Emma's dance, more thoughts from mom

(photos taken in the fall of 2008)

Performance week and night had me thinking a lot about why I have Emma in dance... I think it is so very important that we put our kids into something, whether it be dance, sports, karate, whatever. Because its about so much more than learning to do something. It's about building confidence in a child. It's also about putting them in an environment where they are taught discipline, sportsmanship, and teamwork.

When I think back on my childhood I feel so grateful that my mom put us in dance and that we were allowed and encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities at school. Even that we were Girl Scouts. I'll admit I was a terrible student by my highschool years. I cared much more about my showchoir classes than I did academics. I'm not saying that I am proud of that, but I do know that being involved in choir gave me a confidence and pride in myself that I may not have had without it in my life.

In fact, the word "confidence" came to my mind a lot as I watched Emma in dance this past year... Confidence is built in so many stages. She started off the year incredibly uncoordinated and out of touch with her body. The first thing she started doing well was her birdnest. Ms. Judi commented several times on what a nice back she has for dance and how flexible she is.



I remember sometime in the beginning of the year Ms. Judi told me that Emma wasn't showing any strength in her arms - very jello-y and soft with her movements. (I knew this and it bothered me actually because I was the opposite in dance - very strong and punchy - not the graceful ballerina type.) When I told her that I saw this too she was very positive and said that soft flowy arms were not a bad thing for a ballerina. She also commented on how Emma had such a nice build for a dancer with her long legs and slender frame. I kind of snickered at the idea of my daughter being a dancer when she was obviously so uncoordinated... (how mean of me, huh?) and Ms. Judi was quick to tell me that she might surprise me, again commenting on her build and strong back.






And how wonderful that Ms. Judi remained so positive and encouraging with Emma. By the beginning of Spring, Emma was doing really well with their dance number. She was very focused and tried really hard to keep up. Ms. Judi was really noticing, but telling Emma didn't always help because we found that it embarrassed her and she didn't like the attention. Interesting about her. That's why I wasn't sure how she would perform - if she would do her routine all out or if she would look like she wanted to hide.

She put so much strength in her routine at dress rehearsal and on performance night. I didn't see all out smiles, but I saw expression which was awesome to watch. And I saw great posture and confidence. It was a joy. I am so proud of her.

Then to be showered with praise, hugs and gifts... Every child needs to experience that.

Emma has learned so much from her one year in dance. Her coordination has improved greatly, she can follow direction better and I love watching her be excited about learning something new. I don't know how long Emma will dance. But this just isn't about dancing. It's about all those things that come from the experience and how she is being shaped in body and mind for the person she will become.

"I Love Ballet" | dance recital part 2

Recital night was fabulous and fun! The girls did a beautiful job and we were all very proud of them.

Here's Emma with her dance teacher, Ms. Judi.

She's an incredibly accomplished dancer/performer, choreographer and teacher. She has really encouraged Emma in her first year of dance.

The girls before their performance ~


I just adore this shot (once again blurring out the other girls a bit) ~

I hope I didn't lead you to think I would have lots of actual performance photos. I got a few good ones of the actual performance and that's it. I would have done better but Ethan decided he needed to sit on my lap while they were on stage and I couldn't be still enough to take as many shots as I wanted.

After Emma's performance and after she was awarded with a beautiful medal for her first year in dance, Auti and I took off backstage to give Emma her first flowers. Auti was SO EXCITED to see Emma and give her the flowers.

Emma was excited to show Auti around the room ~


Emma and CeCe ~

Aren't they just adorable?

Emma had so many people there cheering her on and I was so grateful for the love and support they gave her.


We were just so proud of her. We talked about it all night... How well she did, how beautiful she looked, how proud we were. Are.


This is my FAVORITE photo of the whole night ~

Auntie Donna was telling her how well she did. Isn't it precious and look at little Auti's face in the background.

And lastly, a few close ups of the medal which I think is such a special momento of the night~

"I Love Ballet" | dance recital part 1

Emma's first year in dance. Five years old.

Recital? Performing in front of people? Wearing a costume? What does that all mean mommy? She didn't ask me that exact question. But I knew she was feeling it every time I tried to prep her for it. I knew she was just going with the flow because that's what they do at five years old. The only thing that ever sparked any interest was when there would be mention of a costume. We only knew it was going to be gold.

Let me tell you, she was "golden" at her dress rehearsal.

There were three preschool groups this year. Her group was the difficult group. Lots of behavior issues. Emma did incredibly well in class, despite everything else going on around her. I wasn't prepared for her class to do as well as they did on dress rehearsal night. But they were AWESOME.


Emma was AWESOME. And I breathed a huge sigh of relief because yes, I had been worried. I didn't know what she would do up there. I didn't know if she would be shy or embarrassed like she sometimes was in class. I didn't know if she would watch Ms. Judi or look around. I just didn't know.

It had to have been the costume.

What little girl wouldn't have a huge boost of confidence looking this cute?!




She did almost all her own posing ~


Don't know what that front arm was doing, but I am so proud to see such a confident little girl here.


There was lots of this

as my little model ran all over the place finding new and exciting places to pose for me.

Isn't that tutu too funny? It was supposed to sit at her hips, but it didn't want to stay there so oh well.





I adore this photo. It won't be the one I put on my wall, but this one just speaks to me ~


Ms. Judi would have killed me if she knew Emma was running around like this in her costume. Had to do it. This mommy had to do it. :)

Will be back in a day or two with more from recital night. Thanks for stopping by!

Ten on Tuesday

Can you believe it! Ten on TUESDAY!

I think a lot about our various connections to the city of Orange... I'm in Orange A LOT. I drive through almost every day of the week for one thing or another, mainly taking Emma to and from preschool. I also have moving and buying a house on my brain and you will often hear me say that we just need to move to Orange. I thought I would title this post Ten Reasons Why We Need to Move to Orange, and I guess I could, but I don't know that these are exactly reasons so much as they are about our connections. But yes, life would be a bit easier if we just moved closer. I plan on using this list for a scrapbook layout sometime... Okay, here goes:

1. Our home church is in Orange, which is also where we were married.
2. The preschool is in Orange.
3. Emma takes dance in Orange.
4. The kids do VBS in Orange (at a friend's church).
5. Our hairdressers are in Orange (Emma's and mine).
6. We bank just outside of Orange.
7. My scrapbook nights are in Orange because that's where my CM consultant lives (actually she lives in Tustin/Santa Ana, but its borderline Orange.)
8. My closest girlfriend and family lives in Orange, whom we celebrate half our holidays with. (I'd love to live closer to them.)
9. All our doctors are in Orange (or again along the border of).
10. Both kids were born in Orange.

I could probably list a few more like both park parties we've had for the kids have been in Orange parks, our finanacial consultant is in Orange, I have quite a few other friends in Orange. Crazy how much we do there. We haven't started looking for houses yet, but we'll probably start our search in that general area and see where it takes us.

On another note, I'm dying to share recital photos with you, but I really REALLY need to get some client work done first... Here's just one until I can come back.


So proud of our little girl.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Ten on Wednesday

I wish I were a better blogger. Oh sure, I have lots of other things I could be better at as well. But dang it, I wish I could be a regular blogger. I don't have an exciting life. But I have a busy life. And I have two kids. There is PLENTY to blog about and document. Oh well...

And I always seem to miss "Ten on Tuesday" when its TUESDAY. So its Wednesday and I'll share ten things going on around here anyway.

1. Have you checked out my new business blog?! I love it! I finally went with Wordpress and although I don't find them to be as easy to use as Blogger, I love the style and the professional look of it. I also love the larger photos. And the custom background. Oh and the rotating header. Yep, I love my new business blog. Take a peek!

2. Some new pics of the kids ~





3. Emma's very first dance recital is this Saturday. To say that I am nervous is an understatement. I am being assured that she will do fine, but truly I just don't know what to expect. I don't think she knows what to expect either. It will be interesting.

4. We finally know where Emma is going to Kindergarten next year. It was really hard not knowing what was happening... We knew we didn't want her attending our home school and the school we wanted to transfer her to required that we do a lottery to get in. We also knew that we couldn't afford to continue her on at her current school for Kindergarten. I was so relieved to find out she got in to our school of choice. Its an AWESOME school and I'm just so excited for her!

5. I follow a very cool photographer/blogger friend, named Lyndsay, who introduced me to this cool word art site, wordle. Here's Lyndsay's end result and what she will be putting up in her home.

So I played around and came up with this for my family ~


I'm excited to use this as a template and tweak it in Photoshop to create our own wall plaque. Cool, huh?

6. I finally went to the doctor after having horrible back pain for a year and now having issues with some hair loss. I have no results as of yet because I still need to go in for my blood work, but its a start and that's huge for me. I just want to feel better and know what's going on. My mom had problems with her thyroid so I'm thinking that the hair loss could be related. We'll see.

7. Daniel and I are back on our weight loss program. (See an old post about it here.)He had gained all his weight back, but is doing really well and has already lost 15 pounds. I had lost about 30 pounds and had gained back about half. I've so far lost maybe five pounds, but haven't been working as hard as Daniel. I need to excercise too and I'm just not. Losing weight, especially after the first time, is even harder.

8. I've been photographing my good friend's baby since she was a newborn. Shortly after her six month session mom found a modeling agent. I believe her first gig was with Infantino, who makes slings and baby carriers, and wouldn't you know it, they are using her as one of their models! I am SO VERY EXCITED for her and can't wait to see her precious little face on the packaging.

Here are a few snapshots I took of her during lunch the other day ~

Just the happiest, cutest little baby ever. Oh, I forgot beautiful... Yep, she's quite the beauty too.

9. I may be a terrible blogger, but I'm actually keeping up with my Photo of the Day blog quite well! I don't catch every day, but I get most days. I can't wait to put a whole year's worth of photos in a book at the end of the year.

10. One last silly photo of the kids. ~

Yep, those are their Easter baskets. They crack me up.

Okay, I have a busy rest of the week with Emma being the Super Star of the week at school and then her dance recital this weekend... Wish us luck and lots of fun! It's all about having fun, right?

Blessings to you!