Addie's 1st Ballet Recital 3-3-2012

Addie has been practicing every week for the past 6 months on a dance routine she finally got to share with us this past Saturday. It was definitely one of my prouder mommy moments as I watched her perform for the very first time in front of a rather large crowd. She was so beautiful and so very brave.

Front and center...that's my pretty girl!

Right on cue...she didn't take her little eyes off of her dance teacher, who was standing in front of the stage performing right a long with them.

Here they are doing their final bow. Addie had a whole cheer section screaming for her little dance team. We were all so proud of her!

This folks, is one very proud papa!

Addie and her Mamaw...of course she yelled the loudest!

Addie and her Ga Ga...

All the girls...givin' her some love after the recital...

Addie and her dance teacher, Miss Karen...

I met this wonderful lady at swim lessons this past summer. She is such a gentle soul, and I was beyond thrilled to learn that she teaches all different types of dance right out of her own home. She has a little building beside her house that she has convereted into a dance studio, complete with wood floors, mirrors, and ballet bars. She teaches ballet, tap, Irish dance, and creative dance to children ranging in age from 4-18. She has a gift, and she was born to work with children. Patience is second nature to her and her bubbly, positive personality makes her an awesome role model for our little people. We were blessed to have had the chance to "meet" ballet with this sweet little dance teacher. And we were so very proud of all of their hard work this past weekend. We might just have a little dancer on our hands....

Sweet Little Lady and the Hooded Boys

So this sweet little girl had a birthday party a couple of weeks back that happened to be at the "Young Chefs Academy" here in our town. This is a locally owned chain where young children can come and "learn" to cook and chef it up. I think it is a fabulous concept, but I'm not sold on the fact that they can keep up with the rising allergies and food restrictions on many of our young people these days.

When she first got the invite, of course I was concerned about what they would be cooking and what ingredients they would be handling. When I found out it was pizza, I was relieved. However, the little princess was not excited. Have you ever met a child who didn't eat pizza. Meet Addie. I promised her that she could make her pizza and then bring it home to her Dad to eat. That made her happy.

Unfortunately, this was a busy Saturday for us, and I forgot to bring her "special cupcake" along. Since she can't eat the cake at birthday parties, we have our own that we bring instead. I knew this would be a problem once the cake was served, but thought I could promise an ice cream stop afterwards. I got busy socializing with the other mommies at the party and when I looked up, Addie had a huge bite of chocolate cake on her fork and was getting ready to shovel it in. I panicked, and ran over just in time....saying "no, Addie....you can't have that!" Of course, the tears came a flooding. I had totally embarassed her. Here she was at a "big girl party" with a friend who was in kindergarten. She knew noone at the party besides the birthday girl herself. She was so nervous about going, but put on a smile and summoned up some courage as the strange woman dragged her little hand from mine and strapped her in a tiny apron. And then I totally embarass her :( I hated that it happened. I wanted to cry right there too. I scooped off a bunch of icing from the cake and offered her this little peace offering. We dried off her tears and she eventually went back to her seat to eat her icing beside the other kids. I was proud once again at her little courage.

Then the chef walked over and asked us if she was finished with her pizza (of which not a single bite was taken)....and when I told her she was going to take it home to her Daddy, she informed us that the "Young Chefs Academy" did not have a carry-out license, and that we could not take the pizza with us. She asked us again if she was going to eat it, and when I shook my head no, about to cry once again, she tossed it into the trash. That will be our last visit to the "Young Chefs Academy".

On a lighter note...

Look at my gangster boys...

Do they think they are cool or what?

They make me laugh.

Addie didn't see them throw her pizza away, and she was too excited about the present she got as we left that she didn't think about it until much later that night. Addie: "momma.....what about my pizza?"......Me: Oh, Daddy ate it right up and told me to tell you it was the best pizza he has ever had!

A Hewitt Christmas

Christmas Day was spent over at Ga Ga and Pop Pop's house with Addie and Hayes' cousins, Skylar and Lakyne. The kids all had a blast singing, opening tons of gifts, and eating lots of yummy food! Addie sang "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth". She practiced for weeks before the big show, and although she sang a little softer than usual, it was a big hit! All of the girls put on a great show....Hayes will give them a run for their money next year for sure!

The world better watch out....he is a few months shy of being able to reach those pedals!

I still can't believe another Christmas has come and gone. And I really can't believe it's almost Valentines Day and I'm still posting about Christmas. Shame. On. Me.

Christmas Morning! Ho Ho visits the Hewitts

Addie catches her first glimpse of Ho Ho's gifts...

Hayes still hasn't really woke up...He was ready to sleep another hour or so...

Addie and her new bike...

She's excited about the smallest things...

Hayes tries not to trip on the train track so that he can get a better look at Addie's stocking...

This is so much fun!

More cars to play with Daddy...now Christmas is complete!

What else is in here? Could there be more cars?

Allergen-free candy = Jackpot

Addie is making sure she didn't miss anything down in there...

Hayes' breakfast of fruit snacks and twizzlers has begun. He carried around that bag all morning :)

And Addie shoved whoppers in her mouth all morning and gaurded her bag from Hayes...

Fun memories were defintely made this Christmas. Having a 2 year old and a 4 year old during the holidays just can't be beat!

Christmas

The kids are "writing" their letters to Ho Ho on Christmas Eve.

Our den after Ho Ho's visit was out of control.

I had been collecting parts to this train set since I found out I was having a little boy. Everytime there was a sale at ToysRUs I was there adding a piece to our collection, which I kept stored in our little attic over the garage. I didn't realize how out of control it had gotten until that night. I kept pulling boxes and boxes out of the attic, all of which had to be cut out of their displays and put together to make one big connecting train set. We started putting the thing together at 10:00 that night after the kids were asleep, and we didn't get into bed until 1:30 that morning. Tim was pretty annoyed, and I'll be honest, I was a little embarassed. I prayed really hard that night that he would actually like the darn thing! He did. It was a big hit. And it is a big, permanent monstrosity in our play room now. I tend to do things big. I'll go ahead and admit that now.

Dear Dad

These pictures are for you...since you have been missin' my blog lately :)

December was a very busy month. We wrapped up swim lessons for a little while. My little fish have been missing the pool here lately, but I am enjoying the break. We will get our fair share of the pool as soon as the weather starts to warm back up I am sure.

Addie found a letter from Ho Ho that told her to look in her Mamaw's garage for a special present he brought her early since Mamaw would not be there on Christmas morning to see her other gifts. She was so excited! She slept with that letter for days afterwards.

Hayes really got into unwrapping gifts this year. He wanted to tear into everyone's presents!

Addie was mighty proud of the stack of gifts she had at Mamaws! She would smile so big when her name was called, and she loved building a mountain with the unwrapped boxes!

Christmas is magical again with little ones...it really is. They make it so much fun!

This is what breakfast looks like at our house. They sit in the same seats and pretty much each the same stuff each morning. We are creatures of habit.

Once again we enjoyed the Great Bridge Christmas parade here in our town. Hayes loved the motorcycles and police cars. He can't get enough of sirens! Addie loves the cheerleaders and dancers, and of course, the people who pass out candy!

Last year when we were at the parade, it started snowing. It was so cold. So this time I made sure everyone was nice and warm. It was a bit much. It was much warmer than we expected! Still, they looked adorable in their winter gear!

Addie and her Mamaw and I went to a Christmas ballet together. It was such a nice time. Addie was in awe of all of the beautiful costumes and sat mesmerized the whole time. It was fun to get all dressed up and do something girly together!

I have many more pictures to share from Christmas, my favorite time of the year for sure. I won't wait so long to post again, I promise!