Life’s Little Moments

Life just never seems to slow down. sometimes I get to the end of the week and even after doing all kinds of things, I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing.

The last two weeks have been really messed up for me. I took Thursday and Friday off last week for Ella’s surgery. The week before that I took Thursday and Friday off for what I thought would be my son’s graduation and Ella’s dance recital. Honestly, I still don’t know what day it is…

A week out, and Ella is recovering quite well from her tonsil surgery. I think the hardest part about surgery days for me is having to be the one to go back to put the mask for anesthesia on my child. Granted, Ella did really well this time. But there were a couple times when I was back with Andrew that just broke my heart to see how scared he was

She thought it was great that we both had matching hats. I will tell you this, though, that little bunny suit that they make the parent get in before going to the ER that is supposed to fit everybody… It don’t. I know I’m a big guy, but that thing makes me feel like I’m extra large trying to get into a small.

_______

As I said earlier, my daughter had her dance recital about 2 weeks ago. The one thing that they all have to have for the recital is their hair up in a bun. To do that her hair has to be long.

Towards the end of school she was saying how her hair was bugging her and that she wanted to get a haircut. We told her that she had to wait until after the recital to get it done.

So after the recital and just before her surgery, she was able to get her haircut the way she wanted it. I think it looks cute, Even though it makes her look older than she is.

I’m really not sure what my son is angry about behind her in that picture, but it makes me laugh.

_____

Last weekend was the final weekend of soccer for my son. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier about that. You may remember I got suckered into coaching.

I don’t know diddly squat about soccer. I told them that when I was asked to coach. I had another guy who was coaching with me who was in the same boat. Luckily, we had a coach who was able to work with the two of us so that the kids at least learned something. I have to tell you though, I really felt pretty useless out on the soccer field.

The team that he played on wasn’t really playing games against another team. It was a lot of basic stuff like kicking the ball, rolling the ball back, passing the ball to another player, and throwing the ball in for play. Those things were accomplished with games like Simon says and stuff like that.

The coolest thing for all of the kids was that they each got a medal with their names engraved on it. He couldn’t have been more proud.

I was pretty proud of him, too.

As for next year, I’m hanging up my coach’s whistle!

Dancing Queen

My apologies for the late post today. Normally I post earlier, but the past few days we were a bit busy.

This weekend my daughter had her dance recital. The recital features groups of all ages and is really fun to watch.

This recital was divided into three “themes.” The first was about the water – surfing, the beach, the ocean, etc… The second was more serious tap, ballet, and jazz. The final section was a salute to “the greats.”

Ella dances in the first and third sections with her group. Her first song will make the Beatles fans who read Happy – Yellow Submarine. All the gals hopped into a bathtub on wheels that was made up like a submarine. As the song starts to play, they are wheeled out and exit the sub. They moved to the front of the stage and do their dance. It was priceless!

Saluting the “greats” was a fun theme. Ella’s dance was saluting Betsy Ross with You’re a Grand Old Flag. I’m not sure if there is supposed to be a kick in it, but she did one! She looked like she is having so much fun.

The other dancers saluted Babe Ruth (Centerfield – John Fogerty), Henry Ford (Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts), Nat King Cole (L-O-V-E), Albert Einstein (Weird Science), Dolly Parton (9-5), The Big Band Era (Sing Sing Sing), Gene Kelly (Singing in the Rain), Alexander Graham Bell (Pennsylvania 6-5000 and a few I can’t remember.

She had two shows – one last night and one this afternoon. Last night, a boy from her preschool class was there to watch and even brought her flowers! Honestly, I thought I had more time before boys started wooing my daughter!

I didn’t want to post without permission, so I had to cover her friend’s face. She was surprised to see him.

Andrew’s speech therapist, who we’ve become very close friends with, was also there with her daughters. Ella calls them her big sisters. They brought her a beautiful butterfly corsage and a baby rose bouquet.

She had to wear the wrist corsage when she woke up today. She put her flowers in a vase. They are next to her bed. On her nightstand.

Today, Nana and Pa brought Aunt Nikki to the show. Andrew stayed the night there last night, so they brought him to the show.

A two hour dance recital and a three year old don’t work well together. We brought his tablet, but he didn’t last long on it. He was kicking the poor woman’s seat in front of his. He also kept asking if it was over.

I wound up bringing him out to the lobby so he could run around at intermission. They had a feed of the show on the monitors in the lobby, so I got to watch her second performance on TV.

Aunt Nikki, Nana, Pa and Andrew with Ella

I’m glad Sam and I got to watch it without interruption last night. We are so proud of her.

They featured two seniors from their studio during the show. One of them had been dancing there since she was Ella’s age. Perhaps she’ll keep on dancing. I hope so!

Our Ballerina Girl

Ella has been in dance for a while now. Sam has been taking her to the classes because I work on the nights of class. Outside of her showing me a few things at home, I hadn’t had a chance to see her dance yet.

Friday night was the dress rehearsal and both Sam and I got to go watch. Seeing my little girl all dressed up in her costume and makeup was more emotional than I thought. Because of miscommunication, they were told that all dancers had to have eye liner, mascara, blush, lipstick and a variety of other products. When I looked at her face, she looked 16!

At rehearsal, the director said that girls 7 and older needed full makeup, and those under needed only blush and lipstick. That was nice to hear, but it would have saved us $100 in make up if they had been more clear. She still looked older with the blush and lipstick on.

Her class performed two songs. One was ballet and one was tap. When she hit the stage during rehearsal, I watched he dance and welled up with all the dad emotions. I can’t believe that it hit me as hard as it did.

Sam had been telling me how much she loved being in dance. I didn’t realize how much she loved it until I watched her on stage. She is entirely in her element there. She loves ballet more than tap, as she has told us that a few times.

The dress rehearsal lasted about 3 hours. There were plenty of other groups dancing, too. Almost all of the dancers are aged 3 to 18. There was also a group of special needs adults who danced, as well. The rehearsal was a complete run-through with stops for repeating parts or blocking out where dancers were to stand.

Yesterday was the day of the show. They did a 2pm performance and a 7pm performance. The show was 2 hours long, so it was a very long day for everyone, but especially Ella. Almost everyone was at the 2pm show. My dad, Sam’s parents, Aunt Margaret, and Aunt Shannon were all there.

At the end of her first performance, She received flowers from Aunt Margaret, my dad, her little brother Andrew and a bear from me. She was so excited. She posed for pictures with everyone before they left. Andrew went to Nana’s house so that we could grab dinner and get her back to the second show.

We went to Applebee’s where she ate and had a huge chocolate dessert for dancing so well. We made it back in time for her to change back into her costume and get ready for the evening show.

During the first show, Sam had volunteered to help with the kids in the back. She got to watch from the side backstage for that first show, however, was glad to be able to sit in the audience for the 7pm show. It was so nice to be sitting together and watching our baby girl shine.

Our friend, Miss Christa, came with her daughter and watched the night show. She brought Ella a book about a ballerina, which we had to read before bedtime last night.

For each show, she was on stage about a total of 6-7 minutes. It was a very long day, but those 12-14 minutes will forever stay with me. I am so proud of her and how wonderful she danced. I am already excited for the next recital!