Summer 2011

Summer went too fast!! We had SO much fun and did so many things. I didn't keep up with our Blog so I am giving you a glimpse of a few events.

Clayton lost 4 front tooth in a short amount of time. The first tooth lost was quite traumatic but the other 3 were easier. If I remember correctly the kick boards at swimming lessons knocked out two of the loose teeth!

Bible school was so much fun! The "Go Fish" guys have an awesome curriculum and they are one of Clayton's favorite singing groups! Bible school is a fun time to be with friends and learn about Jesus! We went to a "Go Fish" concert this summer and I have a Christmas concert planned as a surprise for him early December.

Fourth of July is always a fun holiday!!

The West End Pond provided fun with fishing, kayaking, running around, and cruising in the Kabota with cousins and Papa Bruce!

"More more more smores!!!!"

Clayton is 6 years old and his tree is growing along with him!

Myles enjoys the bike rides with Mom and he has learned how to peddle his tricycle and tractor!

We went camping twice with the boys and it was a blast. I need to find those pictures! Hope you enjoyed a few moments from our busy and fun summer!

Cars 2 cake for Clayton AND Grandma Jeri ! The cousins had fun celebrating and eating cake!

Clayton is 6 years old already!?!? I love to tell him about the day he was born and stories from when he was a toddler :) He likes to hear them and I love to reminisce.....

He wanted a baseball glove SO bad and he had to wait until June 23! Actually he got his glove a few days early as we celebrated his birthday on Father's Day with the Goodell side of the family. Grandma Jeri's birthday is on the 22nd and we celebrated her double nickel day also.

On the day of his birthday we picked up cousin Jake and went to Arnold's Park! This was Clays first Scrambler ride as well as the Tilt-o-Whirl. I had a hard time even watching them as the circular motion makes me dizzy!!!

Clayton is not too tall for the small roller coaster but it getting close! He is practically tall enough for the big wooden coaster but he is not feeling the excitement about it that I am. I can't wait until he rides it with me for the first time!

A fun day with a fun cousin!

We also invited four friends from Lake Park to the movie "Cars 2". It was so much fun! Love my tall, slender, quirky, toothless, kind, caring dude!

Myles is TWO! .....as of May 23 :) He is such a big boy and a blessing to our family! Two years went really really fast!!

We had a big family party at Pizza Ranch and Myles loved every single minute of it! It was so much fun to see him interact and just be silly!

Buzz Lightyear cake! yay!

Mommy had to hold him back from grabbing the candle!!

Great Grandpa and Grandma Goodell!

Great Grandpa and Grandma Bosma!

And the Goodell and Krummen Grandparents were there too but I didn't get the pictures!

It was such a fun day and the party was a blast! Myles got this monkey that has a zipper, snaps, buttons, and ties to learn fine motor skills. He was not really sure about it, as you can see! hilarious!

We love you Mr. Myles!!

Clayton was enrolled in Pre-Dance at Dawn's Dance Connection in Spirit Lake. Pre-Dance is for ages 3-5 yr. olds and consists of 1/2 hour of tumbling and 1/2 hour of dance every week! Every Thursday, Clayton, Myles and I headed over to Spirit Lake for class. Clayton enjoyed it so much and the 9 months went by very quickly! While Clayton was in class, Myles and I had time to run errands together!

Clayton met a lot of new friends and i did too! It was so nice to meet other moms in the area and make some connections! Myles enjoyed just tagging along:)

The big ending to the year was the dance recital of course! It was SO much fun! Clayton's class performed some tumbling and dance to an Aladdin Medley of songs. It was under 2 minutes! :) Each student had a costume in a different color! Clayton pulled off the pink well I think:) They all did so very well and we were so excited to watch him on a big stage! He knew his routine and enjoyed it a lot! There are many students in the recital and we watched lots of great talent. Clayton loved the "big" boys tap and hip hop. We are waiting patiently for the DVD of the recital to arrive in the mail and I anticipate watching it over and over again!

A fun bunch of great friends from Lake Park waiting patiently behind stage for their big debut!

The studio is holding a dance camp in June and Clayton will go two mornings and try out some different things: tap, jazz, hip hop, tumbling, and some others......

He is looking forward to some fun dance time and will maybe find a style he likes for next year.

Royce and I think this has been a very positive experience for him! It builds a lot of character!!

Preschool Graduation

Clayton had a great year of preschool and it ended with a celebration! Great G'pa and G'ma Goodell, Papa Bruce and Grandma Jeri, and Royce and I were there. I'm not sure where the year went but it sure went by fast!


Clayton's class acted out the story, "Class Two Went to The Zoo", which was a favorite story in his classroom! They had a very cool anaconda prop !

Clayton was a Hippo......


Who hopped in the dirt!

They sang various favorite songs from music class with Mrs. Anderson and songs from the classroom!


Lots of friends and lots of great memories!!

Have I mentioned to anyone that I cannot wait to spend my full days with these two hooligans?!
The end of another school year is ending and another wonderful summer with my guys is beginning. I cherish my time with them and am so thankful.

Clayton's preschool class has a friend, Leo. Leo is a stuffed Lion and visits a new friend's home everyday! We were able to provide hospitality last year to Leo and had the opportunity to do so again this year. Clayton takes this very seriously and has been planning his time with Leo for weeks now. His home is a clear plastic backpack and a journal is included to record your experience with him. I must say that Leo had a better odor and appearance to him this year......last year I was tempted to give him a bath in the washing machine :) As much as you may like a detailed story about Clayton's day with Leo, I have tired of the story a bit. Don't get me wrong! I love the excitement of it all and Clayton had such a great time but. but. We sat down to record the adventurous story and read through it several times. Clayton continued to "read" the journal from recall several, several times. I think the pictures will explain our day with Leo! Papa Bruce and Grandma Jeri's farm provided the entertainment!