Courtney's Dance Recital

We spent Saturday at Courtney's dance rehearsal and then the recital later that evening. She did a great job dancing and you can tell that she dances with every part of her body, mind and spirit. She was in 4 routines and had a couple of quicker changes that she was initially a little stressed about, but all turned out perfectly. As last year's Overall Dancer of the Year, she got to present this year's award to her friend and teammate Erica Johnson. She was so proud of Erica as she has worked hard all year and is so dedicated to the team. Courtney also won a special award of her own. She was selected as the Ballet Dancer of the Year for 2008. Her ballet has really come a long way this year and she has improved her technique so much! Anyone who knows Courtney knows that moving around a lot comes naturally to her, it is a little more work to keep the movements as slow and exact as ballet requires. She is becoming very graceful and it has been fun to see her grow in her abilities as a dancer. While ballet is not her favorite (lyrical and jazz currently hold that spot!) it is the foundation of everything in dance so she knows it is important to continue to improve her ballet skills and the rest will improve as well. She also takes a ballet class at the Newberg studio and was invited to dance en pointe starting in the fall. We are not sure if the schedule will work out yet with all of her commitments at the McMinnville studio, but she was excited to be considered ready for pointe work which requires lots of foot and ankle strength as well as balance and flexibility.

It was a fun recital and all the girls worked hard to put on a wonderful show. We get to take a week off and then classes start up for summer again.

I will have some pictures of the recital on the site soon.

Lions and Tigers and Dragons, OH MY!

Well, Courtney went this week to visit the middle school to check things out for this fall when she will officially go from being a Newby Tiger to becoming a Duniway Dragon. I personally am scared to death of middle school and all the changes (some good, some bad) that it brings. Courtney however is so excited and totally ready to be a 6th grader. We met several of the 6th grade teachers last night at a parent orientation and got a tour of the school and a briefing of all the things Duniway has to offer. There really are a lot of things that will suit Courtney there. They have a drama club, volleyball club (which she has decided is something she has to try out), a good leadership program for upper classmen that she is excited to be old enough to do in another year, etc. So much more freedom and the best part according to her: "We can actually wear flip flops and chew gum!!! How cool is that??" Well, apparently, that is pretty cool since she is so excited about it. The teachers were all very nice and welcoming and the programs all sound so fun that I can almost get excited about middle school. Then I remember, oh yea, this is when the fun times begin (or continue as the case may be)...girl moments, girl/boy moments, moodiness, attitude, and the list continues. I am hoping that we will make it through as well as my mom and I did. We didn't always get along then, but we are closer than ever now. I will keep hanging onto that hope and know that Courtney is a remarkable girl, with strong values, a good heart, and many talents and maybe, just maybe we'll come through it all okay.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!

I can't believe that it was 5 years ago today that our world was changed by the sweetest little boy with big brown eyes, long lashes, a little button nose, and a smile that could light up the world. When I think back over the last 5 years, he has changed and grown so much. Then he was fascinated with eating and sleeping, now he is into tinkering with light switches, helping Grandpa operate the sprinkling system, fixing things with Dad and oh yes....SPELLING!!!!!!!!! He has to know how everything is spelled and the thing is, he usually remembers most words you spell for him after only one or two times of repeating it. I'm not talking only 2 and 3 letter words that 4/5 year olds know. I'm talking big words like school, Courtney (his sister), play, clean, dry, bath, tub, drink, water....you get the idea. He sounds out everything and knows that "oo" in a word makes the eww sound, "ch" in a word makes a cha sound, and knows what sound each vowel makes. (Yes, he even knows what a vowel is!) We don't quiz him or school him, he just is interested in learning what sounds make words and has a fantastic memory. (there are times that memory doesn't come in so handy! :)) My otherwise active 5 year old will spend 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours playing spelling games and making words with letter trains that he has. Ryan loves school and can't wait to start Kindergarten in the fall at "N E W B Y, Newby". We just went yesterday to Kindergarten round-up to get him registered and he is really excited now to officially enter "big kid school like Courtney".

Ryan also LOVES being outside! He loves to swing, race cars down the slide, help pull weeds (bet that one won't last!) water things with his spray bottle, ride his bike, ride his scooter, draw with chalk. He takes every moment of sun and just soaks it all in. If it is rainy, he waits until the sun comes out for even a few minutes and wants to go out in between rain showers. Another thing Ryan LOVES is chocolate milk or more specifically "Not so Hots" from Dutch Bros. He has those 12 ounce drinks gone faster than I can usually even pull out from the drive thru onto the highway! He is really a big music fan too. Ever since he was 3, he could sing songs in tune and remember different verses to songs. He always wants to know "who sings this" and "what is this song called" and even usually has a guess as to the song title based on what words were "peated in the song".

Ryan will officially party for his birthday tomorrow when Grandma & Grandpa Kent, Grandma & Grandpa Joel, Dave, Rhonda & Jason come for BBQ hamburgers. We won't have cake or cupcakes (pupcakes as Ryan calls them) because Ryan doesn't like cake. We'll have his favorite "brown cow ice cream", chocolate chip cookies and brownies that are chocolate. (Do you think he might be a chocoholic??) We'll all also be going to the local community theater to see a live performance of "High School Musical". All of us (well, okay maybe not Tom) are HUGE fans of the Disney movie that hit the world by storm a couple of years back. It is a modern day "Grease" and has lots of great music and dance numbers in it. Ryan has been really excited to see it. Courtney and I will be watching from backstage, since we are part of the backstage crew, but I'm sure that Ryan will enjoy every minute of the show!

Happy 5th Birthday sweet Ryan! and we look forward to the many more changes you'll go through during the next several stages of your life!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame....or NOT!

Courtney's school choir was invited to sing the National Anthem at a Portland Beaver's baseball game. There was a lot of coordinating that went into planning when/how the kids would go. A date was finally decided on and it just happened to fall on my birthday. Early on, Courtney didn't want to go as she didn't want me to spend my birthday that way, but I insisted that it was fine and we could celebrate me turning 37 another day. How many times would a group she was with be invited to sing the National Anthem at a ball game? It is a neat opportunity and not one that many of these kids would get to do again. Well, the 22nd of April arrived with rain, wind and hail. However the teacher checked with the Beavers and they said that the game wouldn't be called until right close to game time because their field could absorb a lot of water. She was assured the group would sing anyway and if the game had to be delayed or cancelled once the first pitch was thrown, at least the group would get to sing. So off we headed to Portland with Grandma & Grandpa that afternoon. The whole way there was showers and we had all taken long underwear, blankets, gloves, etc for the mid 30's night we were going to endure. Tom was meeting us there since he worked close by. We got there, paid for parking, etc only to arrive to the box office with a less than energetic response from the girl working in it. A sign on the window said the game had been called. Are you kidding me, after all this and after we drove over an hour to get there! The bus was just pulling up too to learn the news. What a disappointment for all the kids and parents that had come to take part. Although, frankly, none of us were totally surprised since the rain really had not let up. Grandpa suggested we not waste the trip into town and go out to Olive Garden in Lake Oswego for dinner, so we met up with Tom and had a great birthday dinner (Grandma & Grandpa's treat!). Details are still being worked out on when/if the school will be able to coordinate a game with the Beaver's to do it again, but hopefully if they do it will be a sunny day and at least 60 degrees!

Circus L A

My colleague Laura always likes to do something special and out of the ordinary to thank me for the travel business I coordinate with her. The last two Christmases my family has been treated to seeing the Christmas lights in a limo which is very fun! This year in addition to that, she decided that she wanted to take some of my clients and my family to Cirque du Soleil when they came to Portland a few weeks back. With Courtney being involved in theater and dance, my family has been to several theatrical shows. This was something we had never seen before though and we weren't really sure what to expect. I was afraid that the storyline would be in a foreign language or too hard for the kids (and the adults) to follow. We were treated to the Tapis Rouge experience, which was absolutely amazing! It is a private tent reserved just for Tapis Rouge guests where they serve drinks, food, private shopping, private restrooms, etc. We had great shrimp, turkey sandwiches, skewers of seasoned fish, fresh carved prime rib, etc. before the show. Then during intermission, we went back to enjoy the huge chocolate fountain with a selection of fresh strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, cherries, etc to dip in it. It was excellent and chocolate heaven. The kids were really enjoying themselves. Now for the show...we all agreed that it far exceeded our expectations. Little did any of us know that we wouldn't really even be concerned with the storyline and rather be captivated by all the tricks and talents on the Cirque stage. These performers had skills that just took your breath away. They twirled on a chandelier in the air with no harness, showed amazing flexibility and courage and were just overall such a talented group. They had a scene that the performers bounced on beds doing acrobatics and Ryan first of all was just surprised that "the people were even allowed to be naughty and jump on the bed". We told him it was part of the performance and he quickly settled in and just sat still and clapped with everyone else in the audience. He also loved when the angels came flying down. Courtney loved the whole performance and can't wait to see it again someday. (although at $205 per ticket for the Tapis Rouge experience it may be awhile!) Each of us received a souvenir program, a keepsake (the adults a CD and the kids a mask) and just a lot of fun memories. When we got home, Ryan was telling us he just loved "Circus L A" and that he wanted to go again tomorrow. Evidentally he overcame the issue with the bouncing on the beds scene too. Later that night, we caught him bouncing up and down on his bed humming the theme song from that night with his arms flapping up and down like he was going to do some sort of acrobatic trick. We quickly told him that those tricks were reserved for the Cirque du Soleil performers and couldn't be done at home. He laughed and said "But Mommy, I just wanted to be in Circus L A and fly." Hopefully I'll have several years to convince him that he doesn't want to join "Circus L A" and that a nice, safe job is the way to go rather than performing death defying acrobatic tricks for a living.

"I'm Like a Bird"

A couple of weeks ago, Courtney's dance team had their second competition, Thunderstruck, held at Tualatin High School. There are four girls: Eliza Payne (7), Erica Johnson (13), Audrey Pattishall (10), & Courtney (11). Courtney has competed before, but the rest of the performing company has not. They have all really improved and come a long way this year under the direction of their Artistic Director Kimberly Harris. They do three competitions per season and the first one was held in Oregon City called Spotlight Events in February. Most of the competitions run on an adjudicated points system so each group is assigned a points score that falls within first, second, third, fourth place range. Then within those groups, there are overall winners with the highest scores within each category. At Spotlight, the team received a Ruby award, which is the equivalent of the first place award placement. This was very good for their first time out, especially considering all the girls were nervous and not sure what to expect. Aside from the parents, it was the first time they had performed this group number in front of an audience. The judges at that competition also awarded them a "Joy of Dance" special recognition award. These awards are given to dance numbers that really stand out in a particular way and each of the three judges only awards two or three special awards for each division. At the most recent competition, Thunderstruck, the girls improved even more. They received a Thunderstruck Gold which also is the equivalent of first place. In addition, they were rated #5 overall out of 18 routines in their division of junior novice small groups. Way to go girls! All of us are very proud of you!

"Look Daddy! It's the Grand Nebula!"

Ryan is constantly amazing us with his knowledge of various landmarks from different countries such as the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids in Egypt, and our personal favorite...The Leaning Tower of Pisa. (Ryan once was in Fred Meyer shopping with me and saw a picture of the Leaning Tower that a lady was holding and he said "Look Mommy! It's the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy!" The lady did a quick doubletake when she realized this was a 4 year old who was recognizing this famous landmark.) Well tonight was no exception. We were leaving Grandma & Grandpa's house and he skips out to the car with Tom and notices how bright the moon is. He says to Tom "Look Daddy! There's the moon. Oh, oh and look Daddy! It's the Grand Nebula!" After Tom picked his jaw up off the driveway, he asked how Ryan knew what the Grand Nebula was. He said "Oh Daddy, it's from Little Einsteins (a very popular Disney preschool series on TV). Grand Nebula is a big star." We decided on the way home, who needs school?? We'll just set Ryan up with the DVD series of "Little Einsteins" and let him learn all about music, geography and science from them.

Ryan's other favorite terms from "Little Einsteins" are adagio, moderato, and allegro. He likes to listen to music and tell if it is "happy or sad songs" based on how fast the music is played. If it is allegro (or fast) it is declared happy music. If it is adagio (or slow) it is a sad song and if it is moderato it doesn't really feel "anyfing". This boy is wise beyond his years! Can't wait to see and hear what else he comes up with!