One of my Favorite Weekends of the Year

 I LOVE recital weekend!  It usually lasts ALL weekend with 3-4 shows but it is SO fun!
This year Madison and her dance team did the best they have EVER done in competitions.  They got so many platinums on their dances.  The girls are just so good and entertaining!  The recital is a relaxing time for the girls to just have fun and dance!  No pressure for scores.

 Cailyn, Anna and Madison - opening number

This is her ballet dance.

This is Lyrical.

Tap costume.  It was a funky costume, but it looked great on stage and was a GREAT dance.

After the company showcase with my Meme.










Her modern dance.  It was different. No smiles.  They were like sad baby dolls...

Production number with all of the company. 
Called Sing Sing Sing.

Madi had around 7 dances and  costumes this year.  The older she gets, the easier it gets for me.  I still do most of her hair and makeup stuff, but she is finally able to do a lot on her own.  I am so thankful! 
She will be going to dance camp in about 2 weeks to prepare for the next dance year.  She has been taking it easy over the summer.  She is taking a private tumbling lesson every week for 30 minutes.  She is doing great with that, but she is very SORE.  She will go 3 nights a week for a total of 5 hours a week starting in August. It is exhausting! But that is her thing!

Here we go!

No way I can recap 2 years of my life gone.  But I am determined to start back blogging.  Hopefully! 

I have a new laptop and a new camera so I will start with what I have on here.

Russ' 5th grade Field Trip

 Waiting at school for the buses

 Lunch at The Varsity

 Turner Field

 Future Braves players

 On the FIELD

 My Childhood Hero's locker - Dale Murphy

Next stop the Aquarium

 Crazy glasses they all just HAD to have...

We also went to the Atlanta History Museum.  I did not take any pictures of that. 
Can't believe Russ is going to be in middle school very soon!!!  Brandon and I are amazed at how well Russ does in school.  He keeps a VERY busy extra curriculur schedule and still maintains all As and Bs.  Mostly As!  He exceeded on 3/5 subjects of the CRCT this year and will be in Advanced Math next year.  We are so proud of him!!

Disney: Epcot

I really need to finish documenting our Disney trip because I am about to forget what we did. My mind is going fast...


We had to be at Epcot at 8:30am on Saturday because Madison was participating in a workshop from 9-12:00. Once she was with her group and the park opened we went straight to Soarin' and did all of the rides near there. Then we went to the Nemo ride.



We were able to pretty much walk on any ride we wanted. It was getting time to go pick up Madi in Italy so we fast-passed Soarin' again for her and then headed to the World Showcase.
While we were waiting for Madi, a bunch of the characters came out and we got so many pictures and autographs. We were just missing Madi!




Madi was so worn out after her workshop. They were able to partipate in a mock audition, learn a dance routine, and perform it with Goofy. She had a great time but she was ill, hungry and had a headache when it was over.

We headed to Mexico for lunch and to cool off. I think I have mentioned before how hot it was the week we were in Disney.

We had a great table right in front of the water/boat rides and pyramid. You just can't see it behind us :(

Now that we were fed, we were ready to ride. Our favorite ride at Epcot was Test Track.

We also liked Mission Space. This was the only ride Cooper did not ride, but they had a playground inside that he loved!

I am pretty sure we rode every ride at Epcot except for one. Here they are cooling off in the water. Russ and Cooper were still all smiles even at the end of the day.

We stopped on the way out of the park and got our Mickey and Minnie pictures made.
The wait was about 30 minutes which was the longest line we had waited in all day. I didn't care, but my family was d.o.n.e after this.



And that is the end of my pictures. We actually left Epcot and went back to the hotel to get our car and then went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Russ wanted some wings and I wanted some sweet tea. It was the only place we didn't have to wait.

We had a great trip and have lots of fun memories. I am already planning our return... (Sorry Brandon! Cooper really needs to go back to that Lego store - I mean he only mentions it 27 times a day)

Way Back Wednesday

Madison Hope Lockridge at the Doctor's office for the very first time.


Madison Hope Lockridge at the Doctor's office last week getting her 11 year old shots.

Helping the Homeless

Last Tuesday Madi, Russ, and Bo went with a group from our church (led by my brother) to a place downtown called Rescue Atlanta.

They were so excited about going, but not really sure what they would see. They did know they were going to feed/serve homeless people. On the way to the church I stopped by McDonalds and fed them so they wouldn't be hungry. I talked to them about these people and what to do. Don't stare, Don't be scared, etc. I did everything I could to prepare them for this. I think I was more nervous than they were.

My brother sent us these pictures from his phone and I just melted.

Here is some of the youth that went.

Madi fixed the drinks.

Russ was handing out the silverware and Bo was the bread boy.

While the others were serving the food, the rest of the group were walking around talking/praying with the people. Lee said all of a sudden he saw Bo walking with this lady (part of Rescue Atlanta staff) with this man. He said he got a little nervous and walked over closer to them. And this is what he saw... Bo praying with them.

Then another man down on Bo's level thanking Bo for praying with him. Priceless!


I know I am a proud momma/aunt, but those pictures just melt my heart. I am so happy they got to experience this ministry. We are so fortunate to get whatever food we want whenever we want it. I didn't need to fill them up with McDonalds before they went. I really don't think they would have even been hungry. They got to experience real hunger that night. People who came through the line more than once to get as much as they could.
Good job Madi, Russ, and Bo for showing the love of Jesus to them! I didn't need to prepare y'all for anything.

Lee brought them home around 11pm and they were already begging to go back next week.

Disney: Downtown/Magic Kingdom

The day we had been waiting for - for almost a year - had finally come! We found out last summer that Madi's dance group had been accepted to dance at Disney on June 19. Here is Madi at the stage. Go SDI!

We arrived at Downtown Disney around 10am to meet up with everyone. We ate breakfast at McDonalds and I was disappointed because by this point I was dying for a McD sweet tea. They didn't have the styrofoam cup and the tea was not good.

We waited at McDonalds for all of the girls. Brandon took the boys to the Lego store. The Lego store was heaven for Cooper.


Madison got to perform 4 dances. They wore their company ensemble (leotards/skirts) because you could not have any costume changes. Here is the stage. It was right on the water.



This is all of the company dancers in front of the T-Rex waterfall.


Madison got a nice, drawstring bag that has Disney Performing Arts on it for performing at Disney. The tour guide told them since they were performing at Disney they were considered Cast Members that day.

And because I really needed a styrofoam cup with sweet tea in it - we went to Chickfila for lunch before going back to the hotel to change and head to Magic Kingdom.

We got to Magic Kingdom around 3pm. I wasn't upset about getting there that late because they stayed open until midnight.

The parade was starting right when we got there. I love Disney parades!


This is as close to Goofy as Cooper would get without his sister and brother. We did get his autograph though while we were waiting for Brandon, Madi and Russ to get off of Splash Mountain. Cooper could have ridden it, but he did not like the looks of that big hill.

It was so hot - Russ wanted one of those fans with the water spray on it. I must say it was the BEST $20 bucks we spent while we were there.


Magic Kingdom was definitely the most crowded park we went to. We rode pretty much everything we wanted to though - except Space Mountain :( - it is closed for refurbishing until Winter 2009. Cooper's favorite ride was the Barnstormer Roller Coaster. We rode it twice and he even put his hands up. Madi and Russ loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

I didn't take many pictures at this park. I think it was so hot I didn't have any energy to get the camera out. We had a great day and did not leave until 11:45pm. I can't believe we stayed that late. We were so tired!

Once we rode the bus back to our hotel, took quick showers, and dove into bed... it was 1:30am. That wouldn't have been so bad except for we had to be at Epcot the next day for Madi's Performing Arts workshop at 8:30am.

What were we thinking?