Tiny Dancer

As I say far too often, things here are busy. I don't say that as an excuse or to look for sympathy, but really just as a fact. Life is busy. That's ok though...it makes you appreciate the quiet moments more.

One of things that has kept us busy has been Abby's involvement in dance. At the end of last year, I wasn't sure if she was going to want to dance again this year. When we were leaving her recital she told me, "I don't want to go to dance class anymore. I think I'll just go to the recital". :) I decided not to pester her about dance during the summer. It had been another busy year, and for the first time she had taken a full set of the basic classes, that is, ballet, tap and jazz. I think she was just tired. At the end of the summer the sign up notification came in the mail and I asked her what she wanted to do. Thankfully, she was ready to dive back in. Suddenly she wanted to sign up for everything...ballet, tap, jazz, acro, lyrical, hip hop, etc. Yikes! She was also excited because the studio director had decided to create a competitive jazz team for her age group and had asked her to participate. Then it turned out that two of her dance buddies were also going to be in her class at her new school, so it was dance all the time! :)

In the end, we decided to stick with the basic trio (ballet, tap, jazz) and we let her choose between Hip Hop and Lyrical. She decided on Hip Hop. Her flexibility needed a little work, so her teachers also recommended the Acro class. Since she had been doing gymnastics the year before, we decided to keep going along that line and do Acro too. Is your head spinning yet? Do I sound like a crazy dance mom yet? lol Before you think I have become a cast member of "Dance Moms", read on...

It's not that bad really. She is at the studio 3 nights a week, but two of them are only 45 minute classes. The Acro class has really helped her with her flexibility. Her confidence is way up, and she loves her teacher. The Hip Hop class is ok...I think the shine wore off after a bit but she still enjoys it. I think there is just too broad an age group and skill level and she gets a little lost sometimes. It's pretty fast paced.

Her trio classes are on Thursday, back to back. That works out to just over 2 hours. With her energy, she doesn't blink an eye and it gives me some time to work on some knitting or other portable craft project. Her Jazz team has been a blast; she feels so special being part of the Comp Team and there are only 6 girls in the class so they are all really close now. It's been a bit of an eye opener for me in terms of the competition world, but nothing bad. Really, it's more like, "How do these dancers do this for multiple numbers over the course of a weekend?!?!" I'm exhausted after only one number and I'm not dancing! I give them a lot of credit - these dancers are real athletes. The other parents have been really welcoming and really supportive of each other and the kids - they work really hard at making things as easy as possible for them. They coordinate food tables/potluck, help each other's kids with costumes & makeup, create all kinds of fun things to show team spirit and don't let drama play a part in it. The older dancers are assigned a younger dancer as a "buddy" and the buddies give each other little gifts or make signs to cheer each other on. It's a really great program.

So I thought I would share a few pictures of Abby from the past few months to give you a taste of what is happening:

When the competition season started, we had to add a little more "bling" to the costume. After all, it needs to shine on the stage! So the E-6000 tube and I became fast friends. Whew, fumes! :)

And of course their bears needed a little "bling" too! :)

In class and on competition days there is lots of rehearsing! The girls are dancing to "Mr. Sandman" and they start and end the number asleep with their bears. It's such a cute routine and really age appropriate.

Competition done, and smiles all around! The girls have placed 2nd in their age group at each of the three competitions they have attended - not bad for first timers! They have also taken a few special awards - way to go girls! This will also be their Jazz number for the recital in June and I know everyone will love it!

Last but not least, is her studio picture. This is her ballet costume and I just adore it. She loves it too, as she told me there is great "twirlability" with this dress. Her Hip Hop costume, well...it's not what I would have picked, but I'm not a fan of gold lame' as a general rule. :)

As for me, I leave you with this:

We're having shirts like this made - after all, you just can't take things too seriously, right? :)

Next time, we'll talk baseball season!

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She said "Everything's Ok".

Hi everyone - it's been shamefully too long since I've blogged. Things have been busy of course, and at the same time I have felt like there hasn't been anything meaningful to write about. But I need to get back in the saddle, so to speak. I wanted to start by sharing a story.

A few days before Mother's Day I had a dream about my mom. I rarely remember my dreams, and this is the first dream I know of that I've had about my mom since she died in January. It wasn't a very long dream, really just a moment, but it was incredible vivid.

I was in the back of a room, almost as if it was scene that was being set up in front of me. The room ran lengthwise across and toward the front of the room there were a few round tables and chairs. My mother was sitting at one of the tables, with her back mostly to me. She was looking at a friend of hers, who was talking to her very animatedly. My mom wasn't saying anything, she was just listening patiently, which was very normal for her to do.

Suddenly the scene shifted and I was at the end of the room, to the left of where I had been watching before. At that moment, I was a participant in the scene. I looked at her, and could feel myself getting excited that she was there...she was really there! She turned and looked at me. Her friend suddenly didn't seem to be there, though I knew she still was. But I was completely focused on my mom, and she on me. It seemed that my entire field of vision was filled with my mom's face, but I didn't feel like either of us had moved. She looked at me very seriously, not angry or anything like that. Instead, she seemed determined. Determined that I remember this moment, as if she knew I rarely remember my dreams.

Then she slowly and clearly said, "Everything's ok". 

At that moment, I could feel the emotions start to well up. I wanted to say so much to her, to hug her, to cry, to tell her how much I miss her and how hard everyday is without her. Before any of that could happen though, I woke up. I woke with a choked back sob in my throat, and all I wanted to do was cry. But I couldn't, I physically couldn't. I caught my breath, and I remember whispering "Thanks, Mom". I immediately fell back asleep.

In the morning I cried. I told my husband about my dream and I cried. After I took the kids to school I cried on my way to work. I teared up most of the day. I just couldn't get the image out of my head. I shared the story with my brother and he told me that the night before he had been feeling pretty low, thinking about mom. That morning, he had seen my note, and it made him feel better. Like it was a message to us, letting us know that things are ok. Whether things are ok with her, or will be ok with us...I hope that it will be both.

I still think about that dream regularly, but now, it's comforting, rather than upsetting. I miss her so much, but I trust her when she says "Everything's ok".

Abby turns 7

Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will move mountains.

Abby, at the moment she turned 7.

It's so hard to believe that this little munchkin is ours. She is such a great person...feisty at times and stubborn as heck, but with a deep passion for the things and people she loves. I can't wait to see her continue to grow and blossom. I know we will butt heads at time (she gets her stubbornness from someone after all!) but I hope that she will never doubt how much I love her.

Her birthday was a few days ago. We celebrated with some classmates on the 21st with a party at the local bounce house, letting a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds bounce off some of that never-ending energy. :) Then on her actual birthday, we had a family dinner at a restaurant of her choice after dance class. She picked Red Lobster, which was absolutely packed! There were the four of us, plus my dad, my mother in law, my brother in law and our niece. We had a great time together.

It was a bit bittersweet though, being the first birthday in the family that we celebrated without my mom. I know were surrounded by her love though. I never doubt that.

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A new year, and a new way of life

Long time, no see, right?
I want to apologize for not posting for so long. Somehow the fall and start of winter got away from me, and suddenly we were wrapping up 2013.

I had planned to write about goals for 2014, but unfortunately, the start of 2014 has been, well, devastating. I unexpectedly lost my mother on January 2nd. She went to the hospital for an outpatient angioplasty on the artery in her knee on New Years Eve, and unfortunately there were some major complications. The doctors found additional blockages and although they tried to clear them, there was a blockage to the artery supplying blood to her bowels and intestines, and the systems had become necrotic and were shutting down. We were fortunate to spend her final hours with her, and I am grateful that my last words to her were "I love you".

There are so many more words to say, but frankly, I don't know how to say them. Losing my mother has been the most devastating thing I have ever experienced. It has also been the most humbling. The outpouring of love and support from family and friends has been overwhelming, and coming from what I always thought was a small circle, it has really humbled me. She touched so many lives in ways I couldn't have imagined. Usually it was in what many would feel were small things but when those things are gone, you realize how much of a difference it made to people.

Her memorial service was on Saturday the 11th. I had no idea how many people would come, but the entire afternoon I was met by people who came to express their sympathy and love for her and the rest of us. When we began the service, the entire room was full. It was amazing. My father, brother, husband and I all spoke, as well as a few of her friends. Their words were simple and loving and perfect. We shared tears and laughs together. After the service, many people came to my parents house to be with my dad. We shared more tears and laughs, were fortified by food and love. It was an overwhelming and exhausting day, but it was a perfect tribute to my mom.

I am still processing all of this. It's still very difficult to talk to people about. Today was my first real day back at work, and it was hard. I cry every day and I miss her so much. We're just taking things one day at a time, it's really all we can do, right?

(My mother, about 1977)

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The Best Moments

There are so many moments when we are running like chickens with our heads cut off, to school, work, getting things done around the house, kids activities, etc. But then there are the best moments, when we get to pause all of the busy times, and get to do things like this. I love it and cherish them. 

Building Bridges

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen this, but I haven't had a chance to share on here yet.

The kids are at a new school this year as part of a pilot Talented and Gifted program for the lower elementary. It's been a adjustment on various levels, but Davin and Abby are pretty go-with-the-flow kids, so it has been fairly smooth. They love their teachers and are making friends. The curriculum is a little different but they are settling into things pretty well.

Davin's class has been working on STEM projects, which is a new experience for us. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathmatics. These kinds of things are right up Davin's alley - he loves them! The first project had very simple instructions: Create anything you like out of unsharpened pencils.

He started brainstorming. Race car? Helicopter? In the end we decided on a suspension bridge. Michigan has quite a famous suspension bridge, the Mackinac Bridge:

We have a soft spot for this bridge, since it marks the halfway point when we drive "Up North" to visit Andy's family. "Halfway" is about 5.5-6 hours of driving, by the way...so understandably, we are happy for a chance to get out of the car and stretch our legs a bit! :)

We spent a bit of time learning about suspension bridge engineering and physics. This website was really helpful to us as we learned how they work and the names of the various parts.

We then made a list of supplies for our own bridge and headed to our local Michaels! We needed:
Thin Balsa wood for the platform
Popsicle sticks
String
Paint (I have plenty of craft paint, but Davin wanted to pick out his own special color)
Pencils (which we already had, leftover from school supply shopping)

We got home and measured the lengths we needed. Thankfully, Balsa wood is very thin and can be cut with normal scissors. The pencils, however, took a little more muscle to cut, but eventually we got everything to the right length. I used a Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the balsa wood for the string. Davin did a great job painting his pieces, while I used a hot glue gun to put together the two towers with pencils and popsicle sticks.

We then strung the black string (embroidery floss) through the holes and over the tops of the towers. I cut slits in the erasers at the tops of the pencils as anchors for the string. Once everything was dry, Davin had to test it out with a few of his Hot Wheels cars.

Everything worked great! The next day he carefully and oh so proudly carried it on the bus and delivered it to school. He has a new STEM project to work on, this time the assignment is to make anything he likes using toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls. He's already cooking on ideas, and I am sure will have just as much fun as he had with this project.

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A Visit to the Apple Orchard

It's fall. Finally.

The leaves are starting to turn, the evenings are cool (darn right cold sometimes) and the light has that special slant in the afternoon that just makes me happy.

It's a crazy time of year with the start of school, but we are settling in to our new "normal". This weekend we decided to make an impromptu visit to the apple orchard. Just hearing the word "orchard" put a smile on everyone's face.

We got to the orchard and started to check out the sites. This orchard has a few of the typical things...wagon rides through the orchard pulled by tractors, a few obligatory barn cats, a calf, a turkey, an ostrich...yes, an ostrich! :) After peeking around a bit we purchased our bushel bag and tromped out into the orchard. This orchard doesn't have a large selection of apple varieties, but they had some of the classics. Andy requested Golden Delicious and I wanted to find a few on the tarter side.

Davin and Abby were very helpful in picking and the trees obliged with loaded trees. Andy was helpful in coaching the kids..."Big apples, not the tiny ones!" :) He was also our resident sampler...though we all had a taste of a couple crispy apples...how could you resist apples fresh from the tree and slightly warm from the sun. Sooooo good!

After our bag was full to the point of bursting, we had to reward ourselves with cider and donuts. There is something special about cider donuts...I love that they are dense and the cinnamon sugar is perfect with a cup of cold cider. Funny thing though, I only like cider cold at the orchard. After that, I prefer my cider warmed up with a dash of cinnamon.

All was good, and we were enjoying ourselves very much until the kids discovered how much the bees were enjoying the cider and donuts as well. They both get nervous around bees...I wouldn't say an all out fear like some people have, but a bee buzzing around their cup put them in a bit of a sour mood and they were ready to go home. I think they were also a little tired of all my picture taking:

Once we got home, Abby put some of our apples on display on the dining room table, which looked very festive. We made some homemade apple sauce and this morning each of them asked to bring an apple in for their teachers. They boarded the bus, proudly holding their apple to prevent it from getting bruised. :)

By the way, did you notice that Andy and I are wearing rival shirts? :) We are a split household...he went to the University of Michigan and I went to Michigan State University. Turned out that we also went to rival high schools...obviously it was a match that was meant to be! lol Now, to be honest, I didn't go to MSU for the football team and don't really follow how the team is doing, but I'm still a Spartan and have to show my team spirit for my school - Go Green! :)

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Around the Nest This Week

This week has been crazy!! Like most of the country, this has been all about Back to School! Normally this post will be on Sundays, but I was gone from 8am till 10pm yesterday, so I had no chance of sitting down to finish this post last night.

Memorial Day is generally never a day off for me...working at a museum, holidays are usually pretty busy for us. So after a busy day I came home and we had a nice family barbeque with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and niece. She tried to teach Davin and Abby how to play Double Dutch jump rope, the kids played ont he swingset, watched Super Buddies and even got some puppy kisses from the two dogs next door. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend the last day of summer vacation.

Tuesday morning we jumped right in with both feet. The kids were excited to put on their first day of school outfits, load up their new backpacks and head to school. This week we were split between two schools. My son still attended the school they have been in since Kindergarten, but my daughter was accepted into the new Talented and Gifted program and began attending one of the other elementary schools. Davin started and ended 30 minutes before Abby did, so getting them to their schools worked out alright. I drove them both to school on the first day but since then Abby took the bus in the morning. The TAG students qualify for bussing, and her bus picked her up at Davin's school so it works out. I was a little nervous about sending her on the bus, but she pleaded with me so hard that I told her we would give it a try. The first morning, she found another girl she knows from last year and when the bus pulled up they held hands, climbed aboard together and sat down together, giggling the whole time. I knew she was going to be fine. She didn't take the bus home...even though she could, the bus didn't get back to Davin's school until at least an hour after his classes let out so it didn't make sense to wait that long. By the time my husband Andy picked Davin up, picked Abby up and headed home, he beat the bus anyway.

On Friday we got the news that Davin has now landed a spot in the TAG program as well! He was the next on the waiting list and one of the third graders just opted out, so this morning we made our first official trip to the new school so he could meet his teacher and join his new class. He was a bit nervous, but I knew he would be fine...it is only a week into school and he makes friends very easily. His teacher seems very nice and I left with a happy heart and a handful of papers that I need to get caught up on. :)

Our after school schedule has quickly filled up as well. Davin has been playing baseball and will continue with games on Tuesday and Thursdays through the end of the month. He absolutely loves it and it's been so fun to watch him improve since he first started playing in the late spring. Andy keeps holding out hope that we'll have a left-handed pitcher in the Majors. :) He wants to keep Davin going over the winter, working with a team that works indoors to develop his skills. He is close to making the leap to kid-pitch ball rather than coach-pitch and some more work on how to play the game will be a help for him. Plus it will be good to see him stay more active during the cold months. I'd love to get a swim class in there too, but I also don't want to completely overload the kids.

 

Abby started back to dance last week. She has been moved up to the next class level which has also opened up more class options for her. We were surprised to get a letter asking if we would consider having her try for a new Competition Jazz team. I talked to some of the other parents that were also asked, as well as the teacher and we have decided to let Abby try. She is really excited by it and some of her other dance friends are also in the class. The teacher plans to keep it an introduction to Competition, which is good...I didn't want to end up on a version of "Dance Moms"! She is hoping to use the class to work on technique, and work up to a competition. There are three competition dates that she is considering, none of which are before March. If the girls aren't ready for the first one she won't put them in, but is really hoping for the other two. So we'll see. :)

The Jazz class is part of a Combo series she does on Thursdays, along with ballet and tap classes. She did the same trio last year and it works great since they were back to back. On Tuesday we signed her up for an Acrobatics class to help with her flexibility...unfortunately she seems to have inherited my tight muscles and is definitely less flexible than most of the other girls. This will help and we'll do some work at home too...it couldn't hurt me to work on some stretches! And finally on Wednesday she has Hip Hop. I wish Acro and Hip Hop were on the same day, but sadly, not this year. Ah well. Thankfully they are short classes so it doesn't overload her...it's like a 45 minute play session. :)

In other news, my Mother-in-Law has been living with us since July. It's been fine, she is a very sweet woman. I think she is ready to be in her own space again though and I know she was happy that the closing date for her new house finally happened on Thursday. I think there may be continued adventures on that front though...this house was actually her third choice, but she has just found out that her first choice is back on the market. So...she may put the house immediately back on the market and attempt to get the first choice.

Andy is back to school as well. He is settling in with his students and has been excited this year because he has a full day of Algebra 2. He has been making some adjustlements to his class too. Normally, teachers discuss a topic and kids take notes and sample problems in class, and then work on problems at home for homework credit. But let's be honest...many students don't take good notes or ask questions in class. THeyn they get home and don't understand the homework problems so they don't do them. Then they might copy the problems from a classmate the next day before class. Sure, they might get the homework credit, but when the test comes they haven't actually learned the material and then do poorly on the test. This year he is trying to reverse that. He has a series of videos on each of the sections from the book. For homework, the students watch the videos and take notes for homework credit. Then in class, Andy will use the class time to work on the book problems, so if they have questions they can ask a teacher or a classmate. Hopefully this will help solidify how to do the problems so that when the test comes they have a better understanding of the questions. He's excited and the parents he talked to seem excited by this idea too, so I hope that it works out. It makes sense to me...I wasn't the strongest math student so having someone to ask and brainstorm with would have made it easier for me.

Some thoughts on the week:

• I need to get myself back on a more reasonable sleep schedule. Going to bed at midnight is not doing me any favors.
• I am addicted to Instagram! You can find me here.
• I am this close to trying out Zumba. One of the moms at dance has been doing it for a year and she has lost 40 pounds! That's amazing, and 40 pounds would be great for me to lose. After my back injury, I really got away from exercising...although I am still down 10 pounds from my time with Weight Watchers, I realize I need to get moving. I am way tooo sedentary and it's one of the reasons I feel so tired and achy. I need to look at my schedule & the class schedule and pick a couple of days a week that I can go.
• Abby is becoming very helpful around the house. She likes to help with dishes and help with her lunch for school. I've been looking at some chore charts for the kids and plan to implement them this coming week for both kids. They can help and it will be good for them to have regular tasks.
• I need to learn more about gardening. My MIL has been a huge help getting the yard cleared of the overgrowth, but it's leaving us with a bit of an empty shell. I would love to have a cottage style garden...pretty but low maintenance. And a butterfly garden, for sure.
• Speaking of butterflies, check this IMAX film out if you can. The cinematography is beautiful, it's very kid friendly too and you learn a lot about the Monarch butterfly migration. Turns out that Michigan is part of the migration route, so hopefully we will see a few of them as they head south. And if you have a train lover in the house, this IMAX film is a must too!
• My internal Harry Potter nerd wants this Marauder's Map scarf by Nerd Alert Creations! I'm loving the Portal Symbols, Periodic Tables and Where the Wild Things Are scarves too. :)
• I made this Peach Custard Pie from You Are my Fave's blog and got lots of compliments!

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Remember that time I had my Sh** together? Yeah, me neither.

After an incredibly busy and stressful few months, I had a bit of a breather while the kids were out of school. Focusing on just home and work was so much easier than all of the other craziness that comes in during the school year. Because I had become that Mom...you know, the crazy one.

One of the realizations I had is that I can't possibly manage another school year using the tools I did this past year. When I got my beloved iPhone, I used their calendar feature to have access to my work calendar. I like it a lot, but I just couldn't get into actively scheduling all of my personal items. Perhaps because I don't like to spend time typing much on the phone...I find it tedious and even with the auto correct function, I make mistakes. Plus, lets be honest. I just prefer writing things down. And I'm a little obsessed with office supplies...just a little. :)
Instead I used a small weekly planner that was pretty helpful. It had a section on the top for my calendar, and then boxes underneath for each of the family members. It took some time to get used to the smaller spaces, but it was pretty functional, since hubby and kids rarely had more than one item to note per day. Gymnastics on Monday, Baseball on Tuesday, etc. The downside is that it didn't have designated times for things, which I like for my personal calendar, work appointments, etc. So I didn't really list work items there. Again, not the end of the world since I work full time and I have access to my phone and computer, but it would be nice to have everything at my fingers.

The other thing was that I was losing track of my "To Do's"...I didn't have a place to keep lists of things I needed to do, whether they were work related or personal. In fact, I didn't really make lists at all anymore...just relying on my memory, which is NEVER a good idea. Ask my husband how good I am at remembering all the little things... :) I tried to keep things on the kitchen chalkboard door, but you need to write somewhat largely to make it really legible, and I would run out of room, or would need to erase it to make room for something else.

I tried to make my own calendar...a place that had a schedule, space to make a list, items for the different family members, PTO stuff, etc. I came up with a cute design that was inspired by one I found online, but it only lasted a few days. Maybe because they were loose leaf, maybe because they were full sheets of paper and therefore not very portable, maybe because the little boxes just weren't my thing...either way, I didn't keep up with it.

So a month ago, again, I started hunting for other options and stumbled upon some cool pictures of planners on Instagram of all places. There seems to be a lot of Filofax love out there! Pictures led me to check out YouTube and sure enough I found all kinds of videos on how people are setting up their Filofaxes. That got me thinking...I used to use a Day Timer but over time I stopped. Maybe because I wasn't as busy a few years ago, although it felt like it all went by in a blur! I stopped at Staples to check out their Day Timer inserts but ran into two problems.
1. They had already taken out the 2013 packs and replaced them with 2014 inserts. Boy, did I feel sheepish, looking for 2013 inserts in August. As if I was getting tsk-ed by the calendar aisle for being so disorganized. After all, I should be planning ahead for the upcoming year, not scrambling to get this year on track!
And 2: Day Timer inserts tend to be so blah. Functional, yes, but very stark and bland. As I took a lap around the store, hoping to find a set of inserts on clearance somewhere, I came across the Martha Stewart section. There I found a 2013 weekly calendar set that would fit my planner! And not a bad price, about $15.00. So I scooped that up as well as some of the Dewdrop stickers from her line and headed home.

Since then I have been slowly getting to know my planner again. In the past I kept things pretty basic, just a calendar and the other standard tabs that came with the planner, though I rarely used them. After looking at pictures and videos online though, I realized that I have a plethora of materials that I can use to customize my planner to fit my needs. Now, I am taking the opportunity to play with stickers, Washi tape, colored pens, etc. It's so much more fun to look through the day when it's cheerful!

The thing that I'm not thrilled about with the Martha Stewart calendar is that there is no really way to separate the months from the weeks if I wanted to. Better than no monthly calendar at all. I also wish the lines of blank space could be at the top of the page rather than the bottom. I tend to make a note of a day long event or general reminder at the top of the page so I see it first thing, but that is where the morning appointments are supposed to go. Thankfully I am usually pretty lightly scheduled in the morning, so it isn't a huge deal if I forget and put a note at the top, and I try to put some things on little Post It's if necessary.

In the process of organizing things I have discovered some things:

• I am obsessed with calendars, but I'm also really picky about them. My ideal calendar set up will have a monthly spread and a weekly spread separate from each other. The days within the weeks would have space for appointments with times listed, with lines for hours as well as half hours. I hate when planners only have a line for the hour...does no one have appointments at 1:30???
• I like to have my appointments listed in a linear fashion. I don't understand how people can just jot an appointment anywhere on the page...I totally lose track of things that way!
• Color coding could be my friend. When I was backtracking appointments in my planner (I couldn't handle months of blank pages, so I transferred everything from my phone and small planner to the new pages. Yes, that was a little over the top I guess, but it made me happy and allowed me to see how I wanted to organize the planner moving forward.) Now that the kids are involved in various activities and my husband has appointments that affect how I manage my time, I really need to figure out how I want to color code those things. Plus, a colorful calendar looks prettier than everything in just black ink, don't you think?
• I prefer an A5 size. I just like the room to write, even if it means a larger folder to carry. I carry my Day Timer to work everyday, and it works. Especially for Filofax folks, I see lots of people love the Personal size, but I would need one in my hands to see if that would work for me. It doesn't seem too small, but I have always gravitated to the A5 size. I have used some 8.5 x 11 planners, but they never seem to stick around much because they are just too big, unless it's exclusively for work. But for something that bridges home and work, no thanks. I'm not carrying a wristlet for a purse, but nor am I carrying Mary Poppins carpet bag.

Hopefully this will allow me to have a better understanding of my days and feel like I am more in control of them. I have hated feeling like a lost buoy in a storm. I'm the last person that could be tagged with OCD, but I just don't want another year of feeling like I am pulled a million different directions, dropping balls along the way. I'm no good to anyone that way. And on the other hand, I need to learn to say no...I really took on more than I could handle comfortably. I hate when it feels like I can't give 100% to things, and this past year has felt like that most of the time. It isn't fair to any of my commitments, not fair to me, and in the end, my family suffered the most. They didn't have access to their wife and mom and I didn't have access to them. I don't pretend that a calendar will take all that away, but it will help me focus on what is really important.

Another thing I am now doing is scheduling time for my blog! Hurray! I have been jotting down post ideas and realized my posts were falling into two categories: Craft and Family. So I am going to lean into that. I plan to post on Wednesdays about my crafts and on Sundays a recap about home/family that week. As I work on my calendar I come across all kinds of things to write about, and keeping it to twice a week seems more manageable to me as well. So watch this space for more regular posts!


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Recital Recap!

We made it through the Dance Year!

90 minutes of class each week, learning all kinds of new moves! This year she took 3 classes, ballet, tap and jazz.

Two weeks before the show we were at the studio for about 3 hours for show rehearsals. Long nights, but worth it...the girls were really tightening things up.

Then full dress rehearsal the night before the recital "on stage". Abby loves going to the "big stage"!

Recital landed on the last 2 days of school as well so it was a whirlwind! They were half days thankfully, but between the end of year programs at the school and all the recital stuff at night, I just took those days off work. I can do a lot, but I can't create extra time out of thin air, so I know my limit! lol

In the afternoon, we had a flurry of activity at home, putting her super fine silky hair into a bun, and putting make up on. This is our third recital and I still have a hard time with the idea of putting mascara on her. But, I get the whole "stage makeup" look, and it's true...as bright as the stage lights are, she would completely fade away without the make up. But it came off as soon as we got home! lol

Here she is, all dolled up for her first number, "Calendar Girls". My little sassy tapping princess proudly showing off her missing front teeth! :)

Then waiting in the hall backstage before their favorite number, "Hot Chocolate" (from the Polar Express).

Rock it Abby!

From lots of classroom practice:

 To performing it on stage!

And more waiting backstage...this time in the "green room", where the moms in our class had set up a corner full of blankets, coloring books, paper, a DS, an iPad, and of course snacks! :)

Getting some good luck from her teacher, Miss Karen!

My "dainty" ballerina!

 A line of ballerinas!

Watching the big girls dance from backstage, just before they went out to perform "Singin' in the Rain".

Practicing the Finale with some of the girls.

All done, time to head home! It's nearly 11pm, but she's still smiling! :)

It's been a whirlwind, but it's always so fun to see her smile. I hope she sticks with it, she's actually really good at it and she has made some great friends. In fact two of the girls in her class will also be in her class at her new school next year, yay!

How she's grown! Here is her first recital costume, when she was just 4 years old:

And last year at 5 years old!