Sara Rosie's Spring Dance Concert

Sara Rosie performed her competition pieces onstage on her birthday at the Spring Concert.  She was amazing!  My parents and her sisters watched her and loved it!  And she loved her little treats that she received after performing.

Her first piece was Burnin' Love.  Oh, how I love watching her in this piece...I might cry every time from the overwhelming cuteness.

She ended with Call Me Maybe.

Father's Day 2014

Father's day was crazy this year.  It was my nephew Joseph's farewell also.  So, the day before we went out for ribs at Jason's favorite place - YUM!

We opened presents first thing.  The girls loved spoiling their daddy!  He's the best daddy ever, so it's not hard.

Then we spent the rest of the day at the farewell and snuggling.  We got a pic of each of the girls with their cousin.

Spring Dance Recital - Eliza

Eliza and Sara Rosie both had their spring dance recitals on the same day, but at different times.  It was on Rosie's birthday.  I'm waiting to post on Rosie until I get the professional video.

Eliza loved her sassy little costume and was just magnetic onstage.  She knew every move and smiled wonderfully!

Eliza did two numbers, a tap and a jazz number.  These were filmed by me at dress rehearsal, and the quality kinda shows it, but you get the picture.

Grandma and Grandpa F sat through both recitals and are just amazing!  And sisters got to watch each other dance!

Sara Rosie's Cowgirl Party

Rosie picks the coolest birthday parties.  I have so much fun planning them.  This year she went with a cowgirl theme.  We had to do it the Saturday after her birthday because she had her dance concert on her actual day.  She delivered these invitations

Then Jason and I did prep work.  We made Mason Jar glasses by using eyelets.  (I'm so excited to use these for parties)  Jason made piles of marshmallow shooters.  I sewed vests from an altered Pinocchio pattern.  And we shopped.

When the kids arrived, we had them "Git Yer Gear" by beading necklaces and putting on their vests. I always like to begin with something time flexible for the kids to do as they arrive at different times. Then we made our first use of the "Coloring Corral".  That was a lifesaver.  Any time one kid was done quickly (eating, crafting, etc), they could go there and be entertained.  I got the coloring and activity pages from HERE.

Once everyone had arrived and crafted, we headed out into the wind. Jason and I swapped two stations.  He ran the "Shoot Out" station.  Each kid got their own marshmallow shooter and a bag of marshmallows to use (and another bag in their take-home bag) and they aimed at our archery target.  Once they completed that station they earned a badge to pin to their vests.

I ran the "Ride 'Em Cowgirl" station at the same time.  We had three lines of cones for them to weave through and three stick horses to share.  They were so cute!  When they completed two runs, they earned their hats.

Then we switched to two new stations.  I ran the "Branding" station and applied temporary tattoos to the kids.

While I was doing branding, Jason ran "Pony Grooming" or pin the tail on the horse.  Summer drew us this amazing horse and I cut the tails out on the silhouette and labeled them with their names.  Here the kids earned their bandanas that we tied around their eyes.

Then it was inside for lunch.  The "Chow Line" included pulled pork sliders (or turkey cheese sandwiches for the picky eaters, or a roll for the pickiest), watermelon, grapes, and carrots and chips with dip.  We used pie tins as plates (those sides made for no spills as well as being adorable) and served water or lemonade in the pre-labeled Mason glasses.

The quick eaters colored until we opened presents.  Rosie has adorable friends.  Then we played cowboy charades.  Finally, it was onto dessert!  Sara is not the biggest fan of cake, so she requested root beer floats.  We served those, or ice cream with sauce (chocolate, caramel or strawberry) in disposable red cups.  Dessert was a huge hit.

We took a picture of each of the guests, then we sent them each home with their marshmallow shooters, outfits, and a goodie bag of pencils, gold nugget gum, more marshmallow ammo, and extra coloring pages. (Friends who came: Annie, Clara, Cora, Creed, Eliza, Kat, Keira, Laura, Lily, Sara Rosie, and Sophie)

It was a great party and so fun to celebrate Sara Rosie!

Sara at 7 years old

Amazing Sara Rosie is seven years old!

Here are the results of her birthday interview: 
Favorite Color: Teal, a light turquoise
Best Friend: Lily, Taybree, Avery (dance), Creed, Keira
Favorite toy:  Fashion design books
Favorite place to be: Disneyland
Favorite movie: Felicity (American Girl), My Big Fat Greek Wedding, We Bought a Zoo
Favorite book: Candy Shop Wars, Purple and Pink Princess Series, Charlie Bone, The Day the Crayons Quit
Favorite food: Fondue, Bread, French Toast Casserole
Favorite treat: Cinnamon Rolls, 3 Musketeers, Cake Balls, Donuts
Favorite activity: Snuggle with Mommy, Dancing, Gymnastics, play with sisters
Favorite TV show: Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta, The Little Couple, Winx

She is spunky and friendly.  Her dancing talent and flexiblity are off the charts.  She is super determined and her reading, dancing, and schoolwork shows that.  She loves to snuggle and laugh with her toothless smile.  She is loud and excited about life, but so sensitive and caring.  She notices everything and asks the deepest questions.  She's a seriously deep thinker.  If she could eat every meal with only carbs like bread and pasta, she would do so.  We call her our carbivore.

I generally find her upside down or contorted into a pretzel.  She is always moving, coloring, and chatting it up like a 15 year old.  She loves fashion and has a serious sense of style.  She also loves to make people laugh and has a great sense of humor.  Rosie puts on wonderful shows with her sisters and is still in love with younger children and babies.  How we love our Rosie roo!  And yes, she is determined to change her name from being called Sara to Rosie...it's been 2 years, so we are trying to make the transition.

Laura's June Singing Performances

Laura got to perform twice for Hale this year with her current vocal selection, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy.  She did her annual spring vocal concert and did wonderfully!

 Thank you to Grandmas (Dad had surgery the day before and obviously couldn't make it) for coming to support her.  She got great compliments from her teacher and his parents, "She stole the show," "She's mine," and "You sing like an experienced 20 year old."  I sure love watching her and am blown away by how much she's progressed this year.  Listen to that girl belt! (But ignore the clicking of my camera)

Then she was selected for Summerfest again.  It was a seriously difficult venue (echo, wind, no practice, not able to hear the music) and she still knocked it out of the park.  They chose her little red dress and accented with a hat and gloves and she was adorable.

A bonus was that Laura got to perform with one of her good friends from Les Mis, Abbie.

Keri's family was in town and watched her along with Grandma B, Grandma and Grandpa F, Nicole and JJ.  Thanks for all the support!