Spring Left Overs

After 8 new blog posts, I think I'm caught up!  I know, that was a lot of reading, friends, but you could probably pace yourself and just read 1 post per week with the 2 month delay I'm currently operating on. ;)  

Here are a few left over pictures that didn't really fit anywhere else...

In April, we loved our city with a whole town service project.   Fun this year, was involving our church girls' group!  We planted over 40 pretty pots to deliver to the residents of our local nursing home.  We took all the girls shopping and let them pick out the flowers.  Hilarious memories from this night were having to remove trees and shrubs from the girls' carts and remind them it was flowers we were going for, or overhearing a group of girls say, "We're supposed to plant millennials!  Where is the millennial section?!"

Easter Sunday!  Whew!  So long ago, I hardly remember.  After church, we just stayed home and relaxed, I think?

This spring, our crazy Ivy escaped our yard one too many times, so we had to crate train her and lock her up whenever we're not home.  She surprisingly took to it really great and has kinda become a whole new calm dog now that she has her own safe space.  Delia calls her crate "Ivy Alcatraz".

  

For the past 10 days, we've been able to host Mom, Dad and Heather!  They have been beyond generous and patient with us.  We so appreciate them all traveling out to be there for our girls and their big dance recital and gradation moments, but because life has been so busy, I'm afraid we were not the most exciting hosts.  Still, they showered love and gifts on us!  Above, Grandpa and Grandma took Ella out shopping for her birthday present-- REAL cowgirl boots from the Boot Barn.  Ella is so delighted and looks adorable in them.  Below, Auntie Heather treats Delia to ice cream on her last day of school and Ella to a beautiful, delicate, perfect diamond necklace for a gradation present.

And here are the only 2 (!!) other pictures I took from our entire time with family.  We may not have taken exciting outings or even done much besides make daily trips to school or hang at home, but I will never forget how meaningful it was to have these family members here at this busy, but special time of year.  Mom and Dad took us out for a nice restaurant dinner and assured us repeatedly that they loved relaxing and reading at home.  Heather helped me prep food for the grad party and pack up my classroom in boxes.  Our guests loved our girls and celebrated happy milestones with us, which was another kind of gift. 

  

AND NOW IT'S SUMMER!!!

The Graduate!

On Thursday night we celebrated the 9 years Ella has spent growing in knowledge, faith and skill at her school.  She graduated 8th grade and is now an official high schooler!!

Here are some fun behind the scenes details about grad night.  We went pretty low key, since that is Ella's style.  Her dress was a hand me down from a dear friend who also has a petite daughter.  Ella LOVED it and was happy to not have to shop-- what a gift!  The friend who cuts our hair taught me how to save the hair appointment and do the beachy waves Ella wanted in her short, layered hair myself.  We even decided to skip a fancy dinner out at a restaurant beforehand and just made something delicious on the Traeger for a special meal with the family.  

Doesn't she look cute? :)

Here are 2 of Ella's best friends, above, Ruth, below, Ansley.  We have sat through too many of these middle school and high school gradations to even count.  I was not expecting this one to be much different.  But, when it is your own kid it is SO much more special and even emotional. (I know, duh, right?  Don't know why I didn't consider this!)  The gold ropes Ella is wearing are something she surprised me with as she dressed in her robe.  I learned it was for her President's Award for Academic Excellence-- a GPA of over 3.5 and a standardized test score in the 85th percentile.  She was only one of 15 in her class awarded this honor.  I got a little lump in my throat when her favorite teacher draped them on her!

Walking in.

 Receiving her diploma.

Singing the class song, "In God Alone" after the sermon and all the speeches.

Recessional

And family photos in the receiving line afterwards!

 Best friends!

Then, it was time to party.  We hosted this at a nearby church that one of Ella's friends is a member at.  We moms had a fun time planning this, shopping and prepping for it and getting to know each other much better in the process!  One of my favorite things that we did was a "Gradates' Favorite Desserts Bar".  Each girl picked her 2 favorite desserts to share and we moms used our special recipes to make them.  Ella chose cheesecake bites and Boeterkoek.  So fun to sample everyone's favorite sweets--  much more fun than cake!  The girls did all the flowers and decorations themselves and did a beautiful job.  They are a creative, artistic bunch!

 Each girl had a table of old pictures and some special things to represent them.  Ella had a few favorite art pieces out.

The girls with one of their favorite teachers, Miss S., the choir director.

This was pretty special-- these are 3 of Ella's former elementary teachers who are still a part of her life!  I can't say enough about how thankful we are for all the voices of truth and faith who have been guiding and shepherding Ella all these years.  She's a pretty amazing gal, but I think it's because she's had an abundance of pretty amazing encouragers along the way!  This party was a wonderful way to thank all those people and celebrate the role they've played in our graduate's life!

Graduating Girlfriends

Months ago, plans began for a combined 8th Grade Graduation Party with Ella and 3 of her best friends.  Of all the decisions and details that went into pulling that off, one of my favorites was the idea to take pictures of the girls on campus to use for invitations and decorations at the party.  Ansley's (one of the girls in these pictures) dad is a professional photographer, so he was happy to spend a few hours doing this for the girls!  These are just a few of the over 300 that he took!  There were individual shots of each girl and lots more with uniforms and school landmarks/signs I don't want to photoshop out! :)

I remember holding Baby Ella in my arms, rocking her in the rocking chair and praying specifically that she would always be surrounded by positive influences that pointed her to the Lord and made her a better person.  Ella has an AMAZING group of friends; they are a blessing to all around them (these pictures show just 4 of the 9 in their friend group).  They helped her thrive in and love Middle School.  One the best parts of this party we threw was having each teacher we invited show up and then hug us, bless us with compliments about our kids, and thank us for raising such good-hearted girls.  Proud!

Dance Recital 2019!

 Because Delia was a part of the opening number for this year's recital, it meant a lot of extra time practicing and being present at both nights of recital this year.  Usually we just have to be there for either the Friday or Saturday show, this year it was both.  Fourteen hours at the performance center over 3 days felt sort of stressful, especially with the hundred other end-of-May things going on, but we survived and ended recital season tired, but proud of how much Delia has grown and improved again this year.

This is Delia's "Think" group at their last practice. This class/number was probably her favorite dance to be a part of ever.  Her teacher really turned this group of girls into a team and encouraged them to encourage one another.  Delia ends this dance year with all these new friends.

And here are some not great quality pictures of her dancing at the recital rehearsals.  Good enough to keep the memories alive when we are scrolling back. :)

That high-energy curtain call after the show remains a highlight for Delia!  The auditorium is sold out each night, so taking a bow to hundreds of people screaming for you really pumps her up, as you can imagine!

One last picture with her good church friend Brittany, who is "retiring" from dance after this season.

SUPER special this year was having Grandpa and Grandma catch the recital!  They made it out for these milestone moments for our girls this May and we're so touched that they'd make the trip and endure our insane schedule to be there for their grandkids!  

Dance Picture Day

This year Delia was excited to increase her involvement at her dance studio.  Besides the normal 1 class/dance we let her take each year, she was also invited to audition for the big recital opening number and landed a part!  So, she spent 2 hours a week learning 2 dances this season!  It kept us a little busier, especially during play season and the weekend of the recital, but Delia is proud of her progress and work and both her dances were super fun to watch!

The opening number had about 30 girls in it and was to a 5 minute long montage of different songs, like "Sweet Dreams" and "Rhythm is a Dancer" and "Come Alive" and "Everybody Dance Now".  Seeing all the different waves of dancers and moving pieces to this dance on the big stage was awesome.  Delia did great in it! 

But, Delia's favorite number was her jazz dance with 7 other friends to the song "Think" by Aretha Franklin.  This song was SO CUTE with a message of empowerment about standing up for others and yourself.  Delia got to play the part of the bully through dance and just loved being a part of this one with her amazing teacher Miss Bethany.  (You can tell she is really feeling her costume in these pictures she posed for all by herself too!)

I don't ever order the pictures because Delia all dolled up in makeup, hairspray, and sequins is not my favorite way to remember her ;), but I am naughty and snap a little picture of the photos on the board at the recital.  Enjoy!