The Princess And The Pea

This has been busy week!  Starting Monday, Savannah and Hunter auditioned for a part in a local children's theatre production of "The Princess and the Pea."  Savannah has been waiting for months to audition.  She talked Hunter into coming with her and auditioning too. There were a total of 121 children audition, ranging from the ages of 6-18 years.  Only 62 children would be cast.  We were at the auditions for 3 hours, of which Savannah and Hunter maybe only auditioned for a fourth of the time because there were so many other children there--so we mainly waited and waited and waited!  After 3 hours, the directors got on stage and read out which children were casted.  The end results....Hunter was cast as one of the "dust bunnies" and Savannah did not get a part.  Poor Savannah was devastated!  Hunter kept saying over and over again, "I can't believe you didn't get a part Savannah.  I thought for sure you would get a part and I wouldn't!"  It was a very long evening.  I was torn between my desire to show Hunter my enthusiasm for him and comforting Savannah.

And as amazing as children are, by the end of the evening, Savannah said to me, "Mom, I have the most important part of the play!"  I looked at her confused and asked her what she meant by that.  And she said, "I am part of the audience!  Without the audience there could be no play!"  

Wow!  Now there is someone with the glass half full perspective!  Once again, my children teach me more about life then I feel I could.  Thank you Savannah for teaching me to look on the bright side of things when I feel like things don't go the way I want them to.

So the rest of the week was full of rehearsals for Hunter.  The production of "The Princess and the Pea" is part of a traveling Children's Theatre, which only is there in town for a week.  So practices start Monday night and go right up to the performances on Saturday--afternoon and evening.  Hunter started rehearsals Wednesday night.  He was exhausted every night!

We went as a family to watch the Saturday's matinee performance then I went back again for the evening performance.  Hunter was adorable!  He danced and sang on the stage--highly entertaining!  My favorite part was when he would stop in the middle of one the dust bunnies group dance and put his hand up to shade his eyes from the bright lights and start searching for us in the crowd.  Then he would remember that he was on stage and needed to play his part and he would begin dancing and singing again.  He was repeat this through out the song/dance. When he finally did see us in the audience, he began waving and smiling with the biggest grin--that's our Hunter!  (And yes, he did the same thing for the evening performance)

Here is a short video of Hunter finding me in the audience.  I couldn't tape during the actual performance to show you what I described above, but you can get a small taste of what I meant.  I wish the video was bigger so you can see him better.  He is on the front row, second in, sitting down.

Here are some pictures of Hunter as a "Dust Bunny"

When I finished taking pictures of Hunter he said, 

"Mom, look I can turn into a "dust pumpkin!"

The whole cast

After the evening performance, he excitedly came running towards me with something in his hand.  

Hunter:  "Mom, I won, I won!" 

Me:  "What did you win, Hunter?"

Hunter:  "I won the reward for being the best actor and being the best actor back stage"

Me:  "That's great!  How did you act back stage?"

Hunter:  "I was helpful.  There was another dust bunny who was afraid to go on stage in front of so many people but I comforted her and told her that it would be okay."

Good job, my sweet Hunter!

Here he is with his prize--a heart shaped ring pop!  

The Role of a Baby Sister

Savannah is always coming up with an idea for a play and pulling her brother and sister into performing it.  This time she wanted to surprise us with her play, so she took Hunter, Madison  and even Eliza upstairs to practice.  When I went upstairs to check on Eliza, this is what I found.....

Eliza playing the role as the baby fairy

In case you are wondering where Savannah got such an amazing costume, you can personally thank Sherbet for lending Eliza the fairy costume.

You gotta love Build-a-Bear clothes!

Sunday Morning

With a new year also comes a new church time.  Now that we have church in the afternoon, I am quickly discovering I need to find things for the kids to do so they will first of all stop teasing each other constantly and then after I stop them from teasing each other,  I don't keep hearing them say "I'm bored" or "Is it time to get ready for church yet?"  So this morning I pulled out the legos.   There is just something so magical about legos.  Whenever I play with them it always takes me back to being a kid and going over to my cousins home in California and seeing the amazing creations they would build with legos then trying to build some amazing new thing.  Even now I can't help but start playing with them with the kids.  Good times!  

Here are some pictures and quotes I heard from the kids....

"Mom, that's a super cool ship!" --Hunter

(Glad to know I can still make a pretty cool spaceship....I haven't lost my touch.  Plus, it's always nice to have one of your kids think you are a pretty neat mom who can make some "super cool" things)

"Thanks for helping me Hunter.  I'm not going to shoot you"

--Madison

(see what happens when you play nice with Darth Vader,

 he is no longer a threat...)

While I was building my ship, Madison handed me a lego with an eye on it.  

"Here Mom, you can have this eye gun but don't shoot at me because I'm bad.  I'm Darth Vader"

(I love how she was being so sweet to share with me but also covering her bases to ensure I didn't use the weapon she was giving me to get her.)

Madison's spaceship

Hunter working on his spaceship

Here is a little glimpse of the type of play going on.  They, of course, right before I turned on the camera were being hilarious as Madison was trying to get the Star Wars characters to celebrate Christmas and Hunter did not think that was appropriate star wars play, but by the time I got the the camera they are on to something else.  Anyway enjoy.....

And where was Savannah during all this...video chatting with her friend  (who she was going to see in a few short hours at church)  :)

Happy New Year!

I was sad this week to finally take down the Christmas decorations.  I love to listen to the song "I cried the day that I take the tree down" from The Forgotten Carols, as I take my decorations down for more of a dramatic effect, plus it's a fun song to sing as loud as you can!  Anyway, usually I feel kind of depressed because my house looks so ordinary without the tree and lights, etc.  However, this year for Christmas I got professional pictures taken of the kids.  Usually I take their pictures outside, but I thought it might be nice to go somewhere inside this year because of Eliza (I didn't really want to make her sit outside while I try to capture the perfect moment in the freezing cold).  And so I love looking at my new wall with pictures of all four kids....

Sunshine Chicken

Last night I attempted to make my Grandma's Sunshine Chicken for the first time.  At first, I couldn't find the recipe so I had my sister Janine email it to me.  Later, while going through various cookbooks in the kitchen I discovered a copy of Grandma's handwritten recipe card for Sunshine Chicken tucked away in one of these obscure books.  I consider this discovery one of the tender mercies that Elder Bednar talks about. 

 I loved following her handwritten notes as I measured and mixed each ingredient.  I miss her.  It has been 6 months since she return home to her Heavenly Father.  Grandma lived a full life of 99 years. 

I put the chicken in the oven then left the house to take Savannah to a class.  20 minutes later, I walked into a house that seemed from another time.  For a brief moment I was taken back to the house in Carlsbad, smelling Grandma's cooking.  It brought such a feeling of comfort—just as Grandma's cooking always did.  The next 40 minutes as I smelled the dinner I couldn't help but turn my thoughts to Grandma and all the wonderful memories I had with her.  Then my family gathered around the table and I told my children that this was a dinner that my Grandma would cook for me when I would come to visit.  Just as we had begun to enjoy the meal I heard my laptop ringing--someone was calling my iChat.  And who could it be, but Grandpa!  We opened the chat and enjoyed a few moments with him--sharing that we were enjoying a dinner of Grandma's Sunshine Chicken.  It was a perfect complement to a perfect meal.  Who knew that Grandma's Sunshine Chicken would bring so much sunshine to my soul tonight?  I love you Grandmama!  Thank you.

Halloween Night

The only change of costume is Madison.  If you remember from the Trunk or Treat she wanted to change her costume from a cat to Cinderella.  Since we didn't have a Cinderella costume in the car, she had to stick to the original plan--a cat.  Tonight she wanted to be Cinderella--like her friend Kaci :)

Trunk or Treat

Hunter the Sheriff (don't call him a cowboy, he will correct you quickly

"I'm not a cowboy, I'm a Sheriff! 

I tried telling him that a Sheriff is a cowboy but he was quick to point out that he isn't just a cowboy, he is "higher than a cowboy because he is over all the cowboys so that makes him more powerful than just a cowboy!"

Madison:  Crookshanks the Cat (from the Harry Potter books)  Right before the trunk or treat, Madison had a playdate at her friend Kaci's house.  We picked her up and began driving straight to the Trunk or Treat.  As soon as she got in the car she stated that she wanted to be Cinderella like her friend Kaci and not a cat.  We tried to explain to her that we didn't have a Cinderella costume in the car because she had always been planning on being a cat.  Tears began to flow!  It took the whole car ride to the church to convince her that being a cat was a great idea.  I believe it was Savannah's suggestion that she be a Cinderella Cat for the trunk or treat not just a Cat.

Savannah:  Hermione (a character from the Harry Potter books)  Savannah started reading the Harry Potter books this Fall.  I believe it only took her about two months to read all 7 of them.  She was hooked from the first one and was always seen with one until the 7th one was finished.  She amazes me!

Eliza was a snowflake!  She was so adorable!!!

The Halloween Costume Parade across the stage.  Hunter kept sneaking back on the stage--I stopped counting how many times I saw him with a wide grin on his face as he galloped across the stage--he thought he was being pretty sneaky.

Savannah with her two best friends.  This year Savannah wanted to go trunk or treating with out the family and with her friends.  I guess I am not cool enough anymore...it couldn't be that she was embarrassed by my costume....

Ready to go trunk or treating!

Trunk or Treating!

  (I showcased my friend Teri because she was giving out big candy bars--my kids all ready think you are the best, this was just icing on the cake)

Madison pumpkin bowling!  She won a toothbrush--brilliant idea!

Madison and her friend Adam showing each other their candy loot.

Of course.....more pictures!