Cecchetti Dance Theatre's Swan Song {but it's really mostly about Fiona}

I've said before that I have witnessed big change in my little girl this year.

After Fiona's year end dance performance I reflected on how far she's come in even this small part of her life.

When we first started attending the Cecchetti Dance Theatre classes I could barely peel Fiona off of me and certainly couldn't leave the room.

I sought help from the instructor with no great expectations.

But man, ask and you shall receive.

She immediately formulated a plan to transition Fiona into the class and make her feel comfortable.

After only a handful of weeks I was dropping her off and getting the backhanded wave as she sprinted to line up with her classmates.

She loved the classes so much that she even ran her own "dance show and lesson" at school just a month after the last performance.

 I volunteered to be one of the supervising parents at the show again which was exhausting but great.

I love being a part of the excitement backstage and seeing the beautiful performers up close.

On the other hand, 13 three and four year olds can wear a Mama out.

I was thankful for the lunch break and thoroughly enjoyed my date at Next Act with sweet Fi.

 The show was Peter Pan and once again blew me away.

The kids were captivated and forgot all about their own performance as they waited for the cue in the wings.

 Once they shuffled onstage, however, they stole the show.

Again.

Who wouldn't love these little lions and zebras?

As I mentioned in this post, the Cecchetti families received exciting news that the school, starting next season, will be the new Edmonton studios of the Alberta Ballet.

They certainly have earned it with the amazing instruction and organization.

Never would I have believed that it was possible to incorporate all levels and ages of performers into such a beautiful production, until I saw them do just that.

Again.

As long as this continues to make Fiona as happy as it does now, we look forward to many amazing performances yet to come.

Proud of you Edmonton

I love Edmonton.

This is where I would usually insert all of the "despites" but not today.

I'm done apologizing for all that others don't like about this city.

It is a damn great city.

I feel that way more than ever having just participated in the Pride Parade.

As I biked through our beautiful river valley across the amazing high level bridge and rounded the corner towards the rainbow filled streets to line up for the parade I couldn't have felt happier.

I have always felt lucky to be surrounded with people who celebrate diversity and inclusion but it still warms my heart to see just how many do so.

Then I get to hang with these beautiful people as we get ready to spin our little hearts out for 8 city blocks.

To top it off we saw our mayor bike by with his wife and kids.

Not to mention that he was surrounded by many city councillors and joined by a number of local politicians from all branches of government.

We've come such a long way. 

So proud.

Photo courtesy of MasterMaq, used with permission.

 This was our first year participating in the parade and it was a blast.

The crowd was beautiful.

So colourful, loud, energetic and diverse.

 We outfitted a truck with flags, ribbons and the large speakers we use to fill a gymnasium with sound at our yearly competition.

Even so it all seemed to fade in the background compared with the amount of colour and sound the other entries had going.

Next year bigger speakers and more colour is in order.

We had some wonderful volunteers cheering us on, working our sound, keeping us hydrated, driving the truck and taking photos.  Thanks Darren, Niki, Scotty and Steve.

Thanks also to Stacey for taking Ced to the parade while Daddy was finishing off my volunteer duties at Fiona's dress rehearsal.

It was too bad they had to miss the festivities but if you can't be at the parade why not celebrate pride with some ballet looking fierce as a zebra, am I right?

 Pride Week is still in full swing and it's not too late to take in the family and some not-so-family events.

Update on Fiona and the Lake

As Fiona stomped out of the room screaming today {or something like that, I've lost track} my {pregnant} friend Jenna commented that "this is why they don't come out 4."

There could not be a more true comment.

I remember when Fiona was first born we had a friend from Calgary stay with us for a while.

I agreed to watch her 4 year old daughter on the days she went to work.

She was a sweet girl but I remember at the time thinking that I would never have enough energy to parent a preschooler, ever.

At the time I certainly did not.  

But only because I was the mother of a barely crawling baby.

I had yet to be broken in.

I hadn't had to run after/ reason with/ argue with/ reprimand/ hand out consequences to/ have my feelings hurt by a child yet.

I only knew how to parent an 8 month old, it's all I needed to know.

Now I have this beautiful girl who will be attending public school in only a year's time and I still find myself wondering if I am doing the best I possibly can for her.

At least now I have the energy.

Fiona loves dressing like a princess {just ask the cashiers at the grocery store}.

Fiona loves to sing and dance but only on her terms, if you ask for a performance you will most likely get a no.

She starts many sentences with "Well, most-blee..." or "And even I..."

She still loves eating at a "res-iss-trant" and can often out-eat us all.

She's a fast runner and has recently started choosing a scooter as her mode of transportation.

She's so funny but this side of her personality stays most-blee at home.

She is cautious but will at times take some {calculated} risks.

She surprised me the other day by going down the big waterslide at our pool all by herself.

Months ago she shocked me by doing this for the first time then a fall on the way out made her rethink the decision, until now.

She is constantly surprising me.

She is a breath of fresh air.

 Until she's not.

Fiona likes to do things like colour all over her body or cut chunks of her hair off.

Don't even mention what I'm in for in her teens, I know.

 Then moments later she'll do something so sweet like pick me a bouquet of "flowers" or line them up the steps.

 She still needs more sleep than most children much younger and has reverted to taking a daily nap.

Pretty much anywhere.

 She loves the lake and can't wait to break out the pink lifejacket.

We're one step closer since we got the dock in a couple weeks ago.

This was one of our big projects out there since we turned the large section into a floating dock.

We managed to get it done in a day since the kids cooperated and it cost us a total of $10 for materials since we already had 2 barrels.

Now we're just praying that it holds up.

 We toyed with the idea of investing in running water {with tanks} and approached the bank for an equity line of credit to do so.

We have almost two hundred thousand in equity but found ourselves having to fight a little too hard for the loan.

According to the bank, Jeff's salary cannot count towards our income since he is "self-employed". 

Never mind that Jeff is payed a monthly salary by our company with multiple shareholders.

Never mind that we provide work to 8 people and have written letters of employment for their financing.

In the end we dropped it since the frustration wasn't worth the end result.

At this point I would much rather haul a couple of water jugs and use the outhouse than plead our case to another banker.

Update on Cedric and Spring

Sure I can update you on Spring, I am the authority on seasons don't you know.

Obviously incorrect but I will say that I can't believe spring is almost over and I have yet to talk about it.

I have been watching cherry trees bloom and kids rolling on beautiful lush grass on Instagram and wondered longingly when that would begin here.

Finally, in the last few weeks our fruit trees have blossomed and our lilac is just now in it's full glory.

Our lawn is another story, it needs a lot of TLC.

We're pretty tough on it so it seems to be in a constant development phase.

I'm also pretty sure I let our beautiful plum tree die.

This tree has year after year produced enough plums to yield dozens of jars of plum jam even after we eat as many as physically possible.

In the last couple of years a second tree has grown next to it, this is the one pictured below.

It hasn't yet produced fruit but we haven't needed it to because of the abundance of the first.

This year, however, our big tree didn't bloom at all so I'm not expecting any fruit.

What do I know though, I'm no arborist, maybe there's hope for it yet.

We managed to plant the garden again this year so now is the time when I sing to it a little, recite some positive affirmations then say a little prayer that something will grow.

I'm sure I'll be a good gardener someday, right?

Looks like Cedric's not convinced.

 Of course I have more important living things to tend to so I give myself some slack.

Cedric certainly has me on my toes.

He is determined to attempt and accomplish everything.

His favourite phrase right now is "DID IT!"

He's so proud when he keeps up to his big sister and her friends.

Though I'm also so proud of him I often wish the thing he "DID" did not involve heights, speed or objects that could be used as a weapon.

He called me "Mom" today for the first time and I already miss his previous names for me which included "Mum-mum" then "Ma-yee" most recently.

He can seem so big at times so I do things like not cut his baby curls off.

I totally understand the little-boys-with-long-hair thing now.

I mean how can you bring yourself to chop those sweet little locks.

I did however give him the dapper style you see above to eschew comments like "what a sweet little girl" or "how old is your daughter?"

I joke of course, not about the comments I do get those, about letting them guide my choices for Ced. 

This handsome devil can rock any style he wants as far as I'm concerned.

May Long Weekend in Pictures

We had a fabulous long weekend at the lake.

It was full of great friends, great food and great fun; peppered with a little work.

The lake is up again.

Can I get a hallelujah.

 The weather was beautiful.

The kids were happy.

 Fiona honed her art skills.

 There was much more laughing than crying.

Our new screen door took a beating.

Cedric was thoroughly impressed that this {empty} beer bottle featured a bike.

 Food takes so much better at the lake.

 The kids pitched in.

 A rare snuggle with the dogs.

We stayed out as late as possible by the warmth and light of the campfire.

 Thanks Christy for capturing a family photo.

 The kids refused to come in during the single rainstorm.

 But even indoors felt like an oasis.

Here's to a summer full of the same simple moments.

Mother's Day

For the past few years I have struggled to figure Mother's Day out.

Before I had children it was so simple, I could focus on my own Mom.

Once married I had 2 Moms to celebrate, but it still felt clear.

I want to continue to show these women how special they are even now that I am a Mom myself.

When doing so it almost feels like I'm throwing my own party, tooting my own horn so to speak.

Suddenly I'm questioning whether or not I should shout the praises of Mothers from the rooftops.

I mean, have some modesty right?

Well, I say down with modesty.

I am a Mom and so proud of it.

I have been fortunate to have great maternal role models.

Many women cringe at the thought of turning into their Mother.

I hope I should only be so lucky.

I do the best I can for my kids and that includes leading by example.

I want my children to be healthy and one way I'm helping to make this happen is to include fitness in our family activities.

The Mother's Day walk/run was a perfect way to start the day.

Jeff's first Mother's Day gift to me: he walked with the kids so I could run alongside my Dad.

We chatted while waiting at the finish line for our walking family members.

The conversation inevitably turned to the kids at which point my Dad said "They're such good kids Cheryl. You are just doing a great job with them."

That was it, what I didn't even know I wanted.

One of the people I respect most  to validate the effort I put into being a Mother.

It was a small part of the day but so big for me.

I also want to ingrain the importance of family.

I love when our house is teeming with loved ones and this was accomplished with a BBQ lunch. 

Which I was so busy at {just the way I like it} that I took almost no pictures.

This was an extra special Mother's Day since it was the first for my SIL Brianna.

The day may have been for the Moms but the family's newest addition was still the centre of attention.

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Fiona's First Ballet

Fiona has been to watch the Alberta Ballet once which I shared in this post.

The preview that we attended at that time was the perfect length for an almost 3-year-old.

I was planning to make this year's Nutcracker Fiona's first experience with a full ballet.

Then we received some most wonderful mail, two tickets to the dress rehearsal of Alberta Ballet's latest offering, Class Acts.

How, you may ask, did we get so lucky?

As a testament to the quality of Fiona's dance school, Cecchetti Dance Theatre, they have been asked to join the Alberta Ballet as its Edmonton Studios.

As a current Cecchetti student, Fiona was invited to this performance.

And being such a kind Mama I skipped happily the whole way there agreed to go along.

I still haven't gotten used to the new courtyard outside the Jubilee entrance.

I love it, but it feels like a different building than that of my childhood.

Fiona told me as we chose our seat that she was scared and wanted to sit close to the back.

We agreed on one half way down and she looked around tentatively.

 After a while she settled into the seat, clutched her ticket and with a deep breath informed me that we could move a little closer.

 She took my hand and led me right up to the third row.

A little closer indeed, kid.

I was ecstatic since I rarely pay enough for such a great seat.

It took all my strength not to sneak a couple of close up pictures of those beautiful dancers but I'm a rule follower you know.

We absolutely loved the show.

I'm usually a sucker for classical ballet but this production had none of that.

What it had was pure entertainment, great music and a backdrop that was not in the least bit fussy but set the stage for each number seamlessly.

 Fiona had her treat radar on and spotted the ice cream immediately at intermission.

 We sat on those very steps just as I remember doing at her age.

Now this is a view that hasn't changed a bit.

I gave Feefs an out, telling her that if she would like we could head home.

She looked at me like I was crazy and informed me that she would like to go back and watch another show, thank you very much.

That's my girl.

 I was so happy that there was still decent light when we left so I talked Fiona into a picture.

She really was a happy camper but I mean, do you know a 4-year-old who will hold a smile for 10 seconds?

 We are so thankful to the Alberta Ballet for the opportunity to see this fabulous show.

We completely forgot that it was a dress rehearsal. 

Not once did they call a reset and our {untrained} eyes didn't see a single glitch.