"I Want to Be a Princess!"

Jordan finished her Tiny Tot dance class.  As with Mandy, she had a great time "learning" ballet and tap.  She has no attention span, and would only pay attention to the dances that interested her.  As most of the little ones there, Jordan would race across the stage rather than take her time.


The most favoritest dance of all the little girls was Strawberry Shake.  For those of you without children of your own or who only have little boys, let me share this song with you:

As you can see, this song sticks in your head and causes Jordan to shake her butt.  She never seems to need an excuse to do this, but she loved even more reason to do so.  Ken finally made it to her last dance class, and he laughed uncontrollably at her doing the Strawberry Shake.  


Each little girl gets time alone on the stage.  They have to say their name, how old they are and then answer a question from the teacher.  This particular day's question was, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  Most of the girls answered that they wanted to be a ballet teacher, one girl said she wanted to be a firefighter, and I was dreading what Jordan's answer would be.  She stood there thinking about it and then answered, "I want to be a Princess!"  I shook my head, and Ken started smiling.  The other parents and grandparents patted Ken on his back and offered him luck. 


As always, life is never dull with Jordan around.

Mandy wants more Ballet!

Mandy finished the last of her one-month of ballet.  She loved every moment, and ballet is all she can talk about to her friends.  I hope that we're able to pay for her to continue with this, but she needs to learn to organize her time a little better at home as well as learn the importance of practicing prior to my finding the funds to pay for it.  


This was a great experience for us as well as for her.  Despite the fact that Mandy needs to limber up, she found something that she loves to do!  Both Ken and I are excited for her.

Becoming a Swan

I believe that all parents are amazed by their children.  If this is the case, then I am a typical parent.  Amanda is my middle daughter.  By definition, she fits into the pattern of "middle child syndrome" - she is very shy, very quiet, likes to be forgotten yet craves attention, etc.


However, in trying to find something to get the girls out of the house, I helped Mandy to discover herself.  When Mandy was in Kindergarten, I found myself concerned because I couldn't find her on the stage during the Christmas performance.  It turned out that she was hiding under the risers because she didn't want anyone to see her.  Fast forward three years later, and Mandy was singing and even had a speaking part.  


My Mandy is still painfully shy, but she is incredibly smart.  Sadly, she is also very lazy - she can pull A's without studying - as a teacher, I am infuriated by this, but it is part of who she is.  


Now, with the ballet lessons, Mandy is coming out of her shell.  She only has had the one class, but during tonight's lesson, she was the one with most of the answers, and she remembered all of the positions and names above and beyond the other students.  I am not going to say that she's headed for Kiev, but I am immensely proud that she is speaking in public and taking a chance.  


Here are some pictures of week 2:

I was so happy to see she finally got "ballet fingers."

Yes, one of the areas she needs to work on is stretching and limbering up.

OK, I have to ask, have I mentioned that I'm really proud of her??

Learning a new foot position (again, I really suck at remembering names)

With only two weeks left, Mandy is really excited to keep going.  Ken and I hope that she has finally found something that she can truly enjoy, and that we will be able to continue to foster her in this new love.  

Taylor starts Hip-Hop

Taylor started her dance lessons tonight.  Since she has a similar physique as me, I thought it would be best for her to try Hip-Hop rather than ballet.  She was very shy and tentative about trying it, but she worked really hard for the hour.

The video that I took are on my Facebook page.  Taylor is already planning her schedule this week so she can practice the routine that she learned so far.  She isn't comfortable with loosening up and enjoying herself, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of it all.