The Recital

After a 5-minute case of the butterflies, Samantha was ready for her performance. She was dressed at 4:30 and ready to go on. She looked so beautiful. Alyssa got "fancy" too.

In hindsight I would have left Samantha's hair dirty because she had curly flyaways galore and we had to use A LOT of hairspray. Let it be known that I hate hairspray. The only reason I had any to begin with is because it helps to get ink stains out of clothes.

Anyway, Samantha performed her Tinkerbell Dance. Please excuse the graininess of the video. It's the best I've got. When all the girls are lined up, Samantha is the tall girl in the back row on the right. She is the tallest one in her ballet class, too.

Here comes the bad news . . . the videos are too big to upload. (Grandma and Papa, they'll be in the mail this weekend.)

Her last performance was part of Coppelia. Again she is in the back line on the right side. She's wearing her yellow box.

Every night since the recital Samantha dances to the Tinkerbell song. Sometimes we even get into costume.

I guess I'll have to let her audition for the Nutcracker. She's got "performance" in her blood. Don't know where that came from . . . maybe Papa. I guess it skips a generation.

Dress rehearsal

Samantha had her first full dress rehearsal last night at the Gavilan College theatre. It was organized chaos. We looked like we were going on a trip--bag of makeup, bag of quiet activities for Samantha, a jack-in-the-box costume, a Tinkerbell costume, mommy's bag of snacks for the three hour practice.

Since Samantha is in Ballet I she is only performing once--thank goodness. The classes higher than Ballet I have two performances. So last night we watched the 1 o'clock show run through their routines and then the 6 o'clock show (Samantha) got to run theirs. The 1 o'clock was confusing, but by the time they got to our time slot the girls were perfect.

At tonight's recital the class dances will happen first. Samantha's class is dancing to a Tinkerbell song. Their costumes are themed like Tinkerbell.

The second act will be the ballet Coppelia. For this performance Samantha is a jack-in-the-box in toymaker Coppelia's shop.

(Note: her collar is not yet complete. She'll have a finished collar for tonight's performance.)

I'll post video of tonight's recital sometime this weekend. Let's break a leg, Samantha!

June, schmoon, I'd rather it was July

We went to the movies as a family on Saturday (a first for Al and Alyssa) and then to mass on Sunday. Alyssa was all over the place in church and dunked her whole hand in the holy water, which I've heard is a cesspool.

So why do we do it? Well, three of us (Al, me, and Samantha) don't have hand and mouth disease. Alyssa is still 3.

This morning I wake to crying and a tummy ache. After nap today we've progressed to a sore throat and a fever. This feels like deja vu. Oh, wait. It is!

Last June, Alyssa got strep and she was so sick. She was so skinny from a week of vomiting and fever. And the antibiotic made it worse. We had a rapid strep today and it came back negative, but we'll find out the results in two days. Until then, we've got to keep her comfortable and hope the vomiting makes only rare appearances. I hate strep.

If this happens again next year I'm going to want to boycott June.

I'm a sucker

When we were "shopping" around for an activity for Samantha I never dreamed I'd be living an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. I think I'll need some therapy after next week's ballet recital. And if she likes it--I don't see how she wouldn't since she loves the draw of the lights and the stage--then I'm doomed. Doomed, I tell ya.

We have a Tinkerbell costume for one part of the recital and then a homemade jack-in-the-box for the Coppelia part. We received our music yesterday and so we've been playing a song from TinkerBell and the Lost Treasure on repeat while Samantha practices in her costume. The hour-long repeated song isn't even the worst part--I got teary eyed when she put on the costume and she started practicing.

She's happy. I swear to you the girl was glowing. She looked so content and proud. I have no doubt that she will want to continue ballet and she will want to do the ($$) recital part again. I'm just having a hard time with the makeup part. The makeup thing gets a little too close to the Toddlers and Tiara part. But I know she'll feel exactly like a princess when I put it on.

I was never a glitz and glam girl. I was the neighborhood tomboy. This is a little out of my realm, but I'm trying to embrace it (lightly).