Recent Events

I'm not blogging anything deep or profound tonight - just an update on what's been going on around here. I've had a migraine all day, so I'm not even sure this will be coherent!

My parents came to visit us about 2 weeks ago and stayed through last Saturday. While they were here, the kids had their dance recital. Ga'Hoole Girl was in five dances for each of three shows: jazz, tap, ballet, 2 daddy-daughter numbers. Wild Man was in only one dance, but still for all three shows. He was in a jazz class this year.

The week before the recital was hectic, as usual, but it was nice that the kids could keep track of their own shoes, dance bags, etc. All I worried about was making sure that they had all the stuff they needed before we left the house. We live about 45 minutes away from the city where they dance, so there would be no coming home for missed items!

Of course, the recital was wonderful. Ga'Hoole Girl outdid herself this year. The jazz class really stretched her, but she was up for it. She has never had jazz before, but she was in the advanced (child) jazz class this year. So, she had a little learning to do. But, since she has been taking ballet for so long, she already new a lot of the moves - she just had to learn how to incorporate them in to jazz. For example, she can do a pique turn and a pirouette from her ballet class. A jazz pirouette is a little different from a ballet pirouette, but the idea is the same. Since she is already comfortable with spotting, etc., a lot of the jazz moves weren't difficult for her. Her tap class danced to music from "Pirates of the Carribbean". They didn't purchase costumes, but made them up themselves. Ga'Hoole Girl wore black pants and a white shirt with a velvet coat dress (Talbot's - got it at Goodwill for $6!) and a belt along with a hat. The tap dance was just amazing - and the kids had such fun with it! Ballet was, of course, just beautiful. They danced to "Christofori's Dream". Her class had 6 girls in it, and they usually danced in pairs, but they used up the entire stage. What a change from 6 years ago when she was in her first recital doing tap and pre-ballet numbers when she was 5!

Wild Man was in one jazz dance this year. It was really fun because he was already good friends with 3 of the other 4 class members. He and his good friend were the two boys. My best friend's daughters were two of the girls. But, they made friends quickly with the third girl. They danced to "Sharp-Dressed Man" by ZZ Top. Talk about fun! The kids had a great time on stage, and they really did well. Their dance was pretty complicated for a beginning jazz class, but they pulled it off. What was really cool was to see how encouraging Wild Man could be to the rest of his class. He helped the lady who sold flowers get her stuff from her van, so she gave him a free flower, which he gave to his grandmother. Then, he kept asking Mr. Math Teacher for money to buy flowers for all his friends - "So and so doesn't have a flower, so can I buy one for him/her?" It's nice to see that he thinks of other people.

The day after dance recital, Wild Man had his first baseball game. He was wonderful! His team won by a very large margin, in spite of the other team having some real sluggers. Wild Man's team can be pretty inconsistent. They have some kids who are still learning the basic rules and then kids like Wild Man who are ready for more intense stuff like "who covers first base when the first baseman is fielding the ball", stuff like that. During the first game, it was pretty chilly (low 60s). Wild Man had another game this week and it was about 88 degrees out during the game. They won that game as well. More importantly, Wild Man seems to be really developing his skills. It's also really nice to see how much he cheers on teammates that have done a good job instead of being jealous.

My parents stayed here with the kids while Mr. Math Teacher and I went up north to a cabin on a private lake for our 15th wedding anniversary. It surely does not seem like that long! We had 3 1/2 glorious days of reading, talking, listening to audiobooks or music, knitting (for me), carving (for him), and walks by the lake. Unfortunately, we got a flat tire on our way home (about 1/2 mile away from the house!). Mr. Math Teacher was able to get the tire changed and we made it home. That night, we had a little birthday celebration for Ga'Hoole Girl (a little early) and the grandparents took the kids swimming.

This week has been busy but fun. Wild Man took a one week long nature course offered through the public school. When all was said and done, he had made several friends (one of whom he sees at the pool regularly), learned some stuff about nature, and made several crafts. Ga'Hoole Girl is taking some enrichment summer school classes which last for three weeks. she is doing cooking, PE, Math Mania, and board games. She has also really enjoyed it. She still has another two weeks of school left. She is also doing art classes with the dad of the other girl in Wild Man's jazz class - is that totally confusing, or what? In any case, this girl's mom was Ga'Hoole Girl's ballet teacher for the previous two years, and her dad is an artist. He was interested in setting up some art classes, so we go to his studio every Thursday night for four weeks. There are another four girls and the teacher's daughters in the class. They did figure drawing this week and will continue next week. Then, they will go on to still life and landscape, I believe.

The swimming lake (not a pool, it has a gravel bottom, but it is filtered, even if it's not chlorinated) opened this last week. I signed Wild Man up for swimming lessons. He objected, but then went out into the deep water with his friend yesterday with only a swimming noodle to support him. EEK! So, he's a little more motivated to learn to swim because he can't go in the deep water unless he can swim (pool's rules - although they are our rules too). I took them swimming twice this week. There is limited shade around the pool, so it's not real comfortable for me to go with them. And, I find the water still a little chilly for my taste this time of year. In any case, the kids have fun. And, Mr. Math Teacher took Wild Man to the pool to swim with one of his friends from summer school yesterday. They certainly aren't deprived of pool time around here!

I finally finished painting the living room. It is definitely mauve, but it really make the wood frames and baseboards stand out. I'm very pleased with it. My next project is to do the hallway in a sage green. I think I'm going to do all the brushwork, then move the furniture and take down the pictures and roll the rest. I hate dealing with rollers, but it's the only way I'm going to be able to get to the top of the stairwell. In any case, I have lots of time, and don't need to worry about it right now. Mr. Math Teacher's mom is coming in July and going to camp with us. After that, she is taking the kids on a lighthouse tour of Door County. So, I have a lot of books about lighthouses that I want to look at with the kids. We were going to do it yesterday, but Wild Man went swimming. Then, today I had a migraine and slept a lot. Maybe we'll look at some of it tomorrow. Ga'Hoole Girl is signed up to make some PJs and have them ready in a week and a half for the 4H clothing revue. Unfortunately, she is such a perfectionist that she wants to quit whenever it gets hard. So, the pinning of the pattern to the fabric is done. Now, I need to help her get through the cutting. And, it's her project, so I'm not doing it for her, but I may need to hold her hand for the first one!

Mr. Math Teacher had been quite the handyman lately. He has done almost everything on the "ToDo" list. The rest either needs my input or money that we don't have! When he's not working on handyman stuff, he's helping a friend set up his computer and working on his carving. He had a new project - making a chain long enough to go around someone's neck all from one piece of wood. He's having to be very careful, though, that he doesn't damage the wood in the process. I'm pretty impressed!

So, that's life at the moment. I'm hoping to feel well enough tomorrow to straighten up a little bit and to finish some laundry. But, right now I'm exhausted. So, off to bed. Sleep well, everyone!