The Lee Family: Sofia's Western Cotillion

Yesterday evening Sofia and her fellow 6th graders had their second Cotillion, which was a Western theme. Thankfully we were able to borrow cowboy boots and an adorable western shirt from Alexa, who had her Cotillion a few weeks ago at Colleyville Middle School. Alexa's cowboy boots are 8.5, so half a size smaller than my cowboy boots, and were a better fit for her. Alexa let Sofia borrow several western shirts and she picked the cutest one! Sofia was also adamant that she would not be wearing jeans, since she hates the way jeans feel and she actually hasn't owned a pair of jeans in years. So, she chose to wear her blue tulle skirt which looks great on her and is very comfortable too. She also really wanted a bandana in her hair. I wanted to do two french braids, but she wanted pigtails which looked great. Plus, we got a later start to getting ready than we planned so we needed her to get ready as quickly as possible. It ended up being a beautiful 75 degree day, so Sofia, Olivia and Antonio hung out on the trampoline and played together. I really wanted them to have fun and enjoy the day since we've had so many cold and wet days lately. Sofia didn't get into the shower until just before 5pm, when we were supposed to be at her friend Lilliana's house around 5:15! Sofia was ready pretty quickly and after a few pictures, I got her to Lilliana's around 5:45. Just as I dropped her off, I realized I offered to pick up the coffee at Scooter's which was donated for the parent volunteers at Cotillion. I was wondering who exactly would be drinking coffee at 6:30pm (other than me).

Sofia, unlike many of the other 6th graders, really wanted me to be at Cotillion for the whole evening. I dropped off the coffee and ended up staying to help out. I was at CTMS earlier that afternoon to help decorate and was super impressed by the moms who were in charge of the event. They were all very nice and super focused on getting everything done quickly. In less than two hours we were done and it looked super cute! We were done just in time for me to pick up Olivia and then Sofia! It was so super cute!

The two instructors were great and showed the kids how to do the Texas two step, the waltz and line dancing. Once again, there were many more girls than boys, so several of the girls danced together. I noticed Lilliana didn't have a partner, so I asked Principal Fingers if it would be appropriate for me to dance with her, trying to give him an opportunity to step in and dance with her. He said I should go ahead and dance with her. So, Lilliana was the girl and I was the boy and we shared the first dance together. She's such a sweet girl and actually has good rhythm! Better than I have! After the first dance, the instructors told all the girls who had a girl partner to hold up their hand so a boy could come ask them to dance. After each dance, the instructors were very good at having the boys pick a new partner and they were told they couldn't walk by a girl without asking her to dance. They took a break at 7:20pm to have a dinner that included a bag of chips, a brisket slider from Meat U Anywhere, a chocolate chip cookie and water. The sliders were awesome! The kids loved it all and many of them wanted extra waters, since they had worked up a sweat dancing! They all had a great time and they are all very well behaved. I was so glad I stayed to be there. Sofia kept giving me hugs and I just love how much she still loves us still!

The night ended as boys walked the girls individually out to their cars. It was so sweet! Sofia got escorted toward the doors and I reminded her to stay with me, since I would be cleaning up after the dance. Soon the kids were gone and Sofia and I helped take down all the decorations and re-arrange the tables, etc. She was a great help and a lot of the parents stuck around the help out, so we were done in about 20 minutes. We gathered our things and headed home after a super fun night! Sofia said she'd had a great time and loved dancing with Liam, Jack and several other boys as well as some girls. She said the best dancer was Jack! I missed seeing her dance most of the night because I was busy with the other moms plating food for the kids' dinner. Plus, even when I was able to watch, it was hard to find the kiddo you are looking for on the dance floor! I tried to take photos of Abby to send to Kelley, since she sent me so many photos and videos from last week. I also took pictures of Jack, Lilliana and several other kiddos I knew.

The entrance to the dance floor