Jack-a-Lope is THREE! (Whew, finally!)

Okay, so i know that I've been MIA for the past month and a half, but i think i have a pretty good excuse.  The fact is that there's so much to be done when moving that I can't quite justify blogging as the guilt of not being more productive is overwhelming.  Truth is, it's okay for me to blog and not feel guilty as this is really like a journal to me, documenting my life and thoughts, that one day will hopefully be valuable to my posterity.  So today's blog is about Jack's birthday, which, yes, was the 12th of March which is exactly one month and one day ago, HOWEVER i did take the pictures and i do want to remember the memories. 

Be prepared that in the next few days as i get back into the habit of blogging there will be a vomiting of them like a woman with morning sickness!  I have lots to catch up on so please excuse the "outdatedness" (nope that's not a real word) of it all.

Back to Jack! 

Jack-a-lope has been excited for his third birthday ever since Christmas. (mainly because the only way i could appease him that he would soon get more presents that he didn't get enough of for Christmas - apparently, was to tell him he had a birthday coming up soon).  He pretty much asked everyday though from Christmas to his birthday if today was his birthday.  :-)

We celebrated on the Sunday after his birthday and had our dearest friends over for dinner after church.  Jack decided that his cake was going to be pretty much like what Eden's was except he really focused on the Zebras.  This time i made even the frosting from scratch as i recently found out that even white frosting bought in the stores has food coloring in it too (the shock and the horror) and having two kids that really can't handle coloring i was forced to forgo the Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting we all love so much. Hey, if anyone has a "from scratch" cream cheese frosting suitable for cakes, let me know please! (i know you do!) :-)

I think Jack had a fabulous time being the center of attention and thanks to the Schutzes, as usual, Jack had endless gifts to open, the TRON cars were a huge hit!  ;-) 

Jack has mastered how to hold up three fingers when he's asked how old he is and is now finally not asking for things for his birthday, lol.  Boy do i love this little guy of mine!

Also from the Schutzes!  He loves it!

Love Hurtz....

....and so does acting apparently!  I have not acted in any form since really 8th grade although i was in the choir for a couple of musicals in High School, but singing is definitely NOT acting.  It really was a draining experience, but i am willing to bet that being a mother to four and wife to one, a full-time home-school teacher and part-time dental hygienist for starters had something to do with this being the experience that it was.  And contrary to what "some" people may think, i was not hating it every step of the way ;-).

My good, dear, beloved, friend, Sara Schutz was the director for the show "Love Hurtz" which played at Lincoln Memorial University the 16th-19th of Feb., and in my words anyway, "coerced" me along with my husband who will probably resent that i said this, into doing the show (really i only had like 10 lines i think, maybe less).  Anyway, she directs all the shows there and does a fabulous job.  I did enjoy working with her (like i'd have any other experience with such a wonderful glorious woman!) and i hope we were cooperative actors for her to try to shape and mold.

I will say though that the most rewarding part of this whole ordeal was seeing the kids act.  That's right, the part that Sara wrote and cast us as was a "family" in a scene to begin and end Act 1.  So John and i were the parents of Eden and Immanuel.  Not too hard right?  ;-)  Well i am no director, but i thought Immanuel was a natural!  Of course it helps that he and Eden have an amazing ability to memorize things.  No joke, after we had rehearsed ONE time at home as a family Immanuel had it down already.  He also put feeling into it and was excited and i was definitely impressed with his 9 year old self.  Eden got into it more and more as we kept rehearsing and by the end of the show, she was sure that she was completely famous!

In fact one day we were passing by the bank and it announced the show at LMU on one of those electronic boards that also tell the time and weather.  She was blown away and was like, "YES!  Now i really am famous!"  LOL! They really got excited that they got to bow at the end of the show too.  Despite the trial of making this all work, my love for Sara and seeing my children's characters come to life more made it all worth while.  And no, Sara that doesn't mean you can ask me to do any other shows, even though you already have!  ;-)

I will also mention that the last couple of nights doing the show i really enjoyed myself as we stayed till the end for curtain call and i had more of an opportunity to get to know the other cast members as previously our little skit had not required us to interact with anyone else.  There are some amazing people there and it was a great cast.  It really is always about the people and the relationships  we form in life, and you are all very talented people. Thank you for being kind to my children, it made their experience all the more fun and enjoyable.

A special thank you to all those who watch my two younger ones too that whole week while we were rehearsing and performing!  You are life savers!  :-)

"The Queen", (Cheryl Shoults)

Johni England was on the hair/make-up crew and is seen hear making "Ginette" (Tracy Loope) perfect for the show.

Tiffany Dean (top left) was also on the hair/make-up crew with her mother Johni.  She was responsible for my "red nose" that several people thought was a real red nose from being really sick.  Here she is making "Dulcibella" (Aspen Goad) perfect for the show!  ;-)

 "And she has a PINK throne!"

 "Princess Camilla (Caitlyn Cline) and Prince Simon (Luke Thompson)"

 Iman waiting backstage with some crew and cast.  

The kids were all about making friends.  :-)

 "Carlo" (Brent Rutter) Eden especially love him.  Such a fun guy!

 "Dulcibella" (Aspen Goad)

"The King" (Greg Shoults)

The set that we were on for our scenes.

"The Chancellor" (Jonathan Spires)

 "Mom's got a RED nose!"

So much work into being beautiful!  ;-)  "The Queen" (Cheryl Shoults)

These next few are shots of us actually on stage for the real show.
A good friend of Cheryl's (our darling friend and the Queen in this show)
took them for us all.

After the show at the party.

 So silly Eden!

 Iman and Raegan playing with the door after the show was all done the last night.  They are so cute!

 John and Sara the Amazing!

 A little party afterwards.

 

 :-)
p.s. I don't have everyone's FB or email so please feel free to share the link with anyone else who was in the show that might like to see this post.  Thanks!

Forbidden Things.....

There are just some things that are forbidden.  I can think of a whole bunch i am sure, but that could take up multiple blogs and no one likes to focus on the negative.  But the other day while we were all out grocery shopping i realized at the check out that i hadn't let Sarah pick out a box of cereal.  So John said he's go with her to let her pick something out. 

I couldn't believe my eyes when he brought back this:

I was like, "Seriously!  What are you thinking?"  John apparently isn't aware of the ongoing rule that cookies for breakfast are forbidden.  My kids will ask me (mainly Eden will ask me) from time to time if they can have this cereal and i ALWAYS say no.  I mean why kind of mother would i be if i let my kids have cookies for breakfast?

So i assessed the situation.....we were already checking out, and didn't really have time to go and get another cereal and John had already told her it was okay.  Sarah apparently said she was also unaware of the no Cookie Crisp for breakfast rule.  So i looked at the sugar content...11g, not horrible and then quickly looked at the sugar content on the box of Frosted Mini Wheats i had in the cart....12g.  (Sarah has to be careful how much sugar she eats) Hmmm......well just this one time, i said. Although no doubt the FMW had some more things in it that were healthier for you, the Cookie Crisp's nutritional content wasn't too horrible, surprisingly enough.

She certainly enjoyed them though.  Eden tried them and said they didn't actually taste like cookies at all.  Jack likewise has thoroughly enjoyed them.  Well, love them while they last, but it will be the last!  ;-)

Pagan Traditions And Other Such Non-Sense......

Well we have many of those don't we?  Things we try turn into Christian holidays that then because of "political correctness" we again turn back into nothingness.....(no joke on a Blue Clues VHS we own from when Iman was a baby they refer to Valentine's Day as Love Day, yep it's true!) well except an excuse for someone to make money.  It always amazes me how much sooner each year the next holiday's decorations and merchandise comes out.  There really isn't a break any more.  We just go from one money maker to the next and buy into it all.  Thinking and feeling that our children or loved ones deserve it all. But they deserve much more, or time an attention really.  In my opinion if you want to make the holiday meaningful then make a resolve to show them everyday how much you love them.  

When i was at Wal-mart on Saturday, trying not to get sucked in myself, i noticed that Wal-mart actually had some Easter things out too.  So i guess now we don't even have to wait for one holiday to be over!  ;-)

As i stood in the store and pondered what i could do to surprise my kids (i hadn't actually planned on doing anything as usually Valentine's Day has been reserved for just John and I in my mind, but Eden specifically asked and i told her no, so i decided to surprise them anyway) I couldn't help but be bothered at how cheap all the products were, like awful chocolate that no one really enjoys eating, and ugly stuffed animals and over priced flowers that don't smell, because after all it is winter.  I didn't want to spend ANY of my hard earned money of anything like that.  I was even almost tempted as there was actually a cute little box of chocolate covered animal crackers that had been decorated as a monkey and Sarah LOVES monkeys.  Then i looked on the back of the package at the nutritional information (sorry force of habit) and notice that there were only 7 cookies in it.  It was three dollars....not a huge sum of money i know, but when you have 4 kids it adds up and I'm afriad that 12 dollars for something that is essentially junk and will in a week or so be forgotton, just doesn't seem justified anymore.

It was then i that i was inspired in the middle of the isle to make my own treat for them.  Duh!  Why didn't i just think of it before?  I decided to make giant sugar cookies and frost them myself with the kids' names on them.  i knew that anything bigger than normal would be thrilling to them and i am happy to report that it was.

So did i get sucked in?  Perhaps a little, but i do make cookies for them all the time anyway and "a little magic in our lives is always a good thing!" (a little tribute to the show i am in with my husband and kids this week  ;-))

I don't really know how or when Valentine's Day started.  I am pretty sure that what we do and celebrate today is not quite what was originally intended.  But this i do know....i love my whole family and my dear sweet friends each and everyday, no matter what the occasion or lack thereof either.  :-)