Soaring and Stillness: Life with the Chickadees

We've had a summer of full. Five weeks away, two weeks home and countless moments in between. Moments that have caught us by surprise, taken our breath away, and made us pause. Full. Thankful . All I can think about is how we grow when we're poured into. When love and interest and time mix and fill us up. When we pursue life and chase it and live big. If we all just poured more and took less, what would our world look like? I think I'll try it and find out...

She's quiet and unassuming, talented and beautiful, intelligent and sarcastic. She instructs with her actions, movements, words. She leads by example. Her demeanor is one of discipline and her craft is taught with passion. As all good teachers are, she can be loved and feared by her students. To them, she's given a good portion of her life and her heart. It's her second job; she makes it seem like her first priority. She's a part of our hearts and our family...she spends almost as much time growing the chicks as I do. She's leaving. It's heart pain in beauty at it's finest. To us, she's not just a dance teacher. She's a friend and confidant, physical and massage therapist and dream encourager. She's a cheerleader and disciplinarian and a shoulder to lean on. She stretches the chicks physically and emotionally. With her, they take flight. Our hearts? Broken. We are beyond excited for the opportunities that await her and cannot wa...

Us on Friday night in the elevator " You're so proud of her ."  He said it as a statement, no judgement, a bit of wonder in his voice. Speaking the her in a plural, for both of them. Another long day, long night, long weekend. He's a man who loves his chicks; he brings a laptop and reading material and sits at desks in hotel rooms instead of at home. He watches ever single routine. This man of ours hugs. He grabs bags of ice and rubs muscles taxed by hours of dancing on concrete in convention ballrooms. He kisses them goodnight and curbs giggling in foreign beds when tired turns to silly and I'm too spent to do more. When the weekend is over, her puts luggage in the car and drives and allows me to shut my eyes as a city disappears behind us. How it's done... Dad's attempt during a break at ASH Never once has he said he wishes they were basketball players, or volleyball or baseball or.... or anything other than who they were made to...

( sometimes it's best to hold hands and keep on keeping on) It's Thursday, and the social media sites I frequent all feature various videos and photos with a # and the letters TBT. Throw back Thursday . A day to reminisce and recall a previous sweetness. Not a bad concept in a culture always set on moving full throttle toward something new. Most Thursdays I enjoy looking at old videos of dance routines or of my friends as smallish people. Not today. Today I would love for it to be "Do over Thursday." If I was being honest, I think I'd prefer for it to be "do over" week. That would make it do over month...at that rate let's make it do over year. I need a do over . One with more energy and patience and less tears. A day ( or week or month ) filled with waking up feeling rested and capable and like I'm not failing at something. I'm not whining or down in the dumps, I'm just keeping it real. Raising and homeschooling g...

One spot to another, always in flight. These chicks keep me on my toes. Lately, we've done quite a bit of travel with dance. The professor is busy with work and so the legs he was helping with driving have fallen to me. It means a whole lot more time away from the nest. Today, we left at noon and will arrive home sometime after 9:30 p.m.  LONG Long for them and for me. Driving to our distance ballet, taking Little Bit to the library to finish up schooling and then trekking to the other studio for assisting and classes for both of them all night. I sit bundled in my jacket and her scarf, earbuds in and the girls doing jetes in the other room.  Classes change. My sweet babe moves into her company hour with a sharp jazz routine and the Grace Girl works on changing a solo from pointe to ballet, just in case the pointe component is not ready for another competition in two weeks. I think it will be, but she's not sure...always the perfectionist in her dancing, she...