Christmas Joy

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Sacramento. It's been years since we've all been together, so it was really nice to all be there. The kids had a great time of course. It's so much fun to watch them rip into all of their presents. Their complete and utter glee is amazing, I love it! I'll do another post on the other fun things we did while on vacation later...

The fam, Christmas Day

The kids hanging out on the spiral stair case

Justin's fire truck from Grandpa and Grammie. This kid LOVES fire trucks!

Christmas excitement = hyperventilation - literally, she was dizzy

My family! L to R: me, my little (tall - 6 ft. 5!) brother Geoff, Dad, Mom, and older brother Eric

Digital Christmas Card

I didn't get around to sending out cards this year. I created some on Snap Fish, but don't have time to mail them. So, this is the digital version. It was fun to make! I used pics from our performance, except for Justin's pic. The greeting is the line in the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" that was read as Ron and I walk off stage waving to Santa as he rides into the sky on his sleigh.

Christmas Decor At Our House

I love to decorate the house for Christmas. I got going a bit late this year, but finally got in gear and had some fun making the house look festive. I'm no Martha Stewart I can assure you! It's fun to make the house look Christmasy though, especially for the kids.

A beautiful bouquet from Sarah's ballet, a spiced orange Sarah made, and a croissant Ron brought me from Brio for breakfast.

The tree adorned with hand made and blown glass ornaments, and birds. I hand made the metal star topping it.

Sarah and Justin's ever growing nut cracker collection.

The stockings: Left to Right - Sarah, April, Ron and Justin.

T'was the Night Before Christmas Ballet

The show was a smashing success, and I've been recovering from all of the festivities this week! I didn't realize how challenging it would be to both help make the show happen and be in it at the same time - but it was totally worth it. Both shows were full, at 500 people per show, so it was very well attended. It was quite the experience to be on stage again. I think the last time I've been on stage was in high school when I performed for one of my dance classes.

For those of you who didn't get to see the show, the ballet is based on the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem. Ron and I were in the first act which follows the poem story line. We got to sneak around on stage watching Santa bring presents and eat his cookies and milk! The second act is a depiction of "what really happened on Christmas night." A pirate king and ballerina doll come to life. The ballerina doll emerges from a ballerina music box, and the pirate king comes out of a treasure chest. Other characters come to life, such as Ginger Snap, a cookie. There are also ornaments that come to life: Tinsellina, Silverbella, Poinsettia, Icicelle and Misteltonia. Sarah's modern class did a dance to the moon light sonata. They were the moon light beams in the first act. She was one of the pirate king's pirates in the second act. Sarah's teacher Erin did a fabulous job with the show choreographing for 120 plus students! Here are some pics from the big event.

Sarah and I after the show posing on the pirate's treasure chest (that I painted by the way!)

Our beautiful pirate - she did a great job!

Sarah in her moon light costume getting ready to go on stage for her modern dance.

Me in my kerchief and Ron in his cap...

Ginger Snap, the cookie who comes to life!

Sarah's class doing their pirate dance. Sarah is in the front on the far right.

Dress rehearsal. Ginger snap is begging the pirate king to return the star.

It's Almost Show Time!

We're gearing up for the 'Twas The Night Before Christmas" ballet this Sunday. For locals, the show is at 2 and 6 this Sunday at the Van Duzer. You can purchase tickets at Mosgo's and Moons - $8 general and $6 for kids and seniors. It's going to be a fabulous show, you don't want to miss it! Ron and I are playing the parts of ma and pa this year, and Sarah is a pirate and moonlight. This is a truly professional production full of kids and adults. There will be around 120 kids/adults performing. Kids love this show which is why we're going to 2 performances this year. So I hope you can come, especially if you have kids! It's a great way to celebrate the joy of Christmas.

Mom's Night Out Cookie Exchange

Last night I went to our mommy's group cookie exchange and craft night. One of the moms (Liz) was nice enough to let us hang out at her quilt store - Scottie Dog Quilts. Some of us wrapped presents while others did sewing projects. I worked on the ballet slipper stockings we sell at Sarah's recitals. All of us brought cookies and got to load up our plates with a variety of yummy sweets at the end of the night, yum! Here are a few pics of the night:

Some of my favorite people in the whole wide world - Molly and Deanna, wrapping presents.

Lots of gabbing went on.

Yummy treats!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

So I haven't been doing much blogging lately...mainly because I'm super busy working on projects for the "T'Was The Night Before Christmas" ballet. I've been designing, sewing, painting, etc. for the past few weeks. It's so much fun, but it's also a lot of hard work! Since we did this production last year we are using many of the same costumes. This year I've been doing more detail work. Some of the classes had a preview show the other day, so I got some pics of some of the costumes I've been working on:

This is Sarah's modern dance class. She's fourth from the left. They are moon light, and they dance to the Moon Light Sonata. I designed and made these costumes.

This is "Ginger Snap." Her costume is sooo cute! I sewed the M & M's onto her costume and did some alterations.

Last year I painted the treasure box and music box stage props. This year we're selling pirate eye patches and bun wreaths. They will be in these mini boxes which I painted.

I added this pic because I thought it turned out so cool! You can't use flash when people are dancing because it can throw their balance off and cause injury. So, I took this pic without the flash on slow shutter speed. It is the prima ballerina doing a pa de deux with the pirate king. I can actually see both of their faces in the pic.

Name This Dancer

Ok, time's up....it's me! Making costumes, stage props, etc. at this time of the year brings back fond memories of the time when I danced. This picture was taken from a wedding I performed at. It was one of the few performances I did in pointe shoes. I made a collage and incorporated it into it.