Days with the Dorans

 See if you can follow this one... My mom's friend's daughter was a really good dancer/performer. She went out to L.A. and founded Sunshine Theatre and they promote dancing/ acting with kids and they have programs all over now and one is in our school district!! My mom told me about it and when we found out they were doing "Minions" we thought Sean would like it and we were wrong... He LOVED it!!! Sean was AWESOME and I couldn't take my eyes off him.  He was such a ham!! You can see highlights of his performance by clicking HERE . This was Sean's second time on stage (Christmas Eve being his debut) and I'm excited to say he's going to do the next show too!  He loved Miss Katy and all of her classes.  Zach decided he wanted to do it too so now both he and Sean will be taking the stage. Nana and Papa joined all of us to see Seany on stage and I think they got as big a kick out of it as we did! The play was adorable and all the kids did ...

After our morning celebrations, we hopped in the car and headed north to Grandma's! We were so glad to to see Tia Trish, Uncle Jim and the kids too! Of course we started with one of Grandma's amazing meals!! Seany was pretty funny!  He kept asking grandma about the egg hunt and when they were going to do it!  I had no idea he'd remember that but Grandma has always had some pretty killer Easter Egg hunts (dating back to when the other Dorans were little- probably before too but we're going by my memory here...). They actually had gotten snow but Easter turned out to be much nicer than expected.  Due to their predicted weather though, Grandma decided not to do the hunt and instead we played Easter Bingo which turned out to be a blast!! The kids won lots of prizes. It was great for Seany too.  He found his numbers so fast! We love spending time up north and got some fun treats to take on our trip too! So glad we got to celebrate with the Dorans!! And BONU...

I love Easter! The kids woke up and went downstairs to see what was in their baskets! Jeff was still home for a bit before he had to leave for church to do two services. I love that our Easter Bunny down plays all the "stuff" that kids can get.  They got some peeps, bubbles, a sucker, card game for the car and sunglasses!  The bunny must have known that we were going to be heading out of town soon! After the basket, the kids were off in search of eggs filled with Jelly Beans! The church service was AWESOME (but Jeff said the 11 was better). After services, we (kids and I) headed to the Drapals for some breakfast and an egg hunt! My folks do an egg hunt and each kid has their own color egg and all the stuff in their buckets are the same color too! My kids have their same "Santa" colors and Maddy gets purple and TZ gets orange! The kids had a blast and we were able to snap some group photos.  Jeff came over quick after church for a picture and the...

So I'm really quite mad at myself.  Jeff played his first "paid gig" at a bar and I really didn't snap any pics until my brother (who couldn't make it) told me to take some video. Jeff did great (and I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife). He played great and I love his voice.  As I walked in, he saw me and played the song he wrote for me and wished me a happy 15 years which was sweet!  My folks drove (so I could drink) and I saw a few friends up there which was cool too.  We drank, laughed, caught up and just had a great time.  Next time, I'll try to take more pics and video... (the videos are SO short because I texted them to Dan).

 So mad at myself!  I know I took more pictures than this but I must have deleted them!  Thank goodness I posted these to FB so could get them back! The kids had a blast coloring eggs this year and for once, I didn't feel rushed.  We did them on a busy day but I had boiled the eggs the day before and had everything ready. I gave them each 6 eggs (since 3 went so quickly) and ate LOTS of hard boiled eggs for the week after (yummy!). I love coloring eggs!  All the excitement wiped Marty out! ;-)

It was time for another Dance Competition!  This time it was the DMM and the girls did amazing! This was not only a competition but also a convention so they took classes as well! Al got another beloved "Star Dancer" pin (she lost one of her others but has decided to put the pins back on her coat anyway...). The teachers give the pins to dancers they see doing well (or something like that). Of course our dancers also like to have fun.  I thought it was funny when I took a picture of Am and Al sitting back to back (Amber had no idear Al was making these lovely faces...). Ali was selected to receive the awards for her tap number, "Sh'boom" so that was really cool.  For awards the girls always run to sit on the back left for whatever reason... My folks also came to watch her dance which was exciting (no Jeff because he was on soccer duty-as always- sending me text updates).  I don't remember my dad coming to my competitions when I was younger ...

We love St. Patrick's Day around these parts! Joe started years ago setting traps to catch the little booger and this year the torch was passed to the Littles who did a great job too!  They set up signs of course in hopes that the leprechauns would read them and follow directions but we all know that leprechauns are a bit naughty!  They are also clever and this year again they were not fooled by the trap.  They left a mess and set the kids on a goose chase for treasure!  Zach got up like it was Christmas wanting to find the leprechaun so Joe got to help his sibs search the clues! In each location was a rhyming clue (like in years passed) and they solved them and were off.  It's such fun to watch them!  They found the treasure in the funniest place!  MARTY'S CAGE!!  Thankfully the treasure was locked up or he may have gotten to it.  There was gold, necklaces, sparking grape juice and of course... lucky charms! ...

 Joe had his first concert at the high school.  Although we got there a little early, so did the rest of the world and the lower level of the theatre was PACKED so we went upstairs and got front row balcony which was PERFECT!! We'll be going directly to those seats for the next concert! They did great and it was fun to see how they've grown since the fall.  The teacher changed and Joe isn't as excited about trumpet as he once was (I hate that adults- teachers, coaches... etc can have a negative impact like that). I'm hoping he'll stick it out but we'll see. After the concert it was fun to spy on him and watch him socializing with people as they went to find their parents. Joe's fan club was excited to see him.  His brothers, folks and Nana & Papa were all there to cheer him on.  Al was at dance but thankfully I took THIS video so she could see (and we could go back and take a listen).  Great job, Joe!  So proud of you!

Primary time and this year our country seems to be going crazy. I imagine it always gets ugly but I really feel like I'm watching a circus.  The Bigs are somewhat aware (from their friends) of what's going on but Sean is still just living life happy.  He came to vote for me.  Have to do your part!