Save The Bees!

 Yesterday, the girls went outside in search of minibeasts as part of their nature study. While they were out there Grace noticed a bee (a minibeast!) walking down the back deck stairs. She them came in to tell me that there was something super important that I had to come see. I immediately went outside and the girls showed me a honeybee that was waking in the garden across from the stairs. A quick Google search told us that a walking bee is a starving bee and we followed the recommendation of mixing water with a bit of honey to feed to it. We placed the mixture in a teaspoon and put it near the bee. It quickly found it and immediately began to drink! We watched as she regained her strength and stayed until she flew away. It was truly one of the most incredible experiences of our lives! xo

The photos below were taken by Emma. She also recorded a video too that we shared on Facebook yesterday. 

Some News

For those who didn't know, Grace and Emma auditioned last week for the dance team. For those who did know, and who have been wondering how the girls did, we finally have some news to share.

After a long couple of weeks, and a busy auditioning week where lots of girls participated, we were  thrilled to learn that Grace will be joining the junior team and one of the three musical theater teams! She was determined to land a spot on the junior team and we are so proud that her hard work, determination and dedication has paid off!

We are, however, sad to share that it wasn't meant to be for Emma this year. We wish that things turned out differently, but  as with all good teachable moments, she has already decided to take the info about why she didn't make the team this year, learn from it, improve and audition again next year. I'm not sure that my mama-heart is going to be able to make it through auditions next year as it barely made it through them this year, but our girl is determined and so I shall be right there, along with the rest of our dance family, cheering her on every step of the way!

It's a strange emotion that I've experienced since learning the results. I am so very proud of both of the girls for auditioning. It's a very brave thing to put yourself out there like that, and goodness knows I don't know if I would have been able to do so at their ages! While I  am so proud of both of them, and very happy for Grace, at the same time my heart just aches for Emma. I don't think there's a name for this emotion of simultaneous happiness and sadness but there really should be.

Emma's doing fine. It helped her a great deal to hear from Miss Lauri about why it didn't work out. And while there were definitely some parts that Emma could have chosen to do differently, there are also some parts where she just needs to learn that slow and steady really is the better option. It's a hard lesson to learn when things don't work out the way you'd like them to, but one that she's learned so much from already and one that we know she will learn even more from over the course of the next dance year. xo