I think that most of us want to think of ourselves as forgiving souls, at least, I do. I'm working so hard on stretching that forgiveness muscle right now and quite honestly could use some prayer, if you are so inclined.
Without going into too much detail, my girl has been mistreated. Not in a way that is physically damaging, but emotionally. What makes it worse is that it was by some people whom I entrusted her with for hours every week.
I'm heartbroken for her, for me, for what used to be "normal". We are going to have to find a new "normal" for my girl. It can be done, without a doubt, but it will be hard.
Please pray that I find forgiveness in my heart, but more importantly, that Paige finds it in hers. Life certainly has bumps in the road and it is those bumps who make us the people we are. Praying that this bump is resolved soon so I can have my happy girl back.
It's no secret that I miss my dad sooo much. If you are my FB friend, you will see that I speak of him often. Father's Day is always a day I dread since losing my dad. I know I should rejoice in the fact that he is in Heaven and on most days I do, but Father's Day I allow myself to just feel.
Paige and my brother dread the day as well. This year, Paige asked me if we could do a photo shoot and if she could style it and pick the location. I was so excited to see what she came up with. Well, she did a GREAT job. She chose some of my dad's clothing and then we went to the Goodwill to pick up a pair of old frames to complete the look. She wanted to go to our local high school and take pictures on the track.
Before we went to our shoot, my brother came over and we all laughed and remembered funny times with my dad. It was very cathartic. I love, love, love my family!!!
I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating all of the fathers in your life!
Another year of dance for my girl (and my mom and I) is over! Whew! It's been a whirlwind for us all, but most importantly for Paige. Her dance studio just puts on the most amazing show. My sister-in-law came for the first time and told me that she thought it was going to be a bunch of kids pointing their toes and parents oohing and aahing...after the recital, she had to pull up her jaw. She said she felt as if she had been to a broadway production. It really is quite impressive.
Paige has really worked hard this year to step it up. She has worked hard on her leaps, fouettes, Cjumps, and many other french words that I can't pronounce :) I was so excited to see her do her intermediate modern dance and it didn't disappoint, but the ABSOLUTE highlight of the second night was her intermediate hip hop performance. It ROCKED! After the girls were finished dancing, the crowd rose to their feet and were hooting and hollering. I was FLOORED! I am so excited for what is to come. Paige's goal is to dance for her High School dance team, who have been the national champs twice in the last 5 years. The coach talked to me at the end of the show and said "Paige is looking good! Can't wait for her to try out!". When I told Paige, she about jumped out of her skin.
I could go on and on and yes, I realize I am bragging, but hey...she's worked hard and I am proud...what can I say?! :)
Here are some pics and I am going to try hard to link a video if I can. Youtube is giving me fits.
Terrible pic of me, but I love my sweetie. This is what I look like after getting her through 11 costume changes. YES 11!!! Ugh :/
Paige's Godmother, Dawn.
Me and my friend, Shannon.
Cast of the ballet. The Little Mermaid.
Paige and her "girls".
Paige and friend, Avery. Look for Avery on the Disney Channel in CoC@ J@nes video in the next two weeks. She is a back up dancer!
Getting hugs from guh guh after the finale!
My brother Greg, sis n law Laurie, and me
Paige and besties being sassy backstage :)
Have mercy!
The girls were jellyfish in the ballet. Aren't they beautiful?
These videos are from previous dance competitions throughout the year. I am going to try hard to upload the wonderful dances from recital. They blow these out of the water. (Even though I think these dances are cute!)
I finally had my last day of school on Friday. Woo hoo! I do have to go back for two days of inservice next week, but those are generally fun days and we get to go out for lunch (treat for teachers!). It has been such a long year. We had so much unexpected snow and our system didn't have that many built in snow days.
Anyway, I had a great year teaching 3rd grade. I learned a lot and hope to be more effective this coming school year.
Paige has been leisurely spending her days at the pool in between her many hours of dance practice. This week is her dance recitals. She has dress rehearsals downtown all day on Monday from 8 until 7, then has dances Tuesday night and Wednesday night. This year she is in a total of 11 dances. She loves it, but it stress me out so much to get her ready in between acts. Her dances are so different, so it's not like I can leave her hair one way and that works for the remainder of the night. She also has a ton of make up changes. It's going to be wild and crazy. Some days I wish she were still little and relied on my mom and I for everything and then other days I wish she could do her own hair, make up, and drive herself to and from dance. I need to just relax and enjoy every stage. She is growing so quickly!
On another note, her eye condition has come back with a vengeance. She is having a terrible time seeing out of one of her eyes and the white cloud that once was so pronounced is back on top of her cornea. We were seeing specialists at Vanderbilt and they thought she would have a cornea transplant, only to tell us that she wouldn't, and now it looks like we are back at square one. If you are so inclined, I would appreciate prayer for good news on June 16th as we visit the hospital again.
I will leave you with a video of the senior performance of Alice in Twisted Land...this is just a tidbit of all that goes into recitals...let the show begin :)
I am a 30 something year old who is living my life enjoying every single day. I have a younger sister, Paige, who is truly my best friend. On these pages you will read about our daily adventures.
