Dance, Dance, Dance

eWe is still LOVING dance. She prefers tumble and ballet over tap, and I think she truly excels most at tumble. They had "Watch Week" where the parents, siblings, grandparents, etc could come in and watch them take their class. It was fun to see her interact with her teacher and the other little girls. Here is a shot of three of them....there is another girl too who was absent that night. I know the hubs took some video, but I need to weed through them and pick one to show. Maybe in a few days:)

Lil' C's Bday Party

I didn't want to cheat the little guy out of having cake and a party, I mean look at this face...how can you resist it, right? Even so, he did get to go to Disney on his actual birthday for Pete's sake! But, I'm a sucker for any reason to throw a party, so....I did.

He really wanted cupcakes, just like last year. Somehow I conned him into carrot cake ones. Good thing he can read yet, otherwise the word "carrot" on the box would have definitely gotten a turned up nose. Anyway, I grabbed some Star Wars plates, made some dips, and grilled some burgers and viola....we had a party!

Here he is preparing to dive into his cupcake

Opening his presents...

And then at some point eWe was given artistic control of the party. I think Ms. Leslie had to use the restroom and thought, "Hey, I know, I'll give the camera to the 5 year old so that we don't miss any coverage while I'm gone." ha! Well, it turned out to be a good call for the most part. eWe was so excited about her "job" that she took about 100 pictures, used up all the batteries, got a ton of shots of people from the waist down, and took some very interesting still pictures of our lamps and whatnot....but she also got quite creative. I heard her saying to Lil' C, "So, show me your gift" and when he'd hold it up she'd take a shot. It was like she was running her own birthday photo shoot. Too funny! One of her most creative ideas was having us all stand back to back. Here they are:)

Daddy and Mommy

Ms. Maribel and Mr. Pete (they are long time family friends that live down the street from us. I think we figured out the other night that I've known them since I was 8 year old. They are truly like family to us!!!)

And here is my Dad and dear friend, Ms. Leslie. I think when eWe paired them up we collectively sighed because while it was clear that Ms. Leslie's picture partner (Mr. Andrew, a.k.a Tiger) wasn't there because he was traveling for work....it was also glaringly obvious that Dad didn't have a picture partner. These moments are hard for all of us, but I'm sure especially my Dad. He's so amazing, though. I'm so very proud of the honesty of his grief, his strength to put one foot in front of the other, his faith in the Lord to carry him through, and that he lives a life of hope based on things eternal.

a few more Halloween tidbits....

More of our Halloween day...

Dad and the hubs went golfing in the a.m., so the kids and I decided to don our festive colors and run errands. Here they are on our way out the door.

Later in the day, eWe conned Poppy into playing a mean game of "Guess Who". She gets to sit in this special spot, up on the windowsill, when she plays games with Poppy. As you can tell, though, she was already dressed and ready to go trick-or-treating (like 2 hours ahead of time). But, on a side note, this is one of the many things I L-O-V-E about living with my dad...that they can do fun stuff together at the drop of a hat. They adore their Poppy!

Here is a better shot of the princess perched on her throne. Doesn't everyone play games dressed like this? Ha!

And last but not least...here they are in all their glory as Sleeping Beauty and Luke Skywalker. They lasted about two blocks before the complaining began...."I'm hot", "I'm tired of walking", "My basket is too heavy to carry". I SO do not remember feeling this way as a kid. We loved going out trick-or-treating because it meant candy and staying up late. I told the hubs that next year we were going to wise up and do it the way my parents used to.....the moms stayed home to hand out candy and the dads hauled a wagon with a cooler of ice and beer around as they took the kids trick-or-treating. It's a win-win....the women can chill at home, the kids can occasionally rest in the wagon, and the men can have a brewsky to make the whining less painful! Ha! Well thoughtout, I'd say! Ha!