CHINA?!?

We found out today that Aaron will be going to China for his Masters program trip. And...I don't care what anyone says...I'm going with! It is in the fall sometime. That means that we need to get our passports ASAP and I need to start saving as much money as possible.
Who ever thought we would ever in a million years go to China? Not me! Does anybody know anything about China? Does anyone want to come with to keep me company while Aaron is doing all that boring school stuff? Just let me know, oh, by the way, you would have to pay for yourself.

British Fleet Officer

When I got home from doing everything today (busy freakin' day...argh), I checked my e-mail, and this is what I found:

Karlyn,

I would like to offer Piper the part of BRITISH FLEET OFFICER in Captain Bree.

Please email or call the office to let us know if you accept.

We will be starting rehearsals the week of May 12.

Scripts and cd's will be available on May 5.

Once everyone gets back to us in regards to casting we will email the official cast list, a rehearsal schedule, and other info to everyone.

Thanks for auditioning!

Penny

So anyway, I said to Piper, "Do you want to do Captain Bree?"
"Yes, why?"
"Okay, I will let Penny know!"
She just looked at me, and I said, "you made it!" Then I read the e-mail to her. She was so excited that she called Penny herself and told her that she wanted to do it.

So...here we go again!

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Only the second book that I have blogged about.

I have read a few books since The Time Travelers Wife that I have really liked, such as; Switching Time and In Cold Blood. Also, I've read some of Sarah Vowell's books and have actually enjoyed them as well.

However this is another one of those books that had me quick. I was very lucky this past week to be able to read during the day, so I definitely took advantage of that and finished this book in only a couple of days.

It all starts on a stormy March evening in Kentucky in 1964. David Henry's wife goes into labor and he ends up performing the delivery in his clinic (he is an orthopedic doctor) with the help of his nurse, Caroline Gill. The delivery went well, a healthy baby boy, Paul. To his surprise, his wife delivers another baby, a baby girl with Down Syndrome. David Henry makes a decision that he thinks will be a good one for him, his wife and newborn son, he asks Caroline to take the baby to a local institution, but she couldn't do it, it was a horrible place. She raises Phoebe on her own.
Meanwhile Norah Henry believes that the baby girl died at birth, that is what David had told her.

This book takes you through the next 24 years of their lives. Unfolding all kinds of family secrets that David was holding on to. Norah had some of her own as well. A page turner, a very good read. I recommend this book to all of you out there.

Because it is too cute to correct

Teague is nearly 5 years old and there are still some words that he doesn't say correctly, however it is partly my fault. To me it is just too cute to hear him say them incorrectly. Here is a list of a few:

Marshmallow - Smarshmallow
Sister - Stister
Yogurt - Yogrut
Spaceship -Baseship
Iron - I Run
Camera - Crama
Lead - Flead
Saturn -Sateran
Home Depot -Home A Depot
Escalator/Elevator - Alligator
Pillow - Pellow

See what I mean? Can you just imagine him saying these words? Would you correct him? I guess when he is a teenager and still saying them incorrectly, I will say something. But until then.....

Call Backs!!!

When I checked my e-mail Tuesday morning, there was an e-mail from the director of the show that Piper auditioned for. She said that Piper had made call backs and that she needed to learn a song. The lyrics and an MP3 were included to help.
Aaron downloaded the song and I wrote the lyrics down for her (our printer is out of toner, and I'm too cheap to go buy more). We gave them to her, she ran up to her room and put the CD in her player and practiced. She practiced until she fell asleep.
Wednesday morning, about 20 minutes before our usual wake-up time, I woke up to the song blasting on Piper's CD player. Of course....she was practicing.
We went to call backs Wednesday night at 6:30. They learned a little dance and had to sing the song while dancing, she did great. Again, it baffles me that she wasn't nervous. She did the dance really well, and sang right on pitch and smiled and everything. We will find out within the week. (I think)
Since I have yet to figure out how to attach music to my blog, I will just include the words to the song. It is really cute.

The Admiral is quite a man. A patriot is he.
He fights the pirates near and far across the deep blue sea.
His strength and wisdom helps us all. His courage does not sway.
He always puts his country first, and bravely shows the way!

He leads us across the deep blue sea
Across the deep blue sea
Across the deep blue sea
He leads us across the deep blue sea
‘Cross the sea he leads merrily

The Admiral is quite a man. He’s honest to be sure
He always does his very best. He is our Admiral Moore.
His leadership is strong and firm. His standards are quite high.
And legend has it that he poked a Pirate in the eye

chorus 2X

Ariel?

Who would have thought? I stumbled upon this silly little quiz and apparently, I am Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Who are you? Here is the link to the quiz if you want to take it.

Annie!

I remember the first time that I saw "Annie" on stage. I think I was about 9. It was at the old Triad Center, on their outdoor stage, and again, my friend Stephanie Place was with me, and my brothers Jordan and Matthew and my mom and dad. I had seen the movie in the theater when it came out 3 or 4 years before that. I remember thinking the whole time - even though my mom had explained to me - that Annie's hair didn't look like it was suppose to, it wasn't curly, not at all, it bothered me. I also remember waiting for the song "Dumb Dog," they never did it. And there were songs in the play that weren't in the movie such as: "NYC" and "We'd like to thank you Herbert Hoover." But then I realized, movies and plays are very different, and usually the plays are much better. Now, whenever I see Annie the play, I think, "Oh man, they really shouldn't curl her hair." But then again, she wouldn't be "Little Orphan Annie" without the curls.

Fast Forward to sometime in March 2008:
While we were doing Charlotte's Web, we noticed all of the advertisements for Annie. Piper kept asking me if we could go see it, so finally I looked it up on the Kingsbury Hall website and found out how much it was. I told Piper that unfortunately we wouldn't be able to go. And of course my cute little Piper said that it was okay. But, I could see in her eyes that she really wanted to go, so I apologized profusely, and still she kept saying that it was okay, without a tear or anything. I was dieing inside, because I knew what she really wanted.

Fast Forward to Wednesday April 9, 2008:
I was watching "Good Things Utah" when I noticed (I guess I wasn't really watching, I just had it on) a man talking about Annie. It was David Barton, the man who plays Daddy Warbucks. I decided right then that I was going to buy tickets while Piper was at Theatre School later that afternoon. Kingsbury Hall is just a couple of blocks away from where Theatre School is. So I did. I got tickets for Thursday Night. I didn't tell Piper.

Thursday April 10, 2008:
Aaron was in class, so I made grilled cheese sandwiches for me and the kidlets (they did have butternut squash in them....delicious), when we were done eating, I told Piper to run upstairs and get her Easter dress on, but to put her red sweater on with it (it was cold). She looked at me all weird and said, "Why?"
"Because me and you are going to go somewhere special."
And of course my sweet little Piper says, "But what about Teague?"
Teague jumped right into the conversation and said, "It's okay, I'm going to Grammies."
So she ran upstairs and got dressed while I cleaned up. Then I got dressed and did Piper's hair. We were all ready to go, so we had Teague take this picture of us. (pretty good for a four -almost five- year old)


Then we dropped Teague off at Grammies. While we were there, Grammie said to Piper, "You sure look pretty, where are you going?" (she knew that Piper had no idea).
"I don't know!"

We were off, The whole way there, Piper would come up with these ideas,
"Even if you do guess, I'm not going to tell you that you are right!"

We got up to the U and parked at Rice Eccles Stadium. We got on the shuttle to take us to the Theatre.









We were across the lawn from Kingsbury Hall when Piper looked up at me and said, "Are we going to Annie?"
"I don't know!" But I obviously didn't do a very good job of lying, because she said, "Yes we are, cause we are almost to Kingsbury hall!"
"Okay, you guessed it!"

(This picture was taken right after she said "Kingsbury Hall")


Funny little tidbit about Piper. She doesn't get nervous at auditions, she doesn't get nervous before a performance, she doesn't get nervous in front of people, she doesn't get nervous to talk and pray in church - in fact she loves it, and she always wants to perform for her friends (guitar, sing etc.). But, whenever we go see a live show, she gets nervous. STRANGE.

So, we get off of the shuttle, walk up the stairs to the entrance









and of course I take pictures. And I couldn't resist, I got her a t-shirt, she chose it.

Then we went potty, then we went in and sat down. I splurged on the tickets, we were on row F.

You know what is absolutely fabulous about professional theatre? They start on time. At 7:30 ON THE DOT, the music began to play, Piper looked at me with excitement in her eyes and I nearly cried. How funny that this was such a happy Momma and Piper time.

You know what else is fabulous about professional theatre? Nobody sings like a Mormon pop star (sorry if I offend!) There was no scooping, no runs, just clean pure beautiful notes. This show was fantastic. All of the actors were incredible, even the orphans. The scenery was beautiful, I don't know how traveling shows do this, considering how many stages they perform on throughout the country. In the show there are a few actors that had more than one part. Like Daddy Warbucks staff were also Hooverville-ites and Radio staff, you had no idea (unless you read the playbill), until curtain call, that is how good it was. I am so happy that Piper and I had the opportunity to do this together. I hope that Piper always remembers her first time seeing "Annie" on stage, and I hope that she always appreciates live theatre as much as I do.

Another Audition!

Last Night, Piper had an audition for another play. It is called Captain Bree and her Lady Pirates. It is with Youth Theatre at the U. She sang Zippidy-doo-da and they had her talk like a pirate. I wasn't allowed in the room (which I love, seriously, I think it is the best way to audition a child), but I did hear her sing and do her pirate voice. I am very proud of her, she sang beautifully, every note on key. Her pirate voice cracked me up! Especially her "ARGH!"
We don't find out for about a week, but just the experience of auditioning is a huge deal. I'm so proud of her. How can she not get nervous? I don't understand.

Templeton's Bakery

Actually it isn't Templeton's Bakery, but Dan, the actor that played Templeton in Charlotte's Web works there, so that is what the kidlets call it. It is actually called "Elizabeth's Bakery and Tea Shop."(couldn't find a good link!) And may I just say....we love this place and we highly recommend it. Not to mention, "The London Market" is right next store! It is jammed packed with Candy, drinks, tea and Harry Potter.





















Really, what more could you ask for?
























Elizabeth's has all you need, such as: Crumpets, English pies, scones, Sarny, Quiche and a variety of teas.


Not only is the food fabulous, but the atmosphere is so fun.






The interior is all brick with tea pots all over, in every little nook and cranny.











The tables are so cute with a miniature vase filled with little yellow flowers in each one.










There is even a little sitting area, that you can sit, drink tea and read.











Aaron had the Cucumber Sandwich, and I had The Ploughman's Lunch with Black Current tea. Oh so yummy.

Piper, my little meat lover had a bacon sarny and she has fallen in love with the Orange Squash Juice that they serve, so then you go next door and buy a bottle. Teague doesn't really like anything, not only at Elizabeth's, but in general, but he had stuff off of every one's plate. Then we go next door and get him some candy. Actually, he really likes the Orange Tango Soda.


On Friday night we went there for a late dinner,

then we spent the rest of the evening at Trolley Square Mall. We spent most of our time at "The Black Chandelier," and at "Cabin Fever." Our favorite stores. Two more stores that we highly recommend.

Difficult Decision

So, in an effort to live a more healthy lifestyle, the first two things I am going to do are:

1- Work out more.

2- Quit drinking Coke!!!! What? I know, it is very hard to believe and really even understand, but it is a bad addiction that I have. I absolutely LOVE this stuff with all my heart. I didn't have any coke yesterday, and I have not had any today.....

Wish me Luck! I know I can do this, but oh how I am going to miss my staple.

Little Girls, Little Girls!

Piper really really really wanted a slumber party for her birthday. After talking to a couple of moms I decided to try to talk her out of it, to my surprise, it was actually quite easy. I told her that if she had a slumber party, she could only invite a couple of friends, but if we did a "Late Night" party then she could invite all of her friends (still a lot). I also told her that we could have them come in their pajamas and it could be kind of like a slumber party. She liked the idea, so on the invitations we wrote:

*Come in your P.J.'s
*Well will have pizza, play games and watch movies.

She decided that she wanted a Tinkerbell party, so we went to Zurchers and found some stuff.

The party was scheduled from 6:00 - 10:00ish. Out of the 13 girls that were invited, 11 showed. One was out of town and the other actually got sick in the car on the way to the party. I Had ordered Domino's Pizza because they had 3 large pizzas with one topping for $7.00 each, so we had two pepperoni and one cheese. It arrived at about 6:10. After everyone introduced themselves to each other we got started. We ate pizza and had Orange Fanta.

After we were done eating, we played games. I had six games set up around the living room: Bendominos, Blink, Connect Four, Pick-up sticks, Jenga and Mancala. We spit up into teams and played games, after about 8-10 minutes at a game, we would rotate, what fun this was!

Then we played the gift game. They all sat around the table and took turns rolling the dice. If they got a seven (how old the birthday girl turned) then they got to pick a gift off of the table...or they could take a gift that someone else had already got. This was so fun, all the gifts were good, but most of the girls really wanted a rail twirler.

Sometime during this game, daddy came home.

Then, Piper opened her presents. WOW! She really got great gifts. She got some hair stuff and jewelry. Books. Littlest Pet Shop. A Crainium game. Clothes. Hannah Montana Barbie. She has some really great friends.

After the opening of presents, they all got comfortable downstairs and watched "Matilda."

The first girl left at about 9:30, and the last girl left at about 10:30.

We had so much fun! I would recommend this type of birthday party to anyone who has a little girl.