Dance Class

Kiley started dance classes this week. She ended up quitting karate to make time for dance. She loved her first class. It's 1 1/2 hours.  the first half focuses on ballet and lyrical and the 2nd half is cheer/acrobatics. 

The class is getting ready for a summer recital in a month so they mostly worked on their routines during the class. Her teacher thinks she has enough time to learn the dance routines and participate in the recital at the end of June. She has a lot of work ahead of her if she is going to learn the dances. They're actually quite difficult for kids to learn, but we video taped the dances and she's been working on them at home. 

So on June 30th she'll be performing one lyrical dance and one cheer routine. We already ordered the costumes so we are crossing our fingers that she can catch up with the rest of the class.

Thats her in the back row on the right. Pink leotard and black shorts. 

The Dentist

Kiley had her first dentist appointment.  She did amazing.  No cavities and strong teeth.  She had her teeth cleaned and flossed and then had a fluoride treatment.

She got to wear sunglasses so the light wouldn't hurt her eyes

Big smile after her cleaning!

Exploring Eastern NC

We've lived in Eastern NC for about 1 1/2 years now and haven't really done much exploring.  So the past few weekends we've gone out to experience everything eastern NC has to offer.

A couple weeks ago we went to the Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC with our Sundquist visitors.  The place had beautiful gardens that we were able to walk around and a small visitors center.

  

Last weekend we visited Fort Macon.  I really don't know what it is, just some sort of fort made for the civil war that never even saw battle.

Then today we went and visited one of the lighthouses in the outer banks.  Cape Lookout Lighthouse.  From our house, it took about 45 minutes to get to the boat.  You have to take a boat to get to the island and once on the island, there's really nothing there.  You can climb the lighthouse if you want (we could not because Kiley is not tall enough), and then you can just hang out on the beaches.  They are known for their amazing seashell beaches.  Kiley came home with a huge shell!  We spent about 3 hours on the island.  Great weather today, about 85ish with a nice cool breeze on the beach.

Oh, on the boat ride to the lighthouse we were able to see some of the wild horses that live on the outer banks.

 

Adoption Update #10

Today we met with our case worker, Cameron.  We met in her office in Greenville, NC about 1 1/2 hours away but well worth the drive because today, we signed our last document!

Our foster/adoptive parent license application will be reviewed one final time and submitted to the state by the end of this week. The state will take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to approve (or deny) our application. Cameron said there should be no reason they would deny the application unless there was an error, but she's going to do her best to make sure it is submitted perfectly :)

That basically means that in a month and a half we are eligible to have a child placed in our home!  

In case you don't know, Shawn is deploying again this summer. So we need to make a decision about possibly accepting a child if he's not home. It's a tough decision because Shawn really wants/needs to be home so our family can bond together. But if we get a call that they have a child for us and we turn down the offer, we won't know when another child will come along. Tough stuff to think about. 

But mostly we're so excited and anxious. Yay for us!

The waiting game has officially begun. 

Pre-School Graduation!

 

Kiley graduated from pre-school on May 10th, 2013 from the Child Development Center on Cherry Point, NC.  She was super excited and insisted on wearing a pretty dress.  Her hair didn't get curled like she had wanted because we ran out of time while getting ready.  It's a bit of a wake up call for us with regard to time management.  We aren't used to getting up early in the AM because her pre-school had been in the afternoon, but her graduation was in the AM, hence no curled hair.  We're really going to need to work on this issue because kindergarden starts early :(




But anyway, the graduation was cute.  The kids all got caps and gowns (color was based on their class, her afternoon class wore white).  The kids recited the pledge of allegiance, sang "My country tis of Thee" and received diplomas.


She's a little upset because she's not going to see some of her friends again, but she's excited to be starting kindergarden this August.

Kiley's teachers (left to right): Ms. Estelle, Ms. Stephanie, Ms. Barbara (her favorite)