Ellen Claire's First Dance Recital

Ellen Claire had a year full of first experiences. Ballet class was one of them! For the baby of three, I have not been been too anxious to jump into another round of scheduled activities for her. But when I found the park district's program it was just right. And of course she would love it!

Their dance was Tinkerbelle's "Shine" song and it only lasted about 35 seconds. The harder part was keeping 11 3-5 year olds clean, relatively still with tutus fluffed backstage for about an hour. Lots of coloring went on!

Because I was a backstage helper (I've seen my fair share of recitals from the audience!) I did not take flowers for EC back with me. All the families were picking up their dancers and showering them with flowers. Ellen Claire was a bit quiet and a little sad--she asked if she was going to get flowers, too. So you can see how happy she was when Jack, Meg and Will met her outside with her first ever bouquet. I think it appropriate that her first flowers came from her daddy.

End of Year Picnic

Ellen Claire went to her first year of preschool this year and it was a wonderful experience! She was fortunate to have the same teacher, Mrs. Jen, that she had in a Little Learners' class once a week last spring. We're hoping to have her again for the 4's class, too :) but we'll see. To celebrate the end of the year, the preschool had a picnic fun day at a local park for the families. We had a beautiful day and lots of fun blowing bubbles, painting faces, playing games and playing on the playground. I can't believe how fast our baby is growing up...and she's only 4 :)

Soccer Star

Will is loving his soccer. After finding his niche as a defensive player, Will has turned it on! His daddy's cheer is "Nothing gets by you!" His mama's cheer is "Be Agressive, B-E aggressive! B-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E, woo!" After doing this for him at home, Will begged me to not do that at the field. All the dads can't stand it when I call him Baby. Turns out that doesn't bother Will at all, but the threat of cheering does. Needless to say, I haven't had to cheer once!

Worms?

Last year it was ants. This year it is worms. Do we have an entomologist on our hands?

Ellen Claire loves digging for and relocating worms. She plays with them until they are "broken," puts them in a new home with new friends and then digs for more. Seriously.

Easter Day

It was a glorious Easter Day! I don't know how to explain how much the word "resurrection" means to us. It not only encompasses the greatness of our faith, but also what we feel when Spring starts to arrive, right on Easter Day.



To add to the beauty of it all, Ellen Claire said to me, "I really look like God's Little Princess today!" If only we all could realize that that is how God sees us all the time, regardless of our clothes, the big bow or how we think we look.

My mother stitched every-single-stitch in EC's dress by hand. It was originally Mary Margaret's baptism gown. When we needed a flower girl dress for Emily's wedding, Mama took the skirt from the gown, added a new bodice and sleeves and wham! a stunning and original and very Southern flower girl dress was created. Of course, Meg was almost 6 when she wore this dress; Ellen Claire is 4.5. Meg was so tiny! My hope (i.e. strong hint added here) is that my mom will be inspired by seeing EC in the dress and start sewing such heirlooms again! And if not, then I've got one heck of a dress for my granddaughter one day :)

Easter Eggs

Don't even try to tell these kids that we're not dying Easter Eggs this year! As you can see, it is quite the tradition in our family, with Meg even missing a prized date with the boyfriend to hang out and do eggs with the family. Now THAT'S saying something!

Cheer Awards

Meg had a fun and challenging basketball season as Head Cheerleader. Her best friend made the squad for the first time (fun!) and then Meg had to "lead" nineteen 15-16 year old girls through practices, games and a state competition (not so much fun). For her efforts, though, her coach recognized her as the "Most Dedicated."