Nutcracker!

As you all know, this past weekend was DRB's annual production of the Nutcracker. We had a wonderful time and are sad that it is over but glad to be able to take a brief rest before competition season and recital are upon us. I posted a few pics for you and hope to have others soon. Courtnee is pictured with her partner, George. They were so cute. George hates pics (as you can tell from his expression) and Courtnee loves pics. Also pictured are me and the girls with one of my favorite students, Sarah.

My Beautiful Student

So I open my friend's blog this morning and I sit there with my mouth wide open in amazement! I have tears in my eyes and I can't even explain the rush of emotions I felt when I saw my precious Sarah standing there in this beautiful "party girl" dress. You see, Sarah is my dance student and she is coming to see the Nutcracker this weekend and I can't be more happy. Let me explain why I am posting this sweet little picture. If you know anything about the Nutcracker, you will know that the opening scene is at the Stahlbaum's annual Christmas party and all of the "party girls" are dressed in beautiful dresses. This dress is almost identical to the "party girl" dress that my daughter wore just a few short years ago. I almost cried when I saw Sarah standing there in that dress. What a perfectly appropriate dress! She is my future party girl. I will make sure she is trained properly under my instruction and she will be the best party girl ever. I can't wait!

Speaking of the Nutcracker, we have made it through 3 days of rehearsal and tonight is the final rehearsal and dress rehearsal. Tomorrow is opening night and by the time it finally gets here I am just ready to go to bed. How sad. I know I will find the energy to pull it off. We always do....the girls are exhausted but they run on adrenaline and excitement.....and lots of sugar!

So Good Luck to Everyone! It is going to be a GREAT show.....all 4 of them!

Almost There!!!

So today is Wednesday....I think. We have made it through two days of rehearsal and have two more to go. Friday night is opening night of the Nutcracker and as always I look forward to it. I still get butterflies in my stomach even though I am not dancing anymore. I still love to be on stage even if it is just a small acting part in the party scene. I get excited for my daughters, my students and my extended DRB family. The whole experience is something I can't even begin to explain. The inside jokes, the newbie party parents, the boys from SMU, the funny nick names, the gifts - the list goes on and on. We all have so much fun. If you ask any one participant about their favorite Nutcracker memory you will never hear the same thing twice from anyone you ask. There are so many things going on and so many things to experience that everyone makes their own sort of fun and comes away with a different feeling. The emotions of each dancer are very different but one thing is for sure, every single cast member loves what they are doing and wouldn't trade it for the world. I can only hope that you see our enthusiasm when we perform and you enjoy watching us as much as we enjoy entertaining you. Please don't miss the Nutcracker this weekend. It is a Christmas tradition that everyone enjoys. Why not come see ours? I am hoping to find time to snap some pictures of some of the cast. I will post them when I get a chance. TaTa For Now!!

New Shoes!!!

So like any woman would do on her lunch hour, I chose to go shopping yesterday. I got the cutest pair of shoes and I am so excited! I can't wait to wear them. All my husband had to say about my super sexy shoes was "you already have 101 pair of shoes, why did you buy another pair of shoes?" Really?!! I bought him a t-shirt and that should count for something. So today I am on a cute shoe high. It wont last long but at least it should carry me through the day.

I guess I went shopping to distract me from all of the things that are about to take place and the craziness that goes with it all. I still have custom ornaments to finish making before next week. Boy that little project has turned into a nightmare and I have definitely bitten off more than I can chew. The girls better appreciate them because they have been hard to make. I only have about 9 left to make and I am dreading every second of it. When I finish them, I will post a pic. In the meantime, here is a pic of my super cute shoes. Enjoy!

New Shoes!!!

Thanksgiving....check! Christmas.....almost here!

Our Thanksgiving was very low key and stress free. That is not usually the case. I don't know how I managed to have such an easy day but I did and I am thankful that all went well. The girls and I spent Friday doing lots of nothing. We started decorating and continued to decorate a little here and there over the weekend. Needless to say it is now Monday and we still have boxes everywhere and decorating to finish. I just need to shape the tree (after a horrible experience of trying to find a place to put the tree this year) and get it decorated. Once that is done the boxes will be gone and everything will be in its place. I have 4 gold bells and some garland that needs to be hung but that is Gary's job. He is the only one that can reach to put it up there. I debate every year on whether or not to put the Christmas throw pillows on the couch. My family will just squish them down and sit on them and mess up my pretty arrangement on the couch. How dare them expect to sit on the furniture! I put them out along with my Santa Claus throw and they survive year after year. Hopefully this year will be no different. I have to finish the decorating this week because if I don't it will drive me crazy and it wont get done until after Nutcracker which is just totally unacceptable to me.

Speaking of Nutcracker, this is our final week of in-studio rehearsals and then the craziness of production week sets in and I am sent into a crazy woman tizzy!! I love the Nutcracker and all the joy it brings but man is it nuts!!! Funny, huh? Anyway, with working a full time job, teaching dance at night, being in the Nutcracker and also having two daughters in the production as well makes for one crazy week....all during the stupid COGAT testing. I apologize to all you teachers out there but just how accurate is a test given to a kid who is about to go on Christmas break and all they can think about are presents and being out of school???? Really????!!!!

Enough of my rambling....I could go on forever but who cares to read it. I will sign off for now and hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are gearing up for a Merry Merry Christmas!

Deer Camp

Everybody knows that it is deer season in Texas. My husband has been at the deer lease since Saturday and I am anxious to hear all about his adventure. He called me early Sunday morning and I just knew he was calling to tell me he shot a deer. He called to tell me that he had killed a deer but not THE deer. As you can see, this deer isn't a bad looking buck, but nontheless, it is not the deer he wanted. His hunt will continue....I guess that is why they call it HUNTING!

TGIF

My kids squeeled with excitement this morning as soon as their feet hit the floor. They are so excited that there is no school next week. I have to admit that I am glad too. I love Thanksgiving! If you keep up with our crazy life, you know that we rehearse for the Nutcracker every weekend and several times during the week. This weekend we put it all together for the first time. Can you say trainwreck?? I am anxious to see Ashlee & Courtnee do their parts. I haven't really had time this year to watch their rehearsals. I have seen one scene that Ash is in but nothing else. Hopefully I can learn how to post pictures and I will post some of the girls in their Nutcracker costumes during production week. Just a reminder - tickets are on sale now at www.eisemanncenter.org. Show dates are December 11-13. Make sure you look for Dallas Repertoire Ballet.

So today I have decided to make a short little post. My daughter (Ashlee) added a post on Monday as well as some pictures. There will be nothing spectacular about my post today. I just simply love this time of year. The weather has nothing to do with it because if you know me at all you know that my philosophy is that "if you can't wear a bikini, then the weather is too cold." I just love the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking in the kitchen, the joy of decorating the house and making the perfect place cards for our Thanksgiving feast. I truly love to spend the weekend after Thanksgiving decorating the entire house for Christmas. My daughters like to put their stamp on things as well. My favorite part is something near and dear to my heart - every year since I was a little girl, my grandmother took the time to make homemade teacakes (cookies) and wonderfully yummy Christmas candies with me. That is something I will never forget. Looking back I wonder how on Earth she had the patience to do all of that. I still enjoy spending time with her and making candy. We don't get to spend as much time doing it nowadays but it is a time that I will never forget. I guess the reason we don't have much time together is because my life (and the girls') is so hectic. Another reason I love this time of year is because I have spent my childhood and even my adult life (around this time of year) preparing and rehearsing for the Nutcracker Ballet. I started out as a soldier and worked my way up to Mrs. Stahlbaum. What a joy to perform!! So anyway, I hope you have happy memories of your childhood holiday festivities and traditions. I know I sure do!

Dress up

Courtnee loves to play dress up.Isn`t she cute!

meet the crew

I thought you might like to meet the whole gang. We have Jennifer (the mom) who keeps things running, Gary (the dad) who keeps everyone in line, Ashlee (the big sis) who loves talking on the phone and dancing, Courtnee ( the lil sis) who is spoiled rotten but we love her anyway, Lucy ( the diva doggy) who is more spoiled than Courtnee but as precious as gold, And Ozzie ( the dummy doggy) who has his heads in the clouds but is a sweetie.

First Ever Blog!!

So this is my attempt at a family blog. Sad isn't it? Since My Space, Face Book and all of these other means of networking came about, I have been telling everyone that I have a real life and I do not have time for a virtual life. BUT here I am! I have been pulled kicking and screaming into the world of networking and blogging. Who has time for this stuff? It just so happens that I am on my lunch hour and find myself with nothing to do and so I decided to write my first ever blog. Yippee!! (sarcasm added here)