The Nutcracker Presented by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre 2009

What a busy Friday it was! Dentist, errands and pediatrician's appointment! It was such a crazy, whirlwind of a day! It was so much fun that evening to sit in a beautiful theatre and watch the Nutcracker Ballet with some of our dear friends!

Thursday, some of our dear friends called and invited us (Mum, Sara, Anna and I) to attend the Nutcracker at the Benedum Theatre in downtown Pittsburgh the next evening. We were estatic! Immediately we hunted through our closets to pick out our outfits. :) The next day, after feeling 'icky' the night before, Anna was taken to our pediatrician's office to be evaluated. It turns out she has a sinus infection and a case of croup. Poor baby girl! She had to stay home from the Nutcracker with her Dad and Ronnie. We consoled her Saturday with a ballet-shoe ornament and reading the story of the Nutcracker.

It was an absolutely frigid night but we all bundled up warmly, though with my pantyhose and high-heeled shoes, not altogether practically. :) We attended the ballet with Mrs. C, (who invited us) Sarah, Rachel, little Abigail and our dear friend Bella. Bella and Sara attend the same dance company, Grace Christian, so they were especially enthusiastic to see the ballet.

Riding downtown was exciting, seeing all the city lights and window displays and hustle and bustle of the city sidewalks (even on a frigid night!) was very enjoyable. The Benedum Theatre is SUCH a beautiful theatre-the dated architecture and detail in the design is especially beautiful.

This was the first time any of us (Mum, Sara or I) had ever seen the Nutcracker at the Benedum! It was such a treat! Thank you, Mrs. C, Sarah, Rachel and Abigail :) for inviting us!

The ballet was beautiful, the scenery, costumes, story, detail....but MY favorite part was the music! Tchaikovsky (sp?) wrote so many beautiful pieces for this play but my favorite was the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. One dance sequence, I believe it was with the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, kept going and going on amazingly! Tchaikovsky's score for that piece had me confused as to when it began and ended! :) Ever since Friday I've been attempting (SLOWLY) to play the Waltz of the Flowers. :) It is rather tricky.

But I digress...here are a few pictures of the wonderful evening we had!

The front of the Benedum Theatre

The front of the program (half of it at least)

Best Friends-Me, Mum and Sara



Mrs. C, Abigail, Rachel and Sarah


(Don't you just love all of their beautiful smiles?!)

All of us young ladies...aside from Rachel and Abigail of course, I'm the shortest! :(

The beginning (I think!) of Act II in the Land of Enchantment

The dance of Hot Chocolate

The beginning of the curtain call...

Final bows!

Journey to Bethlehem....

One of the things that we used to love doing with Meghan and Sara when they were little were taking them to a "Journey to Bethlehem"...different churches have done this over the years, and we have been so blessed by it! This year, we took Ronnie & Anna with Ronnie's cubscout den. It was so beautifully done...and very oriented to the kids...everyone in costume (although Anna was a little afraid of the "Roman Soldiers")...it was a very special night and a special memory! There were so many activities for the children to do...in the first room, they had a large variety of spices for the kids to smell and/or taste...above, they were using a morter and pestle to crush cinnamon, then they added whatever herbs they liked to make a sachet. Then, Anna took a little bread dough they gave her, added a bunch of herbs and brought it home...we baked it this morning and it was great!
Anna with her little sachet...She was the perfect age for this night!

They went thru the 'carpenters' room, and then on to this room where they learned all the natural means to dye fabric or yarn, such as red onion, red cabbage, spinach, berries, tea and onion skins....

Then each child was able to dye a piece of muslin fabric to take home. Anna said hers was the color of a sunset!
Next, it was onto meet the 'scribe', and hear how he wrote the Torah, and the training they had. Then, each child copied Hebrew...Ronnie and Anna copied the Hebrew for Messiah, then Ronnie told the scribe he could write Alpha and Omega in Greek, so the scribe 'challanged' him to do that....and he did! He was so excited that he knew that, since we had just studied that.
One of our stops was with the angel, who told the kids about appearing to the shepherds and asked them questions before sending them to meet the shepherds....I wish this picture was better, but she was actually sitting on a tall stool, with lots of 'clouds' on the ground under her...it was pretty cool!
Ron and Anna 'sculpting' with clay at one of the stations.

Ronnie and Anna with the Holy family....who had a real baby boy....Anna was enthralled.

~After this, we walked down a long, dark aisle and met the wise men seeking the newborn king...they very seriously asked the children to give the best gift to Jesus all year, by showing love and giving to others all year.

As we walked out, a nice man gave them each a Christmas ornament of the Nativity as a remembrance....what a special, memorable evening we had! I am so grateful that I get to experience these special times all over again with my little ones...and make new memories as well with my older girls, too. May you treasure, as Mary did, the miracle of Jesus' birth in your hearts this Christmas season! ~Sue~

A Recent Struggle and God's Amazing Grace

Last night, after Sara, Mum and I watched the Duggars we sat up talking for awhile and all I have to say is how grateful I am of how Mum and Sara put up with me at my worst...not only that, the Lord uses them all the time to speak truth to me and put my focus back on the Lord and off of myself.

~~~

A little background: I've been over-stressing lately about Christmas presents-and how I should've gotten started earlier...I digress. Simply put, Satan weaseled his way into my thoughts last night and had me believing lies about how I'm not good enough, I should be more productive, et cetera. So I spewed out all of these lies I was convinced was true, with an emotional cloudburst-tears of self-pity and frustration abounding. Mum and Sara provided me with spiritual and practical advice to my 'huge' predicament.....but the real predicament was my heart attitude, as I reflected back later on Mom's words and God's still small voice in my heart.

~~~

I am a perfectionist. I place my 'standards' and 'ideals' of certain things higher than anything-without even pausing to ask the Lord for direction until after I am so worked up and emotional from believing Satan's lies. Perfectionism is just a layer of the root of pretty much all of my character flaws and struggles: pride. I have to daily, several times, remember to ask the Lord to shatter my pride if I catch it rearing it's ugly head. "Judge not lest ye be judged" and "Grace to the humble" are two of the verses (I'm terrible with remembering references) that I tell myself when I count to ten and (sometimes literally) bite my tongue.

~~~

For a long time, until the Lord brought me fully and completely to surrender and Himself, I struggled with condemnation for constantly failing in my endeavers to be like Christ, not being perfect and seemingly never to conquer my fears, insecurities and failures. Occasionally I hear whispers of 'You'll never be good enough' or 'you won't ever conquer xyz' from Satan and I've noticed an interesting pattern: he catches us when our hearts and minds are most vulnerable. We are vulnerable if we do not keep the Lord, the Gospel in the forefront of our minds and our ears open to the Holy Spirit to rebuke Satan's whispers.

~~~

When I fall, stumble and see my sin constantly before me, and Satan's condemning voice begins, I need to look up and see the cross. Look away from my sin, repent and keep God's eternal, unwavering grace in the forefront of my mind. The writer of the hymn, Amazing Grace, said once, "I am a great sinner...but Christ is a great Savior." Paul writes in Philippians 1:6: "...He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

There but for the grace of God, go I.

Sola Gratia!

Trying new things....

For now it's...basketball! I learned when Meghan and Sara were little, that children want to try so many new things, until they find what they like the best, are good at and enjoy the most. Now Ronnie is doing basketball. I must say, I LOVE this program! He is doing the "Upwards" program at a local church. It is non-competitive, instructional AND they have scripture memory every week and work on biblical character qualities....what is not to love?! Ronnie is loving it! He is pretty good, too, for not playing before....he is really good at shooting.
One thing that is good for him is the "guy" time...he spends A LOT of time with his dad, doing almost everything together, but with 3 sisters, he really enjoys "guy" stuff!

His Uncle Todd has been working with him (Todd is very good at basketball), even bought him his own basketball...and he has brought Ty up both weeks so they could see Ronnie....boy, does Ronnie's face light up when he sees Uncle Todd and Ty!
His coach is great! He, also, has 4 children....two of which are 7 year old twin boys on Ronnie's team! Needless to say, he is really patient with the boys!
Listening to instruction...each week, the boys get a green star if they memorize their scripture verse, and on game day everyone gets a different colored star for some effort...for instance, sportsmanship, Christ-likeness, offense, defense, effort....as they are learning, they are gaining confidence, as well.

Ronnie wants to do the Upwards program in the Spring as well, that is when they do flag-football....another thing that I like about it is that they learn the rules of the game with out any competition....I think that really takes the pressure off when they are young and learning.

Well....Ronnie has had a busy day....spent the afternoon with his friend Caleb...then straight to basketball....I think that is enough "guy time" for one day! LOL Now, I think he needs a little "Mom" time! Be blessed.......~Sue~

Dance for Jesus....

The past 2 days have been wonderful days of special worship....yesterday, Meghan's piano recital focused on Jesus thru music...today, Sara & Anna's worship dance Christmas "mini-recital" also focused on Jesus...thru dance and the music that they danced to. I love this dance school that they go to! Everything is Christ-centered...every movement, the songs and even what they wear has to be modest and Christ honoring....nothing unmodest either in clothing or music. They had a nice reception first, with cake, cookies and drinks...it was so nice for me, because I got to see a lot of MY friends there! LOL Ronnie even had a chance to hang out all afternoon with his friend, Caleb...talking Legos the whole time! Sara demonstrating her ballet techniques at the barre....they all have a pretty strict ballet time as part of their classes...teaching proper form, techniques and really working on form.

Our "Tiny Dance"...little Anna...she was so excited, she could hardly stand still!

I love this one! She was so serious, and did such a great job remembering her steps and following the dance!
Sara does so beautifully....she was born to sing and dance for the Lord! I think Anna is, too. The two of them are always singing and dancing all over the house. Anna has mastered "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "O Come, O Come Emmanual"...she loves to sing!

After we came home, and had a simple dinner....we lit 2 candles tonight for the second Sunday of Advent and did our devotions...Ronnie read Luke 2:1-7, we sang and then talked about 2 more names of Jesus....we followed this with watching "The Nativity Story" movie....I feel so blessed to be able to continuously point my children to the Lord...and how all of life confirms the Word! I hope everyone had a very peaceful, blessed Sabbath! ~Sue~

A "musical" moment....and other fun ways to spend a Saturday!

Today was Meghan's piano recital. She LOVES the piano...and is so good at it! It's something that I always wished I knew. We love her teacher, and one of the nice things that she does, is she makes the recitals about serving....they are always an outreach at a nursing home, and really bless the residents with their music and sing-a-longs. Today was no exception. Meghan played beautifully!!! She played "I'll be home for Christmas", "Oh, Holy Night"...then ended with "Have yourself a Merry little Christmas"....Oh, how we enjoyed them!
My beautiful daughter!

We are so blessed with a close, supportive family! All of her grandparents came out to hear her play...above, her Buppy & Grammy drove over an hour to be here.

Meghan with M.E....and Zedoh....he really wasn't cranky, he always takes pictures like that! LOL We like to tease him...
Meghan with Ron's mom , Ro...and the beautiful flowers she got her....she recieved 2 big bunches of flowers today to brighten up her room.
Meghan, her teacher Mrs. Serra and all the students who performed.

Her supportive sister and one of her biggest fans! Afterwards, most of the family came back to our house for homemade beef stew and soft, homemade rolls hot out of the oven! So good...especially since it was very cold and snow flurrying....but that wasn't the first thing we did today! After getting the dough rising for the rolls and the stew in the crockpot...I left at 11am to take the little ones to a birthday party.....
This is Ronnie at a birthday party for his friend, Isaac. I took Anna, too, since she is friends with Isaac's sister, Sophie....the kids had a great time! My friend, Rebecca, had such a nice time for the kids! It was nice for me to visit with her, too!
Anna and Sophie....the Kirk's homeschool as well, and Anna & Sophie go to the same dance school.

After we left the party, we stopped for a short, but special visit with old friends from our old neighborhood....I hadn't seen Danielle in ages, and we had a nice visit.

This is Ronnie and his old friend, Miles. Miles and Ronnie's birthdays are 3 weeks apart...and they lived down the street from us before we moved. I have so many pictures of the boys from babies on up to almost 8...I love watching their interests and personalities grow and change, but still love being friends and spending time together.

This is Danielle's daughter, Isabelle....and she will be 10 years old on Monday! Isabelle and Miles were singing in a Christmas choir tonight, and Isabelle wasn't ready....but she took time out to play with Anna.....Anna really looks up to her and enjoys playing with her...and Isabelle is so good with her!
~So, after a very full day....my little ones are tucked into bed, Meghan & Sara are working on some Christmas gifts while they watch a movie....Ron starts work at 2am, so he is trying to stay awake to watch the Penguin game, then try and get as much sleep as he can....and I feel like it has been a blessed day!....Now off to bed, to prepare for another one! LOL After church, we'll just have time for lunch before going to Sara and Anna's Christmas dance recital/party at 2pm....I know dinner will be simple tomorrow...and we're already planning another evening in front of the fire after dinner....not too many evenings are free for all of us, so we cherish them. May the Lord bless your Sabbath tomorrow! ~Sue~

It's a Wonderful Life!

I really DO love my life! What an amazing day! Actually...it's been a pretty great week! We've really been praying about keeping our focus this month firmly where it belongs...on Christ. As everyone knows, with all the hype and marketing...it is so easy to be distracted by the deceiver...to focus on the "holiday" and the 'busyness'.

We started a few years ago, to basically get rid of all Christmas decorations that were not Christ centered...I kept just a couple homemade things that either my mom made, or were special gifts....but I started collecting nativities.

This year, we pulled out our Christian unit studies. One is Christian symbols of Christmas, another is the history of Christian Christmas hymns, and my favorite is 25 names of Jesus. These have been constant, wonderful reminders of why we are celebrating Christmas...and my little ones are really getting it...and reminding us frequently as well! LOL

Yesterday, after Ron had put up the outside lights....Ronnie and Anna ran outside to view them, where Anna exclaimed "OH! They are PERFECT, Dad!"....then..."why do we put up lights for Christmas?" To which Ronnie, with all the wisdom of his almost 8 years replied " Because Jesus is the light of the world, of course!" Which made perfect sense to Anna! LOL Oh, the perfect trust of children!

Today, we had an amazing day. We have a tradition, that every year, Ron takes all the children to pick out the "perfect" tree....and I stay home. The 5 of them find the perfect tree and lug it home, where Ron and I string the lights, then the kids help decorate it....well, today for the first time in 20 years, Ron & I put up the tree, with Christmas carols in the background without any swearing, attitudes or fighting....we even teased each other and laughed! LOL What a blessing!

Then, instead of the very healthy meal I had planned, we ate hotdogs (yes, on buns!), and tater tots in the livingroom in front of the fire while we watched "White Christmas"....what a fun, memorable evening we had! Half-way thru the movie...Sara (the expert) started roasting marshmallows,too. I think this should become a tradition...when Mom relaxes the "food police"...and we all just have fun!

Will be posting some pictures and observations of things we are doing differently this year...some things that are helping us to be Christ focused....and making memories, as well! Hope you all are having a blessed start to our Christmas season! ~Sue~

Twilight Zone

*OHHHHHHH MYYYYYY GOSSHHHHHHH!*

That is the sound of millions of tween/teenage girls dashing to the movie theaters to see the newest phenomenon since High School Musical: Twilight. New Moon to be exact.

I don't know about any of ya'll, but anytime I hear/see anything related to Robert Pattinson, Twilight, or vampires I groan, roll my eyes, or shake my head (or all of the above). I mean, come on! The story is a romance/thriller (as it is officially categorized by the National Film Association) so there you have it: the category goes with teen girls as much as lip gloss and texting does. But while they are watching this movie, do you think they will be focusing on anything God related? If you answered no, you deserve a prize. They will be focusing on how cute Mr. Pattinson is, how perfect a match Edward & Bella are, or how sweetly protective of her he is... GAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, in honor of my fellow twilight-hatin homies, I have found a tee shirt (I know, big surprise) that fondly states my views:Oh yeah, how cool is this?

A Closer look:

Jesus is THE LIGHT! Jesus said I am the light of the world. Those who believe in me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. Put that on a t-shirt! (Oh wait, they just did!)

It just cannot get any better than this unless God suddenly granted my request to make horses free of cost... but anyways, whatdya think?

Comment on it!

PS: To any Twilight Lovers, I apoligize but this had to be said!