Hats for the Holidays! Day 27 & Today's Blessings

One of the few hats Ive actually boughten for myself in the past year! I bought it because I have an indentical one (minues the netting) that is cream!

I love the rich brown hues! Perfect for the holidays!!

Beautiful Blessings:

~ Being reminded of how important goodness is in the movie "Going My Way"! So sweet <3

~ Being reminded of how important art is! I went to see an art exhibit today: "From Monet to Matisse: The Age of French Impressionism"!

~ Being reminded of how important it is to send letters! T-Tot got a sweet one today from a lady who attended our Church for a while. It was very encouraging <3

~ Being reminded of how precious our lives are here on this earth! We should use them for good and to bring God glory!

~ Being reminded of how precious prayer is!

100 lbs of Apples and other Beautiful Blessings

~ Watching "The Wizard of Oz" with the girls. I love this movie <3 Its one of my absolute favorites <3

~ Realizing Lil' G is dressed like Dorothy

~ Picking apples from our tree!

~ Getting 100lbs or so of apples!

~ Having Heidi and her sis come over to help pick apples!

~ Seeing T-bug having fun with her Sunday School teacher...aka Heidi lol!

~ Going on a mini vacation to the Y to go swimming afterwards!

~ The girls being brave with ice skating and swimming!

~ Seeing how big T-bug is now <3 T-Tot wore that dress when she was little. 

~ Realizing that all the girls were wearing dresses from Aunt N! I love this one on L-Jo!

~ Being amazed by how big Lil' G is getting! She looks like a big girl!

~ Knowing I cant imagine life without my sisters <3

~ The fields being harvested!

~The beautiful fall leaves! <3

~ T-Tot getting compliments from an art teacher on her work! The lady told her that her paintings/pictures are better than some of the kids in her class.

~ T-bug's creativity for sleeping lol!!

Beautiful Blessings - 9/5/15

~ Enjoying a maple teacake with Mom <3 (dont tell Dad or my sisters! lol!)

~ Different pieces of "art" throughout the Genesee Country Museum!

~ Bursting into Christmas Carols on the ride home!

~ Winding up the last skein of yarn! 

~ Finding this quote <3

What Dance Is: A Guest Post

 Today I have a guest post from the lovely Emma who blogs at thedancechronicles.blogspot.com

Dance is a tangible way to express intangible thoughts and feelings.  Every specified movement of the hand, every distinct turn of the head, is part of the character you’re playing. Dance is captivating for me because you can imprint emotions on an audience through movement.  It's presented to audiences as a pure art form composed of flawless steps and gravity-defying movements.  

But I've seen--and experienced--first-hand the struggles dancers go through every day.  I see the girls I dance with crying in class or in the hallways as we hug them.  I see them fall on their faces.  I see them fall apart as a muscle or tendon swells to three times it's size.  I see them cry for each other.  I see them dance until they can't breathe, work until they overheat.  I see them come in and many days say, "I don't want to do this," then give everything they have to their teacher.

But I also see them get back up.  Come back.  Go back to class still crying.  Dance through the pain.  Push their leg an inch higher than the highest leg in class, no matter how much it hurts.  Put pointe shoes on bleeding feet.  Pull it together.  Wince and push through it.  Rehearse for several hours.  Keep dancing.

Because a true dancer knows that they can never stop dancing.


Other posts related to dancing you might enjoy:

Beautiful Feet
Dance Shoes
What's in my dance bag?
The History of American Ballet Performances
Ballet Shoes
 

A Wonderful Painting

I was doing my Art History book today, and this was a featured picture.

The lady on the right was asking to see Cornelia (the standing lady) jewels. She brought out her kids. They were her jewels.

The picture had comments about it, and this one was the one that struck me:

A truly noble woman places her children above material possessions. 

I like that!

Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Treasures, 1785, oil on canvas, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.