Give My Regards to Broadway

The Hanselwomen went to the Theatre!

This was Kissy's very first Broadway show and we talked all day about seeing the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

We practiced our scared face ( bottom left) just in case. But, she didn't need to use that face at all. She was a perfect little patron of the theatre. When they finished the big numbers, she would turn to us and say, "more, more"! She also thought her Daddy was one of them!

I have had a love of the Theatre and musicals since the first time I saw MARY POPPINS and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG. There's something that gets me really excited from the first note of the band's Overture to the last curtain call. I don't think I have ever been to one that at some time during the show, I haven't started to cry. Not, sad crying but, the kind of crying you have when music touches your soul. Or the kind of tears and chill bumps when a chord is sung by 20 awesome singers accompanied by an orchestra. Our kids all have this love and I am glad it has passed down. I have a small list of all the musicals I've seen and I would love to add more to it as the years go by. ( it's not a bad list coming from a Tallahassee gal) Here I go. This list is mainly for myself so, I can remember as I age.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA ( twice in NY)

MISS SAIGON (NY)

LES MISERABLES (NY)

THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (NY)

CABARET (NY)
THE LION KING(NY)
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN(NY)
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER ( touring here in Tally)

CATS (Tally)
MY FAIR LADY(Tally)
FOSSE ( Tally)
JEKYELL & HYDE ( Tally)
FOOTLOOSE ( Tally)
SHOW BOAT( Tally)
CHICAGO( Tally)
THE PRODUCERS (Tally)
CINDERELLA(Tally)

OKLAHOMA(Tally)

INTO THE WOODS (Tally)
BEAUTY & THE BEAST( Tally)

FAME (Tally)

Another list would be the ones that my First Born Son has been in and we have seen locally:

CAROUSEL
SOUTH PACIFIC
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD

THE FANTASTIKS

PIPPIN

A NEW BRAIN( ok, we didn't go to this one...bad parent award for the year.)

DAMN YANKEES

JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR(ok, we missed this one too....I'm so ashamed.)

Tiny Dancer

I told my grandprincess that we were going to take a walk and see all the pretty flowers in the neighborhood and take pictures. She said, "oh-tay". So, we fixed her hair, put on a pretty dress and then she had to do her make-up. She had this little tube of lotion and was so serious about getting it all over her pretty little face.
So you think she's seen this done before? She takes her beauty very seriously. I love it!
We took her little chair with us but, that turned out to be a bummer for me to carry as she really wasn't so interested in having her photos made this morning. But, they are still really cute to me. We found these white azaleas first.
I have to share this one because that face she is making is all her Daddy when he was little. He basically had that look on his face for years. It is a carbon copy and it just makes me smile.
A pinecone was way more interesting to her. We had to bring it back home with us. Look how she matches the flowers with her dress. This hot pink color is my favorite and in Tallahassee right now, they are everwhere! ( except our yard)

I believe this is the only shot that she looked at me! Notice the deep burgundy on these. Just gorgeous!
These light pink ones are all over our neighborhood. ( with the exception of our yard...again)
And back to the white ones which seem to hold her attention more than the others. She's still the prettiest whether she's looking at the camera or not!
Saved this one for last as it was getting time for a nap! But, that little tired face is so kissable! And she to me is the prettiest flower of them all!

Ghostbusters Summer 2009

We own a building downtown and it's situated in between the Federal Courthouse and the Federal Bankruptcy Building. Those two buildings are patrolled everyday by Federal Marshalls. We have made friends with them and they keep an eye out on our building. A few of them like to take a smoke break and this is their meeting place in the garage of our building.

Well, last summer we began as a family to go every Thursday night and clean the building. Each time we would leave, the prankster of the family ( you know who) would rearrange their chairs in their smoking area. Sometimes he would stack them on top of each other. Sometimes put them upside down. Sometimes scatter them all over the place. You get the idea, I'm sure. It was his calling card. So, this went on for a couple of months.

One day, Ray gets a phone call from one of the Marshalls about some parking situation and then he says, "Ray, we think we've got a ghost down here". And he proceeds to tell Ray about how every Friday morning the chairs are rearranged and they are starting to get spooked.

They thought they had a ghost on their hands! Ha Ha Ha! It was our prankster. You can imagine the laugh we all had!

So, we are still cleaning the building every Thursday and afterwards we go for ice cream. For a while we would choose a different ice cream place each week but, DQ has been winning out lately.
And this is the best ice cream cone of all time.A Chocolate Dipped Cone from Dairy Queen.

Can't you just taste it already???

It's going , going, gone.

Here Comes Peter CottonTail

The table is set for Easter dinner. Everyones place setting has a new packet of seeds and tomorrow there will be a "peep" on each plate. It's fun to set a happy table for the family when a Holiday arrives.

All you need is a good fabric napkin, some spring colored ribbon and I used some leftover key tag indentifiers to make name cards.
Come to dinner. Tomorrow nights menu is Deviled Eggs, Seven layer salad, Lasagna, Four Cheese bow-tie pasta, garlic bread and Chocolate Delight.

Here are some things I do around the house to make everything Springy and Eastery( is that a word?) Most of my decorations consist of the very affordable plastic Easter eggs, Easter grass, ribbon and containers around the house.
These containers were in the Dollar-bin at Target. I like their sparkle.
This Anna-lee Easter bunny welcomes everyone to the house.
If you have an empty bowl, fill it with eggs.
I wasn't quite ready to plant anything new so, the eggs will do until I get ready. These eggs are covered with pollen but, they don't even care and they'll wash off in the sink.
An old grapevine wreath, more eggs and hot glue and the front door gets a splash of color too! Happy Easter everyone!

A Star is Born

She is one of God's greatest gift's to me.
I think everything she does is fabulous!
I call her "Kissy" for I can't help but want to kiss those cheeks all the time!

Having a Grandaughter has definantly put a spring in my step and a smile on my face and a new love in my heart.

Looking at her face and in her eyes gives me hope for her future. I know God has great plans for her life. Whatever they are, she'll always have me as one of her biggest fans.

A Whole New World

Lately, I've been having the urge to re-do some thing, paint, create, etc. This is an old chair someone left at our storage for the trash. I thought I might be able to make something new of it. So, some sanding, some black paint and fabric and what do you think?
The new chair and it looks great in our living room!
These little frames are pretty inexpensive at the craft store. I was wanting to make something for my nieces and nephews that was sentimental so......
Some painting.....
And using their Great-Grandmothers antique buttons and some hot glue...
Here you go. A frame with something old and something new.
Another one. My second niece will be born in a just a few weeks.
I wanted to make one for my nephew too but, buttons for boys? So, I used old legos. He is a lego maniac and I thought he would like this one.
My Mom had this stool from probably 15 years ago. It was stained brown and plain. After some pink paint, some white polka dots and the letter "I" for my favorite girl, she now has a step-stool in her room!

Brown Eyed Girl

I read somewhere that every year that you get to hear someone sing the birthday song to you it shows another victory. This has been one of those years for all of us but, we are thankful to the Lord to be able to say Happy Birthday again to Ray and to Rachel. She was his birthday gift on March 13, 1986 and still continues to be to us!
I think they both were pretty pooped when I took this picture at the end of the day.
I had fun going back and seeing all the pictures of the two of them on their birthday. This was the 6th birthday. I know this because teeth were missing.