip in 'wine'.  Ella was all smiles when she made it through the first time.
Too cute!!

As is our family tradition, we had the Liskeys and family over

to our house for a quick dinner and celebration before service.

I can't tell you how grateful I am for their family.

God put these wonderful people in our lives at the perfect time.

We are raising our children together, in love and friendship, with 

the same values and faith and goals.

Not only are they great friends and people, they really are

just like family.  I can't imagine celebrating any family 

milestone without the Liskeys by our side!

Our girls may not always understand or appreciate how

lucky they are, but I know that no matter what happens in 

their lives, what friends come and go or what drama appears,

they will always have each other.  I am actually grateful

that they go to different schools. It's so nice to have a friend

'on the outside' that just loves you for you!

Our beautiful "little girls"

Avery was so sweet and dressed up so nicely for sister's special night.

Our wonderful forever friends!

I just love this picture.  So real, and sweet, and special!

Happy girls!

Our beautiful "big girls"

Haha, I love this silly goose!

Praise God for these two!

My family!

Snow, snow and more snow

It's been a long, winter.

Snow, snow and more snow.

At least Avery knows how to enjoy it!

Spring break fun!

The RouseHouse had a great spring break!

We did just that, took a break!

We are such a busy family, running from activity

to wonderful activity.  We were all looking forward to a

week of relaxation. 

Plus, we have a very special trip coming up, so 

rest was in order... :)

Even though we are having the never ending winter,

we did manage to get outside a bit.

Everyone is playing softball this spring, 

which makes for a lot of hot dog dinners at the ballpark!

We also had plenty of lounge-around time.

Obviously, Avery took to it very nicely!

We did have one bigger project for the week.

We updated Avery's room a bit.  She needed some

new shelving/storage options.

She just keeps getting so big!

Helping dad put together her new desk organizer

She was sad to lose her old shelf, but very happy with her new one!

We took a break and caught one of the spring break

movies at the library, one of our favorite spring break traditions!

Popcorn and Wreck it Ralph~

Daddy and Ella had their own project, building a birdhouse.

Ella got her own toolset for Christmas and she's been dying to break them in!

She hung it up on the window.  It has an open back
so we can see the birds. I'm not holding my breath!

I did make the girls work a bit.  They spent an afternoon cleaning

out the playroom.  A much needed chore!  They made a good

pile for their annual garage sale.  They use the proceeds from

their garage sale and lemonade stand to buy their pool passes for the summer.

Avery rocking her new jean jacket!

Avery's 1/2 birthday fell at the end of spring break.

Her treat: a trip to the Civic Center to see Million Dollar Quartet.

This was her first 'real' show and she loved it!!

She was rocking out the whole time.  

My little broadway lover, no surprise!

All in all, it was a great week!

We spent some quality time together, had a few special outings,

got some work done around the house, and took

some time to sit in gratitude for our many blessings!

Time to dry off!

Championship swim season is over and we are ready for some 'dry land'!

We had another great year with the Walnut Creek Dolphins.

Claire and Ella both had a great swim season.  

They swam well, improved throughout the year, and 

continued to have fun with their friends and teammates!

Claire moved up to the 11-12 age group, and although it is a 

very difficult age group, she really held her own.

She came very close to qualifying for both state and regionals,

but missed the cut for both.   We are confident she'll make a

return to both events next year.

Ella is at the top of the 8 and under age group and

really enjoyed a very successful year!

She qualified for both state and regionals and had

a lot of fun at both major events.

Ella continues to swim the breaststroke, but also

qualified in back and the individual medley.

It was very fun to live vicariously through 

her many wins this year!

The girls team like to dress up for the Parade of Athletes at State.

They all looked great!

Walnut Creek Dolphins Girls State Team

Lots of waiting around....

Aves is a swim team holding area pro!

Ella had a fantastic state meet, beating all of her times!
Avery was very happy for her!

This year we went to the Y Regionals in St. Paul, Minn.

It was a ton of fun, especially staying with Uncle Dean and Aunt Rachel.

Beside 2 great days of swimming, we go to play with our 

cousins, and even had an extra day of fun thanks to a snow storm!

The Y meet is very big and I'm so proud of our brave Ella.

There are a lot of swimmers there and parents are not

allowed on deck, they even post someone at the door to stop us

(I managed to sneak by once each day to check on my baby!)

Despite the huge venue, high-stakes racing, and forced independence,

Ella had a great time and again beat most of her times.

Very proud of her!!

Ella waiting for her turn on the blocks!

I had a great video of her swimming, and winning her heat of the 

50 breast. (Ultimately came in 11th in the region)

I can't seem to get it to upload, but hopefully I'll figure it 

out one of these days!

Break a leg, girls!

Every now and then we are blessed with an unexpectedly

wonderful experience.

Our time with Whippoorwill Theatre's production of 

Midsummer Night's Dream was one of those!

It started with my random web search to find an acting class

or camp for the girls.  They had been expressing an interest

in theater so I was just looking to see what was out there.

I found Whippoorwill Theatre.  It is a community theater

through the West Des Moines Parks and Rec.

As it happens, they were just registering for their late winter

performance.  I decided to give it a try.

We signed up for the play, and the 2 hours/day 3 days/week

practice schedule.  It was a daunting undertaking, considering that

the girls were still doing swim team, piano and gymnastics at the 

same time. 

Not to mention, it was completely out of our comfort zone!

We didn't know anyone participating, anything about the theatre

or anything about the program.  

We showed up the first night, expecting it to be with a few kids with 

as limited acting experience as us.

Well, our first night was not exactly what we expected, to say the least!

Our first impression was.... not great!

It appeared that 'everyone already knew each other'. 

They were quite a spirited bunch, and they had all performed in the past!

The worst part: at the end of the first night, anyone who wanted to 

was encouraged to stand up in front of the group and sing

their audition song! Out loud! In front of the group!

As if that wasn't scary enough, these girls were good!!

Needless to say, we went home that night and both girls announced

in the car that they did NOT want to do this.

I have to admit, I was feeling the same way!

It was overwhelming and uncomfortable, as our many new things.

We agreed to pray about it.

We all prayed.  We prayed for God's guidance on whether we 

should continue and for his strength if we decided to go back.

I prayed for an open mind and to not put my fears and 

insecurities on my kids.

When the sun came up the next day, I had to 2 refreshed,

faithful kids ready to go back and give it a try.

We have not regretted that decision once since that day!!

So began auditions and then 7 weeks of practice.  

7 weeks of insane busy-ness and amazing fun!

The girls went straight from swimming or piano several

days a week.  They ate dinner in the car 2 days a week.

I spent hours upon hours at the theatre surfing the web,

facebooking or just enjoying the chaos that is play practice.

Avery was even invited to join the production as a "little fairy"

so she attended many of the practices too.

In-between the hours of practice some pretty incredible things happened:

We discovered Claire could sing. I mean really sing.

We discovered Ella has a natural presence on stage.

We confirmed that Avery is a drama nut, as we always expected.

We uncovered and developed some pretty amazing character traits in our girls;

courage, confidence, talent, patience, discipline, leadership, and hard-work.

We learned the ins and outs of play production.

We met some really incredible people.

We developed a passion for theater and costume and song.

We identified our own audition songs! 

We had a ton of fun and can't wait to do it all over again!

Avery, aka the purple little fairy

Ella and the other fairies

Avery and the other little fairies

A professional photographer came to the dress rehearsal

to take some cast shots.  It was very cool to see the girls transformed

into character through hair and makeup.

Ella, aka Mustardseed

The cast of Midsummer Night's Dream

Claire, aka Quince

Claire and the mechanicals

Our beautiful actors on opening night!

There was plenty of fun and fooling around too!

Lots of time spent back stage, waiting and practicing~

We had some great souvenirs, including; a poster, memory book, tshirts, and bags

I am so grateful for the many great experiences my kiddos get to have.

We are lucky to live in an area full of opportunity.

We are very blessed and grateful to have such supportive friends and family

(many came to watch the girls in their stage debut!).

Mommy/Avery Day... again!

It's no secret, I love my mommy/avery days!

Almost as much as Avery does!!

Her activity of choice is always Build-A-Bear

and/or snuggling up watching Avengers.

My Avery: she is one of a kind!

Avery and her new friend, Hoppit!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2013!

This is definitely one of my favorite events of the year:

Daddy Daughter Dance!~

The girls have been going to the dance at Hope for several years.

They have a great tradition of meeting Mr. Liskey and the girls

at Culvers (high class dining) for dinner, then they all

head to the dance together.  

Every year the girls get so excited to dress up for their date!

They pick out fancy outfits, and insist on curls and makeup.

It's fun to see them with their unique style.

My favorite part is the photo op!

I love getting these pictures every year and watching 

my little girls grow into beautiful ladies.

I can't wait to watch the years pass and hopefully

continue to take pictures of them all as they head out

for a night with Daddy!

Beautiful Ella, Age 8

Beautiful Avery, Age 5

Beautiful Claire, Age 11

I love this crew!

3 very happy girls. 1 very happy and proud daddy!!