~ Literary Ball ~

~*~ Finally... I've been working on this post for quite a while! ~*~ This April, our family hosted our first Homeschool Alumni event and English Country Dance. Did we know what we were doing? Certainly not. Was it worth it? Absolutly yes. :) It was wonderful to see good friends again... The ball was focused around a Literary theme - and every attendent came as a book character. Some of the attending heros and heroines included: Emily Elisabeth (with Clifford in attendance), Horatious Hornblower, Alan Breck, Maid Marion, Pippi Longstocking, Jimmy Olson, Rebecca (from Sunnybrook farm), Mr. Knightly, Amy Dorrit and Alice (from Wonderland)... ... as well as many more. I wish we had room to list them all here!

The worst problem with the entire weekend was - it all went so fast! . So, Friday night came, and so did the dancers. And so we danced... and danced... The detail on the costumes was amazing, esp. when you realize that many of the costumes were handmade...

One of our new favorite warm-up/mixer dances is now the infamous "Broom Dance." Ladies line up on one side, and gentlemen on the left. If a lady is holding the broom, two gentlemen come up to her, and she must pick one of them to dance down the middle with. The one left then has two girls come up to him, he must pick, and etc. The guy's antics eventually got very amusing, as did the 'competition'...

(That's my 10 year old sister - what a choice! :) )

Someone caught a lot of this dance on video...

We danced until 12, and stopped just in time to prevent being turned into pumpkins. O_o One would not want that to happen! The rest of the weekend was spent in our sprawling ranch house, with wonderful fellowship and wonderful friends!

Glimpses of the weekend...

~Sitting in the kitchen floor until 3:30 in the morning, discussing everything from the characters of Les Miserables to the ethics of propoganda.

~ Music. Anyone who's ever spent any time with our group knows that music is inseperable from us. :)

~ Discussions. Somewhat heated ones. Always very polite, but occasionally heated. :)~ Those last few moments, before everyone leaves, are always precious. Much as I do hate goodbyes, I would never miss those last conversations and hugs. :)

Last minute hugs with my dear friends, Eva (r) and Melanie (l).

Looking back, I can see what we need to change. How to work it better. But I also realize - and cannot express how thankful I am - that the wonderful memories we made will be very hard for me to forget. That when you do your very best, God allows the best to fall into place, better then you ever dreamed.

Blessings,

Kate~*

(All photo credits go to Brandon P. and Christopher L. Thank you for all your work!)