I hope everyone had a great weekend and blessed Father's Day.  It seems like this weekend flew by, and I feel like I could sleep right through Monday all together.

This weekend was my (twice yearly) ballet performance, so ballet took up most of the second half of the week.  The studio where I take ballet class has a performance show twice a year (one in June and one in December).  Katherine really enjoyed herself this year and did a little aisle dancing of her own.

{Katherine's jumper: Gap from Rung}

For Jason's Father's Day gift, I ordered him his favorite cheesecake from Top Tier Cheesecakes.  You may have seen my cheesecake photo on Instagram on Friday, if not here it is again:

The New York Style with Amaretto Cherry sauce (Jason's favorite) was perfect!  This is the same kind of cheesecake that I ate a ton of on Jason's birthday when I was pregnant, the night before my glucose test.  Rookie mistake.

We spent Father's Day as a family, going to church, visiting my dad, and eating Jason's favorite meals.  Jason's an amazing dad and I'm so thankful that he's Katherine's.  He's such a devoted father.  We're both so lucky to have him!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads (including my own), and for those who have lost a father I pray you find peace today.

Every year I tell myself that I won't let the holidays stress me out.  Every year I say this, but every year I strive to make everything perfect and exhaust myself.

This year it has been a little more hectic around here, leading to some holiday decorations not being put out and some holiday "extravagants" not being too extravagant.  The Christmas lights didn't get put on the house this year, and yet the sun still rises each morning.  Only a small portion of the Christmas village was put out this year, and Christmas will still come.

Some things will be different this year.  For instance we will not be in Kennett for Christmas for the first time in my thirty-one years.  While it is a little sad, I'm excited for Jason and I to start new Christmas traditions in our home, in St. Louis.

One of our Christmas traditions is my ballet studio putting on our annual Christmas dance "recital."  This happens every year around the first weekend in December, and today was that day.  Last year, Katherine enjoyed the music and dancers, but hated Fredbird (who is always in attendance).  We worked on her dislike of Fredbird all  year.  We read Hello Fredbird.  We pointed him out at baseball games.  She seemed to love him.  Today she enjoyed seeing him from across the room, but when he came closer she freaked.  So, no picture with Fredbird.  This does not give me high hopes for our visit with Santa later this week.

Yesterday, we spent the day taking professional family photos.  It was freezing, but my hot natured child didn't notice and played along with our crazy idea to "walk" in the park while a photographer snapped photos of us.  I hope they turned out alright, despite our red noses.  Afterwards, we stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch where Katherine continued to ham it up for the camera.

On Friday night, Katherine and I finally finished watching Peter Pan Live.  Because it was 3 whole hours long, we watched it in hour long increments.  Katherine actually watched and enjoyed it.  She loved Hook or "Huck" as she says it.  Watching Christopher Walken play Captain Hook was kind of brutal for me, but Katherine loved it.  She's very into pirates right now,  Thanks Jake.   (If you're not sure who Jake is, ask anyone with a toddler who watches Disney Junior.)
I'm always sad to see a weekend go, especially in December when I feel like they're numbered and always packed with activities.  I'm going to take on the week ahead by being as productive as possible, but not overwhelming myself and loosing the Christmas spirit.  Good luck.

Not long after moving to St. Louis, I started taking ballet class on a whim.  I've pretty much been going to the same studio ever since (minus a few months when I had Katherine).

Every year we do two shows at Jefferson Barracks, one in June and one in December.  Originally, I just started taking ballet to have something to do/workout/meet people, and was not interested in performing in front of an audience.  But over the years, being on a stage has become something that I do twice a year.  But that's it.  Just twice.  Twice is actually one time too many.

Keep in mind I'm not that good, I almost always insist on being in the back, and often I feel self conscience.  But nevertheless, every June and December, I'm there on that stage.

Saturday was our June performance and it was the first one that Katherine actually paid attention to throughout the show.  This year's dance was crazy hard and very strenuous, but overall a good workout.

{Katherine showing me the lights on the stage}

After a nerve-racking but successful performance, we spent the rest of the weekend playing outside.


Ahhhhh Ready for another week.  

Also I finally saw my fish today!  Monica and Chandler are alive and well!  

What was supposed to be a busy weekend, turned out to be mostly sitting around inside while it snowed/sleeted/drizzled outside.  While some of our plans fell through because of the weather, others went right on as scheduled. 

Sunday morning started with homemade French toast (recipe from The Joy of Cooking cookbook) made from fresh bread that I had made this week (I know, right?!).  Because it had been one of "those" weeks, I added chocolate chips. 

Sunday was the annual Christmas ballet, with Katherine in attendance for the first time. 

{Katherine and I before the show.}

Katherine also made her stage debut at the end of the show, where one of the tap dancers gave her a sweet reindeer headband. 


I was thankful to get out of the house for a little while on Sunday.  It's been so cold that I don't even like to walk to the mailbox.  So, so cold. 
 

My mom was in town this weekend and as usual, there was a lot going on.  On Saturday was the bi-annual ballet performance at Jefferson Barracks.  It felt good to be back at ballet and back to my normal routine.  My mom watched Katherine while I "graced" the stage. 

{Ballet girls.}

I like to make some kind of dessert when family is in town.  This weekend, I made a peach cobbler.  From scratch.  I insisted on using fresh peaches, not canned ones.  It turns out, I don't like peeling and slicing peaches.  I found a recipe for cobbler in an old cookbook and altered it slightly.  It turned out pretty well. 



I also made peach iced tea.  I probably overdid the peach thing a bit.  Oh well.  Happy summer!

This past Saturday was the annual June Dance Performance by ADIVA Dance Studio at Jefferson Barracks in South County.  This year Julie and myself made our tutus.  Though it was slightly stressful the week of the performance, the tutus turned out great.  The ballet performance wasn't bad either. 

{Costume designers; putting our degrees to use.}

Last weekend Jason and I traveled down to Branson, where I graced a Branson stage with my presence.

I take ballet classes at a local dance school and since beginning the classes, I’ve been getting used to being back on a stage. The stage was once a place I felt the most at ease, but now its something that I fear. Dancing has forced me to face this new fear and try to regain my confidence on the stage.

I’ve always loved ballet. I like watching it and I always wanted to be a ballerina. I took ballet lessons as a kid, but when my teacher moved away my mom was unable to drive me out of town to continue lessons. This was my 18 year break from ballet. During my last semester in college I signed up for a ballet class. I ended up really enjoying it. When the semester was over I hung up my ballet shoes thinking it was over for me. A year after I moved to St. Louis, I signed up for a ballet class again, this time through St. Louis Community College. This ballet class was taught by Teresa Daniels of ADIVA Dance.

I have now been dancing at ADIVA for over two years. Last August, I got my first pair of pointe shoes.

Anyway, ADIVA dance school performed at the Americana Theater in Branson opening for The Haygoods. It was quite the experience; one I was glad I got to be a part of.