10/10/10

Happy Birthday, Princess!  Our doll, our sweetheart, our baby girl!  We adore you!

Breakfast:  Mickey Mouse pancakes with strawberries & whipped cream.

Grandpa took over pancakes while I was on camera duty.  He did a magnificent job!

Grammy gives the best hugs!  What a special Birthday to have your wonderful Grandparents here.

We missed Darren today, since we didn't get to see much of him.  He gave a fantastic talk in church, and then had to drop some friends off for their cruise.

1st attempt at fondant.  Don't laugh.

7 years old!  We feel you've been a part of our family always.

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl.

We LOVE you!

Easiest Headband. Ever.

The upside to having the kids be able to wear "real" clothes to school instead of uniforms is that I get to make new hair accessories for Courtney. {or me!}

Annie Jr.

Grade School Musical!
Courtney was so excited to try out for the school's 1st ever musical.
For tryouts, she memorized an entire page of orphan's lines.
She memorized the song, and we sang it until we were all sick of it.
She walked into tryouts.
{I witnessed it, since I was the pianist}

Director: Hi, is your name is Courtney?
Courtney: {Stares at her feet}
D: You're Courtney, right?
C: {Tries to make her head and shoulders disappear into her neck}
D: Did you memorize your lines?
C: {Shakes head no}
D: Well, then did you bring your paper?
C: {Shakes head no}
You get the gist.

She was scared to death, poor thing.
She did NOT want to be in the play.
After a few days of coaxing from her teacher and classmates, she relented, and became an orphan.

Here is a video clip of her debut.

The show turned out great. The kids were so cute, the scenery was a-mazing {done by the Jr. High Art department}, and Courtney overcame her fear.

She LOVED being on stage.

Seriously, isn't she stunning? {even as a heavily makeup-ed, ratty orphan}?
Getting ready to rehearse "Its a Hard-Knock Life"
At the end, she got to change from rags to riches for the celebration & finale at the Warbucks mansion.Sweet girl, we are SO proud of you! You lit up that stage!

Besties! Courtney has so many friends--she is truly going to be sad to leave all her "BFFs."
I told her she'll have lots of pen pals.

Dancing Diva

Courtney had a jam-packed 2 days.

3 performances of Annie AND a dance recital! Her ballet class danced to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
{the ukulele "ooh-hoo" version}
Busy weekend?

Miss Alyssa-- the most AMAZING, talented dance teacher.

Courtney's gonna miss her!

Sugar Plum Fairy

Miss Courtney had a little performance @ her dance class today. She is doing so well! Quite the accessories: )

As Promised...

Pics of baby Courtney. I could have sworn I had a CD of pics from her 1st photo shoot {by Natalie Wright, the Magnificent} but I guess I don't. Courtney @ 5 months {what did parents do before binkees?}
One hour old
Kennebunkport, Maine {this girl ALWAYS had her little pink tongue out}

Sweet newborn babe and puffy post-delivery Momma:)

Pretty Baby

I switched this from being a halter top to a skirt. I think it works either way:)

Ballerinas

Courtney's dance teacher had a photographer come take "professional" pictures of the girls. Hmmm... well, I had to edit, crop and straighten them myself. Half of the pictures were blurry, but she did get a few cute pictures that I was able to salvage.

This is the best picture she got of the class. I didn't bother to edit it.

Legacy Lion

In Courtney's class, they each take turns having a {germ-infested} stuffed lion go home with them for a week. They are supposed to take Legacy on outings and keep a journal of his adventures.

Although Mom tried to keep Legacy at a safe distance, he did join us for a few adventures. {This is the last picture we have of my favorite headband-- Courtney lost it shortly after this picture was taken}We went to a darling play called "Honk!" that one of my Young Women performed in. The kids absolutely LOVED it, and we had honking and quacking at our house for the rest of the week.

This Little Gal...

...doesn't have a chance @ being a tomboy. How pink can she get?!?

Poor little Courtney has been fighting a cold all week. She was a real trooper @ soccer practice today.
Kick it!

Sun Wave Soccer

Courtney has been asking me for a month now when soccer is going to start. It's her 1st year playing, and she is SO excited to be on the Sun Waves!
They won their game last week {the camera was @ Pine Wood Derby} and won again today! She is lucky to have great coaches that really encourage the kiddos. She's running to give a high-five to Coach Erik.
Sun Waves!!!
I thought this was pretty funny. After the game, Alexander was her water bottle man. He said, "Like professionsal football players have. You know, the guys that pick up their stuff and give them water?"

Classic moment. I caught her 1st soccer fall on video:) She jumped right back up and cheered because her team scored a goal.

Budding Artist

I had to take Courtney to a Pediatric Allergist the other day. He was a FANTASTIC doctor, and asked Courtney what she wanted to be when she grew up. She told him, "An artist." That's a new one. She's wanted to be a "ballerina mommy" for years.

Today she had a school project too make a rainbow using only the primary colors.
She donned her apron and went to town! It was like magic mixing and making new colors!

Fleur

I was living on the edge a little this Sunday--I wore one of Courtney's headbands to church. When I asked Darren if it looked too juvenile, he paused for a long time. I guess that was my answer. If you see any {wisdom} colored hair, there must be something wrong with your computer screen:)

Retired

Today Miss Courtney retired her 1st "real" ballet slippers and upgraded to a bigger size. Can you tell I opened our photo editing software for the first time today? It was fun playing around with the color/contrast/text buttons:)She LOVES ballet right now. Watching her in this new studio takes me back to my dancing days. Yes, I was a ballerina once, too. Dance was my first love. It's so fun to have a daughter that enjoys it as much as I do. {Even though "tutus are REALLY itchy!!"}

Trustworthy

This morning @ flag ceremony, Courtney was recognized as the "Trustworthy" Student of the Month. This was a fitting award for her, since she is very honest and makes sure she completes all her work, every day.
She was grinning ear to ear! Way to go, Courtney! We are so proud of you.

Jedi Biker Babe

Courtney took a break from biking and must have found this light saber in the process. She was being so crazy, I couldn't resist!

Carded!

Courtney got her 1st library card today. She's been counting down the months until she turned 5, so it was a BIG day! She just finished signing her autograph. Sorry, my camera phone isn't by any means fabulous:)

Howdy there, Cowgirl!

OK, these posts have been all Courtney lately-- I promise tomorrow will be all of Alexander! She came out of her room in this getup and started posing-- how could I not take pictures?
We love our Arizona cowgirl!

I've Got My Rock Moves...

Sorry, we love that Pink song.

Courtney's latest thing to do in the back yard is being a "Rock Take-care-of-er." She has this elaborate process for taking care of rocks {with her imaginary friend, Jenny}. This poor girl seriously needs a sibling home to play with her.
Disclaimer: I thought this was a totally random thing she'd come up with, but I figured out where it came from. She has the new Tinkerbell movie, and all the fairies have special jobs to do to get the world ready for Spring. She's pretending her job is to get the rocks ready for Spring:)

Too Too Cutie

Courtney picked out the tulle for this dress several months back, but has always insisted it was "too itchy" for church (she's a bit sensitive-- even with new clothes, I have to wash and Downy them before she'll wear them).
Just now she asked me when she's going to get her ears "pinched" so she can wear earrings. Such a beautiful girl! (and yes, I bribed her with a lollipop to wear the dress to church today).