It was totally wicked!!!!

For those of you not familiar with the above slang.....it was FANTASTIC!!!! I absolutely loved it. It differed from the book, and not just in what they omitted. The musical changed the whole ending. I liked the musical version's ending better, but that was because it ended very fairytale like where as the book was more a realistic (and by realistic I mean not happily ever after-ish). The costumes and the set designs were beautiful. And the girls that played Elphaba and Glinda were superb! I liked it so much I added two of my favorite songs from the night to the playlist on the right. Look for Defying Gravity and For Good in the playlist if you want to give them a listen. (You'll have to hit the skip button until they pop up, as you can no longer scroll down the list due to it's placement.) As for pictures they were STRICTLY FORBIDDEN, like they would of confiscated my camera....I love it too much for that to happen. So you will have to settle for the two I got to take.

A blurry pic of the stage with a dragon and the map of OZ. Yes we were high, but not nearly as high as you could be.

After the show, while we were waiting for the bus to leave. It was great taking a bus. No need to worrying about driving, traffic, or parking. And best yet I was able to enjoy a drink with mu Mom....I NEVER get to do that. i'm always the DD.

No pics of the kids. I didn't have the camera charged until right before the show. So in the words of my high school spanish teacher.... SUFRA!

FFF: Hope

As you can see this week's theme is hope. I however have no pictures that scream HOPE to me. So instead I am going way off topic and doing a hodgepodge post. I have some pics and some other stuff to share and I will pretty much be occupied over the weekend so now seems like the perfect time.

Yesterday I did some learning through play activities with Toby. He loved them. Once I make it to the teachers store I will be doing more of them. As the wether gets colder we will need something to do...so I am going to take my years of expereince and do something with it. Here he is painting in shaving cream. This is not for children who still eat everything (notice that the princess was napping at the time. If you want to do it wih them too whipped cream works better). The activity can be used for just play, color mixing, or shape, number, letter recognition. This is definately a time when you as the adult will also have to get your hands dirty. I drew shapes, pictures, and his name and he told me what they were. We had loads of fun and my table sparkled afterward.

Here he is beading with colored pasta. We made bracelets. He just had to make one for each of us. Very cute. To make the colored pasta (or rice for that matter)....place the pasta in a ziploc bag, add a capful of rubbing alcohol and some food coloring. Mix up the contents and spread it out on a paper towel to dry. Makes as much or as little as you want. Again make sure your little one doesn't eat the pasta or the rice.

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In order to be equal opportunity, here are some pictures of my sweet girl

Here's Liliana playing peek a boo with Toby

My sweet princess

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In other news, I bought the best jeans ever! Levi's perfectly slimming jeans. Let me tell you ladies these are so comfortable and they fit great. Definately worth the price I paid for them. Run, don't walk, to get a pair.

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In even better news, My Mom and myself are headed out on Sunday for a special treat. We are going to see WICKED!!!!! I have read the book and loved it, but to get to see the musical. Now that is s special treat. I absolutely love musicals so i am very excited about this. Greg used to take me all the time when we lived in Pittsburgh. The last one we went to see was Beauty and the Beast put on by the Pittsburgh Playhouse. It was very good. Some of my other favs were Suessical and Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk and Big River. When we went to see Big River, we had no idea it was being done by the deaf acting company, Truly FANTASTIC and so very moving. I can't wait for Sunday now,

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And lastly, this whole post is coming from one sleep deprived Mama. Toby is cutting the last of his 2 year molars, both top ones at once.....yeah and boo hiss all at once. So he is either a whiny mess or a grouchy wonster. Not sure which one I like better, they both are exasperating. Liliana also is just not right though I cannot pinpoint why. She is not running a fever and I cannot see or feel any new teeth. Her eyes seem puffy and dull, so it could be allergies. And her sleeping is completely off track. She woke up screaming at 4:15-4:30 this morning and didn't go back to sleep for 30 minutes. Then as soon as I laid her down she screamed her lovely head off. In the process waking up EVERYONE. It was at least another 30-45 minutes before I got her back to sleep. Then it was back up at 7 after just falling back to sleep. I am so tired I think I might take a nap today. lol

Here's hoping that today is a better day and this weekend is even better!

HAPPY 4th ANNIVERSARY....

to my best friend, my husband. I could never even begin to put into words what you or our love means to me and how it has affected me all the way down to my soul. So I will let the words to our wedding song do it for me....there was a reason we picked it and it still rings true today. I LOVE YOUE BABY! And to quote another song "He's the voice I love to hear someday when I'm ninety. He's that wooden rocking chair I want rocking right beside me. Everyday that passes I only love him more. Yeah, he's the one that I'd lay down my own life for. And he's everything I ever wanted and everything I need. He's everything to me." (ps you'll notice I changed the pronouns to fit. lol) Can't wait to see you at dinner!!!!


If you get out in the drivin' rain Stand in the eye of the hurricane And never think twice If you turn your back on selfishness And your thoughts are for someone else Cause' they've changed your life
That's how you know it's love That's how you know it's meant to be When the span of forever Just never seems long enough That's how you know it's love
When your heart insists that you give it all When you no longer fear the fall And you just let go When the past is finally dead and gone Fate leads you somewhere to the one That has your soul
That's how you know it's love That's how you know it's meant to be When the span of forever Just never seems long enough That's how you know it's love
No part of you questions No part of you doubts You're only sure this is what love's about And nothing and no one Can stand in your way Or keep you from sayin' what your heart is dyin' to say
That's how you know it's love That's how you know it's meant to be When the span of forever Just never seems long enough That's how you know it's love

What We Learned Last Night....

That we are highly unprepared for the power to go out for an extended period of time. Yesterday Tropical Depression Ike came through Ohio. Now my area was lucky, we only got the high winds....no rain. The wind kicked up after dinner and was impressive to watch. As we drove home, it pushed the car around and several times cars had to drive around tree branches. We had no sooner got in the house and started picking up the yard furniture that the power went out. Evidently two transponders blew. Yippee! I knew where the candles were and where the lighter was. One major problem...the lighter didn't work. And we couldn't find any other lighters or matches at that point in time in the dark. Greg also needed batteries for the radio so he could listen to the Steelers game (and to a lesser degree for the weather report). We couldn't find any batteries for the radio so Greg headed back out to the corner store for batteries, a new lighter, and a flashlight. While he was gone, I got out Toby's cluck cluck chicken flashlight to look for some matches that I knew were somewhere. I found some in Godfather's office....THANK YOU Godfather...and began lighting the candles. When Greg came home with batteries, we got the radio to work and we remembered where one of our flashlights was that wasan't burned out. So what we learned...I have to go shopping so I can make a power outage kit. And I need a couple better flashlights, because cluck cluck chicken flashlight isn't the best. lol

The power came back on in the middle of the night. And upon surveying the damage in the daylight....there are tons of leaves and sticks all over my yard and a few branches here and there but no down trees...which is really amazing because I have a ton of trees and some are not in good condition.