Dance Costumes

O.K. I got Dan to finish part of his science study guide. I cleaned two bathrooms, helped clean two bedrooms, picked out possible paint chips for the family room and hall, filed family papers, and finished off my spring semester course paperwork.

Now about the dance costumes. Angelique had her first solo. She and another girl needed white skirts. Mrs. B gave me some beautiful satin curtain like material and an adult company costume. She wanted a white circular skirt with a dropped hem in the back. No pattern came with this request. By the way she said, " Make due with the fabric." Basically the fabric was a remnant and not really enough material to make two skirts. In fact, I think the material was given to me to make Papa's nightgown in Twas and it wasn't enough fabric for that costume.

With my limit skills, an old pattern I'd bought when Angelique first started dancing, and a gymnastic pattern that showed an angled side hem; I began making a pattern from tissue paper. Days later frustrated and positive that I could not get two skirts from this material, I hunted for more material at the stores, cried, and cursed.

Well I managed. I learned a lot about making a circular skirt, the flow of material, how to get that flowing graceful effect, fullness of a skirt, and sizing a waist band. I did have to re-cut the waists because they were too small. I even had to reuse the waist band after I cut it out of the first skirt. I pieced a waist band together from three pieces of material because I didn't have a long enough piece of material left. I had to re-hem one skirt because it turned out to be the longer of the two and of course one girl was two inches longer than the other. The dresses were different lengths because of material remnant was not the same amount. Circular hems are HARD.

Anyway Mrs. B loved them. I was so happy. She has such high standards and a vision of how ballets/performance should look, sound, & be executed. I even finished them five days before the performance (a record for me). I wish that they had been a little bit more full, especially Angelique's. Her's was the shorter one and had the less full circle. The girls were beautiful and Angelique was amazing. She has really come a long was as a dancer. Sometimes she has these fantastic moves that are so professional. I think that Mrs. B is hopeful that she'll be a talented ballerina.
In the first part of her solo, Angelique's skirt was backwards. The long part was in the front and not in the back. Someone got it turned around when she went off stage, so when she came out again to dance it was correct. Angelique danced her solo in two show. One with the little girls in the morning and in the evening with the older girls.

Earth Day Celebration

Most years a pair of Mallard Ducks comes to our school and nests. This year was no exception. They chose a spot in front of the school in the grass across from the circle drive. The only busier and more dangerous spot would have been the playground, where they have nested before.

The librarian and animal protector of our school called maintenance and they put up temporary fencing around the nesting area to keep people out. You could still view the nesting mom and we'd often see dad bringing food.

With much kindness and consideration on the part of the students the mother successfully hatched fourteen chicks. There was a debate about moving the crew to a safer place where they could easily find water without crossing some busy streets. Finally it was decided to just let nature take it course. I don't know where they went or if they successfully found water, but I'm hopeful. Obviously these ducks have a history of survival since they or their offspring keep coming back to school year after year.

I was able to capture them in film for my class. Aren't they adorable.

May and Graduation

I know its been a while. What a month we've had. I thought that graduation and the end of the year would not be a big deal. Boy was I wrong!!! First of all, I with the help of my Teen Club partner, got roped into arranging the 8th grade trip to Six Flags. That was quite the management task and time consuming. We also had to deal with grumbling parents. The kids seemed to have had a great time. I would post picture but my 8th grader forgot to take pictures.

Then I ended up on the parent graduation planning committee. My good friend was the chair so how can you say no to that. This planning committee is basically in charge of the reception, reception decorations, and the student dance afterwards. Myself and another teacher were in charge of the memory boards the students/parents create. This involved borrowing some boards from previous students as examples. Buying and handing out poster board to the students, setting a deadline for the due date of the poster board. Hosting two after school dates for students to decorate their boards and collecting and storing the boards till gym decorating night.

Of course my 8th grade missed the due date. The weekend before graduation we were busily cutting down the huge number of pictures we had and I was trimming and arranging them on the board.

This all happened in the midst of my professional job, teaching CCD, and teaching a night class at the University. Oh yea, and sewing two skirts without a pattern for a dance recital. Attending an all day dance recital and the weekend before attending a piano recital. More about the dance costumes later. Patty, I literally had the breakdown and cried.

Anyway, I am still behind on a few things. I haven't finished the electronic documentation of my college students work (for accreditation purposes). The house is a mess and I just finished report cards for my class. I still need to write personal comments. My goals for the rest of this weekend. Ha, ha. There are still twelve hours left of the weekend!

Oh yea, how could I forget that I was also working on the finishing touches of my brother's birthday DVD that turned out to be a year earlier than planned. I also had to come up with some wild, yet kindergarten appropriate party for my teaching assistant, who has a birthday in May.

We had our Jr. Gamma Phi Circus on the 13th and 14th. The kids performed again. Angelique danced and Timothy roller bladed, performed on the gym wheel, and the balancing activities. Timothy also worked as the circus crew.


Now we are getting ready for Angelique's piano recital and her dance student concert. Timothy has started his first week of baseball practice. Daniel has applied for one job and is somewhat interested in applying for others.

What A Beautiful Yard

Here is our finished yard. On Friday the landscapers brought our trees, plants, and sod. Isn't it lovely? Doug called me at work to come and see it. After an after school meeting, driving to dance, leaving one at school for circus; I was finally able to drive home and see the landscapers put the finishing touches on the yard.

What a stir we have created. One man driving down the street stopped his car and told Doug how much he liked the yard. Our neighbor in the two-story came by and talked with Doug for 10 minutes. Doug said that was the most conversation they have had in the past five years. Our walking mailman was at the circus and commented on the yard. I'm sure he's glad that he doesn't have to step precariously through the sinking uneven yard.

Now on to the next home repair project.

Yard Work

On Monday our landscapers came and worked on righting our front yard. For those of you who don't know, in October we had to replace the pipe from the house to the road. The old one was clay and one of the trees in the yard had finally done permanent damage. We had to remove the tree and replace the pipe.

We were left with a HUGE pile of dirt running from the main window of the house to the street. The plumber indicated that it would need to stay this way until spring. The weather would help the dirt settle. The winter snow made it look lovely. The rest of the time our yard was a muddy eyesore with roots, leaves, and twigs embedded in the yard.

We decided that the yard was too much work for Doug and I to tackle ourselves. We had a vision of how the yard could look and now was the time to fix the ugly stuff such as another offending tree and a sparse lawn. While saving for a landscaper, we agreed to have the other tree (the same type as the first tree) removed. When we had a few mild days in February, we hired someone to remove the tree. Now we added a big pile of wood chips to the mess.

With the first whiffs of spring in the air, we contacted a landscaper. Once we communicated our dream yard, dealt with the budget reality, and found a middle ground we were ready to go. Or so we thought. Then came the rains. This of course put the landscapers behind schedule. As mud slid down the street, we received all kinds of flyers from other landscapers.

I had planned to take a before photo and just never did. I think I just hated looking at the mess. Finally the landscapers arrived. In one day they carved a wonderful template of our future yard. They leveled the ground, replaced the brick trim lining the flowerbed near the house that had been dug up to remove the broken pipe and bury the new pipe, added mulch, and created a berm. It looks amazing.

Of course the weather has interrupted our progress. It rained today and there is a prediction of snow tonight. Trees, plants, and sod are on hold. At least this morning our yard was not sliding down the street in a muddy river. I do find myself looking out our window admiring the progress. We'll see what the next few days will bring.