Heart Skated Away

A1 is in love.  Again.  This time it happened after attending Springfield Figure Skating Club's Spotlight on Ice.  As soon as guest skater, Richard Dornbush, glided across the ice, A1's heart skated away.

I glanced over at her and saw a look of complete awe and admiration. When she caught me looking at her, she smiled and said, "Oh man, is he cute!"

Then he flipped.  A1 let out a squeal and in an instant turned into a teenager.  "Mom, did you see that? He just did a back flip!  He did a flip on the ice! It is ice with concrete underneath! He is so brave!"

Richard wasn't brought up again until the girls started discussing him at dinner.  A1 said to me, "I'm in love, mom.  Did you see how amazing he was?"

A2 didn't miss a beat, "Do you mean that guy in the striped shirt who did a flip?"

A1 replied, "Yea, that is the one. He is so cute."

A2, "I know, right? You can't marry him because I am going to."

A1, "You can't marry him because we already exchanged our marriage words. Plus, he is too old for YOU!" A1 caught my eye at this moment.  She put her hand up to her face to hide her words from A2 and mouthed, "Don't worry Mom, we didn't really get married."  Phew! Thank goodness! I was really worried that you, being 3 years older and wiser than you sister, married a man you have never actually met.

A3 had the final word in the conversation by screaming "STOP, STOP, STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" A1 and A2 ended up giggling and forgetting about the mad of their dreams... for now.  I hope all future debates and disagreements are solved just as fast,but I am not holding my breath.

Musical Review: A Team Style

Last night the girls had a sneak preview of the WHS musical "Once Upon A Mattress." I thought it was important for the girls to get to see what I have been doing almost every night for the last 8 weeks.  Plus, Mac had a meeting scheduled at the same time as my final tech rehearsal and our babysitter was MIA, so... Anyway, here is our review:

Our anti-song, youngest was quickly won over as soon as Hannah began to belt her first note of "Shy." Perhaps, it was because the song spoke to her tiny shy self or it was because Hannah is undeniably adorable as the swampy princess Winnifred. A3's attention was held by our Larken.  Every time Abby walked onto the stage A3 would say, "Abby." She would repeat it over and over and over until Abby was no longer in sight and then she changed her chant to, "Abby, where are you?" Her repeated "Abby chant" paused only while Abby was singing.  A3 was in awe over that beautiful soprano songstress!  A3 was also impressed by "John." She could have been talking about the ever impressive Dauntless, but I can't be sure of that since every teenaged boy, according to A3, is "John." This can be accredited to our babysitter's son, John, who is the bee's knees according to my girls.
A3 danced her special A3 dance to all the songs and would do her best to imitate the performers on the stage. My favorite was when she was imitating the "Spanish Panic," but you will just have to come to the show to see why. Plus, I don't have any idea what that dance move is called and I don't want my age to show.... A3 summed up last night's theater performance as "Good." She did her best to hang with the big girls, but she goes to bed at 7:30 so it was rough once it hit 8:30.

It is hard to tell who loved the show more, A1 or A2. Both said they LOVED it and begged to watch it again Saturday and Sunday.  While they both said it was the best show they had ever seen, they each had different reasons.  A1, being the politically correct one of the group, said, "Everyone was really good." She told me she wasn't able to pick just one favorite person in the show.  She stayed pretty true to her word. Although, on the way home our conversation centered around all of the Queen's lines which she was amazingly able to recite. On the way to the babysitter's house this morning she asked to listen to "Sensitivity" and then broke the news that I need to start making a dress that looks just like Annelise's. A1 says she will be Queen Aggrivane for Halloween. Now, I know that she hasn't said in so many words who her favorite person was but I have a pretty good guess and it isn't just because of her name!

A2 was a little more upfront on her views.  She liked all the songs but the King and the Prince were the funniest during their song, Man to Man. Thankfully, she did not understand what they were talking about! Her favorite characters were Winnifred because she was really strong and has pretty hair, Harry and his Lady because Harry is cute, and the Wizard because he is magical. A2 just brought me a paper that she wrote that said, "I <3 E". She told me she spelled the name "HAIR-E." This little showmance she has created in her head just might be the trick I needed to get her more interested in letter sounds, writing, and reading. THANK YOU HAIR-E!   She loved all of the costumes, especially the purple dresses.

I asked the girls if they thought people should go see the show and they responded with their pre-teen scrunchy "duh" expressions.  A1 couldn't understand why people wouldn't want to go see the show because "it is the best and it is about a princess and my dad built the bed."

My take on the show: Of course everyone should come see it! The talent that this group of 38 students has is unbelievable. This show is funny, I mean laugh out loud hilarious. It is a grown up twist on the Princess and the Pea. There are a few adult level jokes but all of them went over the heads of the A Team. Many of them even went over the heads of the high school students and that, my friends, is refreshing. I promise, as long as you have a sense of humor, you will enjoy "Once Upon a Mattress." For those of you who don't have a sense of humor, well I am sorry because that is a sad existence. 

Oh and if you need another reason to come see the show, we have famous people in it!

Jennifer Lawrence as Princess #12

and Dave Franco as the knight who was tricked into auditioning and ended up being a featured dancer...

Momma-beast's Day Off

Even though I have the day off, I was still up at 6:30.  A1 had school today so I had to make sure she was up, dressed, fed and out the door for her bus at 7:05. Since A2 and A3 won't sleep in they also got up at 6:30.  At 7:00 I had Annelyse stand by the back door to watch for the bus so I would know exactly when to take her to the bus stop. At about that same time A3 decided she would practice her new talent of taking off her pants AND diaper. She then proceeded to streak through the house shrieking with delight as A2 and I chased her from room to room.  After I tackled her and then wrestled her, I saw that A1 was lost in her newest chapter book.  Knowing that she wasn't phased by A3's naked parade, I assumed that she wasn't really paying attention to whether or not her bus drove by.  I decided to load everyone into the car and just drive to the bus stop and sit in my freezing cold car.  I got to the end of the driveway and saw that it was 7:20.  I looked at the bus stop and saw that our neighbor's van wasn't there so I knew that A1 missed the bus. 

At that moment I lost control of my mommy cool.  I turned into a wild creature. I was Momma-beast.  I was growling in my momma-beast voice. I blamed A1 for not watching for her bus.  I complained that I was going to have to drive her to school.  Then I saw that my gas light was on. 

Good news the fumes shooting from my head heated the car real fast! I drove to the gas station.  Grumbling, not under my breath, the whole way.  I stood outside in the negative temperature still not cooling off. I was so mad.  I got back in the car to call Mac and let him know what happened this morning after he left for work.  I didn't have my phone.  One of my little friends took it out of my purse this morning.  Another reason to be mad.  We headed back home because I didn't want to be driving without it.

It was 7:30, as I pulled into my driveway I saw the bus at the bus stop... I instantly felt horrible.  I had been yelling at A1 for not paying attention to the bus as it went by; and it was late.  I yelled at her for something that was out of control.  I yelled at her for something that hadn't even happened.  She didn't miss the bus at all. 

A1 sees the bus.  An I-Told-You-So smile crept across her face.  I stopped her before she said something I would regret.  I apologized for being mean, for yelling, and for losing my cool.  She laughed and said, "Well at least drive me to school.  I think I deserve it now." I just laughed as we let the bus drive by.

When we got to the stop sign at the end of our street A2 said, "This has been the best morning ever." WHAT!?! Is she serious?

I ended up taking A2 and A3 to get donuts.  Momma-beast guilt pays off for them! We even got one for A2 so she can have one when she gets home.  Momma-beast has been put on a leash for the rest of the day... My horrible day off adventure has put me in my place for sure.  It was a not so pleasant reminder to relax and not lose my temper over something so meaningless.