Daddy Daughter Dance!

Time for the annual Daddy Daughter Dance! These two are the cutest!
(you can check out pictures from the other years by searching "daddy daughter")

Paige is always ready before Pat:)

Presenting....the corsage!

The corsage was on a slap bracelet! I had never seen one like it before, such a good idea!

All ready!

One more before they go!

Eating dessert

Group picture! Try to find Paige!

A little closer!

Family!

Owen had a birthday party to attend over the weekend but the rest of us headed to my parent's house to visit with some people we rarely see! My dad's sisters came to visit and even though it was a very short visit, it was really fun to get to talk with them and visit for awhile. We even managed to get this group picture on the first try! Not bad!

Cecchetti Exam

Being in dance company takes a lot of dedication and hard work and this year came with a little something extra for Paige. Now that she's a little older, they ask all the girls to take a ballet exam! They practice Cecchetti ballet in their classes but also had a couple extra practices and a mock exam to prepare for the actual exam. Paige was very calm and collected about the whole thing and I was so excited for her to participate and experience what the exam would be like. I didn't get many details but here's what I know about the process-The girls are put in an order during practices that they maintain throughout the process. They walk into the exam room single-file and are asked their names by the two examiners. Then they line up, the music starts and they must be able to do the moves that are asked of them correctly and without any help. There are very subtle differences between moves in regards to where your hands and feet should be so it's pretty impressive for them to be able to do this! Anyway, the results came pretty quickly and we were super excited to see Paige not only passed (along with the other girls who took the Primary exam) but also got an extra high mark for exceeding expectations! She got the best possible score you can get at the Primary level! So proud of her!

Before

After

Waitress!

Pat and I pulled together a date night a week or two ago (thanks Jamie!) and went to see Waitress at Playhouse Square! It was only playing for a week or two so we had to act fast if we wanted to see it. The lobby in the theater smelled just like apple pie the entire time we were there and they were selling mini pies as well! We bought one to share because it was adorable but it was actually not very good. Fun idea though! The actual play was really fun/emotional to watch and we both liked it a lot! I would say that the acting was great, the singing was great but as far as the actual songs...there was only one I was singing the next day. I would have liked some more catchy tunes to still be singing the next day:)

All dressed up!

The theater! 

Pie in a jar. Great idea but not great tasting.

Halloween Night

Halloween Day

When I told Paige that I would run out on Halloween morning to get donuts she told me that she wanted to join me. I told her that no, she would still be sleeping and she had school so I didn't want to wake her up at 6 am. Paige had her own internal alarm and woke up around 5:30 to make sure I didn't leave without her:) It was nice to have company for the trip! We had our family breakfast with some eggs, apple cider, and pumpkin seeds (nobody liked them). Paige and I even made place cards!
Since Owen is such a big kid now (sniff!), his school doesn't have Halloween parties. But Paige's class did! I wasn't picked to go because they had so many volunteers but her teacher did send some pictures.

Donuts. So good you could go nuts.

Ready for some sugar?!?!

Paige and her friend dressed as characters from Descendants

Paige's class

Making mummies

Pumpkin Carving

We had a lone pumpkin sitting on our front steps since mid-September but the day before Halloween we decided that wouldn't do for our our pumpkin carving. We rounded up two more and carefully chose our pumpkin designs and/or carving tools. Owen wanted to create a medley of holes for the light to shine through but ultimately was not pleased with the outcome. Paige chose a pre-made cat design and Pat and I went with a design we had seen on the Internet but Pat reinterpreted. I loved them all!

Who is most excited about pumpkin guts?!

Hard at work

I was mostly in charge of scooping pumpkin guts and pictures

The lighting

The jack o lanterns!

Apple-Zucchini Muffin

These muffins were so good that I made a second batch immediately after we finished the first!
(I absolutely did not buy creme fraiche to serve with these muffins)

Observation Week

Parent observation week at Paige's dance studio!