Dance performance

Afton wanted to take dance again so we signed her up at the Legacy Center. She had a lot of fun and looked forward to going. We found out the performance was on a Thursday and we were leaving for Capitol Reef that day so I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she'd rather go out of town and miss the performance. I was okay with that. I ordered her costume anyway which turned out to be a good idea because we were able to go to the dress rehearsal on Wednesday night. My mom and dad came to watch and Afton had a lot fun with the girls.
I didn't pay for pictures this time and because I only had  my 50mm I wasn't able to get very good pictures. These are phone pictures but they are oh so cute!!

Still dancing!

I feel like I keep posting the same dance pictures but I guess that's what happens when you have multiple performances. This might be the last though. Dance is over until September and who knows by then if Afton will want to sign up again or if she will have found something new!

Either way I guess I don't mind. I want her to have fun and she really seems to enjoy dance!

This performance was at the old Lehi Jr. High and Afton was really excited to have both sets of Grandparents there to watch!

Once they were settled in their seats I took Afton into the gym with the other little dancers. It was fun seeing all the cute costumes but a little crazy with few adults to supervise. I of course wouldn't leave Afton in there for that long (she was #14) so I hung around and took some pictures.

At first the girls were sitting around, laying around and eventually running around. Running in circles, over and over and over.

After a little while an older girl came over and was able to get the girls to sit in a circle and play some games. Somehow Afton found a little pink feather (off a costume?) and that kept her more entertained than anything else.

My mom got some great shots of the performance!

Funny how that little pink feather made it on stage. I think it was stuck to her skirt. Hehehe

A couple of weeks ago a professional photographer came to take pictures of the girls. Here are some of the shots he got.

 

Another recital

Another fun recital....

Afton was sick for a couple of weeks and missed dance class which means I missed then newsletter and the info. that her recital had changed locations. Saturday morning at 10:00 I called her dance teacher only to find out the recital had been moved to Provo. What if I wouldn't have called???

We took off, dress on, hair curled, blush a little heavy on one side, ballet shoes in hand and made our way to another fun performance. We made it to the Provo Beach Resort and once inside realized there were so many games and activities. There was a wave pool, a carousel, a tightrope, etc. Afton and Brett disappeared immediately for a ride.

I wasn't as worried about this performance (number 3) and didn't feel as stressed to get good pictures and video which turned out to be good because Brett's phone ran out of memory within the first 30 seconds of Afton going onstage and I didn't get any good shots! My favorite pictures were after the performance in her normal clothes!

Once Afton was done we took off, changed her clothes and went to explore this new area. We were right by the Riverwoods in Provo and there were cute little shops and restaurants to explore. We went to lunch, found a fun toy store but mostly Afton enjoyed playing in the fountains, riding on the little Harley, and getting her fortune from the freaky fortune teller.

After the recital we went home for a bit and then over to Thanksgiving Point and met Tim and Keeley who were visiting. We ate again, had some yummy ice cream and spent time running around, hanging out. Afton loves Keeley and was so happy to just walk around holding her hand.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was sure fun this year!

First of all we had our preschool Valentine's Day party at our house. It was a little chaotic and I wasn't even able to grab my big camera so everything is from the phone.

Once the kids arrived we sat down and read a few Valentine's Day books. The kids were pretty excited and I was surprised to get through two books. After that I played some music and we went on a shape hunt. I had shapes on the backs of hearts that were scattered all over the floor. The kids had to find a heart (they were everywhere), turn it over, find a certain shape and then help someone else. If they found the wrong shape or a blank heart they turned it back over and kept looking. Once they found the shape we were hunting, they made a row on the floor.

Once we'd found all of the squares we played the freeze dance. Every time the music stopped the kids had to freeze but some part of their body had to be touching a heart. It was pretty funny watching the kids decide how to touch the heart. Some would touch with their toes, some their pockets, some their fingers, etc. It was cute.

Next we sorted our candy hearts. I had some paper hearts laminated and passed them out for each child to use as a mat. We sorted our hearts into colors, ate a few and counted some as well. After that I gave each kiddo a white heart to color showing their favorite. We taped these to the door and made a graph.

After that we decided to work on our Valentine bags. I had brown paper bags and originally wanted to use sponges and stamps but the kids were wound up and we were running out of time so we used crayons, stickers, jewels and pom poms. The kids loved it and I finished them all off with some tulle and a huge initial letter tied to the front.

As the mom's started showing up we helped the kids pass out their Valentine's. They loved watching treats fill up their bag and couldn't wait to open them and really investigate.
Afton was really excited about her Valentine's!!!!

Later that day the doorbell rang and Afton was hoping it was the Valentine Man. It was. There was a brown lunch bag on the porch just for Afton. Inside she found a pink bear pez and a Tinkerbell nightlight. She was so excited she ate all the pez and ran upstairs to try out her new light. It clips on the bed or anywhere else so you can read.

After the excitement died down Afton and Brett went to work on a Valentine box she needed to take to dance the next morning. I found this cute pink box at Hobby Lobby for 1.50 and Afton picked out some stickers and markers. She and Brett had fun decorating and Afton had fun decorating herself!!!

Cutie pie getting ready to go to dance!


These are the cute Valentine's we made for preschool and dance. The treat was for her teacher.

Christmas Dance Performance

First Dance Performance

I can't believe my little girl is old enough to be on stage, dancing and waving and blowing kisses!

I was barely able to take pictures because my eyes kept tearing up. Of course it was one of those happy, sad cries. I was so proud and felt so much love along with some disbelief. Is that my little girl?

I was a nervous wreck all week wondering how I would get Afton to eat, get her hair curled, get her makeup on (wasn't excited about that and didn't really do it, she's 3!!!), and get to the South Towne Expo Center on time.

She did eat a good lunch and I bribed her to get her hair done and as I said I wasn't to keen on the idea of makeup so I skimped on that a little and did get to the Expo Center on time but was shocked at how busy it was. Apparently that Christmas Show is very popular. It took forever to park and somehow Brett and I showed up at the same time (he was at our niece's baptism which I was sad to miss) and we ended up following each other across the street to the parking lot by the Mayan and walked in together.

Once in, Afton was of course drawn to the Christmas chaos. We managed to get her to the stage where we sat with some girls in her class and they proceeded to play for 45 minutes while we waited for the show to start.

Once the show started Afton was enamored. She sat on Brett's lap watching and clapping and commenting now and then on costumes or hair.

Just before Afton's turn some older girls came to gather up her little class and took them backstage for a minute. Afton watched these older girls carefully and listened to every word.

Once all of the girls were ready they held hands and walked up the stairs and onto the stage together. Once Afton hit the stage she let go of the girl's hand and just took it all in!

She was adorable and sweet and perfect and I can't believe I stayed as composed as I did!

A quiet moment before leaving for the show.

My little sweetie and her funny (leave me alone) smiles.

Sitting for a moment before the show.

On Brett's lap watching the performance.

Backstage with the older girls!

Walking to the stage.

My little cutie!

Happy to see Dad when it was all over!