springtime...

It has been a crazy bouple of weeks...lots of the endings & getting ready for the summer - just last week Cadence had her spring program marking the end of her first year of preschool! She will have the fabulous Mrs. Merz again in the fall at St. Francis preschool three days a week :)

a day at the park ,...

no, i don't usually dress my little girl up for an outing such as this - it just happened to be after her preschool program & we didn't take the time to get into our play clothes...:)

Here we are - just a few quick shots taken at the park this afternoon! It was too pretty & green to resist a few quick snapshots :)

First Dance Recital

Now, I will be the first to confess that when it came to Cadence's first dance recital I was a bit taken aback by the sheer consuming energy behind it all. My little girl is FOUR - and overpriced dance costumes & make-up are not my idea of a necessity for my little girl who goes to dance once every other week - but my lack of enthusiasm in no way affected my girly-girl who was so ecstatic about her tutu & being on stage! I honestly don't know if I've ever seen her so excited :)

So there we were on the first night of the rehearsal - watching the 6 little girls venture out under the bright lights onto the stage in their white & silver tutus to find their baby dolls which were snuggles in their individual cradles....and I think my heart sank into the very pit of my stomache when I realized almost at the same time that Cadence did that there was NO DOLL in her cradle! I braced myself for her inevitable tears & am fairly sure that if I had not been in the balcony I would have rushed to the stage to rescue her & find her little "Ally"....but once again my attitude did not reflect on hers...

In amazement Ken and I watched as our sweet girl seemingly unphased just kept dancing! - rocking her non-existant baby in her arms & going through each step of her routine as if nothing at all had happened....Bravo sweet Cadence :)

After the recital I asked her, "How did you feel when Ally wasn't in her cradle?"
Matter-of-factly Cadence said, "Well Mom, at first I was a little sad - but just for a little bit & then I remembered that Miss Crystal never has a doll when she dances with us - so I just did what Miss Crystal does. Do you think Miss Crystal is sad that she doesn't have a dolly?"

Anywho - now that I've had a few weeks of post-recital to breathe a bit - in hindsight despite the over-doing and all, I wouldn't have missed her first recital for the world & I'm fairly convinced I'll need to start bracing myself now for the inevitable recital number two!

a belated birthday blog...

My posting has rather lacked in updates as of late - it seems we've been busy enough just trying to keep up with our family! :) But I did want to post some photos from Micah's 6th birthday celebration...

We had a fabulous day with Grandma & Grandpa and then the following Sunday we went along with Micah's friend Austin to Nickelodean Universe at the Mall of America for another fun day! Micah was especially thrilled about his ride on the fairly Odd-Parents Roller-coaster that took him not only up & down the rails - but spun in circles at the same time - even Austin was brave enough to attempt it with him, repeatedly!

Finally! A new post :)

That's right! I've finally managed to get a new post on my blog...amidst weddings, weddings & more weddings...Christmas cards....computer crashes..etc - extra time has been evading me as of late...but today I managed to get outside with the kids before the polar snap hits tomorrow, to shoot a few little photogs of the kidlets! Enjoy :)

A Birthday Tea Party

It's a Tea Party!

What marvelous fun! That's right everyone, our beautiful little girl is about to turn 4 this month (December 23rd)and in order to officially celebrate with all of her little friends - we cordially invited 5 of Cadence's little friends & their moms to an "oh-so-formal" tea party!

We lavished our dining room with all things pink, purple & frilly - one can never have enough tulle...:) balloons....candies....butterfly sandwiches....but ultimately the crowning masterpiece of the event was the three tiered cake centerpiece created by my friend Nancy Lies and bought by my mom....she truly outdid herself with the cake alone, but also managed to make a couple dozen frosted sugar cookies to match...what terrific fun...

We also had a visit from the lollipop fairy....who magically made lollipops grow where we planted our fairy dust....we played the Cinderally shoe game....where each little girl had to find her matching slipper....and tossed tea bags into one of the many vintage hats that were laying about to make the event a bit more festive! - even the Christmas tree didn't escape the festivities being covered in tulle & flowers!....

This was our first official birthday party for our "Christmas girl"....and we wanted it to be definitely birthday (not Christmas)....definitely girly (as our little girl loves all things pink!)....and definitely just for her....it was great fun!

The night before the party I came upstairs & heard CAdence looking at all the things we had put out saying..."This says, "I lOve CAdie.....This says, "I Love CAdence...."This says, Happy Birthday CAdence I love you.....:) - at that moment I knoew that all the tedious details had come together & she knew it was for her & that it was out of love...and that of course, made it all worth it!