Have you decided if you will watch a movie this weekend? If you were at our house, we’d at least discuss watching Star Wars again.
Here are some Star Wars scenes. Can you identify the films? Mark hasn’t seen all of the Star Wars movies, but he plays Lego Star Wars on the Wii each Saturday.
Looking for a little entertainment? Here are the songs from the ensemble concert.
The first piece is Timothy’s Amen! and Kumbaya.
Next, we have Daniel’s Guantanamera. You’ll want to dance to this one.
And now here is Paige’s piece, Slavonic Dance. Yes, she really plays that fast.
We had three performers at the Piano Ensemble concert at Centennial Hall last night and I just felt proud to be related to them.
This was Timothy’s first year. Here he is on stage ready to take a bow.
Here is Daniel performing his piece, Guantanamera.
The above photo indulges my idea of how the world should view our children.
Here is Paige’s piano number and her little head.
Fashion is a big part of the evening. I enjoy seeing the pretty dresses each year.
Paige was just breathtaking and her piano ensemble number was, too.
Some days I can’t think of anything nice to say. But here’s a cactus for you to look at until I am in a more agreeable mood.
Listing all the good things that actually happened today will just make me feel worse for allowing myself to be in a funk. However, I would like to thank Masterpiece Theater for the excellent cry it helped facilitate and I’m grateful for the leftovers in the refrigerator which meant I didn’t have to cook dinner.
Thank you.
Earlier this month, I set up my visiting teaching appointments but forgot to prepare the message. I did a quick skim of the magazine article I was to share and ran to the first appointment and taught a lovely lesson about women being guardians of the health of our families. We discussed ways we could help our families improve their emotional and physical health. I walked away feeling pretty good about the appointment.
But when I got home and set down the magazine on the counter, I finally noticed that the message was entitled, “Guardians of the HEARTH” (not health)! I was embarrassed and had a healthy laugh at myself. Apparently I need to be more involved in the details. Skimming isn’t adequate when it comes to important things. Some activities require deep, concerted, and detailed effort. And good job to those of you who saw my mistake before you read the second paragraph. Way to go, visiting teacher supreme!
I decided to read a book by Charles Dickins last week because he is a master of details. Each description is so rich and essential. I can’t skim through Dickins. It was a good exercise in focus. I also enjoy how he can moralize about the shady characters with sarcasm and characterize the good with idealism.
So hooray for effort in visiting teaching, flawed as it may be. And hooray for my first watercolor in years. And hooray for people such as Charles Dickins whose detailed efforts show me that I can navigate through experiences with humor and idealism.
In what areas of your life do you choose to be gentle in your self evaluations, while still maintaining an ideal for yourself? Tell me, dear reader. I am curious to hear your thoughts.
When I’m thinking hard about something, I’ll set out to do menial tasks. I’ll clean out a drawer or fold laundry, organize a closet or throw things away. Really big problems are best sorted with a paint roller in my hand. After some challenges this week (certainly nothing horrific!), I spent two evenings creating temples from the chaos of my thoughts and little bags of chipped tile.
I can’t say that it helped. My problems are still here, but I have two cute little temples to grout and frame so it’s not all bad.
Surrounded by friends, we watched Paige’s dance studio perform The Nutcracker this weekend. I decided that it’s better to watch her when I’m not looking through a camera, so I don’t have many photos, and I have no photos of three of her numbers. I lived the experience instead of trying to preserve it and share it, because ballet is very emotional and best enjoyed live.
We loved the snowflakes.
Paige closed the first act with this pose and snow falling all around her. The show could have ended there because it was so beautiful.
Richard and Daniel were on the technical crew this year. Daniel manned the spotlight and Richard filmed the performance.
Sarah and Bryan were able to come. It’s nice to have family to cheer you on.
Paige is the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker.
Timothy and Mark decided that they wanted to decorate their room. We pulled out some old curtain rods and rings with clips and created an adaptable artwork display.
I bought this 3-tiered frames for a dollar about 7 years ago. The pictures are about 2 1/2 inches square. The above pictures are by Mark.
Timothy likes to color plants.
We spent no money and re-purposed everything. It was a good time.
Paige gave this to me in a frame for my birthday. It’s immensely thoughtful and I savor each detail.