dance pictures for amanda

 I know you love the polka dot outfit manda, but I dont' have any good ones of her actually dancing in it

 This was her the morning of her first dance class.  A mommy and me ballet class we took when she was 2.

My buddy the insanely talented artist requested some older dance shots for painting inspiration.  So I'll post them here so she can steal what she wants.  That's why I'm posting old pictures for a few days. :)

Our first dance competition!!

 Can't believe we left town in the snow.  Only because they said it WASN'T going to so it was unexpected.

 Ready to hit the road on our first dance adventure weekend!

 Ready with my nerdy dance mom tee shirt.  I wore it proudly!  Love my girl!

These are some shots of some favorite girls from our school.

 This is Garie's daughter Austin, Abigail's Bull buddy they paired her with for support...she's only 11 yrs old!

 These 2 shots are a sweet girl named Christina, she's one of the seniors and she won a scholarship from DMI

This is a very special teen named Claudia.  She is 16 and she is sooo sweet to my girls!

 The shot above in purple is Lexie.  She told Abigail silly stories before she went on stage to help calm Abigail's nerves.  She is also a senior dancer and such a sweet heart!  That's her below too in the purple and the middle girl is Christina again.

 These are shots from the final award ceremony.  Our kids won 3 of the awards on stage here.  Abigail is in the blue pants on the far right.  They won judges choice for their age group. :)  so unexpected and wonderful! 

 This is a shot of the seniors from several schools chosen to perform at the finale.  There were several of our kids from our school chosen

 Abigail hyper and awaiting to go back into her dance workshop

 This is Sophia her buddy

below was Abigail showing off her insane unending energy,  I told her to be still so I could get a picture...so of course she obeyed! :)

 We had a nice sunny wide hallway we did a lot of waiting in.  Abigail provided entertainment. shocking.

 This is my buddy Garie, I made her back up and walk to me again she looked so cute with her daughter's trophies slung over her shoulder!


Below is a group shot after they took a first place trophy for their performance of 'The Clapping Song'

 Abigail working on her scorpian,  yes these crazy moves and contortions have names.....I'm learning!

 Me and Garie hanging out waiting on the girls. 

 warm up time

 seriously love this expression.  It's so Abigail, it screams "enough pictures MOM!!!"


this is another shot of Austin her bull buddy.  She really helped the Bit out a lot this weekend.

 I know my face is ridiculous but it shows how pumped on adrenalin I was,  that is mad mom nerves right there! 

 My peeps.  This is Loretta in red, then Melinda, Garie and me before the girls go on . We were so nervous and excited for them.  (and Abigail took this, that's why its a weird angle)

 My dear buddy Melinda and her daughter Sophia, it's their first year too

This was right before they went on,  Abigail was teary because her rhinestone choker was pulling her hair out. Poor kid.  That's Sarah in the hounds tooth jacket in back their teacher, and Kerri their teen assistant

 the ending pose

 Abigail is far left on stage

They take professional pictures of them in costume, this was the silly face shot.



This was a wild an amazing weekend in Richmond.   We competed the same day we arrived so it was wild but good to get the hard part over with.   We were wired and ready and the girls did awesome.   It was a busy schedule all weekend.  But so much fun to be in a world of something totally new to me.  So many new experiences to learn about and new challenges to push me along as a mom.   We made the trip alone this time w/o Brian and Chloe but it worked out good.   It was such a wild schedule I'm glad I only had to worry about the 2 of us.    Abigail was an unending source of energy that amazed even me.   She went hard until about 20 minutes from home on the drive back into town.  The funniest thing was how much food she consumed on the way home. I promise she ate solid for 2 hours straight on the way back.   I guess she's my little Michael Phelps metabolism.  But we got back safe and sound with good experiences under our belt.  Both good and bad, having learned what are wrong and right things to do at these events.   It was a wonderful time with my girl.  She loved having my undivided attention all weekend and she can't wait to go to our next one coming up in another month.  Whew!   We can do this!!!

So it begins!

Abigail begged me for some halter shirts to practice her dancing in.  "All the girls wear them" ,  I finally caved when I realized she wears less clothes in her bathing suits at the pool and these classes are only girls.  I cheated though, and used old 2T toddler shirts and cut them off and sewed some elastic in them for her.  Turned out great and she was thrilled for some "new" outfits to wear to her dance classes all week.

 What was my scrapbooking case back when I had time for crafts, now houses the dance gear for competitions!   Yeah!

 Yes, we are packed and ready a week early!

UP NEXT.... Dress rehearsals.  So hard even for the mom's to find our own kids....they all look the same!  But the Bit is the dark haired one in the middle :)

 Abigail and Sophia, another newbie to the company world.  They are good buddies :)

 stretching before they rehearse

 She loves her stage make up!  But it really does help their little faces not get lost in the lights of those big theaters and convention centers. 

Well we have been working on this season to begin since last August.   Abigail is on a dance company team and this upcoming weekend we are embarking on our first event.  We are so excited!!  More pictures to follow soon.  Mommy and the Bit are hitting the road!!