Rock of Ages

After Christian and the Blue Devils Theater competed in VHSL States and he got his big award, he decided not to audition for the school musical. He felt like he needed to do less and chose indoor track, work, school, and seminary and chose to let theater go for the winter. I totally understood and respected his choice, but at the same time it broke my heart that he wouldn't be in the musical his Senior year. I worried that he would regret it and also I felt sad for myself too because I love watching him perform.

Well, a week or two into rehearsals, one of the students, who was cast as Stacee Jaxx, determined that he could no longer be in the play. Mrs. Mitchell, director extraordinaire, asked Christian if he could fill in. She said that they understood his commitment to the track team and would work with him schedule-wise so that he wouldn't miss any meets and wouldn't have to miss too many practices either. This was so kind and made my heart so happy. It helped them and us!

Christian got covid and we also took our family cruise for a week in January, all during the limited rehearsal time! Despite these things, he showed up and delivered a really fun performance as the arrogant Stacee Jaxx.

The show was really fun and full of talented singers, actors, dancers, and a live band!

A look at the program and Christian's bio.

This was part of his entrance. He walked down the aisle from the back of the auditorium, high-fiving, hugging, waving, showing off his chest, blowing kisses, etc. When he got to the stairs to the stage, he gave a lovely pelvic thrust. When he got onto center stage he pulled up his pants in a way that made the spotlight hit his bum. It was both hilarious and horrible. Haha.

Other highlights from his performance were his songs with his band, Arsenal, the bathroom scene with Sherry, and his broom fight with Sherry. He really was a big stage presence and made us all laugh.

 

Katherine turns 11!

Katherine had her birthday party on February 10 and was allowed to invite 10 friends! Amazingly, they were all able to come. 

She wanted to recreate a party that she had before and enjoyed. She likes familiar. Decorating cupcakes and a Valentine's theme again!

A little prep work on my part, but a pretty easy party overall.

The girls spent a good chunk of time decorating cupcakes.

They looked pretty and tasted good too, if I do say so myself.

The girls also had a nail polish station set up in the basement. They painted nails and then played games like hide and go seek. Kate and I agreed that they didn't really need me to organize games this time. She also didn't want to open presents in front of people, so we hadn't planned on it. They were still playing as parents arrived to pick them up.

I felt bad when parents had to stay at the end because the girls wanted to see Katherine open the gifts that they brought her. They were very generous and Katherine loved the presents. More though, she was glad to have friends over and to spend time with them. We want to have her friends over more frequently as she approaches middle school.

She had school on her actual birthday.

She let me come visit for lunch, but didn't want fast food or any special treats or cupcakes for her class. She really didn't want the extra attention in that way. I was both sad and proud that she didn't want anything special and wanted to pack her own lunch. I sure loved visiting with her!

That afternoon we had to wait until everyone was home to have a party.

She chose creamy Italian chicken and broccoli for dinner.

She loves chilling at home and watching tv.

In this case, she chose Dude Perfect.

She got some stickers that looked like her- vans and campers and outdoorsy things.

She also opened a new sweater and new math 24 cards with holes punched out and a ring to store them on so that they don't get lost.

Mark Rober shirt from Grandma was a hit!

And Stem kits for her to build and experiment with were exciting too. 

Brownies and ice cream for the win!

May all of your wishes come true, Sweet Girl! We love you so much!

And back to tv for a little bit before bedtime. (Note that she is resting with the new softball mitt that she got for her birthday, but Danny gave it to her a few days early because they went to play. )

 

Galentine's Weekend 2023

We had another super fun Galentine's Weekend at the River! It is probably best summarized by V's reel. Feel free to check it out!

Galentine's Weekend

Grandma, Lorel, Ella, Eve, Katherine and I showed up first and we decorated the house and unloaded our good food. Then we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which we hadn't seen in years. We found it to be pretty funny!

 As soon as V arrived after work we had pizza for dinner. Rudy's is under new ownership and is a bit different now, but was still good. 

The girls decided to challenge themselves to a polar plunge, but only Katherine brought a bathing suit. They considered going in their clothes or skinny dipping, but never fear- Grandma's old bathing suits to the rescue! This turned into a funny fashion show! (I have plenty of video clips. Haha, blackmail?) They added cute glow-in-the-dark heart glasses and other accessories for the fashion show. My favorite was a bathing suit skirt, which could have worked as a bathing suit. We had some clever ideas for it, right girls?! Ok, I am being cheeky. Eve fashioned it in a much more appropriate way here. It was a frigid February night and the water was freezing, but they did it!

 Pretty hilarious to watch them challenge themselves to get to the depth they had planned (past shoulders, but their heads didn't have to go under) and then to run out, up the hill, and all together into the bathtub/shower to warm up! Haha, they accidentally pulled down the curtain rod.

After they started to defrost, grandma gave us all hot-pink sweatshirts! So cute!

Lorel brought and prepared fun mocktails- strawberry dacquiries and shirley temples! Yum!

Grandma brought lots of chocolate covered strawberries!

Eve prepared and directed a bunch of fun Valentine's games! Thanks, girl! They were fun and led to a lot of fun discussions too.

We had a chill morning. For breakfast we had fruit and yogurt parfaits with yogurt that I made in the instant pot. Then, we went on a walk and looked at a cool house down the creek from us (intended to be a bed and breakfast) that is for sale. 

Great weekend!