The First Christmas Fine Arts Recital

In the midst of all the other activity of December, 

it was decided in the late fall that our little school program 

would be having Christmas Fine Arts Recital/Open House.

This was something my children had never participated in before, and it really was fun to plan.

Our family has always loved making chocolate covered Christmas goodies to give as gifts,

and we were able to incorporate this tradition into this event.
Not only was each child going to have something to perform,

 but each family got to bring in a favorite Christmas treat to share after the recital.

As we were brainstorming ideas for this, Ashlyn decided she wanted to be in charge of a "Hot Chocolate Bar!"
We spent many hours preparing for this, and it we all loved the collaborative effort.

My drama students were asked to prepare some pieces for presentation, and Ashlyn was part of duo-acting scene.  She worked very hard memorizing her lines and pulling together a simple costume.

Lexi has started taking piano lessons again and this was her first Christmas recital in many years.

There was a Group Bible Speaking performance.......

....as well as the Duo-Acting Team performing a scene from The Gift of the Magi.

After the recital was over, we enjoyed checking out the collection of art projects that each student had completed in their art class over the course of the first semester.

Yummy refreshments!!

This was such a great way to expose all the parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbors to the wonderful gift that this school program has been to all the families involved!

An Evening at the Theater: A Christmas Carol

One of the "Ebeneazers" of 2014 came about in the summer months.

It revolved around how we school our children.

I had been begging God for an intervention for me as I felt I was drowning in our homeschooling.

But more about that later.
In the summer, the Lord blew a door of opportunity wide open for us to get our children involved in a brand new "Homeschool Assistance Program."
One of the caveats for making that a reality for our family was my willingness to help in the classroom 2 mornings a week and teach a speech/theater class elective for the high school students.
I have absolutely loved it (more about that later as well!!!)!
This semester, I wanted to expose my 5 students to a live theater production and I found one about an hour from our home.
So, we made it a field trip and enjoyed a delightful evening watching A Christmas Carol.

We all dressed up semi-formally, and piled into vans on a chilly Monday evening.
We loved the theater and how personal it was because of the "theater-in-the-round" lay out.
We were right up close to all the action and music, and we will definitely be traveling here again.

My 5 high school students pre-show.

My lovlies and I.

December Busyness

Just to give a little perspective on things here, this post highlights all the events that took place

during the daytime hours before we took our trip to Bethlehem.
You can view that post here.

In the morning hours, I ran two of my children to their final rehearsal at church for their

junior choir presentation that was to be held the following Sunday evening.

They had been practicing this program for months and worked so hard learning their solos!

After they were finished, we raced home to pick up their siblings for a Christmas party

held at our former church where they are now attending a wonderful school program.

(More on THAT later)

They had so much fun with their friends sharing pizza, games, gifts, and a re-enactment

of the Christmas story!!

When that party was over, most of them climbed into vans and went caroling to some shut-ins!

They got home from caroling just in time to have some dinner and off we went to Bethlehem!!

The following evening, the second Sunday evening in December, these two had their Junior Choir Program.  I wish I had gotten more pictures of them during the program, but we were focused on video recording their solos.  The lighting was also very dim which made for poor quality pictures.

These two truly did such a beautiful job.
They were nervous, but  glorified their Savior in their sweet spirits and in ministering

to the hearts of those there with their songs.

Bethlehem Revisited 2014

Ever since we discovered this amazing event during the Christmas season of 2005, our family has made an {almost} annual journey to "Bethlehem."

Last year, we had a paralyzing ice storm that caused nearly every outdoor event during the first week of December in North Texas to be cancelled, so we missed last year.

We couldn't WAIT to go back this year.
Because we've been so much, and they have "Bethlehem" set-up nearly the same way every year, we know exactly what we want to see and all the short-cuts to get to those spots.

This year it worked best for our schedule to go during the second weekend of the month.

Volunteers in a quaint small town not far from us transform some land behind a large church into what you might imagine Bethlehem might have looked like thousands of years ago.
You can watch actors in period costume play the part of King Herod and send off the wise men to find the young child prophesied of.
As you enter the "town" there are massive Roman guards in costume speaking gruffly to the townspeople.
You can go through the different "shops" and buildings there that have been transformed into a glimpse of Jewish life in that day.

One of our favorite stops is in the Jewish temple.

There you'll find a "rabbi" demonstrating some of the rituals of that day and the meaning and symbolism behind everything.
You can see my Abby at the bottom corner of the picture as she listened to the horn being blown.

We ran into our sweet friends from church in this building and had to grab a photo op!!

The children are always encouraged to participate in each period activity.

There are sheep and chickens to pet, garments to try on, bread and honey to sample, camels to watch, different period craftsmen to observe, and of course........

........Mary and Joseph to follow.

They come through "town" on a donkey and make a stop at the local inn.
You get to follow them to the little stable at the back of the property.

As you stand there with the crowd quietly watching this sweet, simple nativity scene....you begin to get it.

That what we're remembering during the Christmas season has nothing to do with Christmas trees, sparkly lights, blingy presents, and Santa.
We are simply remembering the humble, ordinary birth of our extraordinary Savior.
That He didn't arrive with parades and parties and fanfare.

In fact, it seemed so common to everyone at the time, that they didn't even realize this birth was the one they had been waiting for for so many years.

It was the simple arrival of "Emmanuel".......God with us.
The great  I am had pulled on skin and bones and arrived earthside to be the final sacrifice, the last perfect satisfying Lamb offered to cover the sin of the world.
To show us what grace and love and joy really looked like.
It always sets my perspective straight.....every year.

As we were preparing for our trip this year, I reminded my children that we needed to stop in and visit the flute player.

This guy just loved His Savior and playing the part of a Jewish musician.
He was a comedian extraordinaire and demonstrated all sorts of handmade wooden instruments.
We especially loved it when he would play the flutes with his nose!!!
But unbeknownst to us,last year after the final evening, he told his fellow interpreters that that would be his last performance.
That he had cancer and would not be with them in 2014.
And he wasn't.
We were all so sad to find this in his little booth.

As we wrap up our annual to this favorite family activity, we always stop to get a free cup of hot chocolate or hot cider.
We found our friends again and took a minute to snap a fun group photo!!!!

A Magical Evening

In the fall, my husband and I had the wonderful opportunity of attending a concert of The Piano Guys in our local {very} big city.

During intermission, as we were standing on the outdoor balcony overlooking the sparkling downtown skyline, he pointed out the other big concert venue not far away.

I casually mentioned to him that there was going to be an AMAZING Christmas concert there featuring their extraordinary pipe organ and the brass section of the orchestra.
I also casually mentioned that wouldn't it be awesome to hear that and to double date with some very dear friends of ours who we knew would equally enjoy such a concert!
I mentioned it VERY casually to him because I had already checked out the ticket prices, and they were {gulp} waaaaaaaay out of our price range.
But if you know my husband, he loves to give great gifts....especially those he knows the receiver will love!
So, imagine my surprise when he came charging in from work one day and made the declaration that he had made an "executive decision," had already called and made the arrangements with our friends, and had already ordered the tickets!!!  {gulp}
Plus, he already had a plan on how to make it financially feasible for us as well!!!

How could I NOT be excited!!!!!

He planned and planned, and even researched a brand new restaurant for us that evening.

It was an amazing little Italian place that had such a lovely atmosphere and delicious food!

He even planned for valet parking.

Something we have NEVER done before (and after it was all over may not ever do again.)
After taking pictures together.........

......we made our way to our seats.

The view was spectacular!!!

The entire concert was just stunning, and literally blew us away!!!

At one point in the program, several of the instrumentalists spread out around the concert hall to give an echo effect in the music, and we ended up with the principal french horn right smack in our box!!
He even graciously autographed our programs!!

The entire evening was just magical with all the beauty of Christmas around us.

The final piece was the most amazingly beautiful arrangement of O, Come All Ye Faithful that I've ever heard.

When it was all over, we strolled back to where we had dropped off our vehicle at valet parking.
We were told that we now needed to walk to the back of the building to retrieve our ride.
On the way over, we were slightly distracted by the gift shop where we chose to browse for a few minutes.
By the time we got back to the pick-up spot, there wasn't a soul in sight.
No one. Nothing. Nada.
After checking in at the service deck not far away, they discovered that the valet parkers had gone home.  Without leaving our keys at the desk.
So that provided us with a couple more silly photo opportunities while we waited for them to high-tail it back to us.

I've never seen a vehicle shoot out of parking garage so fast.
All was well that ended well!!
In more ways than one, it was an evening to not be soon forgotten!!!!

One last time

One of the things we love about our church is the many opportunities for ministry that our children have.

At all ages.

No child is too small to be able to participate in some way of being a blessing and learning to minister to those around them.

From singing "Happy Birthday" to our Pastor in is office on his birthday when they are 2-years old to neighborhood evangelism when they are teenagers!

At Christmas, we look forward to the Children's Choirs presentations.

Each Sunday evening in December a different choir features special carols, recitations, and drama.

The first Sunday of the month always belongs to the very youngest choir.....the primary choir.

For 7 years we've had one or more children from ages 4 to 1st grade participating in this group.

This was the very last year we will have a child as a part of the primary choir.

Next year, she'll be joining her youngest brother and sister in the junior choir!

Aryn worked so very hard to learn her Scripture verses.

She climbed up on that platform wearing the dress that her very oldest sister once wore in a Christmas program many years ago and that has been worn by each sister since then.

She was so very nervous, but did such a happy job!

Sweet, precious memories.