Costumes and Rehearsals

When the costumes arrived at school for E's recital, it might as well have been Christmas.  It was all the talk amongst the girls and Elizabeth went into great detail about how they tried them on and the teacher fluffed each of their skirts.  She didn't want anyone to see the costumes however as they were a surprise.  So Mom carried them home looking the other way and waited till E was in bed to lay them out and drool over them herself.  This was E's first year to dance and preparing for recital was new to us.  Elizabeth had several rehearsals at the studio and the stage where the recital would be.  She went for about 3-4 hours each time and was there with the big girls "on her own".  Mom wasn't allowed to stay for the practices and it turned out really well for everyone.  She was very brave and helped take care of the girls that were even smaller than her. 

E took pictures in her costumes before the recital and it was the only time that Mom was allowed to see the costumes.  We were going to do her hair in braids as a practice run for recital but decided not to hide her pretty curls for pictures.  It was a good choice - she looked beautiful!  Little Ms. Independent would allow Mom in the dressing room to help her get dressed, but would not let her come into the picture area.  She wanted to go with only Ms. Jane and do it by herself - no one watching!  That was hard for Mom, but she let E go solo anyway.  Turns out that she did great on her own and was proud of her independence.