Roar Of Love

At the age of 3, the boys were both involved in Gymboree or Kindermusik or something so I thought it only appropriate to get MK involved. Gymnastics would have been my choice simply because there is a lot of movement and I thought MK would enjoy it. MK had her own thoughts. She insisted on ballet. I know nothing about ballet but decided that I would follow her lead because, honestly, I know nothing about gymnastics either. We decided on a local dance studio that is well known in our city for their production of the Roar of Love. The Roar is a ballet based on CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This production is held once a year and is essentially the "recital" for the dance students.

Last night was the big production. MK's debut was perfect, she danced, she smiled, she did her ballet hands, she twirled and, as quickly as she made her appearance, her scene was over. It was one of those "don't blink or you will miss out" kind of debuts....short and oh so sweet. We were all so proud of her! And, the boys, well they were taken with the entire performance. They were a little reluctant about attending the ballet. There were two components that led the boys to believe the ballet was a stellar performance - 1) the ballet was based on a book that I read to them last year and they have seen the movie - they loved both and it made it easy to follow the ballet. Plus, there was a little sword action involved. 2) some of the music was from Star Wars - you know that you have possibly seen too much Star Wars when you hear the theme music playing and can recall the scene from the movie where the music was used. They were most impressed. My parents, Ryan and Emma were pleased as well. I think they all expected a recital yet it was a production full of very talented dancers. Ryan has even said to me more than once how he just was not expecting it to be that big. It really was amazing.

**MK is the little one in the center, tiny pic I know but it gives the feel of the show.

Curtain call.....well our little dancer was not so pleased during this portion of the show. Remember, our little one is not even a fan of people singing to her on her birthday....she does not like loudness. Couple that with the fact that it was 9:00pm, well past her bedtime and she was not a happy camper, AT ALL. The curtain call began and I had been told by another mother that the little ones would not participate in this portion of the show. However, to our surprise, they did, in fact, participate. MK, our precious little Cherub, looking so sweet and delicate in her costume, came out on stage holding hands in a line with her fellow Cherubs. She got to the center of the stage and that is when I saw it, the lip. The lip was poked out, the chin was quivering, the tears were streaming and the louder the clapping and cheering got, the more upset she got. I could read her lips as she was screaming, "Mommy! Mommy!" It was a most pitiful sight. Realizing that this was not an ideal situation and that our little ballerina was scared to death, I quickly stepped out and met her as she was coming off stage. A big kiss and an even bigger hug later, she was all good and ready to go get a celebratory donut from her favorite "Krisme Kreme."

This morning came and our little Cherub awoke. The first words out of her mouth were, "I cry and cry because I no like that clapping sound!" That, and she made us promise not to clap for her at her ballet class ever again.

I know I always state how busy we are but reality hit me once again when Colin made the statement, "Wow, tomorrow is Friday. Where did our week go?" I love the "always on the go" life that we have been given, never a dull moment. So, this week, what have we been up to? Well, for starters, the children enjoyed their first outdoor picnic of the spring season. All three of them loved spending time together playing and just hanging out. Of course, MK was in full force with her brothers playing "Clone Wars, Clone Wars".....she is well rounded. Basketball season is coming to an end just in time for baseball season to begin. When the boys were not chasing the big orange ball up and down a court, they were chasing a tiny white ball out on the field. And where was MK? Well, MK has her own little performance to do this weekend and we are all so excited for her. She will be starring in the Roar of Love ballet production as the most precious Cherub ever. She absolutely loves ballet! We went for a spacing rehearsal the other night, the entire family. MK was on stage doing her routine when she suddenly stopped, placed her little hand like a visor over her eyes, and peered out into the audience. Then she spotted all of us and waved the biggest waves ever. Three of us waved back. C made the biggest mistake by not waving. The moment she was done with her rehearsal, I scooped her up off of the stage, carried her down for the men in her life to oooh and ahhh over her when she suddenly put her hand up and cried, "Col-Col you not wave to me! Pryce waved to me, mommy waved to me and my daddy wave to me but not you Colin!" And with a big "hmmmphh" she was done and her point was made. That is our MK, always keeping us on our toes.

The dress up party before the rehearsal.....

Ta-Da!

MK is on the right. She did so good. She kept asking me on the way home if I saw her do both of her twirls and her ballet hands. She was proud of herself and she cannot stop talking about how Emma, Gran and Pop are coming to see her ballet. More to come!

Another little one united with their forever family! Our friends are currently in China adopting their baby girl, Cynthia. Yesterday was Gotcha Day for them and they are over the moon. Check them out at http://www.drakesofaugusta.blogspot.com/.

Our weekend, just like most weekends lately, was jam packed. Gone are the days that we used to nap when the kids napped and play while the kids played. Now are the days that we all go while the going is good and sleep when the sun goes down. Love it. Friday afternoon we chose to spend some time with just the boys. MK had a sitter who she loves to spend time with so she was happy as a lark. Saturday we had basketball games and baseball practice followed by a photo session with our babysitter. She just finished up a photo class at a local college and wanted some experience taking pics of children. Great for us as we needed some creative pictures to adorn the walls of the boys Star Wars themed room. With lightsabers in tow, we took a short walk and the picture taking began.

Following our photo session, we had our adoption group over for a gathering. We love having this group in our lives. It is good for all of us. The adults have adults to share with and the children all have each other. We are all same in that we have adoption as our common bond.

Big kids enjoying a game of soccer, little kids jumping and swinging, and the biggest kids chatting about life.

Our adoption buddies.....this time there were 6, next time there will be 9 - at least!

MK strikes a pose....

Mason-Kate was helping Ryan with laundry - you know that is what most dads do with their daughters, right?!!! In fairness, I was doing lesson plans and the boys were being boys and playing Rockband during this time. Anyway, MK broke out saying the pledge. Ryan realized what she was saying and he recorded it for us. Now, being that we are not so educated on how to do videos on the blog yet, I will write what happened.....so, it is MK standing all alone with Ryan video taping. MK has her right hand over her chest, she goes through the entire pledge, be it she was pledging to "the little flag" of America. Ryan asked her where she learned this and she said, "I don't know!" She then went on to say that she learned it in the "biiiggg gym" at her school down the "hallway." Ryan asked her if they had a flag in her room and her response, the ever so classic MK response, "Not so much!" The girl is funny. Pretty impressive though. Two years post Gotcha and she is reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Tonight we were in the car with MK. She loves to tell me that she loves me to the moon and back or to the store and back, etc. And she likes for me to reciprocate. I said, "Mason-Kate, I love you all the way to ballet and back." She laughed and said, "Oh, ok. You member I saw the peacock and Lucy and Tummus and Bambi? I saw them in the bigggg room with all those kids, member?" Last weekend Ryan took her to studio run through of her upcoming ballet production. The production is called the Roar of Love and is based on the Chronicles of Narnia hence the characters she was recalling. Anyway, she went on to say that she was sucking her thumb in the big room with the big kids. I asked her why she sucked her thumb and she responded, "Well, I was a wittle bit shy." I asked her if sucking her thumb helped and she said, "Well, no, not so much." That phrase seems to be key in her present life.