Skye's week

this past week was all about Skye - and what a full week it was! it began with Skye's violin spring concert. quite an affair - there must have been about 80 children on the stage at one point. it was held at Middleton High School auditorium, a large space and i think Skye was daunted by the sheer size of it at first. she looked small and yet grown up, all at the same time. but she played well and we celebrated afterwards by going out for ice cream.





on tuesday, it was Skye ballet recital. another semester of dancing over! after the summer, Skye will start Ballet I and Claire will start her first ballet lessons. for this recital, the girls dressed up as the lilac fairy from "Sleeping Beauty."




and then thursday was of course Skye's birthday. she turned a big 7!! Phil's parents came in the afternoon and took Skye and Claire to the zoo and then we had sushi for dinner, a favourite of Skye's. she asked me to bake her a pineapple upside down cake. not the most attractive looking cake, but it was delicious!!


then saturday was Skye's party. i couldn't even think about hosting a party at home, so we decided to go to Badger Gymnastics and the girls had a great time.


i am exhausted after all the craziness of the past week. i was extremely thankful for a nap today, mother's day! :)

belated movies

here are two movies i just uploaded, one from Skye's ballet recital and the other from our new year's eve party (our hostess was very creative and put down strips of bubble wrap for us to jump on to make a terrific noise since we didn't have firecrackers). :)

Skye's ballet recital from slkim on Vimeo.

New Year Eve 2009 from slkim on Vimeo.

Christmas activities

so i thought our Christmas would be sort of low-key this year. we had some friends over for dinner Christmas eve and then it was just our family for Christmas day. the girls had a great time opening gifts and spent some time outside with the sleds. but on Boxing day, we drove to Chicago so Skye and i could attend the Joffrey Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker. Phil took Claire to the children's museum while Skye and i were at the ballet. thanks to my friends at the Joffrey, we got great seats. i was a little nervous about how Skye would do, if she could sit through the entire performance - and she did! she loved it and was mesmerized by the dancing and the music. it was a real treat for me too - it has been so long since i went to an adult ballet performance. don't get me wrong - i love going to my daughter's ballet recitals and watching her dance, but it was so inspiring to watch the Joffrey dancers doing what they are great at. we ate some good Korean food while in Chicago and of course had to give the girls a taste of Chicago pizza. and on Sunday, we drove back home. it was an exhausting weekend, but lots of fun.

the girls open their gift of PJs on Christmas eve


Christmas morning



at The Nutcracker

Skye's ballet recital

last week, Skye had her final ballet class for the year which is a recital for the family and friends to attend. here are some shots as well as a movie from the recital. i've posted lots more movies from the recital at vimeo, so please watch! :)

Skye goes to a ballet school called Storybook Ballet. they focus on the drama of ballet at this early stage, not so much on getting the steps right. every week, they read a story during class and then after learning some ballet steps, they dress up in costumes and act out parts of the story they just read. for the recital, the girls were all dressed up for "Cinderella."






here is one video of the recital. i've posted several more, so please watch! in this one, you will see how Claire disrupts the dance!! :)

Skye's ballet recital from slkim on Vimeo.

Ballet lesson

yesterday, i returned to weekly ballet classes. it was good, but as usual on the first day of class, i realized how weak my muscles have gotten over my time off from class and sure enough, i'm rather sore today. my teacher is quite eccentric and i was slightly worried about him - i had him for the first time last semester - because he talks incessantly during class and eats away at the time during which we could be dancing. but, in the midst of all his talk, there are some jewels to be found. yesterday, he was correcting us on our cambre into the barre and said we need to look at our bodies as parallel lines that sway together to create a picture. i love it when he talks like that! it is the reason why i take ballet - i'm always creating something on paper, either with paint or with words. ballet helps me get out of that - ballet is movement, creating something with my body and the space around it. and so much more immediate and temporal. i hope it is feeding my writing.

Ballet class with Vivian

in my attempt to get back into shape, i've taken up ballet again. it has been years since i danced, so i signed up for the beginner class and i'm glad i did. my muscles have gotten so weak, i couldn't even do a grand plie without a grunt! but it felt good to dance again, even though it was severely limited. the instructor is a character and should make classes interesting. i made the mistake of thinking Vivian would be a woman. i'm sure i'll have more stories about Vivian in the future, but at least he won't be a horror as some of my past male ballet instructors have been!

Pink tutu

so i dug up my old pink tutu that i had worn for "Cinderella" performances during my ballet days and passed it down to Skye. here is a movie of Skye when she first put on the tutu.


Pink Tutu from slkim on Vimeo.

and here is a shot of me wearing the very same tutu at the age of 8, i think.