Warrior Cat

This evening was Marina's dance recital. She was excited to apply her own makeup. As we drove, Marina told me how nervous she was. I told her that was a good thing, to help her stay focused on what she was doing. When it was their turn, the girls did a great job on their dance.

After the recital, Marina introduced me to a new friend she made backstage. Next we found Miss Risa and gave her orange roses. Marina picked out orange roses for Miss Risa because her poms were the orange ones!. She seemed to love them.

As we drove home, Marina showed me her poms. She and one of her classmates found a way to share their colors, so now Marina’s are half orange and half blue.  She seemed pleased when I pointed out that they are now Bronco colors.

Angels We Have Heard On High

Rehearsals for this year’s Christmas pageant started at the beginning of December. Marina was pleased to get the “third biggest part.” She played Gabriel and all the other speaking angels, which was exactly what she wanted.

The kids gathered to rehearse before the service. Marina was very happy with the giant angel wings she got to wear. I encouraged her to work on her lines all month, but she never wanted to, so she didn’t know them at all today. She ended up using her script through most of the pageant. She also helped out with the younger kids to help them with their lines.

The script was meant to be funny and clearly everyone had a good time with it. The pageant was the highlight of the service.

School Dance

After another year of dance, it all led to tonight – the recital. Marina has had a good time in her classes with Miss Jamie.

The theme of this year’s recital was “You Got Schooled,” so all the dances had a school theme. Marina’s jazz class danced to “Weird Science” and the poms routine was called "Summer Vacation." The two routines were only two songs apart, so Marina had to do a quick change between them. Miss Erin, her teacher from last year, helped to make sure Marina got the assistance she needed to get it done.

I met Grandma outside the school and we sat with some of our friends. I must admit, I was nervous for Marina’s quick change.

“Weird Science” came about halfway through the first act of the show. It went very well, Marina seemed to be having a good time with it. Two dances later, I was happy to see Marina was with her class and her costume was perfect! She did a great job in that dance as well.

 

After the show was over, I couldn’t find Marina at first. Her costume for “Weird Science” was missing and she was upset about it. We were also sad to learn that Miss Jamie is moving to Chicago soon.

Fortunately, our friends invited us out for dessert, which cheered her up considerably. She had a huge piece of chocolate pie. She and her friend enjoyed being together as well.

By the time we made it home it was nearly midnight. But it had been an evening worth losing sleep over.

Country Dance

Marina has been taking ballet for six years now. It's hard to believe that! She made great strides this year with her teacher Miss Erin. Marina was the oldest girl in the class and she took up a bit of a leadership role.

The theme of this year's recital was "American the Beautiful."  Marina's class had a country theme. They danced to "Turkey in the Straw" in blue gingham dresses. It was a fun combination of ballet and square dancing. The girls knew the routine well and went through it without a hitch.

After the performance, I found Marina backstage. The stage mom had given each girl a bag with an activity book and puzzle from Frozen and some snacks. Miss Erin gave them water bottles filled with candy. I had flowers for Marina as well. We also picked out some for Miss Erin. She had six classes in the recital, so she had a lot of flowers from her students!

Piano Party

Marina's piano teacher arranged a Christmas party for her students where they could have cookies and play the Christmas songs they have learned in an informal setting. Marina was looking forward to it. She’s been working on “Silent Night” for a couple of weeks. Recently she added “Away in a Manger” as well.

When we arrived she was in a bit of a bad mood. She had a couple of cookies, and checked out the piano. Her teacher called the kids around the piano and they all sang Christmas carols together before the recital began.

Once the kids started playing, Marina was excited. As she waited her turn, I could see her practicing the fingering of her songs. She volunteered to go early. She did very well on “Silent Night.” At one point she got stuck and it took her a moment to figure out the next note. Once she did, she finished quickly. I was even more impressed with “Away in a Manger.” She hasn’t been playing it as long, so she pretty much just sight read it.

After the recital was over, Marina had more cookies and a candy cane. She was pretty happy with that as well.

Puppy Pokerface

Marina and her ballet classmates have been working very hard on their recital routine this year. The theme this year was "Art Comes to Life," each dance was to be based on a work of art. Her teacher decided to choreograph a dance after Dogs Playing Poker. Each girl chose what kind of dog she wanted to be. Marina wanted to be a husky. Her teacher made all the costumes herself and they were adorable.

The girls knew their routine very well and their performance went off without a hitch.They were late in the program, but that didn't seem to bother them at all. In fact, they even looked like they were having fun!

Hail Mary!

Marina was very excited for the church's Christmas Pageant this year. She got to play Mary. She's been going around the house with a blanket over her hair preparing for her costume. And we've been going over her lines all week. She even volunteered to bring one of her dolls for the Baby Jesus.

Before the church service, the kids arrived to rehearse. They went through the pageant twice before everyone arrived.

During the service, Marina and I lit the Advent candle. I read the prayers and Marina got help from Miss Judy lighting all four candles. Once we did that, she went into the classroom to put on her costume and wait with her friends for the start of the pageant.

The pageant went very well. Marina remembered all her lines and spoke in a loud, clear voice. She had a little trouble pulling Baby Jesus out of his hiding place to be born. All the kids seemed to have a good time.

For those of you who missed it, here is one of Marina's pivotal scenes.

The Leprechaun's Magic Hat

This evening was the third grade show. Marina has been looking forward to it for weeks.They put on a show called The Leprechaun's Magic Hat. Marina was disappointed that she didn't get to be a leprechaun, she was a dancer in the song “Gold, Glorious Gold.”

Despite her disappointment, she was happy with her dance. Earlier this year, the music teacher she'shad every since she stared at the school moved away. So the previous music teacher took over the direction of the show. Marina loved her! The kids were asked to wear green. Marina chose her bluish-green birthday dress.

 

There were two performances today. One for the school and this evening for parents. Marina located me and waved to me at each show. She seemed to have fun with the performance, often smiling as she sang. She and her best friend were standing next to each other which is to be expected.

After the second show, I gave her a bouquet of roses. She was pleased with those. She wanted to give one to Madison, but she had already left for home. She wanted to linger near the stage for quite a while after the show. But, since she has school tomorrow, we had to leave earlier than she wanted to.

Below is the video of "Gold, Glorious Gold" with Marina dancing.



Ballerina Bride

Marina's ballet class had their year end recital this evening. She always looks forward to these performances. Their performance was set to music from The Corpse Bride. It was quite jazzy for ballet. The dress rehearsal was a bit rough for her group. They were one of the last in the program and thy were tired by the time it was their turn to dance. They had several spots where all the dancers lost their place and had trouble getting back on track.

Miss Abby worked with them all for a while this evening while the other dances were going on. So, when it was their turn, they seemed more relaxed and confident. Their performance contained one "hiccup," as her teacher put it. But they all seemed much happier at the end of the dance.

When all the dancers came out for their bows, Marina stole the show.It looked like all the dancers in her class had worked on their curtsey together. As they exited the stage, Marina stated blowing kisses to the audience. What a ham she is!

Ballet Lessons

It was Parent Watch Week at Marina’s ballet class today. We can’t really see what is going on during their class, so it was fun to see what it is they usually do. They started off with stretching and then spent quite a long time at the barre. Compared to classes she’s had before it was quite a lot of work! Marina is one of the youngest in the class and she was working very hard. After the barre work was complete they practiced their recital routine. They have been working on it for a long time and they haven’t even completed the whole thing yet! It’s a complicated dance but they still have a while to learn the rest. Marina is learning so much from this class.

In Excelsis Deo

Our church put on it's annual Christmas Pageant today. This year, Marina actually had lines. She was one of the angels who appeared to the shepherds. She was pretty excited. The kids practiced several times this morning. Marina learned her part quickly and was excited for the performance. She did very well and happily accepted compliments afterwards.

Christmas Concert

Marina was anxious to take piano lessons again this year. I think she has finally realized she can make music when she plays. Miss Patty arranged for a Christmas concert today and Marina was excited to take part. She practiced for several weeks to get ready. She was nervous and excited today. But she did really well!

Dancing Princess

Marina was very excited for her dance recital, especially the “Walking on Sunshine” dance. She was especially happy to have me put make up on her before the show. She packed a bag with a few toys to play with while she wasn’t dancing.

Marina performed well in both dances. During “Walking on Sunshine” she was singing along with the song, it was so cute! During “Angel of Music” she located me in the audience and waved. Some things never change.

Here are videos I took of both dances at dress rehearsal earlier this week.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

Marina has been excited about her "show" for weeks. We have gone over her line at home until she knew it perfectly. And she wanted to be sure I was going to bring her flowers.

The class performed the show twice. First for the whole school and then in the evening for families. I went both performances. The show was called The Bear Went Over the Mountain and Marina played a bunny. She did such a good job. She spoke her line clearly into the microphone and seemed very comfortable.

Christmas Eve

When Marina woke up this morning, she stretched out a bit, then her eyes flew open and she said, “Christmas Eve!” I had told her she could open one gift on Christmas Eve and she took that literally. Before she was dressed, she wanted to open a gift. The one she chose was from me, a cat that purrs and walks. She named it Sparkle.


We went to the family service at church. Marina wore her green velvet Christmas dress with her pink princess Santa hat. She went up to the alter for the children’s sermon and even offered answers to a few questions. But her favorite part was the Christmas carols. She especially loved when we lit candles to sing Silent Night. She does appreciate that we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday as well as Santa making a visit to our house.


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Winter Wonderland

Marina's school had a craft fair and concert today. They called it "Winter Wonderland." Each class also had a scheduled time to perform. Marina's was one of the first. They sang three songs.

They started off with "We Are Thankful."



Then they sang "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel."



They finished with "Frosty the Snowman."



Once Marina's class was done, she wanted to go shopping at the craft fair. So we didn't get to see the other classes perform.

Piano Recital

Marina performed her first piano recital today. Miss Patty, her teacher, had scheduled her to play third. But Marina requested to go sixth, because she is six years old. So Miss Patty agreed. Marina played two very short pieces, "Freight Train" and "Key of C" (better known to us as the Turkey Song). She seemed quite comfortable in front of everyone.



After she was done she was so proud of herself! The hard part for her was waiting for everyone else to play their songs before she could have cake!

Song of Dreams - Ballet Recital

Marina's ballet recital was a neat one. It was called "Song of Dreams." The girls were all dressed like fairy princesses. Marina, as usual, waved to me when she found me in the audience. Actually, she did it twice. She seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get through it, finishing each movement faster than everyone else. But she was happy about it. If there is one thing Marina loves it's being on the "big stage."

If you weren't able to be there, here is the video I took of the dress rehearsal. Marina is in the back row on the far left end.

Kindergarten Family Celebration

To mark the end of the year, the kindergarten staff had a "Kindergarten Family Celebration." It started with the kids performing. They did many of the same songs they had done at their big show in April. But here are a few new ones.

Hello



Down By the Bay



(My camera had an error while filming the next one, "Everything Grows," so I only have the last 30 seconds or so. But since it was a new song, I went ahead and added what I got.)

Everything Grows



The music was followed by a video presentation of pictures the kids had taken of each other during the year. Many of them were very silly. We also got to see pictures of each student as a baby and now. That was fun!

The Kindergarten Show

The Kindergarten at Marina's school had their program tonight. Marina has been so excited about it. She's been asking for for over a week if I would come to her show. A few days ago, her question became, "Will you clap at my show?" Of course I did!

Marina knew the songs well and seemed to have fun on stage. At the beginning she looked for me and waved when she found me.

For those of you who couldn't make it, here's what you missed. Marina is in the second row off to the right side. She is wearing a long sleeved light blue shirt and a "pilot" hat.

Magical, Magical Me



You're Not Everybody



I Feel Tall Inside



When I Grow Up



I Like Being Little A Lot



One Light, One Sun



The Kindergarten Wall