Baby Gear Giveaway: SnoozeShade Deluxe Car Seat Cover for Summer

You have probably heard about SnoozeShade products for baby.  If not, you're in for a treat.  Keep your own baby cool and protected from the shade this summer with this SnoozeShade breathable sun & sleep shade Deluxe Edition for infant car seats.

Read about the stroller cover, here.  And, read more about the product on the Elephant Ears Education blog, here!

Shop for a variety of products from SnoozeShade by going to www.snoozeshadeusa.com.  

Enter coupon code:  TS10MO for a discount on the product and shipping.

Enter to win this giveaway, and it could be yours!

Like the stroller cover from SnoozeShade, this infant car seat cover is designed to:

•  block 97.5% of the sun's UV rays as it keeps baby in the shade, with UV 40+ protection.
• Provide babies a safe, darkened, place to sleep while on the go!
• Protect baby's skin from the sun, wind, chill and pesky insects.
• Allows for a look-out mode option when baby is awake
• Provides easy access to baby, and a sneak-a-peek without waking your sleeping wonder!

The SnoozeShade Deluxe Edition infant car seat cover creates instant shade to protect baby anywhere you go.  It is lightweight and allows baby to breathe while staying cool inside the car seat.

The contest begins now, and will close on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, at midnight!

Here's how you enter:

Follow the instructions of the Rafflecopter link below.  PLEASE NOTE:  In order to be contacted upon winning, I will need your name and an email where I can reach you to request mailing instructions for the product.  You can comment either through a comment on this blog, or on one of the Facebook pages included.  Please know that if you comment with only your name and email address on this blog, I will not publish your personal information.  If you prefer, you can also message me on one of the Facebook pages below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*PLEASE NOTE:  While the product keeps baby sheltered from the sun's excessive heat and harmful rays, never leave baby unattended in a car with or without a car seat shade!!!

Schoolhouse Review: Scaredy Cat Reading System Level 3 from Joyce Herzog

My daughter and I have had the fun of being asked to review a product from Joyce Herzog  Called the Scaredy Cat Reading System Level 3.  Joyce Herzog has years of experience as a teacher specializing in teaching students with disabilities.  She is also a very established popular name among the homeschooling community, and recently spoke at a convention in my city.

The system teaches word building, reading, spelling, beginning language and thinking skills. Instead of learning endless phonetic rules that have numerous exceptions, The author, Joyce Herzog, devised the Scaredy Cat system to teach children to learn reading in a way that makes sense.

The concept is that vowels are scaredy cats because their sounds change from being brave and saying their name to another sound (a short sound) when consonants scare them. She presents the material in a humorous manner that gets kids laughing and at ease with stories and songs that will stick in their memories.



The materials are presented in a way to make learning easy:

1. Tell a story
2. Sing a song
3. Play some games
4. Evaluate

My daughter got a kick out of the stories behind why the vowels make their “scared” sound. She also loved listening to the stories from the audio CD.

 

I received a paperback thick plastic spiral bound teacher manual, student activity book, reader, teaching audio CD, Letter Master mini and a fun learning pack that includes fun cut-apart word cards.

The items are sold separately as follows:

-Scaredy Cat Reading System Pack with Story of Letter Master mini and Reader included - $100
-Additional Student Activity Book only - $30
-Additional Reader only - $5
-Optional Read and Draw: 20 Additional (different) Stories your Student Illustrates (available separately) - $15

The word cards come in a stack that requires cutting them apart to use.  It comes with a thick stack of words.

The audio CDs make it easy to listen to the lesson stories.

My daughter was very anxious to play the games.  The games are really fun while presenting solid lessons of letter sounds and reading concepts.  They come with easy instructions.  This one said to roll the dice (that came with the reading package and has letter blends on each side instead of numbers) and move your token to the next word that matches the letter blend you roll.

 The Story of Lettermaster is presented in a cartoon style.

There is no specific age recommendation for these products, but this Level 3 set is intended for readers who are ready to move forward a bit beyond the basics and ready to build words, but it still seemed to be within the realm of learning to read or early reader level of approximately First or Second Grade.  However, it could be used with older students, who are struggling with reading and spelling or just want a refresher, as well.

I used this mainly with my 6 year old early reader.  I was also curious to see how my 11 year old, who is an extremely fluent reader nowadays, responded to the material since her early years were spent with hearing issues that made phonetic sound learning difficult for her and spelling almost impossible.  I sat down with my youngest while playing the audio and hoping to capture the attention of my older daughter without making her feel embarrassed.  She did pick up on the fun approach, but I didn't insist that she sit down with me to focus on the work.

The Scaredy Cat System comes in three different levels. To determine which level is best for your child, have him or her take a placement test before ordering, here.

Please read more reviews from The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew here, or click on the picture below:

Schoolhouse Review: 'High School Prep Genius' from the author of 'College Prep Genius'

The following is a review for a book I received from College Prep Genius, in thick paperback book form, called, “High School Prep Genius”  .



I knew the author knew what she was talking about when it comes to getting kids through high school and into college, so I was excited to see what she had to say about high school years. The author of this book homeschooled her children, and then learned how to teach her children to test. Her children ended up receiving offers for free college, worth $80,000 a each. That’s a total of $160,000, certainly worth the investment in the tests. Her son received 7 trash bags worth of offers based on his PSAT scores alone, a score of 1540 out of the perfect 1600 score at the time.  Because of this success, she wrote "College Prep Genius", offers seminars to help others learn how to do well on standardized tests, and has now written this book, "High School Prep Genius".

The book is geared toward those in or getting ready to enter high school. We still have one more full year of middle school, but am very curious as to whether or not we will be able to succeed at homeschooling high school, so I read through the materials to decide how to use it with my 7th grade son.  When I had finished, I decided to slowly implement the concepts I learned from the book as we go about our learning endeavor.  I also decided to copy some of the forms, or at least use their formatting style, to begin practicing making a transcript for my son.  And, I have already visited some of the websites suggested in the book to set up daily SAT questions in my email and to look into scholarships, some that start as young as 7th grade.

The book retails for $29.95 on their site.

Special savings to my readers:  Use code:  TOSCrew at checkout and you will receive $5 off on your purchase of "High School Prep Genius".

"High School Prep Genius" provides information about:

-Special guides directed toward the parents
-Helpful information for the student, including how to handle common myths about high school
-When to start applying for scholarships
-How to make a high school transcript, and when to start
-How to keep good records to better chances at scholarships and life opportunities
-How to approach high school to learn, and not just check off a list
-Tons of helpful charts and forms that the author has provided to copy and fill in the blanks, or use as a guide to create your own.
-Practical tips on a healthy lifestyle and eating well
-A host of websites to find more information about scholarships, taking standardized tests, getting financial aid, etc.
-A complete timeline for 9-12 graders, including homework for the parents.
-Financial aide and banking lessons that even show how much money a child can earn by being smart with savings accounts and understanding basic money-wise principles.
-Practical advice on how to handle the emotional aspect of high school and college and how to discover what you’re talented at, to know what career path to pursue.
-Format for a resume’ and college application suggestions

This book spurred me on to start charting what my son already has accomplished, and I started a basic list that will eventually be transferred onto an official resume'/brag sheet and transcript form:

The book is 440 pages, so one look at it and you think one of two things. You either get overwhelmed at how much there is to learn, or you’re so grateful that there is so much information packed into one resource. I experienced both sensations.

My first response was a bit of panic as to reading and tackling so much information. Once I began reading, however, I literally could not put the book down. I was so thrilled to discover how easy it was to make my way through all the helpful information found in each chapter. And, I am beyond thrilled to know that I have this resource at my fingertips in time to face the last year of middle school and properly prepare my children for high school. I feel like this book arrived at my doorstep just in time.

My son is finishing his 7th grade year. He’s literally finishing as I type this review. One more session in math, and he’s done for the year. This book provides step-by-step information as to how to approach high school, but it doesn’t start with 9th grade. It starts with suggestions to use as early as 7th grade. It also proceeds to present the information in a way that, even if you’ve waited till you’re almost ready to graduate, you can jump in and derive helpful tips to secure a successful future for your child.

Please read what other Schoolhouse Reviewers thought, as well, by clicking here or on the picture below:

The Rabbit Ate My Tulips and Other Not-So-Happy Mother's Day Stories

Happy Mother's Day, and if this day finds you feeling sad - Happy "Not-So-Happy-Mother's Day" to you! I hope you find something to make the day sweet and blessed. If not, maybe you will by the end of this blog post.

I'll start from the heart of it and not mince words.  For every woman, Mother's Day is not a day she feels like celebrating.  Some are grieving, and some are still hurting from childhood, teen, or adulthood memories that have left them angry, hurt, or numb.

Though I sit here typing today feeling completely beyond blessed.  My Mother's Days were not always quite so happy.  What I want to share are three stories:

1) My story
2) The rabbit ate my tulips
3) Watching my flowers bloom

Here's my story:

(If you are on a mobile device, or have trouble clicking below - Here's the direct link!



 

 I realize not every story of miscarriage ends the same way, and I want you to know that I've walked in the shoes of thinking my story would end only in grief.

Along the way, I made a decision to make the most out of my memories of the babies that I lost.  This decision did not come lightly, nor did it come rapidly.  After the loss of my first baby, Micah, I felt the need (I attribute this to God speaking to me) to read the book of Micah.  I'm still somewhat puzzled as to why I felt the need to read this book, but I did.

Mostly, the best I derived from the book was Micah 7:7:

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
   I wait for God my Savior;
   my God will hear me."

And, that's what I did.  Even in my anger, which oddly enough came mostly after the second loss - Not the first, not the third - I pressed into God, even when I felt numb, sad, or emotionless - Because, as in the words of the disciples later, in the New Testament:

"Where else can I go - For only you, oh Lord, have the words of life!"

One Mother's Day, my husband gave me the sweetest gift ever.  He brought me tulip bulbs to plant.  See, I had decided, unbeknownst to him, that tulips would represent the babies I never got to hold in my arms.

Tulips have to be planted in the ground, in the form of a bulb.  They require staying in the ground through a hard frost before they can bloom.

I felt it was representative of how my babies were inside my womb and were cut short before seeing the sun and allowed to bloom.  Plus, I love tulips.

I planted those tulip bulbs and waited for them to bloom in the spring.

In the spring, they did bloom.  Oh, they were beautiful blooms.  I was so happy.  Every day I saw them, I knew the names of the babies they represented.  It was as if I got to celebrate a small bit of life.

For a short while.

One day, I came out to look at my tulips, and I noticed the blooms had been chewed off of one, two, then several, and finally all of them.

The culprit?

An adorable bunny.

As adorable as this bunny was, it made me mad and sad.  I grieved all over again, yet somehow saw in it a strange coincidence.

When a woman is pregnant, the saying goes:  "The rabbit died".  I found it so ironic that my babies were not allowed to be placed in my arms this side of heaven, and even in my small celebration of their attempt to be represented by a tulip bloom - A rabbit wouldn't allow it.

I felt as if rabbits were out to get me.

Since I couldn't enjoy my attempt at relishing the beauty of life, even in the form of a tulip, I turned my focus toward the blessings God has granted me:  My three living children.

As I watch them grow, blossom and get ready to break out in a full-fledged bloom, I'm reminded of how great our God is.  While there are just some things I will never understand this side of heaven, He gave me the desires of my heart by filling my empty, dead womb, with a living, growing baby.  He had done this twice before my miscarriages, but it wasn't till after my losses that I would understand the fullness of how rich these two blessings were.



Today, my husband left six orange roses for me on the table in a vase.  He has no idea how special that is to me.  I'm sure he chose the roses according to what he could afford and what he thought was pretty.  But, those six roses represent the six babies that I once held in my belly:  3 gone, 3 living and blooming in my house and in my arms.

So, to those reading this who are suffering and mourning - some grieving the loss of a child they did get to hold but never allowed to bloom fully, or the loss of a mother, or the pain a hurting mother caused, with eyes fighting back floods of tears this Mother's Day, I want to wrap my arms around you and I hope you know that I still weep with you.  I hope that your joy is one day complete.  Until that day of full-bloomed beauty comes into your heart, that even a rabbit cannot kill - I hope you press into the arms of a Savior who seems to have abandoned you, but is really wanting to walk with you through the Valley of the Shadow of death into a garden of life.

Entering the Teens Years with my First Born

Tomorrow is a big day in our household.  My first-born baby, my son, will turn 13.

T-H-I-R-TEEN!!!!!

Am I ready?

Let me pour the cereal for you, lil sis!

This little boy is really the only human being on the face of this planet who is responsible for turning me into a first-time parent.

Just four days after he was born, and two days after being home from the hospital, after giving birth, he helped me celebrate my first real Mother's Day!

I will never forget the first gaze into his eyes.  The nurse handed me my newborn son, and I took one look at him.  What I saw surprised me.

He and his lil sis early years!!!!

I saw an absolutely beautiful little baby.  But, that's not what surprised me.

What surprised me was the look he gave me.  I had looked into many newborn, or shortly after newborn eyes.  But, none were the eyes of my newborn until this day.

When I looked into his eyes, he looked back!

It was a deep, profund look, as if to ask - "Will you take good care of me?"

I don't think he ever stopped asking that question.

This child has never stopped amazing my husband and I.

His early days were spent with me holding, rocking and nursing an extremely HIGH-NEED infant.  He always seemed to be teetering on tears, unless he was nursing.  He took weeks to gain enough weight that the pediatrician was satisfied, and he started out life with us on our knees with bloodwork coming back abnormally high for thyroid issues and a horrible reaction to a vaccine, which changed my views on the benefits and necessity of vaccines.  He never did sleep more than maybe a night or two in the crib we set up in his nursery that I hand-designed with cows in red kerchiefs and blue gingham print curtains.  Ferberizing this child was not going to happen, since it would send him into crying till he was purple and throwing up.  Instead, I began to fall in love with Dr. Sears' advice as I grew into becoming comfortable in my own parent skin and learning my own style of parenting.



...I decided sleep was more important than where he slept.

He has often led me into new territory which I was not ready to trample.

He read fluently at 3 years of age.  Not because I was forcing super learning down his little babyhood, but because HE WANTED TO!  So, he led.  I followed as I watched him tackle a 116-page collection of Dick and Jane, and as he would sit, still potty training, reading his children's Bible.  My favorite was the Story of Hannah!  I can still hear his little boy voice as he read those words that I would later hold dear to my heart as I went through pregnancy losses.

He has often taught me a new way of looking at things.



Not so unusual to most children, this child has asked so many questions in his 13 years of life.  But, the questions he asks never cease to make me stop in my tracks and wonder where he comes up with this stuff.  His little logical brain has always asked, "Why?"  But, he has often surprised me by asking, "What if it does?", as in "OK, mom, you say it never happens, but what if does this time?  Can't I just try it to see?"

This logic-heavy reasoning has led him to do well on SAT tests, and will hopefully one day soon get him a scholarship to college.

This child is the one who, for many years, was completly hooked up with my emotions and knew exactly when I needed to be comforted.

Shortly after I had experienced my first miscarriage, I was in the car driving with him in the backseat.  I began to cry.  This little voice asked, "Mommy, what's wrong?"  I responded that everything was all right.  He quickly shot back, in his little sweet voice, "If everything's all right, then what's that sniffing sound I hear?"

This child has been my husband's and my introduction to parenthood.  And, if you're going to start with an introduction, you might as well plunge right in with the challenges of a high-need, sensory heightened, genius boy child.

I cannot believe that it has been 13 years since the day I became a mom for the very first time.  I cannot believe that 13 years ago today, I was at work full-time, and turned my calendar over to Wednesday, May 10, before leaving for the night.  For years, it seemed like it was still that day, as I adjusted to staying home as a full-time mom, instead.



This child, now approaching teenagerdome, would rather be in front of his XBox playing Sonic or Minecraft than doing school, or most anything.  He is extremely creative with computer-generated animations and learning enough of several computer languages to be able to tackle basic programming, and design two of my husband's websites.





He is also amazingly agile, though he really dislikes sports.  And, he is brilliantly hilarious.

Yes, he is my son, and I am proud.  But, this child has excited, amazed and terrified us as to what all he knows, and will we be able to guide him properly through life, from the time he was a baby onward.

If I could turn back time, would I change anything?

Yes!

I would change the fact that I waited so long to have children.  I would start the year I got married and have as many babies as God would grant me.

But, I can't go back.  And, if I could, I would not be entering the teen years, but entering an entirely new season of parenthood of older children.  And, I don't believe I would have been given the exact same children I have.

So, press onward.  I can't wait to discover this new phase - From babyhood to teenhood, and beyond.

Happy 13th Birthday, Graham!

Schoolhouse Review: Spanish For You!

This is a review for the Fiestas paperback book and downloadable curriculum from Spanish For You!  The curriculum is written by Debbie Annett, MSEd., Illustrated by Amanda Annett.

The book is intended to be used for students in Grades 3 to 8, and is broken apart specifically for Grades 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8. I focused on the Grade 5-6 level.  I found this to be very appropriately divided by age/grade level in how it is presented with more detail for the older grades.



Find sample pages of the Fiestas book here!

I received the teacher guide paperback book, and downloads for the student worksheets and flashcards. I also received mp3 audio files to refer to for proper pronunciations.

For review, I received:

• -A paperback teacher’s guide
• -Audio mp3 downloads
• -Student book PDF file downloads for Grades 5-6 and 7-8
• -Worksheets and tests PDF downloads
• -Flashcards PDF file

Prior to receiving this for review, The only exposure to Spanish that my children have had is through preschool years of Dora the Explorer along with a trip to Walt Disney World where my 11-year-old, Fifth Grade, middle child, whom I mainly focused these lessons toward, was enthralled at the bilingual overhead speaker announcements on the monorail and before and after the shows.  By the end of our trip to Disney, she could fluently ask you to kindly not smoke and to stay clear of the closing doors:

Por favor, manténgase alejado de las puertas

After this informal "Spanish immersion camp," compliments of Disney, I was curious to see how she would take to a formal attempt to learn the language.

As a teacher who has had just the bare minimum instruction myself on the Spanish language, I spent time looking over all of the materials to become accustomed with the teaching approach. I was impressed with the way it presents so much information in a way that even I could teach it lesson by lesson.

The Teacher guides and the learning packages are sold separately. The teacher guides cost:

$12.95 for Grades 5-6 (24 week lesson plans)
$12.95 for Grades 7-8 (24 week lesson plans)
$14.95 for Grades 3-4 (30 week lesson plans)

All Spanish for You! Learning packages come with:

• -paperback book or e-book
• -24-30 week lesson guide PDF download (24 weeks for Grades 5-6 and 7-8, and 30 weeks for Grades 3-4)
• -Self-checking PDF download worksheets
• -mp3 audio file downloads Flashcard/activity pictures PDF download

The packages are sold as follows:

Grades 3-8 - $64.95
Grades 3-4 - $39.95
Grades 5-6 - $39.95
Grades 7-8 - $39.95
Extra books - $12.95

I especially love how it comes with the sound audio files, so this Midwestern with a slight northern accent could refer to the tracks to make sure of a pronunciation. I found the materials to be thorough, teaching sound Spanish language, with a fun approach that introduces students to how they might use Spanish in real-life situations.

The lessons are broken down into bite-sized, easy to follow instruction by the week. There are 24 weeks of lesson plans, plus the mini lessons, to keep you busy for a full school year worth of Spanish.

Each week consists of four days’ worth of lessons that are broken down into bite-sized, easy to follow instruction by the Lesson for the day.

The lessons cover major Spanish fiestas:

Lesson 1 – Birthdays (La Fiesta De Cumpleanos)

Lesson 2 – Mexican Day of the Dead (El dia de los muertos)

Lesson 3 – Carnaval

Lesson 4 – Holy Week (Semana Santa)

Lesson 5 – April Fair (La feria de abril)

Each week’s lesson begins with New vocabulary and new common words and phrases, and pronunciations written out as well as suggestions to listen to the audio. I presented it to my girls, and they were very excited about it.

I think they really liked that it specifically approaches the Spanish language while interweaving the Spanish culture of various fiestas. I also like how it includes hands-on activities, not just sitting at a desk conjugating verbs, though the teaching does include the basics as well, but it suggests activities to make this fun.

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There are Happy Birthday songs, a study in the difference of how birthdays are celebrated in the Spanish culture compared to American culture, Bingo, Tic-Tac-Toe, Simon Says, Memory and Hangman games to learn words. There are also descriptions of listening and drawing activities to learn the words.



The materials also come with a mini lesson of Spanish words for colors and numbers, and the Spanish alphabet song.

I also like how it’s more than just learning a language, it is also a Social Studies lesson of cultural studies.

Though I was thrilled to have any audio and didn't find it to be presented in any kind of a confusing manner, the publisher is always striving to make the materials more presentable and easy-to-use.  During the time I was reviewing this product, the publisher of this curriculum has revised the audio downloads to be better organized as follows:

1. All worksheet files are now in folders according to grades: Grades 3-4, Grades 5-6, and Grades 7-8
2. All audio files (native and non-native) are now in folders according to lessons – Leccion 1, Leccion 2, etc.
3. She divided the non-native audio file into 2 parts so that downloading is faster and easier.

You can find Spanish for You! Now on Facebook

Please read more Schoolhouse Reviews about this company and their curriculum here, or click on the picture below:

The Big Day - So, Now We're Collecting Roses Instead of Trophies!

Today is the big day. It's the day of my daughters' dance recital. While in any normal family, this would be exciting. For this family, however, it is a Rite of passage this year.



It was almost one year ago, in June, that the dance teacher, my oldest daughter has known since she was two, called to tell us she was resigning.

If you've read some of my earlier posts, you realize that this has been unusually difficult for me and my daughters.

After visiting what seemed like every dance studio in the tri-state area, we settled on one.

Today we will discover if we made a good choice or a questionable one.

At very least it will determine whether we return in the fall.

Countdown:

8:30. I wake up and prepare cinnamon rolls and eggs while everyone sleeps

9:45. I take fast shower and get dressed

Eliana wakes up

10:15. Jalena wakes up

The girls eat and we talk and realize this will be my 11 year olds 11 th official recital. She danced for two studios when she was 5 and 6.

It will be my six year olds fifth recital. Her first without the other teacher and at a different stage facility.

10:30. I start to feel nervous after talking with girls about my six year old's potty skills (though shes been potty trained for three tears, she still refuses to use big public toilets, and other idiosyncracies) and realizing she'll be back stage for more than four hours and that my helpful eleven year old is balking at the idea of keeping an eye on lil sis.

10:50. Time to start with hair and makeup

Now mama has to take a deep breath and get them ready.

Realize both girls are in their bedroom practicing their dances. Eliana announces that her stuffed elephant is acting as her star. (which reminded me of a reference to her former teacher who would have stars in the stage for them to stand behind so they knew they were in the proper place).

- - I thought I was doing ok, then the last twenty minutes happened. - -

11:35. Leave and pray the van starts. It does.

More traffic than I've seen and frustrated.

11:55. Find the school. Confused where to drop off girls. I hate public schools by the way. Another reason I homeschool. They are large and their parking lots are confusing and don't make sense.

I sent the girls inside.

11:58. Pull over to break down in tears.

Just a rite of passage. New fields. Missing the familiar. Missing the other dance teacher.

But no one was rude, the girls are excited. I held back my tears from their sight, so lets press on.

I have an hour and a half to myself before doors open for parents. Will I enjoy this time?

Why do these things make me so nervous?

Hah. Just like Jesus to send me comfort in the form of a song on the radio. As I sit here, the radio plays a song I've never heard. The lyrics started as "it's almost show time..." and then proceeds to sing about letting God take the stage.

Got a call from a stage mom. Eliana forgot to grab her dance shoe bag. Duh. This is only my 11 th recital and umpteenth performance. You'd think I'd remember the shoes.

Guess that answers if I'll relax and enjoy my time.

After pulling to a parking space closer to school, I decide to just wait it out here for awhile.

It's raining and I'm feeling nervous.




The tears I cry are mourning the loss of days gone by. A time when I had little bitties who people oohed and awed over. Time has gone by and I feel like I lost about four years. Where'd my babies and toddlers go? Where'd the fun at the other dance classes go, when other mothers would laugh with delight to watch my youngest dancing in the corner. It's those days I miss where other parents knew me and my kids and liked us.

2:00 - It's showtime!

Finally, dance #10, my first daughter takes the stage.  Then, my second daughter, at dance #15.

The show continues, and I'm feeling more and more at ease.

After the show, the first thing my oldest daughter asked was if her former dance teacher showed up...  Sadly, she couldn't make it.  Somehow, perhaps miraculously, she seemed to be ok with this.  For me, I was disappointed that the other teacher did not show up.  However, in some strange way, I think it provided us with the closure we needed.  And, her email I received the next morning, explaining why she could not make it, made me cry.  The contents are somewhat personal, so I will not share them here.

So, onward we dance in new fields -

• A field that hands out silk roses instead of trophies at the end of the recital.  
• A field that has a teacher who likes the spotlight, including singing.
• A field that includes a larger cast of older dancers than the itty bitties I have been accustomed to.
• A field where my girls are welcome to put down new roots, even if they're initially hesitant and shallow roots, sprout and eventually blossom, grow, and bloom.

...So now, I suppose, we will be collecting silk roses at the end of each recital instead of trophies.