Alyssa and Grandpa Ken

My Dad and sister, Sarah, stopped by last week with a gift for Alyssa and to say hello. The kids were really excited when I told them they were coming by, and we enjoyed their visit.  Alyssa got the "Purple Thing" she wanted for her birthday..this cute little blobbish dancing thing.  She was a happy girl!

Alyssa's skirt

Just wanted to share my first attempt at a skirt.  I didn't use a pattern or much other than my friend explaining to me how to make a skirt from a fat quarter.  I made this skirt with two fat quarters and pretty dark pink thread.  Oh where to begin on all the mistakes I made, but that's how we learn!  The flower is a ploy to cover up one of the biggest mistakes I made. I stiched the flower to the dress, which I think looks decent. The waist is elastic, which is nice b/c Alyssa can just slip it on and off.  Honestly, I think Reagan will probably end up wearing this as well!

Obviously, the black is one fat quarter, the pink the other. The pink thread worked well, and hides some of the flaws.

Alyssa Turns 6!!!

They just grow too fast! I spent the days preceding Alyssa's big day reminiscing about different parts of my pregnancy with her, as well as the day I went into labor with her....I do that each year!  I'm just so thankful for all our wonderful kids, and can't help it.
Alyssa's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, and her day was made special in a couple different ways.  She got to bring cupcakes to school, and when she got off the kindergarten bus that day, Reagan and I met her there with a bunch of birthday balloons.  That night, we attended August's soccer game, then came home to a home-made cake and presents!
Her more elaborate party was that Friday (yesterday).  She got to select one friend for Build-a-Bear, dinner, cupcakes and lots of fun.  Our whole family plus her friend all piled into the van and headed to Bellevue square, where they had everything we needed:-)
I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

Just arriving at Build-A-Bear.

Preparing her bears heart so it can go inside the bear and bring "life" to it:-)

Alyssa's bear was a limited edition Blizzard Bear and smells like chocolate.

Reagan loved this place!

Bogo free on these bears! So cute, and a great deal.

Reagan loves "Tangled".  That's what she named her bear.  She even picked out a tangled dress for her bear that matches her Halloween costume.

August picked out a Koala, and a wildcat football uniform.

Cleaning the bears to remove fuzz.

They all loved this station.

A Halloween Costume was Alyssa's choice...and one of my favorite outfits there, and a pair of bunny slippers for her bear.  Adorable!

Birthday Dinner at Red Robin in Bellevue Square.

Time for presents!

What a beautiful costume!

Pinkabella Cupcakes: Each child got to select from the storefront at the Bell Square Pinkabella, but we decided to bring them home to enjoy after gifts.

And a few pictures from her official Birthday:

A journal that August spent a lot of time making for Alyssa for her birthday.  The boys both selected wrapping paper and wrapped it themselves, and she loved it!  I love how August loves celebrating the birthdays of others.  He has always been such a selfless child.

 

Alyssa loves this Disney Princess blanket she received!

Make a wish, sweet girl!  We love you soooooooo much:-)

Alyssa looses her first tooth!

This tooth had been noticably loose for a couple weeks.  Earlier in the day she showed me and I saw the whole back part was free, and it was basically just hanging from the front.  I knew it wouldn't be long! That night after dinner the kids were eating bananas-dipping them in chocolate, and it happened:-) Her banana was gone and she was cleaning out the rest of the chocolate from her bowl (eating it, of course!), and she said to me, "Mom, I think I lost part of my tooth!".  Of course it was the whole tooth, but she was expecting it to be bigger than it was, so she figured she must have only lost part of it. 
She wasn't ready to say goodbye to her tooth that night, so she held onto it until lastnight.  She placed it in a bag labeled "Alyssa's tooth" and August put a note inside that read "Alyssa wants candy?" When Alyssa woke this morning she found $5 and a note that read "Here is money to buy some, 'heart' Tooth Fairy. 
SO, we will be headed to the store shorty to select some candy:-) 

I can't believe my first girl just lost her first tooth!! She thinks that for losing such a small tooth, it sure made a big hole in her mouth:-)

A video clip from ballet

Observation Day in Ballet

Sitting right next to her primary teacher, Miss Kelsey

Taking center

Just getting started.

I need to learn the names of the ballet positions, but here she is doing one of them across the floor.

Another ballet move done across the bar.

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Time for Tap drills

Warm up stretches.

To Say that I enjoyed watching Alyssa at ballet is an understatement, as any of you who know me well would know!  All girly and sweet....it was great:-)) Observation day happens once at the end of each session.  Today was the end of her first nine week session.  For this day, the girls get "free dress" and the parents get to stay.  I knew right away that this would be a good reason for me to try and make a new tutu, as I am working on perfecting them so I can add them to my shop someday.  I designed her tutu in pink and brown to coordinate with her standard uniform for the academy.  We coordinated some long brown socks with pom poms, and I finished off her look by tying some brown tulle around her hair bun cover to match the tutu.  She got loads of compliments on it and looked great:-)  Performance-wise, I thought she did an excellent job.  She has great posture and really follows direction well.  She is a graceful ballerina and I can't wait to hopefully see her in a recital someday!