May I have this dance?

The Father Daughter dance was over two weeks ago.  I don't know how I get so far behind with posting things to this blog, but these are just a few photos and things I want to remember about this night.  I know that they are still fresh in my mind now - but in a few months, years, etc.  I will be so glad I posted - two weeks late or not.

 

We have a tradition - now three years long - that she comes home from school and heads up to mom and dad's bathroom for  "spa" time while getting ready for the dance.

 

Speaking of tradition or maybe antiques is more the word - those hot rollers are the same ones I used to use in high school.  They still work awesome even though they are not Hailey's favorite thing by any means.

It is hard to tell from these photos, but I let her wear a little lip gloss and a bit of mascara on her lashes.  Her lashes are amazing!  I thought the boys had long lashes - but hers are just as long if not more.  She is such a cute little girl, but when she wears makeup I can see hints of what she will look like when she is older and sometimes it takes my breath away - she is a knockout.

The dance was a cowgirl theme and we had everything we needed for her outfit except for the boots (which I ordered) and the skirt (which I made).  I loved how the skirt turned out!  Not bad for twelve dollars worth of bandanas!

She was so touched that her Daddy remembered to order her a corsage.  She kept on admiring it and telling him how special and beautiful it was.  I think hearing her so genuinely thankful and watching her feel so special was my favorite part of the whole night.

She couldn't believe that her Daddy could tell them to make it to match her skirt so perfectly.  My heart was melting.  She was so cute about it.   The next day she even used the corsage box to make her daddy a thank you gift for the flowers he gave her.  She is the sweetest.

Since I am a PTO officer I was sort of roped (you see what I did there?) into helping out at the dance.  It was the first time I have ever been at one of them and it was very fun.  I loved seeing all the girls dressed up in their cowgirl get ups.

 

I especially loved getting to spy on my favorite cowgirl and cowboy as they whirled around the dance floor.  What a special night - we can't wait until next year!

The caves

Oh winter...while we do love all four of our seasons, we are glad to see you on your way out.  These photos were taken a couple weeks ago during our last bitterly cold spell.  

 

The Pere Marquette Ice Caves...I had such an ethical dilemma with this whole situation.   Every ounce of my brain was telling me how stupid it was to give into the latest hysteria and follow like lemmings into a situation that I have told my kids to avoid at all costs.  But there was another strong part of me that so badly wanted to see it - and the photographer in me was pleading that there might never be another chance like this. 

 

So we went.  I told the kids about my dilemma and how in any other circumstance this would never happen.  Evan was still not happy with me.  He told me in his own way that I was a hypocrite and wondered how I could preach one thing and do the opposite.  He had a strong, valid point and I told him that he was not being forced to go out on the lake and that if he didn't, he would most likely be the smartest of us all. 

 

 

Ultimately, when he saw where the caves were - not too far from the breakwall - he chose to join us.

It is amazing out there.  Beautiful but also so scary.

There were about fifty other people wandering around besides us so Evan quickly lost his fear and started to enjoy the formations and caves.  I have to admit that it still freaked me out a lot when the kids would go under or through something and I couldn't see them.  I was constantly on the verge of a panic attack.

Absolutely gorgeous.  I don't know if we will ever see anything like this again in our lives.  I know in my 43 years of living here, I have never heard or seen such a sight.

It was an amazing experience and so beautiful to see.  On the way out with the sun beams streaming behind him,  Evan is saying thanks to the Lord for us making it out together and safely. 

Busy start to our weekend!

We have a few super busy weekends coming up the next few weeks and this week was the start of it.  Friday night Trent had rehearsal, Spencer had a school dance and the two little kids and I went to their school for the PTO sponsored movie night.  It was the first time for this kind of event and it was a huge success.  The kids had a ball coming to school at night in their pajamas - I think Evan pretty much brought his whole bedroom with him.

 

Saturday morning Evan had practice for DI and Spencer's cross country coach had arranged a special screening of McFarland, USA for whoever wanted to attend.  Luckily one of his friends called asking if he needed a ride so that saved us one trip to the theatre and back.  I picked up Evan from DI practice at noon and we raced across town to his Blue and Gold banquet where Daddy and Hailey were hopefully saving us seats.

Evan received his Arrow of Light which is the highest rank a Cub Scout can get and then he officially crossed over to Boy Scouts.

Spencer got to tie on his new Boy Scout neckerchief for him.  Spencer had been dropped off from the movie just in time for the ceremony.  I had his uniform but he claimed he didn't need it - if I had known he would be such a big part of the ceremony I would have forced him!

PS - when we got home I got out the scissors and cut both of their hair.  My shaggy boys!

These three boys have known each other since they were in three year old preschool together. 

After our crazy morning of running around, I felt like we needed some fresh air or just to be outside for a bit.  It was still pretty cold, but the sun was shining.  I asked the kids if they wanted to walk to the beach to see the icebergs and they were all about it.

They are very cautious about walking out on the ice at all - which I am thrilled about.  In fact, when we were leaving we saw a couple people walking WAY out on the ice shelf.  Evan commented to me that the people were being stupid because it was very dangerous to be out there.  He even wondered if we should wait for them to get back to shore in case we had to call 911 to rescue them.  I love that they respect the power of the lake.

They played in the "puddle" for about 20 minutes.  Hailey's gloves and the bottom of her snowpants were soaked and then immediately froze.  Why not wade in the water on the last day of February?  These kids are Michigan tough!

On Sunday we were able to hang around the house and get some stuff done.  Now in a few days we get to start all over with more fun events!