Dance 2013-2014 season and summer 2013

So, Ryanne is now registered for dance class for summer and fall. YAY! We figured out what we are going to do.

For the summer she will be taking a combo class of ballet and jazz. This is only  6 week session so she'll have a break from dance as well, of course, she doesn't want one. LOL!

For fall, we are going to keep her in the combo tap/ballet class one more year but also sign her up for mini jazz. She is soooo excited! :) YAY!!

For your enjoyment, watch this practice class of Ryanne dancing. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_tDCOn-qo&feature=youtu.be

Next week we will get her costume and then she will have picture day. Then only two weeks from that will be the recital on June 1st. May 31st is her rehearsal and Collin's testing for his next belt.Not to mention, May 31st is Collin's last day of school so we have to finish all that up. Phoo! This month is going to be busy!!! I cannot wait for summer vacation. ;)

Dressing My Truth Challenge Preparation

So, I am striving to complete the Dressing Your Truth (DYT) Challenge of DYT for 30 days. Yikes!! I know... you're asking, "What is Dressing Your Truth?" Remember me talking about the amazing book The Child Whisperer? It's written by the same woman about the same thing but it talks about our clothing style and how these types should dress to make them feel more comfortable and confident in who they are. So far, it has been really fun. I found that most of my clothes were in the style of a type 2 but not the right colors. So, maybe I was trying to find my type 2 style but just hadn't quite pin pointed it. Unfortunately, I am not a millionaire and cannot afford a brand new wardrobe so I had to make some affordable changes, for example:

A type two is soft and subtle so black is not an appropriate color for me so I had to fix that problem.

Guess who got hold of a can of grey spray paint! Oh yes, that was me. I spray painted my black shoes. LOL! :) I also spray painted a belt but didn't get a pic of it. Ooops!

I tried to bleach some of my blacks in the bathtub. That didn't work. They are still black. Next I'll try RIT color remover. If that doesn't work, are there any Type 4s out there who want some clothes? :)

I am also not supposed to wear white. Sorry, type 1s, you don't get my whites because I found a solution. I dyed them. Did you know that RIT dye is only $2.29/box? Oh yeah!! So much cheaper than new clothes. From left to white pictured, a bat wing shirt but it only dyed the lace edging and the rest of it just looks dusted gray but that's okay, it's an interesting, subtle look still. The middle skirt is my favorite. It was tan and white and the white is now gray and it looks really cool. This skirt also had bronze sequence sewn on it which is a type 3 thing so they had to go too. I just used the seam ripper and removed those. The final one was a solid white skirt. It's now gray and looks really cool. I cannot wait to wear these!! :) YAY! 

In a month look for a post with pictures of my DYT experience and how it felt. :) FYI, if you see me regularly then you'll probably see me wearing a lot of the same clothes in the weeks to come because I don't want to go out and purchase new clothes until I see if this works. :)

Yesterday I Would Have Said 'No'

So, I started reading this book called The Child Whisperer. I have only gotten through the type I section and, oh my goodness! This is totally Ryanne. A type I child wants to have fun and be happy. They love pretending and having fun. So many things about Ryanne make so much more sense now. These children often come up with ideas they think would be fun. Of course, I cannot always say yes but these ideas must be acknowledged. I used the tips from the book twice today. At the grocery store she was saying something. I can't even remember it now. I said no and she kept asking. Then I remembered the book and said, "That would be tons of fun and such a great idea but I don't think the grocery store is an appropriate place for it."
She replied, "Really? OK."
That's it. She let it drop. I was so surprised. Haha. It worked.

The other example was this morning. We woke up to rain;no thunder or lightning, just rain. She asked, "May I jump in the puddles?"
In my head I was thinking, no way! Then I thought, this is fun for her and it will make her happy. It won't cause any harm. So, I said yes. She had on her pajamas and just threw on her jacket and boots and ran out into the rain to jump in puddles. She loved it and had so much fun. Love it!

She wanted to play with the water hose in the sun. Again, I said yes.

All the pics are below b/c I am doing this mobile and cannot control where the pics are positioned. Enjoy the joy shown in the pics below.

Hiking with 6 kids and a grandma

This time my sister's oldest was going to a birthday party. Since she lives 30 minutes out of town we thought it would be fun if we hung out together. It was a beautiful day and we were both broke so we decided on a free, outdoors activity. In our little city there are 1200 acres of forest and wetlands in the middle of it. Isn't that odd? Yes, but it's awesome! We get cell reception in the middle of the woods. So, we decided to go hiking. My mom was in town as well so we took their grandma along as well. So fun! Here are some pics from our 2 mi adventure in the woods. Collin and my 2nd oldest niece are both in first grade and have been learning about habitats in science. This was a great opportunity because the route we took was through wetlands and forest habitats. We were able to talk about book and make it slightly educational as well. ;)

State House Field Trip

So, my sister and I did a little switch-a-roo for this field trip. I have Collin and Ryanne but Collin is the only one in school. My sister has 5 kids and only the oldest two are in school. So, I left Ryanne at her house and Paul and I took her oldest two and Collin to the state house. The younger kids had a blast playing at my sister's house and the older 3 had fun on an educational day at the state house. :) I am so glad that Paul went with us b/c I HATE driving in the city. I find it very intimidating. So glad we live in a tiny city. ;)

This was my oldest niece's favorite monument. She had recently learned about the emancipation of African Americans  in her history class so she was going through the monument telling us what everything was. 

Some of the classmates gathered together for a pic. This wasn't all but the best group picture I had.

Collin is in the white and red shirt sitting behind the kid with his arms spread out wide. My nieces are  just a few steps below him on the right side.

The mosaic glass was amazing.

This is some of the architecture and colors of the main lobby. I thought it was really pretty.

The dome from the inside. This is actually a fake dome placed inside the real dome because the real dome isn't centered in this room.

During the civil war, the northerners started firing and  hit George Washington's monument. Then they realized who  it was and stopped because they actually like him. :)

The stars are where cannon balls hit the state house during the civil war. There are 6 total.

This is a wider shot of the African American monument.

Main lobby

Upstairs mosaic glass. They said this is priceless.

Parents Magazine had a SPD article in it. :)

I thought I'd share it here. It's kind of long so that's why there is a page break. If you want to see the rest of it then click below. Of click here to see it on their site. :)

Dance

I am proud of my little Ryanne. She started dance back in October. She was 4, almost 5, so they went ahead and put her in the 5-7 year old ballet/tap combo class. She has worked hard, practices almost daily and her work has paid off. Her little recommendation sheet was sent home yesterday and she is going to move up to the pre-ballet and jr tap classes. Her teacher also thinks Ryanne will love mini jazz. I agree. We can only afford two of them so now I have to figure out which two to put her in. Oh, the decisions....