Peter Pan Play

Last year Aubrey got interested in theatre. First, she went and watched her friend Charleigh in a junior theatre performance of Snow White last summer, then she had a small speaking part in the first grade Christmas play. She loved both experiences and couldn't wait to be part of a junior theatre production. She auditioned for Peter Pan early in the year and was cast as a "Little Child" who got to dress up as Tinkerbelle at the end. Her cousin Preston was also a little child (a pirate at the end), and her cousin Reagan was a fairy. The little children were in the very first scene and the very last scene. They were pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!



 

Helping Emma tell the audience the house rules. ;)

The storyteller is beginning to tell the story of Peter Pan.

Aubrey saying her line: "Oh, she loves flowers!"

The story continues... Aubrey's cousin, Preston, is in the green PJs.

Reagan is the orange fairy...second over from the trees.

At the end, the little children are asleep in bed dreaming they are the characters in Peter Pan.

They get up as the storyteller sings "Never, Neverland"



Emma (the sweetest little actress and helper) coached Aubrey on her curtsey.

 The play was a great experience! Tech week was long and exhausting, but well worth the sense of gratification that Aubrey, and the whole cast, felt after completing three awesome performances. Aubrey had two lines that the little children did as a group and one solo line. Junior theatre was a great experience for us! We look forward to doing more plays in the future!

This is a terrible video of Aubrey's first scene. If you listen really carefully you can hear her say her solo line. :)

Pre-Pinterest Project: Backpack Rack/Organizer

Over a year ago, I saw this idea pop up on Facebook from someone's Pinterest. It was one of the reasons I got a Pinterest...and ironically, it is still the favorite idea I have seen on there. I really need to figure out how to use that site so it is less overwhelming and more inspiring.

Anyways, I knew I HAD to have a backpack organizer similar to this one, but it took me a while to sketch out exactly what I wanted. Between both of the girls' backpacks, jackets, folders and weekly agendas, I was overwhelmed by the mess. I needed something to contain it all. We have an angled wall in one of our halls right across from our garage door, so that was the perfect location (even though we haven't used the garage in at least a year).

Justin finished this project over spring break and it was actually one of those projects that was surprisingly not complicated. We decided on the dimensions and he painted the wall with chalkboard paint.

We got flat trim for the edges, so he prepainted them with glossy white, cut them to size and screwed them into the studs so they could beat weight. We then bought the file organizers at Target and used them to measure so we could put the slats in nice and close.

 Justin put the slats in, the hooks on, and the clips up top (we just took the magnet out of them and screwed them on).

This backpack organizer has seriously been life changing when it comes to organizing school stuff and my mess in general, and it is pretty cute! Thank you, Justin for your hard work!

Carpinteria Camping-Spring Break '13

We had a great weekend camping in Carpinteria this week! The girls had been looking forward to our trip for quite a while. They even built their own "campfire" in the front yard one day last week.

Grandma and Grandpa came and stayed with us the first night. We went for a walk at dusk, hunted seashells, played jump rope with seaweed, had fun with glow sticks and flash lights, and of course made s'mores by the campfire!

 

Day 2 was filled with beach and sand fun (but no pictures), kite flying, bike rides, and playing at the park.

Of course, all the fun meant a couple of meltdowns, but they were short lived.

Check out that dirty face.

We had one final morning by the fire, then we took a little hike over to see the tar pits. We left with many memories!

We love tent camping as a family!

Leapin' Leprechauns

We had a little St. Patty's Day fun around here!

We made some special treats. This was a great activity to do with both kids. They both loved sorting the jelly beans and filling the jars with the rainbow of love! :)

The leprechauns came to visit and peed in the potty.

Aubrey spent hours designing a leprechaun trap.

Notice the green jelly beans she left as bait. :)

Dress Up, Dances and Dates

We have had a busy few months with many fun activities including school dress up days, father-daughter dances, an even a mommy-daughter date. This is such a fun season of life! We are so thankful for these girls!

100 years-old for the 100th day of school

 

Crazy hair day at preschool

Box car (carriage) drive-in movie night at AWANA



Mommy-Juliet Date while Daddy took Aubrey to her school father-daughter dance

I tried to convince her to go to Color Me Mine and paint, but she wanted to go to the "library store". :)

Aubrey and her friends at the dance. So cute!

SNOW much fun!

Our mountains got a little snow this past weekend. The girls have been begging to go play in the snow, so we figured we better go before it all melted away. It is about time for Justin to get new tires, and I just had a flat repaired last week, so we called Papa Steve to see if he wanted to drive us and join the adventure. His busy season starts soon, so I think he was excited to have a little fun with the grand kids before he is too busy to be able to jet away for the day. We headed up to a mountain town about 1 hour away and kept driving until we found the perfect area with a nice big hill. I was a nervous wreck as the girls rode the tubes down the hill, but they had a blast! I was definitely the wild child, but when it comes to my girls, I am overly cautious. It is a good thing they have a fun daddy! When we tired of tubing, we made snow angels, went "ice skating" on and cracked ice in a little creek, and built a tiny snowman. It was a great day trip with Papa and the fam!

Pretty pink snow bear :)

Ready for a fun ride!

"Papa, will you carry me up the hill?"

Daddy carries the tube, and Aubrey rides it. :)

This is the only video I took. I got a little distracted by Juliet, but you get the idea. :) Daddy and Aubrey having fun! :)

Snow Angel

Snow Angel! I can't figure out how to rotate this picture.

Papa gave her his gloves! Buddies!

Snow man!

The drive home was quiet!

 

On a totally unrelated side note, I love the blogger app for iPhones! It simplifies the blogging process so I can document my kids' memories all in one place! If you have an iPhone, get it! I type the blog when I have a minute of down time, upload my iphone pictures, then save as a draft. I log in when I get a chance, move things around and add a video or two if I want to. Anyone else have any time saving blogging tips?