Dance Pictures

Whoa. I need to catch my breath. The past couple of weeks have been C-R-A-Z-Y with recitals, programs, parties, projects, field trips, etc. I have so much to blog about and feel so far behind! So let's get started!

Makenna and Addison both took dance this year and loved it! Being a dancer myself, I just adore watching my girls dance and discover a love for it. I hope (fingers crossed) that my girls want to dance for many more years! The studio they dance for had their recital last week and both girls did great. I will post videos of their performances when I get the professional DVD I ordered. My videos were terrible because of the low light in the auditorium. The weekend before the recital I decided to do my own pictures of the girls in their costumes.

Addison's class danced to "Spoon Full of Sugar" from Mary Poppins. Her costume included a giant lollipop prop that I didn't have for the shoot.








Addie's little friend was there during the shoot so she was pretty distracted and I had a hard time getting her to cooperate. However, going through these pictures I am reminded that you only really need to get 1 good shot to make it worth it. I probably took 200 pics on this day and only a handful of them turned out, but that's all you really need!



Kenna's class danced to "9-5" from the musical/movie 9-5. Man, she rocked it on performance night and we are so proud of how hard she has worked this year. She has improved a ton and has expressed an interest in dancing on the competitive team. We'll see next year how she feels about it.








Her friend from our ward, whose name is also Makenna (yes, spelled the exact same way even) was in her class with her so we took a few pictures of the girls together. They are two peas in a pod right down to that crazy, gorgeous, long blond hair.









Finally, a picture of my girlies together!

They are both going to ballet camp this summer and I can't wait to see how much they love it!

Firsts

We've had a lot of firsts around here lately.

Carter

- had his first football practice ever!

After much debate we decided to have him play with the local Upward league. They are Christian based sports group and we have been beyond thrilled with the coaches and the organization. We also like that they keep the teams small allowing the boys to really learn the game, try all the different positions and get lots of playing time. It may be premature but I think Carter may have found "his" sport. He's quite good at football even though he's never played before. He is SO excited for his first game and has been wearing his uniform around the house all weekend.

- is really, truly being challenged in school for the first time ever! I am so happy to see him have to put in serious effort in his homework and schoolwork. His teacher and the gifted team at his new school have been FABULOUS in keeping him challenged. The math curriculum at the school is excellent and really keeping him on his toes!

Makenna

-had her first dance class of the year this past week. She is taking at a new studio and had a great time in her class. She will be starting 2nd dance class this week with a bunch of her church friends who are taking from a teen in our stake who has a studio out of her home. She is thrilled to be dancing again after taking most of the summer off!

- is doing great in school and her reading is really taking off. She is loving school though she still struggles to wake up most mornings. She loves her little group of friends and has gotten VERY into the Silly Bandz craze since school started!

(Unfortunately I did not take a pic of Kenna before her dance class last week but here she is baking with Allen yesterday - her all time favorite past time)

Addison

- is using the big girl potty regularly and rarely has accidents any more. Unfortunately, she has not gotten #2 down yet, despite many bribes and threats. I have resorted to making her take a cold shower when she poops her pants, which she hates, so I'm hoping it works out soon. (And I know I'm not the first mom with this problem so if you have any tips/tricks - send them my way!)

- started her dance and tumbling classes these last couple weeks. She is as cute as a button and LOVES going to her classes. She especially loves tumbling because several of her friends from church are in her class with her and she loves her teacher Miss Jacque. Seriously, I could eat this child alive, every second of her life!We're staying SUPER busy between all our extra curricular activities, homework and volunteering in the kids' classrooms!

STAY TUNED: We have our LAST ultrasound for our LAST baby on Wednesday. I can hardly wait for our big news!!!

Spring Dance Recital

This weekend was Makenna's spring dance recital. Her dress rehearsal was Friday evening so she and I rushed off almost immediately after returning from our trip. Crazy. Parents were only allowed to take pictures and video that night so this was not the actual performance! I'm having issues getting the video to upload to blogger (we got a new camera last week so it might just be that I don't know what I'm doing yet), so these pictures will have to suffice for now (sorry Mom). They did two numbers, a ballet number with the tutus and a tap number where they had some funky little shorts instead of the tutu. The girls looked adorable!

With her class:

Flowers from Daddy:

While she LOVED being on stage (she is quite a little performer), I think her favorite part of the whole experience was getting to wear a face full of makeup for two days! She's made some cute little friends from her class and I've gotten to know the moms quite well too!

Now, what to do with the ridiculously expensive costume?! Dance moms (Holly, Hilary, anyone) weigh in here and tell me what you do with your costumes once the recital is over. We are taking the summer off from dance and then I'm going to change studios for the fall. Makenna has absolutely adored taking dance this year and I've loved having her in it.

Holiday Dance Recital

Here's a video clip of Makenna's first ever dance recital. It is pretty hilarious and cute. All these little girls are two and under (she is the oldest in the class). Enjoy!!

A few post recital pictures. With the flower Daddy gave her:

The holiday recital is really informal without costumes, etc. but it was adorable. I even got teary (dang hormones again) thinking how this will be first of many dance performances we will go to supporting our girls. Al could not have been a more proud Daddy - it was really sweet.