Let the Little Ones Come

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!

A Big Day for my Big Girls

Tomorrow is a big day for Meg (12) and Grace (10). Meg (below at her Christmas recital) will be attending her first Solo and Ensemble Band Contest!

Grace (below at her dress rehearsal for Irish Fest) will be attending her first Feis.

Please pray that the girls have fun and do their best! Bill and I will be splitting up to get them to their destinations and I will have baby Joseph with me as I navigate Grace through her first Irish dance competition. Here's hoping her wig stays put! ;)

ETA: The girls did their best! Meg bravely played her solo and managed to make it through in one piece; the judge was very kind with her praise and criticism and offered to call her when she is in town for some lessons! A good day for my Meg! :) Grace received a first place in her 4-Hand Reel and placed 5th in her reel (solo). This is pretty awesome considering it was her first feis and she was competing against 20+ in each dance! Baby Joseph was pretty popular with the crowds, too! :)

Irish Dance Week-end Pictures

Our family had a very nice but busy week-end at our local Irish Festival. Grace and Rose both danced and had a really fun time sharing their love of Irish dance with everyone (including one of Grace's friends and both grandmothers!).

Here is a picture of Rose (short blonde hair and in focus and to the right of the red jumper and next to the adult) doing her Beginner Reel. Our dear friend, Doug, took most of the pictures this week-end. It IS handy to have one of your kid's godfather enjoy photography as a hobby!

Rose dancing again:

Grace (center):

Grace (center):

Grace with her partner doing her Reel Choreography:

Dancing in her hardshoes:

With one of her best friends and my god-daughter (next to one another):

Having fun on one of the rides on Saturday:

The happy crew (minus Marie who was NOT in a photographic mood and me, the photographer!):

Baby Joseph had fun just ambling around and tasting acorns (UGH!):