We're off to see The Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Last night JaneClaire and I had a Mommy/Daughter date. We went to see the Wizard of Oz at the Fantasy Playhouse. Our friends Kristin and Jakob also went with us. JaneClaire has had a weird fascination with The Wizard of Oz since she watched it on TV 2 years ago. She could watch it over and over again without taking a break! I've always found the movie to be a little strange and somewhat depressing. Not sure why. My friend Natasha told me a few months ago that The Wizard of Oz would be playing in April at The Fantasy Playhouse. I marked my calendar and made sure to buy some tickets for us to see it.

My friend Kristin snapped these. JC was kissing me all over and making me laugh. She is such a goofy girl.

I made the mistake of telling JC a few days ago that we were going to see the play. She has been asking me nonstop since "Is today the day we see The Wizard of Oz?"

We dropped Silas off at Grandpa and Grandma's last night (Andrew had a Youth Group Bible study) in Hazel Green. Every 10 seconds (I am not kidding) I heard "Are we there yet?" It was a long 45 minute ride...

We finally arrived and waited for the show to begin. The props, costumes, acting and makeup were all really good! The play was a little different from the movie. I'm guessing the play was based on the book and not the movie itself. I was surprised to see actual flying monkeys, flying witches, fire and a melting witch :)

JC and Jakob waiting for the show to start.

During scene changes and prop switches the lights would go out and JC would ask "Is it over now". By the 4th or 5th scene change and the same question from JC, the lady next to me started giggling and asked "Is it over now?" JaneClaire loved the play. She watched with big eyes and an opened mouth! I wish pictures were allowed to be taken inside. Her facial expressions were adorable. When the show finally ended JaneClaire cried and cried. She wanted it to go on forever! I told her that Ms. Natasha, Ms. Jackie and Ms. Jackie's 2 kids were going Sunday to see it. She asked "Can I please go with them to see it again? I promise I'll be good and I won't ask is it over yet!!" haha.

The best part about the show was meeting the cast and getting autographs afterward! JaneClaire was so excited I thought she might explode :)

She liked their makeup and wanted them to fly.

Getting a paw print autograph from Toto

Dorothy and JaneClaire. Is she not the cutest Dorothy ever? I think she has Judy Garland beat! That blue mark on her head is a kiss from the good witch.

Getting a hug from The Tin Man

The Scarecrow and Lion

Glenda the good witch. She was by far JaneClaire's favorite. JaneClaire said "I love your sparkles, I want pink sparkles, I have 2 pairs of pink sparkle shoes, my Mom got them at the Kids Sale, I want my birthday party here, you are a good witch, I like you better than the bad witch" - all in one breath!

This one cracked me up! This witch must use some whitening toothpaste or something. Those are some pearly whites! :) JaneClaire wanted to tell her all about being a bad witch and wearing green makeup.

The tickets were $12 each and well worth it! I'm so glad we went! I got to spend some time with my baby girl and watch her enjoy her favorite movie :)

I want to purchase season tickets next year and see all the shows that the Playhouse does. They did an amazing job!

A Date with Daddy

A few weeks ago Andrew had an off day and announced that he was taking us out on a date! How exciting! He got the kids ready for me and let me take my time getting myself together. I was going to fix us something for breakfast but he told me not to worry, we would be eating breakfast out too. I hoped he would take me to my favorite breakfast restaurant, Cracker Barrel. We all hopped in the car to get ready for our date. JC was so excited...she giggled and squealed the entire ride and her happiness caught on and soon Silas was laughing too. He had no clue what was going on but he was happy to be there.

Guess where we went for breakfast? Cracker Barrel! That Andrew, he sure knows how to treat a lady...this lady right here! I got my favorite, blueberry pancakes. Yummo. After we ate and shopped around in the store we headed back out. Andrew drove us to the Botanical Gardens. They are having Treemendous Treehouses right now. The Garden has turned many of the big trees into different kinds of treehouses for the kids to climb and explore. Did I mention it was an absolutely gorgeous day that day? Sunny, breezy and warm. Perfect weather for a perfect outside day.

I see JC poking out of a flower.

JC standing in the birds nest

It's Si's turn

I will never understand JC's fascination with rocks.

I love this face! Silas got splashed with water.

Silas and I playing in the fountain.

JC looking down at us. I don't know if this is the one that she got stuck in, but Andrew had to rescue her from one of the treehouses. What a good Daddy!

Is that a handsome boy or what?

The monkey was telling us that the next Treehouse was up ahead. JC thought he was telling everyone he was 1 :)

Sliding out of one of the houses.

Now it's Si's turn!

Weeeee!

This was our favorite. It's was the "Wizard of Oz Treehouse" And no, not because I'm a fan of the movie. But....

Because of this!! Isn't that hilarious? And it did cross my mind about sneaking those shoes off and taking them home with me ;) I love anything red and sparkly!

They even had the monkeys and the Yellow Brick Road.

Taking a break to enjoy the sunshine and swing. Silas would not swing by himself. Notice the death grip on my shirt?

JC's hair was a mess. I was anxious to get home and comb through that hair :) I think she had lost her bow by then too.

The Botanical Gardens also had a turtle and canary exhibit during the time we visited. These turtles were so cute. They were sunbathing and didn't move from their position the entire time we stayed and watched them. And we seriously stayed for about 30 minutes.

I wish I had pictures of the canary cage. We parked Silas' stroller up next to the cage and he squealed and giggled the whole time at the "birrrs". It was so cute. During this time JC asked me if she could poke her fingers inside the cage and pet the birds. I told her no, the birds may bite. She then replied with "Well if they do I'll just cut their little heads off with scissors!". Again shaking that blond head back and forth. Where does she get this stuff? I told her "No Ma'am we will not!" She then got a talking to from her Daddy about being nice to animals and never using scissors to cut anything but paper. And that goes for hair too Miss JaneClaire Elise :)

We had a great day all thanks to a wonderful Daddy! We sure are blessed.

5 Finger Discount

Tuesday when I went to pick JC up from preschool she was waiting for me and holding a stuffed lion. Very similar to those crazy beanie babies we were all obsessed with in the 90's. I asked her where she got it because I know she didn't take it to school with her that day. We don't own anything like it. She told me that her friend Na-Na gave it to her. I didn't see any other kids with beanie toys that day as they were leaving. I asked her did it belong to Happy Times. She said no, it was from her friend. Ms. Mary Etta, the director of the preschool, was standing near by and I asked her if they were given out in class today. She didn't know and thought the lion may have come from a toy bin inside one of the classrooms. I told JC that we would need to leave it at preschool until Thursday and find out where it came from. Of course this upset JC and she cried the whole way home talking about her “little lion baby”. I was hoping it wasn't hers because the last thing we need at home is another stuffed bean toy! My kids never play with them and they clutter up the toy box. Later that night JC was talking about the lion again, but this time she told me it was from MyAsia, another little girl in her class. How strange! Already the lion has been given to her by two different little girls. I didn't mention it again and JC forgot about it until this morning on the way to preschool.

“Mommy, can you find out about my lion from Ms. Christie? And then I can have it back?”

Darn! I thought she would forget. Nope, not my JC. The little girl who remembers everything!

When I got to class I asked Ms. Christie about the lion and where it came from. She laughed and said “JC told me that you bought her that lion at the store.” She went on to say how JC was very adamant that the lion was hers and that it came from her Mommy.

How funny. First it was from Na-Na, then MyAsia and now I bought her that lion.

Well Ms. Christie tracked down the owner of the lion. It belongs to a little girl named Vivian who comes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Opposite days that JC goes to preschool. She must have left it there on Monday and JC decided to claim it on Tuesday.

While I was talking to Ms. Christie about the lion JC (who was down in the floor playing with her friends) piped up and said “I was just pretending about that lion all day!”

Seems we have a little clepto on our hands. I called Andrew on the way home and told him about what happened. Miss JaneClaire is going to have a little sit-down with Daddy and Mommy tonight about taking things that don't belong to her and then making up stories. She knew that didn't belong to her and even admitted to pretending that it was hers.

I will tell you this. It was hard not to crack a smile when she looked up with her big pink bow in that blond hair and give me that sweet grin and say “I was just pretending about that lion all day!”

:)

Happy Birthday Silas!

2 Years ago today (7:27pm to be exact) God blessed us with our sweet baby boy, Silas. What joy he has brought to our lives. He makes me so happy!

I love his teeth, his wild curly hair, his waddle when he walks, his pouty face, his patty cake hands, his chubby feet, his smile, the way he smells, the way he talks out of the side of his mouth, those Elvis lips, his squishy tushy, the way he reminds me so much of his Daddy, his hugs, his wet kisses

and most of all, I love the the way he loves me back. I've never had someone love me as much as my Si Guy! He is Mommy's #1 fan :)

What a wonderful addition he has made to our family. Thank you God for our Silas Andrew.

I love him as a Husband, but I love him so much more as a Daddy.