Happy New Year!

6th grade school photo

The time has flown by and the new year is already here! Abbie had a good Christmas season and a much needed break. The last two weeks of school in December were pretty grueling with final exams in all of her classes. The onslaught of homework, exams, violin, dog jobs, ballet and orchestra performances, etc. definitely made for a crazy couple of weeks, but she handled it like a champ.

There were also some activities that I think were pretty fun for her. First, the kids in 5th and 6th grade formed groups, donated money (or at least their parents did!), and went shopping for less fortunate kids. The school organized a big shopping trip for everyone, so one afternoon over 100 middle schoolers descended on Target all at once - ha!

Also, her violin teacher arranged two group performances for the girls (ours and hers) - one at a daycare center for low income families, and another at a retirement home that specializes in Alzheimer's patients. Abbie's friend from school was able to join them, as was her teacher's husband who is a professional bassist. They mostly played some simple holiday pieces, and it was fun to see the girls perform together. It was also fun to see Abbie playing with her teacher.

As for Christmas itself, I think that Abbie was pretty happy with it. She received the wireless earbuds, the beanie hat, and the socks that she wanted. She also received some earrings, some books, and some clothes.

As of yesterday, Abbie is back to school and back to her regular routine. Of course, she looks a little different these days - just when you thought that her hair was starting to grow out a bit, she decided that more cutting was in order! Despite our warnings about the challenges of a short hairstyle, she took the plunge and went for the pixie cut.

I was nervous for her, but it actually turned out really great, and she received a number of complements on it at school yesterday. Although, one girl did ask her how she would be able to do ballet with such short hair. Really, the girl was worried about how she would get it into a bun, but Abbie and I had a bit of a laugh thinking about how hair length could possibly affect her dancing ability. :)