Here at our house, the fact that it's almost St. Patrick's Day means it's one of our busiest times of year! It's so busy that we generally refer to it as Saint Patrick's week, not day. This year it almost seems more appropriate to call it St. Patrick's month. Of course we love Dear Saint Patrick, patron saint of the Irish, but our month-long busyness has much to do with the fact that we have four Irish dancers in the house.
The wigs are ready; the dresses are set; poodle socks are clean and white, bobby pins are bought by the dozens; sock glue is handy; spankies are washed; suspenders are found (in the bottom of a dress-up bin); and Irish music can be heard from all corners of the house, usually accompanied by the bang bang bang of hard-shoes hitting the wooden practice floor in rhythmic patterns. I have become so accustomed to recognizing the sound of hard-shoes hitting the floors that I no longer hear it...sort of like how you don't hear trains when you live next to the railroad tracks. When visitors come over, they look at me with wide eyes, asking, what is that?! LOL .
The girls already had two fun performances last week. Moira, Eileen and Bridget perfomed with Different Drums of Ireland in Door County last Friday. It was a late show so Mike took the girls and I stayed home with the little kids.
Here is a group shot of the girls who perfomed with Different Drums (Moira on the far left, Eileen with the pink and green crown fourth from right, and Bridget and cousin Colleen in black dresses near the right)
All three girls are in the front row (Bridget borrowed a solo dress for this number because she only has the "school dress", which is black, and their instructor preferred the solo dresses)
Then, on Sunday, all the girls were able to perform for the CP (Cerebral Palsy) Center Telethon. They had three dance numbers which were live performances. The rest of us were able to watch them on TV, which was fun! I was unable to get a link to the recording of the dances (sorry mom! I think Kelly and Kelley have it recorded). This was the first time the dancers participated in the CP telethon, not only by dancing, but also by fundraising for the center. It was inspiring to be a part of it, and the dancers and their families raised over $2000 for the center. The CP Center is a great resource for those with many different disabilities, not just cerebral palsy. We have not used it much ourselves but we may take advantage of the center when Erin is a bit older (they have a wonderful warm-water therapy pool).
Here is a picture of Moira and Eileen's class giving their check to the CP center.
This week we have a moring performance on Tuesday (it will be on TV locally on WLUK, starting about 8:15 am), three performances on Wednesday and possibly one on Thursday. Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone, even if you are not Irish :) !!!
