Finally.. and I mean FINALLY!!!  Maddie has been looking forward to this moment ever since she was in 1st grade and found out her school has a talent show every year, but you have to be in 3rd grade before you can participate. 
So she has been working with her hip hop teacher after classes for the last couple of months to learn a dance, she has been in love with the song "Tea Party" for awhile and knew she wanted to use it.  She worked her bum off learning this dance, she worked on it everyday and was excited about her costume, and once we figured out how to do her awesome hair it was just a count down to the big day!  She had to do a try out which of course she got through, she was even told she didnt have to come to the practice days because she already had it down so well.  And Im going to brag because I can AND because I heard it from so many other people... she stole the show!  She was so cute, funky, entertaining and had some mad skilz!!
She first performed for the school during the school day, it was so fun listening to the ooohs and aaaaaahs from the kids, she brought out all of her personality and killed it!  Then she performed later that night for parents and everyone else and again did awesome!  We had so many people come up to us afterward that didnt know us and tell us how talented she is and that they didnt realize real dancers would be at the show lol!  She was proud of herself and we were for sure proud of her. 
I cant even tell you how fun it is to be this girls parent, because not only is she super talented but she has the biggest heart, she never wants to hurt anyones feelings, her teachers all adore her and even have had teachers ask to be her teachers for uncomming years!!  Everyone that knows her tells us what a sweet heart she is, she makes it really easy to be her parents!!
Yaaa Maddie!!!

NUVO!!

 That is a picture of Maddie getting and autogragh from Travis Wall!!!
She had a convention/competition a few weeks ago, the last one of the season!!  It is always our favorite of the season, she had a blast and got to dance with some of the best choreographers around!!  Her dance group danced well against some amazing companies.  She always walks away from these weekends not wanting to leave!!  I was so impressed with her, while other girls were sitting on the side, taking multiple "potty breaks" snack breaks etc Maddie NEVER did any of that!  She was attentive the whole time, she worked her butt off, she wasnt worried about dancing with her buddies and actually kept her distance from them which I think helped her work even harder because she wasnt distracted.  They had an audition  where they learn a quick dance and then go into a room with out parents and audition for a scholarship.  There are amazing amazing dancers in her group and she made it past the first round, which was a huge deal because there were only a couple others they even made it that far in her group! 
She is looking forward to auditions coming up for Dance Dimensions and the summer classes and intensives!  Im looking forward to her learning more and being pushed.  She has definatley proven that she is a hard worker, and amazing talented dancer and quite the performer.  We always get comments from people we know and dont that she is so fun to watch and how talented she is!  I cant wait to watch her grow this next year!!

 Thursday was the kids last day of school!!  Oh we are all SOOO ready for a break from school, homework, early mornings, and making lunches!!!  WOOHOO!!!!
Malia had a little 1st year PreK graduation party, they sang a song and got a scroll and she was SUPER excited, she started jumping and laughing when they called her name, it was so cute and had all the parents and teachers laughing, what a goof ball!
We rushed off to Maddies school right after for her school picnik!  It was super windy so we ate fast and said goodbyes to her teacher who she loved and loved her!  She is excited for next year, oh my goodness she will be in 4th grade!  She did great this year keeping up with school, even excelling all while being on her competitive team which has kept her super busy all year!
Kaden and Rich were gone all day at Elitches for his 8th grade graduation.  Oh my I cant believe he is going to be a highschooler!!  I truly can not believe time has gone by this quickly, it seems like a few years ago that he was swinging on swings shirtless singing "Its getting hot in here" lol  He finished the end of his school year on a high note with his grades, testing is not easy for him, he works really hard and is just like Rich and I when it comes to tests we just SUCK but he did really well and we are really proud of him, we havent recieved his final grades yet but from what we can see it looks really good!  I have heard nothing but good things from his teachers and principal!  It is always nice when speaking to people at school hearing such great things about him when they realize who my kid is.. I love being a proud mom!!
We are looking forward to a lot of lazy days at the pool, hopefully at least 1 great vacation.  Im sure we wont see a whole lot of Kaden, Maddie will still have a little dance, and Malia will keep me on my toes as she approaches the big 5th birthday this fall!!  Bring it on summer, bring it on!

Kadens first dance "Formal"

 A week before school got out Kaden went to his first dance!!  He had asked a friend a few weeks earlier and they planned their colors.  Oh but first he asked her in a really cute way.  He got brown lunch bags and spelled out F O R M A L ? with one letter on each bag with her favorite candy in each bag, in the last bag was tootsie rolls and one had a message hidden inside saying "Formal with Kaden? yes or no and she had to find it and answer.. she said yes!
He looked SUPER handsome, like seriously this boy is so darn cute!!
All of his friends and their dates met at our house for photos which was a lot of fun!  What a cute bunch of kids!  I wasnt quite ready for some of the short dresses though!!
He had a ton of fun though, he even danced he said.  There was an after party after at a friends which was also fun! 
I cant believe this boy is growing up so darn fast, it is crazy having to let go a little and not controlling his even move.. Im working on that!!  I am super proud of him though, he has done well in school, is excelling in his sports and with all of that going on is a good brother and great son and a huge help to us, I get told by his teachers every time I speak to them what a respectful nice young man he is, they all use the word respectful and I appreciate that so much!!
Love this boy so much!!