Alli's dance recital ~ day 1 Video

Here's the video from the first day of the recital.  There is a long wait in the beginning because they had some technical difficulties with the music but the girls are still pretty entertaining :)



To see every dance picture from Alli's first year of dance, go here.

Alli's dance recital ~ day 2

Day 2 of the recital was even better than yesterday!!!  All of the girls were so excited and had a blast both on stage and off :)

Our attempt to get the two kiddos together before the recital. 

Eli wasn't being too cooperative ;-)

Alli and neighborhood buddy A were excitedly running to get lined up!

Some of the girls decided to play Ring-Around-The-Rosy while waiting for their turn.  It warmed my heart to see Alli not only participate, but enjoy it!!!  Not long ago, there was no chance she would hold hands.

More hand-holding while waiting to go back stage.

So excited to see her Daddy and get "more" flowers ~ they do look familiar don't they ;-)

Wow!  Both sets of grandparents were there too!!!

Had to get another pic with Eli ~ again, he wasn't thrilled :)

Lots of goodies from the grandparents ~ Alli was very excited!

After the recital, we went to Godfathers Pizza for dinner ~ yummy!

Eli enjoyed this part of the evening A LOT! ;-)

So part of what made today's performance even better than yesterdays was that Alli was in RARE form.  She danced really well, smiled a ton and at the end, decided she would just hang out center stage.  Yep, she was having such a great time, she wasn't sure she wanted to leave the stage and was the last one off.  We got quite a chuckle out of that as did the rest of the audience. 

It is just amazing to see how far she has come in the last year and it made my heart burst with pride not only to see her perform but to hear the other moms comment on how far she's come.  I am so glad we stuck with it because she has really started to come out of her shell and she truly enjoys dancing.  Plus, she is so cute in the costumes! 

Again, as soon as I figure out how to load the videos, we will post both recital days :)  No worries, the dance is only 3 minutes or less!

Alli's dance recital ~ day 1

It was a smashing success!!!  Our little Alli bear was adorable and all the girls seemed to have fun on stage ~ thank goodness :)

Here's our cutie pie with her Daddy before we left for the high school.  She felt like a princess and would not stop posing :)

Had to get a shot with Mommy too!

Had to take a pic of the hair ~ I felt like such a stage mom ~ YIKES!

Alli with fellow teddy bear A (one of her neighborhood buddies)

Lined up waiting for their turn to go back stage ~ how cute are these teddy bears????

Holding hands while waiting . . . and doing a shuffle step ;-)

The fact that she is holding hands is HUGE!!! 

Earlier in the year, she REFUSED to touch. 

She has come so far.

Are these really for me???  Flowers from Daddy :)

Smooches for Daddy!

As you can see, Day 1 of the recital was a success.  Here's hoping tonight's recital goes just as well!

let me be . . . your teddy bear . . .

As you know, last Fall, Alli started taking dance classes at Just 4 Kicks with some of her neighborhood friends.  Although we had a shaky start (i.e. Mommy had to do some dancing too!) she completely loves it now and has her recital this weekend.  This week, we had practice at South Kitsap High School since the recital is on the stage there.  I was worried about how Alli would do but I had no need to worry.  She LOVES dancing and was so excited to go to Mommy and Daddy's school ;-)  Wednesday was just a regular practice (no costumes) for the girls to get comfortable with the stage.  The lights were on and Alli could see me so she spent half the practice blowing me kisses ~ yes, very cute!  Alli was in the pink dance outfit.

Off in her own little world ;-)

Listening to instructions from Ms. Jessica

She's in the back of the "choo choo train" ~ this is huge because a few months ago there was NO WAY she was doing the choo choo.  We practiced this  A LOT at home :)

Now look at that cutie participating with Ms. Tanya up front and Ms. Jessica in the back ~ GREAT teachers!!!

Let me be YOUR teddy bear!

Ready to give it another try . . .

Here's the choo choo train again.

Don't wanna be a tiger . . . and Alli doing her own thing again ;-)

The ending pose ~ still working on that one!

Yesterday was the dress rehearsal where they were in full costume and practiced with the lights.  I was nervous (again for NO reason!) that Alli would freak out by the lack of lights.  Nope, she was so excited that while we watched the other dances, she tried to do those dances in the aisles! :)  She is such a little cutie.  I took a video of the routine but haven't figured out how to share it yet.  I promise to post it once I do because it is SOOOOOO cute!  I was chuckling so hard because Alli was just so darn adorable.  Lacking on the dancing skills but she totally made up for it in cuteness.  Watched the others and was a step behind but smiled the whole time and was just precious!!!  When she came off stage, she jumped into my arms with a huge smile on her face and said, "that was so much fun! can we do it again?"  I cannot tell you how much I love this girl!

After the girls came off stage, Ms. Jessica decided to practice a few more times with them in the hallway ;-)

Alli was the second to last.

Just look at that little grin!

She looks a little out of it here but still cute!

The little cutie right before we left.  She cannot wait for the recital!!!

The recital is tomorrow and Sunday.  I know her Daddy and grandparents cannot wait to see her perform!

a day at the park

This morning Alli, Eli and I went to the Port Orchard waterfront to play at the park with our neighborhood friends.  The kids had a blast at the "spinny" park ~ seriously, every toy there spins.  I get dizzy just watching them play :)  After a filling picnic lunch, where both Alli and Eli ate pretty well, the big kids went down to the beach since it was low tide.  Who doesn't have fun looking for shells and rocks???

Alli is the little cutie in the yellow jacket.  Eli didn't make any of the pictures because he was stuck with Mommy . . . and not too happy about that as he wanted to be eating the rocks and sand!

one down, three to go

CPA exams that is :) 

My amazing hubby found out yesterday that he passed the first of the four tests!!!!!!!!!!! 

I am so proud of him! 

He, of course, was convinced that he had failed and was less than pleasant the day he took the test but perked up considerably once he found out it is supposed to be the hardest of the four and the majority of folks have to take it multiple times before passing it.  I kept telling him he may have done better than he thought but he didn't believe it.  Imagine his surprise yesterday when he got the letter saying he passed ;-)  I love being right!  Seriously though, I am so proud of him and as I watch him study, I am in awe.  I have to say I think this is far worse than the Bar exam.  At least that was just one, two-day test.  Poor Garrett has to take four tests and pass them all within 12 or 18 months ~ yikes. 

Way to go G!!!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the BEST guy I know!!!

Garrett ~ you are such a wonderful Daddy and we all love you so much!

The very proud Daddy with both of his munchkins.

Alli was all smiles having just woken up from her nap and Eli was in desperate need of his nap :)

G's first Father's Day with two little ones was a smashing success!

We had Hawaiian day at church so Daddy & Eli were decked out in their Aloha shirts

G changed before pictures.

We spent a relaxing afternoon at home then had dinner with my folks to celebrate my Dad's birthday.

Showing off his favorite gift ~ an art project made by Mommy, Alli & Eli.

This was an idea I stole from a friend

I traced both kids hands and arms ~ NOT an easy task with Eli!

We pasted them to another fun scrapbook paper.

The frame mat says "Daddy, no matter how big we get we will always reach for you!"

G LOVED it!

For those thinking we went cheap, he also got a fun power tool but said the frame was his favorite gift ;-)

He and Eli had fun admiring it together too

I love watching my two guys giggling together!

What a great Father's Day!

fun at the zoo

Since today was so beautiful, and G had the day off, we packed up the kids to head to the Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.  It was the perfect morning for it and both kids had a blast!  The whole time we were there, Alli kept saying "I am having so much fun!  We should come back to the zoo again sometime."  Good thing she got a family pass for her birthday :)

G & the kiddos "inside" a shark's mouth ~ so silly!

Both kiddos were enthralled with the sealife and wanted to touch :)

Alli knelt right down and said, "Hi sleepy shark!"

Must have been nap time for the animals because the elephant was sound asleep too!

 Alli was pointing at the animal in hammock, just in case we missed it ;-)

We all enjoyed taking a break for a picnic lunch before checking out so more animals.

While waiting for Alli to finish eating, the boys played on the grass and Eli had a ball being upside down :)

Finally, it was off to see some more marine life before heading home . . .

Definitely a great morning!!!  We got home just in time for afternoon naps.