Ballet Recital 2014 with Videos

 

 Our three beauties after the dress rehearsal

The girls had their end of year ballet recital at the big downtown auditorium on Friday night.  Steven Joseph and I (plus baby Katie) watched the first half, and then Daddy and Tommy joined in after intermission since the girls' dances were at the very end.  They did a lovely job and we are very proud of them!  It was a big challenge to try out a new dance studio when we first moved here, and then we opted to try this other dance studio last summer.  We have been much happier here and the girls have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new friends, continuing their ballet training, and performing in the Nutcracker and the recital.  They missed quite a bit of classes this semester while we were out of town for the baby's birth, but they jumped right back in, quickly learning the recital dances.  I love watching them dance; they enjoy being on stage so very much.  Their smiles and eyes light up while they're dancing, and they light up my heart too!

Photos from the dress rehearsal...

Ellie's class

She's third from the right

Mary Clare's class

She's towards the middle on the back row

On performance night, waiting for the first act.  

The girls got to watch, before going backstage at intermission to get dressed for their dances.

Ellie backstage

Mary Clare backstage with her sweet friend, Emma

Videos from the dress rehearsal. 

Ellie is in the 2nd pair that comes out, in the front row.

Mary Clare is 3rd from the right in the front row at the beginning, 

and then 2nd from left on the back row later on.

Answer Me This and WIWS

 

1. What's the scariest thing that's ever been in your yard?

We haven't had any scary yard things in our current house, that I can recall.  In our last house, our beehive got a bit aggressive and later swarmed into a tree. That was a little scary! But our scariest yard experience was when I was startled late at night by police and their flashlights walking around our yard. Apparently there was a police chase ending in a wreck nearby, and the (drunk?) driver was running through our neighborhood and was spotted in our yard!  

2. Beards. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Thumbs down. Steven once tried to grow out a beard and it was rather unimpressive. I'm a fan of a clean shaven face. 

3. If stuff breaks, can you fix it?

No, but my husband usually can. Sometimes he can explain to me how to fix something over the phone if he's not home. But generally I'm not very handy, and he has fixed everything from the air conditioner to plumbing issues. 

4. What was your first car?

I was spoiled with a white Ford Probe on my 16th birthday. I drove it up until Mary Clare was a toddler. And Blanche the Probe had no AC for the last couple years. I drove around in the scorching Texas summer with a spray water-misting contraption to stay cool!

5. How often do you eat out?

Way too much. Some weeks I do great and cook almost all our meals at home, but recently my weekly meal planning has been nearly non-existent and we end up eating out or picking up takeout a few times a week. I really enjoy restaurant food and don't really like cooking, so this has always been a challenge for me. Thankfully I have a husband who enjoys cooking, if only he got home a little earlier in the evening! I need to get back into my Monday Motivatjon posts with weekly goals and meal plans. 

6. Why is your hair like that? 

I've just had long and straight hair for pretty much all my life. It's what I'm used to. I had it highlighted while in college, up until I started dating Steven and he asked me to stop. So it's just long and brown and straight. I usually use some hot rollers every few days to give it a little body, and sometimes I have it layered. But overall it's pretty boring hair!

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What I Wore Sunday: Me with the boring hair. 

I was a bit more casual for mass than usual (simple maxi skirt and Target tee), because the day and really the whole weekend didn't quite go as planned.  We did make the ballet recital and the piano recital, but the rest of the weekend's events were changed and canceled for various reasons, and we even had to miss our once-a-year dinner fundraiser date night! So I ended up going to an evening mass with the baby and Ellie, who was sick yesterday but fine today. We went to the church down the street, which has a pastor who is a wonderful homilist!

Let me preface this by explaining for any non-Catholic blog readers that as Catholics, we believe that aside from being a tenet of our faith, attending Holy Mass every Sunday allows us an encounter with the living God. We believe that we receive many graces whether or not we're able to focus, to hear, to really pray, or to understand what is going on. We believe that we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion, and believe it to be his TRUE presence (not a symbol), as he stated in scripture: "This is my body" and "This is my blood."

And so we receive Him into our bodies and souls and have this encounter with the living God, whether or not we hear a good homily (sermon) or sing heartfelt worship songs. In fact, many Catholic masses don't even include music!  Don't get me wrong, I love the bells and whistles like beautiful hymns and sacred Latin polyphony, incense and candles, beautiful priestly vestments, reverent altar servers, and challenging homilies. I also enjoy a good teen mass with praise songs every now and then. But my encounter with Jesus happens at Mass no matter what the externals are, because His True Presence is there in Holy Communion. 

Okay, so back to tonight's mass. Father R had a beautiful homily and I was able to hear it because I wasn't wrangling a preschooler and 6yr old. The gospel reading was from John (Chapter 14:1-12) where Thomas and Philip are questioning Jesus as to where the way is to this place is that he is going, and how they can see the Father. Jesus explains that he is the way, and that he and the Father are one. Philip says, "Master, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus responds, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."

Father R was challenging us to have a real relationship with Christ. He shared about how in an interview someone asked Pope Emeritus Benedict, one of the most brilliant theologians of our time, who Jesus is to him. He could have answered with a deep theological explanation but instead he responded,  "To me, Jesus is my lifelong friend." 

Father R asked if Jesus is our lifelong friend. Or is he is just recalled in rote prayers, in looking at a statue or painting, or in times of great need? He reminded us of how we might keep an ongoing conversation over text messaging with our close friends. And that's how it should be with Jesus. Constant conversation and sharing and communion with Him throughout our days. It was an eloquent and beautiful homily and very touching for me. 

With the children I am doing better with simple prayers and reminders of God throughout the day, but they need to know of the importance of having a friendship with Jesus. And they need to see that in me. In the little baby steps, we can be growing together as a family and individually in friendship with Jesus. Beautiful. 

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This week begins our last full week of school! The kids will still have a few subjects to finish up, but we won't be working on checklists and I won't have to nag them all day. I'd like to do some schoolwork throughout the summer, but I am so worn out and I know we all need a break for awhile. 

The sickness this weekend just did me in, and we have some upcoming decisions that are an added stress for Steven and me. We have more upcoming traveling than I'd prefer. The behavior issues with the preschooler feel like they're getting worse and I really need some time to focus on him. I'm ready to close out the year and start looking towards the new one as I have a consultation with my Mother of Divine Grace advisor coming up. We also have friends coming to visit soon, if our family can stay well. 

We are tired, but there is a lot to look forward to, and a lot to be thankful for in this time. But most of all I think we all need some time to quiet our hearts and minds and spend some meaningful time together in play and in prayer. 

Singing his sister to sleep tonight (ie waking her up)

Hope it's a blessed week for all of you!

Linking up with Haley for Answer Me This

And WIWS at Fine Linen and Purple

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a wonderful long weekend in Houston filled with family, friends, and fun!  We started with a rush into town for my dentist appointment.  We stayed with our good friends on the lake and enjoyed the day there on Friday while Steven went to work.  The kids got to attend the girls and boys clubs they host at their house with all the old homeschool friends, and I got to visit with lots of mommy friends.  Then I even got to make the second half of a mom's night out with my old homeschooling group!  The kids had fun playing in the lake and on the kayaks, and Saturday we went out to the farm.  Steven and the guys harvested 67 pounds of honey from their beehives! 

Saturday evening was the 75th birthday of a family friend of Steven's, which was held at the elementary school where Steven and his siblings attended as children.  We arrived late to stay at his sister's house and there was quite a party going on there with four of his sisters and the cousins and even neighbors!  The kids didn't go to bed until midnight!  Mother's Day was a beautiful day.  We spent some time in the morning with Steven's parents, then went to mass with my parents, out to Chuy's for lunch, and then to a River Oaks park to end our weekend in Houston!  Oh and a nice waffle cone of Blue Bell Cookies and Cream topped it off on the drive home.  Daddy has also ordered me to buy a new lens for my camera!

I am truly blessed with a wonderful husband, five awesome kids, an amazing mom, lovely mother-in-law, and very special sisters-in-law and friends who teach me more and more how to be a better mother.  And most importantly, I'm blessed to have the help and example of Our Blessed Mother who always prays for us and helps us to be good mothers who love her Son.  Being a mom is such a privilege and one I hope I don't take for granted.

A little iPhone photo collage...

Top row: nursing in the car, morning on the lake, Thomas and the trains, kayaking
2nd row: Ellie and friend gazing at the lake, Katie taking a nap, lady friends at the mom's night, and the guys at the farm.
3rd row: Pio and Katie, Tommy and the chicks, the guys and the honeycomb, and some of the stacks of honey!
Last row: Tommy loves the toy tractor, a tree banner for Grampatti, Steven and Katie at the park, and my mom and me with Katie at the park.

My mom and the kids who've made me a mom!  Happy Mother's Day!

The Princess and the Mammoth

I thought this was a funny photo of Katie and Tommy on Sunday.  He's such a mess with the scratch across his face, his "Wooly Mammoth" t-shirt, and his belly almost hanging out.  That big boy is going to protect this little lady!

E and E Turn Nine!

This is Ellie with her sweet friend Emily on Easter Sunday.  They both had Easter week birthdays and were born one day apart.  Actually, they are just SIX HOURS apart!  These sweet girls turned nine this year and we decided to have a little pajama party for them last weekend, with a few homeschool friends and Emily's cousins who live in town.

The girls pretty much planned this whole party by themselves.  My friend and I just bought a few snacks and decorations, some $5 pizzas from Papa Murphy's, and my mom made some favors and a centerpiece.  First they played a "guess who I am" game with a slumber party-type word taped on their back (ice cream, nail polish, etc).

Next they played a game outside called Little Sally Walker.

I think they were trying to get their friends to laugh.

My friend bought some special cream to do facial masks.  They were so hilarious!

Then I calmed my nail polish fears (the girls always make a huge mess),

and let them do manicures.

My friend did some nail work too, 

while I fed the baby and kept watch over nail polish spills ;-)

We hadn't intended to have the party outside, but we spent almost the whole time out there!

Yes, Katie and I were there in our PJs, too!

They had an ugly fashion show.  It was pretty funny.

Then it was time for cake...

and presents!

We tried to keep the boys watching shows with Daddy most of the time, but he was falling asleep after an overnight trip away, so the boys came out and spent a bit of time bothering watching the girls.

Ellie examining a present or something...

It was a fun and special evening for these girls!  I know they enjoyed it.  It is also nice that the girls are old enough to coordinate their own party games and activities.  I don't have to do much except clean, and buy some food and decorations.  The kids even did most of the decorating together the night before.  Happy Birthday to Ellie and Emily!  May your 9th years be filled with grace and blessings!

Manic Monday and What I Wore Sunday

I intended to write an "Answer Me This" and "What I Wore Sunday" post, but I never quite got around to it yesterday. And the postpartum mass clothing thing, really postpartum clothing in general, has not been fun. I managed to get a few selfies that didn't make me look like I just gave birth yesterday! Maybe I'll go ahead and link to WIWS after all. 

Old Navy peasant blouse and maternity maxi skirt. Dirty mirror and wet spot on skirt thanks to kids. Purple toe polish that you can't quite see in this pic, thanks to my first OPI purchase for Ellie's pajama party. Tommy tried to wipe it off, crying that he didn't like my toenails purple!

Some newish jewelry from Kohls

The cutest accessory around! Katie Grace, 10 weeks old. 

Precious girl 

Some Monday snapshots...

The girls made a doll video outside and let the boys watch only from a distance. 

Somebody wasn't thrilled to wake from her afternoon nap and get out of her PJs, but it was 3pm!

And this pic below was taken during the 10 seconds the baby wasn't crying this afternoon/evening. Mary Clare was ready for Spelling, and Tommy looks like he's making some kind of mischief there on the table. There's always a kid on the table in this house. Often two. The bigger one in this pic has a scratch on his face from falling on a Transformer toy when he was trying to climb onto my lap while I was nursing the baby in the rocker.  If they're not on a table, they're climbing on me.  I'm not only a milking cow, but a jungle gym too!

Some highlights on this Cinco de Mayo Monday...

~Woke at 7:30am to a child wetting the bed.  Thankfully, not my bed.  We've had some major potty training regressions in the past months. We're working on it. And I'm also getting increasingly motivated to help my one child with a finger sucking habit. And trying to keep the three year old clothed when he walks outside or people come to the door. Lots of things to work at besides reading, writing, and arithmetic!

~At least the baby only poops once a week. She gets fussy and gassy, but I was realizing today how nice it is to not have to change dirty diapers all day long, especially when we're out of the house. And we go through far less diapers! Okay, sorry...enough bathroom talk. 

~I woke up and made pancakes from scratch. On Monday morning. Major accomplishment.  And then made smoothies later on.  I also read the daily readings before getting out of bed (St Stephen in the 1st reading today!), and the kids and I prayed the morning offering and Regina Caeli! I'm also hoping to make it to Thursday morning (when we leave town) without a grocery trip. We will see how I do. 

~I survived the morning book fight. I've been good about reading to the kids in the mornings. We usually read some bible stories and fairy tales, but they've started fighting over what stories I read. Maybe I need to stop letting them choose. The other day there was book throwing, wrestling, biting, and time-outs over whose book got read. At least they're fighting over books, right?

~We did our science readings about insects and bugs today. After reading about stinkbugs and mosquitos, Mary Clare remarked, "Isn't this supposed to make you more interested in insects? It does just the opposite!" Too many paragraphs about insects regurgitating onto human food, or eating animal feces.  They haven't wanted to do many of the experiments that require finding dead insects. They tried one where you attempted to drown a bug and then watch it come alive again. Not sure how I felt about that, Apologia Science. Today's experiment tried to get a needle to sit on the surface of water in a bowl to replicate some kind of water walking insect. Didn't work, needle kept sinking. Sometimes I think reading ABOUT the experiments is better than actually doing them since they often fail to work!

~The girls only have about 2-3 weeks left of their math books, which is usually the determining factor of when we end the school year. They will have some other workbooks that haven't been finished, but we may actually end most of our work by Memorial Day weekend, when some friends are coming to visit! With Billy their puppy; the kids are thrilled!

~I'm having some annoying problems with a tooth crown I got a year ago. It's not fun to be eating and have your tooth fall out. I've lost trust in my dentist here, so I'm going to see our friend back home this week. Yep, another road trip (#3) with five kids! We were already planning to go for the birthday of a family friend, and we'll also get to celebrate Mother's Day there and maybe get to go to the boys and girls clubs with their homeschool friends. Not looking forward to packing. But definitely looking forward to seeing our people. 

~It's the final two weeks of Spring activities! Ballet, piano, and t-ball all end with recitals and parties in less than two weeks. Then we will probably just be a swim team family this summer. The girls want to take ballet, but I'm less than thrilled about the schedule and cost. I feel like a sheltering mama bear, but I just don't like the idea of dropping my daughter off for several hours including lunch with people I'm not familiar with.  Especially middle school girls.  Hopefully we can plan some other fun activities this summer, and playdates with their two ballet friends, so they don't miss the classes too much.

~I had to laugh at a text I got today. I'm sure my friend won't mind if I share:

"Blair my kids just killed our pet duck! Sorry I can't pick up the phone."

This is not a farm-living friend either, so I am interested in hearing the story of their backyard duck! May he rest in peace.  It's hard because I can't really talk on the phone to most of my friends but maybe once a month now. And my daily-talking friend, only about once a week. Our kids are multiplying and they're running around naked, throwing poop, killing ducks, pestering siblings, cutting their feet open while playing outside barefoot. It's like a time bomb. How long can I talk to my friend before someone starts hysterically crying? Or vomiting? That happened about a week ago when I was talking on the phone. Someone threw up all over my bedroom!

And we're back to potty talk again, so that's my cue to end this rambling post now and attempt to go to sleep. Or shop on Amazon. One of those things. 

 

Linking to What I Wore Sunday at Fine Linen and Purple!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}
Ellie doing math in the front yard one evening.

Another shot of our sleeping angel after Sunday Mass.

Tommy at the t-ball game, pouting about something.

{happy}

The three big kids started swim team last weekend!

Fuzzy pics, but happy faces!

{funny}
I bought 100 magic erasers from Amazon for $10!
I'll be doing lots of scrubbing in the coming weeks!

The kids made a little cake for Ellie a few days after her birthday last week.  
Think they added enough sweets to it?  We're going to celebrate with a few church friends this weekend.

{real}
Real life is all about the baby these days!
Baby really likes the "star toy" that we've had since MC was a baby!
Photobombed by my foot.  She's now 10 weeks old!!!

Loving her Soothie pacifier.  We may have our first binky baby.  She'll take the pacifier almost every time we give it to her, unlike her siblings.  Maybe it's the Soothie brand that works better.  We are having to limit her again because she's having a bit of "nipple confusion" like she did during her first week.  But it's nice to have a way to comfort her when I can't nurse her, especially in the car.

She looks so big in this photo!

The sweet fishie sleeper she wore last night

And I must end with a real shot of two who don't always get along.  I went to get Ellie from piano down the street and came home to find them digging for dinosaurs on the back porch together :-)

We're having another pretty good week.  I think those first six weeks after baby I should've just slowed down with the kids' schooling a lot more.  Now I'm more able to be out of bed and present with them.  I'm still working through those parenting books, too!  Today we had a slow day, because I had them do their assessments for Mother of Divine Grace School for next year.  Yes, we're actually enrolling in a homeschool program next year and I'm super excited!  More on that later...

Hope you're all finding lots of pretty, happy, funny, and real things in your life today!

Answer Me This and What I Wore Sunday

Linking up with Kendra for Answer Me This

and with Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday

1. Do you hate happy, clappy church music?
No.  I prefer beautiful traditional hymns and Latin polyphony, but every now and then my soul craves a good charismatic Life Teen Mass, complete with the full band and praise songs.  Those kinds of songs were part of my wonderful college experience, as I fell in love with Jesus in the Mass and Adoration.  I even helped lead a weekly Praise & Worship, and spent a couple summers singing songs like this at a Catholic camp.  It brings back lots of good memories, but now I prefer more reverent music during mass, with some praise songs every so often.

2. What is your priority?  Eating or sleeping?
Eating.  I am a night owl and would rather be awake eating ice cream and blogging than sleeping.  I like to sleep late and recently I've been able to do that, but napping isn't always an option with the number of kids we have now!  Someone is always needing me.

3. What type of milk to you drink in your house?
None of us are big milk drinkers (except the 2 month-old, and that's full mama milk that she gets), but we buy 2% for use in cooking and with cereal.  And Oreos.

4. What is a book that changed your perspective on something?
Story of a Soul, St. Therese's autobiography is one that comes to mind.  It taught me about the virtue of humility which I have always needed help with.  I should probably read it again.  Her family life is so inspirational.  This book was also a key instrument of the conversions of at least a couple different friends.

5. Who is your favorite saint?
Well, today's favorite saint is definitely Pope St. John Paul II on the day of his canonization, especially since WE GOT TO MEET HIM.

Other favorites are the Blessed Mother, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (my confirmation saint and my daughter's namesake) since she was a mom and a teacher and a nun, St. Clare and St. Katharine Drexel (my other daughters' namesakes).

6. Introvert or Extrovert?
I've always been an extrovert, enjoying big social events and meeting new people.  But the more and more kids we have, the more I crave silence and quiet and alone time.  So I think the kids are slowly making me become an introvert!

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And here's what I wore Sunday:

And what she wore Sunday:

since baby fashion is much more fun than postpartum mama fashion!

This is a dress from when I was a baby :)

And now it's time to go to a Holy Hour and BIG PAR-TAY at church for Divine Mercy Sunday and the CANONIZATION!!!  We're hoping to stream the replay of the mass that EWTN will show on their website this evening.  Fun, Fun.  That is, if my kids don't kill each other and get punished from going to the party.  Stop with the hitting and name-calling and tattling!!!

Hope you're having a blessed Divine Mercy Sunday!  Yay for our new saints!!!