Number Six, ballerina

I took these yesterday as it was picture day. Will post their photographer ones in June when we receive them. These girls, dear friends Katie, Maren and Laura, are in her homeschool ballet classes with her.

Number Six's Ballet Recital

We were only allowed to tape the dress rehearsal... not very nice video quality either. But gorgeous ballet!

Number Five

Last night the dress rehersal went late... but Number Five has a voice solo in one of her dance recitals and she sounds great! We just picked up ballet pictures. I am a proud mother!

Homeschool Ballet!

Numbers Six and Seven and friends...

Homeschool Ballet

Number Six' first pictures in Pointe shoes... just a preview. More to come.

A Happy 9th Birthday!

Number Seven had a wonderful day, filled with friends, ballet, and treats!

Picture book of the week

Look! Seeing the Light in Art by Gillian Wolfe, 2006 Frances Lincoln's Children Books (UK), 45 pages

I found this quite accidentally when browsing the art shelves in the non-fiction children books section at our library system's main branch last week.

Mind you, I am always carting around mountains of books in huge, oversize bags, and I am thankful for strong, teen sons, and for downtown ballet and piano classes allowing me the time to browse at the library.

At the library, I try to throw in the bag only what looks promising, and I still end up bringing home volumes that go directly back into the return bag, almost unopened. So what I post here is truly the cream of the crop-- at least the cream of my own random crop!

Back to Wolfe's marvelous book: she is from the UK and has received awards for her art books for children. I would give her an award as well! (I have just requested the two other titles in this series from Inter Library Loan). I like the paintings she chooses to show her artistic points-- in this volume, the effect of light onto works of art-- and I like the language she uses to talk about them. The book is for children and yet it doesn't talk down or use patronizing language. Art should be talked about simply, clearly-- and she does just that, as she discusses the use of light in different aspects using 18 great works of art as examples. In fact, I am taking this book to take to my art students at co-op on Friday, and my teens at home approve!

The only negative thing I would say is that I would have chosen another of the many art works depicted in the book for the cover. Alas, that may be a very insignificant point, but it is one that could mean a lot to a visual person like me, who had to bet on the stunning art wok inside the book when the cover shows a very boring Picasso.

To close, another positive: Wolfe is not afraid to acknowledge that it is impossible to talk about art without discussing sacred art. Indeed her book opens with the gorgeous Conversion of Saint Paul by Caravaggio (so timely for the Year of Saint Paul!), and it closes with a discussion on "Heavenly Light", using Blessed Fra Angelico's version of Paradise from The Last Judgement.

New shoes!

Number Five passed her ballet examination... and received these as a gift!









Number Six got to decorate her new spring shoes with the gift from Katie A. Thanks!

Christmas treats

Numbers Five and Six are taking these to their ballet teachers today...

The recipe is a secret of the Braga Family, and one can only have knowledge of it by marrying into the family.

The emperor's drawings

The incessant rain has been a bit hard to handle. This morning I declared to Husband I would not get out of bed unless he would tell me the sun would come out. (Being a scientist who does research in some way related to climate, I hold him responsible for weather conditions, obviously).

So I was ever so thankful when country neighbor Hedgemom's Husband called and took me to purchase a most essential item: a Solartube! Thanks, Mike!

And for the rest of the day (being when I wasn't either homeschooling-or- doing-dishes-or-running- girls-to-ballet-or-attending-noon-mass-or- meeting-another-family-at-the-public-library-to-do-science- homework-together-or-making-homemade-pizza-for- Husband-or-quesadillas-for-the-kids that is) I enjoyed looking at a most handsome volume I brought from Brazil last winter: the drawings of our own Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II.

Enjoy!

40 reasons to have children

Karen and Sarah got me thinking... It all started because of a French book where the author, a mother of two, writes a about regretting having the children in the first place.

In His divine sense of the humour, God brings good out of everything. I see a chain reaction of blog-reading motherly hearts pondering on the wonderful aspects of having and raising children. And isn't this sort of thing exactly what we need sometimes, to renew our purpose, and encourage our way of life?

My early morning Rosary helped me with my own 40 reasons:

1. Parenthood makes us better people.
2. Childbirth is an amazing, miraculous experience.
3. Breastfeeding.
4. Baby's breath.
5. Baby's clothes.
6. Taking baby to Mass for the first time. Pure joy.
7. Afternoon naps on the couch with baby.
8. Intellectual growth due to all the reading we do while breastfeeding.
9. Rediscovering each time your husband's qualities as a father.
10. Baptism!

11. The thrill of seeing them learning to walk.
12. The thrill of seeing them learning to talk.
13. Recording their first words and expressions.
14. Visits with grandparents.
15. Reading wonderfully illustrated toddler books.
16. Building with wooden blocks with them.
17. Praying with young children.
18. Allowing them to begin helping around the house.
19. Listening to their many words, stories and songs from the car seat while driving.
20. Library storytime.

21. The advent of their "age of reason".
22. Enjoying their new world unfolded by their newly reading skills.
23. Selecting great reading materials.
24. Homeschool catalogs filled with great stuff!
25. The pride of their first chapter book.
26. First Confession and Holy Communion!
27. Celebrating their birthdays and saints' feastdays.
28. The joys of their childhood friendships.
29. First adventures in the kitchen.
30. Watching them grow in their many activities: soccer, drama, ballet, art.

31. The advent of adolescence: contrary to popular belief, it is exhilarating!
32. Sons and their height: the pride of being taller than mom comes with God-driven protective, loving and serviceable attitude. Daughters and nurturing: seeing them stepping into educators' roles with younger siblings.
33. Listening to their first troubles and the learning-from-mistakes.
34. Confirmation!
35. A whole new dimension of prayer life as they begin driving.
36. Going through prayerful decisions with them about school and colleges.
37. Enjoying the friends they bring home!
38. Receiving their college emails and welcoming them home for breaks.
39. Finding in your own adult children some of the best company you have ever had.
40. The sweet, grace-full realization that "I would do it all over again".