Happy Feet!

Tonite was Greta's first "official" dance recital on the big stage! Her group was called Happy Feet, and they were dressed like little frogs with tutu's and did a tap number to a Kermit the frog song. (I say official, because we missed her show last year by about 2 weeks because we moved, it was very sad.) anyways, to say she was excited is an understatement for sure! These were the things(according to her) she was most excited about in random order:

- Dancing on the big girl stage

She did SO good! i'm not just saying that. The kids all came out in a line and were a little late getting to their spots before the music started, but Greta picked up what they were supposed to be doing right away, and was shuffle stepping her heart out! SO cute! i was beaming, and so was she:)

- wearing mommys makeup

I did her makeup and told her that she couldnt peek until i was done and that it was a surprise. She could hardly stand it. When i let her look she gasped and said, "Oh mommy i look so beautiful!" it was really cute, she actually seemed shocked by the fact. One thing i learned putting stage makeup on Greta...i'm gonna have to keep a close eye on her as a teenager, yikes, she liked it WAY too much!

All dolled up, ready to go. She has those Crazy eyes kids get when their REALLY excited about something!

- having "extra" curly hair that bounces

we have only been letting her hair continue to grow until this recital was over because they were supposed to have hair in a half pony tail, curly. It looked really cute, but now we BOTH cant wait for the big CHOP next week! It was funny during her dance though, i noticed she kept flipping her curls back behind her shoulders whenever she got the chance:)

- Having her best cousin Kaiya, and Aunt Nicki, and Grandma and Mommy in the audience to watch and cheer

The timing this weekend was really bad, Gretas class was supposed to perform originally on WEd. night so Dick would have been able to come before he left to vancouver for the weekend. Then they switched the schedule and he ended up being away tonite. Sad. but Greta had her other family fan club, and sweet Kaiya sat thought 19 hundred dances and we didnt get out of there until 10:30, poor thing! Greta was beaming though that she came to watch her, so nice to have the support of family!

-Watching the "Big Girls" do some of their dances

This was probably her favorite part!

All in all it was a great night! I am so proud of my little girl for doing a great job! It brought back a LOT of memories, of dance in general, and the dance "world", how much i LOVEd it and made so many good good friends, and also how crappy the yates is. Come ON lethbridge!!

** oh, and you'll notice i have NO pictures of her in her costume because they are Nazi's and dont let any parents NEAr their kids backstage, even for a quick photo. lame. we'll just have to wait until we get her real pictures i guess.

the first 15...

It always seems like May is a really busy month for us. Not too sure why, but the first half of the month this year has definitely been eventful.

Some highlights...

*Ozzie started sleeping in his Big Boy bed, in preparation for him to share a room with Greta asap. He had NO toubles with the change, actually welcomed it, and looks so cute and big now when he goes to sleep.

*Mothers Day weekend was LOVELY! My cousin Maray who lives in utah had called a month ago and said she would be coming up to Calgary, for the "Time out for Women" conference with one of the presenters. She asked if my mom and i and nicki would like to come and have reserved seats and sit with her at the front. So we left on the Friday night (without kids) and got to enjoy a fantastic conference and VIP seats which was really nice. I really learned a lot of things at the conference and it was a much needed, spiritual uplift, and a great 2 day event! We even snuck in a little IKEA, and lettuce wraps from Joeys on the way home. Perfect!

When i got home late saturday night i found some beautiful purple roses and some homemade cards on the table from my DH and kids. It was very sweet!. On Mother's day Sunday, i woke up to waffles and sausages and OJ for breakfast, and had a great relaxing day with my family! (only regret, is i have no pictures)

* Joseph Smith stopped by our Family Home Evening the other night, which was a special treat! He shared his experience of restoring the Gospel with the kids. And Greta was VERY excited!! She asked, "Joseph, what did you do with my daddy?" she was very believing, and ozzie was right into it too. Good Lesson Daddy! ...i mean, Joseph...who knew the Justin Bieber wig would come in handy more than once?

*Spring has SPRUNG!!! finally. We have been spending a LOT of time outside, bike rides, wagon rides, and best of all the kdis have been LOVING the trampoline, jumping together, at the same time, no fights, or crying. truly a miracle! I think its mostly due to ozzie who finally understands the fact that its ok to fall down when you are on the tramp.

* Finally... quick as it has gone, it also has seemed a long time coming for Greta to have her 5th birthday. She's seen her cousins and a few friends turning five for the past little while and has been wondering when it is her turn? I, on the other had have been looking forward to it. Greta is kind-of an old soul in a lot of ways, and her turning 5 and getting ready for kindergarten next year just seems right.

the day before her birthday she had lots going on, it was her special day at pre-school, and she asked for pink and purple cupcakes, which i of course complied to and they were very tasty i must say. Then she thought bringing some of her things from Disneyland would be good for show and tell. She did a really good job, and was quite captivating:)

On her actual Birthday, (the 12th) she got to have waffles for breakfast which are her favorite, and then we opened a few presents from the family. She had been asking for a scooter since last summer and so after a very long winter, we finally delivered. She is actually really good on it already, and was so excited to have a new pink helmet too! Ozzie gave her the Rapunzel barbie that sings songs from "Tangled" which she loved, and we rounded out the gifts with a few new summer clothes.

It was GORGEOUS outside that morning, so the kids spent most of it in the yard, and then we got to go to henderson park in the afternoon and play with friends. It was a perfect way to spend her birthday. Greta has been lucky to have really good friends that just have happened to move close by, which is so nice. She was giggling her brains out with Elias, and for anyone who knows Gretas laugh, it was pretty stinkin cute. I just loved to see her so happy on her special day!

Finally on Friday the 13th(EEK) we planned a Tangled birthday party for Greta at the church with 12 of her close little buddies. thats right, i said 12. We couldn't leave anyone out, and she has a lot of boy friends, so we had to keep a gender friendly theme, and so it was.

I'd spent some time planning the party, but as usual, at the last minute theres always a billion loose ends to tie up. I thought i might go crazy. But all in all, it was a great party!

The kids colored tangled pictures, made "pascal" from the movie, played pin the nose on Flynn Rider, and some relay games then spent time jumping on the bouncers my brother and sis n law generously provided. It was an evening party, and so we had lots of snacks, and then an attempt at rapunzels tower surrounded in cupcakes. It did NOT turn out at all as i had planned, but thank goodness for Dick's wisdom in the engineering department, and nicki's skewers, it was able to stay standing long enough to sing Happy Birthday!

Greta had a blast, and of course we rounded out the event with a pinata, which i'm not gonna lie, i'm not a huge fan of. But Greta REALLY wanted one, and was so excited when she got to help me fill it up with surprises and candy.

The kids were really good at the party, and hopefully everyone had fun! After clean up, and hometime, it realized i hadn't sat down AT ALL in aprox. 12 hours. So needless to say, i payed for that one the next day. I still have a slight birthday party hangover, if truth be told. but it was all worth it for my little girl!

* oh and really LAST but not least, we gave ozzie a much needed head buzz, and he looks so cute and old now, should have done it months ago!

Here's to the next 15 days, and then its JUNE, yikes!!! this baby is coming faster than i could have ever imagined, I'm. Not. Ready.