Fire Pit

The Stewarts are all about some outdoor fun in the spring, summer, and fall.  As a result, we've taken many steps to make our backyard living space as entertaining as possible.  When we first moved in, we added a screened porch and back patio.  Last summer, we cleared a portion of our woods and added a sandbox and swingset area.  This summer, we've taken the final steps to our backyard home improvement ~ a fire pit!  We hired the same man who did our patio to come do our fire pit, and he did an awesome job!  It's beautiful!  We spent our Memorial Day weekend putting the final touches on the structure with the landscaping.

Our daylilies along the side of the house have exploded, so we split them and made a bed in front of the fire pit, and to separate the grass from the woodsy area, we planted fragrant tea olives (a row to the right of the daylilies and fire pit area).  The final touch was planting hydrangeas around the fire pit to finish off the bed.  It turned out perfectly.

 A little closer...

 Looking at our house from the fire pit.

Our backyard has now come full circle to "our vision" when we first purchased the lot almost 3 years ago.

Mother's Day 2012

Madeline's class had a Muffins for Moms to celebrate Mother's Day.  Adorable.  The class sang, "You are My Sunshine" to us, presented us with the pictures they're holding, and a memory book.  And, of course, we had red velvet cake muffins, fruit, and snack mix.  It was a sweet little morning.

 I, as always, have my little sidekick, Amelia, with me.  I felt bad that I didn't get one-on-one time with Madeline, but what can you do when you have childcare issues?  Madeline didn't seem to mind as she announced to everyone, "This is my little sister, Amelia!"

We had a fun morning. 

"My Mom" according to Madeline:

My mom's name is Mommy.

She has black hair and green eyes.

Her favorite food is mac-n-cheese.

I love my Mom because she lets me help her clean.



Madeline's Dance Recital

Madeline had a wonderful year of dance during her 2011-2012 school year.  She loved it, and I think she really learned a lot.  I foresee lots of dance in our future.  Her teacher, Ms. Autumn, studied at Boston Conservatory & is a ballerina with the Columbia Conservatory of Dance, so she performs in all the major winter shows such as the Nutcracker.  She was fabulous with the children.  I especially loved how she came to the preschool at noon, helped change the children, held class, and I picked Madeline up from preschool on Tuesdays at 1:00 PM.  The program gave Madeline a little bit of ballet, a little bit of tap, and rhythmic movement.  Madeline was very excited for her recital.  The recital was super simple ~ it was held at the preschool & Ms. Autumn decorated the room perfectly, only 3 children were in the performance, so the audience was small & not terribly intimidating, and I didn't have to purchase anything special as far as costumes were concerned.  It was an easy introduction into dance class for both Madeline and myself.

Madeline had several guests - Grandma, Grandma, Aunt Angela, and myself.  The theme of the performance was circus.  Very cute.

The tap portion of the performance was first.  Madeline led the group onto the stage quite well.  She was all smiles and not the least bit shy.  Again, the beauty of a small venue, small class, and familiar faces in the audience.  Madeline not only knew her own family, but the "regular" supporters of the other two children were familiar to Madeline.

You can tell that Madeline is really enjoying herself.  She took her lessons quite seriously!

They did a cute little number to change their shoes.

Onto the ballet portion ~ again, Madeline was super excited to show her moves!

Rhythm sticks...

Taking a bow... Madeline really liked to bow for the audience.  She must have bowed 10 times, and each time she received giggles and claps from the audience.

Each student was presented with a certificate.

Mommy and her little ballerina...

I'm so glad my girl had such a fun experience with her first dance class.