Winter Show 2020

The girls participated in their studio's winter show this past weekend. It was a complete whirlwind experience! Every year I say how thankful I am that the director chooses to put on this show in January as opposed to December, despite that it is a Christmas themed show. The extra rehearsals and stress are certainly not needed during the Christmas season.

While the classes start to rehearse their regular dances 2-3 months earlier, the cast is set at Christmas and they spend only 3 weeks learning and perfecting their parts. It's simply amazing to see it come together. As I chatted with the owner after the first show, we both commented how wonderful it looked and the doubt we had just 2 days prior. These kiddos are talented :) Regan participated in the cast and once again, had a phenomenal experience. Sidney cannot wait for her chance to try out....anxiously waiting for next year when she's old enough.

 

Sidney danced in lyrical, jazz and ballet dances for each of 3 shows. She loves lyrical the most and shines up on stage. Her face tells me she is sure happy to be back on stage after taking a year off. I couldn't believe how many people commented that they were happy to see Sid back on stage :)

 

 

Besides all of the cast dances, Regan was in 5 dances in each of the 3 shows as well: 2 different ballet, pointe, tap and jazz. I love seeing how much she has grown over the last 9 years of dance. It's astonishing. Watching her up on pointe is just beautiful.

 

 

Although the most beautiful dance is White Winter Hymnal. I could watch that one over and over. Maybe it's the simplicity of the costumes, or the excellent uniform of the dance, or maybe it's the song itself. Whatever it is, I love it!

 

 

I'm so proud of all the hard work that Regan and Sidney put into their dances, all while staying on top of homework and their other activities. Not an easy feat.

 

 

I love their stage presence and love for being in front of an audience. They sure aren't shy these girls :)

 

Congrats on another amazing winter show!

Spring sports seasons

I've decided that May is officially more challenging than the month of December. It's completely overscheduled with standardized testing, end of the year concerts, sports banquets and let's not forget work (where we are both supposed to put in a lot of time each week!).

If you haven't taken the time to read this blog post, do it. It puts May in perspective for our tribe of middle school (in a high school sport), elementary school and preschool. And it helped me to know that I'm not alone.

 

Regan has wrapped up her first season as part of the Jefferson High School fastpitch team. She was placed on the 9th grade team with some amazing coaches. She took part in pre-season "Captain's Practices" with the varsity/JV squads back in March, then trained during spring break with the coaches from all levels before finally falling into stride with her 9th grade team.

Boy did she develop over these few months. As a player and a teammate. She learned from some of the best coaches out there, young women who did what I like to call "coaching during practice" and letting the girls play during games. They ended the season 5-1 (or 7-1 if you count the double header where the other team forgot to show up and had to forfeit). Those coaches knew a thing or two about this sport and about coaching these early teenagers. And Regan learned a thing or two: calling pitches with complicated signs, throwing down to make outs and becoming explosive with her bat. We had so much fun watching her, that I shed a tear at the last game. Neither her nor I wanted to see it come to an end.  

 

Meanwhile, this little dude asked to try soccer. We were both a little dumbfounded at his request, seeing as though neither of us have ever played this sport. I obliged and the Easter bunny brought all sorts of soccer gear for him :)

Including a bright orange ball!

I could tell after the first practice just why he wanted to play soccer. They never stop moving! It's right up his alley. This boy would be bored on a ball field at age 5, but at soccer, he just runs and runs and runs. We giggle because those kiddos are so sweet, never wanting to "steal" the ball away from an opposing teammate, probably thinking the parents would all be upset that they weren't sharing. He's getting the hang of it now, and is finally starting to get aggressive and is having the time of his life! He is seriously all smiles during that one hour each week, and boy do I love to watch him!

 

 

Sidney branched out on a limb this spring and asked to play volleyball. Yet another new sport for her. This girl doesn't nothing partway.

Go big or go home.

And she was incredibly frustrated that her team had some of the most timid volleyball players I had ever seen. Some didn't pay attention, some didn't seem to care about scoring points. And then there's Sidney, who is fiercely competitive.

That girl wants to win!

 

So you can imagine her frustration when the team ended regular season play in 14th place. They headed into the league tournament playing the 3rd ranked team. I was so pessimistic about their ability to win that I had deleted the rest of the tournament from our calendars :)

And then they went and won! She played hard in night two of the tournament, while Ryan was out of state on a work trip, and I had kids in different parts of the city, one on a field practicing, the other on a court playing her heart out. Sadly they lost on night two, but not after a good fight, winning 1 of the matches.

Sid was sad to end the season, tears and all.

 

In the thick of all the spring activities, Regan was gearing up for the spring dance recitals. She danced almost 6 hours every week since September: pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical and two ballet classes. As luck would have it, she was slated to perform in 3 recitals the same weekend as a 5+ game softball tournament.

Let's just say: thank GOD for rain!

It might make a future weekend more challenging, seeing as both girls were slated for that tournament and will now likely be on opposite ends of the city sometime in the future. We'll figure that out when the time comes. Back to the recital...

Oh she was so cute out there! Just a beauty on stage. Every dance I would say "this is my favorite"! Even now, after watching three shows plus dress rehearsal, I still cannot pick a favorite. Lyrical, ballet (which one!?), jazz, tap, and oh watching her up on those pointe shoes! I simply cannot pick a favorite. Hoping to upload a video soon, but in the midst of this lovely month, my computer has died.

 



 

But the sheer joy on her face during this dance makes the chaos of spring all worth it. She shined on stage and for the first year ever, looked confident and was having FUN in every dance. It was amazing! Lincoln loved watching the show, and asked me if he would go on stage when he got big? Without answering his question, I first asked if he wanted to dance on stage?

His reply, a hesitant "sure....but I'm not very good at dancing"! 😄

We finished up several sports at the end of this week. Our weeks have slowed to one activity/day which may sound horribly busy to some, but gives us breathing room we haven't seen in months.

Winter Show 2019

The annual winter show was this past weekend. But before we get into that, let's back up to the hours and hours of work that goes into this incredible show. 

Back in early December Regan committed to trying out for the Cast of the show, which meant doubling her time at the studio for the month of January in preparation. 

She had a great try-out and landed two roles in the Cast (one part in each show), she held an evil part and a good princess part and was over the moon with the opportunity. 

Each Saturday and Sunday, she spent 3-4 hours at the studio learning her roles. I had hours of coordinating our personal schedules to accommodate her dance, help volunteering at the studio with costumes and endless driving back and forth shuffling her around to formal practices and informal at friend's houses. 

In the last week before show weekend, Regan had 6 days straight of practice leading up to 2 nights of shows. Ouch. Couple that with other activities and school work, and we had a pretty stressful week. 

And then it was time for the show. 

Unfortunately, they lost their dress rehearsal night by having to add a third show due to ticket demands! Friday night ended up being show number one and I again volunteered as usher (secretly it's the best volunteer job around because once the show starts, I was able to watch from the back. Mom win!). 

Despite no dress rehearsal, they looked beautiful on stage. There were a few mishaps (more on that later) and a lot of tears backstage, but you wouldn't know it from the audience! 

 For the first (and third) show, Regan's Cast role was part of the Evil Army. When she found out she was in the Army after tryouts, she was so excited to wear this black one piece. Some kids love them, some hate them. Thankfully she was thrilled.

To get yourself inside this suit, one needs to be zipped up completely. And to get out, unzip. These girls also had a number of "quick changes" between songs to be sure they were back on stage and ready for the next song. Sadly, Regan's hair got stuck in the zipper and there was no getting her out. I was oblivious to this whole scene until hours later when a mom text me "Heads up they had to cut Regan's hair and she was crying...."

Wait, what!??! 

"her bun got caught in her costume and they couldn't get it out". 

My heart sunk to my stomach, not knowing how bad it would look. 

Following the show, as I waited for her to come out, the studio owner found me and let me know she wasn't prepared to hear over the headset that they were having to cut out Regan from the black suit. No one still had an update as to what it looked like. I feared the worst! 

There were lots of tears when I finally got to her, still not knowing how bad it was. Eventually after a shower and a good comb out, we realized that she has so much hair, no one would even notice. 

But they all went through the next shows without zipping their buns into the costume! 

Somehow she continued the remainder of the show, click here for a short glimpse of her jazz. 

Show two brought the princess role in cast and this beautiful girl shined on stage. 

In addition to the cast role, Regan had 5 other dances which were part of her regular weekly classes. This one was certainly one of my favorites, one of the ballet classes. 

Part of it might have been the gorgeous white leotard I may have paid too much for :) 

She picked that beauty out on her own (the studio provides costumes for this show, some of them require a leotard we can borrow or find on our own). This white leo is gorgeous, and she wore it to class the final week before the show. Only to get a tiny spot of blood on the side. In quickly washing it, I didn't realize I had also thrown in a newly purchased swimsuit in the washing machine at the same time. A maroon swimsuit. 

Her white (very expensive white) leotard was now pink. 

Double crap. 

Anyone close to me knows I don't do bleach very well (and I may have put holes in Sidney's white Vineyard Vines shirt once...). I was suupppeerrr careful and managed to get this leotard white again.
Dodged that bullet!

Her new glass-less face now that she's wearing contacts. I swear, she's all "growned" up, like she asked me so many times as a little girl :) 

Let me tell you, it was no easy feat picking her out on stage minus glasses this year. All those girls start to look alike! 

There was a host of kiddos on that stage for the final bow each show. 

And when her group from cast ran out, I got giddy hearing those fellow dancers squeal and cheer. Our girl was beaming with pride on stage. 

I loved this Pixie costume. A huge thanks to all my mom friends volunteering back stage who sent me photos throughout all of the shows :)  A short glimpse of one scene is here. 

The final show was back to the evil army costume (she's center in that photo below). 

We played it super safe and all of the army was instructed to leave the bun OUTSIDE of the costume so as to avoid anymore haircuts. HA! 

My camera had a hard time keeping up focus with the stage lights and speed sometimes. I think this photo, although blurry, is a fun depiction of all the movement. No wonder Lincoln loves the winter show! 

We love watching her shine on stage, doing her thing and showing off all her hard work. 

And I know darn well she adores all the socialization part of dance. She has deepened friendships and made new friendships, with kids young and old. 

And according to this younger friend's mom, Ava was just as excited and proud to have made a 'big-kid' friend in Regan. They clearly were having a good time together sharing inside jokes and giggles :) 

Oh goodness, these costumes might be the most hideous things anyone has ever seen! I had to include the photo in this post, if to only remember them years from now. 

The bow at the base of their head is made for a wreath, and is at least 10" in diameter! It's humongous and ridiculous! 

There was a cute cheering crowd that came one night to support Regan and her friends...this photo was taken while we were still crying over the haircut. Thankfully she had that amazing support and love to lift her up and not ruin her evening! 

Congratulations Regan on a job very well done. Your persistence to learn 9 different dances in a matter of a month amazes me. I love watching you dance on stage. Your skill has grown and grown over the last 7 years!
Nice job! 

Fall activities

This fall has honestly been a bit of a blur. Our calendar has been chalk full of practices and meets and lessons and games. We had one week of rain that cancelled our outdoor events for the most part and we all stared at each other wondering what we were supposed to do. HA! 

It really is so much fun to watch all 3 kiddos participate in extra-curricular activities. 

I'm not going to say it isn't a lot of work. Because it is. There is so much stress on ensuring everyone is where they need to be, with food in their bellies and everything they need. 

And then there is the coordination of it all. Making sure the right gear is in the right vehicle for the right activity. 

Sometimes we get a small moment, to really *be* with our kids and take a little of their love for an activity. Like when we get to learn how to sew elastic and ribbon onto super expensive pointe shoes. only to bring it all home and have grandma Jan do all of the grunt work! 

In all of the hustle and bustle this fall, we are ever thankful at how adaptable Lincoln is with all of the chaos. He finds fun no matter where we are, usually making a few friends along the way. The girls' friends all adore him and take him under their wing, begging to be his chosen friend who gets a hug. 

He knows many of the fields they play on, and knows what to expect when we arrive, which ones have playgrounds or which ones he needs to bring along his remote control car. 

Love him to pieces :) 

And lately he's been getting his own chance at an activity, breezing through all of the swim lessons at Foss. He's part-fish this little boy of ours. Currently in classes designed for 5-7 year olds where he's learning side breaths. Incredible skills and I love to spend 30 minutes each week watching it be *his turn* at something! 

We would not have life any other way. I know it's exhausting, and the piles of laundry and papers are endless. Yet we all adore the busy-ness of this lifestyle and thrive on the strict schedule it creates. 

Winter dance show 2018

A little picture overload going on in this post. I had trouble picking just one photo, so instead you get many :) 

The girls have been working in their dance classes towards the winter show (which I am forever grateful is held in January and not December). It's Christmas-time themed, but with the already busy-ness of December, the last thing we would need is a dance recital. 

Regan is old enough now to try out for the "cast" in this Nutcracker like production and was thrilled to make the cut. She was so dang adorable on stage and those little kiddos sure looked up to her when she put on her "cast" costume. 

The cast had 3 very long weekends to pull off all their dances; it doesn't sound like much, but they practiced 2-3 hours every Friday/Saturday/Sunday and their hard work sure paid off! They were amazing! 

And sometimes, when you're so excited it hurts, you take a silly pose picture for your mama. 

And your sister follows suit, with crazy bent arms. 

 Sidney is sure excited to make her way through the next few years before she too can join the cast. But while she waits, she does so with some super fun friends that helped keep her entertained back stage until it was their time to dance. 

Those grade 2-3 kiddos were sure cute up on stage, even though Sidney proclaimed they didn't all know the dances very well (and let's just say that bothered the daylights out of her). 

These show costumes are owned by the studio, and reused each year. Some are adorable, and others are, well, a little silly looking. So let's just take a look at that giant wreath bow turned hair bow....I couldn't even look at them without busting out laughing. It was seriously hideous! 

When all was said and done, the girls danced in a total of 3 shows, spanning 12 hours and a total of 29 dances between the two of them. That's a pretty incredible day if you ask me!
This was my favorite dance of Regan's regular classes, her tap dance "Hot Chocolate". So much going on and so many girls all tapping in unison. Incredible dance!  

I don't know how many kiddos make up this show every year, but here are most of them during final bows one show. There are a LOT of kids up there!  

I'm so proud of these two lovely girls. They worked hard and it sure showed. Great job girls!