Ballet Watch Day

 All of our girls have enjoyed all their dance classes at The Studio! One of my favorite events, as a parent, of each dance year are the two Ballet Watch Weeks they have each year. We had one Watch Week in mid-December and we enjoyed watching our girls dance as much as they liked dancing for us!

 Rachel and Bekah are both taking Beginning Acrobatics. They both love this class and are always trying to show us their acro moves even at home! This is also the first dance class they have ever been in together and that has been fun for them tooHet

 Here they are getting a little help on their handstands.

 Rachel also had Ballet immediately following her Acrobatics class on the same day, same classroom and same teacher! She danced for an hour and 45 mins straight and still had energy to spare!

 Rebekah also took ballet this year too.

 Here she is with her Acro teacher, Mrs. Audrey.

Thank you to all their teachers at The Studio for all they have taught each of our girls about dance and life long lessons about hard work, patience,  and dedication as well. They have enjoyed every minute of their time dancing at The Studio!
Thank you to Mimi and Nana for paying for all 3 girls' dance classes this  year too!
Rachel, Bekah, and Bethany, we love watching each of you dance. You each like such different styles of dance and different dance moves! You each have your own beautiful style when you dance and we love how your personalities each shine through the way you dance. We are so proud of each of you! Always keep dancing for Jesus!

Bethany Ballerina

 Bethany had been waiting for her turn to begin ballet class like her big sisters. She turned 2 over the summer and so she was able to begin Creative Movement classes this August. She has loved ballet as well! If you ask her about her Tuesday afternoons, she will tell you "dance with Ms. Kitty."

 She is starting to learn about all her beginning dance potions and she will jump right in and show us when her big sisters show us what they are learning in dance too.

 Earlier in December, we had ballet watch week at the Studio and we were able to go in and watch her dance with her class. It is so much fun to see how she developing her own love of dance already!

 Here she is with her Creative Movement teacher, Ms. Kitty. Thank you, Ms. Kitty, for all you have taught Bethany already!

Bethany Ballerina, we are so proud of you! You dance so beautifully and so sweetly already! We always will love to watch you dance!

Apple Adventures

We did get have one other fun field trip this fall. Pink Ladies are one of our favorite apples. We waited until a little later in the fall to head to Carter Mountain just to be able to pick a few of the apples.

This little lady was very excited about the apple she was able to pick!

Her Daddy did all the lifting and would hold her up in the tree to pick her own apples

The big girls loved picking apples too. It took a little while looking before we found some low enough that they could reach on their own.

Glad for our family afternoon enjoying a little apple picking!

Luray Caverns

Rachel had asked several times since we moved to the mountains 5 years ago when we might be able to go to Luray Caverns (usually she asked when we had to drive up I-81 North past all the giant Luray Caverns billboards). Earlier this fall, I received information that the Home Educators Association of Virginia was part of a Homeschool week there in November. It was a great opportunity for us to be able to finally see Luray Caverns with the girls. Brent surprised me with a trip there for our first wedding anniversary, but it was the first time he and I had been back in 11 years too!

We did see the car and carriage museum too, but definitely not until after we saw the caverns first!

This was headed into the caverns. It is a wonder I have any pictures from this trip. They were so excited that they could hardly stand to stop for a picture!

Here are Rachel and Bekah as we entered the caverns.

I did get all 3 standing mostly still enough to get one picture.

 This little one got a little tired of walking and was ready for a ride on her Daddy's shoulders.

 This is my very favorite picture. The big girls had rounded a corner just ahead of us and I stopped to take a picture of Brent and Bethany and realized the big girls where looking right through at me also!

So glad we all were finally able to go to Luray Caverns together and we surely had fun learning about all those stalagmites and stalactites too!

Itty Bitty: 20 Weeks!!

 We got to see this beautiful girl today for her 20 week ultrasound today! I drank some lemonade before we went so she was definitely wiggly.

 She looks a lot like all of her sisters already. She is measuring at exactly 21 weeks, which I should be Wednesday, so she is growing right on track! That was a huge relief for this mommy since I have been so sick with her! The nausea is still there, but she is doing great and that is what matters! She is also weighing in at 14 ounces, which is just right also.

 She is walking straight into our hearts with those cute little feet...we love her so already! Yes, those are her tiny little feet in the picture above.

 She also loves to have her hands up by her head. She even had her knee to her nose for a little while in the pictures! Maybe another ballerina or a gymnast to come!

 We couldn't take pictures during the ultrasound but here are her Daddy and her sisters looking at all her beautiful pictures after the ultrasound.

20 weeks! Halfway there and so good to see our Itty Bitty today!