Spring Concert tonight ........... 70+ dancers entertained over 200 people who came out to see them.

On stage is definately where my kiddos love to be!

Her face says it all

and he had a blast.

I'm proud of them and the whole club. They ALL deserved standing ovations!

Silver! Gold! Gold! Gold!

The kids brought home the hardware this weekend!


I'm so proud of them for dancing with all their heart and determination....medals are just icing.



They ROCKED!





It's great that they are rewarded for a job well done with high marks, praise and medals of any colour from the adjudicators --- but as their instructor says if you're happy with your performance and you had fun that is all that matters.


My reward is seeing them on stage where I know they love to be. I will also admit I love listening to the people around me when they comment about the kids on stage when they just happen to be mine....or ones that I know.


Big proud moments this weekend watching all our kids ROCK IT!




Other highlights of the weekend included me loosing my mind Friday morning before leaving the house....not a proud moment but it happens occasionally. Feeding the kids donuts for supper on Saturday night....again not a mom-o-the-year moment but they didn't seem to mind. Some of the better moments were getting to play with the kids in the pool and taking pics of the kids playing in the pool on Friday night and then managing to squeeze in one more hour of awesome pool time for them Saturday afternoon......and since Owen was miraculously comfortable in this particular pool, we were able to sit on the deck and watch them play....together....without fighting....all 4 of them. Awesome! A rare occasion where teens and young'uns all got along. It lasted all of an hour but I'll take it where I get it.


The weekend wasn't insanely rush-rush which was nice and the hotel being right across the street from the competition site was perfect. We ended up staying the 2nd night afterall and popping over to Al's cousins' hotel so the kids could swim and play together (and I could accidently drink a bottle of wine) and relax. Unfortunately I found out when we checked out that the quoted price for our hotel room wasn't the actual price and we ended up paying more than expected but without having the actual email with the quoted price on it with me what could I do. It was an expensive weekend so that extra $50 doesn't make that much difference...and the huge (and I do mean huge) room and the location made it worth it.

Competition weekend is over for another year. Where will we go next year? Brandon again? Yorkton? Next up - Spring Concert in a couple weeks.....and then we are done till September.

Off to finish up the last of the weekend laundry. Have a good afternoon.


~K

I'm out

of my mind. Completely.

Not quite yet out of my house.

There's still some last minute packing to do.....but not before I have my morning coffee and blog fix. All work and no play makes me.......cranky and nobody wants a cranky me on a 3 hour road-trip.

We're a little off schedule this morning. A snarky teen....who spent the last 24 hours insisting she was NOT coming with us helped achieve this. Her attitude has been adjusted.

But, since we don't really have to be there till 8am tomorrow morning I guess our schedule is flexible.

That is of course unless the wavepool/waterslide that has been the object of much anticipation has really crappy hours and we'd thought it might be possible to arrive there intime to make use of the 11:30am - 1pm Family swim time this morning. Since that would have required leaving the house over an hour ago that is most definately NOT going to happen so now my children, who have been looking forward to pool time (and our hotel does not have one of it's own....but is directly across the street from said public pool for all the good that does us) will have a wonderful 2 hours all weekend to swim - from 7-9pm tonight. Oh boy!

Saturday's 'pool hours' do not coordinate with out schedule at all as the only public times available are from 1:30-7 and we will be dancing between those times.....so 2 hours is all they get. At least we are lucky enough to not have dances between 7 and 9 tonight....unlike some families. Talk about disapointment.

Anyway, the reason we are going is for the dancing and there will be plenty of that to watch.

Have a great weekend. I'll be back late Saturday night or sometime Sunday - we haven't decided yet if that 2nd night in the hotel at $111 a night is do-able. Either way....I will be back with plenty of pictures to share.

Oh darn. Forgot to empty the card in my camera. Better go do that and pack the extra batteries too.


~K

At the top of my list today....

is laundry.


Well it's at the top of most of my lists anyday but today is laundry of a different sort.


Dance costume laundry.


Oh the stress. Do you know how scarey it is to put dance costumes in the washing machine?


VERY SCAREY!


Because what happens if the washing machine eats them (don't laugh...it's happened)


But before I could even get the dance laundry into the washer I had to switch the load that was in the washer into the dryer and before I could do that I had to turn the dryer back on to fluff up and unwrinkle what was sitting in there from yesterday.....because that's just how I roll with laundry. It's one of my quirks. I hate wrinkles...... in my clothes. Not particularly fond of the ones around my eyes either but I don't think tossing myself in the dryer will even those out.


I push the button.



Huh.



Nothing happened.



Huh.



I push the button again.



Again nothing.



Huh.



Well doesn't that just plain suck.

Breaker's fine. Dryer's not.

Huh.



Just so happens, when friends of ours moved last fall they dropped their old dryer off at our place (because my backyard is a graveyard of old appliances....hope the price of metal goes up soon because now that all the snow is gone it's just plain ugly out there).


Next thing I know Al's hauling said old dryer into the house and I'm thinking....Really? You expect a dryer that's been sitting outside for nine months to actually work?


But you know what.


It does......and I'm so damn happy.


I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am.

Earth Day or not I am just not the kind of person who can live with drying clothes on a laundry line because even if I dry them on the line, they still have to go into the dryer for a few minutes after they come off the line. Another quirk.


So after having visions of line drying pre-road trip laundry.....or more than likely hauling a couple loads to town and either tossing a couple bucks into one of the jumbo dryers at the laundry-mat or using my mom's dryer - crisis averted. Whooo hoo!


And now, the shirts, blouses and slips for dancing are in the washing machine and I'm a nervous wreck.

I did find all the pieces for the new blouse I'd started to make Emily last year and never got a chance to finish. The trim is all attached and the body is together and the sleeves are ready to attach. All it needs is the neck piece pinned on and if I had three functioning brain cells I could probably whip up a finished blouse in about an hour (give or take four) but something tells me, if I haven't finished the damn thing in over a year, I'm not going to get it done in the next day.....so she will wear her old one, that's a touch on the small side, and has a slight tear in one shoulder (where the washing machine tried to eat it).

I also found the shirt I have for Owen that just needs trim....but I don't have any 'boy' trim in the house and I don't think I could get away with 'girl' trim so I guess he will wear Garrett's shirt again this weekend. Eventually though we are going to have to return it because one day this little guy is going be big enough to fit his daddy's old dance shirt.



Time to go check on the items in the washing machine. Oh please let them all be in one piece. I can't take anymore laundry chaos today.


Or any chaos.

When the kids get home they have to try everything on before I pack it up. I sure hope everything fits......but I have a feeling Owen's sash is going to be ifffy.


Note to self.....self.....don't forget to pick up a pack of safety pins.....I think we are going to need them.




~K

A man's home may be his castle but....

to my son, a dog kennel is his castle.

I spotted him as I passed by an upstairs window yesterday afternoon. I raced downstairs to get my camera and back upstairs to catch some pics on the sly. Honestly I was laughing so hard I'm surprised the pictures turned out so clear. He was just sitting in that kennel talking to himself but I was too high up and couldn't hear what he was saying. Then Aarica came out the back door and he turned to look at her, reached over and closed the kennel door as if to keep her out. It was so funny I couldnt' stop laughing. Eventually he got out of the kennel and ran across the yard - a boy on a mission, but by the time I got downstairs and outside he was back in there and quite happily posed for some closeups of him inside. He even answered a few quick interview questions (i like to get a glimps inside that mind of his every once in awhile. it's quite entertaining)

mom: Owen sweetie, what are you doing in the kennel?

owen: playing (duh!)

mom: Cool. Who are you today? a tiger, a bear - an armoured bear? (he's big on The Golden Compass right now and he wants to be an armoured bear)

owen: No. I'm Bowser and this is my castle. (I dont' think he get's it that Bowser - from MarioBros for those not Nintendo savy, is a badguy)

Whoever said tv and video games squash a childs creativity has never had a conversation with my son. He can play for hours like this. (Honestly, this was the longest I'd seen him since he got home from school 3hours earlier) He doesnt' necessarily have an imaginary friend like his brother did at his age but he makes up games and stories with all the characters from his favorite movies and tv shows and games. He's got quite the collection of 'friends' and they play some pretty interesting things together. Some days he's a tiger or a dog, some days he's an armoured bear or a MarioBros character or Ron Stopable or any number of characters.

Often times I find myself asking 'where does this kid get this stuff from' and i'll admit sometimes it's a spinoff of something he's seen on tv or a video game but other times it's straight out of that head of his. Last week he told me that he wouldn't be home on Friday because he was performing his Sword Dance in Montreal. He said it matter of factly, like it was no big deal. To him, Montreal is just a name he's heard (probably from hockey) so he know's it's an actual place he could go to and well the sword dance thing - that's just wishful thinking because the older dancers do one and he wants to be just like them. He's one funny little kid.

Work Hard and You Shall Be Rewarded

Awards and Praise and Accolaides have never been a high priority in my life and we've never pushed our kids to be THE best - we incourage them to be the best they can be and do what they love to do....and hopefully they do it with passion and determination. Parents who live through their childrens accomplishments have always irritated us. This doesn't mean I don't love to brag on my kids about their accomplishments!!! Face it. I love being a dance mom with medals around my neck at competitions. I love hearing my kids called up to receive trophies and medals at bowling banquets and I love getting letters in the mail saying basically - your kid rocks! It's been a good spring, full of awards, praise and accolaides!

Dancing - my kiddos love to dance. Emily LIVES to dance. She dances with passion and determination to be the best....this is her choice. Her groups earned a bronze and a gold medal at the Brandon competion. Owen LOVES to dance and it's bizzare that this shy little kid has absolutely no problems getting up on stage and preforming. It's fun stuff and he enjoys it. His group earned a silver at the competition. Tyler used to dance and maybe one day he will dance again. I don't think he has that deep love like Emily or gets the enjoyment out of it like Owen and it was his choice not to dance this year. It was a hard choice for him to make....and it was a heartbreaking one for me to hear - but ultimately it was his choice and I'm proud of him for making a choice that was right for him at the time.

Bowling - my kiddos love to bowl. Emily, Tyler & Aarica all participated in at least one if not many tournaments this year. Tyler's 3some team placed 2nd at provincials this spring and he went to the bowler of the year tournament representing his age group from Gimli this year. At the banquet both Tyler and Owen racked up handfuls (and then some) of tropies and awards - they both won Bowler of the Year and high single in their age group, Tyler won most improved bowler for the Jr catagory, Owen won high double & high average trophies. Owen and Uncle Russel won in their catagory durring the family tournament and for the second year in a row Tyler and I won the family tournament in our catagory. I was extremely proud of Emily, who watched her brothers receive trophy after trophy while she did not. The look on her face was one of disapointment but she receives from me the highest praises for being a graceful sport about it all. She perked up though when she received a perfect attendance medal and a handful of badges as did the boys. Aarica's banquet is a couple weeks - I've never been to the special o banquet so I'm not sure what sort if any awards & trophies they hand out but whether she brings home the hardwear or not - for her first year of bowling, she did amazingly well. We are proud of all our little bowlers!!!

In the middle of March, I got a phone call from one of the hockey reps in our area asking about Tyler's reffing the past year. He had been chosen by Interlake Minor Hockey to receive an award from Manitoba Hockey. We didn't tell Tyler and waited till the letter came addressed to him from Manitoba Hockey in mid April. The look on his face was priceless when it finally sunk in that he was being given an award by Manitoba Hockey and the Hockey Hall of Fame for his efforts as a young ref. Unfortunately, we did not attend the banquet but one of his fellow refs received a scholarship that night and his mom brought back a program from the banquet for Tyler which is so nice to have ....and his face beamed when he received his plaque in the mail about a week later. I still feel really bad for not going but I was not feeling well that day and we decided that instead of going to the banquet we would get a sitter for the other kids and take Tyler out on the town - just the 3 of us. We went bowling and out for supper and had a great time hanging out. I'm SO completely proud of the Most Improved Young Official in the Interlake --- he's MY SON!!!!

The weekend ~ part 2: the details

Friday: All systems go - and pretty much on-time too. A small miracle to get everything and everyone in the van and on the road before 11am. The ride out to Brandon included a couple stops along the way, quite a few text messages between vehicles as we traveled together (or not) with Carrie & the Petrowski's (they took the backroads....we went that way last time - never again), the kids played gameboy/ds systems and watched DVD's (Holmes on Homes of all things) or listened to Aarica's Faith Hill CD the whole way and were relatively entertained with little bickering and Owen slept for awhile - which helped with the lack of bickering. After last years trip to Yorkton and the trouble Aarica had hearing the DVD player's speaker from the very back of the van, Aunty Sue gave us an adaptor that hooks up to the DVD player and plugs into the tape player of the van so the sound goes to the van's speakers. What a great gift for Aarica to hear what we hear.
We packed food & drinks to take with us which helped limit the cash output from buying food on the road and it limited our stops to bathroom breaks only....if you don't count Carrie getting stuck at the gas station in Teulon for 15mins waiting to pay for her pepsi and bag of chips - darn fried chicken! ;o)



Once we reached Brandon we checked into the Royal Oak and took a quick look around, got settled, unpacked and relaxed for a few minutes before we had to get Emily into her Poltava costume and over to the auditorium for her groups' first dance. They danced in the 2nd session of the day and by the time the 2nd session started it was already half an hour behind schedule - a good idea of how things went the rest of the weekend as far as schedule times went. The girls did great and earned a Bronze medal for their work.


Back at the hotel, while waiting for PizzaHut to be delivered - Al took the 4 kids to the pool for some fun. After we ate poolside, the adults hung out and the kids visited with friends for a bit until the pool area was locked up for the night after which, a bunch of us headed back to our room. We talked, laughed, drank & had some fun. We got the kids all asleep by 1am and everyone got a good nights sleep - even though our room was incredibly hot. The a/c doesn't get turned on in the hotel until mid May and the temps on Friday got up to about +25. Even with a fan the hotel provided and the window open, the room didn't cool off much over night and it was over 25 in the room at 7am when we woke up.


Saturday: Owen, typically NOT a morning person, was amazingly easy to get out of bed. He was SO excited to be dancing in his very first competition. Everything was going so well until he scalded his hand in the bathroom and then when I tried to get to him I smashed his poor toes under the bathroom door. Oh Boy did he scream and cry! I felt SO bad but eventually we managed to get him calmed down, got him into his Poltava costume (he looks so cute in Garrett's old shirt!) and over to the auditorium half an hour before his dance at 9am.......not to worry though - they were behind schedule again - after only one session. When they finally got onstage they were priceless! Ya they forgot some of their choreography, but their footwork was amazing and they did a great job regardless. So cute and so brave to get up there at 5yrs old and preform on such a huge stage infront of so many people. The adjudicator really liked the quality of their footwork in their dance - high praise for such little ones and they walked away with Silver medals! Two dances down and one to go later in the day.


Back at the hotel, we had a quick(ish) breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then the kids headed to the pool for some fun. Owen did not have much fun though. He did something to a toe on his 'not smashed' foot so both feet hurt and he wouldn't put them in the water...plus the water in the big pool was FREEZING cold. Al insisted they put icecubes in it. At least the pool was cool...unlike our room which was still quite warm. After playing in the pool, we hurried to get Emily's hair braided and into her costume and back over to the auditorium where her mixed boys/girls group was doing their Hutzel dance - Emily's favorite! Owen fell asleep on the way from the hotel to the auditorium and we carried him around for an hour and a half while waiting for the session to begin. The photo posted in part1 was from that nap. Too cute with his butt in the air. That kid doesn't nap often but when he does he does it well - he was passed back and forth a couple times and set down on the bench for awhile. He woke up in time for the next session. It was the first time we got to see this dance and it was so amazing to watch. They definately deserved the GOLD medals they received for this dance!




And that was the end of our required dance attendance for the weekend. I'd hoped to go back and watch the Jr & Sr Hopak dances later that night but we ended up grabbing some takeout which I brought back to the hotel and then we went and met up with Ron & Janice at the Keystone center to watch Derrian play hockey. We had a nice (although short visit) with them and did some catching up on what our families have been up to since they moved out to Brandon 6months ago. I wish we'd had more time to spend with them but we decided to head back to the hotel and get in a quick swim before the pool closed and I wanted to soak in the hot tub - unfortunately they closed down the hot tub so that didn't happen. Saturday night was a quiet night - everyone pretty much kept to their rooms and had an early night.


Sunday: Up early and packing in a hurry. We needed to be on the road early. No chance to swim. No time to go watch some dancing. Tyler had to be in Winnipeg by 12:30 (at least I thought he had to be there by 12:30 but infact he didn't need to be there till 1) Since we got there just after 12 we had time to grab a quick lunch at Timmies before going to the bowling tournament. Tyler had some rough luck. He was bowling good but just couldn't get those pins falling the way he needed them to - leaving corner pins standing and hitting headpins too often. After 4 games he ended up in 14th place. I think he was disapointed in himself, but I'm just so proud of all that he's done with bowling this year. His game has really improved. Bad me - I took no pictures at the bowling tournament. I think by this point I was so tired I just plain forgot about the camera.


We finally got home at 5pm Sunday. A long busy weekend over. We sat and watched a movie and everyone was in bed by 10. We were lucky to get home so early - alot of the other dancers in our group didn't get back till after 10pm. Really really long weekend for them. So competition weekend is over for another year. I'm glad it's done but can't wait till the next one. A couple more weeks of practices before concert and then dancing's over till September. Bowling is almost done too. Oh whatever will we do with ourselves on Wednesdays and Saturday's till then?