Saturday's Performances

 

Saturday matinee was Mako's last performance! I attended by myself and tried to film as much as I could.

Clara has her ballet class on Saturday morning. We secretly stopped at See's Candy because Evie mentioned instead of flowers she would like to recieve mini scotch mallows! Clara also found chocolate apples that were a perfect fit for the Snow White theme! We had friends come to see the matinee and we appreciated all those that came to see our dancers!

ACHOO! Sneezy

We had a small break in between the matinee and final evening performance. I was quite exhausted from all the rushing, fixing hair, washing parts of costumes, packing snacks and organizing all the details. Masa and Mako went to watch Evie in the last performance. Evie and Mako both wanted to see the garden after the show. We are thoroughly tired and danced out!

Snow White Week

 We are all recovering from Snow White Ballet production week!

There were two long stage rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday night was opening night! It was so joyful to watch Mako as the adorable dwarf Sneezy, he did a wonderful job. And, Evie was a beautfiul Sprite and mischievous toad. After learning my lesson from several years of rushing to put bouquets together in the car before the performances I finally realized I should get flowers the day before and put the bouquets together then! This saved so much time and helped our trip to the ballet go much more smoothly. In this year's bouquets were show stopping Stargazer Lilies, delicate pink peonies, ferns, baby's breath, lush garden roses and green chrysanthemums; bouquets fit for our stars!

Before the performance, we killed time by wandering in the beautiful garden at Lane. It was a magical hour spent besides Lupines, humming bumblbees and enchanted foxgloves. After three shows, all of the months of hardwork for the ballet were completed. While we feel proud and satisfied, there is always a sense of melancholy when it all ends so fast. 

Off we go to opening night!

In the magical little garden waiting for the show to begin.

Swiftly Speeding days

 

My morning angel. 

The days are busy. We read a poem every morning from Sing a Song of Seasons. On Tuesday morning we listened to a collections of Mazurka by Chopin whilst painting a line drawing inspired by Mary Cassatt. We completed our study of Mary Cassatt. I remember the first time we studied her art, it was four years ago when my mom passed away. I love all of Cassatt's paintings of mothers and children, they are comforting and beautiful. I hope one day we can see some of her artwork in person at some of the galleries on the East Coast.

We heade to the farm to pick out flowers for the window box- I finally felt I had painted enough and it was ready at last to be filled. It was an arduous task to fill it with soil; it's a bit narrow and awkward honestly! 

The children love attempting to feed their favorite goats and on this day we were able to watch many swallows dipping and diving, finding their way to the nests they made in the barn. One can't help but think of Thumbelina when watching a graceful swallow fly!

I really restrained myself not buying another peony plant! I want at least three more.

At last the window box is filled! I'm very happy with how it turned out. I feel happy every time I go out the door or come back home from an errand. I'm eagerly anticipating the growth and trail of the sapphire blue lobelias next to the bright hued geraniums and snap dragons. Now it really feels like we need shutters and window boxes on the other windows! I'm very proud of Masa's beautiful crafstmanship and grateful for his indulging me as he does.

These novels came from England for Evie and she finished them both! She was glued to the pages, stopping only a minute for us to go and pick up the children's summer swimming passes. Clara and Mako spent the afternoon starting fires with a magnifying glass...🫠

Today's biggest event was a lost tooth! This one made my mama heart feel a sharp tinge of sadness at the rate at which these babies are growing up. 

Mako had a great viola lesson and recieved his lovely gilded award for certificate day! 

We came home and the little two helped prepare a fruit salad for the older two to take as a snack for their very long ballet rehearsal! They are so willing to help.

More rehearsal tomorrow! As we sleep we hope the garden is growing, creeping and drinking up the night rain. 

A Busy Weekend

 I was feeling overwhelmed going into the weekend, I was mostly nervous about Mako's solo certificate day for viola. Friday afternoon we have his group viola class, they are practicing Rejoissance from Handel's Fireworks, Star Wars, Amazing Grace and a few other pieces. It has felt like a lot to learn in a short amount of time from my motherly prospective. We also had his dress rehearsal. While we waited for that, we had a bit of time to walk around campus. It is always beautiful this time of year with the charming brick buildings. A jazz trio was playing for an outdoor event which we enjoyed from a nearby bench. Mako did so well at his dress rehearsal. We had our traditional Friday pizza for dinner but made by each child in their own unique shape (some more appetizing than others). 

Saturday morning, Clara and Mako woke up early and we rushed to get to early morning Pre Ballet II. We had some time in between ballet and the solo certificate day which led us to Great Harvest for cookies and scones. I was very relieved when the solo performance was over, these things are hard on mothers.

There wasn't long to rest at home as Mako and Evie headed to a three hour rehearsal for Snow White. We were able to sit in watch a large part of the dress rehearsal. It is going to be spectacular! The costumes are wonderful, as usual. We celebrated the end of the busy day at one of our favorite spots, Dickie Joe's . The Saturday night movie at home was the latest Summiko Gurashi, which they all loved. We then stayed up past our bedtime watching other random Japanese anime including an adorable penguin one.

Sunday was church followed by the ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream. I had unfortunately miscalculated the time we would need to drive downtown from church and it was a bit of a rush, but we made it!

The kids were all so well behaved and attentive through the two hour performance! I particularly loved the first half of the program that was an original ballet by Toni Pimble entitled Silk and Steel. The costumes were visually gorgeous in rich primary tones; delicious red silks and velvets, vivid blue and lush yellow. A very Vermeer palette.The dancers emlpoyed various props of silk, parasols and gigantic white wings which draped beautifully. It was a visual feast, I found it very inspiring. So did the girls as the next day they came home and attempted to recreate some of the costumes with their own wardrobe! I was feeling very grateful that we have been able to take our kids to so many ballets, musical performances and artistic experiences. This has always been a priority for me and I feel very lucky that our town has many opportunities to expose them to beauty in the arts. The girls received lots of compliments on their pretty dresses, chosen in honor of the fairy themed ballet.

It was an eventful weekend and now we wish we could slow things down but the race towards summer continues. May (and December) are the busiest months in regards to school, extra curricular activities and life in general. End of the school year celebrations, final recitals and concerts, parties, tests and a myriad of other life events all stack up. Luckily today we didn't have anywhere to be and I could take a moment to enjoy the lovely Gardenia Peonies Masa just planted for me. Hopefully we will get flowers planted in the window box tomorrow! I am obsessed with the window box and my children have started calling it my 5th child, lol.