Dance Year 2012-2013

Another season of dance is coming to an end. Recital just finished but we still have Nationals in Kansas City to attend the end of June. They dance for Aim High Elite in our home town of Troy, MO.

Luca couldn't wait to get on stage like his brother. I know he is anxious for competitive dance, but has a couple of years to go before he is at that level. I just love watching them both dance and the joy they get from it.

Here are some photos from the year.

Putting on his charm.

Luca participates in the tap, ballet, and jazz group. This years recital was tap.

His favorite dance is hip-hop. He couldn't wait for recital to be over so he can wear his costume at home.

He has all the right attitude.

On stage with the girls. It doesn't bother him in the least he is the only boy.

Nico has had a great year! This is the first year he did a solo for competition. Here he is with his coach/instructor, Nathan and his friend Kara who also did a solo this year. They were great moral support for each other.

In the first competition of the year Nico cleaned house. He was in the Novice division and took home 5 awards, including a check for $35. He was moved up to competitive for the rest of the competitions and still did very well.

He favors the street style hip hop dance. He is often upside down. Many kids don't do this in competition.

He really gets into his dancing and loves to perform.

Here he is with his team, OZONE. This is the second year for this group to dance competitively. They are always a joy to watch. This year they have really grown to be a more cohesive group and working together.

I always hate the end of the dance season. I really enjoy watching the boys on stage. I think they are both ready to move onto new routines though. Nico is already planning his solo for next season and is planning on adding a duet with his friend Kara. (mama better start working some OT ;-)

Luca Turned 6 - Minecraft Party

May is a busy month of birthdays for our family. It starts with mine on the 17th, then Luca on the 23rd, and Mike wraps it up on the 31st. That's a lot of cake! We then had Luca's party for family and friends on June 7.

Luca chose the theme Minecraft this year. I don't usually go to crazy with decorations but Pinterest had me going this year.

Here are some of the things we did.

Nico, my 11 year old created and decorated the cake. All I did was bake the square cakes and make the icing.
I got the idea here.
I used a large square cake pan that Nico cut up for the body and legs and a small one for the head. I made my own buttercream icing. It was delicious!



Nico helped me come up with ideas for some of the rest of the items used in Minecraft.
The only other edible items (besides the coal and TNT) are the gold (Rolo candy) and
the Iron (chocolate wrapped in aluminum foil)




I love the Minecraft birthday sign. You can download and print it for free here. There is also a free Minecraft font
which you can get here.



Since coal and TNT are a big part of Minecraft we created some of our own.
I got the idea here

The kids used square blocks to paint their treasure boxes. Although they ended up not having squares but just using them to paint the whole box. No worries, they had a great time. I also had little pails I purchased from Wal-mart that were given as 'goodie bags'. I purchased rubber coal and blow up torches for cheap from Discount Party Supplies.

I had one very happy little boy by the end of the evening. He was most happy to have a friend attend his party. He is used to big brother having friends over. I don't just invite the friend, I invite the whole family. We love being with friends and family and just sharing the special times. Luca couldn't give me enough hugs and Thank-you's that night. I went to bed with a full, happy heart that I could give my little boy this special day.