Let the Little Ones Come

Irish Dance Mother/Daughter Trip

Grace and I are heading to Washington DC for the Southern Regional Irish Dance Championships (Oireachtas).  It will just be the two of us as Joseph turns four next month and will do just fine with Bill and the rest of his siblings looking after him (sniff sniff).  We are staying in Maryland across the Potomac from Alexandria at a really cool hotel--very rare for us to stay at a hotel that isn't a Hampton Inn.  ;)

Prayers appreciated for safe travel (no body scan or pat down, please!!!) and a fun, relaxing time with our Irish dance family!

Back after the week-end with lotsa pictures....

Meanwhile, here's a picture of the small, close-knit group taken this past week-end at the dress rehearsal.   Grace is in the front row, second from left...  :)

Green Season 2010

If you are an Irish dancer, you know all about Green Season.  It starts in the month of March with all the wonderful celebrations centering around St. Patrick's Day!  :)

Bill and I have been attending the North Texas Irish Festival since we met.  It is always held the first week-end in March.  In Texas, in early March, the weather can be sunny and mild, cold and rainy--you just never know.  :)  This year, the weather was sunny and mild on Saturday and cool and very rainy on Sunday...:S

Since the girls began Irish dance three years ago, kicking off Green Season is even more fun.  Now we get to participate at the festival and the whole family gets in FREE!  :)    The three youngest girlies got to dance for Shandon this year. 

Here are a few photo highlights of the week-end--my dear mother-in-law was the only one who took a picture of all three girls together.  I was commissioned at the last moment to make sure the little ones were lining up for their numbers behind the stage and thus missed most of my photographic opportunities.  :(

I will add more pictures to the Irish Dancing Photo Album on my sidebar as well in the next few days.  :)

From left to right:  Rose (8) in her class dress, Marie (5) in her cute little red dress and Grace (12) in her pretty solo dress handmade by a dear friend.  They are ready to perform!  And yes, they are wearing wigs (which are very easy to put on but a bit hard on the scalp--especially if you are tender-headed like poor Rose)...This photo is from their performance on Saturday evening.

 

Some of the youngest dancers in the school.  Grace is second from left and Marie is front and center.  And the two little blondies are twins--aren't they dolls?  

 Mimi took this picture--don't you just want to squeeze her cheeks??  

After the dancing Saturday evening, we enjoyed ourselves with a walk around the festival at Fair Park and gave one of the ponies (who had a long day giving rides to little children) his just reward with a good petting.  

 Sunday afternoon was rainy and a bit cool but here is Meg in the van on the way to the festival.  She was getting us all in the proper mood with a tune on her tin whistle!  :)

Our dance instructor put on a great show both days and the kids danced their little hearts out.  Blessings as St. Patrick's day approaches this week!  Enjoy Green Season!

Preview of Irish Festival 2010

 We had a wonderful time at our local Irish Festival this year!  I just had to share this photo of little Marie sandwiched in between her two sweet friends.  They were the school's youngest dancers and knocked the audience  dead with their beginner reel.  :)  More photos to come soon!  

Fun in Fort Smith

 

The girls and I (Grace, Rose and Marie) went up to Fort Smith, AR, this week-end for an Irish dance competition (feis).  

We had a lovely time.  I did forget my camera but a friend managed to capture a few photos of the girls for me.  Rose did very well placing in all her dances with three 1sts and two 3rds....Grace did well, too.  She got a first in her treble reel (and received a beautiful crystal plate from Ireland as her trophy), two 2nds and two fourths.  Here is Grace with one of her dearest friends, Niamh.  They are both lovely girls.

Rose before the dancing started; she had the best time dancing--she said it was so much fun!  We are now less than three weeks away from their biggest competition of the year--the Southern Region Oireachtas.  

Marie did not dance as she has just learned the three different dance stamps necessary for her easy reel, but she sure did have fun watching and playing with the other kids.  It was a wonderful mother/daughter week-end.  :)

Irish Dancing at the State Fair 2009

 

Grandmothers are the best...

at remembering to video their grandchildren!  Grace was disappointed that we didn't have any videos of her performances this past week-end at the Irish Festival.  Well, Mimi to the rescue.  Check out a little video of Grace dancing...she is wearing the salmon-colored dress.  Thank you Mimi!!  :)

Irish Dancing Fun at the Irish Festival!

Wordless Wednesday: Back from Florida

Oireachtas Dress Rehearsal Pictures

Grace is preparing to head to Orlando, Florida for the Irish Dancing Southern Regional Championships.  She is mostly going for the experience.  Her teacher does not expect her to place high enough to recall but she said she was close!  Either way, we will have a fun time next week-end....my mother, Joseph, Grace and I will be flying out early Friday morning and returning Monday afternoon...

Here are some pictures that I just had to share.  I am very proud of my Grace and all the students who have worked so very hard to prepare for this prestigious event.  The kids at our school are just fabulous...and three families that are going belong to my parish!  Gotta love the Irish Catholic connection!  :)

Grace is second from left.  This is their four-hand group.  They are all wearing their class costumes.

Grace in her solo dress.  Her dress has the claddagh on each petal of her skirt and in the center of her bodice.  Isn't it lovely?  It belonged to her teacher's daughter and she kindly passed it on to Grace when they found another dress.  It is brand new--only worn twice and she gave it to us for our budget which was way below the value of the dress...her teacher is a gem...

Gotta love those Shirley Temple curls!!

Well, off to the races for me...I have a major to do list to start writing first thing--packing lists, meals to plan for the family while I'm away, last-minute purchases to keep the baby occupied on the plane....  I haven't flown since September of 2001 when we happened to be visiting family in the DC area....and we were the first flight heading back to Dallas out of Dulles airport after 9/11....I hope the flight this Friday isn't as stressful, but with a 22 month old lap child, who knows?  ;)

Feis Fun

Irish Dancing has been a blessing to our family.  Our teacher is a great gal who attends our church and just had her fourth baby!  Many of the dancers are homeschoolers and a there are a great many Catholics who belong to our school--it IS Irish dancing after all!  ;)  The families that belong to this school are friendly, down-to-earth and loving-we are blessed to be a part of it all.

This past week-end our family headed up to Fort Smith, Arkansas for a competition (Feis) for Grace and Rose.  It was a good trip, though traveling with a 21 month old toddler is a challenge in many different ways!  Grace and Rose both placed well in their dances.  Grace, especially, is happy to have moved up a level in four of her dances.  She has been dancing for almost two years and is ready for the challenge.  :)  Rose got a first place at her first feis.  Yeah Rose!