Spring Recital ~ 2017

Lilah had her Spring Recital two weekends ago!  For me, there is NOTHING more that brings me joy than seeing my daughter on stage and my sons on the ball field doing what NOT only they LOVE, but what they are good at!

Her recital was at the Jefferson Center, in downtown Roanoke.  The Jefferson Center has a ton of ridiculous photography rules, so I just decided to enjoy the show instead of trying to sneak a photo or compete with all of the rules.  It kind of frustrates me that I cannot take photos of my daughter's handwork.  These are MEMORIES, but I am a rule follower, so I just obeyed.

Lilah was in three dances: tap, ballet, and jazz.  She was focused and flawless.  

I am thankful for the back stage babysitter who snapped a few photos of Lilah's dance team.

We are Liley's biggest fans!  Always have been, always will be!

After the show, we greeted her with a beautiful bouquet of fuchsia baby roses.

And loads of hugs!

Then, we treated her to dinner.  We let Liley pick the restaurant.  She chose Alejandro's.  

At the restaurant, we blessed her with a few gifts to show her how proud we are of her.

I found this darling and oh so appropriate canvas art to give to her.

"Dance like nobody's watching!"

Then, she unwrapped her BIG gift.

Can you tell how EXCITED she was?

Rather than getting her a bunch of crapo gifts, that just go into a junk drawer, we decided to buy her a bluetooth, color changing alarm clock and usb charging system.  She's wanted this for over year.  Lilah was truly SHOCKED.  She exclaimed, "You are the best gift giver EVER!"

I always love watching my girl dance on stage.  The Lord has given her many talents and I believe dancing is DEFINITELY ONE of them.  I am not sure what we are going to do next year.  We are 100% still dancing, but we may switch studios.  We are taking the Summer off and exploring all of our options!

Lilah's Dance Ad

Every year, we are required to pay for a 1/4 page ad for the May recital program.  You can get it sponsored by a local business or you can just pay for it yourself.  We always just pay for it.  It's due April 8th.  I quickly created Liley's ad a few minutes ago!!! I love the way it turned out.  

Dance Photos!

Never in my life did I ever think that life would be so busy and my heart so full that some months I would only get to post two times. TRUST me, I have soooooo much to write about and post on, but TIME... Have no fear.  I plan to catch up BIG time after the twins turn 8 on Saturday!!!

Lilah had a photo shoot at Miss Mona's yesterday and during the breaks, I captured THESE photos with my own camera. The atmosphere wasn't the prettiest, but she sure made up for it.  I love costume time.  It's so much fun!

Lilah will be in three dances in her May recital.  We are always so excited to watch her perform.  This year she is taking...

Ballet

Jazz

And tap!

I got a little camera happy, but I figured if Teresa Custer, the photographer, doesn't capture a pose or a look that I like, then at least I have some great shots of my own.

 

She's such a little ham!

She started feeling the camera after a good hour and a half.  LOL! "How about this pose mom?" But the first hour she just wanted to play with her dance team members and was running away from me.  Haha.  Sigh...

I love HER and I thoroughly enjoy watching her dance. Her recital will be at the Jefferson Center in May.  Can't wait!

Christmas Dance Recital ~ 2016

Mistle Toe and Holly... It was that time again!!! Christmas recital time.

Lilah invited Ansley to watch her perform and I am sooooo glad that she did.  Ansley came back stage with me to help get Lilah to pose for back stage pics.  Check out the duos outcome!! Whoop, whoop! Get it girl!

The backdrop is just awful, but this recital is always done at Andrew Lewis Middle School, so what can I expect. 

They've been friends since birth!

Back stage: Lilah's dance team only has four dance members: Lilah, Claire, Ava, and Lillian.  

Back stage, I prepped Lilah's tutu mason jars by filling with jolly ranchers and hershey kisses.  See here for more details. #traditions

I didn't take a ton of photos because I wanted to enjoy the show, but I do like to capture a few pictures so Lilah can see what she missed out on!

The photos of Lilah's performances were not that great.  I wanted to WATCH her and I also VIDEO recorded her dances (see at the end of this post), so I only grabbed a few photos.  Her first dance was a Jazz dance performed to the song, "Deck The House".

Kylie goes to our church and her twin brother also dances.  I wanted to capture these pics for her and her father (who also works the show).

At half time, Ansley and I went back stage to take some more photos.  

Strike a pose!

Lilah's second performance was a ballet performance and she performed to the song "Let It Go!"  It was a beautiful dance!

I thoroughly enjoy watching my dancing queen as she dances for Jesus.

The Grinch!

Grand Finale.  

Lilah's biggest fans! Thank you Ansley for capturing this family photo.  

And then... time for recital gifts. The boys picked out flowers at Kroger.  I loved how they chose Christmas colors.

I gave her a few cute gifts, but nothing MAJOR.  I usually save the more special gifts for the Spring recital.

A new ballet ornament for her Christmas tree.

A glittery case for her iPhone (an old phone of mine).  

Hershey kiss, candy cane, lip balm.

I am beyond proud of Lilah.  She danced so beautifully and I am continually amazed at how brave she is! As usual, I hope she continues with dance through high school and I cannot wait to see how the Lord uses her skills to dance in her future.