Eye Contact

 It's time that I catch up on some of my family stories.  I hate to see time pass by so quickly.

 Sommer hates it when I share this one, so it is a must that I do! :) Its so cute.

Well, this year Sommer added ballroom dance to her schedule.  I hadn't been to any of the practices until the dress rehearsal for their Christmas show.  She and her dance partner did a phenomenal job!  After the rehearsal, and after my praises, we had this conversation:

Me (teasing): Sommer!! Look at you dancing with an older boy! How old is he??? ;)

Sommer: I don't know!!!

Me: Well, what grade is he in?

Sommer:  I don't know!!!

Me: Well, what do you know about him?

Sommer: I don't talk to him!!!

Me:  Ever?? You don't talk to him at all?

Sommer:  Ummm... I don't even make eye contact.

I laughed so hard.  Here is a this cute little dance couple doing lifts and flips- practicing for four months, and have never said one word to each other, or even eye contact.  I thought it was quite humorous.  I told Sommer that she needed to thank him for all his hard work ( and never dropping her) or something!  

Wade, on the other hand,

 told her he'd pay her $50 if she'd maintain her no eye contact status... 

haha.

Later, I found out that is he was 2 years older.  And is now one of Braydon's good friends. :)

Here are some fun pics we took that I love of my sweet Sommer.  

Braydon's Samba

Braydon (Middle)

A little hip-hop to make it interesting. :)

Braydon (left) Dallin (right)

(great friends) 

Braydon's end of the year ballroom dance was soooo FUN!  He did a great job and the director of the dance studio talked to me afterward about some exciting opportunities for Braydon next year. :) We are super proud of him and have such a blast getting to watch him dance! 

Sommer's dance recital

 Sommer's tap routing this year was super cute and fast! This girl is gaining some wicked skills! :)

 Her jazz routine was also so great!  Sommer is a beautiful dancer and we love getting to watch

her perform!  Her dance school and teachers are so awesome and talented and I am so glad she gets to learn at such a wonderful studio!

These end of the year performances are all about fun and skills they've learned all year long.  It was fabulous this year!  We are so proud of you Sommer and love seeing you smile on stage!

Dancing

 While at a wedding for our neighbor's daughter, they invited all mothers and sons to come dance and Chase actually wanted to dance with me!  

It was a sweet moment with this sweetheart. :) 

Livvy in Topsy Turvy Land

Livvy and Sommer also had their recital last weekend.  Livvy was one of the absent minded mice from Alice in Topsy Turvy Land.  We just LOVED Livvy's dance! Every year the dance director at their school does a storybook recital for the young girls.  I love WHY she does it: 

SO THAT LITTLE GIRLS CAN JUST BE LITTLE GIRLS.  

So important these days! 

Livvy had so much fun. She worked hard and really got into it.  I think she's so funny how she shakes her hips and rubs her belly.  :)  She sure keeps us all quite entertained!  I had to share this cute video of our cute mouse. :)  

It's really the little things that bring so much joy in life!

This is a favorite "little thing."

Braydon's Ballroom Dance (VIDEO)

I was so giddy watching Braydon perform his ballroom dance this weekend.  I just loved it! 

I rarely post videos, but this one I had to!

It is the cutest thing to watch and I'm excited to share. ;) 

 I absolutely LOVE that he LOVES to dance.  

I was a dancer once...upon a time.  I miss it soooo much!  

But I have even greater joy watching my kids loving it too. 

I think Braydon will be a great date one day when he can take a girl to a dance, and actually have the confidence to dance with her!  I hope he will keep it up. 

 As for now, he absolutely feels at home dancing. I hope you enjoy this clip. The image does improve after a minute and I get some good close ups too. 

Not too shabby for a 12 year old, eh? :) 

 I hope it brings a smile to your face too.  :)

He's the one in the middle:

Can't contain her..

Lots of fun times ahead for our little one and I'm so excited for her.  Just look away if you see me crying. ;)

The Long Awaited Day...

Has Finally Come!

Livvy could hardly wait until she could dance.  Last year she would cry every time we took Sommer to dance because she wanted to go to "her" class.  She would even go into an empty classroom and sit and wait for her teacher.  It was so sad that she had to wait all year, but I'm so excited that she can go to dance now and not have to wait anymore!!! She is thrilled!! It is so fun watching my

tiny dancer.

And it makes me laugh cause I keep thinking of this favorite Friends clip:

The Little Miss Pageant

So, when Sommer asked me if she could do the Little Miss Pageant for our town, I have to admit, I wasn't really into it.  The word pageant brings to mind Toddlers and Tiaras and the scary moms on that show. haha.  But, I told her she could as long as she do it for the fun of it.  For her talent, she choreographed and performed her own tap dance.  I was really pleased with her efforts and attitude toward all the other girls' talents, dresses, etc.  She is really just such a sweet girl.  They performed a super cute dance as a group and I started to be so glad that she was involved in it!  She had to write an essay on how music influences her life, which I loved!  I believe in music sooo much in the development of children.  I am glad that she could ponder on what it meant to her.  She did a great job on that and her talent and I was a proud mama.

at the dress rehearsal the night before

(Backstage before her dance)

She wanted to buy a new dress, but I told her we had too many other expenses with school starting soon, but that I would make over one of her existing dresses.  We made a red sash, a bunch of rosettes for a headband, and then I just glued on some gems.

Her on stage question she was asked was, "What makes a good friend?"  I thought her answer was super cute. She said, "When they have your back and are always there for you, that's what makes a good friend."

In the end, she actually got the place of first attendant!  I was really happy for her and her hard work!  She was mostly excited because it meant she got to be in the parade.

The best part was making friends with new girls and celebrating their successes. The little girl that won queen was such an amazing singer and we knew she should win!  Sommer thought she was super sweet and talented and they had a good time together!  And of course, there were a lot of talented girls who didn't win anything but did a great job.

Can I just say how much I envy this girl's eye lashes?!  They are seriously sooooo long that putting mascara on them is a task because they reach the tops of her eyelids and eyebrows and make smudges!  It is a small price to pay I guess for such beautiful lashes!  Lucky gal!  She gets them from her Daddy! ;)

I took Sommer out for her own little photo shoot to celebrate her success. How on earth did I get such cute kids?  I'll never know! :)