Simply Sandra

Super Summer Information

2010-02-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

Super Summer is having an informational meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb 16 @ 6:30 pm to provide information regarding Spring Mountain Ranch State Park and the NV State budget cuts that could impact and even close the park and Super Summer Theatre. Please come.

It will be at Roundy Elementary School in the multi-purpose room. 2755 Mohawk St · Las Vegas 89146 (Lindell & W Sahara)

You can also help by passing this on and contacting your Representatives. Let them know how important the ranch is to our community and us. Let them know that Super Summer brings in over 36,000 people to the park each summer, we are a non-profit organization working with and for the community. If you don't know what district you are in you can go to "votesmart.org" and put in your zipcode.

Call if you have questions.

Thanks -Christy Miller / 736-4744

Senate List

http://www.leg.state.nv.us/26th2010Special/Legislators/Senators/slist.cfm

Majority Leader and Co-Chair of Finance Committee

http://www.leg.state.nv.us/26th2010Special/Legislators/Senators/Horsford.pdf

House List

http://www.leg.state.nv.us/26th2010Special/Legislators/Assembly/alist.cfm

Speaker of The House
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/26th2010Special/Legislators/Assembly/Buckley.pdf

My Crazy Friend

2010-02-15T01:29:00.000-08:00

Check out my crazy friend, Jessica. Yup, she's nuts in a completely fabulous way.

You should see her blog and help me win her stuff!

http://thelowefamilynews.blogspot.com/2010/02/12-weeks-of-give-uh-ways_15.html

Normally, I would be sad....

2010-01-24T00:43:00.001-08:00

Pipers very long hair has always been a pride and joy to me. I never had the patience to grow it out when I was a kid, but wished I did. I had long hair not to long ago and am probably growing my own hair out again.

Last year, Piper's school was doing a haircut drive for Locks of Love. Well, her hair wasn't quite long enough then to cut it and still have something left. It has gotten very long since then and I decided it was time for a trim. Piper had really wanted to cut her hair that first time, but we kinda scared her out of it. I asked her if she wanted to cut it all off so she could donate it now. She thought it over for a while and decided she would like to cut if off so she could donate it. So, here's how long it earlier tonight...

Then....

And now:

There is a part of me that's really sad....BUT, it's all washed away with the thought of helping children who just want to feel pretty and normal. I'm sure they are going to love getting Piper's thick, beautiful blonde hair. And then she can grow it out and we can do it again!

New Yeah, New Post

2010-01-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

Happy new year....2 weeks late. Hard to believe another year went by...and so quickly!

I'm staying really busy with lots of projects - some new, some ongoing:

ALL SHOOK UP: Costume Design/Supervisor

FAIRYTALE COUTURE: Ongoing marketing, parties, new costumes, skills, etc.

DRAMA CLOSET: Theatrical costume rentals by the Huntsmans! This is my newest passion and something we are working VERY hard at!'

Not to mention kids, homework, housework....so what I'm saying is that I'M BUSY!

Ok, that is all.

Well.....

2009-12-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't blogged since July. I guess I'm just a facebook person!

I'll catch you up....August - ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. Steve directed, I built costumes with Valinda... you can check out photos here: http://www.signatureproductions.net/OOTIPhotosPage.htm

September...recovered from ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and worked on Princess dresses...had a photoshoot

for the launch of Fairytale Couture.... you can visit us at http://www.fairytale-couture.com/

October

Can you say costume-a-thon? Of course not. And why would you. It's stupid. But, my life in October.

From L-R Top: Snoopy, Ariel, Snow White, Scooby Doo

Bottom - Little Bo Peep, Belle, Victorian Vampire and Rockstar

November

10 Santa Jackets aka stretch velvet hoodies with ostrich boa around the hoods and cuffs. Very not fun. Also rehearsed for my Top Secret Canadian Project, which was niether top nor secret but most definitely Canadian....well, for Canadian audiences....

Also did a benefit performance for a friend. Sang Dolly Parton. Dug the costume but not the wig.

December

Had my first party booking...and second! Also played Belle in a parade in Boulder City....Froze my buns off, but it was fun.

Then, ventured to the great white north to star, well, supporting star in HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA with my friends Kellie and Tai and my new friend, Kevin. We had a blast! Survived snow and -43 degree weather. Went to the worlds largest mall....twice! But may I just say that I truly enjoy being flown out of town (or the country), staying in a private hotel room, having meals comped and being PAID to SING. It's really, really wonderful and I'm grateful for the opportunity. And Steve is just the best - never complains for a moment and takes great care of the kids.

Here I am, with Kellie, Kevin and Tai, in my really "lovely" beaded gown.

The photo in my current blog header is my other costume in the show.

Looking forward to a nice, quiet Christmas before the chaos of next year starts...which will actually begin on December 26th. I'll try to check in a little more often....or just follow me on Facebook under Sandra Stimmel Huntsman.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We've got TALENT!

2009-07-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the North Stake's Annual Pioneer Days. It's quite an event - attracting thousands of people. I go for the corn. And the talent show.

The babies...waiting for fireworks.

The hubs, Lee & Sheree, also waiting for the fireworks.

Lulu!

Lola with her favorite cousin, Abbie!

Chloe, waiting for the Talent show.

Piper - the BIRTHDAY GIRL! In her lovely, Sleeping Beauty Esque dress.

What a cute trio, ready to perform!

And - here we are. Unfortunately, the sound system was pretty poor and Steve didn't realize the camera could zoom until I was performing. I wish it were the other way around!! The girls did such a great job - it was Piper's first time on stage.

Survey says....

2009-07-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

Stolen from Valinda. Needed a break from costumes.

1. Your ex is on the side of the road, on fire. What do you do?
Pull over and help! Haven't seen him in 0ver 11 years.

2. Your best friend tells you she is pregnant. What is your reaction?
Depends on the friend (I don't have one friend I consider my best friend except my husband - in which case I'd be truly shocked.)

3. When is the last time you wanted to punch someone in the face?
Monday Evening

4. What is the last thing you spent money on?
TP, Underwear for Ryder, Snacks and a T-shirt for me (on sale) at Target

5. Do you think you gained or lost weight this past month?
Probably gained. :(

6. Crunchy or Puffy Cheetos?
Puffy

8. Congratulations! You just had a son. What's his name?
Ryder Owen, but it was 3.5 years ago

9. Congratulations! You just had a daughter. What's her name?
Lola Belle, but it was 2 years ago

10. What are you craving right now?
Stability

11. What was the last thing you cried about?
Frustration

12. When you buy something and your change is 2 cents, do you keep it or tell the cashier to keep it?
Put it in my cup in the car

13. What color is your tissue box?
Don't have one, TP is fine for me

14. Do you have a ceiling fan in your bedroom, and if so, is there dust on that fan?
No, so no

15. What was the last voicemail you received about?
Enrichment tomorrow

16. Have you ever blocked someone on Facebook?
Yes. People who can't express themselves without using explatives are GONE!

17. Scariest thing you've experienced in the last year?
Blow Me Bubbles

18. Do you wear a name tag at work?
Not since I was first married

19. What kind of car do you want?
Practical - Nissan Quest, Dream car - Fiat Spider

20. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?
Beef Baja Chalupa if I don't care, Chicken Ranchero Taco Fresco Style if I do

21. Have you ever had a garage sale?
Yes. Good times.

22. What color is your iPod?
White. It's old school.

23. What is the last alcoholic beverage you had?
A Virgin Daqueri

24. Are you happy right now?
Mood - not particularly, no.

25. Who came over to your house last?
Sheree! She brough cute clothes for my kiddos.

26. Do you drink beer?
No.

27. Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted?
No, but I've told them.

28. What is your favorite key on your key chain?
One that's not there yet.

29. What was the last movie you watched at home?
First half of Atonement.

30. What is in your pocket?
Nothing

31. Who introduced you to your significant other?
Theatre

32. Where do you hurt?
My arm is sore from grommeting again.

33. Has someone ever made you a build a bear?
No, certainly not.

34. What's something fun you did today?
Bought myself a t-shirt in a color I really liked.

35. What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart?
Electronics. I like to drool.

36. When is your birthday?
May 4

37. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?
No

38. How many states in the US have you been to?
Hmm..I don't know, though I've driven across country twice in my life. I'm gonna say 25-30.

39. What kind of milk do you drink?
Fat Free (usually mixed into something)

40. What are you going to do after this?
Pattern Papa Ge's coat

41. Who was the last person you went shopping with?
Me, myself and I

42. What is something you need to go shopping for?
Need? Snacks for our trip this weekend. Want...Macbook.

43. Do you have the same first name as one of your relatives?
Nope

44. What kind of cars do your parents drive?
2 Honda's, I think

45. Are you rich?
Nope

46. What color is your couch?
Define your

48. What famous person do you look like?
Well, I got asked it I was a Katie Holmes impersonator the other day, I think it was just the hair. And the fact that I was on stilts.

49. Does someone like you right now?
No one around here.

50. Say you were given a pregnancy test right now. Would you pass or fail?
The result would be negative - it's not a pass/fail kinda test. And I would be happy that it's negative.

51. Favorite pop-tart flavor?
S'mores

52. Do you know anyone in jail/prison?
Not personally.

53. What are your plans for the weekend?
Family Reunion in the boonies

54. Do you like the color green?
Yes! But not forrest. HATE forrest green.

55. Who was the last person you sent an instant message to?
Erik

56. Last restaurant you went to?
Canes. Mmmmm.

57. How many hours did you sleep for last night?
6 ish

58. Do you swear at your parents?
Nah.

59. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now?
Probably not, and that's fine.

60. Have you ever changed your clothes while in a vehicle?
Quite frequently in my princess days.

61. What is your ringtone?
The horn part in "You're Just Too Good To be True" by the 4 Seasons just before "I love you baby". When it rings and I'm in a crowded room, everyone always starts singing. It's fun.

62. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Video Editing

Drumroll please...

2009-07-04T00:43:00.001-07:00

Here it is - a montage of my performances in SHOWSTOPPERS TOO! at the Northern Quest Casino in Spokane, WA.

(I'll post a higher quality version on my Facebook on monday...)

Yes, me too!

2009-06-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I have never been that affected by the death of a celebrity before. I mean, I am usually sad to hear about it because I always feel bad for the families and loved ones of those people.

Though I have no way been in mourning or even shed a tear for his passing, I find myself pre-occupied with Michael Jackson. Perhaps it is because he is the first icon that I have experienced first hand to pass. I remember Thriller - not the video because we didn't have MTV, but the song. I loved how theatrical it was. I remember "BAD". I was so confused - was it good to be bad all the sudden? Why would you want to be bad? But that bassline - OH that bassline - who could forget that? I also remember Weird Al Yancovik's version - "FAT". I wanted a glove. I would sometimes take off one of my winter gloves in the freezing weather of an upstate NY winter just to be cool.

And then came the pinacle of my Michael Jackson experience. I'm thinking it was around 1988 - we took a family trip to Southern California to visit my Grandma. And we went to Disneyland. I don't remember much from that trip - I actually don't remember any rides, except for wimping out of Space Mountain (which my own children would never do in a million years). But I remember Captain EO.

Quick Tangent: My parents were not into pop culture at all - which was not a bad thing, but my husband still teases me that I've never really seen The Brady Bunch. We did watch The Cosby Show, but I was only vaguely aware of a lot of the 80's culture. I did listen to the radio and take note of classmates hammar pants and concert t-shirts, but mostly I lived in a world of classical music, Barry Manilow and childrens television. I DO remember She-ra, My Little Pony's, Smurfs and I had Whitney Houston and Debbie Gibson tapes...all that good stuff, just not a lot of MJ.

Anyway, Captain EO was special. The 3-D was cool, but the movie itself - well, I know it's cliche'd, but it really did make an impact on me. Something about the music and choroegraphy made me feel amazing! I remember leaving the theatre speechless. I couldn't describe how I felt - it's like I was in a daze, playing the music over and over in my mind, trying to remember the images I had just seen. And it made me long to be up there, on that screen . Whenever I go see a production that I love, I have this overwhelming desire to be up there, be invloved. That's the first time I remember having that feeling. I had some spending money - and I immediately bought a Captain EO sweatshirt. LOVED that thing! My sister was kind enough to post these photos to my Facebook today. She ROCKS!'

Ilona, my siser, and me just back from Disneyland. My sunglasses had Minnie Mouse on the lenses. And I am actually wearing shorts. :) That's my grandma Stimmel in the background.

Ah, yes. The short hair/perm years. Camping in upstate NY. At least I don't have a mullet like my sister Jessica (to my right). Well, at least not in this photo. My brother Jimmy is to the left and Ilona, also in an unfortunate short hair stage, is behind me with my dad.

I don't want to say that I became a performer because of Captain EO because that wouldn't be true. But it is definitely one the earliest memories from my childhood that I can pinpoint where I recognized that excitement - the excitement from good, energizing entertainment. I mean, all those rides at Disneyland and I can't for the life of me remember any from that trip. I remember "We are here to change the world!"

I can't say I was a huge fan of MJ after that - I knew I loved "We are the World" and the video for "Black or White" - it was just cool, especially the end with all the people morphing together. Still total coolness. My sister and I used to love to make movies with our video camera. One time, we made this murder mystery and my sister Ilona played Michael Jackson in it. As I type, I am cracking up just thinking about it. Genius! (Even better than our Wayne's World movie.)

As for his controversial years, I just feel badly for him. None of us can imagine what his life was like - to have that much power with absolutely no perspective on what real life is.

So, thanks Michael Jackson! I hope you are finally at peace.

Back to life, back to reality!

2009-06-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

Ok - well, I'm back. Made it home on Sunday night - even with a 3 hour flight delay. I was so excited to see me family again! I had a wonderful time, but it's good to be home! Here are a few more pictures of me in the show!

Before the show - see my new bangs, though I should have brushed them!

My Maria costume!

"Our Favorite Son" - You should youtube it - we did the original Tommy Tune choreography.

Me as Christine and Chris Coyne as the Phantom - so much fun!!

I even got a boat!

There are also lots of pictures on my facebook - facebook.com/sandrahuntsman. I hope I get the opportunity to do something like this again. And, as soon as I can, I'll post some video! I should be getting my copy before too long.

I'm ON THE ROAD!

2009-06-05T16:02:00.001-07:00

First of all, my movie shoot was a blast! As soon as I can, I'll do a couple of blogs on it with all sorts of fun stuff - but for now, my non-disclosure agreement is in effect...so you'll just have to wait until August!

The shoot did end up going an extra night, so, on Monday night, I got on set at 8:00pm. We wrapped at about 6:15am. My flight to Spokane was at 10:05 am, which meant I needed to get to the airport at 8:30 am. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep before getting on the plane, which was fun. I did sleep on the plane the whole way to Spokane - a whole 2 hours. Once we got off, we went straight to the hotel, got our keys and were told we didn't have to be to rehearsal until 7 pm. Music to my ears! I slept from like 2 to 6pm and was actually able to rehearse with some level of dignity.

Wednesday was a long day of rehearsals - 11am to 11:30 pm, and then yesterday was a dress rehearsal at 2pm and our opening night show at 7:30 pm. I think it went well! I do wish that I had my husband in the audience to give me an honest opinion of the show, but oh well!

So, here are few shots of me in costume and rehearsals. I'm hoping to get some video before long.

In my Christine (from Phantom of the Opera) costume which I made myself!

Rehearsing for "There's No Business Like Showbusiness" with Lynn Steinhurst, Steven Midura, Kellie Wright (she was in Millie with me), and Chris Coyne.

Oh, Kelly and Chris!

"Let's go on with the show!"

My Grizabella makeup!

This is the costume and wig I wear in "No Business Like Showbusiness"

That wig has prompted a new hairstyle I've been thinkin about...

Seeing as how I'll have a lot of free time, I'll be working on getting some of the things I've missed out on lately up. I have new photos Thoroughly Modern Millie as well as the video to post, pics from our recent trip to Disneyland - ya know, the stuff I've been too busy to post about!

My (secondary) dream job!

2009-05-21T01:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. So many crazy things are happening.

First of all - the title of my post. I just spent the last 3 months supervising costumes for Thoroughly Modern Millie as my readers (both of them) will know! I love it. My duties were taking the design of the show and making it happened. I supervised costume builders and bought lots of costumes. It was awesome!

Well, now I'm supervising wardrobe for a film! A very special top secret project for a NY Times best selling author. It just kinda fell in my lap and I'm loving it. And, it's not every day that you get to discuss a book with the AUTHOR! (On our first meeting, he signed a copy of the first book in his series and I read it. I really liked it! So, this time he gave me #2!) I'm able to hire people I know who are very good at what they do to handle stitching, hair, etc. It's AWESOME! Their goal is for this to be a very high profile thing.

Don't worry - I will certainly be able to tell you all about it in due time, but for now, it's staying on the downlow. This is a GREAT experience that may someday lead to so much more! I'm so blessed. My first dream job will always be performing - which I get to do in 2 weeks. But this is my #2 dream job - wardrobe supervisor/coordinator. :) :) :) :) :)

Ok, so next order of business - Steve and I have been planning a trip to LA/Disneyland for this weekend for quite sometime. Well, Steve gets a call on Monday that they might need him to go do another cruise last minute. He told them no initially, but that he'd see if he could work it out. He decided it was too late in the game and didn't want to cancel our trip, so he was ready to tell them no if they called back and said it was a go. Well, when they called him, they begged. They couldn't book the job without him and the offered more money. EEEK! He was still ready to tell them no, mostly because he knew that I would be really disappointed that I wouldn't be getting to go and I was really looking forward to it. We have been so busy lately that our 10th anniversary and my birthday both passed by with no celebration to speek of. (Steve did get me a massage for mothers day - he rocked it!)

Anyway, he called me to let me know that that they were being persistant. I was really sad! So, I was on my way home and told him we'd talk then. On my drive, I thought - well, maybe I can go anyway somehow. I mean, our hotel room was paid for, I didn't want to just forfeit that money.... I can take Chloe and Piper! I've been wanted to take them without the babies - so why not? I came home and told Steve to go. He started to tell me he was going to tell them no when I said - I'm still going to Disneyland. I'm just going to take the girls with me instead of him! He thought it was a brilliant idea. So, that's the plan.

So, Steve may get to go to BERMUDA! (I'm really jealous, I've always wanted to go there.) but I get a very special weekend with my very special babies. And my dear friend Alda is watching the babies. They are going to have a wonderful time and be spoiled rottin!!!

I'm so grateful for this time of joy and success in my life and am not taking a moment of it forgranted.

All Good Things...

2009-04-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

It's true what they say about all good things - they must come to an end. But the truly good things are often unexptedly so and leave you with enough fond memories and gained knowledge to sustain you until the next good thing. Such was the case with Thoroughly Modern Millie - a production I had originally wanted nothing to do with, but fate stepped in and it has become an incredible experience that has tinted my future a soft shade of pink.

I will post production photos and video when I receive them. In the meantime, you can check out video of Steve and my cabaret performance of "The Song That Goes Like This" from Spamalot and video of the actual show on my Facebook.

Enjoy!

Blessed

2009-04-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

Blessed - that's just how I feel right now. I have so many wonderful things going on in my life right now, I can't help but feel humbled and grateful. Let me count the ways:

1. My tooth is back!

See in the first photo, the gaping hole in my teeth - well, I recently had a root canal done on the tooth and went in for the build up this week. Before - it's been this way for over 2 years, since that fateful night I bit into a filet-o-fish and my tooth broke. I usually photoshop it out, I just felt so trailer with it and it's one of the reasons I have hesitated being a princess again.
After! It's a perfect match. It still needs a crown, but it feels great to smile on both sides again!

Thanks SOOOO much to my friend Joe - he finished up dental school on Friday and is going to Arizona to be a dentist. He is fantastic and is going to be so successsful. Good luck to the Hale family!

2. My oldest baby is 9!

On April 8th, Chloe turned 9. We celebrated with cake and ice cream on her birthday and I also built her a birthday/easter gown in the style of Thoroughly Modern Millie - her very own 20's dress, complete with coordinating cloche hat. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos with her at the show when she came the night after her birthday, but here are some photos from Easter.

She's a natural poser!

Now, where have I seen that before?

3. Piper at the show!

The next night, Piper came to the show. For easter, she wanted a dress just like one of the ones I wear in the show, and I had extra fabric, so I did it for her! She loved it and was precious as can be. I did get pictures of her at the show, as well as Lola and Ryder who showed up as well. Enjoy!

Close-up of the blondie bugs!

2 of a kind in Miss Dorothy's signature pose!

Little Dorothy and the evil Mrs Meers - AKA the fantastic and sweet Kellie Wright

Little Dorothy and Jimmy - AKA Eddie Gelhaus

Little Dorothy with the star of the show - Millie (Kelly Albright, one of my oldest and dearest friends)

Stop the cuteness!

In the dressing room with Lola!

And my little love bug, Ryder!

4. Thoroughly Modern Millie - a smash success!

The show is a hit! I've never recieved so much positive feedback about a show or my performance. I'm so grateful I had the opportunity!

We were really lucky to have Paul Canaan (he's done like a million shows on Broadway - including Millie, and was also a judge on MTV's Legally Blonde: The search for Elle Woods) come and do a workshop for us and he also saw the show - and LOVED and RAVED about it. That was awesome! I auditioned for him and a casting director at a workshop the next day, and though they had a lot of constructive criticism for me, they were really impressed with my voice. Awesomeness! (http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/legally_blonde_search_for_elle_woods/cast_member/cast_member.jhtml?personalityId=9959)

PS - if you want to check out some real video of the show - visit my myspace page! If you aren't my friend, search for me. I even have a fanclub I share with my onstage love interest, Erik Ball! You can see photos of the show at http://www.signatureproductions.net/ReheasalPicturesTMM.htm

I can't tell you what an amazing experience it's been for me to do this show. My skills have improved and my confidence has grown leaps and bounds! My waist size has shrunk and I feel a keen awareness of the direction I want to do go in the future in my life and with my family. Blessed, indeed!

and, drumroll please......

#5. MY TURN!

You know how Steve went on his cruise as a performer for 2 weeks back in February? Well....

The woman who plays Mrs. Meers - Kellie Wright, is doing this show called Showstoppers, Too! that's touring to Spokane, Washington in June. She posted an audition notice to the cast of Millie and I though about going. Steve told me I absolutely should go. I decided I'd give it a shot. I don't take too much interest in most of the professional auditions here in Las Vegas because they are't usually my genre, but because this one is a broadway review, I decided - why not?

Well, the night before, I realized all of my music was in storage, I didn't have a headshot and I left my dance shoes at the theatre. I almost didn't go, but stayed up late finding music, creating a resume and figured I could just dance barefoot if I had to. Why not?

Kellie told me that they wanted to do some music from Phantom of the Opera, so I auditioned with "Think of Me." I got nervous when all of the other auditioners sang belt songs, but I had a belt number with me if they wanted it.

So, I sang my piece, but my cut didn't include the end with the high note. They asked me to do that part, which I did acapella. When I was done, they guy says "A word of advice - always do that high note in your auditions. That will get you the job." And - it DID!

I got a call last night at the show from the director. He wanted to know if I thought I could do "You've Gotta Get a Gimmick" from Gypsy along with the Phantom stuff. I was like - of course? Are you kidding me? I am THRILLED to get to perform that number. So, he said he'd like to add me to the cast.

I start rehearsals on my birthday and I'll be gone for about the first two weeks of June. And, I don't have to be stuck on a cruise ship!

I'm so in shock that all of these great things have been happening to me..but more than shocked, thoroughly grateful and blessed. YAY!

Lights, Camera....ACTION!

2009-04-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

So, I filmed my first commercial today. It was a PSA (Public Service Announcement) for building permits, and Steve and I were the actors. We played a married couple - duh! Anyway, it was fun. I was in the kitchen making a cake while Steve kept passing by the window, working on a patio addition or something. We filmed in a really beautiful model home. I'll probably hate the outcome because I'm so critical and I feel "on the fat side", but it was a good experience. The producers were really happy with us - that's the important part.

Here I am - I just took the cake out of the oven.

Whalah! Frosted cake, ready for slicing.

Oh no! Steve should have gotten a permit. Instead, he got a black eye.

The STARS of the show.

The really cool part came later in the day. Because it was a PSA, we were volunteering our time - it's good experience and exposure for us. But they were SO impressed with us that they are going to send some money our way. Wow. Very nice.

Good Reviews are always nice.

2009-04-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

"Sandra Huntsman makes for an elegantly loony Miss Dorothy. She suggests a delicate ingenue who's escaped from a Victor Herbert operetta."

Cool.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/42467067.html

OPENING NIGHT!

2009-04-01T01:09:00.001-07:00

A special treat - a video blog from OPENING NIGHT of Thoroughly Modern Millie!!!

(I know I'm totally dorky - deal with it!)

It's showtime!

2009-03-28T00:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is opening night. I wish I had a photo of me in costume - it's really quite, well - frilly and pink comes to mind. But never fear...I'll have a special treat soon.....stay tuned!

It's been a while...

2009-03-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

But I am still here. Working hard on Thoroughly Modern Millie. I got my husband back 2 weeks ago and it's been so great to have him home.

I will have some pictures of the show soon - in the meantime, check out the awesome flapper costumes my amazing friend Valinda built! I designed them and picked out the fabrics....she built them from scratch. She makes me look good! http://onceuponacostume.blogspot.com/2009/03/thoroughly-modern.html

And while they are cute on the dummies, they are amazing in person!!

I'll be back....soon!

The right one, I think...

2009-02-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

Ok - I'm not dead, I haven't even crawled under a rock...it's just that every time I have a minute to blog, I'm in a crappy mood and don't want to blog with that mood. I miss my hubby, but I'm doing really well.

Anyway, I finally found a minute to edit my new headshots. The first one is the one I picked (first in B&W and then color) and then the other two - which are still good photos and might be used for other things.Did I make the right choice?

Oh, many thanks to Angela for taking the photos and Alda Tomasic for my awesome makeup! It's so fun to be pampered like that!

Kinda freaked....

2009-02-14T00:34:00.000-08:00

My hubby is leaving on his cruise tomorrow. He'll be gone for 2 weeks. That's a really long time. I'm so excited for him that I'm going to deal with being alone with the kids and trying to rehearse for all that time with a smile and a great attitude. But I'd by lying if I said I wasn't freaked out. It's just kinda surreal! I have found out we'll be able to stay in contact pretty easily - so that's good.

I'm sure he'll have wonderful adventures to share with us when he comes home. And how fun will that be to be re-united- we've never been apart for more than a few days in our whole married life. That's nearly 10 years, folks. Anyway, trying to take deep breaths and just not be freaked out for the last day we have together for 2 weeks. Breath...Breath

By request!

2009-02-06T22:40:00.000-08:00

I posted this on my facebook, but my sister Ilona said it was funny and I should post it on my blog. So, here I go, with one minor edit because one of them might offend someone, so I've replaced it!

25 Random Things About Me:

1. I had a stalker in Kindergarten named Bonnie. One day she had a fever and was sent to the nurse. She gave the nurse my name, my phone number and my mom's name. When my mom came in to pick "me" up, she was like....um, that's not my kid. SCARY!

2. I used to be a big time Trekkie (as in Star Trek) when I was a kid. My mom even made me a star fleet uniform in 7th grade and I made a com badge that played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" I won 2nd prize

3. I have an extra vertabrae in my lower back.

4. I totally wish I still had my She-Ra dolls. Loved those things.

5. I began sewing and crocheting in 1st grade.

6. I have had 2 serious relationships in my life. My high school boyfriend, Gavin - who played Perchik to my Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof and my husband Steve - who played Perchik to my Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. I will never audition for Fiddler on the Roof again!

7. This one's kinda gross - I once got this really bad ear infection - it was oozing stuff - it hurt like you know what and was just disgusting. Well, after it went away, I could not hear out of that ear very well - I kinda figured I had hearing damage. BUT - I thought I could feel something in there. When I would stick a q-tip in there (I know we're not supposed to, but c'mon - EVERYONE does it), I would meet some resistance when I got down the canal a ways. So, after like 3 years of not hearing well, one day, I got all aggressive with whatever it was in my ear with a hairpin and finally worked out this enormous ball of - well, I don't know what it was! It was like sinewy with a hard center. Anyway, it was like a re-birth! I could freaking HEAR again! I felt like I was in a crazy echo tube for like 2-3 days. That was less than a year ago and I still have NO idea what it was.

8. I have never been hospitalized for illness, only for having children.

9. I love fabric - I love just having yards of cool fabric. Sometimes it makes me sad to cut into it.

10. My dad was always a techno junkie. I was the first kid in my class to have a vcr, cd player, dvd player, computer, video camera - you name it. My first computer was a Commodore 64 and I had an AOL account in the mid 90's, when all it was was chatrooms and this weird thing called e-mail.

11. I was a total smarty pants over achiever as a child. I got strait A's, won all the spelling bee's, won a state wide poster contest, was in choir and always got the solos, played trumpet and french horn, wrote, directed and starred in competition pieces for the Odessy of the Mind program - yada yada, yada! What happened?

12. The first time I sang publicly as a teenager was a church talent show. I sang Amy Grant's "Every Heartbeat" and people thought I was lipsinking, but that's kinda random because I sound nothing like Amy Grant. I still took it as a compliment.

13. My cousin owns the Star Wars prop of Han Solo frozen in Carbonite, although I've never seen it. But my sister sent me a picture!

14. The only celebrity I've met was Donny Osmond, thanks to my dog - the only dog I've ever owned and we only had him for like 4 months.

15. My sister, Ilona, has seen Penn and Teller naked. Ewww.

16. I used to work at the MGM Grand theme park and worked on the Sky Screamer, where I "flew" over 80 times. Fun stuff!

17. I grew up in upstate New York. Cows, farmers and snow.

18. I was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho - in the same hospital where my mother in law was born AND our birth dates are 2 days apart - May 2nd and 4th!

19. I have lived in 16 different homes.

20. I have never received a traffic ticket, even though I have been pulled over twice. The first time, I was half in a Cinderella costume and the officer just told me to slow down a little bit, after he asked me where I was going. I really wish I would have said "The Ball." The other time, I was in a borrowed car from out of state with expired proof of insurance and no drivers license. Yup - warning. I also ran a stop sign in Ceder City, UT and was broadsided. They didn't cite me because "the accident was punishment enough." I'm sure someday my luck will run out....

21. I LOVE baths. Love them. When I was pregnant, I would take several a day. Love them.

22. I have never tried sushi, but I would like to try. I think.

23. I have only been to 1 family members funeral - my Grandpa. Meaning not a lot of them have died. I lived across country when my other Grandpa died. I'm bracing myself for the future, though.

24. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people call me Sondra. It's Sandra - the San rhymes with Fan. It especially annoys me after I have corrected them. I once had someone try to convince me it should be Sondra because that sounded better. Whatever!

25. I absolutely and totally adore my husband. Even when he drives me mad, he's the perfect man for me. I'm a better woman for having him in my life. I'm lucky to have the family I do!

My names - thanks V!

2009-02-04T01:40:00.000-08:00

I honestly haven't been avoiding the blog, I just haven't had anything to say. So, a name game, compliments of my gal pal Valinda.

Oh, one thing - Steve got his passport today, so it's official. He's really leaving for 2 whole weeks and I have less than 2 weeks right now to prepare! AYE YI YI!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Candy Monterey

2. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR'S NAME:
("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
The Musical Theatre Thunderstorm Tour.

3. YOUR GANGSTA NAME:
(fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Mint Chocolate Chip Caramel deLites

4. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME:
(first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
S-Hun
(aka S'Atilla)

5. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME:
(favorite color, favorite animal)
Pink African Grey

6. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:
(middle name, city where you were born)
Rose Idaho Falls

7. YOUR STAR WARS NAME:
(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Hun-Sa
(Han Solo's long lost sister)

8. SUPERHERO NAME:
("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Teal Dr. Pepper

9. NASCAR NAME:
(the first names of your grandfathers)
James Marlow

10. STRIPPER NAME:
(the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Plumaria Hot Tamales

11. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:
(mother’s & father’s middle names )
Gay Russell
(Seriously)

12. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME:
(Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Kane Kalamazoo

13. SPY NAME:
(your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Spring Rose

14. CARTOON NAME:
(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Pinapple Pantsy

15. HIPPY NAME:
(What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Slimfast Willow

And for a special treat - My Hubby!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Peppy Mercury

2. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR'S NAME:
("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
The Acting Rain Tour

3. YOUR GANGSTA NAME:
(fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Cookies 'n Cream Chocolate Chip
(Now that's hard core!)

4. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME:
(first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
S-Hun
(same as me!)

5. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME:
(favorite color, favorite animal)
Green Hyena

6. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:
(middle name, city where you were born)
Sheldon Las Vegas

7. YOUR STAR WARS NAME:
(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Hun-St

8. SUPERHERO NAME:
("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Black Dr Pepper

9. NASCAR NAME:
(the first names of your grandfathers)
Sheldon Lawrence

10. STRIPPER NAME:
(the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Hugo Mamba
(yeah baby!)

11. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:
(mother’s & father’s middle names )
Francis Delores

12. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME:
(Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Woolsten Worchestire

13. SPY NAME:
(your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Fall Snapdragon

14. CARTOON NAME:
(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Kiwi Sneakie

15. HIPPY NAME:
(What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Nada Fig

So what's YOUR name????

Yippeee Freankin' Skippeee!

2009-01-23T23:44:00.001-08:00

YAY for my husband! I'm so excited - so proud!

He was just booked as an entertainer in a Four Season's tribute show on a cruise! He leaves in 3 weeks, and will be gone for 2 weeks while he does 2 cruises back to back. YAYYYYYYYY!

While I'll admit I'm not particularly looking forward to having him gone for 2 weeks, it's such a great opportunity for him that I'm happy to deal with it. He is going to have a wonderful time! YAYYYYY!

What an unexpected surprise!

2009-01-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

Well, as you all know if you paid attention to my last blog, I am working on costumes for the theatre company's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Well, I had considered auditioning because there is a part in the show that would be great for me, but I decided against it for a lot of different reasons.

I'll spare you the boring details and cut right to the chase! I'm playing the role of Miss Dorothy Brown in the show! I'm excited because it will be a ton of fun! I will still be working on the costumes. But it's about dang time! I feel really blessed that it has all worked out - I'm excited to work with some of my favorite people.

Here's a rendering one of my costumes. I play a wealthy ingenue who comes to New York to experience the lower class side of life - seeking experiences and romance. I have a couple of great numbers and some fun stage business. It's coolness and I'm excited for the adventure.

Well, ya know!

2009-01-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a really weird week for me, so I'll just give ya a "Loewe List"

1. THANKS Jessica for the whole Pandora thing. (I'm listening to Pink radio right now!) I've never heard of it, but I LOVE it. I've tried a few internet radios and they've all driven me crazy! (Pandora) I just need to introduce it to my cute little sister (in law) McKayla. She likes music. Three songs to be exact. ;) Kayla - you know I love you!

2. Mission! - I will post some photos later because Steve has the camera, but my Brother in law Daniel left on his mission last Wednesday - they day we took Ryder to Disneyland, he entered the MTC. He will be missed - but I'm excited to support him. Now I just need to send him a letter.

3. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - At Disneyland, we took the kids to see Playhouse Disney which features Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - among other things. It was great! Lola was SO excited about Mickey! I've been letting her watch a mix of the theme music (which is by They Might Be Giants, who I LOVE!) on You Tube and now she's saying "Hot Dog" and tries to spell the letters M-I-C-K-E-Y and so on. She gets so excited when I start playing it for her. It's just CUTE!

4. My new Shoppe! I just opened an Etsy shop selling some of my graphic designs. Blog headers, backgrounds, etc....check it out and tell your friends! I have some more great projects in mind, I'll add them. I really like Etsy - they have some cool and amazing stuff. I have a handbag and arm warmers all picked out! I'm also keeping a blog for my designs and costume work now - www.monetrose.blogspot.com. Come visit!

5. Thoroughly Modern Millie - It's the show my theatre company is doing this spring - www.signatureproductions.net. I was hoping to not be too involved, but I am going to be working pretty heavily on costumes. I'm actually doing the men's costumes - I know, crazy, but I should be able to buy most of them. But, it may lead to good things....

6. The Four Seasons - Love them? I do! Steve was hired a year ago to perform as one of them at a Bar Mitzvah!http://sandrahuntsman.com/blog/?paged=3 (It's so funny to me the things we get paid to do sometimes.) Anyway, he was recently hired to perform in a For Season tribute show called "Oh What A Night." He may even get to go on a cruise - the producers say they have a lot of interest in booking the show. So it could be a really good thing. I'm very excited for him - oh, and the producers want to meet me, too. :)

7. LOST - Less than a week until the Season 5 Premier! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! I re-watched the season finale on Wednesday - I can't believe how much I forgot. Anyway, I am NOT watching any previews or reading anything that might possibly have spoilers. I do wonder how long it will take for the Oceanic 6 plus 2 (Locke and Ben) to make it back. That's my biggest question. Oh, and where the Island "went" and what will become of Penny and Desmond and who will manipulate who for what. Yeah. Anyways, looking forward to it. Don't bug me on Wednesday night, ya'all!

8. Knitting - I was inspired by all the cute wrist warmers on Etsy so I picked up some yarn and some knitting needles and started to knit again. I've completed 1 pair of arm warmers which were to small so I gave them to Piper. I did finally master the rib stitch, so that's cool. I'm working on some for me now - if they turn out well, I'll post a photo!

Anyway, that's me for today.

Happy Birthday, Ryder!

2009-01-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday - Januray 7th, was Ryder's 3rd birthday. I'm just posting about it now because we surprised him with a trip to DISNEYLAND! Here's a photo-documentary of our trip!

Here he is, all ready to go! He fell asleep the night before at about 10pm, then woke up at about 1am full of life! I only slept for the duration of Peter Pan and then woke up to leave at 5:30 am. Good times! But it explains whey he was awake and chipper - ready to go at 5:30 am! Lucky for him, he fell asleep in the car and slept straight through to Anaheim.

It took him a while to figure out we were in Disneyland, but he got really excited when he saw the castle. Like his cool, blue shades? Good. You should. He never took them off - all day. Not on dark rides like Pirates of the Carribean, not even when it got dark outside. He loved his blue glasses. Who knew he would talk more about his $1 bin glasses than his whole trip.

On the tea cups. We avoided the Fantasyland dark rides - Lola was not a fan. Oh, I should mention - we left the Chloe and Piper at home. It was Ryder's special day. Well, Lola tagged along, but her opinions on rides aren't that strong - yet.

Hey - it's Pluto! See - the kids were thrilled.

At Playhouse Disney - one of the few photos without his blue glasses, but they are in his hand.

It's Lola's favorite - Wall-E!

Sippin'n on that Bottle with some 'tude. I know, I know. Trust me, we're trying.

On the King Arthur's Carousel on "Nemo"

With Mater and Lightning McQueen. Oh yes, he was also thrilled about meeting these guys. What is it with my kids and characters!

It was a long day! They both konked out around 6pm, so we headed out. Stopped for some dinner - which Ryder slept through, and then home! We made it home around 12:30 pm - a long day, but so worth it! They did sleep the whole way home, which was nice.

Special thanks to Hillary and Valinda for tag team watching Chloe and Piper, who will be getting a trip with just mom and dad later this spring for their birthdays!

Happy New Years!

2009-01-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to post this for a few days now, but I've had weird internet issues when I've had the chance to do it. Anyway, I actually completed this project a few months ago, but it was a Christmas gift for my family so I didn't want to spoil the surprise! (Don't worry, mom and dad, yours is on it's way!)

Anyway, I made a calender of my family! It was a lot of fun, each of us have our own birth month so we had our very own calender pages and then lots of fun other stuff along the way!!!! Don't forget that you can click on the images to see them larger. All of the family photography and most of the portraits are by my sister in law, Sheree Flick! (Her blog is to your right)

January - Ryder's B-day is January 7th. He'll be 3 this year.

February

March - Steve and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary this year!

April - Chloe's Birthday is April 8th and she'll be 9 this year

May - My birthday is May 4th.

June

July - Piper's Birthday is July 25th and she'll be 7 this year.

August - Lola's Birthday is August 6th and she'll be 2 this year!

September

October

November

December - Steve's Birthday is December 23

I just have to take a moment to say that although this past year wasn't the year I had hoped it would be, I am so grateful for my beautiful family. No matter what is going on, Chloe is always there with a witty remark and a playful suggestion, Piper is there with a quiet concern and comfort, Ryder gives the best hugs and kisses ever and you just can't help but be happy aroud the perpetually smiling Lola. I am truly blest to be married to a man who is everything I need him to be even when I really think I want him to be something different. I'm especially grateful for his patience this year.

I don't have any grand hopes or plans for this year. As long as I have my family close to me, thats all I really, truly need.

A Very Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T23:01:00.000-08:00

Ok - first of all, to see how the Huntsman family celebrates Christmas every year, please visit my sister in law Sheree's blog - she do exactly what I was going to do, so read it!

http://leeandsheree.blogspot.com/2008/12/yes-we-play-with-beans.html

So, I asked my friend Kari to sing with me on Christmas. Kari played Belle in Steve's production of Beauty and the Beast and she is just about the nicest person you will ever meet! Here's a photo of us practicing. And how brave I am - no makeup!!!

Smile, Baby!

As usual this year, I had grand plans for making Christmas dresses for the girls and a vest for Ryder. I even bought fabric. Then a week before Christmas, my friend Terrence calls to see if I can do some work on a show he's opening real quick like. Ok, I say, because of course - I like money. So instead of making them new dresses, I made 3 aprons, 2 smocks and a handful of alterations. So, the girls got to go shopping. These are what they picked out - I offered them frilly gowns, but these are what they wanted. I think they are classy!

Chloe, my elegant sophisticate. I like that her hair is getting longer.

Ryder didn't want to be left out in his studly vest! The hat he got from Nursery at church. He was excited for a new "Peter Pan" hat.

I especially like Pipers...she has a real eye for fashion!

Lola was sleeping so she missed out on the fun, but what a cute group!

Monday was our Huntsman family christmas dinner and gift exchange. Some years we have a dinner theme, but this year we just went traditional. It was good! The gifts were great and the candybar Bingo was a highlight as usual. Next year, though, we are going to have a kids round and then an adult round...it's hard to steal candy from kids!

Tuesday night was my hubby's birthday. Yup - he even came home from the hospital on Christmas day in a huge stocking that his mom still has. I got him some drawing stuff and we ate at our favorite restaurant - Red Robin, finsihed up some Christmas shopping and had some yummy Starbucks. Against his will, I got him some drawing tools for his birthday. So, it was stuff he needed and he was grateful. I love my hubby!!!!

For Christmas Eve we went over to my sister Ilona's house for dinner (Stimmel family Chimichangas) and gifts! Here are the cousins!

Chloe, Lola, Lucas, Ryder, Piper and Ava! The cousins have a blast when they get together.

Which leads us to Christmas morning. We were up pretty late that night and the kids were a little crazy, so imagine my chagrin when Chloe came to wake us up at 7am. Yikes! We left Lola asleep because she had been up really late due to a late nap. Here's a photo of the kids' spread.

Yup, Santa brought the girls their very own computer...ok, it was our old one, Santa just brought some new games and it will go in thier room. Ryder also got his own Laptop, they all got plenty of toys and clothes and giftcards.

"Our OWN computer!"

Yay! Unwrapping presents is fun.

Steve and I decided to forgoe exchanging gifts this year because of our special vacation we just took - that's all I needed, although he did get me some fabulous pajamas and I got him a digital voice recorder for when he directs shows.

What a wonderful Christmas!!!! I hope all of my blog readers (yup - all 3 of you) had yourselves a wonderful Christmas as well!

3 things that make me laugh out loud.

2008-12-19T23:58:00.000-08:00

#1. This photo of Ryder. It just cracks me up every time I see it. It's so perfect, with the bread in his hands and his mouth and then those stupid glasses...hilarity! 2. This photo of Lola. She's wearing some of Ryder's old clothes because hers were in the dryer. Her dirty self fell asleep just like this...I love it so much, but I don't think I'll be putting her in that T-shirt anymore...it wasn't the best call in the first place, but she'll have this photo forever!

#3. This video:

The Twilight Before Christmas

My favorite part is where she's stuttering and says "Is this even english?" SO brilliantly funny. Hey - I love Twilight, but I love me a good spoof!

3 funny things are always a good thing!

I love...

2008-12-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

WALL-E. I really love Pixar - I'm grateful for the movies they've made and what they have brought to my life and my children's life - entertaining stories with a great message.

I bought WALL-E for my kid when it came out - I needed it as a bribe for them to be good when I left them with a babysitter. Chloe and Piper had seen it at the theatre and loved it. I listened to it many times while they watched - always cracking up at the Hello Dolly songs...oh, Micheal Crawford, such a long way you came from "Put on your Sunday clothes", but I digress.

Well, about a week ago, I cozied up in my bed with the kids and watched it. I loved it! I missed a bit in the middle getting a bottle for the baby, but I really liked the whole story. I liked the beginning best, the fat people were disturbing, but what a heck of a commentary. It seems pretty blatant, but I think there's a more subtle meaning there - not just that being sedentary will make us fat, but that we should be cautious with our technology, stop to take a look around at "the pool" and nature, hug and touch each other. Oh, the trash thing - I know far fetched in all reality, but what a commentary! Anyway, I was quite moved at the end. It was great.

Well, I put it on for Ryder the other day and wasn't feeling well so I laid down to watch it with him. OH MY GOSH! I laughed my tail off at all I had missed - I missed Eve finding the plant and WALL-E dragging her around by Christmas lights to go on dates with him. PURE CINEMATIC GENIUS! I was truly impressed that I was able to feel so much emotion from robots - what a technical feat by Pixar. I loved it.

My favorite is Finding Nemo. My least favorite is Rat-ah-too-ee. Don't ask me to spell it! It's a sweet story and the letter the mean old reviewer writes at the end is great, it's just the whole thing about the rat cooking that's gross.

I love the Pixar Play Parade at Disney California Adventures, and I LOVE that John Lasseter, one of the key geniuses behind pixar, negotiated himself such a strong say in the Disney Theme Parks when they re-negotiated the Disney/Pixar relationship because what they are going to do to Disney's California Adventure is nothing short of inspiring.

Visiting the "Blue Sky Cellar" where they have details of the new plans for Disney's California Adventures Theme Park was one of the highlights of our trip! SO stinkin' cool. I especially look forward to the Little Mermaid ride and the World of Color show they will do in the bay. And the new entryway made to look like 1920's Hollywood (when Walt arrived) with red trolley cars and everything. And Cars land. My favorite website for D-land dirt is www.miceage.com. Very informational!

Well, the kids are off today, I'm off to do some scouting for a new costuming project I got hired to do - I just love little jobs that fall from out of the sky at Christmastime!

Randomness!

2008-12-16T01:09:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share a few photos of our crazy, zany antics. None of these photos were staged, well, ok, maybe 1, but this is just us!

Here's Lola, flying around on her motorcycled. She loves it. So does Ryder, but he doesn't understand when his engine runs out of gas so quickly, so he's been banned from riding.

On Saturday, we went to look at model homes. We just like too! Here are the kids playing in a very large, under the stairs space.

Ryder and Lola in the shower. This is what they did when Steve told them to smile!

This is me in the shower - oh, edited for content! ;)

We went to see Uncle Ga- uh, Santa! He came to the church breakfast. Ho, ho, ho! Here he is with Piper

And Chloe as she rattled off her way long list.

Laptop, anyone?

And Ryder and Lola, terrified beyond belief. I do have more than one sweater, folks - that's just my favorite!

But Ryder was happy when he got his Candy Cane!

Last, but certainly not least, Steve had a little fun with some fun glasses he found. People are seriously always commenting on how we all have blue eyes (which was fate because Steve and I are both blue eyed - c'mon folks, thing back to 9th grade biology and the Punnett square - you know, recessive and dominant genes!) but this was too funny. Ryder's makes me laugh my tail off every time I look at it.

Well, that's all! Enjoy the freezing cold - someone ought to, I certainly am not. I'm typing to keep my fingers warm!

Christmas Cards!

2008-12-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

I got to make some fun Christmas cards this year for family members! Here they are...don't worry, some of you will still get ours in the mail or hand delivered and the back is cool! I'll save that as a surprise!

Here's my in-laws family!

And my Sister-in-law who took our family photos. I took the photos on her card! And you may recognize some of the design elements...just look around you!

Finally, here's ours. I decided to do some not so traditional colors, but I love it! I've had the background for a year now, just waiting to use it!

I have another project I've been working on, but I'll have to wait until after Christmas to show you!

Oh! And check out 2 of the blogs to your left - Valinda and Sheree. I did both of their blog backgrounds/headers! Let me know if you want one - I'll totally hook you up!

More fun!

2008-12-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Here's some more random pictures of our trip...no particular order thanks to blogspots fabulous uploader...my last post almost drove me mad!

Anyway - enjoy!

Gotta love Cinderella!

I'm your dream come true!

No comment.

I think this is just a cool picture of Woody!

Oh, Steve - he's just so serious all the time!

I don't think I used this one in the last blog, did I? My smile looks dumb.

Eatin' breakfast, waitin' for the oil change.

We got stuck under the man eating plant in Haunted Mansion Holiday. Pretty cool, huh?

Waiting to get on X2!

Steve and his yummy sandwich!

I still may not feel rested, but I do feel refreshed. Can't wait to do it again! We are taking Ryder for his birthday on January 7th - that whole free thing. Yay!

What a trip!

2008-12-10T21:26:00.001-08:00

Well, folks...we're back! I honestly tried to blog from the road, but for some reason my blog by e-mail didn't work. Whatever! Here's a brief re-cap from our trip. I will post more of the artsy photos Steve took with his new camera in another post.
So, we left bright and early on Saturday morning at around 5:30 am. This got us to LA just after 10am. Here are some photos of us shopping. It's kinda crazy there...

It's almost like a street fair - dozens of tiny little stores, most of them insanely unorganized and no price tags anywhere...bargainers paradise. Unfortunately, I'm not that good at bargaining.

Here is a trim shop - I meant for my expression to be more in awe but I kinda look disgusted...but I was really in awe! So much amazing stuff!

This just made me laugh. It should read "tulle" - the netting fabric used at weddings and stuff. TOOO funny!

After we found all the fabric we were going to find for the day, we ventured into the garment district. There was one lady with AMAZING gowns she makes for children. She wouldn't let us take any pictures, but they were inspirational!

That night, we made our way to Simi Valley where we stayed at a lovely hotel - with a hot tub which was great, and just had a relaxing evening.

The next morning we headed over to Magic Mountain. We didn't really take any photos there because it is a filthy, disgusting place. We got there before opening and went straight to X2. It's the most amazingly unbelievable thrill ride I have ever been on. On that ride, you experience sensations you have never felt before, and probably never will again. You should google it to see how cool it was.

Oh my!

Unfortunately, that ride set us up for a bit of disappointment. I did enjoy Tatsu - the "flying" coaster. It was almost all downhill after that. We then went on Superman: The Escape, Riddler's Revenge and Batman. They were filthy, disgusting and even smelly - the cue line, the loading area and even the actual rides themselves. I got totally sick to my stomach after those 3. After guzzling down a coke to see if it would settle me, we went on to Scream - a newer one but no big whoop and the Goliath - we had been there about 7 years ago when it was brand new and it was still great. Those were the major rides we wanted to go on. We went back to X2 to see what the line was like - it was way long and we had literally walked on all of the other ones, so we decided to get out of that stink pot and head to the shining goodness of Disneyland! It was only 1pm - so we had accomplished all we cared to see of Magic Mountain in 3 hours.

After a stop for lunch, Walmart and hotel check in, we headed over to Disneyland. As we entered the plaza, they were just allowing people to wait for the Candlelight Ceremony - a tradition started by Walt Disney himself. Even though it didn't start for 1 1/2 hours and it was standing room only, we decided to wait. It was well worth it! There was a fantastic orchestra, and amazingly large choir and a special "celebrity" narrator...

Here we are, waiting...

Here's a photo of the choir/orchestra.

And our special guest narrator..John Stamos. That's him - the little blur, I swear.

While I'm sure he's a very nice person and a decent TV actor, narrator he is not. We made some friends at Fantasmic later that night and the guy put it perfectly - when one thinks of the nativity, John Stamos doesn't exactly come to mind as the perfect narrator. He was simply boring - he had no inflection in his voice. It was kinda funny when one of the girls in the choir fainted and he helped her down - how chivalrous and great PR to boot, eh?

But the ceremony was beautiful - great music, soloist and very religious! They told the whole nativity story and even praised our Savior, Jesus Christ, even though they never mentioned Him by name. It was New King James versionized, but I didn't mind, I was just so thrilled to see a big name company like Disney recognizing the nativity. It was wonderful!

We also made it on the Haunted Mansion Holiday - it was our first time seeing that - it was SOOO cool, then to see Fantasmic (we sat for about another 2 hours waiting for that - it was mad busy) and then Fireworks. I didn't love the fireworks. I mean, they were great for a Christmas Fireworks show, but I SO love the "Wishes" show that I was underwhelmed. Even the snow afterwards was kinda a let down - just the same bubble snow we used in Beauty and the Beast. It made me cough.

But what a fun, amazing day.

Before our trip, I had asked Steve if we needed an oil change - he said we'd be fine, but then our car flashed "Oil Change Required" at us repeatedly, so on Monday morning we found the local Walmart and got our oil changed. $30! Yikes! Here, it's like $18. Shoulda listened to me! We made it back to the parks around noon.

Outside DCA!

Waiting for It's A Small World Holiday...I love the mermaids that sing "Jingle Shells"

Waiting in line for the Parade, talking to Lola and Ryder's babysitter, my dear friend Alda!

I was impressed by the toy soldiers - they really played their trumpets!

As a former trumpeter (bet you didn't know that), it was so cool!

I also liked the roller skating snowflakes. Like my artsy photo?

We had heard about Pixie Hollow - a Tinkerbell and Friends meet-n-greet that they put in where Ariel used to be. The line was "short" (and by short I mean 1/2 an hour) so we decided to check it out. It really isn't anything more than just a small area with large plants to make it seem like you've shrunk to fairy size and 2 meet and greet areas.

First we met Rosetta. She was so cute and really nice.

We had to get Sassy with Tinkerbell.

We spent most of the rest of the day in DCA and decided to re-visit "It's Tough to be a Bug" which was fun!

We really had a great time. It was just wonderful to have some Steve and me time. We needed it.

And I love my hubby SOOO much for driving all the way home - I was so exhausted, I kept falling asleep no matter how hard I tried to stay awake.

Also, MUCH LOVE to Lee & Sheree, Valinda, Alda and my mother in law for taking such great care of our kids. THANK YOU!!!!!!!

I can't WAIT!

2008-12-02T01:05:00.000-08:00

Everything is falling into place and Steve and I are going out of town this weekend - ALONE! We will be shopping for fabric for an upcoming production and then Magic Mountain and Disneyland! YIPPEEEE!

I have a ton of stuff to do, but we SOOOOO need this time together...YAY!

Who needs Robert Pattinson - I've got Sexy Cullen Madness!

2008-11-28T22:01:00.000-08:00

I am the luckiest girl alive - I have my very own Edward Cullen!

But seriously, I took Chloe and Piper and my sister in law McKayla and her friend Torrey to see Twilight today. Piper was admittedly a little young. It didn't scare her, she was mostly bored and never stopped talking/asking questions. Good think I saw it before or I would have been upset. But Chloe liked it - and now my husband has even more reason to tease me. If only HE sparkled in the sunlight...

Our Thanksgiving was nice. I made pie - don't laugh, it was good! Lemon Merengue with freshly picked lemons. Yum! I also finished one of my Christmas gift projects!

Oh, and we did hit some Black Friday shopping...just stopped by Walmart in the afternoon to see if they still had some of their $8 jeans and $4 kids jeans and they did! I got 2 pairs that actually fit me, the girls got some jeans and sweaters and pajamas. Man it's expensive buying stuff for 4 kids! Anyway, that was nice.

No plans for tomorrow, just vegging out I think!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

This is getting out of hand!

2008-11-26T01:06:00.000-08:00

*Please note that all photos below were taken with my new toy - Sony Cybershot W120. Love it!

Ok, first - the cuteness

Lola knows to pose for photos now. Wildy out of hand.

See what I mean? The cuteness is scary!

Then there's Ryder - this was taken moments after he woke up. Yes, he slept in the shoes daddy bought him. Insists he wear them to sleep, yet refuses to wear pajamas. Classy.

Now, a warning - this is where I must draw the line. This Twilight thing has gone too far -

I didn't set this photo up, folks. No sir, this is how I found my dear, sweet Lola when it got far too quiet in the other room tonight.

While I will confess that I read the book again this week, alternating the first 12 chapters of the Midnight Sun manuscript for the full effect. Obsessed much?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Twi-what?

2008-11-23T01:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, first - yay! New Moon will be a movie. I think they'll have to be a bit more creative, though. That's a LOOOOONG time with no Edward. BUT - Taylor Lautner is just charming enough that it just might work. OR - they should give Edward an interesting sub-plot when he's away from Bella. OR - they could almost even combine New Moon and Eclipse, if you really think about it. Whatever. I look forward to it. I just need to know where to submit my headshot for casting - I'm so pale I wouldn't even need makeup. I could totally be a Volturi. Or wait until Breaking Dawn and be one of those Vampires. I'm such a dork.

But, in related news....tonight was closing night (again, but this time for good) of Beauty and the Beast. YAY! How does this relate, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

In the scene where Lumiere (Steve) and Cogsworth (our friend Joe) are pursuading Belle not to go to the West Wing but visit the Library instead, they end the scene by describing the kinds of books Belle can read. It usually goes like this:

Cogsworth: Books on Origami
Lumiere: Trashy Romance Novels
Cogsworth: Encyclopedia Brittanica
Lumiere: Women's Studies (as they walk off)

Tonight, kinda just for me, the last line went like this...

Cogsworth: Encyclopedia Brittanica
Lumiere: The Twilight Series

He got applause for that line. The audience was beside itself! I was dying. YAY! So funny.

And that ends my strange Twilight obsession for tonight. I am planning on taking the girls and my sister in law to see it next week. So, it may sneak back but I'll quelch it - for now.

I do have one more quick story about the show...last Saturday, I got up the courage to leave my post as Belle's dresser/wig specialist and watch the entire show. During the scene I described above, they wander through the audience as they "tour" the castle. Well, when Steve walked down the aisle I was sitting on, he turned just as he got to me and started to flirt with me. I thought it was sooo funny. Well, I asked him about it later that night and he said he had never done that before and he didn't know it was me until the light from his candle showed my face. I think that is just plain coolness.

Well, I should be a better blogger now that my life will calm down a little. I will miss the cast, but I look forward to some family time!

9

Twilight!

2008-11-21T04:01:00.001-08:00

(Sorry, I couldn't resist this graphic! I mean, I enjoyed the books and even the movie, but c'mon, people? Obsessed much! Oh, I can't wait to knit my first fang warmers.....)

I went to the midnight show tonight with my fantastic friend Valinda. I have to say, I loved it! I thought it was a very good adaptation of the book.

I really liked Kristen Bell and I didn't think I would. I thought she played it just right! Awkward but still attractive, brooding but not too negative and mature but not too old.

I was satisfied with Edward. I think they picked his cheesiest stuff for the previews - I was worried I would hate him. The only thing that drove me MAD about him was his dreadful american accent. He kept changing American dialects - sometimes he was very midwest, sometimes a bit southern and a lot of times, very New Jersey - dropping his r's and everything. I would have preferred they tell him to adopt a classic American accent with a hint of English - very appropriate considering he was born in the early 1900's if my memory serves. I'd look it up, but my BIL borrowed the book.

Even though his part was limited, I ADORED Jacob. If I picture him like that, maybe I can re-read the first half of New Moon - I skipped it the second time I read it. I REALLY hope that they get to make the sequels (well, I'm not sure how I would feel about Breaking Dawn being a movie to be honest) but I want more Jacob! He's the perfect smiling, happy go lucky, fun alternative to Edwards dark satirical yet somehow irresistable anti-hero.

The cinemetography made me a little naseaus at times, but it was effective. I think they made an honest attempt to portray the two falling in love, but if I hadn't read the book and known the thought process, I would have been a bit confused I think. But, to me - that is always the challenge of any love story. Showing a relationship develop is SO tough! Think about how many stories fall really short - almost every fairytale does and I group Twilight in the fairy tale catagory because Vampires aren't real! In a way, Edward is a Prince and Bella is a commoner who wants to be a princess. Jacob is the town cobbler who pines for the headstrong daughter of the town judge and nearly woos her away, but alas, a maiden always goes for the prince, doesn't she?

Anyway, I can only think of 2 movies offhand that really leave me satisfied regarding a love story - and those are Anastasia and Beauty and the Beast. Through limited glimpses, you see how they fall in love. I love the "sexual" tension between Dimitri and Anastasia, but it never gets so ugly that you don't believe they are falling in love. And Belle is so dynamic, so brave, so sure of herself you love watching her chip away at the Beast and even helping him find his inner self. Cinderella could never do that! But I digress...

It left me wanting more, which is what the book series did (well, I felt it ended well with finality so I was content at the end of the series)but each book left me wanting to know more about their story.

SPOILER!!! If you haven't seen it yet, don't read this part!

I did NOT like the ending. I liked the thought of the ending, the concept of the ending and that it left it wide open for a sequel. BUT - sorry - Edward would have heard Victoria's thoughts. And Victoria doesn't really have her day until the 3rd book/movie if they stay close to the material so it was a little weird to lead out with that, I don't know how else they would do a compelling segue. But whatever. Edward would have known she was that close.

I did, however, like that it was Bella's choice to go to prom, even if it was in leggings and a tennis shoe. That's the one thing that always bugged me about Bella - no fun, always giving in to Alice's will, not doing things her own way! This put it in her court. Although I would have liked to see Alice and Jasper and Rosalee and oh crap, it's 4am - what's his name at the Prom.
I loved Laurent, James and Victoria, by the way. I'd like to see her(Victoria) have her day, as well as the rest of the Cullen/Hale family. Carslisle creeped me out a bit because that is EXACTLY how I pictured him. I didn't love Rosalee - but the rest were good fits. It's hard to judge too much, they didn't have a lot to do becuase most of Twilight is all about Bella and Edward. I thought Alice was the cutest and I loved her foot point when she pitched baseball. Clearly the girl is a dancer!

I look forward to hearing from someone who hasn't read the book to see what they think. Oh, and I did think the special effects were a little cheesy, which worries me should we venture to Italy in the next film, if there is one, and meet the Volturi.

Regardless - FUN TIMES!!!!

I like big....what?

2008-11-19T01:49:00.001-08:00

A clever kid in the Beauty and the Beast cast put this together! I thought it was fun, so here it is.

PS - 10 points if you can find me. My hubby is Lumiere, of course, and the cute laughing kid is my little man, Ryder!

:(

2008-11-16T21:53:00.000-08:00

What a sad week it has been.

First of all, last weekend, my mother in law had been visiting in Provo for the fairwell of her nephew. He was to enter the MTC on Wednesday and on Tuesday when my mother in law was getting ready to leave, my brother in law, Jon, called because he had witnessed a terrible accident and was trying to help the young lady who had been cut off by another car and she swerved into a semi truck. She was in really bad shape and he spent the rest of the day trying to find out how she was doing. But the accident shut down the freeway, so my mother in law waited a while to leave.

She made it home for mutual that night, where her brother came to find her to tell her that the girl who had been in the accident was actually her nephew's girlfriend and that she was brain dead! So the girl was the girlfriend of my husband's cousin who had literally just said goodbye to her for the last time before leaving on his mission. She had planned on putting in her papers in a few months so they could return together.

How sad! How tragic! The did push back his MTC date by a month, but can you imagine? I feel so bad for everyone on that side of the family for what they are going through.

I have also been very uncomfortable about the backlash towards the Mormon church regarding the Proposition 8 passing in California. I commend the people of Las Vegas for taking their protest to the courthouse - where it belongs. 'nough said.

In brighter news, only one week of Beauty and the Beast left to go...I finally go to watch the whole show last night. It was fantastic! I had never seen the second act because I'm usually doing quick changes with Belle and the Enchantress. But, last night I took the risk and let them do it on their own. Only one crooked wig. It was worth it! I cried 3 times in the second act. It is a great show and I'm proud to be a part of it. I am excited for it to be done, though. It's been a long haul and I have so many plans for when it's "done" - potty train Ryder, do my princess costumes, do a holiday concert. Oh, and the holidays. But it will be the first time since March that Steve will be home every night. He's actually only been home a small handful of nights in the last nearly 8 months (aside from Sundays). So I am excited to feel like a normal family again.

So - there ya have it! And one more family photo for ya!

No More!

2008-11-11T02:13:00.000-08:00

"No More!" from tick, tick....BOOM! by Jonathan Larsen

Yeah, I'm done with trying to give EVERY post a musical name. It will only happen now if it comes to me. That was just too much pressure.

We took family pictures! YAY! Enjoy! (these are just some, more to come later - give me a reason to post.)

This is about as traditional as we get.

Isn't Ryder funny?

Just us gals.

My two favorite men!

And our high fashion shot!

Oh, did I mention I have a whole new hairdo - have had it for about a month now. Lovin' it!

I just haven't gotten any pictures of myself with the new hair I wished to share. I know, vanity. Oh well!

One last thing - here is the Sleeping Beauty dress I built for my neice, Mia.

Fancy!

Art Isn't Easy

2008-11-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

"Art Isn't Easy" from Sunday in the Park with George

Art may not be easy, but it is fun! I had so much fun today making my own blog background! Let me know if you want one, too...I might be able to help you out!

Ok - so - here is a photo of my neice Ava in the Snow White costume I made her - soooo cute and very fancy fabrics.

Here are my kids and my sisters kids as we get ready to go trick-or-treating. Lola especially cracks me up in this picture.

And now, for a very special treat - here is a video of me performing the "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted at a Stake Concert. I had a lot of fun!

Ok - that's all for now! Maybe I'll have time to start blogging more now that the show has finally calmed down....we'll see!

Masquerade

2008-11-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

"Masquerade" from Phantom of the Opera

Yay! It's Halloween and I've finally found my inner costumer. With a lot of help from Steve - my painter/embellisher/distresser extraordinaire (and totally hot to boot), the kiddo's had some rockin halloween costumes!!!!!

First up - Chloe

She was an "evil mermaid" ala the mermaids in the production of Peter Pan that Steve directed.

This is the best photo I have on hand - Chloe is a bit more glamourous, though! And except for the turtleneck which was purchased, all of the fabric was scraps from the Peter Pan mermaids and some scraps from the costume shop. She also had gloves, but they weren't dry in time for the photos.

Then we have Piper! She is Emily, the Corpse Bride - I think we did a bang up job with the costume. The hair is hers, sprayed blue.

I especially love her "I'm Dead" look on her face. She was very frustrated that no one knew who she was. Doesn't everyone love the Corpse Bride? It is quite a fantastic movie!!

And finally, Ryder (sorry, I didn't get any pictures of Lola - she wore a little dress up costume. Mommy just ran out of time for the poor girl!) Here we have the dashing, debonaire - Peter Pan!

He absolutely loved his "Pika Pan" costume as he called it - kept asking if he could fly. He kept the hat on all night, said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" and "Happy Halloween" all night. He is growing up SO much!!!!

We went Trick or Treating with my Sister Ilona's house with her adorable kiddos Ava and Lucas. Then we had chili! Yum! It was a fun night.

As soon as my sister and sister in law send me photos, I'll post pics of the other 2 costumes I made - a Sleeping Beauty and a very elaborate Snow White. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween.

I am not dead yet.

2008-10-14T00:15:00.003-07:00

"I Am Not Dead Yet" - Monty Python's Spamalot

I'm still here... just insanely busy...work, theatre, sleep, babies, sleep, work, theatre, sleep....and eat once and a while!

How The Other Half Lives

2008-09-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

"How The Other Half Live" from Thoroughly Modern Millie

This week, my days go like this:

Try to wake up at 7:45 am to get ready BEFORE waking the girls up.

Wake up at 8:20 am just in time to get the girls up

Walk the girls to school at 8:40 am (we have a really quick morning routine!)

Leave for work around 9:00 am

Stop at a convenience store for food (finally went grocery shopping tonight so that's out)

Work, including lunch break

Leave work around 3:00 pm

Come home, make dinner, take care of kids, deal with stuff, help with homework, work on computer stuff, laundry, etc.

Steve leaves for rehearsal at 7:00 pm

Chloe and Piper in bed at 9:30 pm (At least I try)

Steve gets home from rehearsal at 11pm or so.

Try to spend some time with the husband but wanting desperately to go to bed.

Try to go to bed by midnight, but no such luck

Last night I was in bed at like 12:45 am. But could I sleep. Of course not, my mind was crazy and Lola wouldn't sleep. I think she fell asleep around 2am, was restless and woke up screaming at 4 am. She has had runny diapers and fever and a really sore bum. Poor thing.

Anyway, it's an interesting role reversal considering Steve is taking care of the kids during the day and working at the same time which is feasible for him right now. Which means I can't really assign to many other mommy duties to him like taking the kids to school and laundry and stuff. But that's ok. I'm enjoying working and I wouldn't mind the mommy duties except that I have show duties - wigs and some stupid puppet performer costumes I have to make (think fancy pajamas. 6 of them. Not creative AT ALL!) so I plan on being tired for a while.

It's always interesting to see what hills and valleys this rollercoaster of life I'm riding takes me to next. I am really enjoying 6 hours a day of just worrying about me and the task at hand and I'm learning a lot. Today I worked more on the T-Pain project. Word! Actually, the next two days I'm pulling full days so we can get this stuff done! I got to sew on industrial machines today. Really nice! They take a little getting used to, but I'm a really fast learner. :)

Ok. More stuff to do and maybe in bed by midnight. PLEASE!

Under the Sea

2008-09-27T01:41:00.000-07:00

*"Under the Sea" from Disney's The Little Mermaid

Under a sea of fabric, that is! My first day on the job I had 2 projects. The first was to color in some glove hand prop things - I colored black marker over where the foam stuff leaked through on some of the gloves. Yeah, weird.

Then I went over to the ancient merrowing machine - an industrial sewing machine that's sole purpose is to do a rolled hem. By the machine was a hugs pile of fabric strips.

And I was to edge them all with a rolled hem.

I admit, I spent a good portion of the day learning to re-thread the dang machine, but at least now I have that figured out and I did get a lot done. It's for a halloween costume for some billionaire couple down in San Diego. I don't think the shop does a lot of private costumes like that, but this is going to be amazing! It's a mermaid/merman couple. Anyway, very cool. Very boring, but my iPod kept me going and it was really nice to focus on a project and get it done without a million interruptions. Steve held down the fort just fine at home, though I did give him a nap when I got home. It was good and fun and I'm glad for the opportunity!

I am tired, though. I stayed up WAY too late last night watching Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy (recorded). I especially love my Ugly Betty. I'm glad Betty didn't pick either guy! That was great. I'm looking forward to Desperate Housewives on Sunday - it looks like they're picking up 5 years into the future where they left off last time. It's like Desperate Housewives got crossed with Lost. Oh, Lost! February! Far too long to wait. But Pushing Daisy's is on next Wednesday. YAY! Those are my shows. I do like Dancing With The Stars, but it was too much to watch this week. I'm glad to see Lacey Schwimmer on there - I loved her on So You Think You Can Dance. Good for her! Steve is still into Survivor, but I'm kinda over it.

'Night ya'all!

Smart Like That

2008-09-25T23:53:00.001-07:00

*"Smart Like That" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Piper had a really hard time with Kindergarten last year. Right before spring break last year, her teacher pulled me aside and said we should consider holding her back. She was crying before school every day, struggling with her studies - just generally miserable. I didn't know what to do. I felt like I should have waited a year to start her - her birthday is July 25th so she's one of the youngest if not the youngest in her class. We gave it some time and she got better - she quit crying and her work improved, so her teacher and I decided we would send her on.

Well, I know we've only had a month of school, but Piper is flourishing! She has only gotten 1 B on one paper so far, the rest have been A's. She aced her first spelling test and I think she will tomorrow. She comes right home and does her homework and does the whole week's work in one or two nights. She makes me check it to make sure it's all right and she's very particular about getting it ready for school. I know some of her enthusiasm will wear off, but I'm excited to see her doing so well in school!! YAY!

Workin' 9 to 5

2008-09-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

*9 to 5 The Musical

So, I got a job, or actually a job got me! Phil, the director of Beauty and the Beast told me that he gave my name to some costume companies looking for help. I wasn't sure how I felt about that because I think my sewing skills leave something to be desired, but I was flattered none the less.

This afternoon, Jan, a lady I know from Imagination Costume, called to see if I could come work for them for a little while. I talked it over with Steve, and I will go in for 5 hours a day starting tomorrow for the next week or two. Not a lot, I know, but it will be some extra dough for me and it's been a while since I've made money. And hopefully I can observe and learn some new skills! So, I'll be packing my lunch tomorrow and off I go!

Oh, and just an FYI, I'm going to title all of my blogs with songs or quotes from musicals. Just for fun!

Her name was Lola...

2008-09-24T12:25:00.001-07:00

My sister in-law took photos of Lola. I meant to have them done when she turned 1, but we are a month late. Doesn't matter - the pictures are beyond adorable. Lola is my spunky, determined, smart, sassy and genuinely happy baby girl who is growing up too fast - but she can speed through this year. The time from about 12 months to a little past two is the hardest for me as a mom because they are in to everything and don't understand when you tell them no! Nevertheless, love the little bugger to death! Enjoy her great photos!

Disneyland!

2008-09-15T23:36:00.001-07:00

So, last weekend, we made a trip to DISNEYLAND! It's our favorite place to go - our 3rd trip as a family this year. But that doesn't diminish our excitement nor our enjoyment every time. This trip was MUCH needed as we had no time for a summer vacation this year!

We "woke up" early (I use quotes because I never quite made it to sleep) and left at 5am on Saturday. The kids were SO good in the car. We stopped once in Barstow for breakfast at the train station McDonalds. Then strait to our hotel. It wasn't busy, so they let us park in the parking lot. We made it to the gates by 10 am! Once there, we hung out and rode some rides, waiting for our friends Shannon and Lamar and their cute little man, Brendan. Shannon played the Wardrobe in Beauty and the Beast with Steve and was also assistant choreographer for AIDA. It's been really fun getting to know her this year. They got there around noon! We played for a while - it was really HUMID! It was so muggy, there was like a haze in the air. It was truly stiffling. Saturday night on Storybookland Canal Boats - It was the Alice boat which made Piper happy!

Chloe - throwin some Peace on our way in on Saturday morning

Piper and Waaaaaaaaaaaalleeeeeeeeeee!

We were waiting for Daddy and Chloe to go on Tower of Terror when we saw a really short line for Cinderella! She said to Piper "You look just like I did when I was a little girl!"

And, of course - Ryder with his Cinderella. I didn't think he would go see her, but he did. It was so cute!

My crazy tea-cuppers!

Me and the girls - 3 for tea!

Lola thought the tea cups were a blast! And it's not every day that you get to ride in a tea cup with Alice herself!

Ryder and his very favorite - "Lighting MaKween!"

Imagine our delight as we walked in on Monday morning to find Alice and the Madhatter to greet us! Alice and Alice - too fun!

The whole crew! Lamar, Shannon and Baby Brendon and our ragtag gang!

Before the next photos, I have to share something really cool that happened to us. On Monday, I got really hot and decided to go back to the hotel to change into shorts, so Lola and I made the short journey. When we returned, Steve and the other kids were in Toon Town. I headed that way, but decided to see how long the princess line was. I hate that all the princesses are in one place now. I much preferred when they were scattered around Fantasyland and the castle. Anyway, it was the shortest I'd ever seen it and the girls were in costume, so I called Steve and told him to meet me there. The girls decided that they didn't want to wait to see them - I think Piper said something about wanting to go on Thunder Mountain again (for like the 10th time. She's OBSESSED with it) *see below We still needed to wait for Shannon and the gang, so we just hung out around there. Well, I look over and Chloe is talking to one of the cast members. Granted, this is not unusual as Chloe will talk to anyone, but this cast member looked actively engaged in the conversation, not annoyed. When Chloe came back over, I asked what happened. She said the cast member called her over and asked her about her dress. The cast member then came over and said that they had never seen Ariel in her pink dress before and that they really like it. She said to wait here for a second and then disappeared into the princess area. She came back and said that Ariel had already left, but if we came back at 2:30, she would go get Ariel so she could see Chloe's dress. Very cool!

We went over to the Tomorrowland Terrace to grab a burger (or a spicy chicken if you are Steve) and were pleasantly surprised to actually have hot burgers at Disneyland. Mental note - nor more burgers from the Village Haus, we like TT instead! Anyway, we headed back shortly after 2:30 and the cast member in question was on a break! Oh dear! We tried to explain what she had said, but no one seemed to care. We waited until 3pm, when Steve peaked in and Ariel was GONE! I gave up right there - poor Chloe started crying. But Shannon went over to the Supervisor who happened to be standing there because a cast member dragged her out so the crowd could sing happy birthday to her. The surpervisor immediatly came over to me and asked what happened, I explained and she asked us to wait there for a moment.

A moment passed and she returned and asked Chloe to gather her family and follow her. We were lead to a small, curtained off room just to the side of the stage where they do their princess show. And then Ariel came out! She chatted with us for a good 20 minutes! We took lots of photos. She was SO perfect as Ariel - so cute and she had a really good character. The kids were beside themselves - even Lola got all worked up when she appeared.

So, below are some photos of our extra special visit with Ariel!

Our private metting with Ariel! Even Lola was excited.

It's not every day the whole family gets a private audience with a princess.

Of course Lola was going to town on her "Coral Milk" as Ariel called it.

Alice, I mean Piper, and Ariel

Ryder was SO cute! Ariel was the first character he could identify and one of his first words. He used to watch "Ariel" on my iPod all the time, especially when Lola was little and I needed to keep him entertained.

So precious! FYI - Chloe's top pattern was a size 4 but I had to add 4 inches to make it long enough. Nice, huh!

It's too bad Chloe was so used to me being a princess for so long - she mentioned that "That girl was really good at playing Ariel". My kids are ruined for life.

Lola Belle! Waitin' for the Parade.

Little (well, not so little - he's younger than Lola but weighs the same as Ryder - the cutest kid!) high five'n Merryweahter! Good to be friends with the fairies - they have all the power.

Me and Lola - chillin' before the Parade!

Ryder LOVED King Triton's carousel! It's not every day you get to ride a purple humpback.

Chloe - they Spunky one.

We could not get that Alice dress off of Piper. She loved it!

Piper and Mr. Potato Head!

Steve and Chloe on the Maliboomer. Rockstars!

The girls and I on Grizzly River Rapids. Of course, I was hoping to get wet because it was pretty warm, but barely a drop.

Lola was just happy to be there.

Ryder running through the "stream"

Lola thought it was fun, too. If I'm ever rich, I want one of these. A stream on playground material.

Daddy and Ryder getting ready to go on Toy Story Midway Mania! The ride was freaking AWESOME! So awesome that after the first time - waiting in line for about 1/2 an hour, we got back in line for another 1/2 an hour to go again!

See! Ryder and I went together this time. It was also in this line that I became my husband's hero! I changed Lola's diaper while standing in line - holding her the whole time. Granted, it wasn't messy, but still, total mommy coolness.

Chloe and Piper - ready to shoot 'em up on Toy Story!

Then we wandered back to Disneyland and found the Fairy Godmother!

We had such a great time! Can't wait to go again.

There. I finally finished it. I've only been working on this post all week, but I kept getting interrupted.

**If anyone can pinpoint this reference, I will come up with a cool prize. Not to steal from Jessica, but it's so obscure, I doubt anyone will get it. Good luck!

Drumroll please.....I'm back!

2008-09-01T00:56:00.001-07:00

Sorry it' been so long. What a crazy month it has been! I have a lot to catch up on, but I'll get to that later. The important thing is that I have photos of my performance as Amneris in AIDA. The show closed yesterday, August 30th. The photos here are from my performance night, August 20th. I do have some video, but I haven't watched it. If I deem it worthy and can figure out how, I will post some of it. But for now, the photos will do.

Let me just say that the actress I was understudying is built very differently than I am, so the costumes didn't fit me quite the way they should, especially the strapless numbers. Having 4 kids expands your rib cage so they were TIGHT! I'll share my start of the show story at the end of the photos. There are lots of pictures of the whole show at www.signatureproductions.net.Aidaphotospage.htm if you want to see more. It was an absolutely amazing show and I couldn't be more proud of my husband who directed it and designed costumes. I was the production manager which is really just the fancy term for the one who does all the directors dirty work. I also technically designed hair and makeup, but the entire makeup credit goes to Alda Tomasic. And, she watched Lola backstage during the show some nights with her daughter. She's AWESOME!

Of course, my dear friend Valinda (onceuponacostume.blogspot.com) did most of the costumes. I only say most because some of my costumes were purchased. I'll make sure to label in the photos which ones she built.

I had a total blast on my night. It was really fun to get up there, wear pretty costumes, belt my guts out and take an amazing journey. I can't wait to do it again sometime.

So, to preface the first photo, at the beginning of the show, I am lifted out of the ground on to the platform. Very dramatic, very cool! It's hard to capture the effect in photos, but you get the idea.

Sandra Huntsman as Amneris in SST/Signature Productions

Elton John & Tim Rices AIDA - August 20, 2008

Costume built by Valinda Gubler

"Every Story is a Love Story"

An egyptian pharoah, Amneris, narrates the story of a war torn egypt.

This was the tightest costume! It's amazing I was even able to get it on. In hindsight, I wish I would have put a piece in the back. Steve said I sounded nervous in this number, but in reality, I couldn't breath. And the fact that me feet could get no further than shoulder length apart didn't help. But, hey - it was worth it. It's a FABULOUS piece!

My dramatic exit from that number

"My Strongest Suit"

Amneris is a vain and wordly princess who's biggest care in life is her wardrobe.

This was my BIG number! It's total fun. I hope to post a video of it.

Belting my LUNGS out!

I loved the choreography in this number - so fun! Thanks Keith and Shannon

In the middle, I ran off to make a costume change - into my couture gown. This number is all about clothes, afterall - "I am what I wear, and how I dress" - ROCKIN!

Can you believe Valinda MADE this amazing piece! So fun! And, I have to be proud of those legs after 4 kids.

All the ensemble girls were in black and white, so I really made a splash!

And now, a more elegant look. At the banquet with Brandon Albright as Radames.

Another view. Valinda made this one, too - and Radames' costume as well.

A group shot - the show was stunning.

Sharing a bonding moment with Tai Lewis as Aida. The woman is FIERCE! She tore down the house every single night. Amazing.

Just for story purposes - Amneris is betrothed to the egyptian capatain, Radames, but he falls in love with the captured slave, Aida - who is secretly the Nubian princess. He gives Aida to Amneris as a present, but Aida soon becomes good friends with Amneris as well. Setting them up for certain heartbreak, as love triangles often do.

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Radames"

Radames comes to see Aida after she tells him off, but he has to get rid of Amneris, first.

He's just toying with me, trying to get rid of me.

Yup. I'm wearing a sheet. Hey - don't keep a fiesty princess waiting. We had been engaged for 9 years!

My FAVORITE costume - courtesy of Valinda.

"Not Me" - Sandra Huntsman as Amneris, Brandon Albright as Radames and Tai Lewis as Aida

How could love be so confusing?

Things get darker as Amneris realizes her betrothed doesn't seem to be thinking of her...

As the love triangle is lost in thought in "A Step Too Far"

This was one of my favorite numbers and extra cool because I helped Steve develop the concept for the number that ended up being very powerful! Yay!

Oh, and Valinda made Radames' and Tai's costumes, but mine was a purchased evening gown. I loved it - it made me feel so glamarous!

Amneris discovers the truth - that Aida and Radames are desperately in love.

"I Know the Truth"

However, if she betrays them, they will die, so she goes through with the wedding. Bianca Guevara and Lauren Basch are the handmaidens.

"I Know the Truth"

We bought this dress - at David's Bridal back in March for $99! What a buy!

But the lovers are caught and Amneris must confront their betrayal. Joel Abelson as a soldier and Tai Lewis as Aida.

She has compassion for Radames and Aida - her friends, and though she must sentence them to death, she allows them to die together.

And we come full circle - Amneris is made Pharaoh, giving way to a reign of peace in the land

and the story continues in another life.

The End!

Almost there!

2008-08-13T01:54:00.000-07:00

Yay! The show - AIDA in case you forgot - opens tomorrow. Yippee! I've been up to my eyeballs in wigs, costumes and quick changes and I'm WAY BEYOND EXHAUSTED! But I hope it will be worth it. I'll update ya on stuff soon!

I'm still here....

2008-08-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

...just busy beyond belief and exhausted. The show opens on Wednesday, then I have my show the following Wednesday. SO, after that I'll be back to my old blogging self.

Quick Update

2008-08-04T03:03:00.000-07:00

1. Well, it was a wonderful week! I had a total blast rehearsing for the role and on top of that - I did a great job! I even impressed some important people (namely my husband) and I remembered just how much I love being onstage! So, now back to real life and costumes, hair and makeup and just getting the dang show up! Then I go on on August 20th and I can't wait!

2. The girls are home - they had a great time with my parents. They were spoiled ROTTEN but they deserve it. They went to the beach and boardwalk, an old fashioned mining town, fishing - lots of fun stuff. My parents were here for the weekend and were kind enough to watch the kids yesterday while we had rehearsal.

3. I can't believe Lola is going to be 1 on Wednesday. She's so fun.

4. Ok, I said it was going to be short. Seriously - BUSY!

A List O'Stuff

2008-07-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

1. The girls are gone! They are visiting my parents in California for a week. They left last Thursday - flew on a plane all by themselves. While both of them have flown before, they were babies at the time and don't remember. It was quite the experience! And, of course, the gourmet Burger King which was $12 for a hamburger, chicken nuggets and 2 drinks. Seriously, now!

The were all smiles as we watched planes out the window.

It was kind of sudden, though, when the boarding agent came over to get them and pre-board them on the flight. Piper started to tear up a little - she was nervous, but Chloe put her arm around her as she walked down to the plain.

So grown up!

I had to wait until the plane was in the air to leave - and it was delayed! We waited for another flight for 45 minutes so people could make their connections. I felt bad that they had to sit there that long before take off. Then I thought about how charming and personable they are, and figured they had the flight attendants wrapped around their little fingers! The called me when they got to the Oakland Airport and they were all giggles. In fact, everytime they call, they sound like they are having a blast. Sounds like they are getting pretty spoiled, but I'm glad. They deserve it.

2. Rehearsals - Well, this is my week as understudy. I have been in rehearsal since Thursday, and I also rehearse tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday. I ran through the whole show on Saturday and it was SOOOO fun! A really good friend of mine who has never seen me perform paid me the kindest compliments - he said I really blew him away! So I am really excited for August 20th - that's my show!!

3. Lola is a walking fool! She walks all the time! She still crawls if she has to go great distances, but she walks a little further each day.

4. Ryder is a talking fool! Nothing is off limits! He's adopted the strange habit of calling his daddy "Steve!" Today, he said "Steve is crazy!" He's just full of the funniest things ever and he's so sweet. I'm enjoying having a little extra energy and attention to devote to the babies. I'm working on getting a really good video of his "Fantasmic!" performance - he knows the whole thing and asks me to play it all the time so he can act it out. He plays Mickey and the Monkeys. It's seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen!

5. Sorry if I won't be posting a lot, Aida opens in 2 1/2 weeks and there is SO MUCH TO DO still. I have to do a whole bunch of costume pieces and the wigs still, and try to keep the director and the production organized as well as focus on my role. Seriously, it will be INSANITY around here for a while, so forgive me if I'm just not around. I will have someone take some photos and maybe video of my rehearsals just for fun!

Piper's Birthday Party

2008-07-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

Piper had a birthday party on Saturday. She will be turning 6 this coming Friday. She wanted Sleeping Beauty to come, so I worked my sewing fingers to the bone and turned one out. I tried it in all gold. It needs some adjustments, but I think it's alright! She had a bunch of friends and they had a great time. Here's a few photos. I have to admit I chose the ones that were most flattering of myself. That last 10 pounds is killing me this time around.

So, tonight we're coming home from rehearsal and we stop to get gas. This drunk guy comes up to Steve's side of the car as he opens the door. He practically gets inside the car to try to talk to Steve. After he was told to back up and get away, this is what he says. "My girlfriend, my baby's mama, is an alcoholic...like me, like all of us. Anyway, she tells me, she makin me go out and get some money to get her a beer. So, do you have a dollar so I can get her a beer?" I won't tell you what Steve responded, it wasn't polite. But can you believe the ridiculousness? The nerve. My car still smells like his drunken mess. Ugh. This is why there should be a test to become parents. Some drunken dad out at midnight begging for a dollar to buy a beer for his drunken girlfriend, mother of his child.

Tag from Valinda

2008-07-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

I got tagged from Valinda's Blog. Here's the way it goes:

1: As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2: Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come leave a comment on your blog. If you don't have a blog or don't want to play the game on your blog, I'll leave my memory as a comment on my comments.So, c'mon, anything funny, strange, cool, embarrassing, or awful you remember about me?

A Post about my Dentist

2008-07-14T21:04:00.001-07:00

You just never know where life will lead you! At the AIDA auditions, a very cute couple, Joeseph and Tiffany Hale, came in to audition. They had been out of the loop for a while because the husband is in dental school, but they were excited to audition for the show. Well, they were both fantastic. Steve cast him on the spot as Radames and was THRILLED to have found such an amazing performer. He fit the bill perfectly - dynamic actor, unbelievable singing voice and fantastic look. She was in serious consideration for Amneris and was also a solid performer and DROP DEAD GORGEOUS.

Unfortunately, the schedule for dental school was changed on him and he had to drop the show, much to the mutual disappointment of the director. But - hey - we understand! Ya gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, I have been in serious need of some dental work, so I asked him about it and he said I could probably get into the program. I let it go for a while, and then one night when one of my teeth happened to start abcessing, he e-mailed out of the blue to see about getting the process going. It was fate! And I did. He pulled that tooth and right now I'm undergoing my thorough evaluation to look towards what kind of care I will need. He's trying to get me in a program to where I only have to pay the lab fees. Please pray for that! I have so much work that needs to be done and that would really help.

Anyway, I'm just happy to have a dentist who is my friend - because I usually HATE the dentist, but it helps to be comfortable in your surroundings and Joe never fails to put me at ease! We have a lot in common, being theatre folk who are married to theatre folk. And they have two cute little kids, too! I want his wife to be a princess for me when I get that going again -which will be soon!

So, here's their headshots and a recording of him singing. I wonder if he'd sing for me while he works on my teeth!

Butt Booster?

2008-07-14T03:05:00.000-07:00

I'm TIRED! What a crazy weekend.

Friday night, I went to rehearsal with Steve, but we got locked out and had to scramble to salvage the rehearsal. NUTS!

Then on Saturday, we left the house at 11am and didn't get home until midnight. We shopped the whole day for costumes for AIDA. My friend Valinda watched the older girls and Lola and Ryder were the stroller brigade. They were actually very good. We found some great stuff.

I do have to share that Ryder is a total talker, now. Everyday there are new words. Today he surprised me with ketchup and chocolate. And he says the cutest full sentences. At a restuarant this weekend, as he was trying to get out of his booster, he said "Mah butt STUCK!" and "No more food. All done. Time to go!" I love it SOOOO much!

While we were shopping, every where we went they had these butt boosters. I told Steve - "I've been sitting on a fortune all these years!" Who would have ever thought that people would WANT to have my butt! I mean, I guess they have push up bras and falsies for the bust line, so what's the difference? It's just comical to me that people want to augment their bums. I come by mine naturally - I've always called it the shelf butt. I've often contemplated putting a nice potted plant back there. "Butt" now - I'm just going to cast my derriere in foam and sell it. Just $49.99! I accept paypal.

See my book!

2008-07-10T03:59:00.000-07:00

For the last 2-3 weeks, I've been working on a book of photos from Beauty and the Beast for the director, but I also am making it available to the rest of the cast. So, you can see it at blurb.com and look at the first 15 pages! It's 40 pages and I photoshopped every one! Yeah, it took a lot of time, but take a gander - I think it was worth it!

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/188495/a3fe6a030e8299fa2e3b3afc960784f7

Tonight I spent a fun night at the theatre - we went to see 1776 - the July show out at the Ranch. So, I had my historical/patriotic night for the year. Good times!

Just click here...

2008-07-07T01:13:00.001-07:00

to see what we did for the 4th of July.

http://thewinkelfamily.blogspot.com/2008/07/fourth-of-july.html

I'd just like to take a moment to thank my friend Shannon for writing my blog for me tonight.

I would also like to appologize for the horrendous photo of me on the page. I had horrible posture and I was bloated beyond belief. I would like everyone to know that I am not pregnant. I promise.

This afternoon at the picture show. . .

2008-07-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

I hope you have your popocorn - lots of pictures today. The first two are out of chronological order, but who cares, right?

Last night for the 4th of July, we went to Shannon's house for dinner and fireworks. Shannon made yummy pot roast and veggies, we had banana splits for desert. We watched fireworks and did sparklers. Her little boy, Brendan who is about 3 weeks younger than Lola wasn't too thrilled with the noises. Lola, however, was totally unfased. I guess that's the difference between the first child and the 4th! Lola is used to a constant cacophony of noise and motion.

Anyway, after that, Shannon showed my girls how to do flips! Here's some photos I snapped with my phone while they were in motion!

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease - it's CHLOE!

Piper was very graceful and elegant in the air.

The funniest thing of the evening was Lola. She watched the girls a few times and crawled over to me. I "flipped" her a couple of times and then she'd crawl to me and as soon as I put my feet up, she'd arch her back to flip over! I'll have to get it on video, it's truly amazing. The girl is SMART!

So, rewind to Thursday evening. There was a concert at the Stake Center for the 4th of July with the Choir and Orchestra - who are both AMAZINGLY good. Their Christmas concert blew me away. However, as I learned not too long ago, it's futile for me to bring Ryde and Lola pretty much anywhere together by myself. My desire to go to the concert did not outweigh the knowledge that I would be chasing Ryder through the halls at the stake center with Lola on my hip. So, I did not go. But, I made the best of it with the kids. We went swimming and then - we had CUPCAKES!

Ok, so they were store bought, but who wants to turn on the oven when it's 110 outside!

Next we colored pictures! Chloe and Piper picked coloring pages off the internet, but Cody wanted to draw something terrible, so he drew free form.

My Chloe is turning in to quite the artist.

Cody poses with his original piece, "Terrible Things" dedicated to his dad! I just love this kid! He makes me laugh every day!

And of course, Piper's dainty and delicate Sleeping Beauty.

And we couldn't forget Lola -who, as she is labeled here, is FANTASTIC!

Today, there was much swimming in the morning, then LUNCH time! I pulled out the camera because I thought it was cute that they all had matching cups and bowls - aren't they so great? My mother in law picked them up at IKEA. I have never been there, but I love their catalogs. Anwway, they all started POSING!

Aunt McKayla with her sun burned cheeks shows us how to eat Spaghetti O's

Piper goes for Glam to match her pink bowl and cup.

All the kids cheese it up. I especially love Cody's strong man character.

Thumbs up for a great meal accented with neon orange. Perfect for Cody's bright personality.

Chloe get's serious. She's in a green mood.

Ryder got shy! My Ryder, shy? Too cute!

After I took this photo of Piper, I asked what she was doing. She said she was being Gizelle (from Enchanted!) How funny - it's all in the finger.

And last but not least, LOLA! I finally got a good photo of her fangs! I LOVE her smile.

Well, I have to admit I've been pretty down lately about a lot of things. But as I deal with it, the one thing I can always feel good about are my kids. They are just so amazing to me. The love I feel for them is absolutely overwhelming, and they always know how to brighten my day, even in just a little way. And it's hard to explain, but I know that Cody is such a special spirit. When I'm around him, I just feel a little closer to heaven. So I'm happy to have him here for another week!

Well, off to primp for my real date tonight! Dinner and a show!!!!! Just me and the husband. It's been like 2 1/2 months (since we went to Disneyland) that we've had dinner alone together. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.

Can't Sleep....must blog

2008-07-03T03:53:00.001-07:00

Yes. It's become an addiction. I simply can't go to bed at night without blogging.

So, enjoy my son, dancing on the table. But to him, it's a stage. How can I deny him that, right?

Summer Fun!

2008-07-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

First off, here's Ryder playing dress up.

Here we have Ryder as the Pharaoh of Egypt (from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.) It wasn't ever used in the show, but it's dang cool.

And now - Pirate Ryder! These were scraps from Peter Pan. And Grandpa's 3 sided ruler was his sword. Too Cute!

I do swear I like my other kids, too. Ryder just seems to be the one with the most photo opportunities lately.

Next we have photos of our summer swim today. Well, the kids. I didn't go. There is a small fountain/pond in the backyard. Absolutely perfect on a hot summer day like today. We also have a visitor right now. My nephew Cody is in town for a few weeks. His mom is pregnant with her number 4 and Cody, along with his brother Parker, both have Autism. His mom was worried that he was getting bored with not having school and she has a lot on her plate keeping his brother entertained along with taking care of their little sister who is Ryder's age and being pregnant, so he came to stay here for a while. He's awesome! I love having him around. He may be picky about what he eats and has some minor quirks, but he says the best things! He's always correcting me - like when I accidently cut his sandwich in half and he had requested triangles. I said that I had cut it in squares, would that be ok. He took one look at it and said "Actually, those are rectangles." And then when he went to try the sunchips we had with dinner, he asked if they were too too hot like the sunshine. The girls are having a blast playing with him - it's nice for Ryder to have another boy around as well.

That's Cody!

Ryder, Cody, Chloe and Piper, showing off for the camera.

Cody and my scrawny girl, Chloe.

Once again, Ryder, Piper, Cody and Chloe's bum.

Ryder! He mostly just splashes around, jumps up and down and sings.

Cody under the waterfall.

Piper and Cody going to explore.

It's hard to believe that June is over already. 1/3 of our summer gone! It seems like it just started. I do enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the summer. Hope you are enjoying yours!

A pleasant surprise in my inbox.

2008-06-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I should start off by saying that it started out a lovely day. I woke up early, worked on the photo book I am designing for the director of Beauty and the Beast (I'll post some pages of it sometime) and worked on the mountains of laundry I have piled up. I even cleaned the bathroom. This is a sign of me having a very good day.

Then I got the first e-mail. It made me sad. I don't understand why some people feel the need to say really mean and awful things sometimes. I think this person thought that they were trying to do good, but it made me feel horrible. REALLY horrible. Anyway, no more details, I'm dealing with it the best I can.

Then I got the second e-mail. It made me smile. We had a photoshoot for AIDA on Saturday and the kids were there running around. Of course they wanted their photos taken, too, but I didn't realize that any had actually been taken. That's when these showed up in my mail box.

These are so gorgeous to me! I love them because this is how I see my kids everyday. Not dressed up and coiffed, just in their play clothes and hair fresh from swimming. Thanks, Angela. You put sunlight back in my cloudy day.

I will post a picture of the actual photo shoot another day. I'm feeling too blue about the fact that I'm not in the photos to look at them today. I'll just enjoy my kids instead.

Speaking of whom, I just looked up, and there's Lola, climbing all over Ryder in his chair as he watches a "show." (Monsters, Inc.) I love that he calls movies shows.

Silly children!

A Blog about Baby Wraps (for Jessica)

2008-06-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

So, I could not reply to your baby wrap/sling blog with a mere comment - I needed PICTURES!

First - I am a HUGE fan of the wrap! I built a whole Ariel costume with Ryder secured to my chest! I made it through trips to Disneyland with Ryder and then Lola - both 6 weeks old at the time, with warps. Here's one of Lola last September. She was 6 weeks old and this was a lighter weight pink wrap.

I also make my own warps. I buy 5 yards of $1 - $2 a yard fabric from walmart. Always a knit. Even if it has a bit of stretch, I tie it on tighter so the stretch isn't a problem. Then I cut it into about 15 inch strips. That's it! I get 2-3 out of one length of fabric, depending on the width of the fabric.

Actually, when Ryder was a baby, I forgot my wrap on the way to Disneyland. We stopped at the Walmart in Barstow and got more fabric and some scissors. The fabric was a little heavier than I wanted, but it ended up being fine because it was cold and even rained one of the days. I never had to worry about him being wet or cold, because he was snuggled close to my chest the whole time.

Wraps are great because they are very secure. I have done the front snuggle carry - where the baby is facing your chest - great for tiny babies. SOOOOO secure! You can bend over, do anything and you know they aren't going anywhere. Try that with a Bjorn! When they get a little older, I turn them around to face out so they can see. Lola loved that at on our Spring Break trip to Disneyland. I have also carried Ryder on my back. That was cool, too.

At Disneyland when Ryder was a baby

In the picture above, you should note that I didn't quite use it right. I should have wrapped the fabric around my waist one more time to hole him in on the sides. There are FABULOUS direction for every type of wrap imaginable at www.mamatoto.org

This picture is just CUTE! They wouldn't let me keep him in the wrap on Dumbo, but at wasn't too annoying - just a piece of fabric wrapped around my body! What a cute baby he was! I couldn't go anywhere that trip without everyone staring at him. He was so cute and tiny on my chest. And look how little Chloe looks. Geez.

Anyway, there are a few drawbacks. It can be a pain to wrap all the time. You need some space and the wrap drags on the floor as you are wrapping it on you. This can be bad, especially in parking lots. When we would go somewhere, I would usually wrap at home, then stick the baby in inside. Also, it's hot. Even last September, I tried to keep Lola in the stroller most of the time because it was really hot for her and me to have her on my chest, and I got the lightest weight fabric I could find. Not awesome in Las Vegas.

So, I also like Ring Slings, too. I haven't tried any others, but I have used my sisters Ring Sling that she got from a friend who makes them. Actually, I'm designing a website for her (www.bestlittlebabyshop.com) She's so nice! I just met her in person last week. Anyway, she's very reasonable. I felt very safe and comforatable with Lola in it when she was really tiny. They are also great for older babies in a hip cary. I find they are cooler and a bit easier for a quick trip (like there is such a thing with 4) into the store.

I have also heard wonderful things about Mei Tai wraps. I always wanted to try sewing one like that for myself, I just have never had the patience to try. There are some sites with GORGEOUS Mei Tai's. I just couldn't think of spending that much money on them!

All I know is that while I honestly don't go a lot of places with all 4 kids by myself and really never did when Lola was smaller, but several times, having the baby securely wrapped on my chest made it possible for me to function. I'm not a baby wearer - some women always have their kids strapped to them. But I have loved them! Ryder actually spent more time in them because I did a lot more stuff when he was a baby.

Let me know if you have any questions!

DUH! Here's the photo!

2008-06-28T13:41:00.001-07:00

I alway do that!
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Blogging on the road!

2008-06-28T13:38:00.001-07:00

Today we had to take care of the Beauty and the Beast set. We couldn't resist taking this photo of Ryder's truck. He kept calling it "my truck!" and was extremely upset when daddy got in to go and he had to get back in the van! "I wanna go with daddy!" was the soundtrack of our journey.
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I love my Ryder, oh yes I do!

2008-06-27T13:54:00.001-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I adore all of my children. Ryder is just at that stage of life where he is really starting to talk and the things coming out of his mouth are SO funny! His big thing right now is "No hit me!" but it sounds like "no heeeet meeeeee!" or yesterday, he said "Mommmmmm, cah eye hab sum eye keeemmmmmmmmm?" (mom, can I have some Ice Cream?) It's just so cute! Everything is about hitting (or hurting, it's pretty much the same word). He'll be looking all sad and he'll say "Bay bee heeeet me wid uh b -eye- t." (Baby hit (or hurt) me with a bite) I'll say "Where's Ryder?" and he'll hit his chest and say "That's Meeee!"

I remember how cute Chloe and Piper were at that age. Chloe would say "Doog!" instead of Good. Loved it! Piper was kind of a slow talker, she still has some speech issues. Sometimes I wonder if it's because Chloe would do all the talking for her! Anyone who knows Chloe won't find that too surprising.

I found him yesterday trying to put the baby's shoes on her! He has a thing about shoes, he's always worried about them, which is kinda funny because it took me a long time to get him to wear shoes after he started walking. Anyway, whatta swell kid!

They make me smile.

Some Catch Up!

2008-06-26T00:38:00.000-07:00

1. I needed a picture of Piper for her birthday party announcement - and of course, all the kids got in on the fun! Here's Piper, hair by Aunt McKayla.

Piper is such a princess!

Chloe - Mid Air (blue eyshadow and all!)

Ryder - Cheese! He can't resist!

Lola loves to point!

Yes, I do not dress my younger children in the summer. It's summer and it's hot and they are messy.

2. Remember how I told you that Ryder came to the show last Friday and was a VERY good boy! Here he is after the show with daddy!

Daddy and Ryder - two peas in a pod!

And here's me with GLEN! That's my favorite thing about theatre - making new friends! I made quite a few during Beauty and the Beast!

3. Closing Night - just a couple of shots:

Before the show every night, we have a meeting and pep talk. I took this photo just as it was starting. The one to the right in the blue hawaiin shirt next to Maurice (gray wig) is Phil, the director. Steve is there, too - just to the lower right of Maurice in his black costume shirt. At the end of every meeting is "Oogies" - a chant that is tradition.

Oogie time!

One last photo of Steveas Lumiere. He moves so fast that it was hard to get him in the traditional candlestick pose.

I really did have a great time working on Beauty and the Beast. I met great people, watched a great show night after night and I'm pretty proud of my work on the show. And the cast and crew were really fabulous with my kids. I went to 11 out of 13 performances and Lola accompanied me to every single one. By the end of the run, she was dancing and singing the whole time!

4. Dentist - I went back in to the dentist today and was accepted to the program. I already have my first procedure scheduled in just over a month. I'm actually excited about it because it's going to be a tooth that cracked nearly 2 years ago and you can see it. I am going to have a pretty smile again and won't have to think about which side the camera is on!

Ok, that's really all for now!

Trying to be interesting....

2008-06-25T03:11:00.000-07:00

but I'm too tired. I didn't want to go too long without blogging, though you'd think with all the posts I've had lately, Jessica would stay really busy. Well, that and the brand new baby who happens to be one of the cutest kids I've ever seen!

Anyway, I do have stuff to post about, but I can hardly keep my eyes....

Lumiere!

2008-06-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here he is, dear blog readers! My amazing husband! This is just a snippet of his performance on closing night of Beauty and the Beast. Sure, I'll admit I'm biased - but listening to the audience reactions around me, and the endless praise he's showered with nightly - I know I'm not wrong. He is truly a gifted man and I count myself lucky to be his wife. It is my fondest dream and continuous wish that someday soon he can get out of the "Stucco" trade and make a living with his incredible talents. Enjoy!

Success...and the End! (or is it? WHAT?)

2008-06-22T02:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I took Ryder to the show again. I know I swore I wouldn't, but a babysitter was non existant and I needed to get out of the house. So, I bit the bullet.

But - GUESS WHAT! He sat through the whole show! He was SO good and we had so much fun! He was restless from time to time, but we found fun things to look at or for when the action slowed down a little bit! We had several friends there as well, but he mostly hung out with me. It was a very enjoyable night at the theatre.

And then tonight was CLOSING NIGHT! Always a great show. I'm going to attempt to post a video of Steve doing "Be Our Guest" but its pretty long and may take way to long to upload.

BUT - it may return. I'm not disclosing details, but it's a possibility. That makes me happy and sad. Happy because it's a great show and it would bump out a show that is way less exciting. But, sad because it means I way more than likely won't get my turn onstage this fall and we wouldn't be mounting it again anytime soon so I won't have another chance to audition (for any role - not just Belle - I'm afraid that ship may have sailed). So possibly another personal dissappointment in what is turning out to be a very long line of them. Again, nothings set in stone, there are a lot of things to work out, but we'll see. I am NOT getting my hopes up. UGH! Will someone please just let me do a role for heaven's sake!!!

For Glenn - A journey!

2008-06-20T01:30:00.000-07:00

In the theatre, things are recyled - sets, props, actors - even WIGS! In Beauty and the Beast, I have recycled several wigs from past productions, but the one of greatest importance to me is Andrea (pronounced Ahh -n-drae-uh). And my new friend, Glenn, aka "the understudy" who tirelessly filled in for actors who could not be at rehearsals. And he was fabulous, by the way! Someone give this man a SHOW! Anyway, here is Andrea's original purpose. It was my wig in Once on This Island where I played the role of - you guessed it, Andrea. The next time Andrea made it onstage was on my husband, Steve, as The Mysterious Man in Into the Woods. Now, granted, it was in disguised. It was loaded with white/gray dreadlocks and hair pieces, and covered with a really cool hat, but it was there, nonetheless, I promise.
A few years later, Andrea was found on Steve once again. This time as Levi in Joseph and the Amazing Techicolor Dreamcoat.
When it appeared onstage again, it was on pirate Starky in Peter Pan - played by another Steve - Steve McMillan. My Steve, however, directed the show and it was fantastic. Well, it seems the Andrea wig has the touch to make whatever show it is in truly great!
Finally, here she is on Glen - the Baker/Cheesegrater/Man chased by Chip/understudy. I don't quite know how she ended up only on Men since I cast her off, but they have all worn her well. I think Andrea needs to continue on in every show from now on - somewhere. She's good luck, afterall!
Thanks for sharing our journey through the past!

One Night Only....

2008-06-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've been sitting on some information for a while and it's good news!

I will be understudying the role of Amneris (the part I wanted to play) in AIDA and I will have one performance in the role! I will let everyone know which show it will be - more than likely it will be either August 20 or 21st. Of course it will be contigent on both the director and myself feeling comfortable in performing this highly demanding role with limited rehearsal, but I don't have any doubt that I can pull it off and do it FANTASTIC! I've got ONE NIGHT to live my dream and dang it, I'm going to make it count!

Ok. In other news, my kids never cease to amaze me! I am uploading this video of Ryder (I promise I'll take video of the other kids sometime soon!) You have to listen closely, but you can hear him singing parts of "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast.

"Every day, like the one before

Little town, full of little people

waking up to say:

Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour!

Monsiuer, Gaston, oh He's so cute!

He's such a tall dark strong and handsome brute"

I also made a fun trip to the Dentists today! Ok, not really fun, but I had another tooth that has been bothering me and threatening to swell up like the other one. Well, at the AIDA auditions there was a lovely couple auditioning for the show. Actually, the guy - Joe, was cast as Radames, but he had to bow out because he is in Dental school and they changed the dates of some of his boards and it just wouldn't work out. He was truly disappointed - and so was Steve for that matter. He is a dynamic and talented performer. So is his wife! And they are two of the most attractive people I have ever met as well. ANYWAY - he mentioned at auditions that he has to find patients and I need dental work done! He had an opening at 1 O'Clock today, so I went in to have this pesky tooth taken care of. I can honestly say it was the best experience I've ever had at the dentists. He was very careful with the local anesthesia because the epinephrine makes me all shakey and he took his time working the tooth (which was half missing) out without feeling like he was going to break my jaw. Yay!!

And finally, just to demonstrate how much I love Photoshop - here's an invitation I made for Piper's birthday party. I don't know if that will actually be the date and time, but mostly it's for my book of announcements! Even Steve approves.

Good night!

It's 3am...

2008-06-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

MUST Blog!

But I'm really tired from working on the AIDA rehearsal schedule for the last 3 hours.

I do have some fun stuff to post - tomorrow!

YAWN!

Beauty and the Beast - Hair & Makeup Shots

2008-06-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some photos of Beauty and the Beast that really show off my hair and makeup designs.

If you click on the photos, they pop up HUGE so you can really see the details!

This is Gerry Born as Maurice and Kari Curletto as Belle. He's way too young to be Belle's dad in real life, so we had to age him! I accomplished this with some pretty broad old age makeup and a recycled wig. His hair was from Into the Woods, worn by the witch. But it was the perfect complement to his charming portrayal of the heartwarming inventor. Belle's "day" wig was the biggest pain in my butt - ever! It's just a really hard style to secure and have enough volume and look natural. I re-style this thing everynight! But it looks great! It's fun to have a red-headed Belle.
This is a great shot of what the makeup looks like close up. I know it's quite stark, but it's necessary to be seen by the audience that stretches back for hundreds of feet. I wish I knew how far it was!

This is Erik Ball as Gaston. His makeup is my favorite! It works on 2 levels - it sets Gaston apart from the rest of the men by making him really chiseled and angular. Then in the second act, when his evil side comes out, it really gives him an evil and menacing look. Erik does a fantastic job of applying his own makeup! And his wig is a hoot! I love how tall it is and the perfect curl cascading onto his forhead.
Here we have Erik with Evan Litt as LeFou. He was my BIGGEST challenge in the show. Evan is a VERY good looking guy - and one of my favorite people! We've gone to Disneyland with Evan and his adorable son, Evan Jr, he played Pharaoh in our production of Joseph - I was his wife, if you remember, and he also choreographed Peter Pan. Evan is a great guy. Here is a reference photo of just how good looking the guy is and why it was SO difficult to make him look like a befuddling idiot.

(Please note - Evan is in the middle - sorryabout the glasses and cap, but I think you get the idea, Evan Jr, or Little E, is on his lap dressed as Peter Pan. To the left of the Evan's is Sevyn - who plays the Beast. The girl waving in the background is the amazingly talented Cammie Youngberg. She does props, painting and special effects. She also learned the Beast Makeup from his designer and applies it for him every night. This was a photo from our trip to Disneyland last may. It was a total blast!!)

He did most of the work himself with his incredible physical presence, great characterization and strong vocal choices.

But, to take the edge off his handsomeness - is that a word? - I had him round his eyebrows, pull his chin line and cheekbone line down with shadowing as well as widening his nose. A healthy dose of brighter than bright blush and black out a few teeth along with a round shaped wig and I think we pulled it off pretty well! I don't think you would recognize him out of makeup on the street if you had only seen him in the show.

Lumiere was my favorite actor to work on ;). Well, most of the time! His makeup is very linear to suggest his face is becoming part of the candleabra as well as his hands and head. It is also touched with gold and works very well with his costume. His eyebrows are literally rectangles so they will stand out from his candle hat. I think he's very debonair and handsome!
And here we have Steve with Jennifer de la Torre as Babette. I wish you could see her face a little better - it's truly stunning. But I just love this photo so much, I had to share it. She dusts her shoulders and chest with gold - she acts with her shoulder so much it really adds a great dynamic.

Belle in her gold gown. Because the dress was SO traditional, I decided to go a little less traditional on the wig. It took a while to get the porportions just right, but it's crazy to me how she almost looks like a different person because of the different shape of the hair.
And a side view.

This is Al "Sevyn" Mindoro as the Beast. Again, I did not design or build his makeup or "wig", but I did add onto the wig. I dyed it and sewed in yards of more hair to give it more texture. I think it's pretty cool!

And finally, for today, Monsieur D'Arque, played by Chris Hermening. He was another challenge - how to make an attractive young man look older, dark and menacing. I think we pulled it off! For Chris, it's all about the eyebrows, bags under the eyes and chiseling the face - all with a dark violet color off set with stark white highlights. His number, "Maison de Lune" is one of my favorite.

Next time - more of the enchanted objects! And maybe some backstage photos, too.

Photos are property of PS Productions and shot by Ron Koch

An Acting Lesson

2008-06-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to our friends Brandon & Kelly's house to watch the Tony awards. It was fun! Lots of our favorite theatre peeps were there. I was happy for Patti Lupone - her performance on the show was amazing! She sounded so fantastic. I wasn't expecting to root for her, but her performance of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" was fierce. I was happy for Laura Benanti, too. I've seen YouTube videos of her as Louise and she is sheer perfection. In The Heights looks great. I hope to get to see it when we go to NY for our 10th anniversary. Well, that's our dream, anyway.

On the way home, Chloe and Piper were in the back seat trying to cry. So, Dad decided to give them an acting lesson. First he just told them to cry, which was totally fake. I was disappointed because they fake cry all the time to me about silly stuff. Anywhoo, he stopped them and told them to think of something that makes them sad enough to cry. Chloe started chanting "dead puppies, dead puppies, dead puppies." Then, after a moment, Piper - in her most cheerful voice, said "I'm trying, I really am. Say something really mean to me." To which Chloe readily replied "You don't play well with others!" Oh my! Eventually, Chloe was working up some real emotion, but then she started to laugh. Ahh, the happenings of a theatre family.

Saturday Fun

2008-06-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a great Saturday. I went with Steve to do a bid and left the older three with grandma. So, we had some "alone" time. Well, with Lola.

Then we gathered the kids up, dropped Ryder off at Lee & Sheree's (sister-in-law and her husband) and headed out to the ranch.

Shortly after we dropped Ryder off, we received this photo.

Buddy boy got to go swimming! How cute is this little ensemble! Thanks to Lee and Sheree, for sure.

Then we drove the rest of the million miles to the Ranch. It really stinks that it is SOOO dang far out there. Anyway, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go tonight, but I was so glad that I did! There were bunches of my friends out there! I got to see Josh and Ginger and their brood - they have 2 similar in age to Ryder. Juliet and Willow - they are both 2 months younger than Ryder and Lola respectively. Rosemary and Bill - another theatre couple. They are actually both in a lot of local commercials and they crack me up. Rosemary always brings stuff for the girls - but tonight they turned down oatmeal raisin cookies because they don't like raisins. Oy! Anjolene was there - she is this gorgeous girl who played a guy pirate for Steve in Peter Pan. She's really sweet! And we met my friend Shannon's family. I could tell she was so excited to have them there. And bunches of others! Have I worn out the exclamation point in this paragraph? Oh well - I enjoyed myself if you couldn't tell.

So, tomorrow I'll post some great pictures of my makeup designs. I didn't take the photos this time, but there are some really cool ones I'm excited to share.

I'll leave you with this video of Ryder singing "Be Our Guest" with a little help from Daddy. Though he's unhappy about something at the end of the video, but perhaps that's the cutest part!

OH! By the way, did you notice my header changed? Basically the same design, but much cooler effect. I'm having a blast with Photoshop and I can't wait to post more stuff I'm doing!

Old:

New:

2 year olds and outdoor theatre. I'm Exhausted!

2008-06-14T01:57:00.001-07:00

Tonight I needed to go to the show to fix up wigs and stuff. I decided to bring the whole family. Sure, it was the most frustrating night of my life last time, but somehow the pain had worn off and I thought maybe Ryder would have fun watching the show. Right.

Well, my lovely makeup assistant Alda was bringing her teenage daughter - the adorable Analee (I don't know if that's how you spell it, but hopefully it's at least close) and she's really wonderful with the kids. We pulled in together so we set a blanket at the front but to the side where I could easily take Ryder or Lola to the back of the meadow. Analee entertained Ryder before the show started and Lola kept the girls dressing room entertained while I did my thing.

I finished up and went out to sit just as the show was starting. I made a trip to the snack bar just after the prologue because there's no line then and, well, I've seen the show before. Then we sat to watch the show. Didn't last very long. After 2 "walks" to the back of the meadow and a moment of stillness from Ryder during "Be Our Guest" (Daddy's big number) it was over. Lola was getting fussy, so I ended up taking her backstage to Alda because I knew I was going to have to unleash Ryder.

I think I walked, jogged and ran about 10 miles tonight! For over 1 1/2 hours, I chased Ryder EVERYWHERE while trying to avoid interrupting the show for the rest of the audience! He didn't want to sit for a moment, not even when Steve was onstage. I'm seriously exhausted. Thank heavens for my friends, or I honestly don't know what I would have done. Well, I wouldn't have brought him unless I knew I had backup. Again, it never ceases to amaze me how hard it is to have two kids so close in age. How do people with twins ever survive!

Ok, more than a Wii, I want a nanny. :)

I guess I'm just a boring person!

2008-06-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

Well, my friend Jessica keeps chastising me (this time indirectly) for not blogging enough. But I really can't think of a lot to blog about all the time! But I'll try! So, here's what happened since my last blog.

Saturday - Went out to the Ranch (where Beauty and the Beast is performed.) My sister in law Cynthia watched Ryder and Chloe and Piper and Lola came with me. It was kind of a long night because I had to fix wigs before the show and then after, because they had a Sunday show and I was not going because of my brother in laws graduation. I usually spend 45 minutes to an hour working on wigs for every show. And we sat too far back from the stage to get good photos. But it was an enjoyable evening all the same.

Sunday - I wasn't feeling well and Lola was struggling with teething issues, so I had to duck out of church for a while. That night, Steve had a show so he went with our fantastic carpool friend, Shannon, while I took the kids to Daniel's seminary graduation. He was only 9 when I met him, so it's really weird that he's graduating from high school and all that. Makes me feel old. But I didn't get to see much of the meeting because it's nearly impossible to contain both Ryder and Lola singlehandedly. We lasted about 5 minutes before I took them both out. I came back in just in time to hear Daniels name called. We didn't even spend much time at the dessert tables. I just wanted to get out of there! It had been a really rough night. It never ceases to amaze me how tough it is to do just about anything with the two babies. 19 months apart is not enough! I can't imagine how people do it who have kids closer in age. I just don't have enough hands for both of them. I really can't do anything with all 4 kids by myself. When Steve is there, it's fine. One baby each.

Later that night, my parents called to see about having the girls (Chloe & Piper) come to visit a few weeks this summer. They are really excited to go! They also told me that they'd like to invest in my business to get things going again! I have one costume about 75% done - thanks to Valinda, and I am going to work really hard to get a few more done asap. I need to be a princess again!!!

Monday - So, Monday evening, we had a party for Daniel's graduation and the whole family came over, which is ALWAYS fun! I am really lucky to have such great in-laws. Steve and I had to leave early, though, to go to the AIDA cast meeting. My in-laws were generous enough to let Chloe, Piper and Ryder stay. Lola came with us, though she didn't have too much fun. I have to admit, it was a little hard to be there and not be part of the cast. I will always be disappointed that I didn't get cast, but no matter how much I wish I could have done it, I get the feeling it just wasn't meant to be. But, I do have a great opportunity that I'll tell you about later. It was a great meeting, though. The cast all seem to have great attitudes and there was an amazing energy there. I am grateful to be a part of the show in any way! (I'm Steve's assistant and designing Hair/Makeup)

I also finished a logo for a business I'm doing a website for. Most of the credit goes to my friend Erik Ball - he played Capt. Hook in Steve's production of Peter Pan and he is also currently playing Gaston) but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Erik did the actual artwork, based on an image I found for him. He's also working on a new logo for me for my princess business! It is going to be SO freaking amazing! And, because of Erik, I'm figuring out how to use Adobe Illustrator! I've had it for a while and I'm loving it now! Some really cool things I can do.

See how cute! http://www.bestlittlebabyshop.com/ (coming soon)

Oh, and I finally published my temporary website for Artistic Expressions. It will do, for now. http://www.artistic-expressionsonline.com/ Let me know if you need any invitations, announcements or business type stuff designed!

Tuesday - Valinda is leaving next week for Idaho and then her girls go back to school, so we went over to hang out. And she had to introduce me to Wii. I officially want one - with a Wii fit, so if anyone out there is feeling generous, please don't hesitate to pour your generosity on me. We also chatted, the kids played, Ryder got locked in the garage. Good times! (I don't know how long he was in there, but it was a while. He quickly recovered with a little Wii therapy, though. Chloe was not so lucky, racked with incredible guilt because she promised he was outside playing. A lesson was learned by all.)

Today (Wednesday)

Well, let's see. Today I set up a website for Steve for the AIDA cast. And, in the middle of it, I remembered that I have 4 wigs to majorly re-style for the show (Beauty and the Beast) tonight. So, I frantically styled them and then finished up the website. No, you can't see it, it's an informational kinda site with a log in and stuff. But, it's cool! I was supposed to go to Daniel's Commencement Ceremony tonight, but Steve got home late and I was out of formula for Lola and it just wasn't going to happen to get to the store and then the Orleans arena by myself in time for anything. But I'm proud of him! He's such a good kid, well, adult. I'm excited for him to go on a mission. No one in my immediate family has done that and I've just always wanted to be a supportive sister! I know how much Steve's mission meant for him.

OH YEAH! I forgot to share my Desert Tortoise story! Two saturdays ago, I was heading out the the Ranch with Chloe and Piper for Steve's all day rehearsal. As I was driving there, I saw something and just as I passed over it, I realized it was a little desert tortoise in the middle of the road! It was destined for certain doom, so I made a U turn and went back to save it, helping it across the road to a safety. So, here's a photo of the cute little guy. The girls had a blast showing everyone in the cast the picture of the cute littly guy (or gal) on my phone. They were such hero's for the day.

Well whadduya know! I guess I'm not so terribly boring afterall.

So, this was Ryder tonight when daddy got home. See what he does when he sees the camera? Too cute!

More Beauty and the Beast Photos

2008-06-07T01:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I sat further away and while I took more photos, less of them came out. The settings are tricky and it would have been better had I been just a little closer. Still there are some good ones!

Brooke Voigt as Mrs. Potts narrates the prologue.

The beggar woman and the Prince

Kate Harris as "Lady with a Cane" and Glenn Riggs as The Baker (with his tray like always)

Alison Habaerle and Chris Hermening

Theresa Fairweather and The Cow (played by Milky White)

Jason Bailly as The Book Seller and Kari Curletto as Belle

Belle & the Ensemble

"Belle"

Evan Litt as Le Fou, Erik Ball as Gaston and Belle

Belle and Gerry Born as Maurice (and the invention!)

The Enchanted Silverware

Glenn Riggs (aka The Understuday) as the Cheesegrater

Steve Huntsman as Lumiere and Belle - Catchin' some air

The Enchanted Objects in Be Our Guest (and bubbles!)

More "Be Our Guest"

Sevyn Mindoro as the Beast, Brett Bushell as Chip and Belle enjoying some soup.

" The Mob Song"

Fight at the Castle

Shannon Winkle as The Wardrobe - ready to fight!

Shannon Winkle as Mme. de la Grande Bouche - human again!

The Finale

Beauty and the Beast Photos - Part One

2008-06-06T00:53:00.000-07:00

As promised - here are some photos from the show! In case you weren't paying attention earlier, I did hair/makeup and my husband, Steve, is playing Lumiere (the candlestick). I didn't have much battery, so I didn't quite get to the ballgown. But these are fun for starters!

Kari Curletto as Belle in "Belle" (The wig looks better in person, I swear!)

My friend Evan Litt as LeFou and Erik Ball as Gaston (he's my friend, too!)

My husband, Steve as Lumiere and John Wenstrom as Cogsworth

My friend (and fellow blogger) Shannon Winkle as "Madame de la Grande Bouche" (the Wardrobe), Belle and Brooke Voigt as Mrs. Potts

The Enchanted Objects

Lumiere and Jennifer De La Torre as Babette

(When Piper first saw this rather flirtatious scene, she was very alarmed and looked at me and said "Mom!" like "Aren't you going to do something?" I just laughed!)

Belle and Sevyn Mindoro as Beast with Lumiere

(I didn't actually design the Beast makeup/horns/hair, but I changed the color of the hair and added a ton of other hair to make it look more textured and beastly.)

Belle and the Beast bond over a good book. I love that they fall in love while reading the classics.

Well, I'll take more pictures and add more later! I'd like to try to get some good video as well.

A Little Catch Up

2008-06-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I will take photos at Beauty and the Beast tonight - I hope. 4 kids, crazy wind and traffic made me way to stressed out to think to take pictures last night. It was insanity!

So, here is a Jessica style list of catch ups! (Jessica, you are becoming a blogging icon!)

1.School is out for the summer!!! Yesterday was the last day! I'm so excited - but mostly because it means I don't have to get up early. These last two weeks with Beauty and the Beast rehearsals have been nuts and the poor girls have been way too tired on more than one school day. And this summer is only going to be crazier as it goes.

2. Lola is a crazy climbing baby! She stands unassisted now and I wouldn't be surprised if she starts walking anytime soon. She'll be 10 months old tomorrow. Here's a picture of her pulling herself up on Grandpa's desk the other day. She climbed on his briefcase first.

3. Piper gradutated Kindergarten! Please note that I did NOT coach her on these poses!

Hot stuff, that Piper!

4. Ryder is a budding performer. Here he is with Daddy's rehearsal candles. He was even singing. It was too cute!

And, when one of them broke, he took right to fixing it!

And last night after the show, the cast had to go back onstage to work on some sound issues. Ryder was right there, singing and dancing along. Everytime they finished, he would yell "One more time!" I think the whole cast was about to melt.

5. I couldn't be prouder of my husband as Lumiere! He's always amazing onstage, but I put his "Candles" on the other day and goofed around doing some of his moves, and MAN - it's HARD! He makes it look so easy. I will definitely post pictures of him tonight - hopefully some video, too. You wouldn't believe how many times I hear "Wow! Your husband is great!" Blah, blah, BLAH! Just kidding. He really is!

Well, I guess that's all for today. We've been so wrapped up in BATB rehearsals that not much else has happened. Ce' la vie!

New Blog

2008-06-04T02:21:00.001-07:00

Ok - I promise I'll post tomorrow with photos from BATB, but it's 2:21 am and I just got home and I'm EXHAUSTED!!!!! Oh, and welcome!