Oh What a Night!!!!

A week ago Wednesday we went to The Star Plaza Theatre to see the Shanghai Circus. I had gotten the tickets free from County Line Orchard. Matt and I decided to take just Sami, so Skylar stayed home with Uncle Mitchell and Jorden. In hindsight I am SO glad we did not have Skylar with us!
The show started at 7:30 PM. Kinda late for a school night, but that is one of the joys of afternoon Kindergarten! We went to dinner at church and stayed for about 20 minutes of Love Notes so I could teach a new song of choreography.
We arrived with plenty of time and found our seats. We were upstairs in the mezzanine. We were all looking forward to a fun night together.

Sami and I like our silly face shots…

The show started, and it was really neat! Acrobatics, juggling, lots of fun!

Sami was really enjoying herself going back and forth between our laps. Matt even brought his binoculars for her!

These two girls were really neat! They were folding themselves into those cylinders! Crazy!!!

Sami was really excited about the spinning plates. It is really neat to watch…unfortunately we didn’t get to see very much. Shortly after they started the curtain on the stage caught fire! At first it was just smoking a lot and it looked like a prop. However, someone came on stage and started yelling “Fire! Fire!” and soon we saw the flames. The house lights came on and the alarm was sounded.
I am so thankful that Matt is a calm natured person. He scooped Sami up-handed me our stuff and said “let’s go”….most of the people around us were relatively calm. When we got to the hallway to go down the stairs some people had let their panic take over. There were two people in wheelchairs that were having difficulty getting down the stairs. People started pushing and shoving. I don’t do well in crowds anyways, but a panicked crowd on stairs? YIKES!
Thankfully no one was hurt, and they were able to contain the fire quickly. Sami was pretty upset. She went from being scared…to upset we didn’t get to finish the show…to worry about what would become of the theatre (this is where Nutcracker is performed). When we got home I had a chat with her about how important it is to stay calm, and that is why they have fire drills at school. I JUST had her calm when a fire call came in. Matt recently joined the volunteer fire department in our town. When Sami heard the tones drop she got upset. She was convinced fires were randomly breaking out everywhere.
The next day she was worried about going to school, but I assured her she would be safe. She hasn’t mentioned it in a few days.
I will probably never forget that night, and I hope we never have to experience anything like that again.

Snowmaggedon 2011

At the beginning of the month we had a pretty big snow storm. It wasn’t as bad as other storms we’ve had, but it was big enough to keep Matt home from work one day! Although had the plant where he is working not been closed I’m sure he would have chanced it! Ha!
Call me crazy, but I am not shocked by the snow. I’ve lived here all of my life. We get snow in winter…this isn’t new. I enjoy living somewhere with 4 seasons. I think the snow makes me appreciate my favorite seasons that much more!
Sami and Matt had a blast playing in the snow. Skylar played with snow inside, but I didn’t get any pictures. Bummer I know…

The neighbor’s recently moved…good thing…they wouldn’t have been able to get in their door! The snow kept blowing and drifting covering the door!

Sami really enjoyed herself!


Poor Matt shoveled so many times I lost count! Thanks Karen for the shovel! Ha!

It has been really nice the last few days (you know….about 32 degrees…ha!) so all of that pretty white snow is melting into gray slush. I can see most of the front yard now!! Gotta love the crazy weather we have around here! =)

Valentine’s Day Purse

The week before Valentine’s Day Sami was given a homework assignment to decorate a cereal box that would be used to hold their valentine cards during their party.
I thought we would glue hearts all over it and write fun things on them like conversations hearts. She gave me the “look” and asked if we could come up with something else. Hmm….
How about a purse???? Okay….she liked that idea!!!
I had everything in my craft supplies, but I didn’t have any wrapping paper. Matt stopped and got some on the way home…it was perfect!
We cut out a hole at the top then covered it with the polka dot wrapping paper. Then Sami and I worked together to attach tulle to the ribbon.

Then we stapled another ribbon to the top to make a strap….ta da….

I wish I had made a way for her to take the valentines out…she had to rip it all apart to get everything out. Oops! Oh well…it was cute while it lasted!

Excuses…Excuses

Have you been wondering where all of my Disney Movie Night updates have gone???
We had been VERY busy. I play volleyball with our church league every Friday evening…so that makes Friday evenings hard. Saturdays have been devoted to Sleeping Beauty rehearsals.
The other problem…my ego. I was excited that people were being inspired to have their own movie nights-with that excitement came the drive to make our movie nights bigger and better. I (thankfully) quickly realized that I was losing focus of why I even started the movie nights. So…I took a break from the planning to get back to the root.
So if you have been doing family nights (weather they be movie themed or what have you) I encourage you to remember WHY you are doing it….
Enjoy your families! <3