December 13, 2011

On with the Sugar Rush

English toffee

English toffee. It's the reason for the season. Or is it the traditional Christmas morning coffee cake ring? Family gatherings, carols, large meals and gift exchanges are all very nice, and I'd miss them if they weren't part of our rituals, but take out the candy or the coffee cake and I think my world might stop spinning. Even if it didn't, it would definitely develop a bad wobble.

I'm thinking of you, Grandpa!

December 12, 2011

She's a teacup!

Caitlyn danced on stage for the first time this weekend, performing with her pre-ballet class in Spectrum Dance Theater's holiday production of Alice in Wonderland. It was a dance-school showcase with 134 students, ages 5-20, a variety of dance styles (ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary), and plot that pulled from both the new and classic Alice movies and the book. Caitlyn's class danced the part of the Tea Cups after the tea party scene with the Mad Hatter (acted by a young man doing his darnedest to channel Johnny Depp), the March Hare and the Doormouse (who got to stand on the table at one point, which seems to one of Caitlyn's favorite details).

Caitlyn as a Tea Cup in Alice in Wonderland

Yes, she's a head taller than everyone else in her class.

After their dance, the Tea Cups sang a modified version of "I'm a Little Tea Pot" ...

Caitlyn as a Tea Cup in Alice in Wonderland

... then ran off stage giggling. Impossibly cute.

Caitlyn as a Tea Cup in Alice in Wonderland

(Second two photos by Grandpa Robert Gilman.)

They did two performances on Saturday, after a long dress rehearsal on Friday night. Caitlyn did well on stage and says she had a great time, only complaining about how the elastic that kept the tea cup on her head pushed on her ears. She's discovered there will be another all-school performance in June and she's already excited about it, not only (I think) because this time she'll get to keep her costume. She's also attempting to recreate the dances of the other groups in the Alice performance, which means she now spends lots of time inventing new lyrics for Stray Cat Strut, not to mention a new tune and a new rhythm.

Her class danced to "It's a Small World." I am grateful for small blessings.

December 08, 2011

In Progress

lots of pins

note quite finished

What am I making today? (Bonus points available if you are not related to me!)

December 05, 2011

My Weekend

Things I did this past weekend:
  • spent 2 hours shoveling gravel into buckets as part of a work party in our local urban forest, Cheasty Greenspace at Mt. View. We graveled 75 feet of trail!
  • attended a showing of Once Upon a Circus, a production of the SANCA Youth Company. They attempted to tell fairy tales but kept getting the details mixed up. Favorite segments: the acrobatic seven dwarfs and Red Riding Hood's aerial routine. The introduction skit mangling The Lord of the Rings was pretty awesome as well.
  • made a bag from In Color Order's tutorial:
    drawstring baggie!
  • started the holiday sugar binge:
    first batch of caramels, 2011
  • complained a bunch about the sore muscles from yesterday's shoveling
  • took Caitlyn to her first dress rehearsal for Spectrum Dance Theater's holiday production of Alice in Wonderland
  • wandered around Urban Craft Uprising for the first time. Hmmm. Ideas to come.
  • watched the classic Disney Snow White with Caitlyn
  • took gratuitous pictures of the cat:
    Wasabi, alert

How was your weekend?