A Future And A Hope: February 2010

Monday, February 22, 2010

The Royal Ball

First of all, can I just say how completely upset about how my pictures at the Royal Ball turned out. I was a tad bit frazzled between balancing being a mom of a Queen and a teacher, as well as trying to film so her daddy could see it. I really messed up some settings on my camera and as an added bonus, Hope was a bit overwhelmed herself and wouldn't smile for the camera.

To back up, the Royal Ball is a huge tradition at Hope's school. It is something that some crazy parents plan for for a year or more. I am not even kidding. Some moms order their dresses a year in advance. And it's possible that one child's dress even came from Paris this year. Some mom's even go as far as to have their hair stylist come in early that morning to do the girls hair and nails. I did mention crazy, right? Ok, good. Lucky for me, I have a mom and sister that keep me pretty grounded! :-) When Julia was Royal Ball age, my mom took her to pick out fabric and made her a dress for the ball. The tradition continued on through Jennifer's girls, and now through Hope. So fun. Mom took Hope to pick out her fabric. I don't think anyone doubted that it would be sparkly and pink. In the store she announced that if she said the word "ROYALTY!" it meant that she had found the fabric she wanted and that we should come see it. I cannot even tell you how many times we heard the word! Needless to say it was a very difficult decision to narrow it down to 2 sparkly pink fabrics. Mimi ended up having a hard time with the dress, and I am pretty sure she never wants to see pink sparkly fabric ever again. But, after seeing Hope and how proud she was of her dress, surely she doesn't regret it.... Don't answer mom. Thank you so much for making her the perfect sparkly pink, twirly dress of her dreams!

It is easy to get caught up in the costume craziness of the Royal Ball. However, it is a special day for so many more reasons. I can't even tell you how many hours it takes those teachers to prepare for the ball. They are all so good and so creative. So many details that I would never think of. The kids spend about 2 weeks learning about kings and queens and princesses and princes and knights in medieval times. Hope can tell you some gross and disgusting things about moats around castles. It is just one more thing that makes her school so special.

On to the pictures. Hope wanted curly curly hair for the ball. I purchased sponge rollers. Can I just say that there should be a warning label on those things. Her hair was soooooo curly, and it would not calm down!