Blessings...

"An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds.
And were it not for a God who loves to hook
an "extra" on the front of the ordinary,
the night would have gone unnoticed.
The sheep would have been forgotten,
and the shepherds would have slept the night away.
But God dances amidst the common.
And that night He did a waltz."
~Max Lucedo

Christmas is a time to dance! Especially at our house. This weekend was the kick off. Rylee and Devree performed at Festival of Trees last night.

And my Kambree has been dancing her buns off with Murray High Dance Company all week.

She has rehearsal from 7am to 6pm today. We had a mother/daughter Christmas luncheon this afternoon. The girls arrived hungry and tired and it was nice to refuel their bodies and spirits and hear Kambree say "Okay, I'm ready to dance some more-let's go!"


Just in case anyone is need of "dancing" some Christmas spirit into their lives. Here is our performance schedule:
(Call or email me for location, time and ticket info.)
Dev & Ry dancing with Guyz-n-Dollz December 8th
Kambree with MDC December 11th & 12th
Rylee with Murray Community December 13th
Add two choir concerts for Austin and one for Devree, a nursing home performance for Dev & Ry, me heading up a RS dinner for 50, start of basketball practice for Austin and Devree, a real estate transaction or (hopefully) two and my frantic attempt to gather documents to complete an international adoption and you pretty much have my December!
Often times during this time of year, while I'm trying to feed girls dinner in the car while running them to dance class, make business calls sitting in my car waiting to pick them up, running all over town looking for "jazzy tan tights", Christmas shopping, making (or often times buying) treats for this or that party or class, baking, decorating, and taking ibuprofen on a regular bases, I ask myself, "Why?". I mean, this running around is crazy! "What were you thinking when you signed these girls up for all these classes? And basketball? You know that adds 2 practices as well as two games a week. What were you thinking?"
The I take a deep breath, and pause and remember....
I am blessed.
I am blessed to have healthy and happy children that love to sing, dance and play sports and that they have the mental and physical ability to do so is a blessing I often times take for granite.
While I'm at it, let me share further:
I am blessed that I have my own car and the means to fill it with gas. Heated seats and a working heater are an added blessing! (I remember this often when I see people waiting at the bus stop out in the cold or walking home with groceries.) A bonus blessing is the laughter and talking on the way there or back and the solitude and peace on the opposite drive.
I am blessed to have a healthy & strong husband that is tough as nails and works away from us for two weeks straight in the bitter Wyoming cold. (It's because of him I have the means to fill up my car and do all that shopping.)
I am blessed to have a cell phone and compute, to be able to work from my home (or car). And great clients, friends and family that continually refer me to more great clients.I am blessed to have my own healthy body with working parts (for the most part) and a semblance of mental strength to remember who is suppose to be where, when and what they're suppose to bring AND the ability to do this as a single parent half the time.
I am blessed to have a warm, sturdy home with a brand, spanking new kitchen with plenty of room to practice pirouettes and split leaps and a wrestling or boxing match or two.
I am blessed to decorate a tree with ornaments from each year of our families life together, put out my Christmas nick-knacks made by friends over the years, and squeeze in Chinese take-out while watching "A Christmas Story" when we can find one night during the month when we're all home together. I am blessed to have found one little boy who is half way around the world but lives in my heart and will someday soon in our home as well.
I am blessed to have a fridge full of food to fuel these healthy bodies, and the ability to eat out or run to the store when the fridge has less than desirable offerings.
I am blessed to have friends and family that support and love and cover for me when I cannot be in two places at one time.
I am blessed to live so close to my mom and sister and to love my niece and nephews like my own children.
I am blessed with great women in my life (personal and professional) that listen to me rant and rave, read my blog, scrapbook, exercise, shop, lunch, travel, and share their lives with me.
I am blessed to have all my needs fulfilled-and plenty of my wants.
I am blessed to give and receive love daily.I am blessed to know the real reason for Christmas. That Christ was born, that He lived, that He died and that He lives again.
I am so blessed.