Well, again, here I am trying to play catch up on the blog. In a Nut(cracker)shell...this fall was ridiculously busy. Busy to the point that I found myself wondering just about everyday if it was worth it. Nutcracker was so much work. Mentally and physically, and many days emotionally exhausting. Working with 5 other people on an in some senses completely new production, and not really knowing the ropes with all of these people was really a feat. In the end, I was very pleased with my party scene. I was very pleased with the dancers that I was blessed to work with, and the Drosselmeyer that stepped in for me when my original Dross suffered a shattered foot injury. In the end, the show hit the stage, and ended up being a very nice production.
The very second that Nutcracker was struck, I was fully engaged in Angel Tree. I had 10 days from Nutcracker till the Angel Tree party at our church. Now, Angel Tree is also a fair amount of work...but with Angel Tree I know that I am doing something with truly lasting significance. Yes, Nutcracker is a wonderful holiday tradition, and many young dancers are affected by participating, BUT Angel Tree is God's work. And at the party, watching all those kids (43 this year and 22 families, compared to 14 families last year) open gifts- and honestly, the only gifts they will receive for some of them- is an absolutely out of this world joyful experience for me. And 2 things made it even more special this year.
The first was that our church really really took ownership of this ministry this year. Often it seems like only a small percentage of the church population really embrace any given outreach opportunity. But I was blown away by the response from our members this year. We had so many attend the party, love on the families, and just dive in to do whatever needed to be done. And that was a great help to Jess and I. I was especially blessed by several new member families that got really involved and were excited to help out.
The second was the fact that my children were really involved this year, as opposed to being stuck back in the nursery "not getting into anything." This year, they really helped me in a variety of ways with the set up, decorating, and even at the party. It did them good to have a part in giving gifts to the other children. And while they noticed some of the toys and commented about how they liked them...they didn't whine about needing a present to open. It's a good thing for children to experience the joy of giving.
Our Angels got gifts and Bibles and our caregiver families were blessed with giant boxes and bags of TONS of food from our food pantry. I got a lot of hugs and a lot of gratitude from some very overwhelmed peoople.
A few days after the party, the kids and I got to play Santa and take the gifts and food to 3 families that were unable to attend the party. And I actually love getting to do that, because at the party I'm usually running around like a crazy person, and don't get to engage with the families as much as I'd like.
So, here we are. We made it to Christmas. Oh...well...there was Thanksgiving. I managed to completely leave that out, didn't I? Thanksgiving was fantastic. I cooked for a week. And then I roasted my 2nd turkey ever. My family came to our home for T'giving, and we had a really great time. The kids had a blast with their cousin, Kylie. We did a little Black Friday shopping (to replace two tv's. Yes, I said two tv's. One was an old tube tv from our bedroom that was going out. The other was our nice living room 47" Aquos that Alec cracked by throwing a wooden block at. Yup. Life with small children.) But the good news is that we landed a great flat screen led 3D tv, dvd, and glasses bundle AND a new flat screen for the bedroom ALL for about half of what we payed about 5 years ago for our other big tv. So, the burn wasn't TOO bad.
Okay...now we made it to Christmas. We are currently enjoying a wonderful holiday with Aaron's family. We had a lovely Christmas yesterday. The kids got some really nice gifts. They both got what they wanted more than anything: for Alec, a spiderman talking action figure and for Emma, a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Hey, it's kind of a doll! They haven't put them down since they opened them.
We are looking forward to seeing more friends this week, and then on to another "Christmas" with my family. The best gift for me is just getting to enjoy down time with our families. I don't have to cook, or clean. I don't have anything to organize right now. I have a moment to blog and drink a nice cup of coffee. My kids are happily playing with their new toys and the people they love. Life is good.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, my friends!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Ready, Set, Chaos!
I kind of feel like we've been living in a slight state of chaos over the last week or two. Sunday before Halloween, Aaron started demolishing the tile in our foyer. Remember that because of the 8 year leak in our formal dining room, (that was finally fixed last year, but we needed a year to really really believe that it was truly fixed) we needed to replace the flooring in the great room. We decided forever ago on hardwood, and it's just taken this long to decide on which one and when to actually break down and do it.
Aaron wanted to leave the tile in the foyer, at first, and then decided, along with me, that it would look nicer to have all hardwood in the foyer, dining, living room and hallway. It's just that it was such a monumental pain in the rear. Seriously, I don't think I can ask him to do any other "honey do" work for a really really long time. He had to borrow a rotary hammer and chisel away at the tile and mastic. It took days. It was loud, it made the house ridiculously dusty, and it was downright HARD work. I got in there one day, and worked on the adhesive with a cold chisel. I worked an hour and cleared about 3 sq feet. Good grief.
Our friend, Wes, a contractor/builder/knowshowtodoitaller, came last Thursday and started cutting into the wall in the hallway to frame up two new closets. Yeah, that's right. Our builder didn't give us any storage/coat/linen closets in the hallway. Now we're getting two. Oh, I can't tell you how exciting it is to have two new spaces to store clutter! Seriously stoked about that! Friday and Saturday the guys laid the floor, after the foyer was FINALLY cleared of tile crap. I helped Aaron prep the subfloor, pulling up carpet, vacuuming dust, etc.
It is done now, and it looks so so awesome. I'm thrilled with it! We haven't moved back into the living room yet, because we need to touch up the baseboards, but we're almost there. Wes will come Monday to finish the closets with doors and shelves. Drywall is up, taped and mudded. I'll paint this weekend. Here are a few pics of all the fun!
Aaron wanted to leave the tile in the foyer, at first, and then decided, along with me, that it would look nicer to have all hardwood in the foyer, dining, living room and hallway. It's just that it was such a monumental pain in the rear. Seriously, I don't think I can ask him to do any other "honey do" work for a really really long time. He had to borrow a rotary hammer and chisel away at the tile and mastic. It took days. It was loud, it made the house ridiculously dusty, and it was downright HARD work. I got in there one day, and worked on the adhesive with a cold chisel. I worked an hour and cleared about 3 sq feet. Good grief.
Our friend, Wes, a contractor/builder/knowshowtodoitaller, came last Thursday and started cutting into the wall in the hallway to frame up two new closets. Yeah, that's right. Our builder didn't give us any storage/coat/linen closets in the hallway. Now we're getting two. Oh, I can't tell you how exciting it is to have two new spaces to store clutter! Seriously stoked about that! Friday and Saturday the guys laid the floor, after the foyer was FINALLY cleared of tile crap. I helped Aaron prep the subfloor, pulling up carpet, vacuuming dust, etc.
It is done now, and it looks so so awesome. I'm thrilled with it! We haven't moved back into the living room yet, because we need to touch up the baseboards, but we're almost there. Wes will come Monday to finish the closets with doors and shelves. Drywall is up, taped and mudded. I'll paint this weekend. Here are a few pics of all the fun!
 |
| This first one is of the kids in their Halloween costumes. Spidey and Supergirl. They just so happened to wear these costumes the whole time the work was going on in our house. We went to Lowe's twice dressed like this! |
 |
| Left of bathroom; Closet will have shelves. |
 |
| Right of bathroom; closet will be a coat closet. |
 |
| The foyer and dining room all tarped up. |
 |
| What a mess! |
 |
| Daddy's got SKILLS! |
 |
| DONE! |
 |
| LOVE IT! |
 |
| Alec and Emma watching a movie with popcorn whilst all the construction was going on! |
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Photo Update!
 |
| One of my favorite things about having a little girl is getting to do her hair for ballet class. |
 |
| Alec and Emma loving on eachother in the backyard. |
 |
| Tickling Sissy. |
 |
| Children of the Corn, Part III |
 |
| We actually made it OUT the EXIT! |
 |
| King and Queen of the mulch pile! |
 |
| Pumpkin Patch. |
 |
| Mommy's Birthday Cake and Flowers that Daddy and the kids surpised me with! |
 |
| Dixie Dude Mariachis- Can't you just hear them singing "La Cucaracha!" |
 |
| Alec and Emma dancing at the wedding. Emma DID NOT want the band to stop playing or to leave the dance floor! |
 |
| Remember this pose from last year? |
 |
| Perfect riding weather! |
 |
| Cira, Alec and Emma in their new Dallas Cowboys jerseys, compliments of PaPa! |
 |
| Riding a Longhorn! |
 |
| All of the family at Larry and Suzy's wedding. |
 |
| One more picture of Emma going crazy on the dance floor! She was INTENSE! |
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Fall Frenzy
Wow, it's been entirely too long since I've posted, but the last month has been so incredibly busy. I have so many pictures that I need to post and updates to share. Where to begin? I'll give my written update and then post pics later.
Okay, we went to Dixie Dude Ranch mid-September, instead of June when we normally go, because Aaron's Uncle Larry got married Sept 17th. We had an awesome time, as usual. The kids had a BALL! They had so much fun swimming, riding horses, playing ping pong and tether ball, being out in nature, being with family, and being with the four other cousins that are their same age! What a life! It was a really wonderful trip.
Since we've returned to TX, I'm full speed ahead into Nutcracker, the kids have school, dance, and swimming, we all have church, I really need to get going with Angel Tree, and my MOMC (mothers of multiples club) responsibilites have been crazy!
So lets start with Nutcracker. The part where I get together with the kids and adults in my cast and do the artistic stuff (the choregraphing, staging, rehearsing) is fantastic. I have a wonderful cast, and Party Scene is coming together really quickly and beautifully, and I'm already thrilled. The parts where I have to think about costuming, sets, props, deal with parents, and with one especially EGR (extra grace required) person who is involved in the production are the parts that make it stressful. By and large, however, it has been a good experience...it just happens to be taking up A LOT of my life right now. By November, I will be down to only rehearsing 2 hours a week on Saturdays, just running Party Scene, and that will be much better.
The kids are loving their new school. We moved them from a place called Fellowship Bible to Cross Church Springdale, simply because I can send them 2 days a week at the new place for the price of 1 at the old place...and its a completely comparable program and curriculum. Kind of a no brainer! Last week they had hay rides and they thought that was the coolest thing ever. They will have two costume party days, and they are super excited about that. Alec will be Spiderman...again, and Emma will be a princess, ballerina, butterfly, or Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Still deciding.
Dance lessons and swimming are going great. I posted on facebook, but have to say it here too. At their last dance class, Miss Rachel was telling the kids that their Momma was a ballerina. Alec abruptly proclaimed "My Daddy is Spiderman. He climbs buildings!" I heard it over the monitor that is set up in the waiting area. So so funny!
In swimming last week, Alec swam on his own for the first time. It wasn't very far, but heck, it was still on his own. He is doing so well. His teacher, Miss Lori, tells me every week how well he is progressing.
At church, Aaron and I have been helping out with the Kids' Church program on Wednesday nights. Alec and Emma have gotten really into getting points on Wed night. They get a point for coming, for bringing their Bible, for saying their memory verse and for bringing a friend. I've actually been really proud of how well they are memorizing their verses for school and church. And it's good for me to help them remember them, because then I remember them too!
So, you may recall from the last two years that I am one of the coordinators for our church's Angel Tree program. We received our list of names of the children we will be serving this year at the end of Sept. I have yet to call the families to get gift preferences. Usually, I am way more ahead on this. But in light of Nutcracker madness, and the fact that we have something going on every night, except for Thursdays, with regularity...I'm just behind. Things will free up after this weekend.
Another thing that's been keeping me swamped is MOMC. I've been tagging and prepping for our Fall Consignment Sale. That usually takes me a good week, to get everything tagged and ready. AND because I'm Hospitality Chair, I arrange for a week of meals for each of our members who has given birth recently. WE HAVE HAD SIX MOTHERS GIVE BIRTH TO TWINS IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS!!! And we have two more due before Thanksgiving. Usually my job is not that difficult, but having this many to plan hospitality meals for has really been exhausting. We've just had a major baby boom in our club!
Last weekend, we took the kids to our annual corn maze trip. I will post pics of that, and Dixie Dude, and all the other stuff I've neglected in the next post.
This weekend is Consignment Sale, Nut rehearsals, Church, and our annual Fall Family Photo Shoot. We're taking our pictures Sunday afternoon at the new Crystal Bridges walking trail amongst all of the beautiful Fall foliage. Hopefully, we'll take some nice pics worthy of this year's Christmas card.
Okay, we went to Dixie Dude Ranch mid-September, instead of June when we normally go, because Aaron's Uncle Larry got married Sept 17th. We had an awesome time, as usual. The kids had a BALL! They had so much fun swimming, riding horses, playing ping pong and tether ball, being out in nature, being with family, and being with the four other cousins that are their same age! What a life! It was a really wonderful trip.
Since we've returned to TX, I'm full speed ahead into Nutcracker, the kids have school, dance, and swimming, we all have church, I really need to get going with Angel Tree, and my MOMC (mothers of multiples club) responsibilites have been crazy!
So lets start with Nutcracker. The part where I get together with the kids and adults in my cast and do the artistic stuff (the choregraphing, staging, rehearsing) is fantastic. I have a wonderful cast, and Party Scene is coming together really quickly and beautifully, and I'm already thrilled. The parts where I have to think about costuming, sets, props, deal with parents, and with one especially EGR (extra grace required) person who is involved in the production are the parts that make it stressful. By and large, however, it has been a good experience...it just happens to be taking up A LOT of my life right now. By November, I will be down to only rehearsing 2 hours a week on Saturdays, just running Party Scene, and that will be much better.
The kids are loving their new school. We moved them from a place called Fellowship Bible to Cross Church Springdale, simply because I can send them 2 days a week at the new place for the price of 1 at the old place...and its a completely comparable program and curriculum. Kind of a no brainer! Last week they had hay rides and they thought that was the coolest thing ever. They will have two costume party days, and they are super excited about that. Alec will be Spiderman...again, and Emma will be a princess, ballerina, butterfly, or Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Still deciding.
Dance lessons and swimming are going great. I posted on facebook, but have to say it here too. At their last dance class, Miss Rachel was telling the kids that their Momma was a ballerina. Alec abruptly proclaimed "My Daddy is Spiderman. He climbs buildings!" I heard it over the monitor that is set up in the waiting area. So so funny!
In swimming last week, Alec swam on his own for the first time. It wasn't very far, but heck, it was still on his own. He is doing so well. His teacher, Miss Lori, tells me every week how well he is progressing.
At church, Aaron and I have been helping out with the Kids' Church program on Wednesday nights. Alec and Emma have gotten really into getting points on Wed night. They get a point for coming, for bringing their Bible, for saying their memory verse and for bringing a friend. I've actually been really proud of how well they are memorizing their verses for school and church. And it's good for me to help them remember them, because then I remember them too!
So, you may recall from the last two years that I am one of the coordinators for our church's Angel Tree program. We received our list of names of the children we will be serving this year at the end of Sept. I have yet to call the families to get gift preferences. Usually, I am way more ahead on this. But in light of Nutcracker madness, and the fact that we have something going on every night, except for Thursdays, with regularity...I'm just behind. Things will free up after this weekend.
Another thing that's been keeping me swamped is MOMC. I've been tagging and prepping for our Fall Consignment Sale. That usually takes me a good week, to get everything tagged and ready. AND because I'm Hospitality Chair, I arrange for a week of meals for each of our members who has given birth recently. WE HAVE HAD SIX MOTHERS GIVE BIRTH TO TWINS IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS!!! And we have two more due before Thanksgiving. Usually my job is not that difficult, but having this many to plan hospitality meals for has really been exhausting. We've just had a major baby boom in our club!
Last weekend, we took the kids to our annual corn maze trip. I will post pics of that, and Dixie Dude, and all the other stuff I've neglected in the next post.
This weekend is Consignment Sale, Nut rehearsals, Church, and our annual Fall Family Photo Shoot. We're taking our pictures Sunday afternoon at the new Crystal Bridges walking trail amongst all of the beautiful Fall foliage. Hopefully, we'll take some nice pics worthy of this year's Christmas card.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Pictures I've Needed to Post
First day of school
Alec got the Super Star Award!
Day trip to Silver Dollar City last weekend!
Here's a video of us in Grandfather's Mansion. The floor is slanted, and the kids had a little trouble walking. I thought we had more footage, but you get the idea. It really is hard to walk in there!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Oh NUTS!
I swear, everytime I think I'm sort of caught up on blogging, weeks and weeks go by, and I realize all of the things I've been thinking about writing about haven't been written. But, that is life!
This fall is going to be BUSY! I know, you're really surprised right? Because usually I just lay low and constantly chillax. :-) To our schedule from last year, we've added the following: a dance class for the kids, a swim class for Alec, another day that the kids go to MDO, Jen (and eventually Aaron-he gives guitar lessons Wed night) will now be co-teaching Kids' Church on Wednesday nights, and oh yeah, here's the clencher...I'm setting Party Scene in the IPAC Nutcracker.
Now, I used to be ALL ABOUT the magic of Nutcracker. I've been in about 5 different companies' productions of Nut. I didn't truly tire of it until I danced in the Tulsa Ballet Nut, and we did 28 shows. That wouldn't have been a problem, except that I was living away from and missing my husband...and I was really tired of that. With WAB, I had an opportunity to set almost every part of the production on company and non-company dancers, and to dance several roles. Although some of the magic came back working with so many kids who got so excited by it, it also wore me out completely because we would rehearse Nut from Sept -show, and I would have to commute 6, but often 7, days a week to Ft. Smith. So, honestly, when I was first approached about helping out with the IPAC Nut, my mind immediately focused on all of the weekends I would lose with my family to be setting and rehearsing Nut.
It's really an odd situation, because Catherine, the woman I used to work for when it was CBA, had already secured the Arend Arts Center for Dec 3-4 for Nut...but then when the studio changed hands and she took a job that would not allow her to be gainfully employed elsewhere, she offered the opportunity to IPAC to take it over. Because none of the "ballet" people at IPAC really have the time to completely take over Nut, there are 6 of us who will be collaborating. I went ahead and agreed, because they agreed that I could set my rehearsal schedule. I will set Party Scene only. That is another reason I feel that it's doable...since I'm not responsible for the entire thing.
Anyways, auditions are the 10th. I will probably spend the entire day at the studio. Nut auditions are always a marathon. Not sure yet when rehearsals will begin. It's either going to be really great because all of us who are collaborating are sharing the work load...OR it's going to be a pain in the butt because there are so many of us collaborating...and that will require A LOT of GOOD communication. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you updated as we get into the swing of things.
This fall is going to be BUSY! I know, you're really surprised right? Because usually I just lay low and constantly chillax. :-) To our schedule from last year, we've added the following: a dance class for the kids, a swim class for Alec, another day that the kids go to MDO, Jen (and eventually Aaron-he gives guitar lessons Wed night) will now be co-teaching Kids' Church on Wednesday nights, and oh yeah, here's the clencher...I'm setting Party Scene in the IPAC Nutcracker.
Now, I used to be ALL ABOUT the magic of Nutcracker. I've been in about 5 different companies' productions of Nut. I didn't truly tire of it until I danced in the Tulsa Ballet Nut, and we did 28 shows. That wouldn't have been a problem, except that I was living away from and missing my husband...and I was really tired of that. With WAB, I had an opportunity to set almost every part of the production on company and non-company dancers, and to dance several roles. Although some of the magic came back working with so many kids who got so excited by it, it also wore me out completely because we would rehearse Nut from Sept -show, and I would have to commute 6, but often 7, days a week to Ft. Smith. So, honestly, when I was first approached about helping out with the IPAC Nut, my mind immediately focused on all of the weekends I would lose with my family to be setting and rehearsing Nut.
It's really an odd situation, because Catherine, the woman I used to work for when it was CBA, had already secured the Arend Arts Center for Dec 3-4 for Nut...but then when the studio changed hands and she took a job that would not allow her to be gainfully employed elsewhere, she offered the opportunity to IPAC to take it over. Because none of the "ballet" people at IPAC really have the time to completely take over Nut, there are 6 of us who will be collaborating. I went ahead and agreed, because they agreed that I could set my rehearsal schedule. I will set Party Scene only. That is another reason I feel that it's doable...since I'm not responsible for the entire thing.
Anyways, auditions are the 10th. I will probably spend the entire day at the studio. Nut auditions are always a marathon. Not sure yet when rehearsals will begin. It's either going to be really great because all of us who are collaborating are sharing the work load...OR it's going to be a pain in the butt because there are so many of us collaborating...and that will require A LOT of GOOD communication. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you updated as we get into the swing of things.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
22 Month Video Meltdown
Last night, Aaron was looking for an old video of the kids watching Jimmy Kimmel and screaming "Jimmy!" with glee...because you know, we believe in getting our kids hooked on late night talk shows from a really early age. :-) But we always DVR Jimmy, and watch it early in the evening. The kids have always really loved the house band, and Jimmy, and the other musical guests. Anyways, he finally found the video.
Then, I started looking through all the other "22 months" videos that were on the laptop. And I literally was overcome with joy and pain all at the same time. They were (and still are) so darn cute! Look at how short their hair was. It was just barely starting to curl. Look at how baby like their features still were. Look at their little diaper laden behinds. And I started crying. Because my babies are, and will be on a continual course to "growing up." And I felt guilty.
Guilty because a lot of the first few years with the twins just felt like survival. They were wonderful and filled with joy, but I would be lying if I said that there weren't times when I would consciously think, "oh, it's just going to be so much easier when we're out of this phase, or they're older, or they can do blank, or blah blah blah."
I have tried to be careful to savor the baby years with Alec and Emma, but I still feel like I could have cherished them more. And I don't know if there will be another baby in our future or not.
But I'm glad that I watched the videos, because every now and then, God gently reminds me that every day and every season, with its unique challenges and joys, is truly a gift. Time goes by way too quickly.
So, today...when Alec pooped on the potty, and I didn't hear him calling for me because Emma was trying to do the same in the other bathroom...and he was running around bare bottomed in the living room before getting cleaned up...I just laughed it off. Because that was a silly, childlike thing to do. And I was actually happy that my baby boy still acts like a baby sometimes. (Luckily, I didn't have to clean up anything but him. The carpet and the furniture were fine. Otherwise, this would probably be an altogether different story. ;-)) Hey, I'm still human!
Here's the link to the video Aaron edited:
Young Jimmy Kimmel Fans
Then, I started looking through all the other "22 months" videos that were on the laptop. And I literally was overcome with joy and pain all at the same time. They were (and still are) so darn cute! Look at how short their hair was. It was just barely starting to curl. Look at how baby like their features still were. Look at their little diaper laden behinds. And I started crying. Because my babies are, and will be on a continual course to "growing up." And I felt guilty.
Guilty because a lot of the first few years with the twins just felt like survival. They were wonderful and filled with joy, but I would be lying if I said that there weren't times when I would consciously think, "oh, it's just going to be so much easier when we're out of this phase, or they're older, or they can do blank, or blah blah blah."
I have tried to be careful to savor the baby years with Alec and Emma, but I still feel like I could have cherished them more. And I don't know if there will be another baby in our future or not.
But I'm glad that I watched the videos, because every now and then, God gently reminds me that every day and every season, with its unique challenges and joys, is truly a gift. Time goes by way too quickly.
So, today...when Alec pooped on the potty, and I didn't hear him calling for me because Emma was trying to do the same in the other bathroom...and he was running around bare bottomed in the living room before getting cleaned up...I just laughed it off. Because that was a silly, childlike thing to do. And I was actually happy that my baby boy still acts like a baby sometimes. (Luckily, I didn't have to clean up anything but him. The carpet and the furniture were fine. Otherwise, this would probably be an altogether different story. ;-)) Hey, I'm still human!
Here's the link to the video Aaron edited:
Young Jimmy Kimmel Fans
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
