Happy birthday, Nana! We loved celebrating with you on a sunny day.
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Monday, February 12, 2024
Saturday, February 3, 2024
LADM dance competition
The second dance competition of the season was LADM.
It's not our favorite and since half the studio got a stomach bug after being there, it is really last on our list. Serafina got sick and passed it on to both me and Leo. It was a rough week.
Monday, January 22, 2024
Hollywood Connection Regionals 2024
The dance season kicked off this year with Hollywood Connection. We will be attending their nationals in San Diego this summer, but this weekend was the regional convention right here in Santa Clara. Serafina performed three routines on Friday night: her senior large jazz, her senior small jazz and the Senior hip hop crew. All the routines were fantastic to watch, but the large jazz placed third and the hip hop got first. Exciting! Here are a bunch of the dancers after awards on Friday night.
Saturday morning we had to be up early for Serafina to attend convention classes and because the convention center is directly across the street from Levi's stadium where the 49ers were playing in a championship game, that meant she was stuck there all day. Between taking Lyft and catching a ride with some friends attending the game, I was able to leave my car there but escape for a bit of normal life before returning for competition that night. Next year, I'm booking a hotel room. Even though it's just 15 minutes away from our house. If the 49ers have a crap season, I'll cancel. Otherwise, I'll save us both the misery of being trapped at the convention center.
Despite taking classes all morning, supporting the junior team she's a T.A. for and being stuck at a convention center all day, Serafina still managed to be a good teammate all evening. Here she is helping apply some lashes, something she is very good at and I am not.
She danced beautifully for the second night in a row and her senior contemporary routine won third and the large hip hop team won first. Here she is with Karin waiting for the awards to be announced.
More happy dancers celebrating at the end of the awards.
Sunday was the final day of classes. I dropped her off and returned later in the afternoon for the closing show where they hand out scholarships and other awards. Serafina has not yet be individually recognized at a dance convention. It has been a hard pill to swallow since she is really a fantastic dancer and works so hard. Going into this season, I was optimistic that she would finally get the kudos she deserves especially since she was added to a Masters class at the studio that works specifically on auditioning, which is how awards are granted. But we were both very realistic about Hollywood Connection. Not only was it the first convention of the season, this was her first year moving up a category for dancers 14 years old and up. She would take classes with the oldest group and be up against them for any kind of award. And since she's just a little over 14, she would be one of the youngest in the room against literally hundreds of kids aged all the way up to 18. I dragged Leo with me to the convention center so he could finish his homework, and then he sat with me as the award ceremony took place. We were towards the back of the dark, crowded ballroom. I warned him that Serafina probably wouldn't win because she's the youngest in her category and she might be grumpy because of it so be nice to her on the drive home. Well imagine my utter and joyous surprise when they finally got around to announcing the Icon runners-up and I hear this...
Sure, terribly pronunciation, but it is still my Serafina being called on stage! The other moms I was near congratulated me and said "this is a big one!". I leapt up and got a picture of all the Icons and Icon runners up on stage. 
So what does this mean? Well, as a runner-up, she can compete to be an Icon at Nationals. She'll participate in a special routine for all the Icon winners and she'll be allowed to compete a solo at Nationals. A solo!!! This is all her heart has desired for a long time. Her studio only grants a dozen or so solos to dancers and a majority of them are for high school seniors. But this award means she'll get to have a solo this season.
After the awards ceremony wrapped up, I rushed to the front to hug my girl and take the pictures I've been waiting to take for years.
Bonus picture with her brother since he just happened to be there bored in the awards until it all turned so very exciting.
Leo is a licensed driver!
On January 8th, Leo was scheduled to take his behind-the-wheel drivers test. He had his permit for the required six months, practiced driving with both Tom and me, and took his professional lessons. In fact, his final professional lesson was scheduled for the morning of the 8th so he would be extra prepared for his test that afternoon. Plus, a friend gave me the testing route ahead of time, so we went to the DMV and tried it out on the weekend a couple of times. So clearly he was super prepared, but we had heard of plenty of kids failing and having to retake it.
I think we were both really nervous, but he passed on his first try!
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Merry Christmas 2023
My friend Bonnie, her husband and two kids joined us for Christmas Eve this year. Bonnie's daughter Sophie went to elementary school with Leo and danced with Serafina Anyway, it was a super fun evening with delicious food (both Bonnie and Tom are excellent Italian cooks), a fun game and a silly present swap. We had so much fun, in fact, I took no pictures except of Serafina's impressive napkin folding. Just like Thanksgiving.
We had my mom over Christmas day for more delicious food. Again, no pictures except of this incredible yard decoration that I saw on my way home. Yes, that is a Christmas toaster. And yes, I want one or some other amazing holiday-theme household appliance lawn inflatable.
Monday, December 4, 2023
Kindness Ambassador
There are many reasons for a person to volunteer. For a high school students in our district, it is a graduation requirement. It also looks good on a college application. But in the grand scheme of things, it's also really important to give back and to look outside yourself once in a while.
When Leo turned 16, he was eligible to volunteer at a lot more organization and I asked him to chose one that he cared about. Of course it would fulfill the school requirement and be noted on his college applications, but also it was opportunity to be part of something important. He decided he wanted to volunteer at Magical Bridges playgrounds. Last school year, his P.E. class included kids from the moderate/severe Special Education class on his campus. He spent time with students who were non-verbal and some with significant cognitive differences. He made a point to treat these kids with kindness. Magical Bridges has a Kindness Ambassador program, which is a perfect fit for Leo. Though a lot of the volunteer opportunities happen during the summer, Leo got to participate in their Canine Companion program on Sunday.
Two very sweet, trained dogs - Gilligan and Garrett - were brought to the park to greet the kids. Leo accompanied the dogs around the part and helped little kids meet them.
Leo enjoyed his time volunteering and will participate more with the Kindness Ambassador program. It is so fitting that he is involved with Magical Bridges since we have visited their parks a few times and both kids appeared in a PBS News Hour segment about the park. That clip is still on the Magical Bridges home pate.
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