Oh How I Love To Be Home

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to be at home. I do believe that staying at home and avoiding busyness is one of my favorite things to do. I don't like to have "permanent" commitments (meaning EVERY Tuesday or once a month, etc.). I try to keep things like that to a minimum. Unfortunately, keeping life free from busyness is much harder than it seems.

Recently, our lives have been overtaken with the whirlwind of a "permanent commitment" that we made... Mary Alice's Christmas play. We did this last year and it proved to be so much fun for our girl that we decided to let her try out again. She is lovin it! She loves to be on stage, loves to perform, loves all of the attention that she gets from her friends at this small-town community theater. We have only recently began to feel the busyness creeping into our lives. This week she has had run thrus every night of the week. Tonight, the real show begins. She will be on the stage Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, for a total of eight full performances this week!

She cracks me up with her antics, which I hear about from other cast members. "George" and "Mary" in the play love Mary Alice and treat her like their little pet. They are constantly showering her with goodies and toys and such. Anyway, last week, they gave her a very scantily clad Barbie doll. My sister, who is also in the play, told me that Mary Alice told them thank you for the gift and when she opened it and saw that it was a half naked Barbie, put her hand over her mouth and said, "Shame! This doll is immodest!"

Mary Alice has also been known to "help out" her friends "George" and "Mary" when they forget their lines. I think the girl knows most of the lines in the play. It is hilarious to watch her enact other people's parts, like the part of "Ma Bailey". The woman who plays Ma Bailey has a pretty serious Texas accent, which carries over to her part a little bit. Mary Alice says all of Ma Bailey's lines, accent, choreography, and all, and isn't even aware that she is the slightest bit humorous. The girl has gone around with dark circles under her eyes for the last couple of weeks, due to her 10:30 bedtime each night. I am hoping that she doesn't get sick from this major lack of sleep. We are busy, but I am glad that Mary Alice is able to enjoy this special play, despite its infringing upon our much needed "home time". We'll be back to our schedules and routines in another couple of weeks. I know everything will work out and will get back to normal...eventually.

Today was a wonderful day, though. We decided that we would not leave the house for any reason, until tonight, when the girl has to be at her play again. Today, we've enjoyed the cold weather in the comfort of our cozy home. Mary Alice helped decorate the tree. Major sat beside the CD player and listened to Christmas songs. He didn't want to help us with the tree. He isn't much of a decorator.

When the girl gets up from her nap, we'll put up the Christmas villages, my Noel Piper Advent calendar, and my most favorite thing of all, my nativity scene. I just love pulling each and every little piece out of the box each year.

Top Ten Positives of Mary Alice being in a Christmas play:

1) We get to listen to KLTY's Top 10 at 10 Christmas songs each night, which usually includes The Chipmunk Christmas song, one of my faves. (The kids laughed their heads off throughout this whole song the other night. We have to buy this CD.)

2) I am an expert at curling Mary Alice's hair in little ringlets.

3) I can pick up things without using my fingers due to the "sticky hands" I have each night after using texture spray to fix Mary Alice's stage ringlets.

4) Mary Alice is now the proud owner of some gorgeous nightgowns that she had to have for the stage. I love to see little girls in nightgowns.

5) The girl loves to dance and can swing her hips while singing "Buffalo Gals Won't You Come Out Tonight" with the best of em! (I'm thinking her newly acquired singing and dancing skills will come in handy when Mary Alice hits Broadway.)

6) I have a special Waterford ornament that my Grandmother gave me when Josh and I first got married. It is a beautiful silver bell. It is one of my favorites. I love to hang it near the top of the tree each year. I always ring the bell first. This year, when I rang the bell, Mary Alice said, "Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.." So cute.

7) Major knows Mary Alice's lines and can say them, minus the "l's" and "r's", just in case. :)

8) Mary Alice knows Auld Lang Syne in its entirety. Boy can she belt that song out!!

9) The girl gets to spend more time with her Gran, Aunt Hannah, and Uncle Ben.

10) Mary Alice and I have lots to talk about. She has lots of questions about phrases/words that she hears in the play. She now knows the meaning of "Any time you think you're man enough...", "anniversary", "vacancy", "measly/crummy", "bucks", and other such words that don't come to mind right now, but will definitely be articulated by Mary Alice in our future conversations.

Throughout all of the busyness, we're going to have to make a special effort to have that home time that I believe our family so desperately needs to function well. I'll try to put some stage pictures of Mary Alice up soon. I haven't taken any yet, but will get right on that. Stay warm!