TAPPiNG into a Great Cause!

"Your spark can become a flame and change everything."
-E.D. Nixon


"We can do more than belong, we can participate.
- Maya Angelou


"When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.
-Helen Keller

A group of 39 TAPPED into the great cause
we were supporting last night
 at Dance Saskatchewan. A couple skipped out of this photo! 

Here I am in conversation with Kelly,
who is the guy behind this project called AEDAN'S ANGELS.
It is the the "Cause" we were TAPPING into last night! 

Many levels and ages of TAPPERS from many different dance studios
came out in supportof the charity...
and we raised 510.00 in our one hour tap class!

I was grateful for the help of former tap students
Megan on my left and Kelly on my right.
They were very efficient class assistants!  

Kelly Woodley and me last night.
I think he was happy with money raised to add to his charity.
Kelly started dancing with me at age 5...
and it has given me much pride to watch him grow in his life
as a dancer and a very successful young adult.
He is kind of like a second son for me!

My niece, Emily is visiting me from Vancouver
and came out to watch  and photograph the class last night!
She is not a dancer, but she said she found the class interesting.

A fun shot of the group from the class last night!
Many levels and ages of HAPPY faces and TAPPY feet!

This is a photo of the back of the program from the
AEDAN'S ANGELS ARTS benefit held in June.
I scanned this photo but for some reason although it is going the right
 way in my computer... I can't get it turned around for the blog!
Tilt your head and you will see sweet baby AEDAN with his father in this photo.

These posters from the DARE TO DANCE shows in the 90's
that my daughter Jana is on...
were also hanging in the Dance Saskatchewan studio!

Last night after the TAP class, my buddy, Linda was passing through
 following her week in New York and stopped by to drop off this wonderful gift for me...
on route to her home in Lanigan...
a NEW YORK STARBUCKS MUG!
Some of you might know already that her and I love STARBUCKS!!!

In addition to my NY STARBUCKS mug...
Linda also gave me a great book
filled with quotes called "BE THE DIFFERENCE"
Today's quotes in this blog are all from this little book.

The little TAP flower pot and candy dish are the ones I painted last week
when at WE PAINT POTTERY with my grand daughter, Mariah!


For anyone TAPPING into my blog
for the first time... WELCOME!

For people who have TAPPED into it before... you will know that my blog is like a journal of happenings in my little world!

Last night was a very special night for me...
TAPPING into a great cause.
In June of this year former dance student, KELLY WOODLEY organized a benefit to raise funds for a child he knows in Saskatoon born with many medical needs. He is in need of STEM CEL SURGERY in China creating much expense for his family. The BENEFIT concert was called AEDAN'S ANGELS and featured dance and music performances from throughout Saskatchewan.
He also had a silent auction at his concert.
The show and auction raised approximately 1800.00.

I wanted to do something for his silent auction and chose to offer a tap class open to who ever could attend with each 10.00 drop in fee going towards this charity.

That class was held last night.
Thanks to DANCE SASKATCHEWAN letting us use their large studio space for this event.
Between Face book and many dancers spreading the word, along with Kelly sharing his info on AEDAN... we managed to have a turnout of 39 dancers last night .
It was amazing to see many ages, levels, and studios of tappers unite in support of this little boy in medical need.
With additional funds added last night's event raised another 510.00 for the charity.

It did my heart good to TAP into such a great cause and be able to help support this cause.
THANKS to all who either came out to tap and or helped support this event in anyway.
I appreciate all the wonderful response.

It was particularly fun to be reunited with quite a few of my former dance students from both my Diane Will Dance Studio and BSOBAD teaching days.

Even my cousin, Gwen came to tap last night.
I have my niece, Emily visiting from Vancouver, so she came along to be my personal photographer of the class last night, too!

Last night following that class, my friend, Linda returned from her week in New York and stopped here on route back to Lanigan.
I was grateful to see her as well... she had a fabulous holiday by the sounds of things.

Today is a shift of energy for me. I am joining my gym friend, Ella for a little
"TEA for TWO!"

Later on my grand daughter Mariah has arranged for a sleepover at her GRAMMIE D's!
So life is always fun and interesting with whatever I choose to "TAP" into!

Yesterday was Mariah and Beau's
 Grandpa Arvid's birthday...
so greetings to him!

On that note my little poem of the day!

Lately I've been having
a really good time...
My life's about some rhythms and
also about rhyme.
I sure love it when I get
 a little chance...
To put on my tap shoes
and break into some dance!
This week I got to TAP
into a cause  that was great,
And share some TAPPiNESS
and just celebrate.
It's amazing how TAPPING
for just one class so short...
Could bring such rewards,
I'm grateful to report!

A SPLASH of SUMMER!

"In summer the song sings itself."
-William Carlos Williams


My SUMMER has had a SPLASH of so many delightful things... here is a glimpse at some of the many!

Mariah and Beau enjoying a little SPLASH
in the backyard paddling pool this week! 

SHUFFLE also took a SPLASH
into our little pool for a little paddle around as well! 

SPOT the  SPLASH of color here on our patio table
on Thursday night when my hubby cooked a delicious barbeque supper
for us to enjoy on the warm summer night.
Brother Brian joined us that night, too! 

A couple of cuties by this SPLASH of
beautiful flowers.
This is my niece, Emily with
my grand daughter, Mariah yesterday. 

Mariah and my niece, Rowen having fun in the basement of my in-laws place.
They like to play store and restaurant in the bar in the rumpus room. 

My niece Emily and her dad drove from Vancouver
in this awesome red Porche.
Here she is sitting with Beau in the car yesterday! 

Here is a SUN KISSED photo of Beau
from this week over in his back yard.
HE has a tan and bleached out hair... such a little cutie,
and I love that his new name for me is
"BUMMA"!

Here is Mariah  cuddled up in her towel
after a little SPLASH in the backyard pool, wednesday.
Such a little sweetie pie!
 

Me sharing a little fun with Mariah on Wednesday...
We were painting pottery at a place called
"WET PAINT POTTERY"...
here we are holding our pottery before
adding the SPLASHES of paint! 

Warm enough to take a splash in the water behind us...
I was able to get a couple of photos with my son,
Colin while in Montreal last week.
He is so happy and content in life...
and in love with his Girlfriend, Caro.
We love her, too!

Brian and me out doing an evening at our Jazz Festival
before heading to Montreal a couple weeks ago. 

Cousin Gwen and me looking patriotic on JULY 1st
as we enjoyed our final day of the SASKTEL Jazz Festival
 at the Garden Architecture venue,
where some of our local favorites entertained us...
Maurice Drouin on piano, Bobby Klassen on sax, and Donna Hay singing. 

SHUFFLE also feeling patriotic with her
CANADIAN bandana, on JULY 1st... Canada Day! 

Mariah coloring & enjoying a visit over at her
GREAT GRANDPARENTS'
Blanche  and Greg.

Beau playing with his favorite little ornament
while his Great Grandpa Greg enjoys from the side! 

SHUFFLE cooling off on the plants! 

Sharing a little STARBUCKS tradition with my friend, Linda...
when she passed through the city on route to New York last Monday night.
We normally have a latte... but it was so hot we needed a
SPLASH of a cool beverage instead this time.
Here we are with our Vanilla Bean frappiccinos... YUM!


My summer has been filled with so many things and of course I have more than captured them all with one camera or another!


This is my 247th blog post since I began sharing them on December 31st, 2010.
It has really become a journal and is such a reminder of just how blessed I am in my life.
I thank who ever pops in to check it out...
to see the pictures and or read along to see what is happening from day to day,
and week to week.


AS you can see by my SPLASH photos...
I have had lots of fun this summer, for sure.
The above are a variety of things that have taken place over the past two weeks or so.


I have missed mentioning some CELEBRATIONS in the past week...
so would like to extend Anniversary wishes to
my brother Bob and his wife, Arleen
on their 40th milestone... and to my cousin Darcy and her husband, Jeff on their 42nd.
I was a bridesmaid at both of those weddings!
Also congrats to my nephew,
Brad and wife Janelle
on their second anniversay last week.
While in Montreal...
my Auntie Mary celebrated her birthday and her grand daughter, Elaine did as well.
So I extend belated greetings to all of them.



Canada Day came and went, too...
Shuffle, cousin Gwen, and I
wore patriotic gear to ring that in!



Shuffle celebrates her 4th birthday in July.
We have had her since September of 2008,
but know that she was born in July...
so we often acknowledge it on July 15th...
TAPPY BIRTHDAY to SHUFFLE!



Speaking of TAPPING and SHUFFLES...
This week on Tuesday I will be adding to the SPLASH of my SUMMER
events by teaching a tap class.
It is open to whoever is wanting to
TAP into a little fun while
helping a good cause at the same time!



JULY 17th from 6:30-7:30
at Dance Saskatchewan, room #3
every $10.00 drop in fee
will go directly towards a charity called
AEDAN'S ANGELS.
I hope to see lots of dancers out for that.
I am going to be working on some
tap steps for who ever might
show up for that event this
 TUESDAY, JULY 17th.



My summer continues to fill my life with a SPLASH of many things yet to come!


I am ever grateful for
so many people, places,  & things ...
my life is filled with lots of love and happiness as well as tappiness!


On that note... my rhyme of the day...


In summer there's a sort of love
that SPLASHES through the air.
Everyone is having fun
with all they do and share.
Whether in a swimming pool,
or floating on a boat...
Or sitting in a jazz filled park,
loving every note.
Eating yummy burgers and
barbequed delights,
Enjoying many hours of sun
well into the nights.
Seeing lots of people
on travels and on trips,
Lounging with a beverage,
and loving tasty sips.
Spending time with loved ones,
celebrating life,
Enjoying everyone around,
happy with no strife.
TAPPING into causes,
that soon will bring new hope,
Creating different memories
on many a new slope!
Whether I'm with young or old,
or with ones in between,
It's great to just appreciate
the places that I've been.
Because with each new chapter,
life is all so new,
Each flavor and every single SPLASH,
add to all I do!

A "MAGNIFIQUE" TASTE of Montreal!

For all my blog readers old and new... 
sorry for my long lapse between posts... 
It's been busy, but it is all good!
This blog is all about my recent trip to MONTREAL... and it was 
REALLY MAGNIFICENT!!!!
I took 293 photos in total... but the ones in this post reveal a lot of our visits with my son, COLIN, and many of the places we ate while in Montreal... may have to do a few blogs to share all the sights we saw!


"I've got a good life and I don't think anything can rock that anymore."
-Liza Minnelli

Here is a photo from day 2 of our trip with our son, Colin in a lovely restaurant in Old Montreal called "Jardin Nelson" which featured live jazz by a 2 piece band of a piano and stand up bass.
The day before we met Colin at a place near his home called "Tabla Villiage" for supper.

Later on day 2 of our Montreal visit we met Colin's girlfriend, CARO.
He was so very proud to show her and his place off to us.
Colin introduced her as "The Love Of His Life",
later referring to her as "A KEEPER!"
It did my heart good to see him so content , happy and in love.
They made a lovely meal here for us which featured barbequed veggie burgers,
 a delicious beet, feta, and cashew salad, and the best potato/sweet potato mix ever!!!
Both Colin and Caro enjoy cooking...and they are really "TRES BON" at it, too!

Colin's room mates a great couple...
SHANY and his partner, (also named) CARO!
Here on their very cute and comfortable little patio out back. 

Day 3 of our trip enjoying some live jazz on Sainte Catherine's street
while enjoying a little lox and bagel up on a patio at the "Bistro SAO"
We enjoyed many free jazz venues, and this one does not look busy...
but many times the street was packed and hard to move.
Behind in the photo is the "RioTinto Alcon"stage which is one of many
stages to host free venues daily at the Jazz Festival...
which is the world's LARGEST JAZZ FESTIVAL".

Still day 3... still eating!!!!
This was July 4th and this was our supper out at a little
gourmet pub called "ALEXANDRE"
an open air restaurant which had a big American flag hanging in the window area,
(we can only see the bottom of it here.)

Later that day Brian and I took in more live free jazz on Saint Catherine's street,
followed by more jazz at the night club called "HOUSE OF JAZZ"

Day 4 began with another trip into OLD MONTREAL, here I am featuring one of the many STARBUCKS  seen throughout Montreal... I loved the old architecture on this one. 

A huge highlight for me on the trip was getting a ticket to see the legendary
LIZA MINELLI
The tickets to this Jazz Festival headliner were expensive, so I went on my own to this event... and I loved it. LIZA is a seasoned performer for sure,
and her 7 piece band, featuring Billy Strich on piano, was also STELLAR.

I was seated quite far away in a balcony box but was a rebel and took a zoomed in photo
(inspite of the announcements not to take photos!)
I was super impressed with her performance on a broken ankle... she pulled out all the punches and lots of charm and pizzaz. Her warm and sincere delivery was something that had the crowd on their feet from the start of the performance. The event was sold out and had the crowd standing many times throughout which Liza received so graciously. At the end following her signature piece of "NewYork, New York"... she returned to the stage to do
an acapella version of "I'll Be Seeing You", which brought tears to my eyes!
She was this year's recipient of the annual "ELLA FITZGERALD AWARD of EXCELLENCE", and went on to explain what a fan she was of ELLA growing up.
I thoroughly enjoyed this evening... one I will never forget....
 in fact I get goosebumps just thinking of the evening.

Before my evening at Liza Minnelli...
Brian and I met Colin for a supper and the two of them
went to spend a father -son evening together at a bar called "Katacomb's"
which features this painting on the outdoor patio painted by Colin's room mate, Shany. 

Day 5... Brian and I spent the morning wandering down Saint Denis street
followed by a visit to Saint Catherine's street by Colin's.
They close off about 8 blocks of it here and have it a decorated walk way
 for the summer time... here are Colin, Caro and Brian on our way out for yet another meal!

 Here is Caro with Colin at the Thai cuisine restaurant called
"BATO THAI"
It was a delicious meal.

Colin snapped this one of Brian and me  on the other side of the table! 

Colin and Caro at his place afterward for
a little beer... and tea! 

We enjoyed a few games of yatzee... or "YUM" as it is called in FRENCH.
It was fun to play this and recall times shared with my mom back in the days when we played it with her. Colin has much of mom's game strategies...we had a few laughs remembering how competitive mom was when she played.

Day 6... Brian was standing by
one of the many statues at the BELL CENTRE,
and later met Colin for a tour inside.

Brian at the BELL CENTRE. 

DANCERS... both whom I have taught at one point in their lives
ASHLEY danced at my studio, and
BRAIDEN took many summer schools in Lanigan
when I used to teach those years ago.
These 2 were dancing and representing Saskatoon at the" 5678 Showtime World Cup"
 in Montreal...and I happened to catch 5 of their dances at the competition held at
Queen Elizabeth Fairmont Hotel  while Brian and Colin were
doing the tour at the Bell Centre.
These two danced well winning many awards and making me proud!

Later that day Colin and Caro were busy fixing a fabulous  Mexican supper for us.
Here in their kitchen Colin was making mango salsa and some guacquamoli,
while Caro made refried beans for the burritos...
 another delicious meal for our final night in montreal. 

Here is the group on their patio enjoying the fabulous Mexican meal
followed by a delicious fruit  dessert made by the other roomate, Caro! 

on our final day in Montreal after much sight seeing, visiting, and jazzing it up, we made a trip to  the world renowned SCHWARTZ'S for a brisket sandwich, and pickle!
 Brian bought some brisket to bring home and make here, too... it is so good...and they sell vacuum packed smoked packs of it there.
Celine Dion purchased this restaurant in March of this year.

Before Colin and his girlfriend, Caro drove us to the airport,
 I managed to squeeze in a little TAPPINESS with Colin's friend, Caro,
who has just recently taken up tap dancing.
She proved to be a very KEEN STUDENT!!!
 It was a fun little session in their little space in the place where they all live!

One last farewell to our lovely Bed and Breakfast brownstone
 called"Hotel AMBROSE" located half a block off Sherbrooke on Stanley .
Anyone planning a visit to Montreal in the future...
I recommend this place, we had a lovely stay here.


So the above were only a handful
of the many photos I took while there.
In spite of the fact I am sometimes annoying
 to the family when I pull out my camera
all the time,  I am always very pleased
 I take the time to capture the events
along the way,  because this is how
I will keep those
MAGNIFIQUE MEMORIES
alive forever!

This was a very fun filled and refreshing holiday for Brian and me...and although we do not see Colin often, this trip we enjoyed every minute of time spent with him.

I have now completed another
JAZZ FESTIVAL SEASON
for another year...

Next week I am teaching a TAP CLASS as a fund raiser for a child needing surgery.
It will be held at Dance Saskatchewan
from 6:30- 7:30 PM Tuesday, July 17th,
for a drop in fee of $10.00 per dancer... all going to AEDAN'S ANGELS
I will gage my class to the level of
who shows up to take it!
Anyone is welcome to come and
TAP into a good cause.

On that note...
here is my rhyme of the day...

The songs of summer have been
filled with such pizzazz,
From a little punk rock
to lots of fun JAZZ!
From swinging at Sainte-Catherine
for Montreal's fest...
The songs of this summer
have sure been the best!
Visits with many
who share what I do,
And also with many
into other things, too!
Love when the family can
just reunite,
It makes my heart smile
from morning till night.
The songs of this summer
sure set a smooth tone...
Last week the tones were
all "C'EST SI BON!"
T'was C'EST MAGNIFIQUE
and all was TRES BIEN...
Until we return to
sweet Montreal once gain.
A city with so much
to do from the start...
It's a place that is filled
with the songs of my heart!