Dance Recital

Ruth's dance recital was on Saturday.  The theme was "Once Upon a Time".  The program for 7 and under is first class at this studio.  The costumes, staging, and handling of back stage was amazing.  Since I am a teacher, I get to help run kids back and forth to the stage.  Everytime Ruthie saw me, she would run up and give me a huge hug.  That really made me happy.  In this photo, she is tapping to "Happy Birthday Princess".

 

The boys were proud of Ruth.  Emmy kept saying, "I want to dance"

Saturday evening was the recital for the older girls.  I had a hard time at this one.  Many of these are my babies of earlier years and I have a hard time watching them drift in the direction of mainstream dance.  I am currently trying to figure out where dance will fit in with my girls, because I really don't picture them here.  My tappers did great, however, and we had a wonderful year together.

Guess who got her hands on that dance costume?!  Sweet Ruthie is good at sharing.  (The shoes are also Ruth's).  I guess it's true that the baby gets everything.

Projects

Project mayham began with a slab leak under our tile floor last month.  Rather than drilling through the tile to patch up a 40 year old copper pipe, the plumber rerouted our main pipe through the attic.  We were left with big holes to patch.  As our fix-it guy was patching the drywall, we decided to go ahead and finish off the walls in the garage.  While we were at it, we had nice mirrors hung.  Of course, the floor had to be fixed up, and with all the extra stuff in the way, we sold it at a garage sale.  

The result: my very own dance studio!  I am currently teaching Tuesday morning classes to Ruth and her little church and neighborhood friends.  It is so convenient to teach from home and I just love having time to be with Ruthie. I will likely continue into the fall.

 

I said, "my studio", but that's no quite true. Joseph hung fun laser lights and a black light.  The kids love dancing around or even spreading their stuff out on the slick floor.  During one of my practice sessions, they all showed up as outlaws.  I can't believe that Emmy is alreay beginning to run around with the gang. 

David and Emmy have had some great bonding time this past week.  I hired David to watch Emmy during my dance classes.  He wrote up a schedule, prepared a snack, and entertained Emmy for two whole hours.  When I asked him what his favorite part of summer has been so far, he said, "babysitting Emmy".  Wow!  Really?!

School is over!

Kindergarten is over!  The final week was nonstop parties... no exaggeration (big buddy party, graduation party, water party, music concert, summer birthday party).  I am still recovering from our exhausting week.  Mrs. Ingraham was a very sweet teacher, however.  She put together a program with slide shows, special awards, and songs.  I think that Kindergarten teachers are very special people; you can't do it unless you love it.  Each child gave himself their own award.  James chose "best lego builder". A funny thing about James: he insists on wearing cowboy boots everyday, even with shorts.  A few of the mothers in the class have informed me that their kids are now asking for cowboy boots.  

Just as James is stepping up to first grade, Ruth will be taking his place as a kindergartener (only one year apart in school).  She may even have the same teacher!

James was one of a handful of kindergarteners to win a special award for reading over 30 books out of a special online book program.  Can you imagine the thrill of being called onto the stage in front of the entire school?!

Along with our final week of school came a piano concert, which happend to be James' very first.  We switched from Suzuki method piano to traditional method.  Our new teacher Miss Nancy is so caring and patient with the boys.  Her first priority is for them to love the instrument.  James and David played a duet, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"... a thrilling moment for me.

Recents

Seems like the weeks relentlessly whip by.  We've had 30 degree weather swings: some days it feels like summer and then other days still are cloudy and damp.  I've been enjoying my two girls lately.  We call it "girltime".  Emmy is growing into a great playmate for Ruthie.  She is old enough to play along and young enough not to protest too much if Ruth swipes a toy.  Actually, most the time, Ruth is a very sweet sister and will make sure that Emmy is well taken care of.  

Ruth's preschool invited the moms on an outing to a children's play at the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa  (can't remember the name!)  It was a fantastic group from the UK.  It was such an off the wall storyline, but I loved it!  One of the actors had 4 costume changes.  Within the one hour play, he was a giant monster, a silly snake, a clueless owl, and a sneaky fox.  He kept the a audience rolling with laughter.

We had our annual family camp out a few weeks ago.  I was hopefull that Emmy would last through the night, but just as I cozied into my sleeping bag at 11 pm, we heard coughing, sputtering, and then crying from the pack n play.  Emmy had thrown up everywhere.  At that point I had no choice but to scoop her up, load her in the car, and head home.  She was so relieved to be in her bed and had no further episodes the rest of the night.  This campout was very tiresome for both Joseph and I.  It took atleast 24 hours to recover.  Is camping with tinies worth it?  I can't decide.

Six bodies on one porch swing.  Not too bad!

Sometimes hands are easier than spoons.

The best thing about 8 am church is that we come home at 11!  This means that there is time for lunch, naps, and free time.  I got ambitious last week and made strawberry rhubarb pie.  Lots of work, but so yummy!  This marks my first homemade pie.

Look who's on two wheels!

Palm Springs

My birthday has already come and gone.  Coincidentally, Joseph's firm retreat was the same weekend as my birthday.  My inlaws were kind enough to watch the kids, so we had two full days all to ourselves!  We stayed at the JW Marriot in Palm Springs.  The lobby of the hotel has a small dock which offers boat rides through large glass doors to the outdoor pond.  Needless to say, we had a marvelous time together.  Our favorite outing was 2 1/2 mile aerial tramway to base of San Jacinto.  Though the valley was 100 degrees, within our 10 minute ride, we were in a cool crisp 70 degrees.  We then hiked four miles through the valley where there was still lots of snow and ice!  The best part was the view from the top.

We thought this flower arrangement was beautifully unique.

  It's a strange feeling to stand on snow after living without it for so many years.  We kept thinking of how much the children would've enjoyed the novelty.

 Pam and Dave were so sweet to greet us Sunday afternoon with an amazing birthday feast.  The children were so happy to present me with gifts and cards.  Joseph had prepared this german chocolate cake the night before we left, so it was patiently waiting upon our return.  What a wonderful way to kick off another year.  Thanks to my family for making it a special birthday.

Heather's house

Spring was in full bloom a Heather's home in North Carolina.  She has nice beds of flowers and a huge lawn that is bordered by a tall forest of trees.  Whenever the wind would blow, the trees would sway at a 90 degree radius and make the most delightful "swish" as they brushed past each other.  Our first day together, the older cousins were kind enough babysit while Mom, Heather, Katie, and I visited the farmers' market, ate lunch, and did a quick stop at Costco.  It was fun to laugh together about all the oddities of everyday life.  

The day after Katie left, we took the kids to a natural science museum.  The kids really enjoyed the aquarium and outdoor displays

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Our final day together was grandma's 69th birthday.  I helped the grandkids make cards and carry breakfast in bed.  Later that day, Francis, Julia, David, James an Ruth entertained us with their very own version of Hansel and Grettel.  It was sad to say goodbye to such distant family.  I am grateful that we will likely have future opportunities to visit again.