Madison and Jackson take the stage!

The week or two leading up to their first dance recital were exhausting! They had so many rehearsals and getting the two of them into and out of their costumes every time was getting old. Plus there was an extra day of getting them dressed for their professional pictures.

The day of the dress rehearsal I snuck this picture in the dressing room. It's missing two of the girls but at least it's got my two in it! This day I actually had my mother and Chris's mother with me to dress the kids because I was in the auditorium taking professional pictures of the whole recital.

At the dress rehearsal I saw them come out on stage and even though I'd seen the dance and heard the song a million times, I unexpectedly had tears watching them up there like such big kids doing something on their own.

In the dance Jackson is supposed to bring these three girl out, leave them, go back stage and get the other two girls (there was one girl missing for this dress rehearsal). Well, he got so excited once he was out there that I heard him yell "Hi Grandma! Hi Nana!" and he completely forgot what he was doing out there. It was so cute! (I'm working on a project using the still images I got at the dress rehearsal that's why the captions are on this one picture)

I'm pretty darn sure Madison was telling Jackson he needed to go back and get the other girl. Look at him standing with his hands in his pockets!!!

The final girl was finally sent out by people backstage because it was obvious Jackson had forgotten her!

Eventually they all remembered that they were there to do a dance and were all desperately looking around to see what they were supposed to be doing.

Again with the hands in the pocket! I was laughing through the entire thing!


So, on Friday (the day before their recital) I had to bring my car to the mechanic. He was just going to be checking it over and giving it right back that day. Of course he found some major issues with the brakes so it couldn't be driven and he couldn't fix it until Monday. Fine. Friday night I almost had a heart attack when I realized their dance costumes were LOCKED IN MY CAR! My car that I only have the one key for. I very randomly found out one day that the mechanic knew a guy who's mother my mother helps take care of. It was such a coincidental discovery and had I not learned that I wouldn't have been able to get the costumes without literally breaking into my car. I was able to call the guy (who I barely know), who was able to call my mechanic and let him know I needed my car unlocked. It all worked out in the end but I was pretty stressed for an hour or so.

So now it's Saturday. Photography and video were strictly prohibited during the recital but Chris and I both managed to sneak a video. We were in the front row and there were some stage lights that were blocking them a bit but it's better than nothing.

Nana, Grandma, Auntie Courtney and Chris all came to watch their debut. Grandpa and Papa happened to both be out of town. Uncle Mike was working and Auntie Kristen couldn't come because she would have had to pay for a ticket for Alyssa to get in too and at $18 a pop, that wasn't going to happen.

Miss Lisa had them meet backstage and rehearsed a bit before they went on. This time it went much smoother. Jackson was so aware of going back to get the other girls that he barely walked the first girls on stage before running off to get the rest.

You'll see a little bridge that Jackson and another girl make. The other girls are supposed to all pass through it but that didn't happen exactly as planned.

I don't think Maddie had a smile on her face at all through the whole thing!

When they left the stage I looked at our family and Courtney had tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard.

Oh, and Miss Lisa thought it would be a cute touch to get Jackson a flower to wear but it ended up being a bit of a distraction!

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of them in their costumes on the actual recital day, but here is Maddie with her flowers from Nana and her friend Grace.

Overall this was such a great experience. The kids never complained. They loved going to class all year and loved getting to wear a costume. All three of us absolutely adored Miss Lisa so as long as she's teaching the class they will be in we'll go back to the same school (if they want to do it again).