Years ago, when my brother & I were preteens, then teenagers.... my parents would expose us to various theatre performances. I remember going to an outdoor theatre in Kansas City, watching Bye Bye Birdie {I love you Danny, oh yes I do.. when you're not near me, I'm BLUE! Oh Danny I love you}. I can't believe I remember those lyrics. The name might be wrong, but I remember the tune!
Anyways, I had the opportunity to see several different theatre productions over the years. My favorite "grown up" production is The Phantom of the Opera. My friend Amy and I dressed up in our formals, and saw it. Oh, it was so beautiful. When the show came around again, I treated my mom to the show, and my dad paid his own ticket. I know... does that sound weird or what? I guess I was a tightwad. Anyways, I bought those tickets like in the fall of '96, before I met Mike. The show was for the weekend before Mike & I got married. I have wonderful memories of my dad getting dressed in a spiffy bright blue shirt with suspenders. We had a great time that night.
Well, I haven't been back to the big theatre productions since then, and that's been almost 13 years! There have been many shows I've been dying to see: Wicked (missed it twice in each city I've lived in), Phantom of the Opera (again.... I will never tire of this show!), the Lion King in Kansas City, among others.
Finally, the Lion King rolled around to San Antonio. I.had.to.go!! I missed out on Wicked a few months ago. I was sorely SORELY disappointed. I mean, my heart (and Katie's) broke in two. Literally. But, this time, I was going to expose my two girls to the theatre.
I knew my girls would know the story line. Katie used to wake up at 2 in the morning when she was a little baby, and we watched the Lion King every single night. Yawn! Both my girls loved the movie, so the story line would be easy for them to follow.
We sat in the cheap seats (nosebleed section, I'll tell you!) in the Majestic Theatre, and W.O.W! What an amazing experience! The look on my girls' faces was worth every single penny I spent to get them to the show. Their face lit up through it all. They laughed. They bopped along to the music. One almost fell asleep I think. 10:45 is pushing her bedtime a little.
Enjoy a little sampling of what we saw! And, if it comes to a town near you, it's a must see!
A big thanks to Mandi, my dear friend, for coming along w/ us!
Miss Maddie has been a tad bit sick for the past week and a half. Maddie never gets sick. Ever. She had RSV when she was 7 weeks old, and was placed in the hospital for a few days. Then she had the flu, and had a reaction to the medicine they gave her to treat the flu. But beyond that, she's never sick. Ever.
But this time, after Thanksgiving, we all passed our little germies around, no matter how much I sprayed Lysol around the house, around the doorknobs, on the phone, remote controls, etc. I think we're all out of the woods now, but Maddie still has a little lingering cough.
I shot this picture of her one morning when she was sleeping. She never sleeps with her bunny, Daisy, unless she's sick.
A few years ago, I found this recipe, and it was so incredibly easy, that I put my then little kids to work on helping me make these yummy treats. Since then, my girls have made these every year. It's a family favorite (OK, it's a favorite b/c I don't have to bake or slave over a stove... they can do it all!).
Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
Place a bunch of square pretzels on a cookie sheet. Line then up as close as possible. (note to myself: comb Maddie's hair before pictures are taken! EEKS!)
This is where your kids come in handy! Make them unwrap a bunch of Hershey kisses. It'll take a while. Trust me. Oh, and buy a few bags of kisses b/c chances are, they all won't make it to the cookie sheet.
Place the Hershey kisses on top of the pretzel.
Place in the oven and leave for 4-6 minutes. I had to leave for 7 minutes b/c my chocolate was still too hard by 6 minutes.
Dump some M&M's on the table.
When you pull out the cookie sheet, immediately have your kids put one M&M on top of each kiss, squooshing it down.
Tada! Place in fridge for about 10 minutes to harden up!
My girls dream of having a little brother (or sister). Doubt it'll ever happen, but last Saturday night we babysat my friend's little boy, and boy did the girls have fun!!
Caleb was the best little toddler around. No tantrums, no crying (well, except for when he didn't want to go to sleep), and had fun playing with the pink trucks the girls had. He also played with the dollhouse.... but it had boy figurines in it, so that's not so bad, right?! And blocks! We do have boy toys in our house!!
Anyways, Caleb & Katie bonded fast. Caleb was in LOVE with Katie from the get go. OK, every single little kid falls in love with Katie. She loves to play with these kids!
He spent the night, and in the morning woke up such a happy camper! I love happy babies! Maddie played with him for an hour or so with the dollhouse & cars.
Caleb... you come back over ANYTIME!
{PS... sorry for the blurry quality of the photos! Not sure what happened with my setting, but in the camera it looked fantastic! AUGH!}
**UPDATE!!** This blog post has been pinned and viewed literally thousands of times -- and unfortunately I have found my pictures floating around w/ people taking credit for this idea -- so I am now replacing the pictures with my blog info. :) Hate to have to do this, but if you would like to share this idea on your blog or website, please share my blog link for due credit! Some of you have done that, and I Thank you!!
Every now and then for Christmas I like to give my friends a small gift. One year it was marble magnets. Another year it was a beautiful HUGE mug filled with awesome cocoa mixes & peppermint sticks. One year I made Mike's grandma's homemade hot orange drink mix and placed it in pint sized mason jars. Another year it was an orange, cloves, bottle of vanilla and a recipe for making a delicious simmering pot of home scent.
This year I wanted to do something for my new friends here in Texas... but I was short on time as far as running all over the place gathering stuff to make whatever. My theme this year (and especially this season) is SIMPLIFY!!
But I did find these Yes to Carrots brand of chapstick. According to all the magazines I'm reading lately, this brand is THE brand to have. Apparently. I wouldn't know. I'm not that "hip" with stuff. But, I found them on sale for .99 cents each at Walgreens instead of the usual price tag of $3.79 each. I thought "ooh, Christmas gifts!" Who wouldn't want a nice chapstick instead of chocolate. OK, I can think of one person who would probably rather have a chapstick than chocolate.... :)
With some help from friends, I have a very clever gift. (at least I think it's clever! LOL)
I have noticed something lately every single time I attempt to take a picture of Mike. He won't smile. He makes funny faces. It's really irritating me. Maybe that's why we have YET to get family pictures? Let me prove it to you....
The "make a weird face" look
Dude... only 12 year old kids hold up the Peace sign anymore
The "fake surprise" look
The "fake laugh" look
The "stick out your tongue" look
The "whistle" look
The "clench your lips together & grin it and bear it" look
The "talking while I'm taking a picture" look
FINALLY! A decent smile! He really does look good when he smiles!
As much fun as we had last week in Dallas, all good things come to an end. And by "end" I mean.... getting sick. Katie started getting sick Monday night. Her throat was scratchy. Then by Tuesday after school, she fell asleep on the couch ~ sure sign she's sick. By Wednesday, it's a full blown severe sore throat, major cough, drainage.... etc. But late morning she started running a very low fever, so I called the doctor. She had an upper respiratory infection. Lovely. Doctor's orders are to stay home until Friday (today). She's FINALLY back to school!
Then Maddie comes down with a sore throat and a cough. A bad cough. She's never sick! Ever! So, she stayed home on Thursday, and coughed.her.head.off! We're home again today.... but I think she's on the mend and recovering.
My thermometer went ka-put a few months ago. It's the kind that you take the temperature in the ear (well, as long as you HOLD it the right angle!). But the battery is expensive and sometimes hard to find. I received a Temple Touch Thermometer from MomSelect & Walgreens a few weeks ago, and was thrilled I had a working thermometer to check on my sick babies. I have to say so far about this Temple Touch.... I love how you just touch your temple or underarm to get a reading. No more sticking a thermometer in a body part.... well, you get the idea. :D
So, I'm off to spend a relaxing day with my Maddie Rose. We're going to decorate the tree today, clean my bathroom, make dinner for a change!
Posts
.JPG)
