Mayfest!

Well, we were almost rained out for Mayfest. It rained all day yesterday. But fortunately Sparrow's teacher had chosen just the right song for her class to perform. At 4:15, just as the girls were arriving, the rain cleared up and the sun came out. Naiya's class opened with the song "I Can See Clearly Now", the rain is gone..... It was serendipity! The performances were wonderful, and the girls did a great job and had lots of fun. Just as we were leaving, the rain restarted.

Here are a few pictures. I wish I had not been so lazy and had taken a video. Maybe next time.

Firestar's ballet class performed Tarantella from the ballet Anyuta. It was a jazzy piece with tambourines.

Firestar's musical theater class performed an excerpt from their Will Rogers Musical. This song had to do with the Wild West Show, involving cowboys and Indians, movie stars, etc. You kind of had to be there to get what they were doing, but here are some cute pics anyway.

Celebrating Firestar's 10th Birthday!!!

Today we celebrate Firestar and a decade of her amazing spirit in our lives! We celebrate her passion, her beauty, her curiosity. The pure joy that sharing our life with hers brings.
Happy Birthday baby!!!

On Monday, Sparrow and two friends helped Firestar celebrate her birthday at Clary Sage with a special Miss Clary Spa Day. They were treated to facials, manicures and pedicures, pampering their radiant inner and outer beauty. They are all such special girls!

Starting out the morning with cleansing facials and a hand and arm massage. They were so relaxed!

Glowing natural beauties!


Next it was time for a pedicure.

Last came the manicure.

Our fun day ended with an ice cream treat at Cherry Berry.

Oklahoma Music Achievement Auditions

Today the girls had the opportunity to perform at the Oklahoma State Music Achievement Auditions, after both receiving a top score of "1" at the regional competition in March. It was a bittersweet day, which I'll explain soon. These competitions are a great way for students to have performance experiences under pressure, as well as to show off what they have accomplished and have something to work hard towards. The girls were so enthusiastic to be there and from their standpoint, this is way better than the recital, because you have the opportunity to receive a trophy, or at least a ribbon!

Firestar played Carnival of Venice, a lively waltz, and was rewarded with a super-best score of 1+! Her judge's sheet was full of only glowing comments about her excellent tempo and perfect dynamics, wonderful staccatos and exceptional legatos. Not one negative comment! We are so proud of her hard work! And a 1+ earned the big trophy, so she was super proud. As you can see in this picture, she was equally as proud of the $1.00 treble clef straw that I bought her in the little gift area.




Little Sparrow learned a very difficult lesson today on the theme of "life's not fair". She has been working on this piece since January, and has been playing it absolutely perfectly for months. Her teacher has said that this song was just made for her. However, her teacher failed to read the Achievement Audition rule book. Rule #5 on page 27 states that all performance pieces must be written for piano, no arrangements allowed. Her song was an arrangement for piano, a version of Hayden's Surprise Symphony. She was so excited to perform today, sure she would receive her first trophy, and was so devastated not to be allowed to have the opportunity to do so. My heart broke for her, as it was so important to her and she's worked so hard, and it was not at all her fault. To try to make her feel a little better I bought her this lovely cloisonne piano in the gift area; a "trophy" for her hard work, because we know she would have done so well. She is very proud of it, and knows that we are very proud of her too. Not only are we proud of her hard work in piano, but also for gracefully learning to handle an unfair disappointment. When she was first upset, she said that she would never do one of these competitions again. By the time we left, she was already looking forward to trying again next year. I love her spirit!

Happy Mother's Day!

“Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud.”

I love Maya Angelou. She is a courageous, inspiring woman who speaks to all people, telling it just how it is. One of her books is titled “Letters to my Daughter”. Can you believe that she doesn't even have a daughter? She wrote a book for a daughter she doesn't have! Here is a passage from this book's introduction.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution. Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood. Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity. I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are black and white, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”

Wow. The whole world is her family, and she has the voice and confidence to mother us all. We are all Maya Angelou's daughters. If only we all could break out of our shells and look beyond our personal lives to remember that we are all interconnected, all of the time.

I am so fortunate to have a mother that upholds these virtues that Maya Angelou advises. She taught these things to me in a way even more challenging to do than speak them; she modeled them through her actions. She is a mother to anyone who needs one. Courageous, compassionate, uncomplaining, patient, and exceptionally humble. She couldn't have done anything differently or better in raising us. I am forever grateful that my life began with her in it.

These days, when you go to the store to buy a Mother's Day card for your mother, you have to search past the Mother's Day cards for aunts, sisters, friends, daughters, grandparents, expecting mothers, etc. It's not just about your own mom anymore, it's about all the moms you know. This makes me reflect on the women in my life, all of them. Not just my mother, but my grandmothers, aunts, sister, mother-in-law, close friends. All of them have had an influence on my life. They are all compassionate, loving beings that I am thankful to know. The awareness of my connection to others is an important entity in my life; not just those people I know who have influenced my life, but total strangers who I meet in passing, read about in books, or only have a vague idea of. They are all mothers or at least daughters. They are all just like me. We are all sharing the vibration of this beautiful life.

I am beyond blessed to have my two spectacular daughters, and to have the opportunity to be a mother to them, my life intertwined with theirs. I could go on and on and on about how wonderful and complete my life is with these wonderful children in it. Trust me, it's all there. Today I will savor the privilege of being a mother to them, just as I do every day. But this is not about me, and was never about me. I am yet one tree in a forest of other strong trees, who have influenced my growth and allowed me to form my own shape, sheltered and altered by the other women in my life, especially my own mother. They have given me the strength and space to stand tall above the saplings who have chosen to take root under me, blessing me with their own strength, as we together form an ever-evolving community.

This year, this is what Mother's Day means to me. It's far greater than the small but infinitely extraordinary cocoon of my own children and family.

That said, I have been a terrible daughter this Mother's Day because I wasn't able to manage getting cards in the mail! My only excuse is “post-vacation brain”, an unfortunate but very real affliction. So, to make up for the lack of sappy cards for the grandmothers of my children, I am gifting a last-minute attempt to invoke tears from those wonderful women who have earned the titles of “Grammy” and “Nana”, as well as anyone else who is taking the time to read this far. The following videos were taken on the first day of my life as a mother, nearly 10 years ago in an orphanage in Viet Nam. No baby was ever more divine, magnificent and adorable as this one, especially on that day. Dan pulled this video out from who-knows-where yesterday; I hadn't seen it in years! Enjoy!