Blog Gems #8- Holidays

This week the Blog Gems- Air your Archives prompt over at Jen's The King and Eye Blog is..... Holidays.

Blog Gems is a great way of high lighting some oldie, but goodie, Blog Post that's sadly languishing in your archives never again to see the light of day. So thanks Jen for giving us this opportunity.

The post I choose for my participation is .........Meet The Pool Guy

Do click on the link and have a look! It's a favourite of mine. A short video clip of WiiBoy giving us a demonstration pool-side on holidays two years ago! He's just informed me that......

Mum, I look completely different now!

It's true, he does. He's  grown up so much since then :-)

xx Jazzy

The Gallery: Children

This week The Gallery from Tara over at Sticky Fingers is all about Children.

Tara uses some great adjectives that come to mind when we think of our children like: funny, adorable, fantastic, cheeky, heartwarming and heartbreaking etc.

These are certainly some of the adjectives that come to my mind when I think of my fabulous WiiBoy! 

He is of course my initial choice of candidate for this week's meme.

.

I could show you a picture of him as a baby, or as he is now and talk about how proud I am of the amazing young, sometimes mature and sometimes hilariously silly boy- tween that he has become. He really is my amazingly fantastic WiiBoy!

However, the theme is Children..... plural.

Given the week that's in it I have decided to share a photo (that's already on facebook) of my Panto children with you. My opening dancers...

Aren't their costumes lovely? This is what our wonderful Wardrobe department can do on a low-cost budget.

Actually, make that a no-cost budget!!

Here's another one (hey...it's a Gallery, right?) of most of the 170 children involved in this year's panto which opens in two nights time. oops...nervous tummy flip just kicked in!

In this photo they are all sitting down to learn their Finale Medley......

Let this post be in celebration of all the children (including WiiBoy)  involved in this years panto.

All of Tara's adjectives apply here......and more, believe me!!

They are amazing though and this weekend is their opportunity to be part of a team, the very big Team Panto.

It's a time to enhance their self-esteem, to create team spirit on a large scale and to let a budding interest in the world of Musical Theatre wash over them and go forth with them to Secondary school and beyond.

I ask you, what other Primary school do you know of that offers this opportunity to the Children and has done so for the last 15 years?!

It is now a time for them  to get up on that stage and SHINE.

And SMILE too.....of course! Please, please SMILE!!

And finally right about know is the time for all adults involved, all adults in the school and in the whole community to remember what our Panto is all about.......


THE CHILDREN.




xx Jazzy

What The Jazzys Did....

Besides panto rehearsals that is.

Yes, our life is a frantic flurry of rehearsals, setting last minute dance routines, fixing ones already set (for the umpteenth time!) looking for props, typing all 135 children's names, making dinners, doing school runs and homework etc;etc.

However, here's a sample of the fun things we've also managed to squeeze into the last two weeks....

 WiiBoy's class teacher prepared the whole class for the Young Scientists Exhibition in the RDS (Primary School section) where they presented their Bubbles Project. It was a fantastic day. Yes, I was there too, as a volunteer helper. I constantly need to remind myself of the reason I'm on a career break..and it's NOT so I can do Panto!

The class did very well and were presented with an Award! I thought it was a fantastic introduction to science and secondary school for them. They thought it was great to get free stuff!! They also loved the Bang the Drum expo!

We had a good look around at the other stalls too. I noted some interesting ones. In particular the two on Autism. The findings were interesting. There needs to be more awareness...nothing new there...but a subtle change seems to taking place. Awareness of Autism is higher amongst secondary school girls than boys. Awareness and Knowledge are two different concepts though, but it's a start.

When asked if children with Autism should be in mainstream classes more girls than boys said yes. Slightly upsetting.

The result that I felt was the most positive though was that 2nd year students had a much higher awareness of Autism and I think are more likely to agree with mainstream inclusion.

Which is probably, ironically due to the fact that the younger secondary students are more likely to have had a child with Autism in their primary school class. And that's a positive.... for us all ;-)

In the last two weeks we have  had some little successes too with our Purple Belted....

Drama King.....

....moments! Yes, WiiBoy received his Purple belt in Taekwondo and is delighted. This is apparently the hardest pattern and a time when some students may give up. We'll keep going for as long as he wants I guess.

He also received his Drama Exam results and he...ahem... cue dramatic DRUM ROLL....passed Grade 1 with First Class Honours!

It was the comments that brought a tear to my eye though....

His poems were...nicely expressed and delivered

with....good clear speech and expression

The brief chat with the Examiner (the bit where the child has to have good eye contact and conversational skills) was...... nicely discussed.

Not bad, huh?

Big thanks to his Drama teacher (and my friend) she of the Cathy Grehan School of Drama fame.

We are all noticing an increased level of maturity in WiiBoy of late. Mixed in amongst the hormone-fuelled, tweenage angst tantrums of course. They are thankfully short lived though and I am pleased to announce that we have recently come to a very successful agreement  ;-)

2010 as seen the start of a new tradition at Chez Jazzy as we now have family meals out for birthdays  which is really nice. My one is next, although a family meal out on Valentines day is not that romantic! Still, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Which brings me rather nicely to a very unusual Jazzy event last weekend. An event that the Jazzys have not had the opportunity to enjoy since WiiBoy was a baby. A sleepover! You see, now that WiiBoy has sleepover pals we can now do swapsies. WiiBoy can sleepover in his pal's house and we get to have a night out and a sleepover of our own!!

Oh, it was fantastic. we went to a work night out and got a really good deal in the nearby D4 Hotel.

It was such fun catching up with people we  hadn't seen in years, staying up til all hours and having a big brekkie the next morning.

Facetweeting when drunk should be outlawed though.

Did I really post ..... Why have I bottle of wine in my handbag..... on facebook??


Oops!!

It was good to have some adult time, as we can all forget our relationships when caught up with children.

I must start planning the next one now ;-)

And keep reminding myself that Panto isn't the only show in town.

Although it is this coming weekend as Friday is opening night!

A mere three days away.

Yikes.

Okay.... I'm off to a bit of panicking now!

I'll let you know how it goes.


xx Jazzy

Welcome To My World....

..... the world of Pantomania. 

This  land really does exist you know. It's not only in my head, it also exists in the script....so it must be real.

The land of Pantomania is a land of mishap and mayhem and one that I visit every January and swear I will not return to.

Yet I do return.

Every year.

So it must be a fabulous place.

It's a land where real life and Panto life combine to cause major upheaval in Chez Jazzy (and in certain other houses) and one can see the Jazzy's eating inordinate amount of Pizzas and takeaway meals. The Jazzy's are also sporting this season's most fashionable attire..... the Rumpled Look.

Things get lost and appointments are forgotten at a more regular rate than usual, here at Chez Jazzy. However, in Pantomania when you lose things they're easier to find ...that would be down to the regular, screaming choruses of :

 it's behind you....

Pantomania is a land where multiple, conflicting emotions play havoc with your mind and one can feel hugely overwhelmed.

Hugely.

Looking at the tags for this post will give you an idea....

These overwhelming feelings can lead a person to believe:

I can't do this...

But, that's okay because here in Pantomania there are also regular, screaming choruses of:

OH YES YOU CAN.....

So you just carry on.

We support each other here in the land of Pantomania.

And there's wine.

Which helps...... a lot.

The best way to survive all the conflicting demands that are put on your time as many people, from all parts of your life, lay claim to your limited time is to prioritise and compartmentalise.This is where the land of Pantomania meets the land of Forest Gump and life is indeed like a box of chocolates.

You never know what flavour you're gonna get...... no matter what your schedule may say..... and one must be careful not to combine certain flavours.

The ASD/Hyperactive flavour does not work with the Panto Rehearsal flavour, for example.....really, it doesn't. Please don't try this one at home.

And one should try not to sample the Bi Polar flavour on the same day that either the ASD or Panto Rehearsal one is on offer. That combination is seriously not good for ones health.

Pantomania can be a place of great hilarity. The children...and there are tons of children here in Pantomania.... can be quite hilarious, with their questions and the things that they may share with you. The adults can be quite funny too and like to have a laugh.

There are outsiders who try to be amusing too. I mean, who would arrange a 24 hour BP monitor for a Choreographer the day before opening night of the 2nd weekend?

Someone is seriously having a laugh .... and they'll most definitely be laughing their heads off when they check the readings the next day.

That's if the monitor survives that particular 24 hour period.

You know, that could very well be another appointment that might be (conveniently) missed?

This time of the year in Pantomania is a time when I need to apologise to my  blogging pals for not stalking visiting and commenting on their blogs. Please be assured fellow Bloggers (and facetweeting pals) normal service will be resumed in the very near future and I will be back stalking visiting you  before you know it.

This is the time for accidental dieting...or is that just the new totally stressed-out-diet?

It is NOT a time to give up wine.... even if the intention was only to avoid mid-week sups.

It is a time of stressful and, let's be honest, dodgy dress rehearsals and a time when a little despondency may set in.... especially if one has put in  a 30 hour week of solid rehearsing to no apparent avail.

Which makes this the best time of all to remind oneself of that old immortal adage...

IT WILL BE ALRIGHT ON THE NIGHT

(Oh no it won 't)

OH YES IT WILL....

 It had better....or a certain BP monitor is at serious risk of explosion!

xx Jazzy

Wordless Wednesday: The Bubbles Project

xx Jazzy

An Artist at Work?

A couple of days ago I dragged willingly took WiiBoy away from his beloved Xbox to go walk the beach from Shankill to Killiney, where we could collect these coloured stones I'd heard about. He always collects interesting  stones when we go to the beach so I thought it would be nice to use that interest and get some nice shiny blue and green ones. Perhaps we'd even make a mosaic with them, as a friend of mine has done. Okay, okay.... I was desperate to get him away from the xbox!

Well he seemed interested enough so off we went. I told him if he was tired we'd get the Dart back.

We had a lovely walk and enjoyed watching the river meander into the sea and he swore he could see the tributary he had made last year!

We enjoyed looking at the lovely houses of the rich and fabulous backing onto the beach. I think one of them is Enya's house (certainly looks like it) and while Bono's is close by it's not at the beach.

Anyway, we were more interested in collecting the stones! We collected a few but they're hard to find.

We then decided to get the Dart home but silly Jazzy forgot that South bound Darts weren't running this week! Oops!

WiiBoy was not impressed but he weathered the bad news and we hiked walked about 20 minutes to the nearest bus stop and finally, about 2 hours after leaving the house we made it to the village.

We were too tired to walk home so we decided to see if Mr Jazzy would collect us on his way back from golf. But, where to wait for him? He would be quite a while and we'd already imbibed the Hot Chocolate (required sustenance after a very long walk!) in Cafe Solo.

Oh hell, nothing for it but to wait for him in Brady's where I reckoned we could turn this into a proper family day out and have our Tea in the pub! And sure I'll have a glass of wine while I'm waiting.

I'd no DSI with me for WiiBoy so I bought him a comic book. A proper comic book...you know? Not Spiderman and the like. Oh no, I got him The Dandy! Oh, what a blast from the past, eh!  I borrowed a newspaper so we were quite the pair, WiiBoy and I, sitting there reading and waiting for Mr Jazzy

An hour later we were still waiting and WiBoy was bored of reading.

Some paper and a pen was ordered with the 2nd glass of wine (hey, this is one whole hour later, okay!) to play into Wiiboy's love of art.

He really does like art and is quite good at it. He has a cousin who is a fabulous Artist and I think WiiBoy (whilst not at his cousin's level) does show some promise. He has posted some of his previous artwork over on his blog.


When initially diagnosed, one very positive thing was mentioned that I've never forgotten..... his strong Visual Spatial Skills. It was believed that this would be a huge asset for him in school and indeed it has. He's extremely observant and pays huge attention to detail. It's that factor that amazes me... even when he doodles.

So this is the doodle he did for me ( and I stress the doodling part! )....just a random character from his head.

Now, maybe it's the proud mummy speaking, or the wine goggles, but I thought it was great! Well, I knew it was just doodling but I saw possibilities....

Hey WiiBoy... I think you'd be great at doing  caricatures, I said. Remember that man that did one of you in Porta Ventura?

WiiBoy did remember and liked the idea. So I suggested that he use me for his first real-life caricature.

I really should have known better.

So he drew this......

Oh dear, not even wine goggles could disguise this one!

He thought it would be a great idea to turn his caricatures intoWanted Posters!

He likes the caricature idea but said it's only his first time to try a real person. He also said...

You're very easy to draw mum.

Really, said I....why? (uh oh....silly, silly question!)

Because looking at me intently, you have lots of wrinkles and...grooves.

Huh! That so?

D'ya know something?

Propensity for truth telling and acute Visual Spatial Skills can really bite you on the ass sometimes!

Next time I'm leaving the wine goggles at home....

Huh.... *stamps foot*


xx (a very sulky) Jazzy