Tiny Dancer

Right now, Elton John's song is playing in my head as I write this post. Back in the middle of May (yes, I am a little behind), Ella had her final dance recital. She has done dance camps before but never a full dance class and this year she was ready. Or maybe I was finally ready. Growing up, I never went to dance class and it is a little foreign to me. I had an older brother and grew up watching him play sports so naturally I wanted to do the same things he did and immediately starting playing sports instead of dance. My little girl though, oh, she is all GIRL. She is a girly girl and was dying to try dance so we gave it a whirl and she loved it. They did tap and ballet and she loved going every single week to the class but the recital is what she has been waiting for. She knew they got a costume and she couldn't wait.

Her class had a "sailor" theme and she looked so adorable! I snapped a couple pictures on Friday before her dress rehearsal just in case we were too busy on Saturday. 

 They invited the Moms into the class so we got to see her practice and Ella loved it but I was still nervous how she would do in a huge theatre on performance day. 

 Well sister owned it! She is the one in the front middle (sorry pictures are blurry) but she came out with so much confidence and smiled and knew all her moves. I have a feeling that Mike and I will have a lot more dance recitals in our future.

Her class with their beloved teacher, Ms Meeghan

Rocking it on the tap dance

Hands on your hips!

Post performance with flowers from Daddy

 Immediately after her recital, we quickly changed and went right to soccer for her final game. Ella really enjoyed soccer but she is not competitive and preferred to stay on the edge of the action. Mike nicknamed her the "orbiting moon" because she was around all the action and the ball but never got too close!

 But she had a blast and always had a smile on her face so I am glad that we are exposing her to lots of different things and then once she gets older, she can decide what she enjoys the most.

It was a busy and fun day but it was a blast and loved seeing my big girl shine!

Fall in Review

I can't believe it is December already! I wrote in my last blog I was going to be better at blogging but this fall was just busy and I know the holidays are going to be even busier so this post will be a lot of pictures and not many words but I need to start catching up somewhere.

Ella played soccer this fall and while she was no Mia Hamm, she did enjoy it and it was very cute to watch them each Saturday morning running around.

 We went to Atlanta and Big Canoe for my Mom's birthday. My dad surprised Ella with front row seats to see Disney on Ice. They had a blast and now Ella always want to sit in the front row, spoiled.

 At the apple festival

 We had such a fun weekend in the mountains and the weather was amazing

First day wearing pigtails

Pumpkin Patch Fun

"I found one just my size"

 Sophia the First princess and Ladybug for Halloween

Our neighborhood Halloween parade

Trick or treating with our buddy Ellie, both princesses

Leaf jumping!

Daddy's with Donuts day at school

I was the mystery reader in Ella's class and then stayed for playground time. We had a blast playing together!

My friend Karen's birthday included a spa day for the girls, it was AMAZING!

Our old neighborhood got together for our 3rd annual friends Thanksgiving a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. There are lot of kiddos now, 12 in total!

Maddie Grace and Braelyn

DeeDee, Papa and Uncle Court came up to Charlotte for our Thanksgiving. The table right before dinner

 We took Ella to see the movie Frozen Thanksgiving weekend. There were some scary parts for her but the popcorn made up for it!

 On Veteran's Day, Mike had the day off work and the girls had off preschool so we drove to the columbia zoo. The girls loved it and had the best time, we will be back soon.

Check out the huge gorilla in the background

penguins

Elephant

massive turtles

Well hello mr giraffe

Just a few quick pics

We have the suitcases out, the laundry is being folded and we are getting ready for a big trip. Tomorrow, we are heading down to Atlanta to see DeeDee and Papa. Mike is going to play with my Dad in a golf tournament all weekend and Mom, Ella and I are going to have some bonding time of our own. We are also super excited that we are going to get to see Amy, Jason and meet baby Abby for the first time! On Monday, Mike and I are are flying out to California for a couple days to celebrate our anniversary while Ella and Dakota stay and play in Atlanta with DeeDee and Papa. We are so excited about visiting San Francisco, hiking in Yosemite and wine tasting in Napa! Definitely will have lots of pictures to share from that but before we head out, wanted to post some pictures from the last week. We had a super busy weekend and I actually hardly took any pictures but here are a couple I captured.

On, Sunday, we went to watch Mike play soccer and actually broke our back luck curse and his team won and Mike scored a goal! My parents got Ella a soccer jersey from Barcelona last year when they were on the cruise and this is first time she was worn it and I think she looks pretty darn cute in it but she definitely need a bow in her hair so people know she is a girl!
Ella is all about the pool and water table ever since we have pulled them out a weeks ago. She is also obsessed with swim suits and goes into her room and pulls then out and puts them on over her clothes. I think she is ready for the beach!

This picture was actually from last weekend but I forgot to post it so here you go. All the girls climbed onto the bench themselves.

After the soccer game and a nap on Sunday, we headed over to Addie's 4th birthday party/ice cream party. Ella didn't really care for the ice cream but loved the m&ms and sprinkles! I didn't get any pictures of the birthday girl or eating her ice cream but did manage this one with Ella and Wesley in Wesley's hot pink convertible! It won't be long until they are driving for real, scary thought!

One of Ella's new favorite things to do is to "walk doggie." She immediately grabs Dakota's leash and follows her around the house trying to put it on, we help her and then outside and up the street they go. Ella must listen to us a little too closely because we hear her saying "heel doggie" or "sit doggie" all the time.

Dakota is usually pretty tolerant and lets Ella take charge and walk her up and down the street.

It's official. This girl loves shoes! Putting them on (herself of course), taking them off and repeat. And her favorite is finding other people's shoes and putting them on. She will find her friends shoes while playing at their house and has to try them on or find Mom and Dad's shoes and put those on.

She is like a magnet to shoes, she can hunt them down anywhere and put them on and try walking around in them.

And she doesn't discriminate either. She will wear Mommy's or Daddy's shoes, they are both equally fun.

I think we are in for big trouble as she grows up!

And if you noticed the scratches on her nose and chin in the pictures, yes, that was from a fall she took on Saturday while at our annual neighborhood party. Trying to act like the big kids and sit in a big kids chair and she lost her balance and fell sideways onto the pavement and scratched her nose. I think it has been much worse for Mike and I then her, she doesn't seem to mind and when I open the neosporn, she says "chin chin" because she knows I am about to put it on her chin. I guess these little bumps and bruises come with the territory but it still breaks my heart.

So, off to do more folding and packing. I know we are going to miss our little one like crazy while we are gone but it will be nice to get away also for a couple of days and we know Ella will be spoiled rotten while we are gone.