Dance recital photos!! Caroline is in a Saturday morning combo class, where they learn both tap and ballet. For the recital this year they did a tap routine to The Good Ship Lollipop. Their costumes were very sparkly and patriotic. It was basically the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.

Caroline isn’t what you would call a naturally gifted dancer. She doesn’t seem to have an ear for music or beat or some extraordinary talent for learning steps. But what she lacks in God-given ability she makes up for in enthusiasm. She LOVES to dance. She dances all the time, sometimes to music and sometimes to music only she can hear, sometimes to songs she makes up and sings out loud for everyone to enjoy. Her joy and confidence when she dances is why I signed her up for this year’s lessons and why I am probably going to move her to “real” dance lessons in the fall. If dance is going to be Her Thing, I want her to have all the opportunity she needs to become very good at it and I don’t think the Parks & Rec class is going to do that. But for this year, it was perfect.

These photos are from both dress rehearsal and the night of the show. During dress rehearsal, Caroline mostly looked at her feet and fussed with her itchy costume. During the actual performance she did MUCH better at the looking up and smiling part, but she lost her place in line and then tried to rearrange the girls around her. She just took them gently by the arm and moved them to the “correct” spot on the floor. She was wrong. Completely wrong. But it got a huge laugh from the audience and one little girl she moved told her mom Caroline was “so helpful”, so it ended up OK.

I am posting way, way too many photos here, but just pretend you are her grandmother and REALLY want to seem them all. Thanks.

Hey, remember how I used to knit stuff? Knitting is such a nice relaxing hobby unless you’re other hobby is blogging, because it’s impossible to blog and knit at the same time. Until science perfects the double arm transplant and I have two sets of hands, I’ve been letting my knitting needles gather dust so I could focus on the internet.

But right now I’m just not a very good blogger. I’ve been having a great time doing the Worst Preschool Shows on Television brackets and of course my adorable children make for good picture posts, but I haven’t been in much of a sharing mood. I’m just not feeling like my life is exciting or beautiful enough right now to warrant much sharing.

Part of that is because a lot of my energy has been going into my wife/mom/housekeeper jobs, all of which are demanding a lot more attention than usual. And for possibly the first time ever, I’m going to err on the side of under-sharing and NOT write down every single marriage-related complaint that’s been on my mind. Most of it is the exact same stuff every wife and mother complains about (under-valued, never get a break, blahdy blah blah blah) and at least 75% of that is work-based on E’s part, so it’s not even WORTH complaining about. The Navy doesn’t care if I have a sinus infection. Hell, my children REALLY don’t care if I have a sinus infection. It seems more like they’ve accepted a challenge to see who can make my ear drums burst first.

Also, approximately EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD is pregnant right now and I am…not. I was hoping to I’d be announcing another (maybe) ginger baby any day now, but my uterus remains uninvaded. It’s not a tragedy. It’s not even a demi-crisis yet – trying for a few months unsuccessfully isn’t even close to secondary (tertiary?) infertility and I have no reason to complain. But it’s something that’s on my mind a lot and not something I want to write about extensively since I don’t want anyone think I am whining  so I’ve been keeping those thoughts offline.

Instead of blogging I’ve been knitting again. I finally finished a scarf I’ve had on my needles for a year. I’m 75% done with a super cute short sleeved sweater for Caroline. I have big plans to knit for some of those bazillionteen pregnant people’s babies. I also took a big leap and rented a very pricey lens for my camera this weekend, so I’ll be spending every single daylight hour getting the most of it. Not to mention Evan’s birthday is only 3 weeks away and I need to make a hundred feet of pennant banners and plan a menu.

It’s nice to work on something that isn’t my computer for a change. Being busy is an excellent use of time I was spending feeling sorry for myself.

I am obsessed with knitting. OBSESSED. Which is a really strong feeling for someone who’s only knit two badly misshapen baby washcloths and knows almost nothing. But my plans are huge – HUGE I TELL YOU.  I’ve already ordered several balls of yarn, a bunch of needles and a pattern for a hat and scarf that is FAR too ambitious for my very minimal skill set. Luckily I have that set of moms in the Mother of Purl group who can hold my hand through the beginning stages and the vocabulary and remind me not to knit with the long tail AGAIN because I won’t get very far. I don’t think time is going to be a problem because knitting is a perfect evening activity. It’s just as mind numbing and calming and just as easy to do while watching crappy TV as Bejewled or Tetris or Twitterstalking but you actually have something to show for your time when you’re done. And hopefully the things I have to show are adorable little baby socks and accessories. If you have children, better start practicing your “It’s beautiful! I love it!” face because there is a really crooked baby hat not too far in your future. YOU’RE WELCOME.

There’s actually a fairly high chance I’ve just spent a bunch of money on a hobby I’m going to give up or get tired of in a couple months. Quitting my hobbies is sort of my hobby.