♥ Always Dancing ♥

Ever since she was a little bit thing, Joy has danced.....around the house, in stores....it just never mattered where she was.  She danced. 

I have video footage of her in sponge rollers, doing some sort of made-up bull dance to Shania Twain's "Man I Feel Like a Woman", as well as Little Miss Graceful twirling like a ballerina to music.  She always pulled us into it with her, whether it was twirling her, twisting with her, whatever fit.  We laugh about this and she just says, "The music speaks to me....I can't help it, okay?" 

So through the years, she has done all kinds of dance.  She started ballet and tap at the age of almost 3.  She then added jazz to that, dancing all of those for almost 9 years.

Then we went to China to get Luke.  If you have followed my blog for very long, you may remember the video footage of her dancing in the park in China with the Chinese dancers.  As we stood there watching the dancers, I was watching her as she watched them.  Her feet were moving...she was watching every move.  She was 11 then.  She wanted to be out there dancing.  She asked her daddy if she could dance with them.  We ended up leaving that day without her dancing.  I think her dad just didn't know how they would welcome a foreigner dancing with them and if she could indeed keep up.  Well we came back the next day and I just knew this opportunity just might be one in a life time.  She looked at her daddy with the puppy dog eyes and asked if she could dance.  Of course, I helped out a little.  :)  She went up and asked the lady in charge,  and they all  gladly welcomed her.  And she did a great job keeping up.  She was just learning as she went.  They loved her!   She drew quite the crowd...this 11 year old American blond haired girl dancing with the Chinese ladies in the park.  You can see that video here on my blog.

It's just in her.  She has to dance or bust.

Well we took a break from dancing for about a year after Luke came home because of how time consuming it had become. She had this new little brother and she wanted to enjoy every minute of it.  We needed to simplify.  We were driving 45 minutes one way three times a week to dance.  But just like I suspected when we were away from dancing, she missed it.  So we found other avenues.  With her love of China, we discovered the Chinese dancing.  And she has most recently added swing dancing to that as well.

This next Saturday is the Chinese New Year Festival.  It's the big event she missed last year when she was in the hospital.  You may remember that.  She had the dress rehearsal for that last week.  Here are a couple of pictures from that day.

We are praying all goes well this year and she does indeed get to dance at the festival.  Being the worrier she is, it's in the back of her mind.  We're praying all goes well!

As far as Joy is concerned, there are so many types of dance to explore and try out, and so little time.  On her list to try are Irish dancing, Flamingo dancing, Salsa dancing, and more ballroom dances. 

She's loving the swing dancing, by the way!

It's so fitting that she has a ballet bar and mirror in her room and these words above it:

Dance like no one's watching

 

   

 

♥ Tammy ♥

 

♥ Swing Dancing ♥

Joy just loves to dance!  She's danced since she was 3 years old - ballet, tap, and jazz.  This year she's been doing Chinese dance.  Lately, she has practically begged to learn to swing dance.  Well recently, she got the opportunity to learn a little swing dancing.

After a little inquiring about lessons, we were put in touch with another homeschooling group that was having an event with swing dancing instructors.  And then right after that, a long time friend of our family invited us to his graduation party where the theme was swing dancing taught by professional instructors.  Joy was excited to say the least!

Here are a few highlights from the party.......

The whole gang..... 

This is Trent (the graduating senior) and the adorable instructors!

Joy learned to dance with Trent at the first event, so they did really well together.

They pretty much rotated and danced with everyone, so everyone had a partner at some point or another.  You know how it is.....there are always more girls than boys! 

Later on, she got the chance to dance with the instructor.  He was SO good, so she was just going with the flow, but she had a blast! 

Even Luke was pulled into the action......

But he was pretty stuck to his sister when she wasn't dancing.

And of course, they couldn't end the party without a little line dancing........

This guy (Matthew) was definitely the life of the party.....he was quite the ham....as you can tell!

I think Joy is hooked on swing dancing now.  We are listening to swing music these days and she's really hoping to be able to take some more lessons in June.  But then I think she's kinda struck with the pretty dresses the girls get to wear too!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ A Joy Update ♥

Good morning!  I thought I would pop in here for a quick post to update you on Joy.  We are still in the hospital.  It has been a week today.  Yesterday I saw her true smile back for the first time in awhile, and it sure was good!  While she is definitely not pain free, she was able to be up and about more.....says she can manage this pain better than what she had before.

Her pancreatic enzymes are almost back to normal.....we're about 100 points away from normal.  There is some concern here with the doctors now because her billirubin count has gone up.  They are watching it closely because pancreatitis can affect the liver, which is what the billirubin is related to.  They are repeating labs again this morning.  If that number doesn't go down, they are looking at doing an out-patient ERCP at another hospital (because they don't do it here) which would tell them if she has an ostructed pancreatic duct.  If she does, they would put in a stint.

That's really as much as we know now.  Joy is hungry, but still can't eat.  She has had basically ice and water since last Thursday.  She did try to eat  a little on Saturday (they probably let her try because she just wasn't complaining much in hopes of getting out to dance) and had severe pain and it has been constant since then.

I'll update you more when I know more.  Thank you for the prayers......we appreciate them so much!  We're just trusting God to restore her completely!  :)

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Yesterday we had a celebrity sighting here at the hospital.........Joy went out in the hall and had her picture taken with him.   Hee hee!  He even had security!  I asked him did he remember singing at our wedding.....  :)  Evidently, this was Elvis in his later years.  :)

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Also on another note..... Jane (the mom that took the Chinese dance photos of Joy), was again very nice and sent the link to the performance on Saturday night that she videoed.  Joy's teacher, who  danced in her place, is the one on her knees in the front at the beginning.  She looked so cute!  All the girls (ages 11-14) looked cute and did a great job!  This dance is called the Fan Dance.





And last of all, I'd like to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day!  Thanks for stopping by today!  :) 

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Chinese Dance Memories Anyway ♥

Well our Joy didn't get to dance in the actual Chinese New Year Festival this past Saturday, but she did get to practice on the stage with the rest of the girls a couple of weeks before.  And as you know my camera lens is broken (still), so I didn't have my camera along with me on that day.  But we did get pictures, thanks to Jane, mom to Maggie, one of the girls in the dance class.   Jane also happens to be a photographer and was taking random pictures that day. She is very talented as you can see from her website, JA Photography.   I'm so thankful for the photos she got of Joy, and especially thankful for her passing them along to me.  Wasn't that so sweet?  (Thank you again, Jane).  :)

And I forgot to say that Joy's dance teacher was able to wear her costume and dance in her place at the Chinese New Year Festival Saturday night, so it worked out fine.  And Joy realized during that time, while here at the hospital, that there was no way she could have danced with her pain level what it was.

So today I'm sharing the pictures Jane captured: (The makeup is only for the stage....she does NOT wear that makeup normally....lol!)  But she does love red lip stick, and says when she does wear makeup....she is all about the red.....said this one wasn't red enough.  :)



Update on Joy:  We're still in the hospital.  We have a couple of tests being done today.  We still can't leave until her pain level has come down considerably and stays down and she begins to eat/drink.  We think she may have tried too early to eat (which was only a little) in an attempt to get out on Saturday and caused an intense flare up.  She has been so afraid to try eating/drinking again because her pain has been constant.  She watches the clock for her pain medicine.  However, one of her enzymes is down to normal range, and the other one was still up as of last night, but not nearly as much as before.  Hopefully, when we get the lab results back today, this one will be closer to normal.  When these get down to normal, she has to be headed in the direction of getting over this episode!  We choose to believe she will be her bubbly self again soon!  Again, we thank you for the prayers! 

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I hope you'll stop by tomorrow and join me for a Sunporch Chat with a sweet friend.  You're in for another treat!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  :) 

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Is She Chinese? ♥

“Is she Chinese?” That’s the question one of the girls in Joy’s Chinese dance class asked their teacher the first night Joy walked into class.  Joy got tickled at the question and asked her with a grin, “Do I look Chinese?” They all got a chuckle out of it and the teacher assured them that it didn’t matter if you were Chinese or not…..anyone could take the class.

We laugh about the fact that 2/3 of my children are Asian and the one that’s not is very interested in the Asian culture. This is Joy’s second year of taking Chinese as a second language class. In addition to that class, this year she is also taking the Chinese dance class. She just loves it. This class will perform at the Chinese New Year festival.

Her fan came from China and it just so happens that in this dance, they are dancing with fans…….just the kind she brought back from China.  It really is a beautiful fan that pops out with the neatest sound and just flows with the dance.



Instantly, Joy made friends with several of the girls…….Kaia, Annie, and Ying Jie. Kaia was adopted as an infant. Annie has Chinese parents but was raised here in the states, and Ying Jie has Chinese parents as well.  Ying Jie is a little shy, but Joy has won her over.  :)

From left  to right.....Ying Jie, Annie, Joy & Kaia

I hope I can video the dance when they perform it so you can see it. It is different from American dance, but it is pretty. You may remember Joy dancing with the ladies in the park in Hohhot, China. If you missed that post, you can see it here.  So taking this Chinese dance class is a very exciting thing for her!

So is she Chinese? Yes, a part of her is and always will be now. After traveling to China, it just becomes a part of you.  :)

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For Sandra's 31 days of fall challenge, I have another of Joy's pics to share.  She loves photography and got some wonderful photos that shout fall and she gave me permission to share with you.  The many leaves that collect on our sidewalk going up to The Cedar Loft:

 



Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful day!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

Lesson Number One

Since October, Joy taught a beginners dance class in our homeschool group, leading up to the performance at our Christmas party in mid December.  The girls ranged in age from 4 - 11.  Not only was it a learning experience for the girls in the class, it was just as much so for Joy, as she choreographed and lead the class.  It was challenging at times teaching the wide age range a beginning dance class, but she loved those girls and enjoyed teaching the class.  

Her dance was a blend of dance and martial arts since their song was from Mulan:  Lesson Number One.  For the dance, Joy "played the part" of Mulan with the girls following her lead.  They dressed in their best Chinese attire for the performance.  

(from left to right:  back row:  Bobbi, Sarah & Madison; middle row:  Susannah, Saja & Cora;  front row:  Joy, Lily, Lydia & Aliya. 

Everyone did a great job!  I was proud of my Joy, as well as all the girls in the class!   

American Girl Draws Crowd!

While in China, we really had a great time in Hohhot (Inner Mongolia). The little park down the road across the street from our hotel (home away from home) became a familiar place to spend the late afternoons/evenings. We'll always have special memories from there. It was full of Chinese culture and we loved watching people and even enjoyed the people watching us! :) Yes, we got lots of stares, but the people were very very good to us. From a post in China, I told you about Joy dancing with the Chinese culture dancers in the park. Some days there were just a handful of dancers there, and at other times there were more. Joy watched them and I could see her wheels turning wanting to try it. Well...on the third night of watching them, she asked if she could ask to join them. Her dad was a little reluctant, but finally agreed. I think he wasn't sure how they would take to a foreigner joining them or if she knew the dances well enough to join in. They graciously invited her to join them. Each time they did a little different dance, so she really was winging it and just watching and learning as she went. As you can tell, she drew a crowd. I suppose they were all interested in this American girl dancing their dances! We were so proud of her and she was so glad she had the courage to go up and ask!


Here she is in a posed picture with them afterwards....