My Newest Teenager

Banana turned 13 yesterday. My baby is a teenager. I told Kearsdad that I've really been thinking of her as a teenager for a while now, but this made it official. I am so proud of the beautiful young lady she is becoming.

We celebrated all day! Birthdays at our house are a big deal. Maybe not always a big party and a lot of hoopla, but we make sure the person celebrating the birthday is made to feel special. I have a Happy Birthday sign that I bought for Kat's 3rd birthday party. I have used it every year since...on the night before each girl's birthday, after they are asleep, I hang the sign on their door. Sometimes I also put a matching one on the fireplace mantle. But since stockings are still up, I only decorated Banana's door.

We met Kearsdad for lunch at Banana's favorite sushi place. There she opened her presents from us...Kat gave her a dvd she's been waiting on, and we gave her the accompanying cd. Our big gift, though, was similar to Kat's 13th birthday gift...her birthstone ring. So pretty.




After lunch, Banana, Kat and I went shopping for a while, looking for curtains for her room. Grandmama ordered her new (grown-up-looking) bedding. After shopping, we stopped at Berry Berry Good Yogurt....mmmm.

The highlight of her day, however was a SURPRISE! We managed to pull of a surprise birthday party last night with the help of some awesome friends. I was reminded last night of how blessed we are to have friends who love us and love our children. The party was a hit, and she was genuinely surprised! Thanks to Junebug for helping me pull it together, thanks to MPBs Mama for an awesome cake, thanks to some special friends for helping us plot and scheme!







Happy Birthday sweet girl! I love you!

The Celebration of Jesus' Birthday

Katherine playing carols for us Christmas Eve afternoon.

My beautiful girls in front of the tree...used to be the tree towered over them...

All of us before church. I really like this picture.

Christmas day...the girls got iPod Touches. This is what they looked like most of the day.

Another view...

They also got the game Apples to Apples...fun game!

Ours was a very Merry Christmas. I hope yours was too. We are blessed indeed!

Christmas Dream

We just completed our first Christmas Dream experience with Ballet Magnificat! I cannot say enough what an amazing experience it was. From beginning to end, and all points in between, it was a blessing. When God prompted us almost a year ago to consider moving Banana to this Dance School, we had no idea what we were in for, or what we had been missing. This week, being a part of this production, brought it all together for us. Everything Ballet Magnificat is and stands for is centered around Jesus Christ and bringing Him Glory. I am so honored to be associated, even by way of my daughter, with this ministry. And I am thrilled that she is training under and influenced by such Godly men and women.

I cannot believe we had never seen Christmas Dream. It is magnificent. The Nutcracker doesn't hold a candle to this worship experience. Banana enjoyed it so much. She was a "Kingdom Kid"...such a cute dance! Below are a few pictures...all from dress rehearsal. Notice the bright colors, and the smiles on the girls' faces. The joy on their faces is real. It's contagious. I especially love the expression on Banana's face in the first picture...it represents for me the happiness she experiences in dance. The relationships between the girls and between the staff and the girls is priceless to me. For us, this really was a Dream.

Christmastime

It's been a nice December. We are done with school until after the New Year! We have completed Rejoice-our church Christmas concert/worship service. The music was beautiful. It really was worshipful. This coming weekend is Christmas Dream, and Banana is dancing. The differences between Nutcracker and Christmas Dream are too numerous to count. The music is the same. The story is different. Christmas Dream is completely focused on Christ. As is everything else. Rehearsals are wonderful. Our schedule for the week is wonderful. No rehearsal ends later than 5:30! No rehearsal is longer than 3 hours. I don't know what to do with myself! We can actually enjoy this!

Our low key December has allowed me to get the house completely decorated in a timely fashion and have time to really enjoy it. Thought I'd share a few pictures.









To top it all off, we have even had time for a Christmas party! The girls wanted to have a party, so I let them invite 2 friends each. We had cookies and snacks...and coffee and flavored creamers! That was a hit. I used my Christmas china and let the girls have a real party. They enjoyed eating and talking and then they played Christmas carol pictionary. That was a hoot! Here they are in front of the playroom tree...

Thanksgiving Pictures

Our little family Thanksgiving was so nice...We decided to go "all out". Banana wanted to use the good china and crystal. This was actually the first time the girls had ever used it! Isn't that sad? I guess I never felt like they were "old enough". Well, I decided that from here on out, nothing is off limits! I don't want to look back one day and wonder why we never...

Anyway...we put a table cloth on the table, and pulled out the linen napkins. Banana said "No paper." It was lovely. And fun!