On to high school

This handsome guy just celebrated graduation from middle school! He has a great smile and was so natural and happy that I didn't need any of my 'trying to get a good smile' tricks!

Crazy last week of school

So the kids finished the school year on Thursday and we had a very busy week. I compiled slideshows for both my kids classes with photos taken throughout the year, added kid-friendly music, made copies for all 'stars' of the slideshows and had the pleasure of attending the viewings. The first graders were very enthusiastic, clapping with the music and were in general very high energy! The third graders were a bit more controlled, but still seemed to enjoy the trip down memory lane as well. I also attended 3 class parties and photographed one of them for a school fundraiser (photos will be uploaded later today).

As well as school activities I'm also still processing and uploading recital photos, working on a painted-effect family portrait (more details on the painted photo option soon) and proofing a fun session with a handsome young man! I'm going to post a sneak peak from this session later today.

I hope everyone has a great summer!

Keepsake box

My friend makes these beautiful boxes and we purchased one for my daughter to celebrate her dance year. (Her site is http://www.insidethebox-chris.blogspot.com./

This was the first year she did more than one class (3 this year) and she performed in 6 dances over 2 nights. I had some anxious moments during the recital - but she did great!

She loves her personalized box and has already filled it with some of her favorite things!

A few more

Here are a few more from the weekend! I am started to post photos on my site at http://www.loriejohnson.photoreflect.com/ and will continue to upload until all dances are finished, hopefully by the end of next week. The end of the school year activities are taking some of my attention as well!

Recital - Random

I'm a bit exhausted by the weekend's recital. The performances were terrific as always and the girls very beautiful! A few random thoughts and photos as that is all I can muster for now!

Congrats to the graduating seniors - they are beautiful and talented and are sure to have very bright futures! Thanks to my daughters' teachers - she has been progressing so nicely from year-to-year and she is very lucky to have such sweet, encouraging teachers and helpers.

The numbers most talked about in our house by my parents, kids, husband and I were (besides my daughter's numbers of course); Under the Sea, Tan Shoes and Hairspray. I can never get tired of seeing Lord of the Dance and we all loved the partnering ballet numbers!

My favorite little girl costumes were the teal/green ones shown above. The colors were gorgeous and they had a cute butterfly on the back.

The youngest girls were as cute as ever, with a few incidents that made me chuckle!

My daughter's bun help up reasonably well. I'm not very good at it, but hopefully am getting better.

My daughter had a great helper on Friday night - made my life a lot easier!

I will start posting photos on my site http://www.loriejohnson.photoreflect.com/ by class/dance this week. I'll also post another recital preview here on my blog as well.

Flag football

We made an agreement with my son to allow him to play flag football instead of baseball this spring. He loves football, but we haven't been willing to try tackle football at his age. Anyway, it is a win/win, as I don't mind missing baseball season and he is doing well and enjoying flag football.

Here he is playing quarterback. He is handing off, getting ready to pass and passing for a completion.

Dress rehearsal - Part 2

A few more from last week's dress rehearsal! I only saw the older girls on stage for less than a minute, but did catch one of them doing a pretty nice leap!

It's going to be a great time!