Reflecting back on another year of dance lessons!

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This week marks the end of another dance year for me and my dancers.  I wanted to take a moment to reflect back on the year.  

I am beyond blessed to be able to do what I love and share that gift with others.  Looking back fifteen years ago, I never would have imagined doing this.  It just wasn't on my radar.  It didn't seem possible...or even like something I'd be capable of doing.  

But over the years, I've been supported, loved, encouraged, helped, and inspired...to share my love of dance with many others.  

I've taken risks.  

I've excelled...and I've failed.  

I've been discouraged...and I've been blessed beyond words.  

I've questioned...and I've learned to take life one day at a time, to embrace this responsibility, to not allow the unknowns of the future to prevent me from doing something today...right now.    

And I've been supported in amazing ways.  

By so many families.  And by my own family.  

I wouldn't have been able to start teaching dance lessons in the first place if it weren't for my amazing dance teacher, Mrs. Horn...and for my parents' willingness to pay for and drive me to-and-from lessons.  When I learned to dance back then, I didn't realize what it would become.  I had no idea.  But I was encouraged, and the idea was placed in my mind.  And I took a risk.  When the thought of having my own dance school was becoming a reality, it felt so overwhelming.  But step-by-step, I've grown into this role, into this position...and I love it.  

So I thank those in my life who have taken a chance on me, who've believed in me, who've allowed me to work with your child.  There have been many dance lessons where I've felt like I've learned more from my dancers than they may have learned from me.  They teach me so much...about myself and about who I want to be.  They're silly, sweet, confident, and thoughtful.  They're intelligent, hard-working, and willing to try and try again.  They don't give up.  They laugh.  And they give the BEST hugs in the world.  They remind me that it's okay to make mistakes, that it's okay to feel frustrated.  And they remind me to keep striving, to keep making new goals, and to keep dreaming.

I'm so thankful for another year of dance.  And I look forward to sharing what my dancers have learned over the last year with their families this week.  

And for as long as the Lord wants me to share this gift, I will.  To God be the glory.  

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Fun & Easy Puzzle Activity for Kids

I have really enjoyed the creative ideas shared on the blog, "I Can Teach My Child."  I discovered this Hide-and-Seek Alphabet Puzzle idea the other day and wanted to share it with you.  So simple and yet so fun!  Click on the picture to see the original post.  

All you need is:
*A plastic container or water/sand table
*One of your child's favorite puzzles
*Rice, packing peanuts, beans, or sand (to fill the container)
*And a scoop or tongs

I can't wait to try this out with Mya.  The possibilities are endless with this.  
You could have your child...
*find the letters in order.  
*find all the letters of the same color.
*find your child's name.  

And so on.  Plus, you could use something besides a puzzle, too.  Why not hide your child's favorite Matchbox cars or plastic animals?  Maybe focus on one letter of the alphabet and hide that same letter from all different puzzles, magazine cutouts, and so on.  

Thank you, "I Can Teach My Child," for so many neat ideas...including this one!

Spinning Ballerina

I couldn't help but smile when I read my devotional this morning.

"Make Me your focal point as you move through this day.  Just as a SPINNING BALLERINA must keep returning her eyes to a given point to maintain her balance, so you must keep returning your focus to Me.  Circumstances are in flux, and the world seems to be whirling around you.  The only way to keep your balance is to fix your eyes on Me, the One who never changes.  If you gaze too long at your circumstances, you will become dizzy and confused.  Look to Me, refreshing yourself in My Presence, and your steps will be steady and sure."  (From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)

I love this day's devotion for several reasons.
*The ballerina reference.  And my blog's name.  Need I say more?
*My love of dance and the fact that I teach dance lessons makes this particular topic hit home for me.
*The author's use of the analogy of a ballerina and how she must fix her eyes on a given point.  This is so true.

"Focusing on a given point" is a must while dancing.  Being a dance instructor and ballerina myself, I frequently tell my students to "spot" when they are learning to do turns and pirouettes.  If they don't "spot" (aka find a place on the wall to look at and not take their eyes off of while turning or spinning), they will very likely become dizzy and they will very likely fall.  Without spotting or focusing on a given point, a ballerina cannot master these skills.  She may be able to do them...but she will never do them really well.

As a ballerina when you "gaze too long at your circumstances" (aka try to watch everything around you while attempting to turn or pirouette, instead of spotting), you truly do become "dizzy and confused."  And just like ballerinas, we can become "dizzy and confused" when we're more focused on the stuff of life and the things outside of our control, too, than when our focus remains on the Lord and His purposes for our lives.  Without fixing our eyes on Jesus, or spotting, we're unable to become more Christ-like.  Unable to have our priorities and focus centered on Him.

If life feels like it's spinning out of control, take a moment.  A quiet moment to take a deep breath. pray, and remind yourself of at least a few things you can be thankful for...today.  And may your "focus" shift back towards Christ and His plans for you right now.

Grape Juice EVERYWHERE!!!!!

Ever have one of those moments in life where if you don't laugh, you'll cry.  Like literally.  An incident from our weekend was just like that.

Mya was finishing up breakfast.  Those of you that know us and have been to our home can visualize that our dining rooms connects directly to our kitchen.  Our dining room also has a large sliding door and window which allows us to view our deck and backyard.  And as she finished up breakfast, Brandon and I both stepped out of the dining room...literally for like one-minute...and were in different rooms of our home.  

We heard a loud crash...and then a boom.

You see, that crash and then boom...was Mya.  Dropping her small cup of grape juice, and it hitting the table or floor or whatever.  And then Mya sliding off her chair and landing on the floor.  She was crying.  We both went running and simultaneously spotted that Mya was okay...but that...

GRAPE JUICE WAS EVERYWHERE!!!

I have never seen anything like it.  Seriously.

As I scooped up Mya, I noticed that grape juice was DRIPPING from the ringlets in her hair.  It covered her jammies and the kitchen table.  Grape juice even dripped from the underside of the table.  Splattered and was running down our wall and sliding door.  My lovely WHITE curtains that hung at the large window and door were also now splattered with ample amounts of grape juice.  And puddles of juice also gathered at the bottom of her chair, across the kitchen floor, and everywhere in between.

Brandon and I were speechless.

We literally froze.
I left out a sigh.  Repeatedly asked 'how on Earth did this happen.' I then laughed.  In denial.

When Brandon and I both spotted what went down, we didn't even know what to say or think or do.  We were thankful to see that Mya was okay.  And were able to gather from her slurred (from crying) speech that she was reaching for her cup or to put it back on the table and slipped (while in her fuzzy, fleece jammies) and fell right down and off her chair.  We were very grateful she was okay.  But we were in denial about the grape juice...you know, BRIGHT REDISH-PURPLE...grape juice being EVERYWHERE.

Like anyone would do, we quickly figured out a plan.  Brandon scooped up Mya and tubbed her.  I grabbed multiple kitchen towels and cleaned the area, multiple times.  The curtains entered the washing machine (and were salvaged...thank goodness!).  And over the course of twenty-minutes or so, our home...our dining room...transitioned back to normal.

I had never seen...nor experienced...ANYTHING like that before.  Sure, as a baby...Mya spit out food or spilled a cup (and she still does...and let's be honest, us adults make messes often, too).  But it was a moment that my utter shock, in a split-second, caused me to laugh (and comfort Mya)...when all I really wanted to do was cry.  And let the mess clean itself up.

So...
LIFE LESSON #15,207 and #15,208 (I made those numbers up...but you get the point):
*Give Mya grape juice in a sippy cup WITH a lid on.
*ONLY allow her to use the tiny Tupperware juice cup (WITHOUT a lid) when drinking water.

May my life lesson be an important one for you, too, so you don't have to experience this for yourself.  Ha!  :)

Happy Earth Day!

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

¹ The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
² for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

³ Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
⁴ The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.^[a]

⁵ They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Savior.
⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek your face, God of Jacob.^[b][c]

⁷ Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
⁹ Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰ Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    he is the King of glory.

Turn your child's drawings into 3-D creations!

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the website "Child's Own Studio."  They take your child's artwork and turn it into a stuffed toy. What a fun keepsake for your kiddos!  Here are a couple more samples from their website to give you an idea of how cool this concept is....












To have one of your child's drawings turned into a 3-D creation, prices range from $90-$140 + shipping, according to their website.  So it's not the most budget-friendly gift...but it is a priceless memory for your child and you to cherish!!

I have never used their site before, so you'll want to check it out in greater detail to have other questions answered and to clarify some of the specifics before placing your first order.  If anyone decides to do this, please share with me.  

Toddler Toes

When the first signs of warm weather approach, I don't know about you, but I ditch my winter socks and boots...and throw on my favorite flats or sandals.  No socks feels so freeing.  

And "like mother, like daughter," I've also noticed that I've subconsciously begun to dress Mya without socks, too, when the warmer weather arrives.  And at every chance she gets, she'll wiggle her little piggy toes out of her shoes and run around in bare feet...just like me.  She loves being sock-free...AND shoe-free.  

Earlier today, we visited with my parents for a bit.  Nearly as soon as we arrived, she quickly kicked off her tiny flats and was roaming around.  Bare feet and all.  As usual.  And she LOVED it.  I spotted her smiling as she walked on their carpet and then quickly moved onto their linoleum floor...realizing that the different floors felt very different on her little feet.  She's always exploring, and I enjoy sitting back and witnessing those moments as they take place.  And while coloring with my Dad, they decided to put a crayon in between her big toe and that next toe.  She was trying to color with her bare feet.  Her little upper body would wiggle super fast, in an attempt to convince her foot to draw with that lime green crayon.  It was a tough concept...with very little success yet...but the joy on her face and the little giggles were worth it.  And on our car ride home from lunch with my parents, I glanced in my rear-view mirror to discover her stretching her leg (again, she had kicked off her shoes)...extending it out as far as she could and pressing her heel against the button on the car door.  Opening her car window, so she could "wave at the cars that passed us on the road."  

I never realized how much more she could accomplish and learn today...in her bare feet.  

And it may seem silly that I'm blogging about her tiny feet, but I'm telling you.  When you become a parent, you notice these tiny details about your kids, and it melts your heart.  You realize how much there is for them to learn in life.  How much we influence them.  And how much the world around them has an influence on them, too.  You realize that it's the littlest things that bring our youngsters the greatest joy.  And it makes you stop and think about seeing life more and more through your child's eyes.  Or experiencing it alongside them...bare feet and all.   

Never Would Have Imagined...

If you would have asked me ten or fifteen years ago if I would have a garden someday, I would have quickly told you, "No."  (And I'd have likely laughed out loud, too.)  That just wouldn't have seemed like something for me.  Over a decade ago, I barely liked getting my hands dirty.  It wasn't that I didn't like to work...I just didn't love getting the dirt under my fingernails (in a literal sense).  I had no real reason to garden.  No desire.  It just didn't seem like fun.  Or worth it.

But fast-forward to now, and you'll discover an ironic fact.  This is our third year of having a garden up and running in the Hershey household.  Just a small one...in a flowerbed -- turned garden...in our backyard.

And I LOVE it.

There's truly something so amazing about planning out a garden.  Planting seeds.  Putting up a fence.  Watering.  And waiting.  Watching the little seeds grow and develop into a beautiful...and edible...creation.  There's something so fulfilling about it.

This time of year gets me excited.  It's been a weekend of beautiful weather.  And thus, we were provided with just the right amount of time and just the right amount of sunshine and warmer temps to get our garden started for another year.

And another aspect that warms this momma's heart is how Mya gets excited about it.  (She cannot WAIT for the broccoli to grow.  I hate to tell her, but it's gonna be awhile...but EVENTUALLY it'll be well worth the wait.)  I love the anticipation.  And the outcome...even though it can require a lot of time, energy, and work.  There's something extra delicious about fresh vegetables and fruits.

But there's more to this story.

I love the special bond that having a garden has created between us and Mya...and her birthmom.  You see, back when we first met her birthmom at a local restaurant, and she told us that she wanted us to parent her child...there was something she shared in our "getting to know you" conversations that struck me.

She asked if we had a GARDEN.

It seems like a random question to ask.  But for her, a garden represented wonderful memories from her childhood.  And I sensed that this was something she hoped her child...our child...could also have as a childhood memory.

When we brought Mya home and settled into our routine, I remember this detail of our conversation with Mya's birthmom.  It kept returning to my mind.  And it became our springboard for actually making a garden a reality for our little family.

We want Mya to share this bond with her birthmom.  And I love how Mya already has an excitement about another summer garden this year.  Our garden's purpose, in a way, serves as more than just a plot of land for fresh foods.  It serves as a common thread, continuing to bond two worlds together:  Mya's biological family and Mya's adoptive family.  And it makes me so happy to know that we can do this for Mya.  And for her birthmom, too.

I love how we continue to learn and grow in life.  We're stretched.  To try new things.  And for me, gardening was a big stretch at first.  But isn't it amazing how those stretching experiences can so often unfold into beautiful things that we would have never known about or been exposed to or even tried...without the push we had to try it in the first place?  I'm so thankful for our garden and all that I've learned about myself, God's creation, and how the harvest we reap is so worth the wait.

FUN in the SUN

Everybody's talking about this crazy, warm weather we're experiencing on the East Coast this week.

Let me tell you...I am LOVING it!

Earlier in the week at the first sign of warmer temps, I had every window in our house opened, allowing that fresh Spring air inside.  It wasn't until last night before bed...when our home's INDOOR temp peaked at EIGHTY-ONE degrees that we finally gave in, closed the windows, and started the air conditioning...in April.

I love that the warmer weather pulls us outdoors.  It reunites us with neighbors.  Allows playtime to extend into the evening.  Encourages spontaneous ice cream treats.  It has a way of rejuvenating us.  Exciting us for summer.

And with temperatures reaching the low 80's today and friends coming over to hangout this morning, we anticipated another fun day outdoors.  As my friend and I ventured outdoors with our two little ladies, the former preschool teacher came out in me, and I had an idea.  Why not let the girls play with water?...and ice?  They could paint and write with it.  They could get wet, and it wouldn't matter.  And so I gathered some paintbrushes, plastic cups filled with ice cubes, and a small dish filled with water...and headed outdoors.  The toddlers LOVED it!

They "painted toenails" with water.
They "painted" the sidewalk.
They drew lines and polka dots.
And they gathered ice cubes and added them to the cups and mixed them with water (and so on).  You get the idea.  :)

I love how the simplest things can create so much fun for little ones.  Water/Ice + Paintbrushes + Cups + A Water Dish = A good 20 (or so) minutes of playtime.  Contentment.  Pure happiness.  And, it allowed us mommas to have some less-interrupted talk time...which is a blessing!

Happy Spring, Everyone.  Get outdoors and enjoy this time of year!

"Where's Daddy At?"

Life has a way of becoming a series of habits, schedules, rituals.  We get into our routines...wake-up time, work, activities with our kids and for our kids, appointments, classes at the gym, bedtime.  Some tasks have specific times...Zumba class at 10:00 AM.  Other things are more vague...Meals tend to be whenever we're hungry but often around the same times each day.  Holidays become routines, too.  Who hosts them.  What time we're to arrive.  Who's making what foods.  

It's funny how even our little ones have their own routines, too.  I recently started to take note of a morning routine that Mya has.  It's become quite comical because now that I'm aware of it and look for it, she rarely misses a day.

When I hear her waking up in the morning and enter her bedroom, she's typically either sitting or standing there watching and waiting for me.  And nearly every single day, the first words out of her mouth are...

"Where's Daddy at?"  

And nearly every single day, my response is, "Silly girl, you know where he's at...Work.  Daddy's a teacher."  Some days, she even answers her own question before I can.  And there have even been a few Saturdays or Sundays (when Brandon is home from work), that she's caught herself asking HIM that very same question as he enters her room in the morning.  When she realizes her mistake, it cracks her up.  She'll even laught out loud.  She's so used to this routine...especially with it being 5 out of the 7 weekdays...that it's just become a part of her morning habit.  

We all have habits.  Things that are good.  Things that are not-so-good.  Things that matter and are important.  And things that we could eliminate from our lives...should eliminate from our lives.

I love how Mya loves her Daddy.  How she's concerned about where he's at.  What he's doing.  I love that she misses him and wants him to be home.  As summer approaches and another school year winds down, our family will have to again make the transition of having Daddy home for a good chunk of the summer.  And it's a transition for us.  We love having him at home...but it takes times for us to readjust to our summer schedule, our summer routines.  (And we face a similar transition at the end of summer as school resumes again.)  This year, though, I'll be curious to see if Mya continues to ask, "Where's Daddy at?" once he's "home for the summer."  

Your situation at home is likely different from ours.  But regardless of the dynamics of your life and your daily routines, I think we have something to learn from little ones.  They are so concerned for things...for others.  (Not always but often.)  When a toy's missing or a favorite friend has to go home, they are devastated.  They are so concerned for the things around them.  Now you may be thinking to yourself that it's different because children are so young or that they don't understand the world around them outside of themselves.  But what I appreciate about Mya's perspective (even in the midst of tantrums over this concern for others) is that she wants to DO something about it.  She's not okay with that friend leaving.  She's not okay that her toy is missing.  She wants something to be done...now.  Patience and understanding (and many other traits) will hopefully come with time...but for now, I will choose to be thankful for her concern.  

I...like Mya...want to fight for those around me.  Be concerned for their lives, for their souls.  I want to reach out and show the love of Christ to friends, family, strangers.  I want to be filled with empathy and compassion and justice.  I don't want to be complacant.  Stagnant.  Okay with the mediocre.  I want to always wonder, dream, and challenge myself.  And embrace change.  Each day I realize more and more how much we, as adults, have to learn from the little ones in our lives.  

Magnetic People

I'm often on the search for fun things to create for our home or for Mya to play with.  I saw this idea earlier today and just HAD to share it with you:


MAGNETIC FAMILY MEMBERS



How fun is that?!?!  The possibilities are endless and don't need to be limited to family members.  You could create these with pictures of your child's friends, your neighbors, your pets, family friends, favorite TV characters, etc.  To be honest, I think I would have just as much fun (if not more) as Mya would have playing with these on our refrigerator.  

Click here (or on the picture above) for step-by-step instructions and to link you to the website its from.

Chevron Wood Letter

PLEASE NOTE (Updated: 9:35 PM) -- SOLD OUT!!!  Sorry!


I love the look of a wall with cool artwork on it.  Right now, I love walls that display alphabet letters in a variety of fonts, colors, and patterns.

Today on GroopDealz, you can purchase an adorable upper-case letter...in a fun Chevron pattern.  There are eight colors to choose from, too.  I've got my eye on the gray, navy, or yellow "H" for our home.  It's only $12.95 (+ $4.50 shipping and handling).  These deals don't last long.

"Who You Are"

There's a song that I hear often on the radio right now.  And every time I do, it touches a special place in my heart...moves me to tears.

Infertility.  Loss.  Uncertainties of life.  

And it brings me such hope.  

In the song, the artist (JJ Heller) repeatedly sings:

"I don't know what you're doing.  But I know who You are."  

I love the beauty of these words.  And the good reminder that they are to me. 

 Do you have a song that holds a special place in your heart?  Maybe you have a couple of songs...for different reasons, different purposes.  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.