My, How Time Flies...

So as I mentioned, my girlie had her dance recital this weekend, and her dad and I couldn't have been more proud! In anticipation of the recital, we watched our dvd of last year's recital with my mother-in-law and her sister, who came out for the weekend. They had not seen last year's recital, and it was fun to watch our girl again. It's always shocking to me to go back and see videos or pictures of her (or her sister!) from previous years -- I see my girls every day and while I do notice changes in them, there is more of an impact when I look at older pictures of them. I can't believe how quickly they are growing up! This is a picture of my girls from last year's recital. My oldest daughter looks so little to me -- she was in kindergarten, I have to remind myself! And my baby was still in a rear-facing car seat!

And here is my girl from this year's recital. What a beauty she has grown into! (I'm little biased, I know...) She and I had a great time getting ready -- beauty shop in the bathroom! She got her costume on and then she sat in the chair while I curled her hair and put it up, and then because it was a special occasion, I put a little make-up on her. She felt very grown-up and couldn't wait to "get on the stage!" I love that she has the confidence to get up on that big stage with only a small group of her friends and dance her little heart out in front of that audience! She's much braver than I was growing up -- I hid in the band behind a music stand with my clarinet! I think it's wonderful that she seems to be growing into a confident little lady -- I hope that confidence and security stays with her always.

After her recital we had the family back to our house for our girl's favorite dinner -- Chinese take-out! And we had a cake and my husband and I gave her a sweet little bear named "Tippy Toeshoes" as a memento of her big day. I know I can go a little overboard at times with the celebrations, but hey, if your mom doesn't make a big fuss over you, who will? That's one of my favorite parts of being a mother -- making a big deal over nearly everything my kids do!