Chinese New Year- Year of the Horse

Today is the Chinese New Year! The year of the snake is over, it is now the year of the horse.

Am I the only one who finds all the animals fascinating? Rats, oxen, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, goats, monkeys, roosters, dogs, and pigs. 

In case you were wondering the Chinese New Year celebrations start CNY eve, and continue until the lantern festival (which the the fifteenth day after CNY).

Of course, what is Chinese New Year without putting on our Chinese clothes?

Both Joshua and Lily were very excited when I asked them if I could take their pictures in their Chinese clothes. 

It was super cold, and there was snow on the ground, but they were champs!

Zhōngguó xīnnián kuàilè- Happy Chinese New Year!

What does it mean to be a Dancer?

It was bound to happen.

What do you expect after my life for the past three weeks has revolved around the same thing.

Dance.

Specifically Nutcracker. 

So, what makes a dancer? What's it like to be in my shoes... literally.

What does it mean to be a Dancer?

--It means working for months on a three-minute song.

--It means practicing until you know a dance even in your sleep.

--It means hours of rehearsals.

--It means working your muscles so hard that breathing hurts.

--It means falling asleep while standing up from pure exhaustion.

--It means finding random bruises on your body.

--It means your toes feel like they have been run over by an 18-wheeler.

--It means putting on ten-pounds of stage makeup on you and your friends.

--It means changing your whole wardrobe in under a minute.

--It means whispering, behind the curtain, to your friends telling them how nervous you are. 

--It means smiling despite any mess-ups or shooting pains you may have.

--It means you are overcome with pride and satisfaction after finishing a dance.

--It means your sisters (and brother) look at you like a hero after finishing a show.

--It means your parents telling you, "You're the best!", and give you a bouquet of red roses.

--and... It means needing new pointe shoes... again! (Sorry Dad!)

Arabian from the Nutcracker

Let them praise His name in the dance... {Psalm 149:3}

Sunday Snapshot- {Red & Black}

You really know I'm back when I take nice pictures for a Sunday Snapshot!

Yesterday I was able to second shoot for a friends Photo shoot! Which was super fun, and I will do a whole post on that in a few weeks. 

For today I thought you guys might want to see a little of Lily and Joshua! They were just so cute I decided to make it a Sunday Snapshot!

 

 Sweet Joshy still in his pajamas loves getting his picture taken.

 Lily has the most beautiful smile EVER! Like when did this kid become so photogenic?

Despite the fact I was upset with the lighting, their faces were just too adorable! I had to add this to the post.

Hope everyone is enjoying their December!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men. [Luke 2:14]

Catching Up!

First off, thank-you to the lovely people that welcomed me back into cyber world! I love you guys!

Second, I finished the family page so if you haven't checked it out, go take a look!

And to those of you who want a post about my brother's wedding, I will be posting about that in the (hopefully) near future. But not right now because much back-story will need to accompany that post, and I can't sit down an write all that. So, just be patient with me! :)

To get you back up to speed on my life I do a quick run through.

May We got a kitten!!! Like OMG!! His name is Latimer!

 He is such a people cat, and lets Anna-Grace and Ally do just about anything to him!

August Lily and Joshua started PreSchool! They are learning their alphabet, so far they have made it to "N".

September Aaron graduated "A" School in Great Lakes.

August-November We took field trips to Colonial Williamsburg..

.. Yorktown

... Mount Vernon and Montpelier.

October Lily and Joshua celebrated their 4th Birthday's at Chuck-E-Cheese.

October Ally got her ears pierced for her 9th Birthday

..and celebrated at FunLand.

November Judah Alexander was born! He is my Mom and Dad's best friends fifth child! So he's like a little brother to me!

Isn't he darling?!

Last week-end Mom, Dad, and I went to the Operation Christmas Child processing center!

So, obviously it's not everything that happened while I was gone, but it's a lot of what happened!

See ya guys soon!

Just a Trim

Because it is easier, and it saves money, my Mom gives the kiddos haircuts around here. Last night was the night for some littles to get a trim.

There is a bit of a debate on how long Joshua's hair should be. I ,personally, think he is way cuter when it is long. But a few other people think he is more dashing with it long. This time, we decided to leave his bangs as is. Yes!

Lets just say the idea of a haircut is amazing.

But when it comes to reality... sitting in chair, while Mommy is pulling your hair, is not very exciting. 

But hey, at least he made it.

A view of Joshua's "spacers". Look at those pearly whites!

So, what do you think? Bang length..

Long, short, in between?

Next up, the princess. Lily found it a bit more amusing. She was still a little itchy at some points.

Lily usually just gets her bangs trimmed. We don't really style anything else.

Oh, Lily, your many faces amuse me!

Sorry for the neglecting of my blog. :(

Laziness, I guess.

News: Joshua heads to Philly for a tendon release surgery on Wednesday. More to come.

"Simple Sunday"

Indeed it was! Spent the day relaxing after church, watching football, napping, and roasting marshmallows!

Hope ya'll had as nice a Sunday as us!

School..

School, school, school.

Fun, right?

I'm not gonna lie, I LOVED summer.

But it's time to start school.. Monday!

It's true, i'm a freshman this year.

Now everything counts.

I'll see these grades for the rest of my life.

No pressure, right?

 

I came up with some questions, you can answer them too!

 

What are you most looking forward to this year?

Defiantly Mandarin! I'll be taking it as my foreign language and I am SO excited!

 

What are you least looking forward to this year?

Math. I hate it. I mean that too!

 

What something new about this school year?

Co-op. I'll be taking Math and Science at a new co-op.

 

How is this year different from those in the past?

It's High School now. Both Lily and Josh will require alot of attention.

My work load is increasing by alot!

 

What exactly are you taking?

English

Literature

U.S. History

Mandarin

Typing

Algebra

Physical Science

Academic Writing

then

Ballet/ Pointe

Band (Clarinet Player!!)

Chorus

 

Alot right?

I feel really heavy right now.

I know I can do it, but it's going to require alot more of myself.

 

What about blogging?

I've asked myself this multiple times. Until a few weeks in I won't know really how much I can blog. Hopefully a post or two during the week. But I may become a week-end blogger!

 

So what does your (school) year have in-store???

 

The New Mother

At 10am this morning a brand new life was recognized. 

Her name is Baby and Lily has become her NEW mother.

This isn't a NEW baby, it seems Lily just decided that today was the day "Baby" was "the thing".

It's really quite sweet.

"Hi Lily, whatcha doin'?"

"Shhhhhh!!! Baby's sleepin'"

"Oh, sorry."

"Tipey toe, Baby will cry!"

I also found her telling Baby what a big girl she was.

And kissing Baby.

I asked if I could hold Baby and she said,

"No! My Baby."

So that's where we left off!

Photo Challenges~ Enjoying Life and Sweet

Lily, meet Ice cream.

Ice cream, meet Lily.

Monday Manic

Whew! It's nice to sit down!

I had a pretty busy day.

This morning I had an Ortho. appointment.

Then right afterwards I babysat for 4 hours.

Immediately following was ballet!

Now I'm home, taken my shower, and TIRED!

Anywho, I took some picture of my ballet shoes!

Mainly to show it's time for some new ones!

I'm going to be optimistic and say I'll have new one's by the end of the summer.

But... China.

In class we use the term "soft" when are shoes are wearing out.

Cause brand new ones are SUPER hard. 

The first few weeks we "break them in".

Then they get "soft"!

One pair is about $70-$100, and you buy a pair about every 4-6 months!

Yeah, it's alot!

So... you guy's want a color preview of Black and White Wednesday??

Just a bit of whats to come!