Wordless Wednesday

The Many Faces of Kelse

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Keegan Quote

We were riding in the car and Keegan was playing cat's cradle to amuse herself.  She made a string mosquito and started buzzing Kelsey with it.  And kept buzzing Kelsey with it.  Finally Kelsey said, "I have already swatted that mosquito 3 times!" to which Keegan calmly replied, "It is an invincible mosquito."

*smile*

Recital!

Well, recital has come and gone, with Caitlyn and Keegan thoroughly enjoying themselves and Kelsey staying firm in her decision that she was ready for a break from dance.  I don't know why I worry that she will regret her decisions, because that is a child who knows her own mind.  I am glad she does, too, even when it sometimes surprises me :).

 This year's theme was "The Three Princesses" with the three princesses being Ariel, Jasmine, and Belle.  Caitlyn was in "The Little Mermaid," Keegan was in "Aladdin," and both were in "Beauty and the Beast," so that worked out just fine for me ;).

I really loved this costume on Keegan!  It's not exactly what I expected for her as a maid in the beast's castle, but when I saw it on her, I thought it was beautiful!

She had a cute little extra part where she came out while the silverware was dancing and polished a piece or two.  Cute!

Although this picture is blurry, I like it.  It gives a good feel of what this dance was like :) 

Caitlyn was one of the sailors on shore after Ariel received her legs.  Some of the girls went all out with false mustaches, beards, and tattoos.  I encouraged Caitlyn to draw on a mustache, but you can see how much luck I had. 

Sigh. The challenges of motherhood. ;)

 During dress rehearsal, I sat next to one of the younger classes.  As the sailor dance proceeded, one of the young dancers said, amazed, " Those are all girls." Her friend strongly disagreed, stating firmly, "No, they're not.  They're teen-agers!"

 Keegan, in the center, in Aladdin

 Caitlyn, in the waltz, in "Beauty and the Beast"

Caitlyn has been en pointe for four years now and is quite solid.

 Belle in the center, Caitlyn in the back where you can't see her, haha.

 Pretty girls, ready for the show 

Love this one

Worth the wait

We finally did it! After wanting to see "Riverdance" for several years now, the girls and I went to one of the performances on the farewell tour.  We made it to our seats, barely on time, thanks to a malfunctioning traffic light.  Bill was driving us, so after many minutes of sitting, then slowly realizing that traffic was not going to move, we were able to hop out of the car and walk the final few blocks, making it to our seats just as the first dance started.  No stress there, said the mom who had bought tickets last fall as Easter basket surprises ;).  But it worked out perfectly in the end.  Even our row-mates were very tolerant as we climbed over them and sat down to enjoy the performance.

It was SO worth the wait!

The dancing was incredible, energetic, awesome - everything you would expect.

The tapping of the shoes was always on rhythm, always together... much more impressive than it sounds when I write it :).

If you've seen the video, you have an idea, but only a small idea, of what it was like.  The films do not do justice to the show. At. All.

We had SO MUCH FUN!  From me down to Kelsey, all four of us loved it!  Yippee, hooray - a great memory to savor :)!

Science is fun :)

Kelsey decided to follow the suggestion of her science book and try life without opposable thumbs.

It was fun for a while, but when she was trying to turn the pages in a book or turn a doorknob, life became more challenging! So much more fun than just reading about it :).

Hahaha

Keegan wearing her "picture smile" when for some unknown reason, Brooklin reached over and pinched her on the nose :).

Go figure

This is typical at our house.  We have plenty of room, but have two cats who are determined to sleep next to the dog.  It's pretty funny.  The dog is not thrilled.  In this picture, you can see that her eyes are open, but she is trying to ignore the cat.  The cat will roll around and eventually bump into her.

The dog knows she is not allowed to bark at the cat,but doesn't want to be right next to her, so she will get up and move a few feet and lie down again.  Then the cat will get up, move a few feet and flop down with the dog again. This cycle repeats itself a few times before the dog gives up and falls asleep while the cat rests smugly beside her :).

Almost Wordless Wednesday All Dressed Up (Again!)

Kelsey

Keegan

Caitlyn

 Kelsey kept pinching Caitlyn, causing many giggles :) 

 Hair

 <- We did re-tie this bow before going out :)

It is convenient and she does a great job, but it's a also a little sad that Caitlyn gets herself ready with no hep from me now :(

 Ready to go!

Kelsey Quote

While doing her math, "HOW MANY 14'S CAN I TAKE OUT OF 96 PEOPLE?!?!?!?!"

When they were good...

Keegan and Kelsey in a sweet moment

Caitlyn Quote

Caitlyn, looking at my mom's college annual, "They all have the same hair."

She is pretty correct, too :).

Kelsey Quote

Caitlyn was reviewing her world history with me and made several references to "Lenin." When she was finished, Kelsey, who had listened to the entire conversation said, "His last name should be closet.  That way he would be linen closet!"

HahaHA

Surprise!

For the first time ever (in our family,) we had a surprise party!  It was for Kelsey's 10th birthday and it was so fun!  She didn't have anything she especially wanted to do to celebrate, so, after many discussions, I just let the idea of a party go. 
Then Caitlyn and I decided on a surprise party. We had never even talked about having one, so it NEVER crossed Kelsey's mind that that's what we had planned.  Keegan gave out invitations when Kelsey's back was turned.

On the big day, Caitlyn, Keegan, and I rushed home after soccer while Bill and Kelsey went "to run some errands." Some friends and family arrived and we were ready!

Here they are... waiting for her to walk in the door

 Aaaaaand here she comes....... opening the door, with her arms full of soccer stuff, totally unaware anything is afoot

she hears voices, and sees the balloon tied to the bottom of the banister...

then she looks up and sees everyone!

 It starts to sink in!  This was such a fun moment.  She was speechless.  She just kept laughing, going, "huh, huh, huh, huh, huh." I was SO happy we did it!

Some of the guests -

had to include this picture of my nephew, mil, and sil looking thrilled, haha.

Bill and his sister, Lisa
Lisa is working on the flip flop craft for Brooklin

 The rest of the girls doing the craft.  These flip flops are so cute and easy!  You just tie strips of cloth to the straps of the flip flop and they turn out super cute!

 Brooklin modeling her finished product.  I forgot to get a teeny pair for her.  Oops.

Cake time

 And, of course - presents!  Kelsey received a wealth of presents! People were very generous with her (especially a certain friend of mine - thanks, Shannon!)

She had such a good time.  Thank you to everyone who came!  You made her birthday super special for her :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!