O Christmas Tree!

Whenever we see the lovely Christmas trees in ads, we always like ours better. Not because the ornaments are more beautiful or more expensive. But because each ornament means something.

Each year our tree brings back memories of my Granny and my Dad. And we can feel close to my Mom even though she's far away. So we love our mismatched but meaningful tree!

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The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker was an incredible experience! All those weeks of practice paid off. The girls were able to dance on stage with professional dancers in front of a packed audience. And they all danced beautifully!

My Mom came for the performance, and we'll buy the DVD to show my sister and our friends. (Since this is a professional performance, the ticket prices reflect that!) Even Hope enjoyed watching her sisters dance.

The days leading up to the performance were full of practices and last minute adjustments. The day of the performance, the girls had costume fittings, pictures, practice with the Russians, and the actual performance. They got to wear some make-up, which they all thought was fun. Faith did a great job doing her makeup herself.

I was a little concerned that Joy and Grace might get nervous being on stage with the Russian dancers, but they did great. ( I did do some serious praying in the audience!) They were snowflakes, which is the youngest group of dancers. They remembered their dance, even the part that was changed the afternoon of the performance!

Faith was a party guest. Since she is tall, she had to wear a boy costume (which no modern boy I know would ever wear, and which is fancier than what most of her girlfriends wear to church on Sunday!). The children were on stage for a long time and danced well.

Faith also was a butterfly. Her costume was gorgeous! This was a much harder dance than the party guest dance, and she was great! The girls danced on pointe and were beautiful. She was the youngest girl in this part, but she definitely held her own! I was so proud of her. She had to work hard to learn the dance, but she persevered. Since she's only been taking pointe since January, I was really impressed with her dancing.

At the end of the show, all the performers, adults and children, came out for the bow. After the first bow, the dancer playing Masha (Clara in the American version) took Grace's hand and the dancer playing Drosselmeyer (the toymaker uncle) took Joy's hand and the group bowed again. That was so cool! I wish I could have taken a picture, but that wasn't allowed, so I'll just have to imprint the image on my mind and make sure that they remember it.

The girls and I hope they have the opportunity to dance in the Nutcracker again next year!

The New Dress

I got to go shopping this weekend. For clothes. For me. All by myself! (Look, Ma, no kids!) And I actually found a couple of things that fit and that I liked. I wore one of my new dresses to church yesterday and was feeling great about it until a twinge of guilt came on. After all, I didn't need that dress (or that really cute pair of shoes!). I had other dresses and other shoes in my closet. Was I just wasteful? Immediately, I felt God's Spirit whisper to me that He created us all to enjoy beauty and variety. Just look at the beautiful spring flowers! Not one variety, but so many! And each season has its own beauty. Our world is ever-changing. We are ever-changing. So it's OK if my wardrobe changes, too. (Of course only if I am not going overboard and it's OK with Jack!)

Thank You, Father, for the gift of newness. New seasons. New flowers. Even new clothes. But most especially for new life in Christ!