Thursday, July 8, 2010

What's Cuter Than Cute?

Most certainly it's a 4 year-old's first dance recital! Oh. my. goodness. There really are no words to describe the deliciousness of that evening, so I will just let the pictures (mostly) speak for themselves...


Pre dress rehearsal preparation...


And all I can say is, "Thank you, Auntie Sarri!" She knew I was fretting over the prospect of having to actually 'do' Molly's hair, so she volunteered (or perhaps I begged!) to take over. Thank goodness! And thank goodness for gel, bobby pins, and hairspray!



The dress rehearsal:



Please note that at the very second that this picture was taken, Molly was doing the EXACT same dance step as the other dancers! Woohoo, Molly! (Trust me, I think that may have only happened once. Future dance star? We'll just say that she was darn cute up there!)




As if it's not obvious, there is a bit of an age range in Molly's ballet class--ages 4 to 7. A bit of a height range, too! :)




Post dress rehearsal pictures. Too cute for words!


Walking to dress rehearsal #2. Tap/Jazz.




Again, a wide range of ages is evident. Or someone never got 'height juice' in her bottle during her infant years!


Backstage prior to the real deal. One of my favorite pics!




Another favorite. Sweet, sweet, and sweet!


And I must compliment Daddy for doing his job just right--having flowers in hand for his favorite dancing girl after the show!



Showing off her ribbon and 'Perfect Attendance' pin.








What a fun night! So proud of our dancing girl and can't wait to do it again next year!

MY Sweet May Babe Turns 7...

Wow. Like each year past, I'm hopeful that year 7 will be a great year for Grayson. Year 6 sure was. And I will admit that on the inside I can breathe a little sigh of relief this year, as this particular year, I don't feel like I have to say goodbye to a baby like I did at age 4, and thankfully I don't yet have to say hello to a double-digit pre-teen! I just have a big boy getting bigger! And wiser!


So many great things happened to/for Grayson over the past year. He was blessed with a wonderful teacher (his same from kindergarten) and thoroughly enjoyed first grade. There were so many successes along the way. He was his class's first Student of the Month and took off as a reader, "graduating" to chapter books by mid-year. Now you'll always find a Jack and Annie Magic Treehouse book at his bedside--his mama could stand to learn a thing or two from him! Writing is also something that he adores--in that, he and I are very much the same! And he's a good little author, let me tell you! Thankfully we already have a treasure trove of samples--books, poems, signs, posters, letters, you name it!

Outside of the classroom, he enjoyed some success on the soccer field, too! Like he actually scored some goals! More than one! But more importantly, he just loves the game. And his team. And we continue to love being a soccer family (except when it's raining)! We also continue to love being a theme park family, and Grayson this past year discovered that he REALLY likes roller coasters! Yay for us!

But more than his performance in the classroom or on the field, I am most proud of my boy's character--who he is. And who he is is kind and respectful. He loves deeply. He forgets little. He thinks about things and people long and hard. He questions his own decisions and the decisions of others in an effort to do what is right and just. He has a conscience like that of his mama's and follows rules to a 'T'! He will learn eventually that life can get hard (and even a little lonely) when you're a rule follower--sometimes you're the only one swimming upstream--but at the end of the day, he can be most proud of himself and his integrity. Because certainly, his family is proud of him, now and always!

And now, to the big day...

In recent years we started the tradition of having mini doughnuts for breakfast on the kids' birthdays. But, um...Apparently we've moved up to the full-size counterparts! And you can bet that Grayson wasn't complaining! Ha!




Opening a few presents from us first thing in the morning.


He says that getting presents isn't his favorite thing about his birthday, but look at that face! It totally is! :)

But the all-important party definitely ranks a close second! This year's theme? Lego Star Wars. No surprise there. On the agenda? A sleepover with his 3 best buddies! Yes, a sleepover. Suggested by Daddy. So guess who got the late-night shift and had to tame 4 wild 6 and 7 year-olds? You got it. Not me!

Prior to the party, Grayson wrote out a list of all the planned activities. In order. First up? Party games, of course! So we started with a Jedi obstacle course. (Sorry, people. I was too busy being a Jedi trainer to take pictures!) First, each participant had to figure out his Jedi name:




Next, I had to figure out some way to bring Legos into the Lego Star Wars party! So we had a bridge building competition. Each bridge, once constructed, had to be able to hold a raw egg. The boys got right to work and took the task very seriously, as you can see!



Miss Molly, the assistant. She, unfortunately, was a little under the weather that weekend and had to miss out on a sleepover with her buddy Carter. :( But, in the end, it would have been kind of weird for her to miss out on all of her brother's birthday festivities, so I guess maybe things played out the way they were supposed to...









This picture cracks me up! Apparently Garrett is meditating over his egg!



Notice the contrast in expressions! I really do think that Isaac was happy! Really! :)



After the rousing party games, it was time to go to dinner--pizza!



Logo t-shirts. I say they're the new party favor!





Then it was time to open presents. After I found out that my boy (innocently enough) asked each of his friends for a SPECIFIC gift, we had a little discussion about tact and birthday present etiquette! So embarrassing!



But boy oh boy he was happy! Can you tell how much they like each other?! I love it!



Now, a word to the wise...Apparently birthday PIE is taboo among 7 year-olds! Let's just say that obviously they have never tasted my white chocolate banana cream version and don't know what they're missing! Except Grayson. He was happy, happy with his mama's pie. :)






Happy birthday, my sweet boy! I love you!

Catching Up...(What?! May is over already?!)

The calendar indicates that apparently we are 2 months removed from May. Huh. As always, I guess I have a little catching up to do because boy, a lot has happened in the last 2 months! So here we go...back to Mother's Day weekend, which, I might add, was an absolute perfect weekend.

That Friday night Grayson was invited to join in on the birthday festivities to celebrate our dear friend Maddy's 10th. We're not talking pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and a pinata--we're talking camping at the beach! And Grayson absolutely LOVED it, every bit of it. And since, when the rest of us woke up Saturday morning, the weather was beautiful, we hopped in the car and headed to the beach to get in on some of the action, too!

Now here is where I must offer an apology and make an admission...I have lived here for 12+ years, but up until Mother's Day weekend 2010, I had never once been to Pacific City! Why oh why, I ask? All these years we've been taking out-of-town guests to other points on the coast when Pacific City has been right. there. waiting. My humblest apologies...

Needless to say, it's our new favorite "go-to" beach. Here's why...

That "hill"? That would be a ginormous sand dune--one to climb and conquer!
At the base of the dune are rocks that jut out into the ocean, but when the tide is out, you can climb all over them. Tide pools galore await you...


...along with some little treasures to discover, like these starfish.

Eek, bad picture--but proof that Sarri and I conquered the dune and made it to the top!


The prize at the top? An incredible view.




Hey, you get to the top any way you can! :)











After spending time on the beach, the whole group (including the birthday girl who I don't have pictures of!...ack!) went back up to the parking lot for a taco feed and birthday cake--tailgate style! (Ha! It was truly a sight to behold...but super fun!) Then, the Gibsons headed home with the other party-goers, and we returned to the beach for a few more glorious hours of sun, surf, and sand...




Pacific City, I am in love with you!!!