Missing Ballet

This past year, with Hannah in kindergarten, we decided to limit our activities in order to minimize our busyness. Hannah begged to play soccer this year, so we somewhat sadly declined to re-enroll in ballet lessons. As soon as school and soccer started, we knew we had made a wise decision. Though she has enjoyed soccer, games and practices after full days of school have inspired tears and misery on many occasions. Still, until this month, Hannah seemed content with choosing soccer over ballet.

Suddenly, in recent weeks, though, Hannah has become consumed with ballet again. One of the girls in her class told Hannah about her ballet recital, and now Hannah longs to perform on stage again. I spent quite a while convincing her that we could not enroll now and still participate in the spring recital. I did assure her that homeschooling next year will give us the freedom to pursue more than one activity as part of our schooling, which comforted her a bit, but she still regrets missing out on ballet this year.

Ever creative and resourceful, however, Hannah simply decided to to put on her own recital. Layering her costume from last spring over her long-sleeved practice leotard and a pair of bright red tights, complete with sparkly ruby slippers, Hannah practiced dancing during quiet time one Saturday. Then, she came downstairs and practiced a bit for me as well.

She loved demonstrating different moves and showing off for the camera.

Once she has practiced enough, Hannah has informed me that she will put on a full recital for our family. Apparently, she also has invited students in her class, although she has not given them a date or time yet, so I should not have to worry about kids showing up unannounced... I enjoy seeing Hannah develop her creativity in so many ways, and I especially love seeing how confident she is in expressing herself in front of other people. Whether she flourishes as a dancer or a writer or an artist or something else completely different, I hope she always has the confidence and the courage to use her gifts and grow into the person God created her to be.

Bedtime Dance Party

A few nights ago, the kids were getting ready for bed, when I noticed Ben's t-shirt - a sky blue shirt with a dark blue graphic of an electric guitar and the parts of the guitar carefully labeled.

Now, Ben is a very physically affectionate child who loves being touched. "Hey, Ben," I called, "Come here for a second!"

Ben wiggled across the room to me. (The kids get very silly at bedtime.) "What, Mama?" he replied.

"I just got the urge to play the guitar," I told him, scooping him up in my arms, holding him sideways across my body, and "strumming" the guitar on his shirt.

Of course, as I intended, this tickled him very much. Through peals of laughter, he yelled, "Stop! Stop! Please, stop!"

I plopped him down on the carpet, laughing. "OK, Ben," I said. Flashing me a silly grin, he simply said, "Do it again!"

This game went on for several minutes, before we both felt too tired to continue. As I helped him out of his t-shirt and into his pajamas, Ben began asking me question after question about electric guitars. Josh plays his acoustic guitar most of the time, especially at home, so Ben knows very little about the electric guitar. I read him all of the parts labeled on his shirt and tried to explain how to play the guitar and what the various knobs and bars do. However, I know very little about electric guitars as well, since I do not enjoy the noise and distortion that typically accompanies an electric guitar. At this point, Daddy enters the story...

Josh came up right around the time I finished tickling Ben. As he heard me faltering for words in answering Ben, he tried to explain a few things as well. Then, he said, "You know..." and glanced at me with a sly look in his eye, "this would be a lot easier to show you than tell you." He added, seeing the pleading, it's-really-past-their-bedtime look in my eyes, "Just a few minutes... really..."

I finished getting the kids ready for bed, while Josh set up his electric guitar and amp in the living room. Then, in their pajamas (and Becca in her sunglasses), the three kids hurried downstairs for a bedtime dance party. They love to dance!

Josh played his guitar for quite a while, much longer than the few minutes he predicted, but I did not mind because we were having so much fun.

Becca always dances with full abandon, but she did pause occasionally to adjust her stylish shades.

Hannah danced with her favorite stuffed animal, Puppy, whom she had dressed in appropriate attire for the occasion.

Ben danced around for a bit, before discovering the pedal Josh uses to adjust the sound while playing. Anything electronic captures his attention at least as much as anything musical.

Finally, after at least half an hour of jamming and dancing, Ben revealed that he does, in fact, take after me in some ways...

"Turn it down, Daddy! Turn it off now! It's too loud!" he yelled, until we all decided that the kids needed to dance themselves back up the stairs and into their beds.

Although bedtime happened quite a bit later than normal that night, we all enjoyed the opportunity to have fun, laugh, and be silly together while listening to just the right amount of slightly-too-loud music. We'll have to do it again sometime!

A Music-Filled Life

As I write this, Ben is running around the room playing Vivaldi's Spring on a trumpet he fashioned out of a rolled-up paper taped together with stickers. Actually, all three kids love music, especially classical music. Hannah can identify many famous classical works just by hearing their rhythm tapped out on the floor, and Becca dances and sways to music like the ballerina she wishes she could be. They all enjoy singing and sing well for their age, but Ben seems to have a musical gift that he feels compelled to express.

We recently had our piano tuned for the first time in several years, and Ben has fallen in love with playing it. Sometimes he begs me to teach him, so he is learning fast and slow, loud and soft, the C Scale, some simple chords, letter names, very basic note reading, a few easy songs, and how to play with different fingers on different keys. I am impressed with how quickly he understands the concepts and memorizes songs I teach him. For example, I taught him "This Little Light of Mine" in about 10 minutes while we were waiting for church to start one day. He also self-corrects, recognizing when he hits a wrong note and trying again until he finds the one that sounds right.

Other times, he just plays, inventing his own songs that actually sound somewhat pretty and that vary based on his mood. Frequently, he ends on a "C," appearing to intrinsically understand that his song sounds resolved when he finishes with that note, as he is playing in a C Scale. He longs to play Josh's trumpet, and though he is capable of playing a note correctly, he lacks the breath support to play well. He also strums on the guitar we bought them, but he does not yet have the coordination or finger strength to play anything that sounds like a song. So, he keeps coming back to the piano, where he experiments and innovates and learns about music bit by bit as he plays.

My sweet, sensitive Ben always has a song in his heart and it just spills out of him all day long. Frequently, I can hear him singing as he plays... or when he is in the car or in his bed or almost anywhere else he goes! I occasionally have to ask him to stop singing in my ear while I am trying to explain something to him. I do not even think he realizes that he is singing sometimes. Though I feel annoyed at times, he reminds me very much of myself. I taught myself how to play basic piano as a kid and I walked around singing at all times. Several years ago, I even stumbled across a tape that I made when I was maybe seven years old. The whole tape was filled with songs that I created as I sang - full of random, silly lyrics that I sang so earnestly. I remember thinking as a child that my songs were just as good as the "real" songs that I learned in school and imagined that I would sing and write music professionally someday.

Even as a mom, music has woven through my life like the delightful choruses in a musical - entertaining and not entirely out of place, though a bit silly for "real life." Josh and I have made up dozens of songs for the kids, telling them how much we love them or how we are going to catch them and tickle them or even that they are making us grumpy and will face punishment if they do not change their behavior. Now that I think about it, I may have learned this somewhere else... I believe that my dad invented a silly song about eating ravioli that the kids still sing whenever I make it for lunch or dinner! So, how could Ben help singing all day long?

As I finish writing this journal, Ben has the mp3 player in the living room set to Pachelbel's Canon while he and Becca play and get into mischief. As much as I enjoy quiet at times, I love having a house filled with music and singing. And someday, I will look around my quiet, empty house and wish for the slightly discordant plinking of piano keys, the silly lyrics of made-up songs, and the happy laughter that comes from my children's precious, music-filled hearts. Hmmm... I think I could write a song about that!

Hannah's Ballet Recital

After months of practice and lessons, Hannah's ballet school had its big recital this weekend. What a crazy week! The kids had dress rehearsal Tuesday and Friday and performances Saturday and Sunday. I signed up to be a helper mom, so I sat backstage with Hannah's class on Friday and Sunday. I was able to watch the show on Saturday with our family, who all came in from out of town for the weekend.

All of the kids had to arrive about an hour and a half before show time in order to get dressed and put on their make-up. Some parents brought snacks and coloring books for the girls because they would be backstage for around 3 hours. In the beginning, most of the girls sat nicely and waited, but by the end, they were running around the room, ready to be finished!

The school had a fun theme for their show this year. It was called "Dancing off the Page," and each dance was based on a different children's book. The show began in a library at closing time, and once the lights went out, the characters from the different stories started coming out of the pages of a large book onstage.

Hannah's teacher chose Clifford for her class's theme. Though the girls had a little trouble remembering their dance, which is expected considering their age, they did an excellent job and were quite adorable as well!

Their dance ended with them all giving Clifford a big hug:

After the show, my parents, Josh's mom, and I all had bouquets for Hannah. She could not stop grinning! She kept saying over and over how proud she felt and how much she loved her flowers. It was a perfect way to end the year!