and you might reach the stars.
ella had a vision:
which we turned into a reality:
to the makers of the fabulously glitterful stretchy velvet fabric that little girls the world over no doubt adore: you owe me. also, thank you for making the night sky fabric of ella’s dreams. :)
*for details on how we created this costume, please visit rostitchery.
happy halloween!
it’s ballet recital time of year! if your child’s hair is really short, it is a challenge to get it into the classical “ballerina bun”. here is how i do it with ella’s hair.
you need: elastic band, bobby pins (and hairpins if you have them), a hair net to match the child’s hair color, and a pair of knee high nylons that are close to the child’s hair color (for this tutorial i used knee highs that are lighter than ella’s hair so they will show up in the pictures).
NOTE: bobby pins are the thicker ones that have one straight side and one bendy side.
they are used to hold a design firmly in place. when putting them around the base of the bun, insert them with the straight side next to the head so it lies smooth under the bun and doesn’t hurt—when using them to hold loose pieces of hair in place, insert them with the straight side away from the head, so they look smooth and flat (they won’t hurt here because there is no pressure on them). insert them at an angle to the hair that is flatted to the head, so they have something to grab.
hairpins are the ones that are thin and shaped like a long U. (for some reason we haven’t been able to find any hairpins recently—apparently nashville has become a hairpin-free zone—so this is a stock picture from a beauty supply website).
they are used to hold sections of loose hair in a given design. they are useless for securing the design to the head so if you have to buy only one type of pin, get bobby pins.
now down to business: use the elastic band to put the child’s hair into a ponytail in the target bun location—check with the dance school about this!—some schools like the low, traditional bun, some like a higher, contemporary bun. if some of the child’s hair is not long enough to go into the ponytail, just leave it loose for now. ella’s hair has grown out quite a bit since it was cut earlier this year—at first the whole front wouldn’t even go into the ponytail.
then wrap the knee high nylons around the elastic band and tuck the loose ends in. the knee highs give bulk to the bun and give you something to build on. you can use more than two knee highs if the child’s hair is very thin.
take small sections of hair and pull them over the knee highs, pin them if you wish or just tuck them under if they will hold (this is where hairpins are more useful than bobby pins—hairpins will grab a whole section of hair to keep in place while you finish the bun and they can go right thru the knee highs to grab wispies).
this part doesn’t have to be pretty but do make sure you have the hair evenly distributed around the knee highs so the final result will be round and symmetrical.
take the hairnet and wrap it around the bun—it will be too big—just twist it and wrap it over and over until you run out of net—the way you applied the elastic to make the ponytail.
put in as many more bobby pins around the base of the bun as needed to make it secure—have the child shake her head to double check. if there were any loose pieces of hair that didn’t make it into the ponytail, pin them flat to the head now. crisscrossing bobby pins will make them hold better. step back and admire your handiwork.
spray the bun and head liberally with the ozone-depleting hair product of your choice and you’re done!
*for my very first dance recital i was a mouse in a grey tutu. 14 years later, when i was a professional dancer, i requested and was granted the privilege of performing the role of the mouse king in “the nutcracker”—why did i do it?—because by then i had danced every female role in that ballet and the mouse king was the only male role that was within reach. :D everyone who has ever danced on stage, even for fun, has at least one story to tell—what’s yours?
this was margaret ann aldridge, rudi's mother. margaret died last week. at the memorial service we were asked to share our memories of her and at the time i simply wasn't prepared to do so. if i'd had it together, this is what i would have said:
margaret used to make fudge every christmas--good fudge, the kind you are thrilled to receive and the kind you are proud to offer your family and friends. one year--the year i now realize, looking back, that she first began to decline--she made a fudge that was just not "right". it didn't set up properly, and it was a little soggy. yet she humbly offered it to everyone who came thru the door that december, because that is what she had, and you know what? it was still pretty tasty.
it used to drive margaret crazy that i would reheat leftovers to eat for breakfast. :) so one visit when i couldn't find any leftovers to heat up, i ate potato chips for breakfast instead. this somehow thrilled margaret, she no longer had to endure the sight of me eating something that seemed wrong to her, and from that time until she went to the nursing home she always had potato chips for me when we visited.
when i first met margaret almost 20 years ago, she had a policy that no family photos could be displayed in the "public" areas of the home (living room, dining room, kitchen, etc). when ella came along, that policy went out the window. every horizontal surface was covered in photos of her, and most walls too. on the wall above the bed where margaret died hung her favorite picture of ella.
margaret loved "dancing with the stars".
she loved green and white starlight mints.
she was a fan of the old pueblo traders catalog and more than once we bonded over our shared affection for daniel green house slippers.
more than anything else, margaret loved her pets, she loved her children, and she loved ella.
margaret and i were often at odds and i blame myself for not having bridged that gap, at least in my heart. in the end, we were able to look each other in the eye with kindness and compassion and be the friends i wish we had been all along. for that i will be forever thankful.
congratulations COURTNEY QUANDT ! you're the winner of the new PBS sprout's DVD "lend a helping hand"!
please send me an email with your mailing address and i'll have your DVD sent right out to you. the email link is on the left sidebar, right under the "praying for elizabeth" button.
thank you all for entering and for sharing a little about your sweet babies with me. i hope to have something new to offer you soon.
have a great weekend, everybody!
it's not much but for us it is amazing--we haven't had a snow like this since before the turn of the century! the most recent (and most often-occurring) big weather event here is tornados. dislike.
this snowfall was a good one--we've already had our first batch of snow ice cream, and we've all been hit by real snowballs.
this is why everything shuts down here when there are only 4" of snow on the ground: 5,600 miles of roads in davidson county and only 30 pieces of road equipment--that's plows, ice trucks--everything. after all, why have equipment for something that is only going to happen once every decade?
there is also 1/2" of hard ice under this snow--bad for driving, but great for sledding.
this is how southern kids sled--in kiddie pools, because why have a sled when you're only going to get real snow once every decade?
but in the south, when you get your first real snow, your daddy will drag you back and forth in your tiny, urban side yard and be happy for the privilege because each time he'll get to hear this:
it was very busy here in december.
we made cinnamon applesauce ornaments
and a cinnamon stick cabin
to go with the two fun online classes we attended: one about christmas in the pioneer days
and one in which we got to hear christmas stories while snuggling on the couch.
we went on a wonderful homeschool field trip to traveller's rest, where we got to try spice cookies and syllabub, and learn to dance the virginia reel
and got to write a christmas card with a quill pen.
we checked the advent pockets every morning to see what bible verse the advent goblins wanted us to read that day, and to see what gift they left to remind us of the verse.
and of course, we went to see santa and whisper a christmas wish into his ear.
and then--on christmas day--ella got what she asked him for:
a wishing well "exactly like laura's",
and a baby sister for dalui.
many other moments, big and small, added up to a truly special month for us.
it was the perfect way to end what ella tells us was her best year ever.
gorg and milkie are getting married! RIGHT NOW! ella is playing for the wedding.
the wedding march is "civilization", which luckily i have the sheet music because we used it in a show about 10 years ago. we made the artistic director of the company be a spear holder in his own show. good times....
oh, tootie and grophie are fine with the wedding, because they are all big kids so they can still play together.
every few years i get to see my friend elizabeth (that button in the sidebar--the one with socks--will lead you to her blog). elizabeth is fighting stage 3C invasive lobular carcinoma--breast cancer with a side of lymph nodes. so it was especially dear to me that i got to see her a few weeks ago when she came to nashville to see her children compete in the 2009 super national chess championships at the opryland hotel (which, for those who have never been there, can best be described as a combination of las vegas and an arboretum--with an indoor river).
the last time we saw elizabeth she was on her way with her then-youngest, danny, to mayo clinic, AND was pregnant with the now-youngest, george. on that visit we got a wonderful surprise, we got to meet curious george, in "person"!
then (ella dressed as a princess, as is often the case) :
now (playing princess and superhero):
ella took this picture:
and she was over the moon about george but i guess we all are:
please, if you have some time, visit elizabeth at her blog, she is truly an amazing woman with an amazing family, and she could use all the encouragement you can offer.
thank you!
