Bain Dance Academy present their 4th Annual Dance Recital. For the past five months Penny has been dancing in the ballet/jazz combo class. Her class will perform a jazz routine and a ballet routine for the recital.
Our Everyday
Sharing our stories, big and small.
Posts from the “childhood” Category
I love art. I love visual art and performance art; the Caravaggio hanging in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the saxophonist in Central Park, the cow sculptures that grazed New York City streets in the summer of 2000, Frida Kahlo’s letters to her secret lover José Bartoli, the play “Astro Boy and the God of Comics” directed by Natsu Onoda Power, “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tart. Art is what makes me feel more than me, more than a software sales professional, more than a mother living in the suburbs of Northern Virginia. Art connects me to something beyond my circumstance. When I find myself in a moment of art that moment is transformed from ordinary to memorable, adding nuance to the experience and settling itself deep down in the foundation of me.
I want to give my children a box full of crayons, with every color imaginable, so that they can create out of nothing, think beyond the lines and transform ordinary into art.
You love your pink doggy. Your faithful companion who comes to life just for you, sharing secrets and kisses. You love to snuggle. With thumb in mouth, pink doggy tucked under your arm and your blankie trailing behind, you make your way into my arms. You love trains. Thomas, Chuggington, the Monorail at Disney World, the Metro train, any train. You could challenge Tommy from 94.7 with your knowledge and love of pop songs. You shimmy your hips and belt out “Fancy” by Iggzy Azalea, “Lips Are Moving” by Meghan Trainor and “Sugar” by Maroon 5, the Kidz Bop version of course.
For one day of the year our children are trained to keep whining to a minimum, direct demands at Dad and shower Mom with handmade gifts, hugs and kisses. It is the one day of the year we can selfishly require our children to be well behaved, any misdemeanor greeted with a reminder of the name of the day. It is the one day of the year my family spoils me rotten and in return I linger; I linger in a conversation about video games, I linger in a game of tetherball, I linger after the stories are told, looking at their sweet faces as sleep comes.
“When I grow up I’m not going to have babies, Oliver will be my baby.”
– Penny
Ingredients
2 heaping cups of humor, and not just farts and yo momma humor, but self-deprecating humor
2 cups confidence
2 cups thoughtfulness
1 cup of observation like noticing a haircut, a new necklace or the biggest slice of cake
1/2 cup tenderheartedness
1 cup smart, like street smarts
1/3 cup empathy
4 tablespoons sensitivity to cold, to hot, to sweating, to criticism, to losing, to meanies
2 tablespoons rhythm (if buying pre-packaged rhythm be sure beatboxing and rapping are included)
2 tablespoons smart, like fractions and double-digit subtraction smart
1/2 teaspoon sentimentality
1 large, cozy lined baking pan
Directions
- Preheat oven with lots of big warm hugs and if its still not warm enough toss in a few foot stomps and huffs and puffs followed by a door slam
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir gently
- Slowly pour all ingredients into baking pan, being sure to coddle
- Place in preheated oven and wait ten years for it to rise and leave you for college
“Snowboarding” 
On Christmas Eve everyone gets to open one gift, Christmas pajamas and a new book. We snuggle up, watch The Polar Express and leave our cookies, letters and drawings for Santa.
The holidays uphold traditions more than any other time of the year, more than any other event or place. Whether to re-create years past, to measure how we’ve grown, to gain a sense of history, family and belonging, traditions are repeated. For us some traditions come and go based on the age and preferences of the kids. Each year affords us more flexibility. And while I like to uphold certain traditions, there is nothing like the new.
Tiny Tots Concert at JMHS (since 2011)
Breakfast with Santa at Clyde’s Willow Creek (since 2009)
Our Everyday 