Monday, December 22, 2008

Let the Leah Love continue...

As promised, here is a photo of Leah from her dance recital. They were supposed to be Hawaiian girls - the headpiece and lei may work, but I don't know about the white leotard & tights - even Leah thought that was off. Also, their "skirts" were pastel chiffon ribbons...a far cry from grass. But whatever. They were rented, and we didn't have to buy them.

As I anticipated, Leah was the girl on stage making sure she had her steps correct (even though I screwed up her big chance at stardom) and kept her eyes pretty much glued to her teacher in the wings. She was also trying to direct another girl towards the end of the routine...my little know-it-all. I don't know WHERE she gets it.

It was Leah's idea to pose by the stockings, which I did make myself a couple years ago. Mom made this amazing dress for her to wear this Christmas, and informed me that she'd like to have all her granddaughters wear it. She's ambitious, that lady - she's already aiming for multiple granddaughters!

I love that it is different from the other little girls' Christmas dresses out there - no chiffon, no tulle, no glitter - but lots and lots of ribbons! I also especially love the Asian feel it has, from the Mandarin collar, and the turned cuffs...it's just unique.

Also, I actually styled Leah's hair. You can't see it here, but she has two little red bows on pigtails at the back of her head. Soo cute. Leah's Christmas program was Sunday, and she sang delightfully. There's nothing like a choir of 4 and 5 year olds to choke up a mom.

Ben, on the other hand, suddenly came down with a serious case of the bashfuls, and fortunately I am a helper in his age group, so it was okay that I sat with the kids and held Ben on my lap for their whole section. He refused to open his mouth OR do any of the signs, and even grumped at me when I tried to "help" him. Oh well. (And yes, I KNOW he's only 2, but there were several other kids his same age up there both singing AND doing actions...little buggers.)

And on the topic of stockings (yes, we were on that topic!) Aaron and I each have our own right now, but I'm debating whether or not we should retire ours and turn them over to Ben and Leah. Then, I wouldn't have to make another one for the baby, AND we'd have an extra for a possible 4th! Or, I could just suck it up and make another stocking already.

Folks, I am in a crazed state the last couple of days. Posts may be scattered this week, but I'll try to at least get photos up. I feel like this is the week before our 4-H Achievement Days (or the county fair, to other 4-Hers out there) with all the baking and sewing that is going on...that never happens the other 51 weeks of the year.

6 comments:

Noel said...

With Leah's white leotard I first thought snow flake, but I may be biased since I have come in from shoveling another half foot of snow off the driveway. The +10 F air temp may have had a hint of the tropics on it compared to recent beard freezing shovel sessions.

A Christmas dress feature not captured by the photo is that when Leah spins, the bottom spins out and she looks like a smiling Christmas bell.

Finally, we do stocking stuffers over a period of days and decided for whatever reason to do the first item last night - Usborne books from the event Liz hosted back in a warmer time! I really liked the my German book works with a web site that has word pronounciation. It is always discouraging when Germans don't understand my German and then ask what I meant in very good English :-(

nydampress said...

Please do post more pictures! So that a certain Aunt and Uncle can live vicariously through them.

*tear*

p.s. Claudia's talent never ceases to amaze me! When do you find out the sex of the baby? She could indeed get her multiple granddaughter wish ;)

Aaron said...

Wow, just seeing the phrase "4H achievement days" was enough to raise my heart rate 15 bpm.

Lyz said...

Noel - yes, the spinning will have to wait to be captured on video! And I'm glad Ilene remembered where she stashed the Usborne items!

Nydampress - Oh, I think Mom was thinking of other girls beyond our little family...:)

Aaron - I know, right? My mantra these days is "It's not a 4-H project!"

Noel said...

Hopefully your baking turns out better than mine the year I entered brownies in the county fair. After multiple tries, the best I could muster was red-ribbon quality. I did much better with my "electricity demonstrations"...even made something of a career out of it.

-- Noel, former Dakota County Minnesota 4-Her

Stacie said...

She looks so cute! We definitely would have come to watch the recital but we were in GF for the weekend.