That was totally Wicked!

So Ember got tickets to see Wicked for Christmas and has been waiting patiently for two months for this day to arrive.  We got matching t-shirts that say "Defy Gravity", we got tickets with her best friend and her sister and Mom, we talked about the story and listened to the soundtrack obsessively for weeks before the event, we went out to dinner first and psyched ourselves up, and we were sooooo excited!

The evening was perfectly amazing (minus an incident of misdemeanor assault which I spoke about on Facebook, but I'm going to choose to remain positive here on my blog... let's just say, some people really are Wicked).  We had great seats, and we even stayed afterwards and hovered around the stage door so the girls could get pictures and autographs with cast members.  Wicked is my second favorite Broadway musical, I love the story and the music and was so grateful to go and see it for the third time, but the BEST part was spending that time with my daughter.  I shared something with her that was special to me, we created memories, and I hope she remembers the good parts of the evening more than the one bad one.

Matching shirts, and our dog named Elphie :)

The trailer outside Gammage Auditorium.

It's dark, so it's hard to see the girls standing there.

Ember & Hope

waiting in the lobby for the doors to open.

Ember, Hope & Katie

waiting outside the stage door for

pictures & autographs!

The girls with the actor who played Fiero!!

The girls with the actress who played GLINDA!!

(the blonde hair was a wig!)

The show was a huge success, and I'm so glad we were able to go.  Maybe Ember and I will make this a tradition... Mary Poppins two years ago, Wicked this year, who knows what's next?

Also... last weekend was Ember's first Young Women fundraiser for Girl's Camp, and I forgot to blog about it.  It was a Luau, and my parents happened to be in town, so Mom & Dad, Joe & Jenna, and Steve & Sharon all bought tickets so we could make it a family event.  I'm so grateful to you guys for supporting Ember in her fundraising efforts, she earned everything she needed to for camp!  Yay!  And the evening was fun, here's just a few pictures.

What's in Your purse?

I have been shopping for a new purse for about a month now, with spring weather came the desire for a spring wardrobe, including a purse.

I used to carry a black purse, for 10+ years.  I also had a little tiny dress up purse for nights on the town... it's been used twice.  It fits my phone, chapstick, and photo I.D.  It's useless, though cute.

Then I met a friend who introduced me to the fun that is cute purses.  It doesn't have to be black to be functional, I can still fit all my Mom stuff in a spring colored purse.  Here's a picture of a few old purses I saved, (the green one is actually the new one I bought today), but it doesn't include the cool purple purse with the turquoise beads on it, I gave that to D.I.  Bummer, it would've rounded out this photo nicely.

See?  Color is fun, function and style.  So want to see what's in my purse?

The basics:  crappy old wallet, Smart phone, iPod, data-charger for an emergency full charge on any device (awesome to have in a purse), new camera, car keys, and my work badge and I.D.

Then there's the stuff that people wonder why I carry around with me everywhere.  I've found a use for it or been grateful I had it for each of these things, believe me!

First, toiletries.  Deodorant, hairbrush, hairspray, & a small makeup bag.  Great for when I leave the house in a hurry (usually because I'm angry) and not really presentable.  I can pull into the Walmart parking lot and fix myself up before I take myself out to dinner and a movie.

Then there's the pharmacy and other useful Mom tools.  Pens, thermometer, eyeglass repair kit, tic-tacs (my nieces think they're medicine), hand sanitizer, a nail kit, disinfecting anti-bacterial spray, lotion sunblock, spray-on sunblock,  two kinds of Tide pens for stain removal, an albuterol inhaler, Tums, tylenol, lip gloss and chapstick.

The unique to me stuff is a small metal snap open wallet that I use to carry the kids library cards in, so they don't get lost or bent in half.  Then there's the package of pre-addressed thank-you cards that I leave under the windwhield wipers of cars carrying Veteran license plates.  It just says "thank you for your service and sacrifice for our country" and some other stuff, but I always have some in my purse.

It all fits, and there's usually room for a soda and granola bar too!  This is just what was in my purse today, it changes often.  Yesterday I was carrying around my Kindle and a bag full of quarters that I found in another purse.  Sometimes there's candy, prescriptions, kids toys, and other miscellaneous stuff.  I love my purse, and as long as it's necessary, it may as well be cute!

So what's in your purse?

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Sometimes they get along

Happy Birthday Arizona, have some chocolate!

I typically don't celebrate Valentine's Day, but last year I realized that it doesn't just have to be a made up Hallmark and Hershey holiday (nice alliteration, right?).  I decided to make it really fun and special for the kids.  I was up late making preparations, so it felt oddly like Christmas.

Idea number one was chocolate covered strawberries.  I do a dinner exchange with two other families in my neighborhood, I cook for them on Tuesdays, and then one of them brings our family dinner on Wednesday and Thursday, two less nights a week that I have to cook.  Since my night fell on the holiday this year, I decided to have a little fun with it!  We're having heart shaped meatloaf, strawberry and spinach salad, and chocolate covered strawberries.  I made enough for all three families, leaving plenty for my kids.  I spent a couple hours on the project, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into the first one later today!

After dinner and F.H.E. (and Grace watching Mary Poppins for the first time, epic), we put the kids to bed and got started on project number 2.  Austin helped me cut out paper hearts of different sizes and colors, and then we wrote the things that we love about our kids on each one and taped them up on the walls in their bedrooms.  Thanks again to Pinterest for the idea!  (My life revolves around this website, seriously).  They were excited to see their wall valentine's when they woke up this morning.

Still didn't go to bed.  Next we prepared the breakfast table so it would be decorated with their special valentine's when they got up for school, even if they woke up before we did.  They got a "bouquet" of heart suckers, a tiny pail of jelly beans, and a box of chocolates.  Yes, I'm pumping my kids full of sugar and I will definitely complain about their behavior later.  I did it to myself, I know, I know.

And most important of all is my funny Valentine.  Really, he's very funny, he tries to make me laugh every day.  I decided to buy him a gift that would make him (and me) laugh, every time he wore it.

Yea, if you watch the Office, this is HILARIOUS!  

Even if you don't watch The Office, this is pretty cute.

Austin surprised me with roses this morning, and 

a beautiful poem which he published on Facebook.

From Austin:

‎Jill, I love you...

Because you love me the best,

Especially when I'm not at mine.

Specifically when I've had a hard day,

Time is what I like to give and to get.

For me, God created someone very special

Required to help me grow and develop.

I admire the way you keep persevering,

Even though, sometimes, I know you'd prefer just to quit.

Now is the time to remind you I love you.

Definitely, Jill, you are my best friend. 

Happy Valentine's Day to my best friend of...a lot of years.

I sure do love this man!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

And Happy 100th birthday to my favorite State!

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Are you kidding me?!

This week I bought this movie:  (yes, I'm 36 years old, a grown-up, and sometimes I read vampire books and watch vampire movies.  This does not reduce my IQ in any way, as some people have insinuated).

Unfortunately, this movie came with this really STUPID fabric poster, 

as if I'm really going to hang it up on my wall.  Really?  A fabric poster?

Sooo... Austin and I decided to keep it.  We thought it would be funny to use it for practical jokes.  Last night, it was my lap blanket and it kept me warm and fuzzy while I was reading "These is my Words" (incredible book, by the way, and NOT about vampires).

Austin was the first one to use it as a joke.  He had early morning Sunday meetings today and he left before I woke up.  One of the girls came in and got me up some time later, while Austin was still gone, and asked me, "Mom, is there someone sleeping by you?" 

Huh?!?!

Well played, Austin.  Well played.  

Since it's fabric, maybe I'll sew it into a dress

and make him take me out to dinner wearing it.

I don't know, I'll think of something.

This is going to be fun :)

Valentine tradition

Every year my visiting teacher, Susan, takes my kids to her home for the afternoon to bake, frost, and decorate sugar cookies.  She's done this for at least six years, because she came and picked up Ember & Ben when Grace was born for some cookie making, to give the new Mama a little break.  She took the kids the following year when I was in the hospital for a week with complications from Crohn's disease, and she's pretty much made this a tradition ever since.  My kids really look forward to it, and I had a quiet afternoon to myself!

I needed the relaxation time, since my BFF Emily talked me into waking up at 6:30 and going for a hike at South Mountain.  We'll talk about that BFF status tomorrow, when my body hurts everywhere.  My butt already hurts today!  I had a blast, and we've made plans to hike every Saturday, for the great exercise and great company.  I'm fun to hang out with, right Emily?  Right?!

So here's the photos from today's new adventures and old traditions.

hummingbirds are really pretty, but they have the 

ugliest birdsong I've ever heard.  

This poor cactus made me sad, the top half was healthy, but the bottom half is more than half rotted away from animals making homes in it, among other things.  This isn't a very pretty picture, but I do love the desert and I love the Arizona landscape.

Grace is the only one who stuck with the project to the very end, Susan said that Ember & Ben got a little bored and wandered off to watch TV.  For that, perhaps Grace will get to consume one extra cookie!