dance, dance (in which stephanie gets a dose of humility)

some of you may be wondering just what the heck happened last week with our dance class post.  to sum it up, utah construction is lame, we were late, i didn't have a good spot to take pictures, etc etc.  ugh.

i wanted to make up for it this week.  unfortunately i had a lap hijacker in the form of one of the student's older sisters.  this cute little 4 year old chose to plop herself down on my lap and "help" me take pictures and record videos.  it was really cute, and i'm not really complaining, just know that's why things may look shaky or abruptly stop (as she was prone to turn it off mid record. that's what i get for showing her the on/off button).

i wish i could blame it on the full moon, but obviously that's since past, so yeah.  i have no excuse.  seems like every girl had a case of the sillies and could not quite contain it.  even mary, who is normally so enthusiastic about following directions, at some points decided she just plain didn't want to do anything.  or was being a squirmy worm.  it made me feel bad for how i react towards the Crazy Girl and her mom.  especially when i could hear the teacher "mary, how does a princess sit?  mary, sit like a princess." etc etc in an attempt to get mary to sit still.  i was properly embarrassed that mary was being naughty, and just wonder how the mom of  Crazy Girl feels every week.  that doesn't excuse the complete lack of control on her part, but still.  also, apparently (if my eavesdropping self heard right), the Crazy Girl may just be not coming back.  it seems there may have been complaints (not by me, at least, not officially) and problems which could result in her waiting a year before trying again.  i approve of this plan, if it actually happens.  i just feel bad for the mom who was looking for an outlet for her daughter's crazy nonstop go go go attitude.  i don't know how to feel about the situation anymore.

i think you can tell who Crazy Girl is

if only the girl could just be in a different class.  then i'd be done and all would be well.

graceful ribbon dancer

i can see more and more the different "dance moves" the teacher is going to incorporate into the recital.  it's really cool to watch them learn how to do things better, add new elements and the put it all together.

okay, video time.



the teacher put a sticker on each of the girls' right shoe, probably hoping to get them to use the correct foot.  she'd call out something to the effect of "tap the sticker shoe."  good idea.  but it just had mary focusing on the sticker. she wanted to ALWAYS use the sticker shoe.  i laughed and groaned as she'd call out to mary, "no the other shoe!" oy.
watch while mary does nothing! except wipe her nose on, not just her hand, but the hand of the girl next to her! amazing! *shakes head*



mary did her marching steps across the floor by herself again.  i'm not putting it here since you've seen it a few times before.  but it's up on our youtube vid if you care to watch it there.

i may be a bit braggy mcbragger by posting this video, but really.  i don't know how many times the moms will ask about mary's prior dance experience before they realize she just has natural talent.  i mean, unless you count dancing with mommy to single ladies and such at home...


you'll have to excuse the shakiness, as this is one of the times the lap hijacker was helping me.  she thought my camera was touchscreen (like my phone) and was trying to move the image on the lcd screen.
also, oh hi there Crazy Girl starting a mass revolt from the group...


mary has graduated from merely running around during freestyle time to trying to be a graceful prima ballerina.  that is, until she's trying to also whip the ribbon at passersby...



you can find the latest tippy toe walk across on our youtube channel as well.  skipping for sake of yours and my sanity.  too many videos, too little time.
last, but not least, some ballet.

in much more serious news, grandpa koz (as in brent's grandpa, or great grandpa to mary) had a stroke just recently.  they discovered a blood clot in his brain that is unfortunately inoperable.  and while they are no doubt administering anti clotting meds to help try and break it down, there's not much else that can be done.  we ask that, whether you are known to Michael Kozlowski or not, you keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  we're hoping for as close to a complete recovery as possible.
to glen and julie, who i know look forward to this weekly post, may mary's dancing serve as a means to cheering you up, even just a tiny bit, during a stressful and scary time. <3

better late than never (aka in which stephanie's witchy side comes out)

i think i've run out of "clever" things to say when it comes to mary and her dance class.  this is probably due to my most-likely-irrational frustration over one of the 3 year old girls in her class.  now i know what you're thinking, c'mon stephanie, they're 2-3 yo, hardly old enough to get you all riled up.  and yet, i find myself wishing to yell at the mom, or stick the girl in time out because she just. won't. stop.  what i mean by that is this girl runs around like crazy and uses her wily influences on the others (mary included) to run amok and lose focus on the dancing. it's maddening.  truly.  GET YOUR CHILD UNDER CONTROL BECAUSE SHE IS MAKING THINGS DIFFICULT FOR THE REST TO DANCE.
sorry.
/rant
moving on.  today the teacher busted out the ribbon dancers!!!!!  you should know i am singing the tv commercial about ribbon dancers that i can't find a link to anywhere (boo) and was singing it the entire time the girls were running around with said ribbons.

i feel like most of the videos are lacking in quality awesomeness (and yet, i managed to record like 10 of them).  again, because of a certain tiny terror on the dance floor...you can probably guess who the troublemaker is by the videos. if not, then, well...that's probably for the best.  i feel kind of like a jerk for complaining about this. 



all by herself...LIKE A BOSS!


again, horrible placement for mary.  makes video taking very difficult.  you miss her awesome leg work and pouty faces and bum shakin'


this is really mean, but...no one cares about the steroid drops you had to take for weeks because of the contact solution.  SHUSH.






look at that tippy toin' master! i know you've seen a video similar in past weeks, but for me it's all about noticing the progress mary makes.  she keeps her legs firmer as she walks and her arms raised up more. 

this is supposed to be the running, kicking the legs behind,move.  only i think mary was more focused on tippy toes.  best part?  the end where mary gets in that girl's face.  hands down.  i have no idea what she was doing.
the dance studio is opening up another class on thursday mornings.  i'm hoping that crazy girl goes there.  oh jeez, i can't keep from being rude.  still...*crosses fingers*

hurray for dance (in which many videos are posted)

i'm so very tired. and my head hurts.  so i'm forgoing most of my random running commentary in favor of you just viewing the vids.  i know you probably prefer that anyway (with the exception of sarinah who thinks i'm crazily hilarious)
thank goodness for no more illnesses that get in the way of wednesday dance lessons.  mary's been pumped since sunday, when brent made the mistake of mentioning it.  mary has been excited ever since.  even more so than normal because today brent had off and was able to come with!  one of the cutest parts about today's lesson was mary smiling and waving at daddy through the window.
there were a couple new faces in class today. i don't know if they were there last week and we missed them, or what.  but either way, mary made a new friend (long blonde hair in a ponytail, black skirt, you can't miss her: she's the hyper one).  it was really cute to watch them interact.  unfortunately, what wasn't cute was this girl blocking my view of mary dancing.  again, i wish i could've asked her nicely to move out the way.  or maybe put in a request with the teacher to always have mary in plain sight so i can record.  not like it's a big secret i'm camera happy.  oh well.
prepare for videos in
3...
2...
1...

















ok, one last snarky comment.  can i just say i was annoyed the other girls ran and took away from mary's awesome run/kick thingies?  because mary was the only one who did it anywhere near close to how the teacher demonstrated. 
oh well.  i shouldn't complain.  mary was delightful as usual.  i love seeing the small ways in which she advances in her class.  and how she learns more about balance and coordination.  it's such a great way for her to grow and learn

those of you expecting to see a dance class related post...sorry.

i know, i know.

what is this tomfoolery?
unfortunately for us all, mary got sick last night with croup.  it had been awhile, and caught us completely off guard.  but around 4 am, mary came  into our room wheezing and hacking and generally scared the poop out of me.  i'm pretty sure i bolted out of bed and ran to her.  how i managed to not trip and fall is beyond me.
one doctor visit, some meds later and we were home to veg and just hang out in pjs and stuff (don't judge, i didn't go to sleep after mary woke me up.  not one wink). she's sounding wheezier than she ever has while being all croupy.  that is to say, normally during the day you can hardly even tell she's sick, minus the runny nose.  i don't know exactly why this is, but she managed to put up a good front for rachel (who got her nook and came to get books from me YAY) and even cuddled up to her.
so while i can't give you mary dancing, i figured i'd give you mary singing.  because mary loves gaga gaga (that's lady gaga to you) and can't help herself. 






i promise.  brent and i are good parents.  we've never once watched or shown mary something that would result in her wanting to, uh, lift up her shirt like that.  i know laughing only encourages it.  i know.  :/ i couldn't help it!