Autumn’s First Ballet Recital

Autumn has been looking forward to this day for weeks.  It was her ballet recital after school.  They offered a once-a-week beginning ballet class at her “college” and I decided to bite the bullet and pay the $160 for the semester.  She LOVED it and I could tell that she was becoming more comfortable in her own skin.  I stopped by WalMart and grabbed her some food so she could eat before the recital.  We went out to the car and she scarfed down some food and then I fixed her hair and we went back in.  Here were all the little girls waiting in the classroom before being escorted into the gym where they would do their recital.

This is Autumn’s teacher, Ms. Hathaway.  She was getting ready to do something called “hello, goodbye” where she would sashay across the floor and would turn and switch arms.  It’s hard to explain, but Autumn did it well.

Here are some of the other girls that were lined up and waiting their turn.  I had to take this pic b/c Autumn is so much taller than the other girls.  The shortest one in this pic is a year younger than Autumn, but the cute one in the middle w/ the curly hair is Autumn’s age.  I’m glad Autumn is going to be a tall Amazon woman like her Mama!

I wasn’t sure how she would do performing in front of us and other people, but she handled it like a champ and was all smiles.  All of the other girls in her class had on pink tights and fancy ballet shoes.  I didn’t know they were supposed to have tights, and Autumn’s ballet shoes are just some cheap ballet slippers from WalMart.  Oh, well.  We like to be ghetto fantastic.

The girls showed us how they warm up and some of the exercises they do in class.  Then at the very end they did a little dance routine.  This was Autumn’s favorite move, b/c I would catch her doing it at home sometimes.  She called it the “cross step and clap.”  LOL!

Here are all of the little girls at the end of their performance w/ a rose that Ms. Hathaway brought for each of them.  Again, notice that Autumn is the tallest in her class and had on no tights.

Ms. Hathaway said that Autumn was such a good helper in class and was such a joy to work with.  I always wonder how Autumn acts and behaves when I’m not around, so hearing things like that makes me so proud of her.

I’m so thankful that Mom & Dad were able to come and support her.  Dad was shaking his head and laughing in disbelief that I bought some flowers for Autumn to congratulate her.  He also can’t believe they’re having a “graduation” at the end of the month for the pre-K kids.  I definitely see his point, but I also think it’s so important to celebrate the little things b/c none of us know what tomorrow brings.  Seeing the light and joy just beaming off of Autumn as we congratulated her was worth the $6.50 for the flowers that I picked up at WalMart.  She was so happy when we got home and put them in a fancy vase.

After the recital, Dad treated us all to dinner.  We went to our favorite Italian restaurant and all got the same thing b/c it’s so good.  There was enough food to take home to Nick for dinner and for me to have for lunch tomorrow.  Autumn & I were going to go home b/c she wanted to play w/ her 3 mermaid dolls she got at Toys R Us yesterday, but my car was flashing that the air pressure in one of my tires was too low.  So, we went to Mom & Dad’s so I could check it and use their air pump.

We ended up staying and watching the finale of the Biggest Loser.  I am so happy for Jeremy.  Both he & Kim looked amazing.  I was surprised that most of the at home competitors only lost in the 30% range.  I keep checking the internet all the time to see if they are casting for next season so I can try out!