Saturday, May 16, 2015

Ceili Dance

Lydia, Sam, and I went to a Ceili Dance last night.

SO. FUN.

Ceili (kay-lee) dancing is Irish folk dancing.  It's not quite the same as step dancing (e.g. Riverdance), but some of the moves are the same.  If you could marry step dancing and square dancing, that would be about it.

I think I got the basic jig step down, but the Rise and Grind is a bit trickier. This will take some practice before the next dance.


 And this is really slowed down.

I wasn't quite sure what the demographic would be for a dance like this.  I think I was expecting a lot of older folks.  However, besides the caller/teacher and the band, we six homeschool moms who brought our kids were the oldest people there!  Most of the attendees were in their 20's, I'm guessing.


Ceili Swing Hold
Put your right hand on your partner's side.  Hold left hands underneath the right arms.
Stand more to the side of each other rather than in front.  (Photo is not from last night.)

For one of the songs, I had to swing with someone else's partner for eight measures using the Ceili swing hold pictured above.  He meant business.  He swung us so fast that my feet barely touched the floor.  Super-fun!

Here's Lydia (middle) with a couple of her besties--and
 an attempted photo-bomb on the right.


Here are some of the youngest dancers.
(Sam is on the right.)

At one point between songs, Sam was clinging to my arm while we waited to hear what the next dance would be.  The second that the caller said, "You're gonna need a group of three for this dance..." Sam dropped me like a hot coal and ran over to these two.  Not a hug.  Not a word.  Nuthin'.  Complete and immediate abandonment.  I had to dance with random strangers.  (It was still fun.)

I got a few seconds of video footage of the last--and most difficult--dance of the night.  I had to sit this one out because I was still catching my breath from The Bonfire Dance (my favorite).  This is the complicated arch part of The Fairy Reel.  So here's my kid who complained about the dances being too hard in the musicals, yet he volunteers himself to learn the trickiest dance of the night.  *shrug* 

Aren't they cute?
I hope they didn't hurt the guy from the other trio.
These three are at a bad height for him. 


Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Dinner Conversation with Kids

Lydia: "Let's go around the table and say our favorite colors."

Jeffrey: *Starts to get up to literally go around the table saying his favorite color.*


Me: "Sit down, Jeffrey."


Lydia: *Big sigh*  "So Sam, what's your favorite color?"


Sam: "Ummm...light green!"


Lydia: "Mom, your turn."


Me: "Sage green."


Lydia: "Dad?"


Dave: "Let's see.  I'm gonna say...dumpster green."


Lydia: "Ewww!  Do you mean the color inside the dumpster?  Or the color it's painted?"


*Laughter*


Me: "Well, I'm glad that I didn't name any of you Dumpster.  That would've been embarrassing."


(Our last name is Green, so we felt we couldn't really name any of our children names like Kelly, Forest, Jade, or any kind of flower/plant.  Dumpster really never made the list...until now.)


*Laughter continues with everyone offering a shortened version of Dumpster as a first name, such as: Dumpy, Dump, Dum, Dummy, and Dumpsty.*


************************************************************************************************


Some families have enlightened conversations about world events, politics, and theology.  

Our family?  Not-so-much.  


Rummage, Yard, or Garage?

We have so much stuff.

Way back in January, I set a date in my planner to have a rummage sale on June 20th.  I was going to work on de-cluttering this room in February and that room in March...blah, blah, blah.  Though I haven't stuck to the plan exactly, I have gone through a number of areas in the house.


And we still have so much stuff.


*SIGH*


I'm still planning to have that rummage sale, but now it's already May (gulp) and there's a lot left to be sorted through.  And we're trying to catch up on schoolwork.  And camp is starting up.  And...basically...I fear I'll run out of time.


So I should get off this blog and get back to work!  I only thought that if I made my intentions more public, I'll be more likely to carry them out.


So what do you call it: rummage sale, yard sale, or garage sale?

Have you ever had one?
Got any tips for me?

(Please pray that it doesn't rain here on June 20th.)

Monday, May 11, 2015

Mother's Day

I had a strange Mother's Day today.

Last night, I went to bed before dinner.  I prepped most of the meal, and then Dave offered to finish up for me since I wasn't feeling well.  I think I slept for 12 hours (which is why I'm awake now at 1:30 AM).

When I awoke, Dave had already left to do camp promotion at a church north of Milwaukee.  I felt a little better, but I've got a sinus thing going on where I wake up with a head full of gunk, a sore throat, and a sinus headache.  This morning I had some vertigo too.

That being said, I had a pretty good Mother's Day!  Weird, I know.  But after a hot shower to clear out my head a little, I put on some fresh pajamas and read books in bed--all day.  The kids were really sweet about letting me rest.  I got up now and then to do a little laundry, eat, and even clean my room a bit--since it was also Clean Your Room Day today.  Whenever the vertigo acted up, I just went back to bed.  I closed my eyes for a few minutes while the room stopped spinning, and then I cracked my book open again.

I love days when I'm sick enough to stay in my jammies, but not too sick to read.

When Dave got home, most of us watched Fiddler on the Roof followed by the season finale of Once Upon a Time.  So, a really nice and laid-back Mother's Day, though I was disappointed we missed church.

Also, Dave the kids got me this lovely Willow Tree figurine.  I'm not usually one for tchotchkes, but I do really like these.  They have a simple beauty.  This one is called "Quietly".  It's perfect because all of my kids are so quiet.  Kidding!  They're all so snuggly--and these two kiddos look so cuddly, don't they?  *sigh*  Kind of makes me miss those toddler days.




Happy Mother's Day!