For the first second third time in her short acting career, Elizabeth was a star stage. Her latest performance is narrator in the show Down the Road and Beyond. Last night was a VIF{very important families}only showing before they bring the show to elementary and middle schools.
This is Jack.
Not Jack of Jack and Jill, Not Jack of Jack be nimble, Not Jack of Jack Spratt,Just Jack. He’s a bit greedy, a little lazy, a tad selfish, and a wee bit bossy. He couldn’t care less and loves to announce that his motto is “I is who I is!”
Jack is startled yet delighted to discover that he has a Fairy Godmother. This Godmother is a seasoned professional has worked with celebrities such as Cinderella and the Princess of the princess and the pea. Jack thinks life could get no better and immediately begins campaigning for the free toys and three wishes he’s heard all fairy Godmothers bring. Fairy Godmother knows better then to start handing out rewards without teaching a lesson first, so she sends him on a mission down the road and beyond. He made a quick, life-threatening stop on Captain Hook’s boat barely escaping walking the plank. Surely he had done enough to earn his toys and wishes, but His Fairy Godmother sent him off again.
Next was a visit with the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood and the cutest Little Pig you have EVER seen. His tail was so cute bonging along behind him as he walked. Not even helping Little Red earned Jack his toys so he went down the road again.
Poor Jack almost lost his life at the hands of the Queen of Hearts. Alice peeked out from behind the queen but could do nothing to help him. The NARRATOR rescued Jack by shouting “freeze!” and Jack skipped away. Jack had a moment of rest when he visited the Emerald City and was entertained by the Lullaby League and Munchkins. This kid really got around.
During his candy break courtesy of the Lollipop Guild, who should appear…
…but the Wicked Witch of the West who had the gall to impersonate the Fairy Godmother! She didn’t fool me, but she did fool Jack who was not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Happily, Jack learned many valuable lessons on his travels. As all the characters came back to haunt him, he learned that he didn’t want to live his life as a bit greedy, a little lazy, a tad selfish, and a wee bit bossy. He didn’t even care that he didn’t get free toys or three wishes.
The End.
Although I didn’t write it, Elizabeth’s narration ran throughout the play and got Jack out of many{if not all}tight spots. She did some ad-libbing that was so her. I doubt she’ll do it during the school shows because the kids probably won’t get it, but we laughed a lot. It was such a fun, fun night. Nothing like ending your day with smiles and laughter!
Thursday found us packing our bags and leaving the state for Andrew’s wedding. According to tradition, we got on the road later than planned but that tradition is so old why bother changing it now? Aaron was thrilled to sit in the back amongst the luggage. Elizabeth and I invented a patent-pending game to keep us occupied while traveling down I-95: pick a tune and a subject for the other person to invent a song about, then sit back and be entertained. Here’s Elizabeth singing a song about street signs to the tune of I’m a Little Teapot.
We made a quick stop in New York City to visit a friend Elizabeth met in her homeschool online writing class. They’ve been writing and talking since the school year began and were so excited to meet in real life. I had never been in an NYC apartment and I was so surprised at how nice Rebecca’s was. You’d never know from the inside that you’re really in the middle of the city. It was such a nice its-not-nearly-long-enough visit. We had a big “its a small world after all” moment while we were there. A missionary to Afghanistan was staying with Rebecca’s family and lo and behold, he grew up in our town and knows some of the same people we do! It was so fun to say ‘do you know Martin soandso?’ or ‘did you graduate with Paula?’ and he would!
Rebecca took us on a very quick tour around her block. Mom and I were somewhat shocked at the news that she frequently runs errands around the city by herself. All by her barely 15-year-old self. I guess things really are different when you grow up in the city! These trees lined the walkway of Columbia University.
I swear I lost 10 years off my life while watching the men’s figure-skating finals at Debbie’s that night. Of course, the two most important people had to skate at the end making me nervous for even longer. Of course, once Evan did skate, there had to be another skater before Yevgeny Plushenko went prolonging the agony. Of course, by the time Yevgeny did go, I was so nervous that he would to do better that I could barely watch. I may or may not{leaning heavily towards the ‘may’} have brought up to the last remaining fellow viewers would really be wrong to pray that Yevgeny falls so that Evan would win? I didn’t want him to get hurt or anything, just a little whoops, there he goes. The fellow viewers said yes, it would be wrong. Clearly, they don’t support their country as much as yours truly.| Pushing 11:52pm, I was finally able to relax when Evan won by ONE point. That one point gave me those 10 years back PLUS a bonus 10 just for good measure. All in all, it turned out to be a successful night.
My Night of Agony in Picutures{my feelings are in blue}:
1. Mr Lysacek takes to the ice{I spend the routine flipping between cheering and saying ‘don’t fall. Don’t fall.’ Can you imagine what would happen if I was his MOTHER?!}
2. The Russian begins his routine{I spend the time praying praying for his dimise covering my eyes while whispering ‘please fall. Please fall. Please fall just a little.’}
3. Mr Lysacek wins the gold{!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should have seen how happy I was to see the final score. A huge weight fell off my shoulders and I got those 10 years back. I didn’t stay up for the medal ceremony because it was already so late and I was sick,but I was there in spirit. I think its probably a blessing the Olympics happen every 2 years. I can’t handle much more of this.}
I know I am so behind on putting up pictures from Daniel and Erika’s wedding, but I have good reasons for it. I’ve been waiting{and waiting and waiting}for my friend Hannah to send me to the pictures her dad took at the wedding so that I could do it all at once. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t use Mr Professionals pictures so I had to wait. Her dad-despite what he said-took somebeautiful pictures during the ceremony and afterward many of which are similar to Mr. Professionals. There are lots and lots of pictures here, but I want to put them up anyway. I showed great self-control in not putting all of them!
Today is 3 months since the rehearsal dinner so its the perfect day to start.
***
I’ve only been to one other rehearsal dinner but I doubt that any will be more fun than Daniel and Erika’s. After we ate, we went to the living room for what was anUndisclosed Event. Turns out they had spent weeks preparing special heartfelt gifts for each of us in the wedding and it was time for the great unveiling.
Each gift was so creative and personalized for the recipient. I’m not surprised by creativity out of Erika,but the level of input from Daniel was STAGGERING. They gave the best speeches for every gift and had us dying of laughter the whole time except when I almost cried. It was so touching!
Wesley’s college has a lot of, shall we say, interesting musicians so Daniel and Erika thought he needed a few accessories to help him fit in: rainbow-striped suspenders, tie-dye shirt with a hippie 70’s group on the front, fake cigarette, and a black fedora complete with fake yellow flowers to top it off.
Between church, work, guitar practice, watching soccer, spending time with Joanna{side note-please marry her}, house sitting, calling his family back home in Africa and much more, Bernard is one busy man. To keep him organized, he now has a clock with tags going all the way around to help him keep track of where he needs to be. They even made him a tag to put at 2 o’clock reminding him of when the wedding was!
Before Erika graduated, she and Rudy were mistakenly taken for robbers when they were locking up the lab. They thought if she was going to be a robber,she might as well look the part…hence the mask,mustache, gloves, and extra-strong pliers. She laughs so easily anyway, so it was almost funnier watching her open the gifts then it was it see what was inside.
Gramma enjoying all the laughter.
The guys with their gifts.
Peter~ What does the person who attends four weddings in Canada within 1 year need? A rain poncho, map, travel games, and maple sugar candy!!
Wesley~ fully decked-out in his outfit
Geoff~ Geoffrey has a mild obsession with his name. He thinks its the coolest thing since sliced bread. I don’t know where D & E got the idea, but they ordered him shorts and a striped tie with his initials sewn on. He likes the tie so much he wore it to a Christmas party.
Bernard~ the busy man and his clock
Andrew~ Daniel and Erika thought he needed a little push in the getting engaged area, so they bought his this huge diamond ring. They also gave him a two picture frame with a picture of him and Debbie on one side, and the Nike ‘just do it’ symbol on the other.
And the girls with theirs.
Debbie~ She wasn’t in the wedding but being the recipient of the huge engagement ring she was in the picture. Sarah~ {oh,that’s me!}I had told Erika a few months away that if they have triplets they can keep one, give one to her mom and the other to me. They bought me three of the cutest little dolls{that hold hands!}and wrapped them up in the blue blanket. How sweet is that?! This was the point I almost cried! ; ) Erika said I don’t have to keep the dolls but I most defiantly am going to save them for their little girls! Dani~ Dani is very, very multi-talented. She’s an assistant manager at JC Penney,a clown, sheep sheerer, pizza maker, creative hairstylist, balloon artist,Irish step-dancer, mime artist, conductor, singer…and the list goes on. For each job, Daniel and Erika made her a real business card with her name and the job description on it!
After the gifts, Wesley played the piano while Dani taught the soon-to-be-weds how to waltz for their first dance. It looked like so much fun that most of us joined in. Erika’s dad was reteaching me and we had the best time together. He’s a very good dancer which means we danced very fast, but I was able to keep up {for the most part}. By the end, we were even twirling!
I slept over Katie’s that night since she lives so close to the church, but I really didn’t sleep much; I was waaaay to excited!!
Those words just about sum up our Christmas. To describe everything would take many, many posts, so instead I’ll try to give a quick summary.{“Quick summary”? Since when have you ever given a quick summary? You haven’t even finished blogging about Daniel’s wedding yet.}
Anyway.
Christmas Eve- Daniel, Erika, and Wesley arrived around 3 o’clock Christmas Eve laden with gifts, food, and the excitement and expectation of, for Erika and Wesley, experiencing for the first time our large, loud, Italian Christmas. We didn’t have to make the long and arduous trek all the way across the yard to my aunt and uncles until 5 o’clock, so we used the time to do what we always do on Christmas Eve: finishing projects and wrapping gifts. Well, some of us did finishing and wrapping. The other some played the piano, drank tea, ate cheese and crackers, and basically just watched us work. But really, it was nice to have the CCE(Cutest Couple Ever)and Wesley to visit with while we were finishing.
Christmas has always had a little bit of sadness since Grandpa died but I’m so thankful its getting a little easier. Of course, I DO wish he was still here, and I DO wish that Erika and Wesley could have known him but I know that he would be happy that we continue to celebrate Christmas the same way we always have. The way we did with him. I also know that he would have LOVED Erika!
We always have tons of delicious food on Christmas Eve but this year just may have topped all the others. If I described it all any last possibility of this being a summary post would go out the window{if it hasn’t already}. I always make fudge and this year I made the winner of The 2009 Search for the Latest and Greatest Christmas Recipe, Oreo Balls. Pure yumminess.
After we ate, we all went into Grandmas part of the house for our Christmas carol sing. Since we had Wesley with us this year, he played and our singing never sounded better. It was so beautiful. Have I mentioned that he’s a very well-known organist in the organist world and I could listen to him playing the piano for the rest of my life and never tire of it? It was the general consensus that he should become our permanent pianist. Our family specialty song is We Three Kings; we always stretch out “oh,Star of Wonder” to “oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….” in honor of Auntie Evelyn{Grandpas sister}who started it.My favorite Christmas carols are
Away in a Manger and Oh Holy Night but I love so many more!
Aaron and Wesley discussing the songs. When Wesley is a very well-know organist to people outside the organist world{the world that I live in}, remember that you first heard about him here.
Grandma and Andrew singing away. I’m pretty sure this was when we were singing The Little Drummer Boy. Or “the rump-a-tum-tum song”, as my uncle calls it.
Skip ahead about half an hour and you’ll find us opening gifts. Almost all the good pictures are on Andrew’s camera which is with him in NJ, but we did get a couple on my camera.
Zachary was so excited about the hat and scarf Mom made him. He kept saying “look Mommy! A scarf! I really wanted a scarf! Look at it, Mommy!” It was really cute.
Alyssa wearing her new hat and scarf. My favorite part? The little button on the visor.
*
When we got home, we did our gifts to/from Daniel and Erika since they spent Christmas day with her family. They gave me a really pretty beaded white and yellow necklace that I wore to church on Sunday. Its nice because its not like any necklace I already had in either style or color. They also gave us an 81/2 by 11 print of the picture we used for our Christmas cards. I love it! And yes, she did really like the earrings I made her!
Examining the sweatshirt that must have been terribly exciting, judging by the way they’re all looking at it! 🙂
This picture was actually taken Christmas morning, but its the only good one from my camera of Elizabeth wearing the earrings the CCE gave her. They also gave her a matching necklace she wasn’t wearing at the time. Aaron gave her the letter Rubiks cube game.
Christmas day will be up tomorrow when I’m done making oreo balls at 12:52AM. And when I’ve had about 62 more hours sleep. And when I finish the post{but thats sort of a given}.
I couldn’t in good conscience not show these pictures from (you guessed it)Erika’s shower. Such a special event demands nothing less then 3 or 35 posts*. So with further ado…
My aunts Diane and Janet with Mom
Auntie Carol and Elizabeth. Carol holds the important position of Mother of the Flower Girl and Ring Bearer. Never underestimate that position; its a high calling.
Grandma with her adopted granddaughter, Katie
I love this picture of when Erika arrived. She honestly had NO idea at all what we had planned. Daniel did an exceptional job of getting her there, and keeping it a surprise, even though so many unexpected things came up and they didn’t arrive ’til 1.5 hours late. I think he just might be a good husband! 😉
I know you’re wondering why we’re all sitting on the stairs having our picture taken with a phone. Being the obliging person that I am, I will explain it to you. Erika choose to have her brother Wesley stand in the place of Maid of Honor. They have always been extremely close and Erika wanted him standing by her side on her wedding day. Although unusual, I understand why she wants to do it. So, since Wesley called just when we were taking our bridal party picture he had to be included in it. He was there in phone in spirit if not in person.
*Heaven help us when the wedding day actually arrives. I just may have to start a whole new blog to cover everything!
We started off our 4th of July weekend by watching Spider Man 1. For whatever reason, we’ve seen Spider Man 3(hereafter referred to as S.M. as it takes to long to type)at lest 4 times already this year and since most of us hadn’t seen S.M. 1 or 2, we got both of them out of the library and watch 2 a few weeks ago and 1 on Friday.
Talk about anticlimactic–seeing the series backwards. I mean, honestly, you know that Spider Man will live through falling(or being pushed) down 500 stories and getting smashed to the ground.
Anyway, by the middle of the movie Mom was starting to talk about why we weren’t watching a more patriotic movie since it was almost Independence Day. I brought up how S.M. is “your friendly neighborhood Spider Man” and how ‘friendly’ and ‘neighborhood’ really do describe America. My sister Elizabeth popped in right then and said “he is wearing red, white, and blue.”
Thats what I was trying to say.
By the time the movie ended, Peter had told Mary Jane that he couldn’t love her(except if you watch number 3, he really does love her. He proposed and everything.),that Green Goblin thing had died, and I wasn’t happy that they watched S.M. 2 without me because I don’t know what happened in it. Did they fall in love? Did Spider Man die? Why do I really care since I am not at all a fan of superheros?
After the movie, we went out to see the fireworks shot off from a local baseball field. I love fireworks; they’re one of my favorite parts of the 4th of July. They didn’t have the best show this year but it was nice to see “live” fireworks anyway. This amazing fireworkography is brought to you by your friendly neighborhood fireworkographer.
Saturday we went to the parade we’ve been going to for the last couple or ten years. We had to leave before it was finished but I’m pretty sure we only missed more candy-throwing, water-spraying floats.
Next on the agenda was a cookout at Katie’s house. They had 5 families over which brought the grand total of kids up to 27. Consequently the line for Four-Square wrapped around part of the driveway and we had 7 chairs set up so the faint of heart(and legs)could sit while waiting their turn. I doubt we even needed the chairs because people we going in an d out of the game so fast that we barely had anytime to sit down before we had to jump up again. It just gave things a more homey-feeling. Please don’t ask how well I played; its a touchy subject.
I’ll stop talking now and just get on with the pictures since you’re probably tired of me talking, talking, talking. You’re welcome.
I have never been so impressed with grass-cutting as I was here. Jimmy cut the grass under the volleyball net into the shape of a flag. How patriotic.
me, Katie and our friend Erin
Elizabeth(my sister), Jennie(Katie’s sister), and Sarah(who by the way, moved here from England. Its very interesting celebrating the 4th of July with English people because, you know, this holiday is celebrating our independence from them.)
I almost forgot that we watched the Boston Pops at night. As usual, it meet and exceded the expectaions of all previous years. It almost had a more “homey” feeling this year. Neil Diamond, a guest singer, sang one of Red Sox fans favorite songs “Sweet Caroline”. I have absolutely no idea why this song is played at every game in Fenway because it has nothing to do with baseball. If you happen to know, please tell me. It must be because it says “so good(way better then the Yankees) ,so good(way better then the Yankees), so good(way better then the Yankees).” But thats just a guess. ; )
Wife, mother, laugh-er at very inopportune moments, and matchmaker. I am an excessive user of commas and exclamation marks. I once won March Madness despite knowing nothing about basketball, and I know how to find all the best Dunkin Donuts coupons. Clearly my talents are just endless.
He made a quick, life-threatening stop on Captain Hook’s boat barely escaping walking the plank. Surely he had done enough to earn his toys and wishes, but His Fairy Godmother sent him off again.
Next was a visit with the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood and the cutest Little Pig you have EVER seen. His tail was so cute bonging along behind him as he walked. Not even helping Little Red earned Jack his toys so he went down the road again.
Poor Jack almost lost his life at the hands of the Queen of Hearts. Alice peeked out from behind the queen but could do nothing to help him. The NARRATOR rescued Jack by shouting “freeze!” and Jack skipped away.
Although I didn’t write it, Elizabeth’s narration ran throughout the play and got Jack out of many{if not all}tight spots. She did some ad-libbing that was so her. I doubt she’ll do it during the school shows because the kids probably won’t get it, but we laughed a lot. It was such a fun, fun night. Nothing like ending your day with smiles and laughter! 
Elizabeth and I invented a patent-pending game to keep us occupied while traveling down I-95: pick a tune and a subject for the other person to invent a song about, then sit back and be entertained. Here’s Elizabeth singing a song about street signs to the tune of 
