It's over...

The Nutcracker is over for this year. It sure was fantastic! Lauren was so worn out come Saturday she fell asleep on the way to the theater before her last show...

However that didn't last long and before you knew it she had half her first costume on and was getting autographs from the other little ballerinas! I never did snap a photo in her other costume but when we get the video I will post snippets of it and that will be fun!

A big shout out to the wonderful people who came to watch on Saturday! Mark and Bonnie brought the boys Connor and Alex, all dressed up and ready to see their first ballet (see Bonnie's post) - they brought Lauren a beautiful bunch of Pink Roses and a goody bag to wish her the best!

And Lauren was kind enough to share a rose with Hailey. I guess sisters can be nice to each other every once in a while!!

I was lucky enough to seat near the Campbell's for most of the show and was totally impressed with the boys! Alex and Connor both sat still and watched the whole show - Alex with quite an intensity in his eyes! it was very neat for me to see! Since I had seen the show 6 times already I think I watched the boys more than the show!

Amelia and her mom, Beth, also came to watch on Saturday and blessed Lauren with a beautiful red rose as well! I took the cutest picture of Amelia and the rose before it was given to Lauren.

Again thanks to everyone who supported Lauren and came to see her dance. You have no idea how much that meant to her (and us) but mostly her. Many of you know Lauren to prefer not to be the center of attention or accept things from others but in this case she was in "her element" and she loved every minute of it! It warms my heart to know we have such wonderful, thoughtful friends!

How did I get so lucky? Actually, what I really want to know is if your all burnt out or gearing up for Peter Pan in June? (insert mommy giggle here)

almost over...

Last night went great! We got to the theater around, 2:45 call time was 3:00, and everything went fantastic. The shows were great! Lauren only had 1 hour between between last nights two shows to scarf down some food and get back into costume. We have send a great big thank you to all the wonderful people who have come out to see the show and support our little Lauren! Thursday Paige brought her daughters Heather and Nicole, Friday first show our whole family came! Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Brad and Aunt Anna, Hailey and Daddy! Friday second show Madison and Valerie (our neighbors) came as well as Alicia and Cailey (Cailey and Lauren took a hip hop class together last year!) and today Lauren's friend Amelia is coming with her mom and Bonnie and Mark are bringing their boys, Connor and Alex!

Lauren has felt so special having so much support from family and friends! It has been wonderful. Her last show is today at 12:30 and then, well, I have no idea what she is going to do with all the extra time on her hands! I am afraid it is sort of going to be like a Holiday let down..."now what do I do?" kind of feeling? Well, Lauren honey, you can start getting ready for Peter Pan in June!!!

We are going to buy our Christmas Tree today (always live never fake!!) and will put it up and string the lights tonight then let the girls help to decorate it tomorrow! I am really looking forward to that! Monday I need to CLEAN MY HOUSE...OMG it has suffered a major blow this week! I have managed to keep the bathrooms clean and the floors vacuumed but the CLUTTER, oh my the clutter.

I took some pictures of Hailey in her beautiful Christmas dress yesterday but those will have to wait to post. For now, I leave you with the flowers Grandma and Grandpa gave Lauren on opening night.

Opening Night

Phew...We made it. Our little ballerina is in bed before 11:00 and the show was FANTASTIC! I (of course) had tears in my eyes - if I may say so myself she looked absolutely beautiful on stage and SO HAPPY - honestly the look in her eyes was amazing!

Today was a "normal day" no crazy let downs, freaky fevers or need to super hero dads to swoop in! All went as planned! We did have to leave early for the show because of weather concerns - but the drive went fine and Lauren and I got to stop at Anthony's Pizza for dinner before getting to the theater. Anthony's is probably Colorado's closest thing to New York Style Pizza (I prefer Big Bills though) - Anyway at Anthony's the pizza is as big as Lauren's head...I promise

And yet this skinny minny can polish off the whole piece!

However I would not recommend the Garlic Bread with Cheese...Where's the cheese?

Back Stage on opening night, no nerves, no jitters just Lauren and her book...(and annoyed glance at mom for taking her picture YET again.

I can't take pictures or video during the show - but we do get to purchase a video. I am waiting till I see all the shows to choose which night I want a video of and when we get it I will post some snippits! Hopefully it doesn't take to long to arrive.

Thanks to Paige, Heather and Nicole for braving the weather and coming out to the show! Lauren was SUPER happy that the girls came down to see her backstage - she talked about it on the way home and I think it made her feel special!

Tomorrow we do it all over again - twice! 4:30 and 7:30 - call time 3:00! I can't wait (really I can't)

Wordless Wednesday

It seems only appropriate, on the eve of Nutcracker opening night, to post this photo of Lauren's first dance recital. And yes she danced to "THAT" song!

And here she is, all grown up, in makeup and all waiting for her mouse costume back stage for Nutcracker Dress Rehearsals. (would someone please feed that girl!)

Belly Aches, Nutcrackers and Sunshine

Hailey, Hailey, Hailey...Poor little thing. She hasn't been feeling well since Friday. Hailey does not succumb to being sick very easily. She plugs right along as if all were fine until she hits a wall (usually when her fever gets high) - this little bug she has thrown her for a loop though. She continues to want to play and have fun but she keeps getting pains in her tum tum and occasionally complains that her eye hurts (the left one). Her symptoms are really just fever and congestion...but if she keeps complaining about these other two ailments we will have to see the Dr. tomorrow. She is sleeping well so I am sure she is fine! Yesterday while complaining of eye pain Lauren says "I wonder what is wrong with her eye? She doesn't have a black eye and I don't know what pink eye looks like but..." to which Hailey replies - "I don't have pink eye my eyes are blue" - I thought that was very cute!!!

Lauren got to try on one of her Nutcracker Costumes yesterday (and dance in it briefly) Of course this Mother of the year did not have her camera with her - thank goodness for my Blackberry! Poor Lauren though...she just can't ever get kids out of her space...she had up to 3 girls at any given moment trying to help her get her costume on after we got home she says "Chloe tried to help me get my pants on, my pants mom" "I told her I could do it but..." I don't know what it is about Lauren but kids just can't stay out of her space!


Six little Bon Bons and 1 costume lady!


Hmm...this looks interesting


Chloe lends a hand?


Looks good from the rear, Lauren turn around please!


Thank you! I wanted a front picture!

SO, maybe I need to wear my camera around my neck like a tourist and show up to each practice armed with a device that will actually capture a decent photo of my daughter gearing up for the nutcracker!! I don't know...maybe at dress rehearsals!

Anyway, when I went to remove these very blurry photos from the phone I stumbled upon some photos from our last trip to Beaver Creek that I forgot I took. The first two feature a little baby deer...cute!





And finally...I love this scenic shot...makes you wonder though...why when taking pictures with the phone do the ones of the good things like the deer and of course my daughter have to turn out so grainy and gross and yet this one is ready for a frame? Couldn't be operator error could it? Nahhhh.



Have a wonderful Sunday! Ours will be full of football, Basement organizing, Laundry and Spelling homework (oh and probably tummy aches and fevers too)

Nutcracker Rehearsals

Nutcracker rehearsals for Lauren are 3 straight hours of dance with a 5 minute break! For the first 2 hours she rehearses the Battle Scene as a Mouse. The last hour she is a Bon Bon (one of Mother Gingers children) her part in this scene is very "technical" and it will take all 24 rehearsals for most of this to really come together! It is fun to watch. Lauren does quite well, if you really pay attention she is on her mark and on time more than the others (go Lauren) it is distracting though because the girl on the end finds it necessary to squish up to Lauren so close that she can't move well - Hailey dances on the bar the whole time thus blocking the camera view...and there is another part of the scene rehearsing in the back ground!!!

So...I recommend watching the video multiple times - once to watch Lauren, once to watch the girl on the end who is driving Lauren crazy and a final time to watch Hailey.

Sorry the video is grainy...I used my blackberry to film it - next time I will bring the FLIP.

Enjoy!! Oh and this is not the whole dance - they have not taught all the choreography yet.

OK, bummer - I am having major trouble with the first video....it is choppy too...SORRY.



I also took some video of just Hailey dancing at the bar...unfortunately I started after she done really practicing her positions etc - her 5th position rivals that of the pros but she was having fun so enjoy this too!