Ms. Peacock's Garden Party

Caroline participated in her 2nd ballet recital this month! Very exciting! The theme was "Ms. Peacock's Garden Party", and Caroline was a "Carnation". She loved the girly costume, especially because it was pink and purple.
Sweet ballet friends:

 The recital was held at the Majestic downtown which is such a beautiful venue. My grandmother, Nannie, said she used to come to the Majestic when she was 10 (she's almost 90 now!) to watch movies. Doesn't that sound so lovely?!? It's neat to think about Nannie watching a fancy movie in that beautiful theater as a young girl. Speaking of Nannie, is she not the most beautiful??


 Some more of Caroline's fan club: Aunt Jean, her Uncle John and Yaya (they are all going to kill me for posting this picture :-) Not pictured but Mimi and Matt were there too. We missed PopPop who was in Charleston!


 My precious ballerina up on the big stage. She did great and loved being up there! I was so proud watching her (I almost didn't make it because I had strep throat, but I went anyway...just couldn't stand to miss it!)

 We had to wait until intermission to see Caroline which was so hard. We were all dying to give her a big hug. And Matt was so excited to give her flowers. She remembered the flowers from her recital last year and specifically requested at least 10 red roses from daddy, little stinker. Matt came through :-)


 A rare photo with mommy:

 We headed to Chuy's after dinner, Caroline's choice! Mimi gave Caroline a couple of gifts for doing such a good job at her recital: a notepad (she's obsessed with writing notes right now!) and her first Barbie:


 Posing with daddy...his face in this pic made us laugh. It's like he's contemplating life or something, ha

Jean, Mimi, John

 Nannie & Yaya

Working hard on her "notes"

 Ta-da!

We have loved taking ballet at the Janie Christy School of Dance. It has been wonderful and the highlight of Caroline's week all year. She would go everyday if she could! Ms. Janie semi-retired and closed her studio this year after 19 years of teaching. However, we're following her to another ballet studio and looking forward to more fun with Ms. Janie next year!! I love what dance means to my little girl and how happy it makes her. I am thankful we found an activity she loves so much. Until next (school) year...

Rodeo Day

Recently,Caroline had a fun Rodeo Day at preschool. She had been looking forward to this day and was so excited it was finally here! Her teachers broke the kids into small groups to go around together and participate in each station. Caroline's group:

Lucy, Caroline, Micah and Jack

 "Yeeee-haw"

 There was one station that Caroline did NOT like...the spitting contest! She informed me..."Mommy, girls don't spit. That's so gross!!!" I mean, just look at the sass, people:

 Lucy didn't get the memo about girls not spitting, and she did awesome!

 This little pony moved and talked...the kids thought it was so funny

 They loved brushing and feeding the horse

 Horseshoe toss

 The kids made these fun horses in class that week then got to ride them in a very thrilling barrel race:

 Making the Texas flag:

 Pinning the badge on the Deputy:

 Cotton ball races:

Rodeo Day lived up to all the hype! What a fun adventure to have at school this year...we will always remember Rodeo Day!!

A Ballerina Birthday Party

Caroline wanted a ballet birthday party this year!! I was happy to oblige...1) because I've always thought it would be fun to have a girly ballerina party for my little girl and 2) because this was going to be our FIRST "destination" party where someone else did most of the work ;-) Matt and I definitely got to enjoy the party more this way. Here some pics from the fun par-tay!!

The snack "table"

 Decorations and dress-up clothes:

 Ms. Gina was the teacher for the party and did a great job! We had the party at the studio where Caroline has taken ballet this year. She loves Ms. Gina! The first thing the girls got to do when they arrived was have their make-up done. This was a huge treat for Caroline who only gets to put on "pretend" make-up at home.

 First dress-up outfit!

 Caroline invited all of her besties plus the sweet girls from her preschool class. She loved having all of her favorite people in one place!

 Leah & Avery

 Natalie, Emmy, & Anna Grace

 Clara, Caroline, & Lainey

 Clara, Caroline, Lainey, Eleanor, Avery, & Leah

 Let the dancing begin!

 My big 4 year old

 galloping, galloping, galloping

 Outfit change #1 and the beanbag balance game:

 Outfit change #2

 I loved watching the girls skip in their dresses with their hands on their hips...it was adorable!

 Holding hands with Emmy...so sweet

 Outfit change #3 and dancing with props!

 Outfit change #4 and a big hug from one of her bffs, Saylor

 Practicing backbends...

 ...and arabesques:

 Time to sing and make a wish and eat cupcakes!

 Guests included: (clockwise, starting from Caroline) Erin, Mae, Avery, Leah, Anna Grace, Saylor, Emmy, Cecilia, Eleanor, Clara, Lainey, Natalie, & Julianna

 The proud parents goofing around

 Time for the butterfy song...getting in their cocoons...

 ...then becoming beautiful butterflies.

 Fly butterflies!

 Caroline loved handing out party favors and balloons. She thanked every friend for coming to her party.

 My mom and aunt were a big help at the party.

 We came home and opened presents. Caroline got some very thoughtful and fun gifts from her friends.

To sum it up in Caroline's words..."this was the best party EVER" :-) Thanks to all of Caroline's sweet friends for helping to make her party so special!!