Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

We had such a beautiful day! Saint Patrick must have been praying for us!  The temperature was in the mid 60's, perfect weather for our first annual St. Patrick's Day parade.  We had prepared for sweat pants, turtle necks, gloves, etc..to be worn under the girls' dresses, but none of that was needed. Mike's parents came for the day, which is always a treat!  We all walked along the riverfront for the parade and then met up at the City Deck for a little talk by the major, and others, followed by a dance performance which all the girls participated in.  I'll have to gather some pictures from other people to post because I was too far back to get any good pictures of the dancers. 

As part of our celebration for the day, we made sure to include a few treats :).  This is always very welcomed and remembered by the little ones because St. Paddy's Day usually lands sometime during Lent, which is typically sweet-free for us.

Thanks to a thoughtful client and friend of Mike's, we had extra fun, special treats for the day ....

This is the only picture that turned out at the parade...(I'll get more later)

After the parade we had two more performances.  Moira and Eileen went off to the east side of town to dance at a county club and Bridget and Teresa danced on the west side of town at a Hibernian dinner. Lots of fun!

And last by not least, these picture just say it all, don't they??!!

Good Day Wisconsin

Moira and Eileen were up bright and early for this little promo for our St. Patrick's Day parade.  The dance surface was covered with dew, making it very slippery!  Thankfully, they did just fine, with no falls :)  Moira has a short little intro with the TV correspondent and Eileen is right next to her. (If you want to see it expanded, you have to click the image)

It's Almost St. Patrick's Day...

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 :) !!!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Saint Paddy's Day is always celebrated, at least in some way, here in our home. This year we sampled oatmeal pancakes (ok,they mostly got a "yuck" response) and took a break from our Lenten fast on sweets, and had some cookies in honor of Saint Patrick. Regardless of how we celebrate, we are always very busy on March 17th, with four Irish dancers in the family. This year the older three girls performed at a local St. Patrick's Day dinner, which is one of their favorite performances. The lighting was very poor, so I was only able to get a couple pictures after the show.

Bridget, Cousin Colleen (holding Erin), Moira and Eileen...




I bind unto myself today the strong name of the trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever by power of faith Christ's incarnation,
his baptism in the Jordan river, his death on the cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spiced tomb, his riding up the heavenly way,
his coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay, his ear to harken to my need,
the wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward,
the Word of God to give me speech, his heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me;
Christ to comfort and restore me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three,
of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word;
praise to the God of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord!
~ Breastplate of Saint Patrick

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

Here's a picture of Moira with her dress on. Eileen had hers off too quickly, so I'll have to get a picture of her tonight.