Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil

On Monday, June 14th- Jenna, Lexie, and I met one of my bestie's Stephanie Johnson and her 3 boys out at Chuck E Cheese for pizza and games. Jenna was so happy when Chuck E Cheese came out to say hello--- so funny coming from the child that just a year or so ago was terrified of him. haha.Jenna and Nick head straight for the picture booth--- I had to run and push Nick in though- he didn't realize he was outside the "circle" lol...this explains the look on his face HAHA. :) Our turn! Steph and I take the booth hostage....Grown-ups can be silly too!OOooooohhh Secrets! ha ha... Lexie got to close- I pulled her in! ...she doesn't look happy about it though hahaStar glasses and green vampire teeth.... NICE! I think the toys are much better these days than when I was a kid...I think we got frogs that hop and maybe a ball in a cup? LOLGavin, Jenna, and Nick just before we left. (Peyton & Lexie, the two babies, were wore out and too sleepy for picture taking...or not still long enough...haha) Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No EvilWe had a blast and need to do this more often!! :-)

Wicked The Musical

As a belated mother's day gift for myself, my mother, and a belated birthday gift for Jenna--- the 3 of us went on a girls trip to Charlotte, NC to see the broadway musical Wicked. It was AMAZING! We loved it so much and had a blast.

After the show, I asked Jenna what her most favorite part was- and she said "ALL of it momma! Every second! This is the BEST day ever!"

There's something about that little girls smile that melts me and makes everything in the world right- and on the night of Wicked I learned 3 things:

1) Jenna is soooo mature in a theater, loves broadway and truely enjoys the show quietly and applauds at the correct times- yep, this means in the future, she's my date to the broadway show!

2) My child is NOT scared in a theater. The tickets and online websites suggested perhaps due to special effects and such- 8 years old is the reccomended age. (yes, I took her anyways- she was in the performance of the Wizard of Oz and saw a small part of Wicked and has been begging to go, she has been wanting to see this show for some time now - and it was my birthday promise to her) Anyways- when someone asked my child if she was scared of the dragon at all, her reply was "the dragon is so cool! I love it! why would I be scared? It's just actors"....haha- yeah I was proud of her. :) that's my kid!

and 3) I want to see it again!!! The music...everything, was awesome. I've got to find a way back to Oz...either through Dorothy's side of the story...or the WICKED side! (currently, I must say the Wicked side is more fun!) :P

Just a few pictures::

I know you can't read the writing- but this is a page of our cast--- notice the gentleman at the bottom left handside. Doesn't he look familiar? Well he was our wizard - and after the show I was reading his bio, and he's been in some of my favorite tv shows, Frasier, Law & Order, etc, and a few movies including: Harry and the Hendersons! Ha! :) He made a FANTASTIC wizard, though.

The legendary Rue McClanahan, who passed away just the other week, was one of my favorite Golden Girls. And she also performed as Madame Morrible on broadway with Wicked! I knew she was in Wicked in 2005 - and was lucky enough that they had a picture of her in the souvenier book my mother purchased for Jenna. Wish I could have seen her perform this role, I can just picture her being perfect for it! Then again- It's Rue McClanahan! Of course she's perfect! haha... R.I.P. Rue, you will be missed! "Wicked: Beautifully Tragic....and Tragically Beautiful!"

Jenna's First Adult Ticket

yes...it's true...it has happened. I had to buy an adult ticket for my child.

yes, she is only 5 years old, however- at the water park, if you are tall enough to ride all the rides by yourself, you have to purchase an adult ticket. Jenna Jade is a full 3 1/2 inches taller... last summer she was just under the line!!!!! ...and this year, I had to pay for an adult ticket to get her in and she was so excited and happy; it absolutely was a huge deal for her.

The good news: I was at the park by myself, so I could stay in the baby area with Lexie and watch Jenna go down the slides by herself from afar...this was impossible last year as I had to go down the slides with Jenna and someone would have had to stay with Lexie.

The bad news: What does my child do with her newfound freedom?????? She decides to go on the speed slide...NO, not the slower, green slide....the white slide at Otter Creek Water park, that plummets to earth from over 30 feet in the air. I have been down that thing- you can't even see the slide from up top because it is so steep--- and standing on the ground looking up, well, Jenna looked so tiny way up there, and she seemed to FLY down that slide faster than a bullet...and then she does it AGAIN!

As scary as it was for me- I was also just as proud. She was so brave, and I was proud of her for trying something new. She now likes that slide more than the tube one! haha! :) man, time is flying...and so is my 5 year old!

June Birthdays

My wondeful husband Eric celebrated his 28th birthday on June 2nd and my awesome sister Lisa celebrated her 23rd birthday on June 7th - so on June 5th, Lisa and her new husband Keith, Eric, myself, my parents, Jenna and Lexie ALL went out to our traditional birthday dinner- Mimi's Steakhouse. Of course, now we take up an entire table all to ourselves --haha, you'll have that with a growing family!

We are always the family that pretty much soaks up the shrimp sauce with a straw...and Lexie quickly made sure we knew she was going to be the same way. She got a hold of one of the shrimp sauces by accident...litterally slurped up and shoved it in with her fingers, then proceeded to lick the dish. Had to get a few pictures before cleaning her up- it was too funny!
Jenna had her usual hilarious conversation with the chef- that child of mine is a trip, I tell you! Everything from telling him what tricks to do and if he does one she doesn't like, to the chef flirting back with her and her giving him one of her "looks".... never a dull moment with my girls! haha!

Happy Birthday Eric and Lisa!

The Butterfly

A beautiful, bright yellow, monarch butterfly flew around my little girls in circles on June 5th, 2010. It was incredibly beautiful- and as I watched my girls dance around, chase it, try to pick it up...and yet it would only circle around and come right back to them...I thought to myself... this MUST be how God plays with his children. :) A small, but extraordinary creature, that is only a part of our world for a mere 24 hours, spent a full 30 to 45 minutes with two little girls that were instantly filled with excitement and joy. Awesome!

And to really make the moment stand out= butteflies mean a lot to me personally, and I had a really emotional day the day before... just a lot of stress and I found myself talking to God and tears flowing, asking God to help...and then...there was this butterfly. Praise God! No, the butterfly wasn't the answer to my prayer...but it sent a message... God whispered in my ear through the laughter of my children "My child, I hear you, I see you, I love you...and I want you to know I'm here."

II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."