Shanghai Circus

Last night we went to see the Shanghai Circus.  It was actually a Christmas present for my girls.  The show was originally scheduled for March but for some reason it was postponed until yesterday. So Father's Day was cut a little short and we headed to the Stadium Theater for the show!

I wasn't allowed to take pictures so I'm "borrowing" a few that I found on-line...

This was one of my favorite routines...

I was just amazed at all the tricks and awesome talents of these acrobats and performers....

I couldn't help but "oooooh" and "ahhhhh" out loud!!

What a fun night!! We'd all love to go again next year!! 

Julia's 8th grade Grad Dance

Julia had her 8th grade Grad Dance last night. All I can say is...wow...what a difference between having a boy go to the dance last year and having a girl going to the dance this year. Nicholas decided just a few days before that he was going. He put on a shirt and tie and boom...that was it! Done! But having a girl is a totally different story.  Oh my goodness.  There is all the shopping to look for the perfect dress...then shopping for the perfect shoes. Then it's the eyebrow waxing, manicure and pedicure appointment, and figuring out what kind of hair style to go with. Luckily her friend's mom used to be a hairdresser so she did Julia's hair yesterday...

We ordered Julia's dress on-line from Prom Girl (fabulous variety of gorgeous dresses, very reasonably priced, very well made and shipped really fast!) but she is so tiny that the XS we got was too big on top. So off to the tailor we went...a lot of money later she looked like this...

Just gorgeous!!! Worth every penny I say. 

Then it was off to her friend Kaylah's  house for the before dance pictures...

Julia's date, Spencer...

The weather had been beautiful all week but it poured buckets last night. Huge bummer but we made the best of it. I didn't go outside in the rain because Danny and I were headed to a wedding. We were all dressed up and ready to go. So I just watched all the other parents get wet!!

Julia doing her own thing...love it!

She had a wonderful time at the dance. I just love all her friends. She has chosen them well.  And I love that she has so many from all different circles of friends. She is just so confident and a good friend to all. I love that. Then it was back to Kaylah's house for an after party with lots of food, a scary movie and a sleepover. Oh to be 14 again.

Then this was Julia the next day...pure exhaustion.

Drivers Ed has begun!

Well it's official. Nicholas, Danny and I went to our first student/parent drivers ed class this week. He can get his permit by this August and is eligible to drive by February!  Yikes!!  I'm sad that he's growing up...and I'm nervous for him to be driving...but yet I'm actually looking forward to having another driver in the house to help with transportation back and forth to the dance studio, hockey rinks, school, friend's houses, etc. I think I'll get used to it rather quickly.  Then Julia is only one year away from starting drivers ed too. And so it goes...

Joy-Anna's Wedding

I just watched the wedding of Joy-Anna Duggar and cried through the whole thing. Tears of "Joy" of course!  : )  It was a beautiful wedding. I love how different the weddings of the sisters were from each other. Each wedding represented who they are uniquely.  I wish I could have been there in person! I guess my invitation got lost in the mail. ; )

And how sweet was Joe proposing to his girlfriend!  I'm so happy there's another wedding just around the corner!  They don't wait long you know.  I better start checking my mailbox...

Lacrosse

I was so happy that Julia decided to play lacrosse this year.  Good for her for just doing it!  Most of her teammates have been playing for years.  Julia's never played a sport before (well I guess once if you count t-ball when she was about 5).

I cannot tell you how relaxing it was compared to freaking dance!  No make up, no costumes (just toss on a t-shirt and shorts), no rack and rolls, no props (well unless you count the lacrosse stick as a "prop"), no worrying about technique and placements. They don't even keep score in girls lacrosse! They just run up and down and up and down the field...back and forth...no hitting or pushing or anything like that in girls lacrosse.  I'm telling you...I felt zero...ZERO...stress. I kept looking at the other parents thinking...wow...they have it made!!

And the best part was Julia scored her very first goal ever in her very last game of the season!  Yay!!!

I don't have a real camera so this is all I got...with her ponytail flying in the wind...

Girls lacrosse...easy, peasy, breazy.  Loved it!

Julia's artwork

Julia's art teacher gave her a piece of an Almond Joy candy wrapper and told her to draw it.  And this was her creation...

I think it's pretty amazing!

Chocolate Chip

Oh my goodness!!  Today I came across this old photo of myself with a group of girls I used to dance with. That's me on the right at just 10 years old! I was so skinny that my costume wasn't even touching my body!  I honestly remember taking that picture like it was yesterday.  We won a few competitions with that jazz dance called "Chocolate Chip".  Sadly, I found out today that the girl in the photo next to me, Jill, passed away. I had heard she got sick with cancer when she was young but didn't know she had died from the disease. Jill was the silly one that always made me laugh. I loved being her friend. Karen (on the left) was also a sweetheart. She always wanted to be my friend inviting me to her house all the time for sleepovers.  I think I only went once or twice because for some reason I was drawn more to Rose (bottom).  She was my very best friend way back then. She and I spent many long summer days together with lots and lots of sleepovers. We used to walk to a local convenience store called Lil' White to buy bagfuls of candy and then head back to her pool to swim.  Such great childhood memories with these girls. A very brief time in my life but oh so memorable.

Top left to right: Karen Murphy, Jill Parish, me

Middle: MaryJane Connors

Bottom: Rose Malloy

Letting go

Sometimes the best

thing you can do is 

not think, not wonder,

not imagine,

not obsess. Just 

breathe...and have

faith that everything

will work out for

the best. 

It's a beautiful day

Just back from a long walk...mid 70's...blue skies...no humidity...just beautiful weather today.

And look what I found in our bushes...

All in bloom around here...

Legs for days...

Happy Mother's Day

 
My silly Mama...

and my beautiful babies...

I love being their Mama!!!

A little more about Starpower

We found out after that competition that the senior acro production that Julia is in, "One if By Land, Two if By Sea", actually was the highest scoring routine of the entire competition! Pretty amazing considering the number of routines and the level of talent that was there. Our studio's acro production is consistently fabulous and always puts on a tremendous show. They received a standing ovation! The girls are so strong. I can't wait to see it again!

This is Julia...

When I unpacked the costumes from the rack n' roll I found Gianna's invitation to Power Pak and the top ten plaque she received for her duo. (I'm really bad at remembering to take pictures at the competitions.)

Gianna showing me her high kicks!!