dance

annabelle’s recital

It was finally Annabelle’s big night! Recital time arrived and she was quite anxious leading up to the big event. She practiced and practiced and was so dedicated to going to class. She never missed and took her lessons very seriously. She loves to dance, but told me she recital is her least favorite part. I’m so proud of her for overcoming her nerves and getting on that stage. 
She rocked all her dances! She did so great. My favorite is always her tap dance and this year didn’t disappoint. She was amazing! 
Annabelle really hates getting her picture taken….especially when she’s feeling anxious. I wanted to get some pictures of her before the concert but could see it just wasn’t the right time for her.
 As we waited for the show to start Lily and Gwyneth let me snap a few photos of them…
Annabelle quickly changed out of her costume after the show because she didn’t want pictures taken. Silly girl. She should know better. Of course, I’m still going to take pictures!
When we arrived home Annabelle was gracious enough to change into her hip hop costume for a few pictures with her family. She sure is an accommodating gal. She knows how much her momma likes to take pictures. 
Love this girl so much and love watching her dance!
And then just like that….this dance season is over! The girls work so hard all year for these special nights. I’m so, so proud of them. 
I’m also happy to have a few weeks off to recover before starting up next season’s classes. 
We had a great visit with Yaya and Lily. It was a long time for that little lady to be away from her momma. I hope that we spoiled her enough to make her want to come back and stay with us again. 

halloween dances and parties

Oh boy, these are the days! The days that are just filled to the brim. They are fast-paced, and a bit hectic, and quite exhausting! They are filled with school, and work, and dance, and dinners in the car on the way to Girl Scouts. B and I have to split up and we’re dashing about town running children everywhere. 
And then at the end of the night….we all ‘jam up, and grab our books, and sprawl on the couches in our family room, and read together. We share blankets and I have little smelly dance feet in my lap and we all just slow down. 
Annabelle helping out in the kitchen before Gwyneth’s dance performance. 
Off to the Girl Scouts Halloween Party!

rockies and pancakes

We hopped right back into the swing of things around here. The early morning alarm clock is not welcome, but the return of schedules and structure sure is. I like to have a plan and being back in school and in a routine certainly helps with that. 
We had tickets to the baseball game Tuesday night but only B and Annabelle could attend because Gwyneth had dance classes. They got there early…but not too early. There should have been more people than THIS. They had the place to themselves and it never really filled up that night. It was a pretty dreary night for a baseball game. Besides B dropping his hot dog right on the ground after one bite, they said they had a great time and didn’t mind the lack of other fans. (I had a good laugh when he texted me that little tid-bit about his hot dog…it may have included a few choice expletives, but he was good natured about it and Annabelle shared her nachos with him.)

Gwyneth has PE and three hours of dance on Tuesdays. Mentally she’s up for the challenge, but physically her leg is giving her a hard time. I’ve asked her if she would like to skip class until she has surgery, but she won’t have it. Her BFF is in all 3 of her dance classes and since they don’t go to school together she would never miss the opportunity to see her.

After class I had planned to make dinner at home, but Gwyneth mentioned pancakes so….

That girl loves her breakfast!

She’s a tiny little thing, but she can eat! I watched in amazement as she polished all of this off…

dance recital

Another dance recital in the books! 
We planned ahead and were ready to go with plenty of time to spare. A few minutes to grab a few pictures before heading to the performance..
My mom flies out each year for the recital. 

 Annabelle was all nerves and I shouldn’t have bugged her for pictures before the show. She did give me a good chuckle though…

The show was great. The girls were in 3 dances together. They did tap, jazz, and hip hop. It’s a long dance season and they work hard through the year to get here.

Gus came straight from the airport to see them dance. A very nice Godfather. 
 Gwyneth and her dear friend, Ella. They are such sweet friends!
 My girls! 
 Finally got a happy Annabelle picture after the show.

afternoon tea and recital

My mom flew in quite late last night (much later than anticipated. She didn’t arrive until about 1 in the morning). She was hear for a quick visit to watch the girls in their dance recital. 
We had a relaxing morning and had afternoon tea at The Huckleberry. The restaurant is located in a fabulous part of town. The food, atmosphere, and service were all amazing. 
It was finally time for the show! The girls were in eight dance numbers and did a wonderful job at each. I love watching them dance and seeing the improvement year over year. They had quite an entourage this year and were absolutely exhausted after the show. I only managed to snap these two pictures, but hope they will let me get some portraits of them in their costumes soon. 

dance

Our fifth year of holiday performances at Dance Space. We love this studio and the girls have learned so much. 
Monday night the girls had their ballet and pom performances. Tuesday they had tap and jazz. Watching them dance always makes me smile!

halloween dances

The girls take dance two nights a week for a total of four classes. Each of the classes had a dance performance the last 10 minutes of class. They are not in the same classes this year, but luckily the classes combined to watch performances. We couldn’t be more appreciative of that because our plan was to split up and video the performances. So much better to be all together! 
Gwyneth’s ballet performance

Annabelle’s pom routine. She in the back center in the orange shirt. Look at all that sass!

Gwyneth’s pom performance with her friend Paige. This is their 5th year dancing together. Love it! (I didn’t get a picture of Annabelle’s ballet routine – it was a packed house and I didn’t have a good angle for her. She did great though!)
2nd night of performances were tap and jazz. 
Annabelle and Makayla after jazz. 
Gwyneth and Ella after tap and jazz. These girls are besties and dance together on Tuesdays. Gwyneth is so excited that Ella has joined her.


It has been a wild week, quite full of responsibilities and deadlines. I pick the girls up from school and bring them a snack because they are so hungry and usually quite grumpy until they get something to eat. Thursdays they swim after school so they are especially tired and grumpy and hungry. I showed up without snacks, which is obviously not the end of the world but I could see they felt just as worn out from the week as I did. 
Forgotten snacks = a stop to Dairy Queen across from school. Every now and again it’s a good choice to ruin your dinner and have some special time together…and eat ice cream. Ice cream is good. 

recital

Tonight was the big night. Dance Recital! 
The girls were in the same classes this year, which meant the same costumes, same dances, and just one night of recital. It was a little hard to watch both of them in the same routine because they were usually on opposite sides of the stage, but it was fun to see how differently they performed the same dances.
Annabelle is very deliberate. She memorizes her steps, knows her formation, and is very serious….especially about tap. Tap is her favorite.  Gwyneth is just so silly. She is all legs and laughs at herself the entire time. She doesn’t seem to take herself or any of the show seriously. I love watching them both and it really looks they are both having fun. It’s just interesting how differently they approach the dances and the night. 
Annabelle and her friend, Makayla
Gwyneth, Paige, and Annabelle. These girls have been dancing together since they were three! 
The show was sold out this year, oh my how the dance studio has grown. The owner announced that the studio opened with 36 kids and our little ladies were part of that. We love the studio, owner, and staff and couldn’t be happier for their success. 
We were able to get a few extra tickets to sneak in the girls’ entourage.