(i'll also add that i forgot my camera and we used rick's phone to take all of these pictues, so the quality is not the best. sorry! we remembered the camcorder, though -- can't win 'em all... )
the first picture is shiloh with one of her dance instructors, Miss Megan. (incidentally, they were both named Miss Megan and you never knew which one she was talking about!)
you'll notice that shiloh is the only one wearing a different costume. i'll admit, it's because i'm cheap. the total cost of the costume (tutu, hair bow, leg warmers and leotard) was $60. $60!!!! no way. i made her tutu, buying the tulle and elastic waistband for $8; bought the leotard at walmart for $8; took some of the tulle i used for the tutu and wrapped it around a hair tie we already had for her hair decoration; and knit the legwarmers myself with yarn i already had at home. $16 vs $60. and i like shiloh's tutu better, anyway!! the one they would have had you buy was teeny and flimsy! anyhoo, there's my rant about how expensive dance gear is, but i suppose i had better get used to it -- i have a feeling this is going to be a regular thing!
shiloh with the other girls in her dance class. the one on the far left is josephine, who refused to wear the tutu or the legwarmers, so i didn't feel so bad that shiloh didn't completely match! one other girl took off her tutu after the tap routine, too. don't they look so cute?!
performing their ballet routine. we had sort of an awkward spot. we couldn't get directly in front of them because all of the seats were taken, so we got this spot, and shiloh was on the other end of the line! ah, well. still got some good pictures. :o)
shiloh after her ballet routine:
hah! this is so funny! i was pretty much just taking a picture of her booty, but this was her demonstrating what she had learned on the uneven bars. we had some more pictures of her doing turns and balancing routines on the balance beam, but those didn't turn out. :o( this one was so funny, too, b/c one of the things they wanted the girls to do was to do a forward roll off of the low bar. they were supposed to balance themselves up on a front support, do a forward roll, and land on their feet. shiloh can do it, but for whatever reason, did NOT want to do it that day. when they called her up to do her routine, she took about two minutes explaining to the teacher everything that she would and would NOT do, making sure the teacher understood what would be happening. it was so hilarious!
ta-da!!
all the girls after having gotten their medals. i'm crippled by the cuteness!!! shiloh had learned in gymnastics that when you're performing and you do a routine, you always end with your arms in the air. so, she kept her arms in the air for this entire part of the ceremony. :o)
"yay me!!"
and that's it for that. she looooooved it. we're planning on joining the YMCA this summer and enrolling her in a dance class there. that way, tyler can take classes, too. we definitely want to continue with dance; it was a big hit and she's pretty good at it!next up, we shaved dallas. we did. seriously. all the way down, no hair left. as he's getting older (he's 11 now), he's getting allergies and his skin is getting nasty where he chews hot spots on himself all the time. his coat is always stinky and he was always hot. he really needed to be shaved. rick has told me this for a long time, but i've always resisted. finally, though, after camping this past weekend, i finally saw the necessity of it, and we did it. our friends larry and cheryl have some professional dog-cutting tools and brought them over yesterday. it took about an hour and half. he looks so silly and weird! every time we look at him, we can't help but say "poor dallas," although i think he sort of likes it. he's got to feel better and he hasnt' been itching as much. so, here's a few pictures:
before:
during:
after:
i know it's hard to believe that it's difficult to get a picture of dallas standing up and moving around, but it was. especially after having to stand so long so we could shave him, he was exhausted and passed out. he's still heavier than he needs to be, but i was surprised at how much of his size really was that huge coat of hair! shiloh cried when she saw him afterwards. she just kept saying "but how can i love him now? he doesn't look like my friend dallas any more!!" it was sad and pretty funny at the same time. :o)and lastly, i got my hair cut. pretty drastically, i think. over the past weekend, i decided that i needed to scale it back to above-shoulder length. we were on vacation, so i tried this random bargain hair cutting place. it was HORRIBLE!! she cut it way too short, above my chin, shorter than i've ever had it, and it was completely blunt and one length. a first grader could have done a better job. so, i came back home and went to my regular hair dresser, who faithfully resolved the problem. she added some layers, stacked it in the back, and made it look all around better. i like it a lot, although it's a lot different from anything else i've ever had. you can't really tell much from the picture, but i added one anyway. it's just so short!! i think i'll feel better about it in a week or two.
anyhoo, that's it for now. thanks for reading!
