Ella's Dance Recital 2012

Ella LOVES to dance and she has had so much fun this year in her dance class. I tried to talk her out of it because we had so many other activities this year, but in the end we let her do it still, knowing it would be her last year. She loved seeing Miss Heidi each week, she loved making new friends in her class and of course, she loved dancing around like a rock star (she now says she wants to be a librarian or a rock star when she grows up). She was super excited to get glammed up for the big recital and did a great job! We love our little dancing girl :-)!

With her cheering section...Grammy, Hopie, Kayley and Oliver

with her whole class / 
and some parting words of encouragement from Miss Heidi


Preston completely passed out on the way there, but woke up in time for the show



First up was tap, "Who Says"
(I tried to take pictures while video-ing and it stopped recording after, so three part videos is what we have...lesson learned for ballet)







And then was ballet, "Crazier"
I was so impressed by Ella's gracefulness this year. She looked beautiful!






Daddy brought her some pretty flowers for after the show.
I love this picture of the two of them!

And then we were all off to Addie's preschool, including our cheering section :-).

On Our Way to Our Crazy Thursday

Last Thurday, the 17th, was one super crazy night for us. We had Ella's dance recital at 6:15pm AND Addie's preschool graduation at 7pm (plus we skipped swim practice and Ella's open house). Ella's dance recital was initially to start at 6:30pm, but was moved to 6:15pm and those extra 15 minutes totally saved us! Addie was supposed to be at her school at 6:30pm, so we dropped her off at Emily's before the recital so she could get to her room on time. She does better when she is not rushed and is following her usual routine so we knew it would be better for her to do things exactly as they practiced during the school day. Then the rest of the family went and watched Ella's recital and the moment her 2nd dance was over we rushed to the preschool arriving just in time for it to start. It was a relief! At the end of it all we went and got a late dinner at ChickFila since it is all the kiddos favorite fast food and we never go as a family. Pictures of the individual events to come!

Preston is quite the little music man. He loves to sing along to whatever is playing and makes faces like he is really into it :-). Here is singing along to Adele.

Thomas Cake

Finally, time to get caught up on this blog!!! And first up is Preston's big birthday...

Preston's birthday fell on Sunday this year (and Mother's Day) so we were able to have his special birthday dinner on the real day which is always fun.
Whenever we talked about his birthday leading up to the big day the one thing he always would talk about was a Thomas cake. I have never been tempted to buy a "real" cake before (although I shoudl have been because heaven knows I could not make a pretty cake!) but this year I decided to go for it. Preston loves Thomas so much and it was his family-only party this year so I couldn't resist. It turned out super cute and he was thrilled when he saw it :-).
We had a BBQ feast that was sooo yummy. Barbeque is one of those things that always tastes better homemade to me. I have yet to try a brisket at a restaurant that is even half as good as one my grandfather or Mike's dad makes and everyone knows potato salad is only good when homemade. Mike has been having a brisket making apprenticeship with his dad on their last couple trips out here now that we have a smoker (thanks to Frog). So he helped us get it started before they headed back to San Antonio on Saturday and Mike finished it up. It was SO good! I fixed up the sides including a quinoa salad, potato salad and baked beans and we ate and talked and watched Preston open his presents.
He was one lucky boy and received Thomas books, trains, pillow case, water toys and a tent. He was completely exhausted from all the fun and fell asleep on his floor later that night!
Happy 3rd birthday to our little Prestonian :-)!



















thank you hugs for Oliver

Mother's Day

Since Preston's birthday was on Mother's Day this year, it meant the day was more about him than anything else. Mike was sure to be extra helpful though as we prepped for our family party that afternoon...and I got lots of chocolate at church, which made me happy too :-). I have lots of big events to catch up on, but I am making myself finish a photo-shoot first, which means the personal stuff has to wait for now. So until then, here is a picture of me and my cute crazies from Mother's Day morning. It's not the best picture of any of us, but what can you do? Sometimes they drive me crazy but I sure love them with all my heart and am so thankful to be their mom!

Prest and Dust

Give 'em another year and they'll be running around in the dirt together.

Mike's fam couldn't stay for Preston's birthday the next day, so he got to open their presents before we headed off to the piano recital. He was definitely excited and it got him all warmed up for his special day :-)!

pre-inspection with his flashlight

And one more of cute Dustin rocking Meema's glasses.