Kaitlyn's Birthday Party....

I know it is very early, but I wanted to let everyone know that I booked Kaitlyn's birthday party this year at Pump it Up in Hartville. It is going to be on Saturday, July 19th from 1-3pm, and everybody is invited!!! She is sooo excited! She has never actually been there....Kourt has gone there twice for her friends Birthday parties but Kaitie always has had to stay home. The best part is adults are aloud to play on all of the inflatables too so it should be a blast, just make sure you wear socks if you are going to play. And keep in mind the 25 kids she is aloud to invite to the party. We figured she should have at least that to invite considering she has friends at school, dance and the daycare. But I also have a question for you guys.....would it be tacky for her to distribute her invitations to her friends at school on the last day which is Friday? I know it would be like a month and a half early but it is always hard to track down her friends addresses. So anyways, I'll check in with everybody when the party gets closer....just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

9 More Classes to go.....

So I think I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up, and believe it or not it is not a professional student :) I signed up last week at Brighton College so I can become a certified medical coder. This college is an affordable, accredited college out of Hudson that is totally online, and you can finish the course in 9-12 months. And it prepares you to take the certification test which is pretty much required if you want to get a job. My first class was Intro to Healthcare which I finished in about 4 days.....and I just got my exam back and I got an "A." Don't get to excited tho....this was the easiest class I have ever taken! Now I have to take Skills for Success which also looks like an incredibly easy class, but there are actually assignments that have to be turned in so we'll see. Some other classes I have to take is Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, and at least 3 separate coding classes. Just knowing I will be getting out of the daycare soon will keep me focused and determined to get done as soon as I can. So, if anybody is bored and wants to help me study let me know :)

Introducing Kaitlyn the Ballerina....

Kaitlyn started taking dance 6 years ago when she was 3 years old. Her first class was a Creative Movement/Ballet Combo class. She loved to come home and perform for anyone who would watch her. The only thing was she would not dance until she was announced. So every time she was ready to perform her routine, someone had to say dramatically "Introducing....Kaitlyn the Ballerina!!" And if she didn't like the way you said it she would make you do it again. At that point I knew that she was definitely a dancer.

I was positive of this until the night of her very first dance recital. She had two routines to dance that night and I remember she was very nervous about it. When I dropped her off in the dressing room she began to tear up but I figured she would be ok after a couple of minutes. When it was her turn to dance her teacher led her and the rest of her group on the dark stage, and when the music started the lights turned on. They had never practiced it that way during the dress rehearsal and I think it totally freaked Kaitlyn out to see the room packed full of people, and she just stood on the stage and cried. To say the least I was completely mortified! Her second dance went a little bit better. She came onstage with red, puffy eyes but she actually danced a little bit until she tripped and fell on stage. Then she was embarrassed and started crying again. This was the same year that she announced to the owner of the studio during the finale of the show that she had to go potty, so the owner announced in the microphone that the mother of this little girl needs to come get her and take her to the bathroom.

After this recital experience James and I were really not sure if Kaitlyn was going to be the dancer that we thought she was going to be. But she convinced us that she still wanted to take lessons and we signed her up again for more classes......at a new studio of coarse :)

We put her in Rising Star Dance Center and that's where she has been ever since. This year she made the Elite team and she went to her very first competition today at Firestone High school. Her group earned a silver for their lyrical dance. The studio got a trophy and she got to take home a ribbon. It really was awesome that they earned a silver because it was everybody's first time at competing.

It hit me today as I was watching her dance that she is growing up so fast......I really don't know where the last 8 1/2 years have gone. And she really has become the dancer that I had hoped she would. And for the very first time she had a huge smile on her face while she was performing which was awesome. I realized that all the practices and the time spent running her back and forth 3 days a week to the studio, not to mention all the money put into her classes have been totally worth it to see her so happy today and to see her do well enough with her group to win a trophy at their very first competition. It will be fun to see what the future has in store for her, and what opportunities will come about from her years of dancing. Now everybody just needs to remind me that I wrote this when it comes down to recital week and we are practically living at the dance studio......