The Princess and the Pea

Mary has successfully completed her first fall show at dance! At their dance studio, 7th grade and above can audition for the fall show. Mary is 6th grade in school (she's just 11) but 7th grade in dance. She was chosen to be in 2 dances-the party guests and the sheep. They've been practicing on weekends (in addition to their regular dance classes) since September. This week they had 5 perfomances with approximately 2500 school children attending (the Sunday performance was for family and friends). To say she enjoyed herself is an understatement! She's always wanted to be a professional dancer-this just added fuel to the fire.

Congratulations Mary! I'm very proud of you!

Ringing in the holiday season

The other night officially started the holiday season for us. We had the lighting of the trees downtown. All of the shops were decorated with wreaths, red ribbons and Christmas trees. It all looks so beautiful. The girls and I have even started listening to Christmas music on the car radio.

Grace and 2 of her dance buddies volunteered to dress as elves and hand out fliers advertising the fall dance show. Aren't they cute?

My Ballerinas

Recently we had parent days at dance when we could visit the dance classes. I love being able to watch my girls dance!

Emma is in pre-ballet and loving every minute of it.This is Grace's first year of pointe. Her name suits her well when it comes to dance-she is one of the most graceful dancers that I've seen.Mary is in her second year of pointe. She continually amazes me with her increased flexibility and talent. She's pictured here in the yellow dress with one of her friends in the fall show. (she didn't like any of the pictures I took during her class time. LOL!

All 3 of my girls have a passion for dance. I was never a dancer, but can now live through them. There's no other extracurricular activity that I would rather they do than dance. Through dance they're learning poise, grace and rhythm; they're exposed to beautiful music and transported to faraway places through different story lines; they develop confidence, stage presence and discipline. I look forward to many more dances with all three of my beautiful ballerinas.

Fall Dress

I was so thankful my friend Candice gave us this beautiful fabric. She and I both made a jumper dress from the Children's Corner pattern, Lucy. Even though it doesn't look a lot like fall here, Emma will have a sweet fall dress to wear. I think it'll be perfect for Thanksgiving.

Homemade ornaments

I had a few more gifts for my Canadian friends. When I was a girl we had a painted okra Saint Nicholas ornament on our tree. I just loved it. Last year I found out they don't grow okra in Canada and most of my friends didn't even know what it was. We dried some okra from our garden and the girls and I painted it. I thought it turned out kind of cute-I think my Canadian friend's thought I was a little crazy. I appreciate them smiling and saying "thank you" instead of hurting my feelings with their true thoughts! LOL!The other ornament I made went over a little bit better. My grandmother made yo-yo's when I was a girl and would sew them on pillows, quilts, etc. I saw these tiny yo-yo's made into Christmas trees at my local quilt store. I knew I had to make some-I ended up making about 9 while I was in Canada! Aren't they cute?

Good Morning

I would love getting up early every morning if I could be greeted by this-sunrise in Manitoba.

Duck hunting with daddy

One of Mark's passions is hunting. The girls and I like going too, but not necessarily for the hunting, but just for the time with him. I love to lay in the blind and hear the geese honking long before I see them. I love feeling the cold, crisp Canadian air and seeing the golden sunlight as it shines across the field. It's a beautiful experience and one I'm glad we're able to share as a family.

Pictures from the prairie

We recently went for our annual fall trip to Canada. We've been going now for about 7 years yet each time I'm still in awe of the beauty. I don't have the words to effectively describe the scenery. These pictures will have to speak for themselves.

We woke up to a light snow our first morning. Emma was thrilled!