Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday's Five: Dawn

Welcome to this week's edition of Friday's Five, my regular feature that asks a fabulous blogger five random questions.

I'd like to introduce you to Dawn from Bee and Rose. She lives in Arizona with her husband and two children. Dawn has been blogging for only a little over six months, but she's already amassed a large following of readers who enjoy her funny, honest style of writing. She will move you to tears with her lovely dedications to Grandma Gigi, who's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and then turn around the next post and crack you up with hilarious rants about topics like PMS or the horrible dye job she received.

1. How old are your children and what kinds of things would they buy if they each received a gift card to Wal-Mart? Connor is 12 (about to turn 13!!! . . . can you hear me crying??) Connor would make a beeline for the video games with his gift card! Catherine is 6 (going on 16!) She would buy crafts, puzzles, and movies with her gift card . . . and lip gloss . . . lots of lip gloss . . . I think she's going through a hooker phase . . . lol!


2. Even though my girl plays soccer, I can totally relate to the posts you write regarding your daughter's sport. Tell us a little about the training and competition involved in Catherine's Irish dancing.
Catherine currently takes two classes per week (3 hours). We supplement that with extra classes and private lessons when time allows. She loves to practice at home as well. She also performs at many local events. It's a very complicated form of dancing, and great exercise, too! She's been at it for one year now and has just begun competing. A competition is called a feis (pronounced "fesh"). She's had two competitions now and won medals at each one. At her second competition, she was moved into a category with older dancers. She placed first (out of 11!) in Light Jig and won two third places in other dances. This allowed her to advance to Beginner 2 level after just two competitions! She's won six medals already! We are very, very proud of her!
      We are blessed with two amazing teachers at her dance school, Christopher McGrory and Michael Patrick Gallagher. Christopher is a world-renowned feis musician (platinum selling!) and world champion dancer. Michael Pat has been a Riverdance dance lead for years. Catherine is truly fortunate to have this kind of talent working with her!


3. You've blogged about some of the stress involved with your husband's recent health issues. How do you cope when you start to feel overwhelmed by all your responsibilities? I read! Books have always been a source of comfort for me. Now that I've discovered blogging, I have lots to read! I also hang with my kids . . . playing games, reading with them, etc. I find that scrapbooking helps me remember all we've shared as a family. That helps pull me back into focus when I start feeling the big overwhelm. Writing about it has also been very cathartic. And prayer! Lots and lots of prayers! I'm very lucky to be surrounded by lots of supportive family members and friends.


4. I love the title of your blog. How did you come up with the name "Bee and Rose"? We are huge nicknamers in our house. I don't think my husband has called me by my "real" name (Dawn) in years! It's either Minnie or Mouse! I call him Chilly or Smitty depending on my mood . . . hee hee! The kids, of course, have various aliases, too . . . we're just weird that way! lol!
      When I decided to do a family blog, I knew I would have to nickname the blog. Bee is symbolic of Chilly. He has a Dodge Rumble-bee truck (known as "the Bee") that I affectionately refer to as "his mistress." I chose Rose because I have always loved the movie Sleeping Beauty, especially since the name Aurora means Dawn. "Bee and Aurora" just sounded completely idiotic. Then I remembered that she was also called Rose. That just seemed to click. So basically, it's fancier than saying "Minnie and Smitty"! I also like that it sounds kind of shabby chic!


5. What did you have for dinner last night? We enjoyed Nana's (my mother) delicious spaghetti!


Thanks, Dawn! Your little girl looks so precious in that photo—tell her all the Internet mommies say congratulations on those medals she's wearing! And you're absolutely right about "Bee and Rose" sounding shabby chic; maybe that's why it appeals to me, because I am nothing if not shabby. And chic, of course. You can tell by the sky-blue Crocs on my feet.

Well, I'm off to the blogosphere to find another blogger to shout questions at! See you back here next Friday with the answers.



13 comments:

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

Thank you so very much for including me in your Friday's Five! Your kind words at the beginning made me cry! Catherine is tickled that her photo is included!

I am a huge fan of the croc! We have all colors around here!

Have a wonderful weekend!

LadyStyx said...

Awesome interview!

Mrs4444 said...

I enjoyed this-These are great questions :)

debi9kids said...

What a fabulous interview! dawn is such a fantastic blogger and just amazes me that she has only been at it for such a short amount of time.
LOVED your questions too!
(this is my 1st time here. Came over from bee & Rose)
I'm a twin mommy too :)
Nice to "meet" you!

Kathy B! said...

I love Dawn and her blog :)

Fabulous choice for your Friday's Five. I'ver really enjoyed getting to know her more through your fun questions!pailsti

Liz Mays said...

Dawn is one of my fabulous faves and the interview is wonderful!

twinmamabee said...

Hurray! Another fabulous blogger to get to know! Thanks for the FF!

glitzen said...

OH goodie, another blog to check out. What a cute little dancer she has....
I bought my sister sky blue crocs for her first crocs ever. she loves 'em!

LORI said...

AW, I LOVE BEE'S INTERVIEW! I MET HER A FEW MONTHS BACK IN BLOG LAND, AND WE HIT IT OFF RIGHT AWAY! SHE'S LIKE MY SISTER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER!

stephilinn said...

What a wonderful interview! Bee and Rose is a fav of mine!

Mother Mayhem said...

LOVE me some Smitty and Minnie! :o)

Alexis AKA MOM said...

I love my girl and finding out more about her.

Super sweet she is, you all must check her out! Thanks for featuring one of my favs :)

Dapoppins said...

great questions! great review of Dawn's blog!