Aleah started taking piano lessons about 4 months ago and had her very first recital. She did a GREAT job! She played a piece called On a Funny, Sunny Day. I am SOOO proud of her and how well she is doing playing. Look at how grown up she looks!
Crazy year.... fun year! Costume craziness. Pumpkins Patches. Lots of school and work parties and TONS of candy. What more could you ask for :)
Wow! I am so not good at this. So I publicly apologize to Aleah and my lack of staying on top of things with her. Not like I don't have alot going on in my life right now... right? But hey... better late than never... right? (is my just justification working?? :)) Without much ado....
Dear Aleah,
Happy SEVENTH birthday my beautiful sweetheart. I almost called you my little girl but I think that you are past that stage. As much as that makes me sad... I am SO happy to watch you grow into such a beautiful girl.
You have always been such a wonderful part of my life. I have loved watching you learn and grow in life. You love to come home from school (the 2nd grade.... already!!!) and tell me all about the things you are learning. I have loved to see the light in your eye as you "get" something. It is fun to watch you with Mya.... trying to teach her all the things that you are learning.
You absolutely LOVE to read. I am shocked when you came home one day from school and asked me for the book Ralph and the Motorcycle. WOW! You are reading books that big already?!? Needless to say... I was SO excited going to the bookstore to pick out new books for you. What a fun door we are starting to open. You also LOVE your computer games. You wake me up every morning asking me if you can play the computer :) You have just started playing the piano and this thrills me beyond all words! You are picking it up SO well and I have never been more proud!
You still have an imagination the size of Texas! I find you playing in your own little world all the time :) I hope that that innocence stays with you for a long long time. You are such a delight and you make friends so easily. I love how sweet you are to those around you. And especially to your little sister. You two are the best of friends and it makes my heart smile.
Aleah... I want you to know that I love you SO much. I am so grateful that the Lord put you in my life. The Lord knew what I needed when He gave me you! Happy birthday sweetheart! I love you!!! 
Love, Mom
Aleah lost her first tooth. FINALLY!!!!!! I kept thinking to myself... and I am sure that I voiced it outloud a couple of times too.... "Why hasn't Aleah lost any of her teeth yet? Isn't she really old for not loosing any?"
Well... there you have it. A week before her 7th birthday she FINALLY loses one. Have I said FINALLY enough yet??? :) She was scared to DEATH to pull it. Refused to let me pull it. Not that I wanted to anyways. That grosses me out. Refused to let Mya even though Mya was BEGGING her to let her pull it. In fact, the day before she lost her tooth Mya said to her.... "Aleah, we have GOT to get that tooth out. Mom, get the drumstick and let's just wack it out." And sure enough... Mya came at Aleah with the drum stick and said, "Don't worry sissy, this won't hurt a bit." ha ha! Too funny she is.
Well, after much drama (from Aleah? no! Not Aleah) she finally pulled it out on her own. She was shocked that it didn't even hurt at all. Now maybe the next teeth won't be so dramatic :)
Dear Mya,
I can't believe that you, my baby girl, are turning FIVE today. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was cradling you in my arms as a new born. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. And I think that I always will. One day I will tell the story and embarrass you :) But Mya, I just wanted you to know how much I love you and how I thank the Lord every night for blessing me with you. You bring such a light and joy into my heart and life. You are SO incredibly witty and smart for your age. Your maturity just blows my mind. Most people you meet are shocked that you are only turning five. You are really really funny. You are so inquisitive and you ask so many questions all of the time. The thing that gets me the most is that you always seem to put two and two together.... even when I really don't want you to. Like when you ask me how do babies come out of mommy's tummies. AH!!!! :)
You are our family's little peacemaker. You will do anything and everything for your sister. You would give up your ice cream sundae if she wanted it. You are so willing to give and give. I think that you may even taught Aleah to share :)
I have now determined that you are a mommy trapped inside a little girls body. You are SO motherly and nurturing. It's so sweet to watch you with your baby dolls. Learning how to swaddle them or how to rock them to sleep. I can just see the mother in you and it makes me smile. YOU make me smile. You love to learn, play with your sister, be mommy's big helper, play with makeup and put on "lips" (a.k.a chapstick) and carry your play purse and phone around. I can even find you "texting." Can you really only be five???? You have such sass and attitude that it makes me giggle. You love to dance and have determined that hip hop dancing is your favorite. You can even do the hip hop head. :) You love to take pictures and I have tons on my camera of you to prove it :)
I love you Mya SO dearly. You bring just the right spirit and light into our lives. There are days that are so difficult for mommy but just having you around me makes it all disappear. Happy birthday my sweet angel. Mommy loves you SO much!!!!!
At the girls dance studio they were able to perform for Hot August Nights. For those of you from not around here... Hot August Nights is where people from all over bring old fashion decked out cars to show off. They drive them around and park them and you just walk around looking at them. Sounds lame but it actually pretty cool. Anyways, so I made 15 poodle skirts for all the girls at the studio and the girls performed every night for 5 nights. It was crazy! Aleah was in three different dances and Mya was in two. It was SO cute. I am just so excited that they truly are loving dance as much as I do :)
I have recently become a firm believer that when the Lord closes one door.... a window opens somewhere. I have been in school for the last year or so for theatre and I got to a point where I was cast in a show. I was THRILLED. Something I have been working towards for a REALLY long time. But for many different reasons... I felt it was best that I withdraw from the show. I am not going to lie... this KILLED me. This show was my sanity and my escape from things. So, it was a really hard decision to make but I knew that it was the right decision. That door closed for me. And now here is where the window opened. Not a week later.... a dear friend of mine called me up and told me that they called her to be in charge of the Primary children for the ward musical. She said that she had been praying for help and my name IMMEDIATELY popped in her head. The Lord knew I needed SOMETHING in those regards to keep me sane. I was SO excited!
Me and Tanya.... an answer to my prayers
I love that I was able to do this with my girls and that they loved it as much as I did :)
