Dancing Queen

Athena made it into performing group!!! Even though all the girls that auditioned made it, the process was fun and a great confidence boost. She had to make up a one minute dance and do it for her teachers on Saturday. Then we had to go back in on Monday to see if her picture was up on the board if she "made it". Miss Jan gave her the shirt as a welcome gift and all the big girls came out of class to hug her and tell her congratulations. It was so cute of them to do that. Jan even let her audition even though she dropped ballet. Now she is doing Hip-Hop, and loves it! Maybe next year she will take ballet again we will have to wait and see. But for now she is happy and enjoying dance so we are proud of her and happy too!

Now who wants to come see her dance in Disneyland this summer?!

Good Morning

When I went out to get the paper this morning I was greeted by one of the most beautiful things you can find in the desert. Our cactus had one huge singular bloom that was wide open. Even after four years of living in Arizona the beauty that can come from something so strange (some think ugly) as a cactus can still take my breath away. This is the second bloom on this cactus but I never got a shot of the first one opened in it's full glory. They close by 7 a.m and only stick around a few days. Sort of a reminder of how fast the good things in life go by, and that we should just take a moment to enjoy them all.

Violet

Here is Athena with her new violin Violet! Yes it is sort of a tradition to name inanimate objects in our house and I think Athena came up with a great one for her violin. She is so excited to finally learn to play. She started asking about violin lessons last year when she saw the second and third graders carrying around the cases. And since we are very fortunate that she attends one of a few schools in the state that start strings in 2nd grade (most schools it is 5th!) she was very ready and willing. I'm really glad it all worked out and she is on her way to being a violinist!

Gift is given

Well now that it has been given to the recipient I can share a photo of the first sweater I ever made! It was so much fun, even though now I know lots of mistakes I made and things I would do differently it's still really cool that I took the jump and made a sweater! I made the dress too with some fabulous fabric that I just had to buy, but it seemed to young for my girls. Luckily Candace helped out and is expecting a girl so I got to use it! I hope Candace and baby Clement enjoy them both almost as much as I did making them.

109 degree blooms

September in Arizona is different than the rest of the world. Labor day means the end of summer to most but for us we are still averaging over 100 degrees every day! So last week when what was probably the last of the monsoon storms rolled through we got to sit outside (without sweating) visiting with friends and looking forward to October. Then as they always do about a week after a good rain the Texas sage in our yard exploded this morning and brought a smile to my face. YES there is still life and renewal in one hundred and nine degrees! I just love this plant!

Frustration!

I am so frustrated today. I found out yesterday as we were leaving school that all the other 2nd grade classes were offered the opportunity to join the orchestra at the beginning of the year. I'm not sure if this is because Athena's class has a sub right now or because her teacher is new to Copperwood that we were not given this information. It is all worked out now since the second I was in the door I emailed everyone at the school and got a hold of the orchestra teacher and Athena will be starting tomorrow. But I can't stop feeling like what if this isn't the only thing she has missed out on already? Is this going to be a one time thing? Should I push to move her to a different class, or would moving now be worse emotionally? I wish I could go back to just coasting a few weeks ago when everything was moving along smoothly!