To Catch You Up

Anna Claire finally gave up her tricycle a few weeks ago and was so proud to be riding her big girl bicycle.

  The storms on June 18th that seemed to come out of nowhere, did some damage to the side of the house.  It sounded like someone was throwing rocks at the side of the house and I was thankful that the hail didn't bust the upstairs window.  Here's some of the damage.

 Anna Claire and I made some super fun cupcakes.  I didn't taste them, but she seemed to enjoy them.  Cupcake batter in an ice-cream cone freaked me out a little bit, although they were cute!

We made some other cupcakes, but I didn't take any pictures of them because I was exhausted and stressed out by the time we finished them.  I DO NOT recommend the Lighting McQueen cupcakes on the Disney Family website.  They look way easier to make than they actually are.

We made some flip-flops, actually we decorated some flip-flops.

Here is one of her Cars flip-flops and one Tinker Bell flip-flop.

The flip-flops were much easier than the Cars cupcakes!!

This past Saturday Anna Claire, MeMe, and I went to see Cars 2.

Anna Claire loved Cars, but she got bored during Cars 2.  I even got bored during Cars 2.  It was more about clean energy than it was a race.  Anna Claire did enjoy the Toy Story mini movie at the beginning.  : )

After the movie, Anna Claire asked to go to the pink ice-cream place, so we went there and then to Merle Norman (aka the Hello Kitty store) in Tullahoma.

Her dance recital pictures came in yesterday.

We are still waiting on the DVD of the rectial.  I cannot wait to watch it again because it was priceless!!

1st Dance Recital

Anna Claire had her first dance recital a few weeks ago and I must say, it was an experience!  Dress rehearsal about did me in.  LOL!!  Anna Claire did fabulous and she loved every minute of it.  I'm sure this is a shock to most of you because we all know how shy Anna Claire is {yeah right}; she definitely entertained the crowd.  The first dance was tap and the song was Blame It On Your Lyin' Cheatin' Heart by Patty Loveless.  As the girls were dancing, water dripped from the ceiling right in front of Anna Claire. She leans over to where Mrs. Lisa was standing behind the curtain and tells her. You can see the look on Anna Claire's face that she was very concerned and that she did not appreciate the water dripping from the ceiling.  LOL!!  Here are a few tap pictures, most are from dress rehearsal.



These are also her pre-school friends


The second dance was ballet and the song was Evangeline from Princess and the Frog.  During the ballet dance she kept giving her Daddy the "stank" eye and she finally, in the middle of the performance, yells, "DADDY STOP HOLLERING FOR ME" and rolls her eyes at him.  It was priceless.  I heard some men talking when we walked in about the best part being the little ones because you never know what they are going to do and I can tell you, Anna Claire did not disappoint them.  LOL!!    Here are a few ballet pictures.  Anna Claire really enjoys ballet more than tap.
 

In the next picture, I was one proud Momma!!  They had to stand on their tip toes and walk slowly in a circle and Anna Claire never let her heels touch the ground!!


At the end of recital the Daddy's got to go up to the front of the stage and give the girls flowers.  They were treated just like Princesses.  : )


After everything was said and done, we had a blast and cannot wait for dance to start back this Fall.

Hopefully I'll be able to share the video once it comes in from recital night.

Mother's Day

I got a new Vera Bradley bag for Mother's Day, but I wanted to share the most precious gifts that I recieved from Anna Claire.

The one with the yellow hair is Anna Claire and that's me with the purple hair.  : )

I'm a blessed Mommy!!

Strawberry Shortcake w/ a Splash of Chuck E Cheese

Anna Claire had her 4th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese this year.  For the past 3 years we have always had her party in the backyard with a bounce house, but this year I wanted to attempt to enjoy the party a little more and let's face it, I can't top the fire truck from last years party, so I let the fabulous staff @ Chuck E Cheese handle everything.  They were awesome!  This was also the first party that Anna Claire had friends at that she has made on her own, without me knowing their parents first.  There were 8 little girls at the party and lots of adult family members and friends.  Thanks to everyone that took the time to drive to Murfreesboro to spend Anna Claire's special day with her.  We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

I ordered her invitations from Etsy.

Her outfit came from My Red Lady Bug.

Anna Claire and her Big Daddy

Anna Claire's expression when she first saw Chuck E Cheese walking through the door.

Oh, the cake and Berrykins cookies!!  Made by Valerie at Wild About Cakes!

Are you over it yet?  LOL!!  : )  It was a wonderful day!!

She Can't Be 4 Already

Anna Claire celebrated her 4th birthday on April 26th.  It's hard to believe it's been 4 years.  She is a very special little girl and such a blessing to our family!!  She started her birthday with presents and then she took 45 cupcakes, which I forgot to take a picture of, to pre-school to share with all the children and teachers.  Anna Claire got balloons delivered from Kerry and I, as well as Uncle Josh to pre-school and she chose "Mexico", El Mexico as most people know it, for her birthday dinner.  I think for a 4 year old, she had a pretty special birthday.

She got her birthday presents from Mommy and Daddy before getting ready for pre-school because Daddy had to work that night.

We are preparing for our first soccer season this Fall and she is so excited about it.

     

After presents, we got ready for pre-school and work for the day.

This is what Daddy did most of the the weekend before Anna Claire's birthday.  Big Daddy and Uncle Josh helped some too.

Anna Claire's birthday dinner at El Mexico.

You can see the redness on her cheeks.  LOL!!  It may be the first time that I have ever seen her embarrassed.
Then we had CAKE!!

The Saturday after Anna Claire's birthday we celebrated with family and friends at Chuck E Cheese.