25 November, 2008

our tiny angel

This past weekend was a dream come true for our sweet Berkley. The time had come for Abilene Ballet Theatre's performance of The Nutcracker, and Berkley finally had a part in it. Berkley has watched The Nutcracker the past couple of years anticipating the day that she would get to be in it. She knew that when she was five, she would get to be a tiny angel. This was her year!
To make it even more special, her daddy was going to be in the ballet with her! Yes, that is right. The daddies of these precious tiny angels are invited to be "angel pilots." What exactly is an "angel pilot?" They are strong and loving daddies who lift the tiny angels to make them appear as though they are flying. The key is that the daddies wear all black so as not to be seen. It really is quite funny to watch. The tiny angels do in fact appear to "fly" up on the stage. Berkley was really excited that her daddy agreed to be her "pilot."

Berkley worked hard each week in ballet learning her part as a tiny angel. She even practiced at home. She didn't mind practicing any chance she could get. In fact, she and Matt even had a weekend rehearsal, and Berkley loved it. Finally, the week of the performance arrived. Tuesday night was the scheduled night for the tiny angels' dress rehearsal. (Angel pilots included!)

Berkley & Matt waited patiently for their turn to practice. You can just see her excitement!!!


Some of the tiny angels had to share costumes. Since there are FOUR performances of The Nutcracker and SO MANY tiny ballerinas, they are divided into a Cast A and Cast B. The first cast performed Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. The second cast performed Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. (A genius idea!!! I couldn't imagine making it through four entire performances!!!) Anyway, Berkley was one of the angels that shared a costume with a Cast A angel. It was a little confusing for her at first during the rehearsal when she didn't yet have a costume to put on, even though some of her friends did. She actually handled it quite well. She patiently waited for Cast A to rehearse, knowing she could get her costume from her "partner" when their rehearsal was finished.
Berkley waiting patiently with her friend, Lexie, who didn't have a "costume partner."


The rehearsal went well. After a LONG week awaiting her first performance night, Saturday had arrived. We got up that morning and ate our traditional "Saturday morning donuts." After breakfast, Berkley and I set out to find "sponge rollers." We were told that her hair needed to be rolled. We tried a tight curling iron for dress rehearsal, but the curls just didn't hold very well. Several of her friends has used the infamous "sponge rollers" which seemed to work great. And I had always loved rolling my hair in "sponge rollers" when I was a little girl, so that is what we decided we needed. We got her hair rolled that morning, and she wore them all day. (She even took her nap in them!) Finally, the time had arrived to get ready. We got her make-up on first, which she always enjoys! It was then time to take out the rollers, but we needed a picture first. Here is our little "sponge roller" beauty...


Berkley's part was not until the beginning of Act 2, so she got to watch the first act with us. Intermission was our cue to get backstage and get our tiny angel dressed... along with the "angel pilot."
Berkley was absolutely "angelic."


Matt made an amazing "angel pilot" as well. They were a great team.Berkley and all of her sweet friends did such a great job. They were the most precious tiny angels I have ever seen. Here is Berkley with her angel buddy, Annabelle. They have been friends since the day Berkley was born. (Annabelle is only six days older than Berkley!)

Berkley was all smiles after the show. In her mind the tiny angels had just as big a part as Clara or the Sugar Plum Fairy. (And of course, we all agreed!) I was very proud of my tiny angel and her handsome "pilot."


Marmie, JT and Beckham seemed to agree that the tiny angels were the best part of The Nutcracker. Here is Berkley with her fan club.

Berkley loved having all of her "fans" in the audience. Thanks to Amy, Chris, Marmie, JT and Beckham for supporting our tiny angel. (Brenner was there in spirit, of course, but naptime was a little too important for him! At least that is what mommy thought!)
Berkley had a couple of other "fans" that surprised her after the performance. Her sweet friends from school, Luke and Wyatt, were waiting for Berkley to give her a rose. These boys are twin brothers, and their daddy is training them right for sure!!! They had a rose for all of their tiny angel friends from school. Talk about true gentlemen. Somehow I only have a picture of Luke and Berkley, but thanks to both of these boys for the sweet surprise!


The Nutcracker truly was a wonderful performance by all of the ballerinas. I think we have many more Nutcracker performances in our future!!! (I'm afraid our "angel pilot" is retiring, however.)

22 November, 2008

tagged

Okay...I've been "tagged" by my dear friend, Karen, to post my sixth picture from my sixth folder. It turned out to be one of my favorites. It is Berkley and her dear "cousin" McKay. Berkley and McKay loved hanging out together when they lived in Abilene. This picture was taken at one of our trips to the zoo. Berkley loved giving McKay big hugs. Absolutely adorable!!! Does time really pass this quickly?!?

I was also "tagged" with an interesting selection of questions to answer...

TYPE ONLY ONE WORD FOR EACH ANSWER. IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your significant other? chair

3. Your hair? straight

4. Your mother? nail salon

5. Your father? hunting

6. Your favorite thing? love

7. Your dream last night? strange

8. Your favorite drink? latte

9. Your dream/goal? faith

10. The room you're in? living room

11. Your fear? failure

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? with family

13. Where were you last night? home

14. What you're not? patient

15. Muffins/donuts? donuts

16. One of your wish list items? framed photographs

17. Where you grew up? Abilene

18. The last thing you did? surf (okay...the internet, not the waves!!)

19. What are you wearing? jeans

20. Your TV? ESPN gameday

21. Your pet? sleeping

22. Your computer? toshiba

23. Your life? blessed

24. Your mood? joyful

25. Missing someone? no

26. Favorite pastime? running (yes...I'm actually learning to enjoy it!)

27. Something you're not wearing? socks

28. Favorite Store? Anthropologie

29. Your summer? fast

30. Your favorite color? brown

31. When is the last time you laughed? morning

32. Last time you cried? weeks

33. Who will/would re-post this? friends :)

34. Four places I go over and over: United, changing table, church, Chick-fil-a

35. Four people who e-mail me? Amy, Mom, Susan, Charlene

36. Four of my favorite foods? fajitas, pizza, ice cream, cereal

37. Four places I would like to be right now: beach, lakehouse, cruiseship, jeep

38. Four people I tag? Lisa, Amy, Erin, and KayLynn

01 November, 2008

pumpkins, parades, carnivals and candy

It seems like we've been participating in fall festivities for a week now! We began last Saturday night with a fall carnival at the elementary school right by our house. Berkley was really excited about going since this is the school she will be at next year! (Her school was having a carnival the same night, but we decided to attend the one close to our house.) So, we got everyone dressed up and walked over to Austin Elementary.
Berkley insisted on being Tinkerbell this year. So, since I always want to make a "theme" out of everything, I started suggesting to Beckham that he could be Peter Pan (I know, not very manly to wear tights!) or Captain Hook. He didn't like either suggestion. Every time I asked him what he wanted to dress up as, he simply looked at me dumbfounded that I had to ask, and simply replied, "A cowboy!" So... Berkley was Tinkerbell, Beckham was a cowboy, and Brenner was a cow. (At least the boy's costumes went together, and thankfully Brenner is still too young to protest!)
Here is our crew ready to head over to the carnival.

There were so many fun things to do once we got there. They even had a petting zoo! Beckham immediately wanted to feed the animals. Berkley was a little hesitant at first, but I think she ended up enjoying it too.

After participating in all kinds of activities from putt-putt and ring tosses to cake walks and face painting, we ended the night with a hayride. Berkley & Beckham met up with two of their good friends, Carlee & Nic. They all enjoyed riding together.

On Sunday, Berkley went to a birthday party for her friend, Charlie. It was another fun time full of festivities. The party started with a parade through Buffalo Gap. After that, everyone returned to the Buffalo Gap Historical Village for birthday cake. The kids got to eat in the old schoolhouse. Afterwards, they all had so much fun playing on the old playground.
Berkley & Lily were partners in the parade through town.

The see-saw was a big hit with all of the kids... once they got the hang of it. You never see these on playgrounds anymore!
The merry-go-round had to be the favorite for most of the kids there. They all had so much fun piling on and screaming and giggling as someone pushed them around.

After a while, the kids figured out that they could do the pushing too. Berkley's expression truly shows how much fun she had at the party.
On Thursday, all of the kids had some kind of fall festival celebration at their schools. Berkley's class got to put their costumes on at the end of the day for their celebration. All of her friends looked great in their costumes. Her friend, Annabelle, was Lady Liberty; and Kaitlyn was Bindi the Jungle Girl. Aren't they cute?

Once everyone was dressed up, the class got to "parade" through the school showing off their costumes to other teachers, students, and administrators.

When they got back to their classroom they had a fabulous party. Look at that spread!
Beckham & Brenner's Fall Festival at their Mother's Day Out was a lot of fun too. They had a mini-carnival set up for all of the kids with all kinds of games to play... and of course, LOTS of candy to win. Beckham REALLY enjoyed it, don't you think?
Brenner, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure what to think of everything. In his defense, his nap time was quickly approaching. He was kind of in a daze.
He also got really upset when it was time for his class to go back to their room. (I think when he saw me at the carnival, he was thinking, "Sweet. I get to hang out with mom for a while and then go home!") Here he is with his precious teacher, Mrs. Connie. I know it appears as things are fine, but you can't see his face. He had a rough exit!
Last night we loaded up the kids and made just a FEW stops. It really was a few too many! I mean really, you can only dress up so many times in the same costume before it starts to get old. (Of course, getting candy never gets old for the kids!)
I feel pretty exhausted from all of the festivities... and we still aren't finished. Our church is having a Fall Frenzy tomorrow night! We actually are looking forward to it though. Costumes are not allowed, which is FABULOUS!!! It is really just a time for fun with family and friends. (Unfortunately, there will probably be MORE candy headed our way!)