Ballet "Recital"

Addie has been taking a Creative Movements ballet class since January. She wanted to take ballet, and since we stopped kindermusik with her, it was a perfect time.

her teacher was precious. she had a friend from school in the class, and i had 2 mommy friends in the lobby to wait with, one of which has a little boy the little girls age. all were happy.

i had no idea what to expect for addie's recital, but paul and i got to take just her and she was the star of the morning! and i got to snap a few pictures of her beforehand with many smiles!

 

a few ballet moves... 

 

 and an increased amount of silliness! 

 

they started the class with a few warmup exercises, one of which was to smell their feet (in order to practice touching them)!

then they worked on balance...
and posture!
followed by a few ballet moves, some significantly more graceful than others...
and some dancing!
 
i think the picture on the right below makes her look the most like a ballerina! check out that hand form!

 

and the got to wear tiaras like princesses...

 

but my most favorite thing...?
 
watching her skip across the room with tremendous gusto waving a fairy wand! 

why thank you...

  

thank you! and a curtsy to end the class!

Zoo with Friends

i'm playing catch up. when am i not? but it's been fun to look back through pictures!
this was right before these little girls turned 2. wow! they LOVE to slide! we attempted to get a picture of our sweet group. i took a test shot to look at the lighting, and apparently addie wasn't ready. this was all i got out of her after that! the other 5 of them sure are cute!
i so love these 3; and those two little ones sure are becoming sweet friends! madeline was so sweet to our little girls. she has a little brother the same age; and she and addie were in the same class this past year at school. love how audrey kate is studying madeline's hand and then looking up at her!
our girls are pretty crazy about madeline's little brother, clint, and their mama too!
we had lots of help from the 3 big girls with the 3 little ones! there was lots of stroller hopping!
we also got to see this beautiful bird outside exercising. he's never on exhibit, but serves as an educational animal.
and we got to see him in action! 
one of my favorite pictures of the day! the 3 big girls! so sweet!
i think this is the funniest though. addie was so sad and did not want to leave her friends or the zoo. i caught her gazing off (with some gorgeous lighting i might add) and then melt into dramatic tears as anne perry held on tight to her. 

fun times!

Quarantine

I came home one day last week from taking addie somewhere to our little quarantined two year olds. They were asleep when I left; and when i returned, they met me at the gate blue-mouthed and pant-less wearing a shirt that used to be a dress until they outgrew it! (perfect backyard clothes i say!)
you see, sister had teeteed in the potty (whoohoo!) and was rewarded with an m&m only to have this little girl fall apart. so they both got an additional m&m given that all rules had been thrown out the window days before with 2 sick little girls...and all was well with the world. and apparently the leftovers were delicious! or maybe it's just that sweet little girl!

puppy dog kisses are the best!

Mud...

during those sweet {few} well days between the little girls birthday party and them getting sick, we headed outside one day for lunch. it had rained the day before, and i have no idea why i thought they'd all stay out of the water after lunch...just because i casually said so.

and by the time i'd found my shoes to head out to play with them, i turned around to this...
and once permission was given, the pro followed immediately with this... and since there was no turning back, i wasn't about to deter this fun!
there were a few run ins
and a couple of joint efforts 
of course it quickly turned to this!
after a few lessons... 

the little girls became puddle jumping pros too!

and full of grins! and giggles!

Favorites of the Day

It's been a loooooooong few days around here. As I mentioned before, the little girls started fevers last Saturday and Sunday. By Tuesday, we took two very pitiful little girls to the doctor and came away with a diagnosis of strep and hand, foot, and mouth...times two.

by wednesday afternoon, they were feeling significantly better with a few doses of antibiotic. but we couldn't go anywhere because they were still highly contagious (the hand, foot, and mouth virus not the strep!)!

and so we've painted bucket hats. watched elmo. blown bubbles. pushed, pulled and run through really high on the swing. fallen off the swing. cuddled. played in the sand. put sand in each others hair. eaten lunch outside for 3 days straight. watched elmo. slid down the slide. done flips over the bar. found every animal possible on the where's the animal mat. ridden on every ride on toy we own. watched elmo. cuddled some more. painted with new paints while wearing painted hats. napped. played. cried. whined. blown more bubbles. thrown and retrieved balls over the fence. watched elmo. hula hooped. drawn and played hop scotch. drank, busted open, and drank some more half price sonic slushes. taken a bath, sometimes two, everyday because we've been so crazy dirty...and watched more elmo while cuddling some more.

and i've managed to take pictures of at least some of that!

these are my favorites from today...

spinning on the swing

 painting outside on the easel wearing the painted (on the top) bucket hat
 

happy friday!

Soccer: mid season

we have been remarkably blessed with an amazing coach and sweet little team for addie's very first season of soccer. so blessed in fact, that addie almost broke down in tears the other day in the car because if she plays soccer again Coach M probably won't be her coach and how awful that would be! he's had a pretty profound affect on her self esteem and demonstrated an extraordinary level of patience with 4 and 5 year old soccer "players"!  goooooo monkeybirds!!!!

but in addition to adoring her coach, she's thinks pretty highly of his two sons that also play on her team. apparently she and C were strategically planning...most likely strategically planning to get both of our families to meet at Chappy's after the game! (and oh my...her shorts went to her knees before the season started. what happened? i've even hung them to dry!)    it didnt take long for addie to take a liking to soccer. she even gets in the thick of it to kick the ball sometimes!
and certainly does her fair share of running!

she even got to run with her sweet friend maggie when they played her team!  but before you think she's some super soccer star (although she absolutely is in our book!) because she's always kicking the ball in. no. that poor ball gets kicked out of bounds and put back in play so many times during a game...

but she's got that kick (always with her left foot!)... down!
of course the little girls are at most games with us. during this game (and most!) paul was playing soccer with them on an empty field. they made a gazzillion friends between the two of them. it was so cute!    they love rolling the ball back and forth...

and they each had their own soccer ball, which made it all the more fun!  this was a favorite though: you know you have 3 little girls when daddy can do their hair on the fly! impressive, i must say! the absolute best part of the game is when the kids addie starts getting distracted though. on this day...there was a jet!
and a bit of a happy dance mid game! 

but what i love seeing most are all of these smiles! she is truly enjoying herself!  and that's what it's all about!