The Roar of Love

Clara was in her first ballet this weekend.  She started taking pre-ballet from the Columbia County Ballet last fall.  Each Spring, they put on a ballet called The Roar of Love, based on the Chronicles of Narnia.  It was such a sweet day, and I love how the ballet school uses dance as a way to share the gospel with the dancers and also those who see Roar.  The youngest dancers perform as cherubs, and each subsequent year, they move up to a new role.  Here are a few pictures of our Clara at dress rehearsal.

Clara did a great job during her part of the ballet, although you could tell from her huge eyes that she was a bit starstruck by all of the beautiful costumes and the rather large audience.  After the ballet was over, Ed and I picked Clara up and gave her a bouquet of flowers.  When Clara and I saw The Nutcracker in November, she was very intrigued by the dancers who received flowers, saying they must be  "really special dancers".  Well, she absolutely loved receiving her flowers from us, and it was a really special moment.  

Her favorite thing about getting flowers?  "Thank you, Mommy, for putting a fake ladybug in my flowers!".  :)

Taylor

This is Taylor, one of my sweet nieces.  She's a junior at Wheaton College - double majoring in Chemistry and Spanish.  She's smart, beautiful, funny, and loves the Lord.  I had the joy of spending a few hours with her last weekend while she was home for a short break.  

This is Taylor just a few weeks ago.  Well, not really.  This was taken when I was a junior at Clemson.  Crazy how the times flies. 

I have not seen Taylor since Christmas, and you know in the life of a 20 year old, much can happen in 4 months.  We had a chance to catch up a little, and she also provided me with a few laughs.  The funniest line came as we were baking a yummy dish for breakfast the next morning.  I was explaining to Taylor that I could not eat the cinnamon bread I was making because I am on a dairy free diet (for Madeline).  After a short pause, Taylor asked, "Aunt Alli, this might be a silly, but how can breast milk be dairy free?".  Oh, Taylor, you make me laugh!  Love you!  

Allergic reaction

Poor Ainsley is allergic to amoxicillin.  We found this out middle of last week after she was started on a course of antibiotics for an ear infection.  About 7 days into her treatment, she broke out in a rash that got worse and worse.  By the second day of her reaction, she was covered in a hive-like rash and was limping from all of the swelling in her knees and ankles.  Turns out she has what is called a serum sickness-like reaction to the antibiotic.  

Thankfully, she is now recovering and is weaning off of the steroids that were prescribed to help with the rash.  

Go Fish

So, the latest craze at our house is "Go Fish".  I found some fun cards and thought Clara would like to learn to play.  Well, she LOVES it, and we now play at least 10 times each day.  The cards are hilarious; they are color coded (instead of asking for numbers, you ask for colors), but the color names are fancy...chartreuse instead of green, cafe au lait instead of brown, etc.  She has eaten it up, and now that she is reading a little more, she thinks she is hot stuff reading off the fancy color names.  

The cards - so cute!

Ed and Clara in a serious game before bedtime

Ainsley "reading" the instructions

Clara with her matches

So much fun watching her learn fun, new things....she is growing up quickly!

Miss Roly Poly

Little Miss Madeline is rolling!  She was having tummy time yesterday afternoon and flipped from her tummy onto her back - 2 times in a row!  Clara and Ainsley were watching her play at the time and went crazy!  They were hilarious with their praise for her - can't wait to see their reactions when she starts her new tricks...

LaSonia, Lasagna

LaSonia is our favorite check-out clerk at Publix.  I am very loyal to Publix for my grocery shopping, and LaSonia is just one of the reasons for that.  She is incredibly friendly, always interacts with the girls, and when I was 9 months pregnant, continued to tell me how great I was looking - even when I wasn't!  Well, a few days ago, I was running errands with Clara, and Publix was our last stop.  As we checked out with LaSonia, Clara was giving her an earful about everything - school, Madeline, Ainsley's birthday party, etc.  When we got back to the car, here was our conversation...

Clara: She is really friendly, Mommy.
Me:  Yes, she is.
Clara: And her mommy is really smart.
Me:  Why do you say that?
Clara:  Because Lasagna is the perfect name if you work at the grocery store.

It had never occurred to me that LaSonia's name sounded like lasagna.  Leave it to a 4 year old!  As I tried several times to explain the difference in sound between the 2 names, I finally gave up.

Yes, her mommy must be really smart.  :)