Silly Face

Mally and four of her besties. This was pretty much and accident and they are all perfectly themselves.

Sydney- goofy girl
Mally-a total nut
Gracie-queen of the spaz's
Anthony-born comedians

They had kindergarten together and now first grade. I hope they always stay together and stay as silly and crazy and fun as they are now!

It's what we do

And pretty much, it's all we do. I sometimes think of how life changing our holidays would be without the Nutcracker. I'm sure we'd get to enjoy our traditions more, sleep more, do more for others, just to name a few, but for now, Nutcracker- it's what we do. Lex performed for her 5th consecutive year, Blake's 3rd, and Mallory's second.

A BonBon, Fritz and a Party Girl

Blake was beyond happy to graduate out of the sailor costume! This was Lexa's 2nd year in this dress and she was so happy to still be the smallest so she could wear "the prettiest one".

Mally made the cutest BonBon ever and I was more than happy that BonBons wear buns and not ringlets! Although, I did twirl hundreds of ringlets this year as I became the Party Girl Hair Do'er of all the girls!

This is what much of the time backstage looks like. Waiting. The kids set up camp somewhere out of the way (like under a table) and watch, and play, and color all they brought from home.

Someday I know this will end. Even though this 3 month venture near kills me, I always cry on the last day as our 43 different practices, meetings, dress rehearsals, and shows come to and end. For now, It wouldn't be Christmas without the Nutcracker.

Our Halloween pictures!

Forgot to give some major props to our photographer! You can find her at: http://www.shandimariephotography.com/

We loved all of the pictures!!

Halloween 2009

A true bunch of characters!!!

I still laugh when I see Brittan.

Oh Alice! Why you gotta be so grown?


What a dashing Mad Hatter!

The Queen of Hearst let us all keep our heads!

Britty with her Flava Flav slash White Rabbit Clock.

This year will go down as one of my favorite Halloween years yet! We had a mostly pain free time deciding what to be this year. I have wanted Mallory to be the Queen of Hearts for two years now. I first tried to get Lexa and all her friends to be little old ladies, but It was her idea to be Alice, so I was all to happy to commit to the Alice in Wonderland theme! I did have to beg Blake for a few weeks to agree to join his sisters, and as we were walking up to take our photos, he said, "Mom, I'm glad you talked me into this!". Whew! At least it won't go down in his memory as the year his Mom made him match his sisters! We had tons of fun putting our costumes together. Lex lived for her fittings with the AMAZING Debbie, Blake totally rolled with the fact that his pants were purchased in the girl department, Mally was so excited when her flamingo arrived and Brittan cheered me on the whole time as I made her costume one Saturday. I'm fairly certain I will not get them to do a them in the coming years, so this Halloween I will treasure forever!

Mally's 7th Birthday

This year Mally (or I, depending on who your askin') decided to do a cupcake party. Mally was super excited to have her friends over to decorate cupcakes. The party details were a moms very worst nightmare and are still painfully fresh, but just know they involve chasing a delivery guy two city's away to get the party goods three hours before the party started. If it weren't for the help of my Mom and my good friend Diane, it would not have come together. The kids arrived home from school and knew nothing of the mornings events and the party was a blast!

Mallory and the 80 cupcakes I made. Oh, and her cute cupcake shirt that my friend Angie made for her!
Eating a quick slice of pizza.

Now the work began. They each got to decorate 4 cupcakes and they had specific ways they had to do them. A flower design, a face, a pattern, and then one to decorate however they want. I was amazed at the creativity of the kids! It was fun to see their personalities come through in their cupcakes.

Brittan with her pattern cupcake.

Lexa decorated probably every last cupcake she could. So into her work!

All the beautiful cupcakes!

Lexa's "person" cupcake.

Mally has a best friend named Anthony. His mom slipped a framed picture in the gift of Anthony and both he and Mallory thought it was pretty funny.

One of my best friends, Gracie Love, got to come to Mallory's party. If she's around ( at school, the movies, or anywhere else), this is where Brittan likes to sit. She likes the free rides Gracie gives her.

Mallory with her adorable cupcake cake.

So hard to believe she is seven years old already. She is such a fun person to be around and kind to everyone. Mally is so special to us and we are blessed beyond measure to have her in our family. We love you Mallorcat!