The Little Gym Shows

The kids had their last week at The Little Gym for the spring semester this past week. For the classes for ages 3+ the children have "Show Week" at which they put on a performance or recital with routines of things they have learned over the semester. Rebekah performed with her classmates with a tap dance, ballet dance, and some gymnastics routines.

This first set of pictures are from the tap and ballet dances.

Here is the video of their performance. Rebekah obviously loves ballet, much more than tap. She seemed to really enjoy dancing ballet a lot more during the performance.



Following are pictures of the gymnastics portion of the show.

Rebekah has really improved this semester in gymnastics. She had taken a break from it until I felt she was mature enough to go to a class by herself, and she started soon after she turned four years old. She has amazed me with how quickly she has gained momentum and done as well as she has. She has great balance. Even on the bobbles she catches herself. I love how she jumps up and down excited over her accomplishment on the beam, which is one of her favorite stations. Here is some video of the gymnastics portion. The first five minutes is the warm-up, so feel free to skip to the stations if you'd like. The beam is at 6:00 and the bars at 8:40.



You can view a professional photographer's photos of Rebekah's class here.

This class at The Little Gym seems to have really boosted Rebekah's confidence. She is also getting great exercise, and she's having fun. Mr. Keith and Mrs. Nancy are phenomenal teachers, and both our kids just love them! I love how it is a non-threatening environment, the classes are fun, but yet the children are taking life-long lessons with them, even if they don't go on to be dancers or gymnasts.

Joshua also had his final class for the semester this week. He took a make-up class on Friday since he missed his Tuesday class due to our recent trip to visit my sister. Joshua finally really enjoyed the air track. Actually, the last time Mr. Keith pulled it out Joshua played on it for a couple minutes, and that was more than he had ever been willing before. I think a lot had to do with the adults getting off and letting the kids play on it alone, although part of it is just being more confident on it. Joshua still has a long way to go in this class, but he is getting better, and I see improvements in him in one area at nearly every class. I'm also including some pics from a previous visit to The Little Gym that I have not posted yet.

And you can look at the professional photos of Joshua's last class here.

A Big, Long Day: Preschool, Doctor, Dance/Gym, and First Hair Cut...and of course, Lots of Pictures!

Homeschooling didn't happen today. We left the house at 9:00 this morning and didn't return home until 4:00 this afternoon. It's pretty evident that we were just worn out from our day and much too tired to attempt any additional learning other than watching a couple videos this evening.

After I dropped Rebekah off at preschool I took Joshua for a check-up with the ENT. His ears look great, even better than the last visit, so we are hoping that this spring and summer we are out of the woods from any colds and ear infections. We'll see what happens this fall, but we are continuing the dairy-free diet as well.

On our way back to the preschool to pick up Rebekah we stopped by Hobby Lobby for some palm branches. I am leading praise/worship music for the preschoolers/kindergarteners on Sunday mornings every four weeks, and my turn is Palm Sunday. We are going to sing some songs about the significance of the holiday, and I thought it would be fun for the kids to wave palm branches during a song or two.

After the three of us had lunch at our favorite fast-food joint, Chick-fil-A, we headed over to The Little Gym for Rebekah's dance/gym class. Rebekah absolutely loves this class! I had thought about taking a break this summer from it since she's going to take survival swim lessons that will be pretty intense for a few weeks, but she loves the class so much we decided to give it a try. I had my camera with me so I tried to get a few shots through the window. Do keep in mind they were taken through a window, so they are not as clear as they should be and have some glare, some worse than others.


Mrs. Nancy got the girls to look at me for a pic.


Practicing one of their steps. They are holding stuffed animals b/c it was supposed to be "Bring a Friend Day". Mrs. Nancy was out last week, so we didn't get the memo. Next week they get to bring a friend, so if you'd like your daughter to come let me know and the first person who responds can be Rebekah's visiting friend next week.


Joshua and his little friend watch the girls dance. Usually he gives her kisses, but I couldn't get a good pic when they hugged the one time today. Joshua refused to kiss on command.


Some sort of free dancing they were doing.


Rebekah LOVES to twirl!


Following dance they go into the gym for the second half of class with Mr. Keith.


Rebekah has amazed me with how well she does on the balance beam. She zooms along it with no problem! Here Mr. Keith is working on a routine with her. (Sorry for the glare due to all the windows!)





Following Rebekah's class we headed over to Tiki Cuts for Joshua to get his first hair cut. I have not been wanting to have it cut because I didn't want his curls cut, but it has been looking pretty shaggy in the front, and Darrin has been patiently waiting for me to take Joshua to have it cut. I wanted it to look nice for Easter, so off we went to have it trimmed.

Tiki Cuts is a privately owned business just for children's hair cuts. The beautician's hours are limited, so we were forced to go when Joshua should be going down for a nap, but it was worth it. (Rebekah went to the same place for her first real hair cut.) The place is so cute with an island theme. It is located in a pool/spa building, but as you enter the place you walk through hanging wooden strings into the island room. She has toys set up for children to entertain themselves, including a puppet show stage, adirondack chairs, and videos while children have their hair cut. Smaller children and toddlers can sit in the seat made with a small Power Wheels Jeep.

Before


During





After





And since we were there early and there was time before the next appointment I asked her to go on ahead and trim Rebekah's hair to add in layers that I had cut out when I cut her hair. I really like the layers now, and I think they add a little more fullness. While I'm at it here are a couple of pics.

Before


After


Obviously, after such a long and busy day we crashed when we got home. Joshua struggled going down for a nap, but he finally got some rest while Rebekah and I curled up on the couch and watched a video.

Gymnastics Show

Rebekah had her show at The Little Gym on Tuesday night, and guess who missed it? Me! Darrin and I both got the dates mixed up and thought Show Week was next week. It was a bad night for it too. It had been raining all day long, and there was flooding throughout the city. It took Darrin almost 50 minutes to get Rebekah there, and it normally is only about a 30-minute drive, but she was only about 5 minutes late. We were not the only parents who got the dates confused according to the director, and even the number of parents who showed up were not much more than a normal class, but I still felt horrible for missing it. Even if Joshua had not been napping and I had been prepared to leave by the time Darrin realized it was Show Week I still would have missed it due to traffic and weather.

Darrin also was not prepared to take pictures. All he had was his cell phone, so he got what he could. I was so disappointed when I realized that I missed Rebekah's show because this was her first solo performance. I know there will be other opportunities, but as her mommy I hate to miss any of her "firsts".

Here are the best pics Darrin got on his cell phone. He got a few nice shots, but unfortunately they turned out really blurry.




After Rebekah got home I apologized for missing her performance, but she didn't seem to mind. She was so proud of her medal she earned!


I must say, though, that Rebekah is so ecstatic about starting dance next week! She will be taking a class that offers tap and ballet for 30 minutes and gymnastics for another 30 minutes. We picked up her ballet and tap shoes yesterday and she has been wearing them a lot. In fact, she has on her complete ballet outfit right now and is summoning me to go dance with her.