The First Recital!

Emma's first dance recital was last night. The videos are too long to post- but you can just imagine how cute she was!!! :) She was in two dances- one for ballet and one for jazz. Here she is before we left home with her robe to cover up her first costume. Her teacher said it was unprofessional to show your costume before you dance...which I had never heard before...but she seems to know what she's talking about...so we covered up. Emma went to school with curlers in her hair so she could have a "curly ponytail" for the performance. At the rehearsal the night before, I saw how much she loved being on stage! She looked so pleased when the bigger dancers complimented her on her splits and she got the biggest smile on her face when she heard people clapping for her dance. :) The next day she told me that she was going to be back stage praying during the performance...I asked her why...she said so she wouldn't get stage fright.
Here's my cutie pie in her first costume back stage waiting to perform, with a few of her friends. She said she felt like a "puffball". Just watching the excitement she had makes me happy. :) It gives me huge incentive to get this charter school off the ground. As I sat watching her last night, I thought again of how every great project starts with someone's small dream. The charter school is actually on a good track...we have a good board who are dedicated to the project, and a good chance of being approved this year. :) Another incentive pushing me to create this school is a note Emma brought home from school yesterday. It said Emma doesn't play well with others.....what??? We sat down and talked about it and Emma asked me if it was ok to stand up for herself. WOW! She's 5! How does she even know what that means? So we discussed that standing up for herself was better if she chose not to be mean back to kids who are mean to her. We decided that being funny was a better option. :) Emma has a great teacher- and I don't think changing schools is the answer to that problem specifically- but I do think she will be more likely to succeed in a school where she is learning in a different way with a smaller class size.
DJ brought Emma a rose after her performance. She was SO thrilled after performing...I have never seen her so happy. When we see performances, she likes to get pictures and autographs after it's over. After her performance, she told me I could take pictures of her and get her autograph. :) I'm glad it was such a good experience for her. :) Emma's grandma and her best friend/cousin Ashley also came to watch the recital- it meant a lot to her to have them there. :) She asked them what their favorite part was...Grandma said it was when she was blowing kisses to the audience as she walked off stage. I have to say my favorite part was see her shake those cute little hips. :)
Nothing could make me happier than when I get to see Emma happy. :) Nothing makes me sadder than when I see her little heart break. I am grateful that I was able to take a few hours off work to watch Emma's first recital!

When I got back to work, someone told me that Brian Regan was coming to Tuacahn. I literally RAN to the computer and got my tickets right then. :) If you don't know Brian Regan, you need to check him out. He is so funny with no dirty jokes. :) One time I was listening to his "I walked on the moon" show while I ran on the treadmill. I was laughing so hard I very nearly fell off! As I was buying tickets, I called my work friends who share the love for Brian Regan....looks like we'll have a big group together for the show....with lots of jokes to tell back to each other at work later. :)

Yesterday was also a day for deep conversations at work. I had some very good heart to heart talks with several friends while we waited for calls or on the way home from calls. It is such a good feeling to have true friends. I am grateful for every one of them. Yesterday the topics were religion and relationships. :) I find myself confused with both of those things presently...so it's always good to get other perspectives. :) I decided to find out for myself what I believe, and have been visiting other churches as well as studying what the different churches teach. I've never done anything like this before. I always thought I was pretty unshakable and knew what I believed. Turns out we get experiences in life to teach us that we are human and it is very possible to be shaken. :) I'm glad for that too. :)

Namaste friends. :)