spring recital ’19

oh, how i love the spring recital.

olive’s first formal recital was last year and it was so special and oh so sweet but this year felt even better! why? we were seasoned, we felt more confident, and i was less anxious. LOL

i think the most stressful part about the recital is reserving all the seats for our invited guests. most people wouldn’t care, worry, or think it’s a big deal to nab good seats but it’s my purpose. haha! i find it important to be front and center for my girl and that her family can see her clearly! my problem is that i invite 15-20 people each time and i semi-feel like an ass blocking off that many seats! but not enough to not do it, so it’s an endless mind battle in my head. i’m filled with anticipation until i do so and then once it’s done, i can relax. phew!

our family trickled in and everyone was situated in their seats and ready to watch our baby girl perform! olive’s group was first to perform. she danced her ballet routine to ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ and then her group was fourth in line to perform and they tapped their way to the song ‘rainbow’.

watching the little kiddos dance is so darn sweet and cute! they are usually all over the place with their moves, never in sync, and so darling in their costumes. when it came time for them to end their routine with a final pose, it was like a comical show with them not knowing what they were doing or arguing with each other on how they were suppose to pose and end the act….hahaha! ahhhhh, their innocence is so heartwarming!

olive did such a great job! she practiced at home {a few times} and was so focused during her performance! i am so blown away she doesn’t get stage fright or even appear to be nervous. she just goes with it and i love her for it!

after the show, i picked up olive and brought her out to her adoring crowd. she was showered with flowers and gifts…what a welcome! our family snapped a few photos of the shining star and we all cruised back to our abode for a late lunch and fun.

once home, our guests slowly arrived while hc and i ran around preparing random things for the party. i snapped pics of olive with all her guests while hc prepped the food. once i was satisfied with all the snaps {olive so patiently obliged to all the photos, although she wanted to play! oh, she’s so sweet and kind!}, i took everyone’s drink order and finally stopped for a moment to visit with them.

it was so sweet that auntie lynne bought flowers for both girls {she didn’t want ellie to feel left out} and gifts for them both. she’s always so good to them! they are so spoiled by their family!

about an hour and half later, kim and reagan stopped by after his baseball game and joined in on our fun! the weather was so amazing! rain was in the forecast but it stayed away and it turned out to be the most perfect day.

the whole afternoon was so good. the food was delicious. the drinks flowed. the girls were super happy and our guests were comfortable. we couldn’t have asked for a better time.

spending time with family is always the best. words can’t describe the joy, content, and happiness we feel to be surrounded by our loved ones. happy recital day miss olive. you did such an amazing job in your dance routines and you are one blessed girl to have such wonderful family around you.

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[i love how she chose to pose]

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[she danced to ‘somewhere over the rainbow’]

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[the final pose]

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[ready for her tap routine]

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[the girls tapped to the song ‘rainbow’]

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[the final bow]

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[inundated with flowers and gifts!]

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[my sweet girls]

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[ellie did not dance but auntie lynne got her flowers to not feel left out! how sweet!]

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[of course we had to coordinate olive and ellie]

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[auntie missy and olive]

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[papa and gramma]

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[the heintz family]

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[barbara and lynne]

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[ba and rimma]

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[no cake topper, so i quickly decorated it with flowers]

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[cousin reagan and auntie kim]

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[so azn]

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[mes soeurs]

xoxo

winter ballet recital ’18

even though this is her third recital {second winter one}, i still get so excited, although less nervous. the anticipation of seeing her perform gets me all giddy, happy, and feeling so proud of her!

we typically split the driving duties…i take olive early to drop her off before the show and hc will take ellie and make it in time for the performance. this time around, thuy, dad, jane, dick, grace, dan, agata, hc and ellie were in attendance to watch olive perform to ‘santa claus is coming to town’.

she did such a great job! she had high jumps and perfect poise. oh, it’s so cute to watch her dance! it makes my heart melt seeing her confident and growing in her execution. don’t get me wrong…these girls were so goofy, all over the place with their moves, and so fun to watch! that’s the best part! seeing each kid do their own thing and not really following a routine is always so funny and endearing.

anyhoo, after the recital ended, i grabbed olive from the pick up room and brought her back to her fan base. everyone then showered her with kisses, hugs, and flowers. after quite a few pictures, we all headed to a restaurant down the street called pierce tavern, a new joint in the downtown area.

it was a bit of a wait, so we walked across the street to the toy shop and the kids had fun while we waited for our table to be ready. a perfect shop to go to when the wait is long and you have kids! our experience at the restaurant was great! hc and i really loved the food, ambiance, and decor. it’s a cool cozy place with a diverse menu. i really think we found our go to place and that’s saying a lot because we don’t have one after all these years out here!!

moving from chicago to the ‘burbs leave little to be desired in the restaurant department. that’s the one thing we truly miss about not living in chicago anymore. we had easy, quick access to so many wonderful restaurants and bars and being out here – well, we haven’t found a place close to home that we love and we’re hoping that this is it!

it turned out to be such a lovely, loving afternoon. we all had a great time watching olive perform and our lunch together, afterwards, was just perfect. excellent job on your ballet recital miss olive. we are so proud of you and love that you love what you are doing.

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[she’s so sweet]

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[walking into the waiting room…excited to see all the other ballerinas!]

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[the girl with a million silly faces]

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[getting on stage]

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[they started off sleeping and waking up like little blooming flowers]

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[‘sleepy heads’ getting up to stretch]

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[plié]

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[done! walking off the stage]

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[this…oh my heart. it’s melting into a puddle]

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[she was like, ‘kiki…i can’t hold all these flowers!’ haha!]

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[double whammy…papa deux bisou]

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[oh, proud mama here!]

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[olive and her super aunty]

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[dan and agata]

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[a yummy bloody mary – extra spicy please]

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[silly cats]

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[a perfect sign for hc]

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[celebrating my birthday, at home, too!]

xoxo

my ballet birthday

holy birthday weekend!

in previous years, we’ve gone out for my birthday. we’ve done something fun, with just us {me and hc}. every year we have been together, hc has made it a point to make my birthday special. my birthday is eight days before christmas and it’s so easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

this time around, olive’s first ballet recital fell on my birthday! i was so excited. all season long, she practiced very hard in class and at home and i couldn’t wait to see her performance.

hc and i talked over our plan for that day, to make sure we got olive to the show on time and get everyone else there early enough to nab a front row seat. score! we did both! i drove separately so i could get olive to the dance group before the show and hc drove his mom, dad, and ellie to the school to get in line for a seat. we nabbed a front row section and the location we scored was absolutely perfect!

olive entered the room on our side, so we were able to say hello to her as she waited to get up on stage and the teacher was on our side during the dance, so olive faced us the entire performance! woooo hoooo!

i was a bit nervous for her…only because during her holiday program {from several days ago}, she seemed a bit overwhelmed by the large audience. i couldn’t tell if the runny nose  she had really bothered her or if the dozens of people scared her. anyhoo, she froze a bit with her performance, so i was worried that she would freeze up during her ballet show!

well i was sooooo wrong. she nailed it! she did soooo well! i was so proud of her! she was the cutest ballet dancer i ever did see! i couldn’t wait to hug her, congratulate her, and give her a big kiss for doing so well!

after each segment, the kiddos waited in a room across the way. once the entire show was over…one parent was able to retrieve your kiddo and i ran over to get her. i couldn’t wait to bring her back to the family so they could tell her how well she did! everyone congratulated her and gave her flowers! how fun and sweet! seeing her perform was the best birthday present ever!

after the recital, hc’s parents came over to our house to hang out and we had cake to celebrate my birthday. after hc’s parents left, we then headed on over to my parent’s house to have dinner. it was the best birthday yet! hc did such a great job making it wonderful and olive’s ballet recital was the cherry on top of a perfect sundae! no pun intended! haha!

best birthday ever!

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[how sweet is she??]

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[she spots us!]

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[hands on hip and smile!]

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[dada giving her flowers for her performance]

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[how terrible is this…while i was pulling olive through the crowd, someone knocked her in her head so hard with either a corner of a purse or elbow. poor, poor girl! i didn’t even notice it until a minute later! i felt terrible…just terrible that she was trying to tell me her head hurt but i couldn’t hear her over the noise and i was so excited to get her to our family that it totally flew over my head that she was in pain. i really felt like a bad mom and a bit angry at myself that she was hurt and i didn’t realize it in the moment to comfort her. total mom guilt moment that still really bothers me!!! do you see the shiner on her forehead?! oh, i get so upset looking at it!!!]

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[my sweet ballet girl]

*****

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[celebrating with my sweet girl]

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xoxo