Dance Recital

Besides being Mother's Day weekend, last weekend was also Frances' ballet recital.  This year makes the sixth year she has been in dance lessons.  She started when she was just about to turn four and has loved it ever since!  Her teacher is a wonderful woman. She has endless patience and creativity!  She also works in a preschool classroom at Frances' school, so she gets to see her pretty often. 

Before the show

I mentioned last year that I was impressed that the students weren't looking off-stage during the routine.  The youngest kids tend to do that because the teachers are off-stage prompting them with their steps.  Last year, Frances and her classmates didn't need help, but this year I was even more impressed.  Not only did they not need prompting to remember the steps, but they each had their own individual parts.  Their dance was beautiful!


As usual, the entire show has a hit. The littlest kids were adorable in their costumes and their dance moves.  The older students had a great variety in their styles and routines.  Megan got to come with us this year and she was impressed as well.

Benjamin was exhausted from the day's events, but he stayed awake for the whole show.  Each time the curtain closed he would ask for them to open again.  He bobbed his head along with the music and watched intently.  Henry asked me about the ages of all the dancers-I think he was trying to relate them to himself (older, younger, same age). He was surprised to hear about the dancers that were his age.  There were other dancers that we knew, but we were sitting back pretty far and it was hard to point them out to the boys.

After the show

All in all, it was an excellent recital.  I am thankful that this is an activity that Frances enjoys and does well with.  She loves her teachers and her classmates and that's all I'm asking for!

Dance Recital, Take Five

Frances had her dance recital on Saturday evening.  As I sat with the other parents at the rehearsal on Friday, I tried to remember how many recitals she's had.  She had the red one with the teddy bear,

the purple one, the polka dotted one with pants, the blue sparkly one and then this year.

This year I was especially proud of her and her class because this is the first year that they did not need to stare off-stage to remember their moves. They actually all had the dance memorized and did their individual parts beautifully.

My mom and dad came up for the performance, and Ken's dad was able to make it as well.  Henry sat with my mom, but he came down to my end of the row a few times to mention things he recognized.  He like the kids that danced to "I Want Candy" ("Are they singing about candy!?!?") and he loved the "One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater."  Benjamin stood in front of me for almost the entire show. After each dance he would clap for a minute and then turn around and say "MORE!"  It was so cute!!

Momma Can't Dance

I have posted some funny comments from the backseat and our evening commutes, but they have all involved Henry or Frances. Well, apparently, Benjamin now wants in on the fun.  I had just the boys in the car with me and we were leaving the day care parking lot. I had turned the music down in the morning so it was relatively quiet in the van.  I started whistling; something cheery. I don't remember specifically what the tune was.  And then from the back seat...my sweet littlest one, yelling: "Nooooooo! Stooooooooo!"  So I stopped whistling and said, "Benjamin, are telling Mommy to stop whistling?"  And he responds: "Huh-huuuuh"  Which is his way of saying "yes."
So, I stop whistling and turned on the radio.  And then Henry started laughing uncontrollably.

Me: What is so funny back there!?!
Henry: Benjamin is dancin'!

So of course, I try to look in the rear-view mirror to see what is going on. I can barely see his little head moving (he is still rear-facing in his car seat). So for the ride home I left the music on and listened to Henry giggling.

Later after dinner, I was cleaning up in the kitchen and Benjamin came to visit me. I turned on some music and my iPad and he started grooving.  He was bouncing up and down and waving his arms. It looked fun, so I joined in! Then he stopped and shook his little finger at me. "Noooo.  Stoooooo." So I stopped dancing and then he continued on.  Each time I tried to join in he would waggle his little finger and tell me to stop.

I made a loud hissing sound which is supposed to attract Ken's attention without alerting the kids to the fact that I am trying to point out something they are doing. (Because you know if I said, "Hey come here the kids are being cute." they would immediately stop.)

When Ken came in the kitchen, he saw Benjamin dancing. He said, "Are ya dancin', buddy?"  And Benjamin said, "Huh-huuuuh."  Then I showed Ken what would happen if I tried to dance, and Benjamin still got upset. But guess what happened when Ken started dancing!??!  Nothing!! Benjamin just looked at him and kept right on grooving.  Not fair!

But what really worries me is "What happens if all our kids learn their dance moves from Ken???"

A tribute to Miss Cindy

Frances is in her second year of ballet this year. She takes lessons at the local rec center and I must say, they are excellent. Miss Cindy really has a way with little ones. She handles her class so well and the girls in there just LOVE it. Frances comes home and shows me things pretty regularly, but tonight she wanted to give me (and Henry a ballet lesson).

You are only allowed to watch it if you keep the following in mind throughout the video:

That mess behind her in the kitchen is a figment of your imagination. My kitchen does not really look like that.

Henry is sitting in my lap and participating. You can REALLY hear him in the video, but for some strange reason he gets mad when I tell him to go away. Toddlers?? Go figure.

He has been sick, so I apologize for the coughing.

He has an appetite like a horse, even when he doesn't feel well. Apparently, I don't hide the snacks well enough in my kitchen.

Yes! My daughter is wearing a leotard OVER her clothes. It's all pink, so according to her "It matches!" She has also been wearing two different colored shoes for three days now. She is a fashionista...or crazy. You decide.

That was a phone call from Ken that I ignored. Poor boy was wanting to come home from work and get some dinner. Sorry, honey!!





Miss Cindy-Thanks for all that you do! Frances thinks you are just about the coolest person in the whole wide world!!

My dancing daughter

This is the reason that I love having a digital camera. I can kill half an hour by turning on some music and filming the kids. To answer your questions before you even ask them: Yes that is a purple velour leotard and a dragon costume that my daughter is wearing. Yes, that is Henry's Halloween costume. No, it is not too tight. Yea, my daughter is a weirdo-she gets that from my side of the family.
Enjoy!

Linking up:

Dinner at our house

It's quite an interesting time. Henry decided to wear most of his dinner, but he still LOVES green beans!

Frances wanted to get in on the dancing, so I videotaped her as well. Henry wanted to watch her instead of dancing.

Overdue Update

While I have been keeping up with the blogs of lots of people I know (and lots that I don't know) I have neglected to update my own. So here's what's happened:
Frances had her first ballet recital on May 17th. She was awesome! She did very well and remembered most of the routine as far as I could tell.

This past Saturday we went to Julie's bridal shower in Culpeper. Henry was the only boy there and in typical show-off fashion, he took his first few steps!! He hasn't tried a lot since then, but now we know he can do it. Incidentally, I'm not sure if he enjoyed Frances' recital or not. You decide:

On Memorial Day we went to the National Zoo. We had a blast!! Henry enjoyed watching the hippo play with it's ball. I think he was trying to climb into the pen and take the ball!! He also enjoyed watching the elephant shrew walk around in front of the glass. Frances liked watching the orangutan climb on the O-line (a trapeze-like line suspended over part of the park). She wanted to see a giraffe, but they don't have one there. The zoo pictures are in the camera still, so I will post them later.

Goodbye 2007!

It was a good year and it is almost over. A list of the highlights of the year:
Henry arrived! He was somewhat late, but well received. We are completely in love and delighted at what a wonderful big sister Frances is.
Ken and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. If I remember correctly, we took Frances and 2-week old Henry to see Shrek the 3rd!
Frances started dance lessons and has now gone through two cycles. She loves the classes and her teachers. She sings and dances all the time and is happiest in a princess dress or leotard. Speaking of Frances, we took her to a Wiggles concert this Fall in Roanoke. She LOVED it and still talks about it now. The tickets were a gift for her 4th birthday. I cannot believe that my "baby" is 4-years old! (And finally potty trained!)
Henry is sitting up, eating baby food, and getting ready to crawl. He likes to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. His teacher at school said he actually crawled a few steps a couple of weeks back, but we haven't seen him do it again.
Ken was promoted at the ABC store and is now the Assistant Manager. He has been more working more hours than he had previously, so we tend to see him less often. Then nice thing about this job is that the store is closed Sundays, so we usually have that day together (even if it is mostly taken up by church activities).
I am teaching a class of very young 4-year-olds this year, one of whom is my own daughter. That part has worked out much better than I thought, but is not totally without it's problems. I do truly enjoy spending the day with my daughter. And I can still nurse Henry whenever he gets hungry.
Youth ministry is going well. We have made some successful changes in the program this year, and some kinks are still being worked out. I am truly blessed with a wonderful group of catechists to work with.
As we end this year, I am happy to say that everyone is healthy and well-provided for. We have much more than we need or deserve and I hope that we can continue to remember that.
May God keep blessing you in the coming year!!