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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Act 2; Scene 32: My Favorite Thank You Note

As I was cleaning out one of our rooms, trying to make some more room for when a third person joins us with all of their junk, I came across a few thank you notes that I had saved from when I went to do some workshops for a little kids' daycare center. 

And when I saw this card, I knew why I kept it. It has to be one of the funniest things I have seen.

A nice tree on the front

with this on the inside. 


Whatever this inside message means, I take it as a huge compliment that Victor thought to include Harry Potter in my thank you note. 

Is this not the funniest little card you have ever seen?

Act 2; Scene 31: Recap of The Little Red Hen

Yesterday was a big day.

It was the final performance of my little 5-7 year old Broadway Bound's production of "The Little Red Hen." Most of the little actors' very first stage play debut! 

And let me tell you, they were excited. So excited they could hardly contain themselves. In attempting to give them a 2 minute pep talk about how hard we've worked and how awesome the are the little cuties kept popping out with "I saw my mom in there!" and "When are we going to the stage?" and "My little brother is 2!" so we shortened it to about 30 seconds and just let them at it. 

Here is a picture of all of us about 10 minutes before starting the big show.

Excited faces

Funny faces!

And can I just say, these kids were adorable to watch. Just as adorable was their very colorful set that they got to create. I am so glad I thought to have them help build the set. That may have been their favorite part!

The house with sky and the oven

The very colorful fence
Here are a few favorites from the show:

The hen and her chicks working hard
The Fox Song
Oh dear Eric and his dog ears...
Jacob the fox trying so hard to remember his lines

The chicks pecking at the hidden fox
The pig rolling in the mud

And finally, Robert managed to capture the last half of the Finale Dance. Enjoy!



Happy singing and dancing!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Act 2; Scene 30: Look What I Just Made!

I just want to take a little moment to brag about something I just did in an effort to:
  1. Make a good/different home made meal
  2. Find a creative way to use all of the celery we got in our Bountiful Basket
  3. EAT HEALTHY!!!!!!
Speaking of this last one--#3--it has been constantly on my mind lately. Probably because there is a baby inside of me that I am trying to give a healthy start to life. Also because the only thing that baby seems to want me to eat is fried food or cake. Also because I have been feeling just so fat lately!

So we ordered a Bountiful Basket overflowing with fruits and veggies (and each time is a surprise--makes it fun to find things to do with what you get in your basket). In that basket was lots of celery. So this is what I just made for dinner tonight:
Find recipe here
A celery apple salad! Complete with celery leaves and everything! Also includes cabbage, carrots, and walnuts with a home made lemon/dijon/honey/olive oil vinaigrette. Delicious, right? Healthy, right?

I am very proud of this salad. It is fresh and home made and delicious-looking. I hope it tastes as good as it smells. Mmmm, lemon!


And then to celebrate the success, I snacked on a cookie.


...


Hey, at least I went to the gym this morning. That counts for something, right?
Happy healthy eating, all :-)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Act 2; Scene 29: Valentine's Day

A couple of awesome things happened today. 

This is what my husband came home to:


This is what my husband came home with:

 
 This was part of our dinner:

Grilled ham and cheese   


Say hello to a FIRST PLACE door!!!



And...drum roll...say hello to:


(Freaky skeleton head)

A new MR. Center!

showing off his goods


So bring on the blue and green, overalls, trucks, basketballs, and dinosaurs. Let's also not forget cute hats and sweater vests. We'll be ready, Mr. C!


Happy Valentine's Day to all, and to all a good night.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Act 2; Scene 28: A red and pink bomb went off in our apartment this weekend

This is what was taking over our apartment all weekend long:


Valentine making! We have been going crazy around here! The reason? Our apartment complex is having a door decorating contest to celebrate Lovers' Day. The incentive?
  1st place: $60 off of rent
2nd place: $40 off rent
3rd place: $20 off rent

So obviously we had to participate and we had to be super creative about how we would decorate our door. Robert came up with the idea of making our door into a little kids' Valentine box--you know, the kind you used to make to take to school on the big day? I thought it was an awesome idea. Well, a few boxes and Valentine's later, the idea morphed into hanging a little kids' Valentine box (actually much easier than trying to make our entire door 3D) overflowing with Valentine's falling into a big pile of funny little Valentine's at the bottom of the door. I got to work making tons of "little kid" Valentines while Robert worked on creating the box itself. I really should have taken a picture of the whole apartment--the coffee table (new, might I add) was only half of the Valentine craziness. Here is our finished product: 

Couldn't quite get the whole door in, so this is the top

This is the bottom

Side view!
I don't know if it actually looks like how we planned, but we think it's pretty awesome :-). Notice the dangling Hershey's kiss from the trailing Valentines. Also, if you look closely in the middle picture, you can see a "crush list" and a "Will you be my boyfriend?" request--two of my favorites :-).  

The judging ensues tonight. We will know tomorrow if we are an awesome winner of some reduced rent. Wish us luck! And have a happy Valentine's Day!

And stay tuned....tomorrow we find out if our little alien is a girl or boy!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Act 2; Scene 27: Happy February First!

That's right, happy February! I LOVE a good chance to celebrate another holiday. Especially one as fun as Valentine's Day. Besides Cupid's day, here are a few other things we are looking forward to in the month of February:

Groundhog day

Super Bowl (I say go Giants, Robert says the Patriots)

Birthdays (Kris, Harry, and Sam)

Finding out if our little bell pepper is a boy or a girl

President's Day holiday

Broadway Bound's performance of "The Little Red Hen" the musical

A short month--meaning July is coming faster :-)

What a great month! I decided to welcome it in with a fresh batch of Valentine cookies. Well...I hope it was welcoming and not too frightening, as it was a first attempt that didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped. Here is what I was hoping for:

(Find recipe here)

And here is how it actually turned out:

Who knew that piping cookie dough out of a zip-lock could be so tricky? And despite the color you see above, I actually did dye the dough red. Well, I tried. They are chocolate, and when I put in all of my remaining red dye, it turned out more of a burnt sienna (thank Dad for the knowledge of that color). However, the camera made them look just plain brown. 

Despite the looks, they taste good, especially with that cream cheese frosting in the middle. And you definitely only need one--they are super rich, and big!

So welcome, February! Stay awhile! And bring lots and lots of red and pink and candy and lovin'.

Have fun Valentining!