You Don't LOOK Like a Ballerina...

Here is some of what Miss Roo has learned in ballet so far this year. I love it. I think starting her at two was fun, but not...productive. I would have totally held off until five knowing what I know now. She loves it now and I'm not surprised. I adore ballet too, but she's a much better dancer than I ever was (duh).

I took ballet at about the age she is now and didn't last more than a few classes. When I was in college it was required course. I remember shopping for ballet slippers at twenty years old. The middle aged lady at the dance store eyed me as I came in. No doubt she thought that the lady with strange unbalanced gait must have taken a wrong turn on the way to the Gap. She watched me approach the ballet slippers shelf in total silence and then her smile appeared. She walked over briskly and asked "Who are you shopping for?" She obviously thought she's cleverly figured out the mystery of the gimp in the dance store. I couldn't help but enjoy her momentary surprised expression when I said me.

She was professional enough as I selected my ballet slippers and purchased them. I wonder if she ever thought about it again? If she imagined me correcting my gait as I left the store ala Kevin Spacey in Usual Suspects. Maybe she imaged me sadly attempting proper technique only to shatter my delusion that I wasn't in fact ever gong to be a professional dancer. All that, I think, is a bit of ego on my part. She certainly thought "how odd" and went back to selling leotards to the graceful people.

"It Is Fun To Have Fun, But You Have To Know How"

Bounce House!! Slide!! Balloons!! Face Painting!! Pony Rides!! Hot Dogs!! Dance Party!! It was like a kid triathlon! My pin balls bounced from exciting thing to exciting thing, filled their bellies and then danced off the calories. Good. Day.

Ready, Set, Normal

As always I use that term loosely. I merely mean all the holiday fuss has died down and we are back to the routine. I, for one, am beyond grateful. I like my routine (you'll see why in a minute). Yesterday the kids went to school and I cleaned the house in peace. Today I went to the library for story time with Riley and her friends. They've grown up so much! For your viewing pleasure I present the first Shake Your Body Down of 2013.

Good stuff! Happy same old same old everybody (:

Roll 'Em

We've been visiting our local branch for story time regularly for quite a while. In the beginning I had a dumb phone with a non-functioning camera. For the last 3 weeks I have attempted to take video on my new phone of Riley and her friends "shaking their bodies down". I really wanted to record it because it's the only song they all do all the moves to. This week I finally succeeded!

Cue the "I'm not as hopeless as I seem" victory dance. It goes without saying that Roo didn't do as well as she normally does when I had a camera actually rolling. It's like the observer effect in physics. Anyway, Lights! Camera! Laurie Berkner!

Ok, clearly I'm no cinematographer. The orientation keeps switching and I was probably to close. However, it represents being able to take video on my phone from now on. Woo-Hoo! It's the small things.

"There's no trouble in a bubble as you're floatin' along..."

singin' dibble, dabble, double--it's a bubblin' song

We had a lot of fun stuff at Miss Roo's party, but right up until it started we were worried about a possible thunderstorm. It never happened, thank goodness. In light of the possibility of not having outside entertainment we did not put out this thing. So this morning while killing time between breakfast and story time at the library Roo climbed on in.

She was pretending to be Pluto in the Mickey's Clubhouse episode in which he floats away in a bubble. I particularly like the picture of Leeloo checking to make sure she's ok in there. As I watched her play I thought about a few years ago when I would have climbed in there without a second thought. Sometimes, I regret the spinal fusion. It was an adorable game. Try as we might neither of us could muster the words to the "there's no trouble in bubble as your floating along" song.

After some bubble blowing and a thorough stomp on her new tower floor it was time to go. Last week was truck week at story time, it didn't do much for me. This week was colors. Much more fun. She even read Press Here which is one of our favorites. When it was time to participate Riley got to bring up the color pink. To finish things off she brought out colorful ribbon pom poms to dance with.

Sometimes I think I miss being a librarian when I sit through story time. Not that I ever got to read to children. Technically, I was a "reference assistant." It was my work study in collage and an amazing gig. I digress, I think the tug I feel is a longing to get back to performing. I'm just not sure how I can rely on my brokendown heap of a body yet...

Roo on the other hand is the ballerina I always imagined being.

Mickey Likes to Party!

I'm a big fan of using what you've got and Riley's got a Dance Star Mickey. He was a smidge ahead of his time around here. I distinctly remember Miss Roo going crazy when the commericals for him came on and the long and ardious search to obtain him although it was years ago now. He was met with enthusiasm and then spent a loooooog stint collecting dust under Riley's table. He has come into favor over the summer big time.

The point is, all of Riley's Mickies and Minnies will be used in our party decor. I knew I wanted to make a party hat for Mickey. I could just picture Mickey dancing around all decked out. So, I googled myself a template for a DIY party hat. I cut it out and Miss Roo picked the paper for it and helped me decorate.

I let Riley do the dots and then pick the puff ball for the top. It's not very masculine, but then again it is a bowtique party. I stapled the hat together twice once I checked the size. I attached a large puff ball on top with tacky glue. You have to position the hat in between and slightly in front of the ears. Then I punched a hole on either side and added purple ribbon. I tied one behind and one in front of his ears.

"Why, Hello! Care to dance?"

The kids decided he wasn't quite fancy enough I guess.

The birthday festivities kicked off today with Grandpa and Yaya (who will be out of town for the most amazing Minnie Mouse party ever) dropping by with Roo's presents. She scored a pop-up, singing Tinkerbell card! That's huge. Cards are really exciting for her right now (anything she can pretend to read really and they always ends with A-men!).

She also got two pretty new dresses, but the favorite today was hands down the red and black tu-tu dress. She tossed the other pretty dress aside like it was tissue paper to get to that tutu! So, on it went immediately. She also got an awesome FAO Schwartz floor piano. You can press buttons to sound like other instruments and even record yourself. Neat-O.

So, here are the kids rolling around on the paino in fits of glee.

Happy Dancey Girl

On the "hurricane that wasn't" day:

The cuteness overwhelms sometimes.

Ok, so that was yesterday. Today was library day! Music time is over now that school's back in session so it was story time. Not to worry they bookend the storytelling with songs though. I goofed and arrived early and barged in on the baby program, but it worked out because we got to "Shake our Sillies Out".

For the the big kids it was farm day today. Riley danced it up! We read Mrs. Wishy Washy while we were waiting for the program to start, but they didn't have any copies for check out, sigh. No worries, I requested it (on my phone!).

Spin around and fall down. Do it again. Seriously though they were doing "Shake Your Body Down", which is a great workout by the way. After that, believe it or not, they settled down for stories. The first one was my favorite, Cock-a-Doodle, Quack Quack. It's about a baby rooster trying to figure out which sound would wake everyone up on the farm. Total crowd pleaser. The other two were pretty lame. She should have listened to me about Mrs. Wishy Washy.

They played some participation games after that. She seems so old when she marches up to put her farmer on the board or calls out the correct number of kitties! She was just sitting up when we started coming to the library for story time, sniff.

After that they danced one more time. It's a wonder she had any dance left in her for dance class.

But she did!

Black Leotards

I've been explaining to my little Rileyrina the Ballerina that today would be the beginning of "big girl" dance class. The last class of summer was last week and the first class of fall is today. Now she's in the 3yr old class. Big girl. Of course none of that means a thing to her except that over the summer they could wear pink leotards and now only black is allowed. So, I've been telling her that when we switch to black leotards she's in the 3yr old class.

It's still ballet/tap combo and it's still Tuesdays with the same teacher so the transition is pretty seamless. She didn't even seem upset about the wardrobe change. We got there about 3 minutes early and when we walked in the door there was one other girl in the lobby and you'll never guess what her name was! Yup, Riley. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you they were instant best friends. Adorable squared.

Shortly they were joined by one more cutie pie, Miss E. We all got some instruction in proper ballet slipper selection and securing. It's going to be time very soon for a proper pair. I hope my clothes khrama holds out for me hunting for those. Three little dancers marched into that studio holding hands. Miss Amy explained that fall is the reverse of summer the classes usually start smaller and fill. I also noticed that unlike summer everyone had followed dress code.

Warm-ups!

Miss Roo was the big fish because she was the only one who'd been there over the summer. She did very well and actively encouraged her new friends to join in. So, sweet.

At the end of class there was one other small difference, stickers instead of stamps! That was enough to thrill her for sure. She did a great job. I'm so glad for the recovering I did and the closer location of this school. I missed so much of her first year of dance because I just wasn't up to it, but since summer I've been there for every class. It's a blessing to spend so much time watching her grow into a young lady. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Books & Beats

We continued our regularly scheduled summer camp at home program today. I actually got a phone call last night that I won the summer adult reading drawing at the library this week, yay! So, I was very excited to go pick up my $15 Barnes and Noble gift card. Isaac's reading list books got a little backed up on us and we had to settle up his fines, but he's only got one book left on his summer reading list for school. Exciting stuff!

I got Riley two Pete the Cat books and our newly discovered favorite Skippy John Jones this one is the dinosaur adventure. I'm so excited to read them. They also had not only a Hello Kitty coloring page, but an Alcie in Wonderland as well. Riley was over the moon. She's such a skilled colorer these days. I know I've said it before but this time I mean it I'm donating crayons to the library.

Not that the morning could've improved a bit, but then it was time for Preschool Jams. Isaac got a book about drawing airplanes and spacecraft and got to it. The summer music program at the library is winding down and this week was all about instruments. Drums, rythem sticks and bells (oh, my!). When they passed out the little tubs to drum on Riley realized mine matched her outfit better and we HAD to trade. They marched around druming and did the sound effects to a story with all three instruments. We ended all the fun with jingle bells. That was my personal favorite. After the library we were off for happy meals and (at least for Riley) a nap.

After some chicken nuggets and a nap it was off to dance class for Miss Roo.

Ballerina bun + Monster barrette for the win!