We're Off to See the Wizard!!

Last weekend was opening weekend of The Wizard of Oz which both my girls were in!  Mikayla plays the roles of Crow, Poppy, and a Candy Shop Girl in Oz; and Izzy plays Toto during the Kansas scenes.

Mikayla continues to show no fear on stage, while Izzy has been riddled with anxiety since the beginning, but both girls are doing an awesome job!  The hours have been long, not getting home and in bed until about 11:00 this past week (which explains why at 10:30 on a non-play night they are both in their beds still awake and reciting lines from the play) but it has been worth it!  

The entire show has surpased my expectations, and those of most of our audience members.  We have sold out two of our 4 shows so far before even opening the doors, and are looking forward to another busy weekend of performances.  I'm not going to go into it too much tonight, but wanted to show you a few pictures for those of you haven't seen them on facebook already (my facebook friends are getting tired of hearing about the Wizard of Oz by now I'm sure)

Mikayla in stage makeup before dress rehearsal.  Mikayla loves being in plays and has no stage fear.  I wish I was more like that!  She is enthusiastic and a pretty awesome singer!

Izzy as Toto holding the Toto that sits with the narrator Dorothy.  Lots of things throughout the process of rehearsals and performances have worried Izzy to tears, and the late nights have made her pretty tired, but she is having a lot of fun making new friends and playing in the dressing rooms with the other kids.  She is such a cute Toto and gets lots of laughs and "Awww"s from the audience!  She is having fun and once she gets past each of the little details that worries her she enjoys herself quite a bit!

We have 6 Dorothys, 2 Totos, 2 Wicked witches, 2 Glindas, and some double-casted munchkins as well.  Partly to accommodate a very large cast of 115 kids!

Toto scoping out Professor Marvel's roasting marshmallow.

Mikayla in her crow costume for the scene where Dorothy meets the Scarecrow.  She likes being a crow, they get to sing and dance with the Scarecrow and tease him throughout the scene.

So you put makeup on her and she becomes a 13 year old?

Opening night was one of their sold out shows, and was a huge success!  

We are so proud of our kids!

If you are interested in coming to see the show, you should order online before it sells out! youththeatreworkshop.org

The Day I Killed Santa

What do Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy have in common?

Less than a week ago, they all died.

At least to Mikayla they did.  A couple years ago Mikayla asked me, "Mom, are you the tooth fairy?" and since she was almost eight years old I gave it to her straight.  "Yes, I am."  and she instantly felt part of a big secret.  But she didn't ask about any of the others, and we had planned on waiting until she asked before we told her the real deal about Santa and the Easter Bunny... but she didn't ask.  Ever.

I even tried to coax it out of her last fall, knowing that Christmas would be coming up.  Asking her leading questions about if she had any questions or wanted to talk about the fact that the Tooth Fairy isn't real.  She didn't bite.

As we neared Easter we decided we'd wait until after Easter and tell her the truth, not wanting to break it to her  2 days before the holiday.  It had gotten to the point where we worried she'd start getting teased about it at school, but she takes being lied to really hard.  One of her close friends lied to her at school a few months ago and she came home sobbing like someone had chopped off her foot.  Needless to say I was a little nervous about telling her that it had all been a "lie".

The first chance we got after Easter was Monday evening on the way to Wizard of Oz rehearsal (both the girls are in the Wizard of Oz which opens in less than 2 weeks!) when it was just Mikayla in the car.

Me: Do you remember when I told you about how the Tooth Fairy isn't real and that it's really me and dad?
Mikayla: yeah?
Me: You know Santa and the Easter Bunny?
Mikayla: Are you saying they're not real too? (looking shocked and bummed)
Me: me and Dad are Santa and the Easter Bunny.
Mikayla: Does that mean nothing is real?
Me: like what things do you mean?
Mikayla: (a little bit frantic) So Leprechauns aren't real!!?
Me: (stifling a giggle) No leprechauns are not real.  These things are just fun to imagine and think about.  They're all just magical make-believe fun for kids.

She took it pretty well.  I told her that now that she was in on the secret she needed to keep the secret, and not tell anyone and ruin the fun for them.  She said it would be easy to not tell the little kids but she'd have a hard time keeping it to herself with her friends... and we were 3 minutes away from play rehearsal where there are over 100 kids of all ages.

As we pull in to the parking lot she's got her hand on her mouth saying, "Oh I'm going to tell someone! I'm going to tell someone!"  Luckily she didn't.  And since getting through that first time around friends I think she has it under control.  I'm just happy she wasn't furious with us for "lying" to her all these years, but she understood that it was for fun.

But now, as far as my oldest child goes, Santa and the Easter Bunny are gone.  But she'll still get all the goodies!  :o)

After my Dad's Death

Obviously I haven't blogged in a long time, my mind just hasn't been on that.  On March 8th my dad lost his battle with cancer.  He fought hard and for about 3.5 years, doing extremely well until the last few months.  He will be greatly missed!  I'm not going to get mushy and sentimental here, that's for real-life for now, but I wanted to share some of the things I've learned through his death.  While my experience and feelings are just my own, and some people will have very different experiences, I'm sharing my own perspective.

Knowing people are praying for you is comforting.  No matter how many seemingly generic "Our thoughts and prayers are with you" I got, I knew they were from the heart and it was comforting to see and hear those words.  Often times people just don't know what else to say, and that's fine, because there aren't any words that will make the pain go away.  But seeing and hearing that people care for you and cared for the person who has passed is soothing.

I've never been very good at sending cards, for anything really, so I was surprised how good those sympathy cards made me feel.  The ones with personal messages were particularly touching, especially when they contained specific memories of my dad.  I'll need to remember that sympathy cards are comforting to many people and I plan to make an effort to send them when I can.

A good funeral home director is incredibly helpful.  When my mom, my sister and I went to meet with him I was really impressed at how smooth he seemed to make everything that needed to be done in a short amount of time.  They literally walk you through the whole planning process and give you advice on what to do.  Of course my mom had a lot of extra things to take care of, but the funeral director, and our church's funeral planners made things as easy as could be expected.

There's a lot of hugging involved.  I hugged nearly every person who attended the funeral, and I was happy to do it.

And related to all the hugging - family.  Death brings family together, if only for a day for some.  Family members that live several hours away or whom we hadn't heard from in several years, showed up to pay their respects.  And even though it was for a brief time, it was good to come together to remember my dad.

I was incredibly moved to see a sanctuary full of people who took time off on a Wednesday morning to pay their respects, share their memories and our own, and celebrate the life of a wonderful man.  Just taking the time to show up to a visitation or funeral is meaningful to the family.

Military people are efficient (not that I didn't realize that already).  When we arrived at Fort Snelling National Cemetary at our appointed time, we were given a run through of the timing of the next half an hour.  The whole service is precisely timed, yet still meaningful.

My dad's Fort Snelling Service was beautiful and moving.  Other than the first woman we met who took us to the location and was a bit cold, I got a real sense of appreciation for my dad's service for our country.  Whether or not you agree that the U.S. should have been involved in any particular war, we should appreciate the people who risked their life to serve our nation.  Politics aside, the men and women in the military do what most of us can't or won't do, and they work hard to do it, and often die for it.  They should be thanked.  And a 21 rifle solute and gifting the family with an American flag is a beautiful way to do that.  I could have cried when the rifles went off, but I was worried about my kids reaction since it was very loud (they were fine, barely flinched).  I did cry though when the tall, dignified old vet presented my mom with the flag, and this tiny old woman gave the most sincere thanks to my mom for my dad's service for our country.  And when Taps was played, chills.  It was beautiful.

After the funeral, the family went out for drinks.  I think that going out afterward to lift ourselves out of the sadness of the funeral, and celebrate his life with happy memories and laughter is entirely helpful.  It kind of gave us permission to smile again while still grieving and remembering the good times.

I've been doing well for the most part, although I still very much miss him.  Tomorrow, Easter, will be one month since he passed away, and our first holiday without him.  I am sure he'll be looking down on us with his dad and smiling as the kids hunt for eggs, and we enjoy a big Easter meal together.  Because the biggest lesson to be learned, is how important it is to spend time with family while we still can.

Worst Cooks in America

Have you seen the Food Network show Worst Cooks in America yet?  Spence and I became hooked this week!  He's always been a sucker for food network competition shows like Chopped and Cupcake Wars, actually we all get into Cupcake Wars, and now we have a new favorite!  It's a show about a dozen or so self proclaimed (or spouse proclaimed) worst cooks in America.  They are split into two teams lead by Food Network chefs.  This season the head chefs are Anne Burell and Bobby Flay.  The chefs take them through cooking challenges and mini competitions to teach them how to cook and narrow them down to the best of the worst on each team.  Then the final two cook for food critics and the winner gets $25,000.

Our current favorite on the show is Erica Weidner, she's hilarious!  She is such a total wreck in the kitchen, yet still manages to hold onto enough goodness to stay in the show (though it's very early in the season still) because she shows promise.  They're all wrecks in the kitchen but she is a hilarious wreck!  On the Food Network website this is her description:

Erica enjoys cooking with unusual kitchen tools, such as razorblades and pliers, and considers food expiration dates to be mere suggestions. She needs considerable assistance in order to avoid harming herself in the kitchen and to keep her family safe from her meals.


Love it!  When I watch cooking shows everyone is SO much better at cooking than I am, which is a bit discouraging when you think about attempting the dishes they make.  So it's nice watching a show where the cooks are more lost in a kitchen than I am!  Gives a girl hope!  I mean, there's one guy who only knew how to cook things in the dishwasher!  The DISHWASHER!  The man was freaking out a bit when there wasn't one in the show kitchen!


Once we discovered the current season we found seasons 1 and 2 On Demand and are nearly done with season one.  Comparing the seasons so far, the Chefs are a lot harsher in season 1 where in season 2 (one of the chefs is different each season) they seem a little more relaxed - like they're teaching real people and all and not real chefs who should know better.  Maybe it's the difference in chefs that has inspired a more pleasant environment, perhaps Bobby Flay brings out the best in Anne Burell, where Beau Somethingorother brought out the mean in her?  


On a related note (I promise) have you seen the show The New Girl?  One of the contestants in season one (Rachel Coleman) reminds me SO much of Jess on The New Girl!  They look nothing alike but sound and act similar enough to give us a good laugh every time!  


Anyway, I recommend it for a good laugh, cooking inspiration, and hope for the hopeless!

Connor & Mommy Night

Sunday evening ended up being a Connor/Mommy night.  Spence and Mikayla went to some friends of ours's house to watch wrestling (the grown-ups) and the kids played video games.  Izzy was sleeping over at Nana and Papa's house because she was bummed that Mikayla was going somewhere and she couldn't (Izzy doesn't handle staying up till 10:30 at night very well the next day).  So by around 6:00 it was just me and Connor left at home.

 When a family of 5 suddenly becomes 2, it is SO much quieter!  First Connor and I cuddled on the couch eating Thin Mints and watching Gold Rush.  He loves all that machinery!  We've been meaning to take him down to the John Deere place nearby one of these nice days to get a close up look at front-end loaders, backhoes, and all sorts of bucket/blade wielding heavy machinery.  After watching Gold Rush for a little bit we got down on the floor and built car/block castles.  Then Connor would knock it down, look all apologetic and say, "Sorry", and we'd build another one.

 He was really hamming it up that night, even wanting me to forever capture the image of his foot.

 And his other foot.

 Then there was more building,

More hamming it up,

And then we sang songs.  This first video demonstrates how he doesn't like to let me sing with him (which may be why he gets most of the words wrong ;) oh well!), and how he has a flair for the dramatic.  

And one more, even BETTER ONE, in case you think he's as cute as I do.  Even MORE dramatic and mixed up!!

Clearly, we had a great time!  It is rare that he and I get one on one time, so that made it extra special.  And to top it off, once I put him to bed at 7:00 I had the house to myself for 3.5 hours!!  WOO!

Valentines For Tots

The Valentines Day art project the toddlers and Izzy did spanned over a few days to make.

First they painted pink on stiff white paper.  All the while we talked about the color pink, and painting, brush, and how paint is for paper - not for eating.

Then the next day we added red footprints to form a heart-ish shape.  There were lots of giggly tots and wiggly toes during that process!

The next day I helped them paint a heart around their footprints, hand-over-hand.  We talked about the color Red and the Heart shape, and how we paint nice and smooth!

Valentines Day Eve I hung them up on the door to welcome their parents (and us) in the morning!  They can give them to their Mom or Dad tomorrow after daycare!

Hiding, Pinning, Zyrtec, and More

Time for a stream-of-consciousness post of sorts.

The toddlers in my life are big into hide and seek.  They are generally terrible hiders, but that doesn't stop them from squealing with glee every time someone finds them!  Connor's found a few spots lately that we wouldn't have found him quickly at all had he been quieter.  It cracks me up how every child I've known thinks it's a good idea to hide in the same exact place (or maybe one of three places) every time.  Also, I often take my time finding them.  I mean, why not enjoy a minute or two of silence right?

Speaking of games, Connor and my 16 month old daycare boy made a game out of cleaning up these little snap-together beads.  Daycare boy stood next to the bucket about 6 feet away from the pile of beads.  Connor would pick up a small handfull, or sometimes just 3 or 4 beads, bring them to daycare boy and put them in his hands, and daycare boy would put them in the bucket.  This took them a good 5 minutes at least to pick up the pile, but they had fun and were developing their team-work skills!

We spent a few days working on Valentine pictures for the daycare kids (even the baby!) to give their parents. They are turning out really cute!  Here is a picture of the baby's Valentine, I covered up his name.  I'll show you the bigger kids' version in a separate post.

I've started following a few more people's boards on Pinterest, but have been more selective in which boards I'm following in order to keep my main page easier to keep up with.  Specifically food boards!  It's hard to look at all that yumminess when you're on a diet!

I've become slightly addicted to wintergreen life savor mints.  They help me keep my mouth occupied when I'm hungry so I don't snack all day long.

I've finally started taking Zyrtec to deal with my many environmental and seasonal allergies.  While I'm still often itchy, it doesn't feel as bad as it was.  The main difference I've noticed, though, is how much easier it is to breath!  I didn't realize what I was missing until I had open sinuses!

I'm thinking of making the Pioneer Woman's pot roast again on Sunday because it is Oh So Yummy!