Happy 1st Anniversary

A sweet college friend has a giveaway on her blog...check it out here.
You may have seen her stuff at your local Hallmark store...if you haven't, look for it!

A Banner Day

Hannah's third horse show was filled with firsts. After two shows of rain and drizzle that chilled us to the bone, the sunshine and temps in the low 60's were a welcome change. Next, we arrived at the show to find quite a surprise--"facilities" that consist of more than port-o-lets. Flushing is good!

And last, but certainly not least, was Hannah's first blue ribbon. The show was double judged, meaning two judges placed the class, giving two (usually different) sets of winners. Hannah didn't place at all in her Hunter Pleasure class (her horse, April, was carrying her head a bit high and wasn't looking too peppy in her trot). So, I really was hoping she would ride well in the Equitation Class, where she, as a rider, determines her own fate more so than in the Hunter Pleasure. I thought she looked good in her pattern...but what do I, the non-horseman, know? I thought some other girls looked even better. They call out winners beginning with the sixth place finisher. When they had called out the 5th, then the 4th, and none of them were number 148, my heart sank thinking she wasn't going to place at all. Both Hannah and I were equally shocked when her number was called out last, for first place. I'm still not sure what she did to deserve being pinned first, but she'll take it. The other judge pinned her 5th, still quite respectable in a class of twelve girls.

Quote of the Week

Maybe I should start a weekly feature of the best quote of the week here at Stately Eades Manor. If I were to have that feature, this week's would go to Kevin, my kind, thoughtful, going-to-be-a-fantastic-husband-someday, wonderful son. Today has been a little wacky. The girls are at someone else's house for Alyssa to give a tap and ballet lesson while Victoria gets her piano lesson. Kevin was offered a job, so he was getting ready to leave at 1:30. That was going to leave just Caitlyn and me waiting for Matthew to get off the bus. Serious as a heart attack, Kevin says to me before he leaves, "Mom, are you going to be okay by yourself?" Isn't that sweet...but who does he think kept a 7yo, 5yo, 3yo and infant not so many years ago, all by herself?

An Extreme Weekend

Friday evening, a very handsome chauffeur, taxied four very excited young ladies and me to the theater in Jacksonville. Patrick and I gave the girls Riverdance tickets as part of their Christmas gifts from us and the big day had finally arrived. Patrick's sister was supposed to go with us, but had a last minute change of plans, so one of Alyssa's friends joined us. We got all dressed up; after all, how often do WE get to see Broadway on Tour? We didn't intend to look like we were going to a funeral, it just sorta happened that way. :-)

When purchasing tickets, as it clicked around Ticketmaster and online diagrams of the theater, I had agonized over where we should sit. I finally decided on balcony seats so we could see the choreography from above. Overall, I was pleased with the decision but did realize how much I love costuming. And we were just too darn far away to really see details of the costumes. My only disappointment of the evening.

I am possibly the only person to cry at Riverdance, but after watching young (inexperienced) dancers for so long, it just brought tears to my eyes to see everything executed so perfectly; no spacing problems, no one lagging behind, no one looking at their neighbor to see what to do next...just perfection on a scale I couldn't even imagine before seeing it in person. And the music and singers...they just took my breath away.

So after a Friday evening of high culture (at least for South GA girls like us), we transitioned to Hannah's second horse show of the spring. Of course it had to be rainy and nasty....completely miserable. We went from lookin' like a fashion show on Friday night to drown rats on Saturday.

Hannah competes in two classes (Hunter Pleasure and Hunter Equitation) in which she placed 6th in her first show a few weeks ago. She was hoping to improve how she placed, and boy did she, in spades. She took 4th place in Hunter Pleasure (how pleasurable does the horse look to walk, trot and canter) and 2nd place in Equitation. Equitation, you ask, what is that? Basically it's making the horse ride in a pattern (walking, reversing, trotting, cantering, etc) of the judge's selection. You don't know what you will be asked to do until arriving at the show...so it becomes a test of memory as well as riding. It turns out Hannah was one of two girls to get the pattern just right...and despite her not getting the horse out of a trot into a canter fast enough, because she got the pattern right, she placed second.



Waiting to warm the horse up in the arena.

Poor girl...her dad's golf jacket was soaked before the show even started. Thankfully her riding instructor let her borrow a helmet cover, so her brand new velvet show helmet didn't get soggy the first day it was worn.






Quite exciting to hear #274 called out in second place.

Here she is, all lined up waiting to begin her Hunter Equitation competition.

Dumb Traditions and Funny Quotes

I spent the better part of last night grumbling about stupid dance traditions. Sewing on ribbons...what kind of tradition is that? It seems more like a cruel joke played on busy moms. Do I look like I have time to fix brand new shoes that I just paid a small fortune for? I wasn't feeling the slightest bit nostalgic or a part of some big sisterhood of dancers as I fought with the needle and thread as I attached the elastic and ribbons. The more frightening thought is that I will probably get to do this same song and dance every 6 months for the next 8 years. 8 YEARS? Is it too late to become a soccer mom?

Well, as you may have guessed, Victoria started pointe work this week. She was absolutely giddy with excitement as she pranced around the house with her shiny, new pointe shoes, trying to break them in before class. When I picked her up and inquired about the class, she and a friend could barely stop chattering to answer my question. I did finally catch a quote that I believe sums up pointe work..."It really helps when your toes go numb. Then it doesn't hurt so much." While I feel no part of some new sisterhood, my youngest daughter definitely does...and she couldn't be happier.

Moving

For months and months I have been meaning to move my blog from Xanga to here. It was on my list of things to be done over Christmas break. One thing among many that never happened. Then in early January I paid to go premium at Xanga so I could save my archives and move them. Surely, I thought, if I pay real money I will be motivated to get the job done. Not! So, here I am. I'm just going to jump in here at blogger and maybe gradually move my archives...or not...who knows.