April Fun

April was full of fun activities. Athena danced at a community event, it's always fun to watch her perform. Just look at that happy face!

We also had another visitor in April. Our nephew Jonas sent us his Flat Stanley. I just had a blast with him, taking him everywhere with us and posting pictures on Facebook. He rode to school with us a couple of times and we had to get a shot by a Saguaro cactus to send home with him.

Athena also got to ride a horse for the first time. Her and two friends got to have an hour long lesson, she was really scared but did a great job and had a blast!

Braces off

After about 3 years of orthodontist work Athena is now braces free!! Such a beautiful smile. Shawn promised her a popcorn machine when she got them off because she really missed popcorn.

Spring Break

Back in March my mom came down for a visit during spring break. We had lots of fun with her, she painted with the girls. Set up a little art studio on the back patio for her and Athena to paint some more. Her and I even went to an adult tap class at the studio, lots of fun!

We took a bike ride in the wash one morning, the weather was beautiful.

Then we finally made it to the horse track! And it was even the weiner dog race day. They were adorable and even watching the horses race was fun. Athena got a picture with one of the winners!

I always love when my mom visits and I get to spend some time with her.

I Want to Make a Dress Again

I have been hired to hem and do alterations on a few prom dresses recently and I realized I miss making dresses. Not that I'm ready for Athena to be going to prom yet, but I am looking forward to making some fabulous dresses for her someday. I wanted to take a look back at some I made for Hailey.

This one for Hailey's first homecoming was my first. When she asked for strapless I remember telling her that if I ever saw her tugging at the top even once she would never get a strapless again. But guess what? Because it was custom made to fit her body it never felt like it was falling down. I love the vintage party dress look of it, and the fabric is one of my all time favorites I ever made anything with.

Then there was the year of the beads. Hailey found a really beautiful dress at the mall with these really cool beaded flowers along the opening. But it was lime green. So she tried it on and took lots of pictures. Decided she wanted red and white, I found that black and white bead work looked fabulous. I designed the flowers myself and have no idea if what I did is even right. Defiantly one of my favorites.

Oh how I love how this maroon one looked on her when she had dyed her hair black to play Anne Frank. The simplicity of it was awesome too, she could dress it up with jewelry and heels for Homecoming or dress it down a little to just wear out on a date. I think she probably got the most use out of this one. I wonder if it still fits?

Her senior year I remember she wanted something cool going on with the back. So we went with lots of crossing straps. Love the color!

That's all the ones I can remember making, and found pictures for. So had to pick a favorite! Seems like there were more but maybe she just reused them sometimes. I wonder what Athena's will look like, she has such a different style than Hailey did at her age.

Alice

Since about the age of 3 Athena has had the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland memorized. It is her favorite movie and favorite book. I'm sure she has read it more times than any other book. So you can imagine how excited she was to find out they were doing a version of it for the play at school this year. Of course her first choice was to play Alice. what little adventurous girl hasn't dreamed of being Alice? But she was happy with any part she was given just to be in it. When the cast was announced she found out she would be a 1/5 of the Caterpillar. It was perfect for her! She did a wonderful job and I heard lots of chatter in the audience that the Caterpillar was thier favorite part. I also got in on the action making some of the costumes. 

I did the Caterpillar of course. The character is sort of the laid back hippie that helps Alice along her journey, so I went with tie-dye, braided headbands and hula hoops! I also made the tutu skirts and floral crowns for the flowers. Those were so much fun! 

I also got to do one of my favorite activities, Papier Mâché! I made the Dodo's head out of a foam dinosaur hat I found at the dollar store, how is that for evolution?! He is a captain so I used a blue jacket my friend found at Goodwill and stitched some feathers in the front and at the ends of the sleeves. I really love how just a few little things made his costume work so well. 

I also helped out fixing a few things here and there on costumes borrowed from a local youth theater, or throwing a boa on some birds. But probably the best part of all was the wings for when the Caterpillar turns into a butterfly. I don't even want to admit the amount of hours I spent making them to have them appear on stage for just a short time, but the result was awesome! They spanned the whole width of the stage!

I can't post the video of the whole show because it's too big but here is Athena's main scene as the Caterpillar. Warning:the song will be stuck in your head for days if you watch ;)

13!!!

Wow, my baby is 13. Where did the time go? When Athena was a baby, she cried, A LOT! Now that she is older she sings, A LOT! I'm beginning to wonder if the crying was just her newborn way of singing? She sometimes acts a little like a teenager these days. Doesn't keep her room clean like she used to, is a little loud when it might not be appropriate. But for the most part she is sweet and kind, cares about others feelings before her own, and has the most fantastic sense of humor. The other day as we were leaving dance her ballet teacher said to me "you get to have the Athena show 24-7" Athena started to get defensive and he replied "no it's a good thing, you are hilarious and I love it" She works hard in school, in fact I had two teachers at conferences say she is too hard on herself. I can't imagine life without her around and hope she stays her loving self forever. Happy 13 sweetie!

We're Off to See the Wizard

February has been a big month for performing arts for us this year. First Hailey was in To Kill a Mockingbird. She wasn't in the show a lot but she did a really great job and brought Mayella to life. Then Athena had a couple of days of master classes at dance with Devon and Anthony who are both in a touring version of The Wizard of Oz. She had a great time and learned some really cool stuff. Then we went to see the show! It was great, didn't have the best seats but it was still fun. Athena had fun trying to find Devon and Anthony in the show. Then after we got a tour of backstage! I don't think either of my girls will soon forget that. It was a really fun experience. One more show in a couple of weeks, Athena in Alice!

After class with Devon and Anthony