Ballerina Faith

Saturday night was a very special night for Miss Faith

She performed in her first ever ballet recital

The Snow Queen

{aka a Bumblebee & a Gift dancer}

It was perfectly timed, right in the middle of our big move, with packing and chaos all around us, rehearsals, tights, shoes, hairnets, bobby pins and safety pins and all. Not to mention I was one of 2 costume moms as well as a Townsperson, and semi-in-charge of the kiddos (along with another double-dipping mom). So it was an event, none-the-less, but especially for Faith.

She has been talking about it for months as we went to ballet class and rehearsals twice a week. She was especially excited to have an audience, because she loves nothing more than to know you are watching her twirl and point. What a joy it has been to see her improve over these weeks, not so much as a 'technical' ballet dancer {hello, she is only three} but her interest and attention in class has become much more focused and certain. She knows first, second, third, forth and fifth position, AND she can do them all WITHOUT manually placing or turning her feet. She knows passe and tendu and will happily demonstrate them. Of course, the dancer in me is simply thrilled at how much she is doing and the mom in me is in love with her pure joy in the classroom. So naturally, this was sure to be a special night.

And it was.

Saturday began with our first dress rehearsal at the theatre. Now, as I mentioned I was oh-so-lucky to be a Townsperson, therefore, I was fortunate enough to have a front row seat {rear-view} of the 'Bumblebees' on stage. Literally, Faith was a mere 4 or so feet in front of me. Was I worried, nah, she had this whole thing down and it was my job, as well as one other mom/Townsperson, to manage the other 'stray' bees onstage as they got lost or confused. Rehearsal went smooth and it was onto dance number 2: the Gift Dancers. Faith especially loved this because she and her friend, Madison, were the tiniest ones and had a sort of duet, but someone forgot to tell the 3 year olds that 2 large boys dressed in scary horse costumes would randomly come on stage during their duet {to pull the carriage full of gifts of course}. So Faith and Madison didn't exactly nail their Gift dance during rehearsal. oh well, they did mention the 2 large boys with horse heads later. So after a long morning, we headed home for a quick recovery {no nap :/ } and back for the big show.

Faith was excited and kept asking me who would be there and would tell all her friends who was coming to see her. Then it was show time, and I headed on stage to wait for her arrival.... on they came, whirling and twirling in all sorts of directions and just as they were 'flying' to their spots, here flies Faith, right towards me holding her antenna in her hands "Mommy, they fell off" so naturally I smile. put them on her head. turn her around. then back up and watch them dance.  i mean seriously, who noticed the Townsperson fixing the antenna... ha. And she shined and shined as they danced and whirled all over the place in about 9 million directions and when she came off the stage she looked right at me {I exited with them} and said "Mommy ! I did such a good job, didn't I" and I couldn't help but smile and tell her "Yes, yes you did! you were wonderful and I am so very proud of you" {then long bouts of hugging happened before she raced back to put her precious 'gift' dance party dress on.

While in the dressing room, with 11 almost 4 or 5 year olds,  fully costumed, having to wait for the entire remainder of the show to finish, so they can take a bow, and then change and go home, a lot can happen. We put out a huge pile of papers and crayons... fifteen minutes later they were gone. Tears had been cried. Papers were torn. Potty breaks were needed and I was wondering how on earth we were going to make it to the bows. I wasn't even sure we would be able to keep the wings on all of them. In the midst of all this chaos, up pops Faith :

"Everyone! Hey everyone, listen up! We are NOT going to hurt each other, okay?"

{crickets chirping}

Was that my kid? No way, did she just command some serious attention? And did it work?

Yes Ma'am, that was my kid {says the very proud mom}. And she set things straight! I don't know how or why but things weren't too bad after that.

 though if you look closely, Faith did try to keep them in line, especially when they wouldn't share 

"We have to take turns Dorothea, or we are going to put it away, okay"

August: Last day of Summer/First Day of School

It was only fitting, on Faith's last day of summer she got to do the one thing we talked about doing all summer, but never did:

Celebration Park  : Splash Park

10 Things I learned from taking her there:

1. The splash park & surrounding park are HUGE, thus, it is important to follow your child at all times, or they will get lost in the madness of water & gigantic maze of slides/stairs/park fun
2. Don't try to stay dry. It's no fun, and the other moms will laugh at you. Especially you, the one in nice clothes trying to keep her shoes dry. You look silly.
3. Get wet. Get drenched, have fun. Its a lot more fun for you and your kid, and all the other kiddos around whose parents don't care or are sleeping in the shade.
4. Don't expect the other kids to follow the rules, behave appropriately or demonstrate behaviors you want your kid to follow.
5. Don't expect those kids to have parents who actually parent. 
6. Parent your child, don't let them run into other kids, splash kids in the face, aim squirt guns at little ones and remind them to share... and that just because s/he is doing it doesn't mean they can too
7. Stay for about an hour & if the crazy kids and their parents don't leave by then, they never will so either a)hang in there or b)get out of dodge, they probably called some friends.
8. Allow your kid to explore
9. Explore with them
10. Finally, bring some hand sanitizer & take a nice bath when you get home, ya,know, just to play it safe.

Then it was back to school. Faith is there everyday for half days only, but she was super excited to see her friends and be in her new classroom. Here is to starting school in the US and finishing this year in PARIS. :)

Faith's First Day

PS - Did you see these amazing pics by Diana Busch Photography

Our Little Dancer

Faith's First Dance Recital

Faith performed in her very first dance recital this weekend and well, it was sort of a big deal for all of us. Auntie Lauren came in and so did 'Fancy' Nancy Van to see her dance. Nancy Van was at my very first recital so it was sort of a full circle experience for her to see Faith dance too. She was excited and anxious and had a blast. I was nervous for her and also for the 4 other classes I had & though I wanted no one to mess up, I wanted everyone to have fun... and they did. Dress rehearsal night was a little crazy, but wonderful. The studio is extremely organized so things went pretty smoothly. I hid perfectly on the side of the stage, where I could see Faith and she couldn't see me... then she did, and she waved & kept right on dancing. Perfectly wonderful. She was amazing. The day of the show, all the girls were thrilled & excited, especially since they knew what to expect. And this time, Faith knew I was right there and she saw me, smiled big & kept right on shaking those hips & tapping her feet. I was especially happy for her because she was loving it all; the makeup, hair, shoes, tights, costume, etc. It was a lot of fun. Today at dance class she even asked her teacher if she could do the recital again... poor Ms Brenda, too bad she wasn't on board for a repeat weekend. :) My first recital was in a yellow tutu and tap shoes so I found a book titled "The Yellow TuTu" and wrote a special note to Faith inside and gave it to her. I know I will always cherish this weekend and it will forever be something I keep in my heart. It was even more amazing because I was able to stand just behind that curtain and watch her shine...

flowers for our tiny dancer

a yellow rose, for mommy

another tiny dancer on the way

staying busy backstage

proud mommy

dress rehearsal

the girls waiting backstage, taking good care of eachother

best friends

Sisterly Love....

So this past weekend I was certain Faith had developed her sense of jealously when I overheard David and Faith having this argument...

David: That's Isabelle's dress, and that's Faiths

Faith: No Daddy, that's MY dress, not Isabelles.

David: No that one is Isabelle's not Faiths.

Faith: (grrr noises) NOOOOO thats MY dress, not Isabelle's.

David: No, that's Isabelle's, go ask Mommy

[at this point I am certain I am in for something good...]

Faith: Mommy is that my dress or Isabelle's?

Me: Honey, what dress is she talking about?

David: The really pretty one, that's yellow with bright dots.

Me: Faith, that's your dress. Honey, that's Faith's, not Isabelle's.

David: Really?

Me: Yes, that's Faith Dance Costume. She was really excited to show it to you. Daddy, you were wrong.

David: Sorry Faith, Daddy was wrong.

oh brother... I guess we have to get Daddy on board. I am still wondering if I should be concerned about how David dragged me into this one. :)

PS=check out the "really pretty dress"

Also, in all fairness to David, Faith's costume is short & it was hanging next to one of Isabelle's dresses that was a similar length.

1 point Faith = 0 Daddy

Swim School, Potato Helper & recital practice

here are some Faith moments to share:

Swim School Fish

Super Baker...way to help out with the family traditions...

Practicing for her recital... she is in the red/green tutu - normally there is a class full of fancy tutus, but the one day Faith decided to bring hers, the others didn't. oh well.

Dance, Swim and SCHOOL!!!

Traditional School Photos

Excited to go to her classroom

Waiting

Getting her First Day of School Flowers & Treat

Jabbering on about Ms.Dora & her new friends

Exhausted... passed out at Grandma's while Mommy teaches her HipHop Class

Faith has been working hard to become a real kid with all her activities and now SCHOOL... sure it is only a half day 2x/wk but she loves it and I am certain full days are ahead of us. She had absolutely no problem letting go of my hand and immersing herself into her surroundings. No tears, no sadness, all happy and ready to go. I didn't cry at all, in fact I was so excited because of this...

we arrived in the parking lot, Faith was familiar with the school because we have driven past it and talked about it. We got there and Faith looked a me and said "Mommy, I'm so happy" and then kept repeating it over and over as we walked inside. Adorable. Check out the candid 'first day photos' ps-I asked her to stand by the big magnolia tree we have and she told me she wanted to stand by the little tree (which everyone else refers to as a bush). oh well.

Here are a few more dance photos and some video of her swimming this summer. What a little fish!

Our week back ... DANCE CLASS

It is amazing how after 3 perfectly relaxing weeks you can come home and feel like you have absolutley no time to get anything ready for everything that has to happen in the next few weeks. Oh well. It was nice to be home, in our house, cooking, cleaning, sweeping, getting mail, taking out trash, playing with the dog and grocery shopping. But besides all the normal behaviors we had a few firsts...

I started teaching at a local dance studio... hip-hop [yes, you read that right] to 6-14 year olds one night a week, which means Faith gets to have a weekly dinner date with grandparents, which I believe she is more excited about than me.

The best thing is that Faith had her 1st dance class this week... tear! I have included fabulous pictures of her look - black leotard, pink tights, matching ballerina bow, ballet shoes AND tap shoes, a purple dance bag and pink 'bling' tap ties. She was adorable and LOVED her class. I am pretty sure she was the best [isn't that what all mothers are supposed to say :) ] but she clearly had more experience than some of the first timers in there, and I believe some of the college moves she witnessed these last 2 years rubbed off. What was interesting was watching her try to engage all the other students in what her teacher was doing. For instance if it was time to get in a circle Faith insisted in gathering in all the other children who had wandered off so they,too could participate. LOVED it. Enjoy...

Faith and I also had a great 'girls' only dinner with Mrs.Kori Bailey and we were happy to reconnect and find another 'chill' friend. I look forward to more time with Kori, and ironically we saw her and Jon and their adorable nephew Thursday night at Marble Slab when David took us for a late night ice cream run.

Faith and I went with my mom on Friday to this consignment event at the Plano Center where they had clothes, bows, halloween costumes, shoes, toys, beds, gadgets, books and gizmos for kids of all sizes for super low prices. It was great! We picked out several things ( and believe me, you did have to pick through some stuff) and I even found a Christmas gift for Faith,too. Then we went to Buy Buy Baby off Central and Parker and it was another GREAT find for any and every imaginable baby product. I will surely visit them over Babies R Us any day since their selection is AMAZING and prices are the same as a Target or any other store... a must for any mom to visit.

Now we are enjoying our weekend as a family and looking forward to another great week ahead of us... love to you all!