Hannah's Junior Prom

Hannah had a great time at the prom with JP and all her friends.  She asked me to do her hair in a crown braid which just makes me chuckle a little since when she was young she used to cry every time I made her wear her hair that way.  My, how the times have changed!  See below for the contrast.  ;)

My assistant photographers!  The rest of the boys were away on a camping trip with Brian, so these two came along to help decorate the prom venue, take photos of the juniors, and we stopped for a nice dinner out on the way home.

JP just adores Roman and wanted a picture with him too.

Compare and Contrast:  In the first picture Hannah has red-rimmed eyes from crying and is giving me the death stare.  In the second picture my baby girl is all grown up, smiling and even a little grateful for her mother's hair skills.

2014, almost 10 years old

2022, 17 years old

My favorite!

 Sigh.  Why do they have to grow up?

Another Kind of Homecoming

While I was in Kansas, the girls' had their first Homecoming dance.  I was sad to miss helping with their hair and taking pictures before, but I was glad they didn't have to miss it.  

 

Marie's Wedding

The 6th graders at Great Hearts have a special dance/celebration every year after they read The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens called Fezziwig's Office Party.  The teachers dress up in full costume.  The students are encouraged to dress in Victorian formal attire.  I was surprised, but many parents got into costume as well.

I already had a commitment that evening with Brian for our Family Enrichment group and was on the fence about accompanying him to the event or just sending him with a friend.  I am so glad I decided to go!!!  It was a blast!

When I told him I decided to go with him to the party, he simple said, "Okay," which disappointed me.  I was looking for a little enthusiasm since I was making a sacrifice.  When I asked why he didn't sound too excited about it, he said that he didn't think he wanted to dance.  I said he didn't really have to.  He then proceeds to tell me that, actually, he did have to because he volunteered to demonstrate the dances to the parents who may not know them.  Great Hearts promotes old fashioned dances like the Virginia Reel and Marie's Wedding.  I think it is super funny that he volunteers for everything, even when he really doesn't think he likes to do it.  He gets that from his mama.  I also have a volunteer problem, but I hear that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

You can spot him in the picture pretty well with the green scarf.  This is one of the demos he did for the whole class, parents, and all.

The party begins with a formal sit down dinner with parlor games at the table.  The teachers serve everyone.  Then everyone helps clear away the tables for the dancing.

I love to dance and although I knew the Virginia Reel, I did not know Marie's Wedding and it was my favorite of all!  I cannot tell you how much fun it was, and I could go on gushing about it, but I'll just leave you with this, if you come visit us, I may teach you Marie's Wedding in our living room.

Isaac forbade me from posting any videos from the evening, but here is some random group of people doing the dance in case you are interested.

Her first dance! Wait, what?!

Hannah is a freshman this year and for the high school at Great Hearts they have a winter formal dance.  Normally, I'd not be a fan of that whole idea.  They have ballroom dancing only, no dates allowed, well chaperoned, and old school music to go with that ballroom dancing.

So, the girls and I spent the whole day at a retreat with some Dominican sisters.  We had confession, Mass, and adoration  All perfect ways to get ready for one's first dance, right?

I curled her hair and took her to the dance.  She had a great time and filled up her dance card with friends.  

Father Daughter Dance 2015: Decades

Let me take you back to the 20's!

My husband took our daughters to the Father Daughter Dance with the theme being decades.  We chose the 20's and Brian happily obliged by purchasing himself a Fedora type hat.  I got the girls some cheap boa/headband sets to make the dresses they already had look more 20's like.

They definitely left an impression at the dance.  The hot pink feathers were everywhere!

Before the dance, some of the dads took the girls to IHOP for dinner.  That was the requested restaurant by the girls.

Father Daughter Dance Time Again

 My guilty pleasure of this whole ordeal is doing the girls' hair up fancy.  Of course, it is no pleasure of Hannah's, but if I can ignore her comments and her facial expressions then I still can squeeze some joy out of it.  Genna has only one request and that is that some of her hair be down.  That is an easy one to manage, but Hannah's one request would be that I don't do anything to it.  Even her dad agreed that she needed a fancy hairdo for this.

Genna got a heart bun in honor of Valentine's Day.

Her hair is getting really long!

I braided Hannah's starting from one side all the way around and finished it in a bun with a flower in the middle.

Can you tell she is scowling from this pic?  She got over it pretty quickly and had a great time.  I didn't spoil all her fun after all! 

Hannah donned the same dress as last year and Genna got to wear her favorite dress that her Mimi gave her.  It has thin straps so we added a shrug to cover those shoulders.

This picture reminds me of the other day when Genna told me that when she tells someone that she loves them it makes her all giddy.  What a cutie!  As long as it is just to her friends and family and not to boys!

Enter handsome stud.

Genna told daddy how handsome he looked, and Drew asked, "You have that?" with a head tilt.  I guess he doesn't remember seeing his daddy in his uniform.

I hope Genna forgives me for this, but I couldn't resist.  She has a good sense of humor so I am thinking it will be okay.  As they are about to leave she comes out of the bathroom and says she is ready to go.

We all had a good laugh since this is just soooooo Genna to get all fancy and make sure her necklace and earrings are matching, but then walk out with her dress tucked in her pantyhose.  Love it!

Brian and the girls met another family for dinner before the dance.  They must have had a good time because this was the only real photo he took of the dancing.  Maybe he was too busy dancing his heart out.  :)

I sent Nutella Pretzel Brownies that were gone before Hannah got one.  So I guess they were good.  I'll have to make those again sometime.