They're Playing our Song

Shelby and I had the amazing opportunity to play Vernon and Sonia in Neil Simon's show, They're Playing our Song at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse. Dennis directed it, Emily choreographed it, Piannie did the musical direction, Jacci Florence did costumes, with Andrea Scanlon on wigs, and Tara Payne was the assistant to the director.
What a ride! I've never had a role which demanded more from me both physically and emotionally. Shelby and I were onstage for the WHOLE show! Once in a while, I'd leave so he could sing a song, or he would while I did a song, but backstage we were racing to make fast costume changes and grab props. It was unbelievable. Our characters pretty much ran the gamut of human emotion and I sang in a completely different style than I am used to. What a learning experience!
It was so much fun for us to do this show together, as well as with some of our very best friends; Ashley Davis, Andrea Scanlon, Emily Checketts, Jordanne Burgess, Dave Clegg, Brent Taft, and Quinn Kapetanov-a totally awesome and funny cast, who also happen to all be enormously talented!I will always have fond memories of drinking gatorade and eating vitamin sports beans to keep my energy up, and doing a show with some of my favorite people, but not really, because we never saw eachother during the show! I will cherish the memory of this show as the one that really stretched me the most.A huge thank you to my family and friends who supported us, especially Cydney who did most of our babysitting, Barbara, who made that possible, and our kids, who think that parents doing shows together is completely normal. We love you!!

Re-Cap attempts for 2010

Hey Y'alls! SO, let's just say, 2010 has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Things have been stressful and wonderful and everything in between. Through considerable effort on both our parts, we have finally, gratefully, begun to slow down. We have new resolve to not over-commit ourselves; a resolve we're not sure will last forever, but we are so relieved to have a tiny bit of room to breathe, that it just might.
I'll make an effort to summarize events for the year as I simply did not have the time or energy to do it until now! So, if you see summer-looking or spring-looking pictures in the fall or wintertime, that's the reason why!

Ariaism: Strength of Genetics

Driving on our way to see The Scarlet Pimpernel at Terrace Plaza Playhouse. Girls' Night with Aria. Radio on.

A, "...Mom?"

M, "Yeah, babe?"

A, "Are there any songs besides SHOW songs?"

M, (giggling quietly), "Yes, honey. There are other songs besides show songs. "

A, "Really?"

M, "Yup! Sometimes people will just write a song, either to listen to on the radio, or to sell, or because they're feeling something they want to express through music. Some people write songs JUST to write songs!"

A, "...Why?...WHY, when you could put it in a SHOW?!!"

M, (laughing) "I know, honey. I soo know. I feel EXACTLY the same way :)"

Xanderism: What's in a name?

Aria, filling out a form for school:

A, "Aria Rose Ferrin."

X, "Nooo! It's Aria LILY Ferrin!"

D, "Well, Lily is a name Aria really likes, but ROSE is her middle name."

X, "I have a next name too!"

D, "Yes, you do! What's you're middle name?"

X, "My next name is BERRY. STRAWBERRY. Xander STRAWBERRY Ferrin."

Xanderism: Dreamin'

Over breakfast:

X, "I had a dream last night that I didn't have Mommy anymore."

M, "Oh, honey! Wait, was it a bad dream or a good dream?"

X, "It was a good dream!" (Me, slightly hurt....)

D, "Xander, why did you not have Mommy anymore?"

X, "Hmmm...maybe it's because I was a jelly sandwich!"

Skylerism: Do your job

After a bit of a stressful evening....

M,"Ok, kiddos, you have four minutes to get your pjs the rest of the way on, get your teeth brushed, go potty, and be in the boys' room for scripture and prayer."

S, Matter-of-factly, "Or what?!"

M, "Orrr...Daddy will eat you."

S, "No really. Or what?!"

D, "Or you go one day without electronics."

S, "That's the spirit!...The spirit of punishment!"

Skylerism : Social Saavy

So last night after dinner we had a mini social skills lesson. We taught the kids about how we can show our friends that we care and are listening to them by using our body language and by asking questions about things their friends are talking about. We role-played different scenarios and then involved them in our role-playing so they could practice.
This morning, the cute third grade girl we carpool with was telling Skyler about the movie she went to see with her family.

"We went to see this really dumb movie called Twilight. We wanted to see Toy Story, but it had already started. I mean it was already like twenty minutes into it, so we had to see something else, so we saw Twilight. There was this ugly guy named Edward and he had weird hairs on his chest and it was just disgusting. And Bella was totally in love with him, which was gross, especially because there was this other guy who was really cute and his name was Jacob. He was seriously like way cuter and Edward was like, "Oh, I love you, Bella!" Anyway, it was just a really dumb movie."

M, "Skyler, are there any questions you might like to ask about her trip to the movie?"

S,"....Nope. I think I have all the information I need."

Show damage

Soooo, did any of you see our most recent show, They're Playing our Song? Our daughter did. She knew the script well...too well.
Maybe we should stop doing shows for a while....

Fly-ie, day #2

Fly-ie yet lives. He joined Xander and me in the kitchen today during snack time. I suppose I'm glad he's here. He kept X entertained for quite a while while I did dishes. "Fly-ie's on my hair!" and "Fly-ie's on my neck!" He giggled with delight each time Fly-ie changed locations. I actually panicked a little when Fly-ie almost escaped on a routine trip to take the garbage out. Whew! THAT was close.

Lord of the Flies

Today the children became quickly enamored with a housefly that they spotted during dinnertime. We were having chicken noodle soup sans the chicken...which is a whole other story.... and they spotted the rather bumbly fly buzzing behind the blinds of the window directly overlooking our dinnertable. Xander claimed him as a pet and immediately named him "Fly-ie." Aria instantly decided that she wanted to name the fly "Beautiful Fly", which upset Xander to no end. I found myself explaining to Aria that Xander had dibs on naming the fly and that our new "pet's" name stood as Fly-ie. I also found myself wondering if I ought to be committed. I was then conned into cleaning up some spiderwebs on the blinds because the kids were so seriously and incredibly worried that a spider would eat Fly-ie that they couldn't focus on eating their dinner. They were literally standing on their chairs everytime Fly-ie bumbled remotely close to the web, hollering and holding their fingers to their lips in fear. Once or twice he snagged a wing on the web, which led to further freaking out and begging me to free him. He wrassled his way out upon which victories my children would cheer loudly. Skyler spotted the spider and suggested that I stab a sharp knife down the crevice to take care of Fly-ie's predator once and for all; a suggestion that made some sense, except that at this point, nothing made sense and I was not about to spider-yucky-up one of my good steak knives. I told Skyler that maybe if the fl- I mean, Fly-ie smartened up a bit and stopped paying the spiderweb visits, we could all just go back to our dinner and not worry about it. He looked at me, frustrated and upset, as if I were some heartless fool and explained as patiently as he could muster, "Mom. Flies only have a memory of about three seconds. He can't help it."
So...for now, Fly-ie lives, lucky thing. Mom:0, Kids:1

Lake Fear

We are, for the first time ever, taking our kids swimming in something that does not contain chlorine. We have planned a trip to Bear Lake next weekend. The kids are beside themselves with excitement about going to "the beach." Though we have explained that it is in fact, Bear LAKE and not Bear OCEAN, they are as excited and bewildered with anticipation as they would be if we were actually going to the Pacific coast. When the reality of our vacation hit, however, they suddenly became very cautious.

S: "Are there SHARKS in Bear Lake?"

M: "No, honey, there are no sharks."

A: "Jellyfish? What about Jellyfish?!" (the fear shining behind her eyes)

M: "No, babe. No Jellyfish either. Don't worry! You guys are going to be fine."

S: "Piranhas? Are there any piranhas in the lake?!"

M: (laughing) "No! There are none of those things in Bear Lake. It's a LAKE!"

S: "....How about electric eels?"

Xanderism: Music

X, plunking on our new piano: "Look, Daddy! There's music in that piano!!"

Skylerism: Tornado

I'm making lunch and Skyler comes into the kitchen from doing his outside chores.

S: "Mom, do you think it's possible that there's ever been a tornado in the history of America?"

M: "Yes, Skyler, there have been tornadoes in America. I'm sure of it."

S: "Oh. Well, I know that you can't go around looking for your favorite things to save and take with you, you have to just go down under."

M: "True. Very true. I'm glad you know that."

S: "But if you have your favorite things already in your hands, then it's okay to just take them with you. You don't have to put them back first."

M: "Yes. You're right. You can take them with you."

S: "But be careful, because you'll be running so fast that you might drop them, and if you drop them, you can't stop to pick them up. You have to just keep going down under."

M: "Right. That's very smart."

S: "K. Thanks, Mom. I love you."

M: "Love you too, Bud."

Xanderism: step aside, Jane Fonda

Driving home from making a D.I. donation:

X: "Mommy, do you want to see my new exercise?! It's really great! Do you want to see it?"

M: "Sure, babe."

X: "Are you looking?! Watch!"

M: "Ok, I'm watching!"

X: (curling his two pointer fingers up in front of his face) "Here it is! Watch!...."(SHOVES his fingers into his nostrils).

M: (dumbfounded) "THAT's your exercise?"

X: "Yeah!"

M: "Are you getting a good work-out?"

X: "Oh yeah, Momma!"

Xanderism: smart

X: "Mom, I wrote my name. See?!"

M: "Oh honey! That's wonderful! Who's a smart boy?"

X: "Grandpa."

Ariaism: weighty matters

M: "Aria! It says on this Mothers' Day form card you made me that you think I weigh thirty pounds!"

A: "I didn't know for sure how much you weigh so I just made my best guess. Am I close?!"

M: "Yes! You're VERY close!"

Xanderism: bread

Riding home from Great Harvest Breads, eating our complimentary slices; mine with honey, his with butter.

X: "Mommy, yours has honey and mine has butter! I like honey:)!"

M: "I like honey too. I also like butter! But do you know why I like honey? It's because you're my honey!"

X: "Yeah, and Mommy?! You're my butter!"

Naughty Kitty

Naughty kitties in our family get the same consequences as naughty children.

Happy Birthday, Xander!!

Today, my baby turns three! Xander is SO funny and we love him, love him, love him-so much it drives us crazy! So even though I can no longer go to the library, or the store, or anywhere easily because of his "energy", I simply don't care! I LOVE that boy :) Happy birthday, sweet little bear. You light up my life!

Ariaism: bedside manner

I'm getting my tonsils out on Monday. I am pretending to be very excited, hoping it will cure some of my sense of doom. My sweet, sweet Aria, sensing my nervousness, is trying very hard to soothe my anxiety. Her intentions are good, but her delivery needs work.

A: "Mom, don't worry, because when you get your tonsils PULLED OUT, at least people will bring you things like ice cream!"

or

A: "Mom, I know your scared about having your surgery, but when you get your tonsils CUT OUT, you can just think about us and how much we love you!"

Skylerism: caution

X: (looking under his bed nervously, as our frisky cat, Toffee, guards the area) "My ball! I want my ball! But, I can't because Toffee will get me!"

M: "Be careful, bud."

S: "Yeah, because Toffee IS a carnivore!"

Ariaism: tell me what you really think

Today, I finally got to watch the last half-hour of this week's episode of Biggest Loser. I like to work out while I do, so I turned it on and committed to a slew of bicycle crunches. Aria came down and layed down beside me. A 526-lb man stood on the scale.

A: "You like this show?"

M: (Still crunching) "Yeah, I really like it."

A: "Mom, YOU should be on this show."

I collapsed and laughed so hard that I cried.

Pretty sure my library days are over

I haven't been going to the library for the last five months. Today, Xander reminded me why. That kid is a killer demon child at the library. I don't know if it's the building, the people, or maybe that book-y smell, but something about that place turns my sweet angel boy into his own doppelganger.

My friend invited me to go again, so, against my better judgement, I decided to give it another go. I loaded up thing 2 (Aria) and thing 3 (Xander), and we headed to the library. Aria was a perfect angel and Xander made me want to sell him...cheap. He wouldn't sit at all for storytime and instead busied himself by running around the displays. He then grew bored with the displays and began running around the people gathered for storytime, climbing up on the benches and jumping from one to another, sometimes landing on purses. Yes. I know. Horrifying. "Where were you, you bad mother?" you might say. " "I was freaking trying to catch him!!" I would reply to your unwelcome question. A two-yr old who doesn't want to be caught is VERY difficult to catch. They are not only HEAVY, but they are super-humanly fast! So fast, in fact, that the library quickly turned into the track of the Indy 500. I'm not kidding. He was literally zooming around the library doing enormous speedy laps around the studying people and large bookshelves, looking over his shoulder at me with a sneaky grin on his face. By the grace of God, I managed to trick him and caught him. I gave him a good talking to and placed him beside me in the kids' video section. I promised Aria she could pick one out. I looked at him, looked at the videos, and looked back. It was seriously like 2 seconds. He was gone. I had seen him hiding behind the curtain near the emergency exit before, so I checked there. Nope. I looked back at Aria. She was there, so I went to see if she'd seen him, when a row of videos spilled to the floor. Xander was behind the shelf and had knock the whole row part of the shelf off its hinges. So I had to reattach it and put the videos back AND catch him again. I finally did, slinging him unceremoniously over my shoulder, called for Aria and headed for the check-out line. It was unusually long, but I had to get the stuff for Aria because I promised her and it was part of her homework. So I stood in the long line while holding Xander on my shoulder, while he kicked his legs and yelled "HELP MEEEEEE! HELP MEEEEEEE! HELP MEEEEEEEEEE!" over and over (I was yelling the same thing, you just couldn't hear me). My friend offered to take him and he stopped yelling long enough to say to her, "I can't! I can't get down. My mom won't let me! I stuck!" Exasperated, I put him down and thought he'd go with her. Instead, he just lay on the floor, extremities extended, bare belly exposed, refusing to go anywhere. At least he was quiet. The only downside was that now he was blocking the line movement. People were nice enough, but they were looking at me like, "Should we stay behind him, or should we just step over him?" After checking out, he yelled for his coat. I grabbed his coat, but as I tried to put it on him, he screamed, "Noooo!! I don't WANT my COAT!!!" So I grabbed him, and hauled his butt outside, where he cried,"I cold! I want my coat! I want my coat on my belly!"I finally buckled his tushy in the car and took a big breath. I vowed, out loud, "I will NEVER do this again."

So, goodbye fair library. I have loved you. You have been a dear friend to me. But we cannot see each other any more. It's over between us. It's not you, it's me...or rather, it's my son. Maybe someday, when circumstances are different, we can rekindle the flame.

Like an epidemic

Aria had another bathroom injury today. Seriously. This time, Shelby followed the screaming and crying and found her wedged between the toilet and the wall. Once she was freed and calmed, I asked her how she managed to even get into that space. She didn't even know. She said she was standing in front of the toilet and next thing she knew she had fallen between the toilet and the wall. This is getting to be absurd. She seems to have a talent for it. So, I suppose if theater and fashion design don't work out, she'll always have this as a back-up.

Xanderism: animal

Our AMAZING friend Ashley made our kids these totally awesome quiet activity packets for church. Seriously, they are awesome and I'm sure it took at least several weeks or months to put them all together. Love you Ash!

Anyway, Xander and I were working on one where you match one animal with its pair for Noah's ark.

I held up a pig.
M: "What's this?"
X: "Issa pig!"

I held up a cat.
M: "Good, buddy, what's this?"
X: "Dat-sa cat."

I held up a cow.
M: "Great, Xander! What's this?"
X: "Dat-sa herbivore!

Looks like I've got another scientist on my hands.

Little-known fact

Aria is the only person I know who can injure herself while going to the bathroom. Today, she sat down on the potty, not realizing the seat was up and fell right in, hurting her shoulder in the process...somehow. Honestly, I don't even see how that's possible, but apparently it totally is.