Our Performer

I love to see the personalities of our children make themselves known. It's so fun. We've known for some time that Hadley was our little 'performer.' She is constantly dancing around and loves to be seen, loves to be on stage. In fact, on Mother's Day, she wasn't necessarily scheduled to be in the little play they had at church that night. But, she went upstairs where everyone was 'waiting in the wings' for their turn, marched right up to one of the little girls that was helping out (who already had lots of parts in the play), and told her that she wanted the costume she had on. My oh my. We have a little assertive one on our hands.

It was quite the talk of the women helping upstairs. They loved it. Of course, we have to mold that and make sure that positive trait stays positive. But yes, the word 'shy' she does not comprehend.

Grady on the other hand, is very, very happy (overjoyed actually) to not be seen or on stage. For instance, he went upstairs with Hadley that Mother's Day and came right back down to watch from his seat. He sometimes says about certain situations, "I'm just a little bit shy." :) Sometimes he has to be 'strongly encouraged' to do something that he really needs to do, no matter how he feels...to overcome his fear, etc. But, sometimes it doesn't matter and he is just allowed to be who is naturally is...the non-performer. It's interesting as a parent to figure out how to execute each situation, but that's all part of the fun.

So far, if I had to guess, Eissa is more like Grady and Cass is more like Hadley...time will tell.

Since we got back from the states at the end of February, we've been scoping out the extracurricular activities situation for the kiddos. There really aren't a ton of options here, but we are figuring it out.

On May 26th, Hadley started dance class. They only have ballet for children her age (she's 4), so that is what she is doing. We still haven't found the right thing for Grady to be involved in, but we're looking fervently. Again, not a lot of options, but we're hoping to find some sort of soccer league for him.

Hadley, of course, LOVES her dance class. She is SO into it. I personally know absolutely zilch about dance (ha ha ha). I grew up playing T-ball and swimming at the lake for my extracurricular stuff. :) But, it seems to be a great class. It's actually a Christian studio which is really cool too. Love that. And they are some really, really great ladies that run it...super sweet people.

So, get ready for lots of pictures from our first day of dance and a video or two (and a few of the Mother's Day thing too). Sorry about the darkness of some of the dance ones. Even businesses here don't turn the lights on unless they absolutely have to. ;) Cool, but bad for pictures. ;)

Oh, and we must say a big "THANK YOU" to Mama, Aunt Marilyn, Ariel, and Tucker (and whoever else was involved in that gift) for the dancing attire, complete with shoes. Who knew when you got them for dress-up that they'd actually be using them in a dance class? They're perfect. Thanks.


Hadley, 2nd from the right. The play showed all the different stages of childhood/parenthood. This was where the child was graduating. Hadley, our little graduate. ;)

Now the 4th from the right.
Eissa watching the play. Love those crossed arms. ;)
And Cass on the move during the play.
After the play, taking a bow.
All ready to go.
Getting to know Tia Rose.
Praying before class.






Point those toes.
Laying like a frog.
Looking on. We sat down to watch (Joel went the first day too...and we sat in the dance room to check it all out), and I looked over at Joel watching Hadley and he had tears in his eyes. He looked at me and then I got all teary...then we started laughing at ourselves. We're such saps when it comes to our kids. ;)

Getting some stretching in.
Eissa and Joel doing a little dancing.





A little massage. Nice. Maybe I need to take dance. ;)

The teacher would fan the mat over them and they had to go the way the wind took them...very gracefully and elegantly of course (elegance is talked about alot).
Cass was just hanging out all around us.


Doing a little jig of her own.


Remember when I told you about Cass taking her first couple of steps at dance class?
This was it...caught on film. Then 2 days later she started up again, only sprinting across the room...no time for tiny steps. ;) Once the flip is switched, it's full throttle. She's maybe crawled just a handful of times since then...walks all over the house, through obstacle courses, around turns, etc. And, I love the way Eissa is standing in this picture. ;)
This is where she ended up...holding on to her sister, who didn't seem to notice (she's quite used to it).
Eissa decided she'd join them when they got the cute little flowers out. She said, "Where's my flower?" and went out there for a little while. But, she is not like her sister. She didn't enjoy being made a fuss over, or even being looked at. :) So, it wasn't long 'til she came back to sit with me. Cass LOVED dance class. ;) She was dancing and yelling and very excited.