Isla, the Dancer

Isla had dance pictures this past weekend. She is finishing up her fourth year dancing and says she wants to move on. She actually told me she knows all there is to know about dancing, but I thought saying she wants to move on sounded nicer...haha! The funny thing is though, her getting all done up for pictures had her saying, "Well, maybe I will do it again." The girl likes her some fancy and some performing, so the end of the year at dance is just her thing. 

A week ago, they called all the parents into the dance call to talk about picture day and the recital that is coming up. They announce that girls can wear a small amount of makeup if wanted. Isla literally throws her hands up in the air and yells "I love makeup! I love makeup!" She certainly doesn't shy away from the limelight. Thankfully, Isla has been with the same group of girls for a few years (even went to preschool with a few of them!), so they all know her. In fact, she attended one of their birthday party's last month. I dropped her off and when I picked her up, I was told by a mom that stayed that Isla was the life of the party. Oh man. 

This girl. She is sweet. She is spicy. She is comfortable in her own skin and I just love and admire that about her and hope she never looses it.

Also, for the record, these poses are ALL Isla. I never have to pose this girl. She just gets in front of the camera and works it! Haha!

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The Beginning of Ballet: Year Three

My idea of how I would like Isla to pose for first day of ballet photos:

And her idea:

I honesty have not idea where these sassy poses come from. Trust me when I say I am not taking duck face selfies all day ;) Are they just ingrained in girls?! But this next one was her natural way to pose and she looks adorable. 

It's funny how the longer a kid does something, the less fanfare that goes along with it. Maybe it's just everyone being used to it and knowing what to expect? Or already having the gear on hand? I just remember it being such a big deal when Isla started ballet...and it was (and still is) overflowing with cuteness. Isla began her third year of ballet this past week. This time, the class is longer and tap is added in as well. Isla enjoyed her first class back. She doesn't have any of the girls from her class last year with her, but does have two girls from her first year back with her, so there were a couple familiar faces. And Callum, he is going to have to get used to the routine of ballet again because all he wanted to do was run away from me and play in the drinking fountain...oh and throw every toy I brought for him to play with. 

In case you care, some ballet adorableness of Isla over the years - her first little course with friends, the beginning of the year - fall 2015 (when she also had an idea how she wanted her photo to be), recital 2016, the beginning of the year - fall 2016 and recital 2017. 

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Ballet

How I imagined a first day of ballet picture being: 

How Isla imagined a first day of ballet picture being: 

After the success of Isla's little six week ballet course in the spring, and her talking about ballet all the time since, we took the leap and signed Isla up for the season this time. It started last week and ends in June with a performance…which, I have to admit, I am already so stinking excited about seeing her all dressed up in her little outfit for the performance.

During the spring course, two of her friends were in the same class. It wasn't until we were at ballet that Isla realized her friends weren't doing it with her this time. For a second, I thought it all might go downhill fast, but she seemed to quickly recover. She was very excited about class and really enjoyed herself. Her class is at an odd time (not for us, but apparently mid-afternoon classes aren't popular), so it is really small. I really like that it turned out like that. And, watching little girls do their warm up stretches is about the cutest thing ever…behind watching Isla try to stare at herself in the mirror the entire class time, which is just so dang funny.

I'm excited to watch Isla do something that she is really excited about, to watch her grow and learn and interact with a new group of people she has never met before.

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That Time I Lost My Mind

…and signed my kids up for every activity. Somehow we ended up with things FOUR evenings out of the week. I almost lost my sanity there for a bit. Thankfully ballet ended and the pool pump broke for swim lessons. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning. 

I should probably start out by saying I am not super into extracurricular activities…most of my distain is for sports. I feel like they are such a time drainer for the family. I hate how practices are always at dinner time and games are usually twice a week. Just so much commitment. Now that I got that out of the way, I can continue. Ian really wanted to sign Connor up for tball this year. After a discussion that went something like me explaining practice type scenarios are the worst for me because I always feel awkward about being around other parents (I am a total introvert), Ian agreed to make it to the practices, even though it was the middle of his busy season. And it's been fine. 

Then this opportunity for Isla to take a little ballet course came up. I literally signed her up on Thursday and she started Monday. Monday, the same day as Connor's tball practice…and there is only 45 minutes between them and they are completely on the opposite sides of town. But ballet with her friends. I knew she would love it, so I bit the bullet. And it was totally her jam…and I plan on signing her up for a full season in the fall. 

I had looked into private swim lessons for the kids, but not only were they ghetto expensive, but they are like impossible to get in to. Well, a mom recommended I look into lessons through the city. Like ballet, it was a circumstance of me signing my kids up only a couple days before lessons started. And, what's a few more activities added to the growing list?!

All the sudden, we had things going on FOUR evenings a week. I seriously thought I was going to loose my mind. Trying to make sure the kids ate big snacks before their activities, then a super late dinner after. It was just all stressful for me. I felt so incredibly relieved when I was called and told that the pool pump broke so the rest of swim lessons were cancelled (which I do intend on reenrolling them again in the future…maybe after tball is over). And that happened the same week as the end of ballet. So we went from things being four nights a week to only two and it feels so much more manageable. 

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