the Ballerina is back!

And very excited about it!!! :-)

Alli started up at Just For Kicks again on September 15th.

She has Ms. Tanya for ballet/tap combo for the third year in a row and while she is bummed that her pal Ainsley isn't in the class, she is very happy to have buddies Taylor, Lizzy and Amelia with her.

Of course, despite being super excited and showing off all her ballet moves before class,

the little turkey sat during the ballet portion (but did tap!)

Being the mean Mommy I am, I informed her that if she chose to do that the next week,

dance was over for the year as we would not pay for her to sit.

I'm happy to report that the next week the little ballerina danced beautifully!

She got home and said:

"Mommy, I dance so you can pay for October"

Such a goofy little gal ;-) 

Can't wait to see our ballerina blossom this year!

Alli's Dance Recital - day 2

Today was another darling performance from Alli and her friends!

I was backstage so I didn't get to see all of it but G assures me it was even cuter than yesterday

(as if that is possible!)

Must have been a hit as the little girls ran off stage with huge smiles and Alli's teacher, Miss Tanya,

commented to me that Alli just loves the stage ;-)

The only hard part was after the performance meeting up with Daddy and Eli.

Yesterday, Alli was the only one to receive flowers but today, everyone else's family came (with flowers).

We didn't think stop for flowers again and that was a big mistake as Alli felt very left out :(

We definitely made a note of that and there will be flowers both days next year.

Sad to see another year of dance come to an end but it was a great year full of lots of fun!

our ballerina is back!

Alli was so excited to start dance classes again last Friday!

Stretching before class

Too cute dancing in front of the mirror

No problems holding hands in the circle this year!

Probably helps that there were only three students and one was her buddy A ;-)

She keeps asking when she can do the recital again.  I had to tell her that it's not until the end of the year and we have to learn the dance and practice lots ~ little miss impatient ;-)

The Three Ballerinas

Today was Alli's weekly ballet / tap class and she did great!!!  She was so excited to wear her new dance outfit that she got for her birthday.  Her neighborhood buddies were also wearing their pretty tutus so we decided we had to get some photos of the three ballerinas . . .

Here they are after class.

Patiently waiting for their turns.

Practicing taking little ballerina steps.

Most of the time, Alli needs me to stay in the room with her but thankfully, I can just stand against the wall.  Well, other than circle time where they hold hands ~ she does not like to touch :)  During that part, Eli and I get to dance too!

Eli is such a trooper!  Today, he decided to eat his toes :)  Yes, that is his toe in his mouth!!!

The poor little guy has been constipated the past couple days (yes, we've tried prunes, pear juice, etc.)  It's really heartbreaking to hear him scream in pain.  Luckily, he gets some relief when he's in the sling folded up like a pretzel.  Looks so uncomfortable but it seems to help. 

Okay, enough about that, back to the ballerina . . . Seriously, how cute is she?!?!?!

Doing her Arabesque

She can even lift her leg!  Okay, so her arm drops but I'm still impressed!

Running like a ballerina on her toes.

Chassé

Sauté jumps in first position. 
This was really tough for her but she's starting to really get it now!

I'm so proud of my little ballerina ;-)