She grew! Maria thinks that the birthday is the day you grow. Fortunately, all of her growing has happened slowly over the year, and now she is six, and she is a bigger girl than when she was only five.
On the day of her dance class, we rushed out our door, and I was so proud to get her to the studio on time. As we walked up to the studio door, Maria tugged my sweater and said, "I just remembered, teacher said there is no class on Thanksgiving." I should have remembered too: No class the week of Thanksgiving! But there we were, ready to go. Figures I would get it right, when it was wrong.
Then I remembered Grandma BooBoo and Grandpa Ron's birthday gift to Maria: Tap shoes! Maria borrows shoes when she goes to her weekly tap and ballet class. It works fine for the class, but as my mommy pointed out, it doesn't give her an opportunity to practice. Thank goodness for grandmothers! Even from a distance, they can fill in the gaps, lend a hand, offer support, and be there. I know I need my gaps filled, quite often.
So, we left the dance studio and headed over to the store that sells all things dance. Maria got measured for tap shoes. And seeing, really paying attention, to the condition of her "pink" tights, I grabbed a new pair of those too.
They are so shiny!
Maria was speechless... surrounded by point shoes, and tutus, and all things sparkly, and she could not believe she was getting her very own tap shoes.
"These are from Grandma BooBoo and Grandpa, Maria." I explained to her that they sent the shoes for her birthday. Her jaw dropped. It's funny when someone's jaw really does drop open, the look of astonishment that comes over them. She was definitely grateful, and I realized why her amazement was a bit much when she asked, "How did they do that? How did they get the tap shoes into this store for me?" Even after explaining about how the transaction actually took place, she was still mighty impressed.
She has been tap~tap~tapping her joy and gratitude all over the house!
Thank you BooBoo and Ronnie!
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After dropping off Maria and Max at school, Geoff came home and informed me that Maria was very excited that mommy would be bringing cupcakes to school for her birthday!
yipe
panic
scramble
Somehow, I consistently fumble on one thing or another, and cupcakes to the classroom is just the tip of the iceberg.
Trader Joe's to the rescue! I had a box of their pumpkin cake mix in the pantry. Ooh, that pumpkin cake is delicious! To the mix I add a grated carrot, a scoop of oatmeal, and a mini scoop of flax meal. Then into the muffin cups goes the batter.
Maria loves these muffins, but to make them party special I grabbed a tub of whipped cream cheese from you know where, and mixed in some cinnamon, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Dab, swirl, go!
Cupcakes to the classroom success.
sigh
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It can be hard to jump back in to regular life after a sad event. Professor Moriarty was a sweet innocent, and Alex's personal pet. Everyone here has been knocked a bit off-kilter by his injury, and his sad passage.
The kindness of all of You, friends new, old, far, and near, has been so sweet and comforting... a lovely reminder of how good we can be to each other. It just feels so nice when people let you know that you are thought of, that you are not alone, so thank you. Thank you for taking time to reach out to us... you made our week better than it might have been.