Oliver

Opening Night.
The girls are orphans, then they are citizens in the street. Cassi is a boy while she is an orphan.


I can't take pictures while they are on stage because my flash is far too weak. I did get pictures taken of them but I heard the guy had trouble with his flash too so I am waiting to see if his come out.
Cori was being difficult tonight so I took this of her during warm ups, in her orphan costume.


These are a couple from the green room where the girls reside while waiting to go on stage. I took many but I am not sure about posting pictures of other kids in the pictures.

Here Amber was fixing Cassi's hair for me since I am hair challenged. I count Amber as one of the many blessings of my life!


Here they are wearing their bonnets for the street market scene.

And Cali has gotten quite comfortable with back stage and makes her way around fairly well. I am not sure what next years show will be but if there is a chance she can do something, she will be trying out. She has made it VERY clear. Amber curled her hair tonight during some down time. Don't they look cute?

If you are interested...

This very cool site is having a celebration of giveaways. Go check it out and Good luck!

Pairs~ A Fun Game We Created

At least I think we did. :)
I remember years ago at my bridal shower, my friend Holly had us play a game. When everyone walked in the door, a tag was stuck on their back with a famous wife's name written on it. You could only ask yes or no questions to guess who you were. I 'wink wink' was Princess Diana whom I adored and I guessed it right away.

Anyway, it was a fun game then and I tried to incorporate it into something older elementary kids would like, for Cassi's Valentine party.

Here's what I did.

I cut large hearts out of red and pink paper. I cut each heart in half and wrote a pair on each set. We used chicken and egg, salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly and so on.

I split her class into two teams (red and pink) with an even number of players on each team. I stuck half a heart on each kids back. Each team had to walk around each other looking at each others tags. Using the words they saw as clues, they had to ask yes or no question to find their pairs.

It was more challenging than one would first expect(but not too much so) as the pairs were not a certainty. If you saw chicken they might ask, "Am I egg?". And even though one person got their answer I might take the other half longer to figure out who they were. Even though they already knew that person was their mate. They might be thinking they were 'bacon'.

Once the pairs figured each other out they had to go to their teams' base. The team to match all their pairs the fastest, won.

I think it turned out well. The teacher even got involved and really enjoyed it. I thought it might be too difficult at one point but they played a second time by switching team colors thereby having different pairs to figure out.

I think you could do this anytime. And if you don't have a older elementary kid who thinks couples are gross, you could do it using famous couples. I wanted to do that but my girl was having none of that!

If you play, let me know how it works out. It really was quite fun!

Getting Ready for some Lucky Green Fun

For as long as I can remember, St. Patrick's Day has received the same 'gotta get ready for it' commotion that any other holiday has.

Growing up it was always a must to have your St. Patrick's Day outfit picked out. I am certain we ate corned beef and cabbage and all that goes with it.

In fact as I got older and started having my own children I felt like I would be letting my own family down if I didn't teach my children to honor the holiday with great excitement.

So, today Cali and I got things started. She wanted to 'do' something. I dug out an old hotplate I found at a garage sale a few years ago. (We only use this for crafts) I warmed it up and gave her a box of crayons. We made stained glass shamrocks. I know I've done this with her before but I guess it's been a while.



She really had fun although she wanted to make pictures rather than filling up space. Either way, they're cute enough. It's a good start.

Is St. Patrick's Day a big deal at your house?

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Grandpa's birthday was Monday. We had a small (and quick) get together. We decided to meet at McDonald's which kept the little bit busy while everyone took a minute to catch up.
Holly, Wren and Barry were in town so they dropped by before leaving for Anchortown one more time. Scott and the girls were there for a bit but had to leave to get to Oliver practice and set building.

We surprised Grandpa with a unique present this year. Because what else do you get for a guy who has everything.

We made him turn around since you can't really wrap a fish.

Then we told him to turn around...SURPRISE!

I think the fish was a little frightened because Grandpa had a hard time locating him. He must of been hiding.

Cori and Cassi thought Grandpa would LOVE a fish. Cali and Wren picked out a blue one.

I think Wren dubbed him Steve. Cori told Grandpa to call him Dirt 'cause he's older than dirt. :)

I still haven't heard what his actual name is. I'll keep you posted.

Valentine's Day Round Up

Since we spent the day at a cheer competition we didn't do much Valentine-like stuff on valentine's day. Regardless, I thought you might like to see a little of what we did in honor of the holiday.

The girls celebrated with friends at school on Friday. Cori was really specific this year about what she would and wouldn't give to friends. We ended coming together on stress balls which we've made before. Since she shares her class with 5th and 6th graders, I thought it would be a safe bet. She insisted however that we NOT make the tag saying "Have a Ball on Valentine's Day". Instead she chose "Have a stress-free Valentine's Day". These were a HUGE hit with students and teachers alike.

In Cassi's class, since we had more of a party, we actually made the stress balls in class as a project. We made fun candy necklaces too.(See below) And we played a really fun game we called pairs. I will tell you how to play in another post.

For Valentine's gifts Cassi made these. They had a blow pop, kit kat and a few chalk hearts in them.

They were super cute however the boys quickly made beaks, clown hats and so on with them. It was funny and they seemed to enjoy finding new uses for them so I suppose that makes them a hit, right? As they get older, it is certainly hard to think of cool things to do. I will have to start thinking now for next year!

On Valentine's morning the girls woke up to treats in the hotel.



They took pictures of each other while I got started making candy necklaces for the cheerleaders. I should have had it done but I had so many commitments earlier in the week it just never got completed. Fortunately everyone decided to help and it became a family affair. Cori cut ribbon, Cali piled the ribbon near me for tying. Cassi and Daddy rolled the candy in the saran wrap and Daddy even helped tying ribbon when he was done. I took them with me and while we were waiting to get in the venue my friend Michelle helped me curl all that ribbon. Whew, we managed to get them done just as they opened the doors. The girls all loved them and they looked great in red for Valentine's day. We make these a lot in their team colors for other competitions.





Cali also made this cute little guy earlier in the week at her preschool group. She was very proud of wrinkling those legs. It took a her a long time but she hung in there.

All in all, it was a super week with lots of love-ly things to do and celebrate. I hope yours was equally as wonderful.

What We Have Been Up To

We have been running our tails off for the last couple weeks. Most of you I've talked to occasionally but less than normal. I feel like this is the last week of pure craziness and next week should slow down, I hope.

This is our third year participating in the the yearly production of the Kenai Performer's . This year there is a new Director,Laura. She's been great. The costumes are easier than last year, Thank Goodness! The girls have been having a great time getting ready. Even Scott has been really involved in set building and design this year. It's been a family affair. :)

The show opens Friday and while I thought for a bit it might not come together, It looks like it is going to be phenomenal!

Here is your personal invitation. Please come! You are going to LOVE IT!